Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Study Finds Correlation Between Seismic Activity in North Texas, Hydraulic Fracturing
Using newly available technology, a University of Texas seismologist tracking small earthquakes in the Barnett Shale play area of North Texas has found a correlation between geological disturbances and the sort of injection wells that are associated with hydraulic fracturing, according to research appearing this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Fracking Review Rows to 4,000 Pages
The state’s much-anticipated report on high-volume hydraulic fracturing has grown to about 4,000 pages, but it’s still not ready for release, New York’s top environmental regulator said Tuesday.
Water Disposal Most Severe Fracking Environmental Threat, Says Report
The disposal of contaminated wastewater from hydraulic fracturing wells producing natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region presents risks from salts and radioactive materials that are “several orders of magnitude larger” than for other potential water pollution events examined in a report by Stony Brook University.
Longmont Fracking Ban Will Go to Ballot
Opponents of fracking will get their chance to be heard at the Longmont ballot box.
BP OIL SPILL:
Massive Fire Engulfs Chevron California Refinery
Firefighters are battling with a blaze that has torn through oil giant Chevron’s Richmond refinery in California. Officials have warned residents to stay indoors as toxic fumes have been released during the fire.
Environmentalists Sue EPA, Want More Testing of Dispersants
The BP oil spill was a history making catastrophe, and some say it’s not necessarily over.
It’s been more than two years since the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On the surface, it may appear the cleanup was successful. However, the long term impact below the surface is still murky.
Sea Turtles a Window Into Gulf Ecology
The turtles, one of the most endangered sea turtle species, have earned themselves new research interest with their unusual behavior. “There was not really much emphasis until the BP oil spill,” said Moby Solangi, president of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies.
RADIATION:
London Olympics: Fukushima Hometown Always on Cyclist’s Mind
Kazunari Watanabe put his heart into his bicycle races in men’s keirin at the London Olympics, but his thoughts were never far from his hometown of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, now part of the exclusion zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
