TagBakken field

Other than toxic air, earthquakes and explosive oil, what’s so bad about fracking?

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There are reports that the federal government is thinking about allowing the export of American oil again. The U.S. used to be a large oil exporter, decades ago, but that stopped in 1973 as crude production on domestic soil reached a peak and an Arab oil embargo threatened our economy. But then came fracking, which has been a game changer for producing oil and natural gas, from Pennsylvania to...

North Dakota leaves it socks laying around — and they’re radioactive

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Did you ever do the laundry and find that you’ve lost a sock…or two? It’s one of the great mysteries of modern life — but at least it’s one that we can laugh off. But when the oil industry of North Dakota starts losing its socks — now that’s a completely different story.  That’s because the oil socks of North Dakota are chock full of TERM —...

Near disaster in Philly highlights an oil-by-rail safety crisis

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Philadelphia — the densely populated 5th-largest city in America — dodged a bullet this week…but just barely: IT COULD HAVE been worse – a lot worse. None of the seven CSX cars – six of them loaded with volatile crude oil – that derailed on the 128-year-old rail bridge over the Schuylkill between University City and Grays Ferry about 12:30 a.m. yesterday fell...

Tragedy in Quebec and the consequences of oil addiction

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There was a new environmental tragedy this weekend — and it came with a twist. A train that was hauling tanker cars laden with oil produced in the booming Bakken fields in North Dakota and bound for refineries in Eastern Canada broke loose and crashed into a small town in Quebec near its border with Maine, unleashing an ungoldy amount of death and destruction: LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec (AP)...

North Dakota gets fracked over

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  I could tell you about the out-of-control drilling boom in North Dakota, or you could see it for yourself. From outer space! The picture at the top of this post — taken by satellite of the United States at night — reveals an amazing truth: The gas flares in and around tiny Williston, North Dakota, now burn as brightly, and are as visible from space, as major U.S. metropolitan areas...

Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters.
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