News Round-Up: June 11, 2012

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Today’s Essential Reads

FRACKING:

Fracking Disclosure Policies Fail to Protect Public Health and Safety

State oversight laws requiring disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (commonly referred to as fracking) are in need of an overhaul. A new OMB Watch report, The Right to Know, the Responsibility to Protect: State Actions Are Inadequate to Ensure Effective Disclosure of the Chemicals Used in Natural Gas Fracking, examines state chemical disclosure rules and aims to empower the public. It also encourages state and local authorities to improve their chemical disclosure standards, especially in those regions of the country most involved in and affected by natural gas fracking.

No Rush for DEC Fracking Rules

In the latest salvo in local battles over gas drilling, a company says it’s shutting down wells and stopping free gas to landowners in a western New York town that passed a moratorium on drilling late last month.

Rye Group Says Fracking Will Affect Westchester

Hydraulic fracturing may not seem like a concern for Westchester residents, but according to the Rye-based Grassroots Environmental Education, its health affects will extend into the region.

Opponents Want Fracking Draft Regulations Withdrawn

The pressure is heating up for lawmakers in Albany regarding their environmental impact statement on hydraulic fracturing. Otherwise known as fracking, hydraulic fracturing drills into the earth to extract natural gas and may lead to the contamination of drinking water.

BP OIL SPILL:

Sen. Bill Nelson Brings Good News About RESTORE Act Funds

Lead sponsor of act says millions on the way to Gulf Coast.

After 3 Pipeline Spills Totaling 400,000 Gallons, Alberta’s Reputation is Tarnished

Three oil spills in a month isn’t the track record Alberta wanted while peddling a major tar sands pipeline to Americans.

NTSB Report: Enbridge’s Response to Michigan Oil Spill Was ‘Poor’

The July 2010 oil spill near Marshall, Mich., though little-known by the public, was widely considered one of the worst inland oil spills in U.S. history. Now, the National Transportation Safety Board has released the results of a two-year investigation into the spill — and Enbridge Energy Partners takes it on the chin.

New Study Finds Microorganisms Along Gulf Coast Impacted by BP Oil Spill

To the casual observer, the beaches along the Gulf Coast look back to normal, more than two years after oil marred the shoreline. In a new study, though, scientists sampled the sand and sediment, taking a closer look at the microorganisms there.

RADIATION:

A-bomb Doctor Warns of Further Fukushima Woes

A 95-year-old retired doctor is continuing to warn of possible health dangers to residents near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant after some of them developed symptoms similar to those afflicting atomic-bomb survivors he treated for decades.

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Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters.
Cooper Law Firm

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