Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
NC Lawyer: Landowners Must Take Care On Fracking
North Carolina landowners should be extremely careful when considering ceding drilling rights and legislators should require more information and protections for residents as the General Assembly evaluates whether to allow fracking, a state attorney said Thursday.
Bethel Adopts Anti-Fracking Law, Citing Threat to Clean Air, Water
This town that’s renowned as the home of the 1969 Woodstock festival earned another distinction Thursday night: Bethel became the largest Sullivan County town to ban gas drilling.
O’Malley, Give the Fracking Study More Time (and Maybe Some Money)!
A commission set up to investigate the ins and outs of using hydraulic fracturing – or “fracking” – to extract natural gas in western Maryland is asking Gov. Martin O’Malley for four more months to complete the study, after the group determined that there was no way to “do the report right” in the allotted time. The commission also finds itself low on funds, since a measure that would require gas companies to foot the bill for the impact study died in the General Assembly.
Sullivan Legislators Unanimous on Fracking Moratorium
The resolution expresses the sentiment of the Sullivan County Legislature, but not necessarily of all county residents. It was a memorializing resolution requesting New York State to declare a moratorium on natural gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing.
BP OIL SPILL:
Criminal Charges on BP Gngineer Are a Welcome Step in Federal Investigation of Oil Spill
The arrest this week of a BP engineer on allegations that he destroyed evidence related to the 2010 oil spill is a significant development and a good sign that the Justice Department intends to aggressively pursue criminal violations related to the disaster.
BP’s $7.8 Billion Settlement Days Away From Preliminary Approval, U.S. Judge Says
The first chapter in a saga of litigation and claims for damages following the BP 2010 Gulf oil spill is just days away from being finished.
Ala. AG Says Work on BP Case Nearing Fruition
Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange has spent much of the 15 months he has been in office pursuing efforts to recover losses by Alabama and other states because of the massive BP oil spill.
Judge: Leaning toward approving huge BP settlement in Gulf oil spill
?A judge on Wednesday said he was leaning toward approving the settlement proposed by BP and a coalition of plaintiffs’ lawyers to compensate individuals and businesses for the 2010 Gulf oil spill.
RADIATION:
Two Meltdowns: Fukushima and the US Economy
More than a year after a tsunami swamped the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plants, the radiation peril continues — reactor 4 is teetering on the edge of collapse, which would force the evacuation of one-third of Japan’s population. The meltdown at Fukushima parallels the meltdown of the US economy.
