Today’s Essential Reads
FRACKING:
Parched Texans Impose Water-Use Limits for Fracking Gas Wells
An intensifying drought in Texas is prompting limits on water consumption that for the first time target oil and natural gas producers.
Locals Fear Fracking Will Use Up Dwindling Water Supply
The severe drought in Texas has prompted local authorities to impose water limitations, which affect not only the citizens but also the local oil and natural gas companies.
Stiffer Rules Looming on Shale Drilling
Regulators moved on two tracks Wednesday to stiffen standards for natural gas drilling and force companies to shed more light on the chemicals used in the process.
State regulators effectively regulate the oil and gas industry, members of a shale gas subcommittee told the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources during an Oct. 4 hearing in which senators questioned subcommittee members on the need for federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing.
BP OIL SPILL:
Companies That Participated in Oil Spill Cleanup Aren’t Immune from Health Claims
Nalco, the manufacturer of the Corexit dispersant, and other companies that participated in the oil clean-up aren’t immune from claims about worker health problems and other personal injuries, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier has ruled. Under the government’s oil spill plan, BP contractors applied dispersant to the Gulf of Mexico, skimmed the oil and burned it. Many workers who helped with the clean-up and people who live in coastal areas now say they have gotten sick from the efforts to get rid of the oil.
Gulf Coast Lawmakers Reach Compromise on BP Oil-Spill Fine Money
After months of negotiations, Gulf Coast lawmakers reached a compromise and introduced a bill in the House Wednesday that would steer most of the fines collected from the BP oil spill to the region for recovery efforts.
The State of the Gulf Coast: A Report by Save Our Gulf Waterkeepers
This week a comprehensive status report on the Gulf Coast was released by Save Our Gulf, an environmental coalition of members of Waterkeeper Alliance from the states of Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, and Alabama. The report is called “The State of the Gulf: A Status Report from the Save Our Gulf Waterkeepers in the Wake of the BP Oil Spill“.
Former State Senator Dr. Micheal Robichaux Believes BP Spill Made Dozens of Patients Sick
(VIDEO): Seizures, fatigue, and memory loss. Those are just some of the health issues BP oil spill workers say they’re experiencing more than a year after the well was capped.
RADIATION:
Old Nuclear Power Plant Transformed into a Theme Park and Hotel
A disused nuclear power station in Germany has been converted into the Wunderland Kalkar amusement park, following the government’s decision to abandon all nuclear energy plants. Wunderland Kalkar is most likely the first of many more creative conversions to come, with approximately fifteen more power plants to be be completely abandoned by the year 2022.
