Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Marcellus Shale: Ensure Water Testing is Part of Lease Agreement Before Drilling
Before allowing Marcellus Shale gas extraction on their land, property owners should spell out, in the lease agreement to drill, what kind of water testing is done before — and after — drilling.
Wyoming Exempts Fracking Chemicals From Disclosure
Though several states, including Michigan, have decided to require natural gas companies to disclose the chemicals they use in hydrofracking, many of those state regs have loopholes in them.
There’s More to Fracking Than New Study Reports
Although Utica shale is around 8,000 feet down, “fractures produced in the well might extend directly into shallow rock units that are used for drinking water supplies,” according to geology.com. Pipe casings fail, fluid spills happen, etc.
Oil, Gas Boom Requires Heavy Water Usage (VIDEO)
The oil and gas boom in South Texas that requires millions of gallons of water per well is revving up in the midst of a record drought.
BP OIL SPILL:
Dispersants Used in BP Gulf Oil Spill Linked to Cancer
Five of the 57 ingredients in dispersants approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for use on oil spills are linked to cancer, finds a new research report based on data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by environmental groups on the Gulf of Mexico.
BP Risks Another PR Disaster as Polar Bear is Killed in Alaskan Oilfield
BP has landed itself in a new public relations disaster in the US after accidentally shooting dead a polar bear at one of its Alaskan oil fields.
Impact of Gulf Spill’s Underwater Dispersants Is Examined
In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP sought and obtained permission to use dispersants, detergent-like compounds, to break up the 200 million gallons of Louisiana sweet crude, into tiny droplets that would mix throughout the water column, trying to lessen the immediate impact of the oil slick on fragile coastal ecosystems.
Find the Source of Leak Around BP Well Now
Nobody knows the source of the oil bobbing to the surface near BP’s infamous Macondo well. That’s all the more reason to find out as quickly as possible.
RADIATION:
Nuclear Power Plants Are Getting Ready To Shut Down If Irene Gets Too Bad
Twelve nuclear power plants along the Eastern Seaboard are getting ready to shut down operations in the event that Hurricane Irene makes conditions too dangerous.
