Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Doctors Press Court to Release Records in Gas Fracking Case
A Pennsylvania court should disclose the legal settlement between a family that claimed natural-gas drilling threatened its health and several gas producers, a group of physicians and researchers said.
Drillers May Frack First, Disclose Later Under Draft Plan
Natural-gas companies drilling on U.S. land would be permitted to wait until after hydraulic fracturing is completed to disclose what chemicals they used, under a draft rule being considered by the U.S. Interior Department.
Senate Dems Urged to Fight Fracking
During a hearing on fracking last week, Senate Democrats heard testimony from environmentalists who say the lack of a Department of Environmental Conservation health assessment for high-volume hydraulic fracturing indicates the state is not ready to approve the controversial process of drilling for natural gas.
In Fracking Secrecy Court Case, Newspapers Get Support From Doctors, Scientists, Advocates
In a court case over gas industry secrecy, doctors, scientists, researchers and advocates are lending support to newspapers fighting for access to information that could shed light on the health impacts of gas development, including the controversial process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
BP OIL SPILL:
Exxon Announce 80,000 Gallon Oil Spill in Rural Louisiana
When we think of oil spills we tend to think of large slicks in the ocean, killing seabirds and damaging marine ecosystems. Following BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2010, and Chevron’s spill off the coast of Brazil in 2011, there has been a lot of focus on oil spills and there prevention. Companies are looking into more efficient and quicker ways of containing oil spills in the ocean, and more effective ways of extracting the oil from the water. New regulations are being introduced to increase safety, and new technologies are being developed that are more reliable.
Interior Readies Next Round of Drilling-Safety Rules
The Interior Department is moving ahead with plans to update toughened offshore drilling safety standards that were first issued on an “emergency” basis months after the 2010 BP oil spill.
Another Oil Spill in Louisiana, This Time from Exxon
ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. is reporting today that cleanup operations are continuing at the site of a crude oil spill on remote rural property near here.
Black Fishermen “Still Bleeding” After BP Oil Spill
Once self-sufficient, seafaring men and women must rely on the support of charities and fishing advocates. Black fishermen say they are being excluded and unfairly compensated in settlements.
RADIATION:
The Infighting That Threatens to Undermine US Nuclear Safety
It could be the latest Inside the Beltway TV drama: the safety guardians of America’s nuclear industry working in a political environment so toxic that the White House was compelled to appoint the bureaucratic equivalent of a marriage counsellor.
