Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Lead Author of Fracking Study is a Member of Industry Board
The lead author of a recent University of Texas study that suggested that hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, does not contaminate groundwater is a paid board member and shareholder in a company that engages in the practice, a situation that critics are calling a conflict of interest and of which the researcher’s supervisors were unaware.
Positive University Study on Fracking Was Led by a Gas Company Insider
A study from the University of Texas (UT) was heralded as an independent assessment that no link existed between hydraulic fracturing and groundwater pollution. But it turned out the report’s author was anything but independent.
Fracking Foreign to Most Ohioans, Poll Finds
Businesspeople, eastern Ohio landowners and politicians such as Ohio Gov. John Kasich know plenty about “fracking,” but a new poll shows many Ohioans are clueless when it comes to the controversial drilling method used for extracting oil and natural gas from shale formations deep beneath the ground.
Village of Owego Passes Moratorium on Fracking
It was a big night in the Village of Owego on Monday as the board held a public hearing on hydraulic fracturing and voted in favor of a year-long moratorium.
BP OIL SPILL:
New Report Details Effects of Dispersants
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab has released a new report about the effects of oil dispersants on sea life. The report focused on the type of dispersants used by BP after the oil spill.
Study: Dispersants May Have Hurt Gulf Food Chain
A study on possible effects of the 2010 BP oil spill indicates dispersants may have killed plankton — some of the ocean’s tiniest plants and creatures — and disrupted the food chain in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the nation’s richest seafood grounds.
First Gulf Oil Spill Response Test a Success, Officials Say
Government officials said the first-ever full-scale test of the oil industry and federal regulator’s response to a runaway offshore well was successful.
NYT: Series of Write-Downs Leads to a Loss at BP
BP’s chief, Robert W. Dudley. He told reporters Tuesday that he wanted the oil company to be safer, leaner and more profitable.
RADIATION:
Fukushima Non-Tepco Staff Dislike Work Conditions, Survey Shows
Most workers hired to help cleanup the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant are unhappy with the working environment, citing insufficient radiation protection poor food, sanitary and transport conditions.
