Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING;
Coalition Launched to Work for NY Fracking Ban
Dozens of grass-roots environmental groups have joined forces to launch a coordinated campaign to ban natural gas drilling using high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York state.
Proposed NY ‘Fracking’ Health Impact Study Dropped
A New York State Assembly proposal for an independent health impact study of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas has been dropped during budget negotiations.
Fracking’s Air Pollution Threat
North Carolina regulators will hold the second of two planned public hearings in Chapel Hill today to gather comments on a recently released draft report that calls for lifting the state’s ban on the controversial gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”
MWCD to Study Water Tapping from Oil and Gas Companies
The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District has taken a preliminary step toward selling water from its reservoirs to oil and gas companies for use in the hydraulic fracturing process.
BP OIL SPILL:
“Ever since the oil spill, it seems to me that it’s diminished completely.” That is one full-time crabber’s view of what has happened the crab catch since the oil spill.
North Sea Offshore Spill Raises Concerns About Arctic Drilling
As Shell Oil Co. moves toward the start of long-awaited exploration in the Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, it’s facing problems in the North Sea. The BBC reported Monday that Shell was evacuating non-essential workers from its Shearwater platform because of the dangers of an explosion.
Oilfield Cleanup a Big-Money Dispute in Louisiana
A behind-the-scenes firestorm of the legislative session centers on a big-money, years-long dispute between landowners and the oil and gas industry over how cleanup should be handled of environmental damage from drilling years ago.
NWF Tour Finds BP Oil Still Soaking Louisiana Marshes, Menacing Wildlife
The National Wildlife Federation this week led a boat trip to Louisiana marshes hit hard by the Gulf oil disaster.
RADIATION:
Japan Reactor Has Fatally High Radiation, No Water
One of Japan’s crippled nuclear reactors still has fatally high radiation levels and hardly any water to cool it, according to an internal examination Tuesday that renews doubts about the plant’s stability.