Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
The Fracking Frenzy’s Impact on Women
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” has generated widespread media attention this year. The process, which injects water and chemicals into the ground to release “natural” gas and oil from shale bedrock, has been shown to contribute significantly to air and water pollution and has even been linked to earthquakes. But little has been reported on the ways in which fracking may have unique impacts on women. Chemicals used in fracking have been linked to breast cancer and reproductive health problems and there have been reports of rises in crimes against women in some fracking “boom” towns, which have attracted itinerant workers with few ties to the community.
Brecksville Hosts Panel Discussion About Hydraulic Fracturing
Concerned about oil and gas well drilling in their backyards, area residents packed the meeting room at the Brecksville library March 24 for a panel discussion hosted by Mothers Against Drilling in Our Neighborhoods.
New USGS Report Links Fracking and Earthquakes
The US Geological Survey (USGS) will be presenting a paper next month at the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America in San Diego. The paper will directly link an “unprecedented” increase in frequency and magnitude of earthquakes to drilling for oil and gas.
Cornell Study: Hydraulic Fracturing Creates More Greenhouse Gasses
The process of hydraulic fracturing, which forces water, sand and chemicals into the ground to help release natural gas from shale, may also be pumping something else into the atmosphere.
BP OIL SPILL:
Gulf Tar Balls May Contain Lurking Bacteria
Nearly two years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster gushed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, tar balls from the spill still turn up on Alabama’s shores after storms. Now, one researcher is recommending that people steer clear of these tar balls after studies find them chock-full of potentially deadly bacteria.
Scientists Find Sick Dolphins and Deep-Water Corals in Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Zone
Two groups of scientists say they have identified signs of poor health in dolphins and in deep-sea corals due to exposure to polluted water in the northern Gulf of Mexico where the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred nearly two years ago.
Media Focus on BP Spill Anniversary Expected to Impact View of Gulf Seafood
The second anniversary is approaching of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion that claimed the lives of 11 workers and spewed economic shock waves along the Gulf of Mexico.
Gulf Oil Spill: Coral Death ‘Definitively’ Linked To BP Spill
After months of laboratory work, scientists say they can definitively finger oil from BP’s blown-out well as the culprit for the slow death of a once brightly colored deep-sea coral community in the Gulf of Mexico that is now brown and dull.
RADIATION:
TOKYO: About 12 tonnes of radioactive water has leaked at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with the facility’s operator saying Thursday that some may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean.
