Today’s essential reads.
FRACKING:
Pa. Gas Drilling Hearing Draws Backers, Opponents
Nearly 400 supporters and opponents of natural gas drilling debated its safety and economic feasibility at a U.S. Department of Energy hearing in western Pennsylvania.
Celebs Prod Lawmakers to Rein in Hydraulic Fracturing
Celebrities are prodding New York lawmakers to pass a trio of bills that they say would protect the Empire State’s drinking water by boosting restrictions on hydraulic fracturing and the disposal of hazardous drilling waste.
Activists opposed to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in drilling for natural gas rallied Monday evening in northern Stark County.
When Jen Slotterback found a well pad stake in a local park, she realized the forest would soon be taken over by a natural gas drilling—and the controversial process hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—unless she did something to stop it.
BP OIL SPILL:
Gulf Oil Spill Appeals Panel Established, 25 Appointees Named
A 25-member panel has been established to hear appeals from eligible Gulf oil spill claimants who are dissatisfied with the handling of their claims by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. The GCCF was established by BP, as a designated “responsible party” under the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990, in the aftermath of the devastating loss of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April 2010.
Whose Minding Gulf Coast Beaches?
Gulf coast environmental watchdogs have filed a legal challenge in the 11th Federal Circuit Court in Atlanta, Georgia. They contend the U.S. government has conducted a flawed environmental risk assessment of Shell Oil Company’s plan to drill for oil in Gulf of Mexico deep water near the site of BP’s catastrophic 2010 well blowout.
Danziger & De Llano, LLP Still Accepting Claims From BP Oil Spill
On May 21, 2011, CNN released a news report defining a statement that more than 150 bottle-nosed dolphins were recently found along the coast of the Gulf, reportedly killed indirectly due to the BP oil spill. Since January, dolphins have been turning up along the coast and officials have announced that their deaths could be the cause of a disruption in the food chain for the dolphins. Marine researchers also stated that the BP oil spill could be preventing the dolphin mothers from being able to produce the blubber needed to insulate them during the colder months.
BP Spill Victims Struggle with Restrictions on Payouts
Republican presidential contender and tea party heroine Rep. Michele Bachmann used Monday night’s GOP debate as a platform to argue against what she criticized as the “job-killing” Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
RADIATION:
Nuclear Waste Storage, Disposal Concerns U.S. Utility Managers
Concern about safe storage and disposal of spent nuclear power-plant fuel surged among U.S. utility executives and managers after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, a study has found.
While there are no conclusive studies showing a link between cellphone use and cancer and many experts believe there is no link at all, the World Health Organisation suggested earlier this month that mobile use should be classified as “possibly carcinogenic” and further investigated.
