Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
The Business Council of New York State, Inc. claims that counties and municipalities could collect significant taxes from hydraulic fracturing (HF) wells. And they dangle the possibility of new jobs as an additional lure. However, the costs to our communities from this heavy industry operation aren’t mentioned.
Local Officials Move to Block New Pipelines in Jersey Highlands
More than ten townships along projected pipeline route have also adopted resolutions against hydro-fracking. Opposition to the expansion of pipelines through the New Jersey Highlands is mounting among local officials, some of whom are calling for a moratorium banning the practice of pumping huge quantities of water into the ground to drill for natural gas.
Coal seam gas mining (CSG) is developing rapidly in New South Wales and Queensland and is commencing in other states. The legal and administrative protections are inadequate to ensure that public health is not harmed and that environmental damage does not leave a legacy for generations.
Briefing Paper Raises ‘Fracking’ Problems
Two small earthquakes “may have” been connected to drilling by a gas extraction company in the English coastal city of Blackpool, warns a briefing paper drafted to advise an Oireachtas committee of possible problems related to ‘fracking’ in Cavan and elsewhere.
BP OIL SPILL:
Fed Oil Spill Captain Critical of Alabama Gulf Coast Mayors; Accuses Them of Using Spill Politically
As seen in this May 2011 photo, tarballs were easy to find on the uninhabited portion of Dauphin Island. Though BP performed some cleanup operations on that section of the island during the winter, work was halted March 1 to protect nesting birds. The tar has collected at the edge of the sand dunes, clinging to seashells and driftwood. (Press-Register/Ben Raines)
A Dolphin’s Dilemma for Fishermen in the Gulf
Louisiana shrimp buyer Dean Blanchard has seen plenty of crazy things during his life in the bayou. But his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets the day he watched a mother dolphin pushing her dead baby calf towards him as he stood on the commercial dock of his once thriving seafood business on Grand Isle.
Professor Researches Effects of Oil Spill
More than a year since the BP oil spill devastated the Gulf of Mexico, Auburn is well represented as a professor has received a grant to continue research on the effects of the spill.
Devastating Report Exposes Unequal Treatment of BP Illness Claims
Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) set up in the aftermath of the BP Drilling Disaster, has broken with his own past practices — as well as the evidence compiled by scientists and the experience of Gulf Coast residents — and refused to pay health claims filed by Gulf Coast residents.
RADIATION:
Nuclear Power Plants Running Out of Space for Waste
As seen in this May 2011 photo, tarballs were easy to find on the uninhabited portion of Dauphin Island. Though BP performed some cleanup operations on that section of the island during the winter, work was halted March 1 to protect nesting birds. The tar has collected at the edge of the sand dunes, clinging to seashells and driftwood. (Press-Register/Ben Raines)
