Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
County Council Adopts Fracking Resolution
Summit County Council voted in favor of a resolution that asks state lawmakers to regulate high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and allow communities to have some authority over the process.
Proposed Federal Fracking Rules Draw Fire at Colorado Hearing
A proposal for federal regulations on the use of hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas development on federal land drew fire from Colorado, Utah and Wyoming officials at a congressional hearing in Denver on Wednesday.
Fracking Opponents Rallying on Long Island
Long Islanders are joining a wave of anti-fracking protests across New York State amid increasing efforts from environmentalists urging a ban the controversial natural gas drilling practice.
Fracking Fluids May Migrate to Aquifers, Researcher Says
Chemically treated drilling fluid can migrate through thousands of feet of rock and endanger water supplies, said a hydrologist whose research calls into question the safety of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.
BP OIL SPILL:
The Restore Act May Be In Trouble
An amendment that could send billions of dollars to the Gulf Coast for restoration from the BP oil spill is headed to conference committee next week.
Judge Allows Gulf Oil Spill Settlement To Proceed
A federal judge on Wednesday preliminarily approved a proposed class-action settlement that would resolve billions of dollars in claims against BP over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP Oil Spill Judge Tentatively Approves $7.8 Billion Pact
BP Plc (BP/) and lawyers suing the company won preliminary approval of their proposed settlement of claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Former BP Engineer is Indicted in Gulf Oil Spill Case
A week after he was arrested by the FBI, a federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted former BP engineer Kurt Mix on two counts of obstruction of justice in relation to the 2010 Gulf oil spill. Mix is accused of deleting hundreds of text messages from his iPhone that estimated the rate at which oil was spewing from BP’s Macondo well in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The indictment, which is almost identical to an FBI affidavit filed last week, alleges that Mix tampered with his iPhone to keep certain information from a grand jury investigating the spill.
RADIATION:
Japanese Energy Policy Stands at a Crossroads
Japan will close its last nuclear power plant on Saturday, at least temporarily.
