pipelines burning, gas wells exploding, towns evacuating, we got em all early this week, thanks to the gas frackers....first, on early Tuesday morning, an 8 inch pipe carrying condensate, the liquid by-product of gas production, to a natural-gas processing plant W Virginia leaked over several acres in Monroe county before it caught fire, and since the area burning was unpopulated woodlands, the fire was allowed to burn itself out over several hours after the flow through the pipeline was cut off...then on Tuesday evening, a blowout at a gas well in Jefferson county owned by the notorious American Energy Partners forced roughly 400 families in a two square mile zone roughly 15 miles southwest of Steubenville, including the village of Bloomingdale, to evacuate their homes while dangerous levels of methane and other gases persisted in the area around the well ...fortunately windy conditions dissipated the gases quickly and although most returned to their homes by morning, schools in the Buckeye local district, where evacuees had encamped, were closed on Wednesday...while no one was injured in either case, either could have easily been a headline grabbing catastrophe...
this week also saw a five state study of airborne chemicals that received a lot of news media coverage, as high concentration of carcinogenic gases, including vapors of benzene and formaldehyde at 5 times federal safety levels, were found in 40% of the areas around gas and oil rigs that were tested....all told, 8 dangerous chemicals were found, in some cases in amounts hundreds of times higher than what is considered safe, in air samplings taken from homes and farms near fracking sites in Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wyoming, with benzene concentrations occasionally so high as to be flammable...the study's lead author made the point that the environmental focus on well water pollution from fracking has been misplaced, because the air around gas sites is much more dangerous...
in something of a surprise, Texas became the second state to include concern for fracking related earthquakes in their drilling permit process...the Texas Railroad Commission (their regulator) amended their regulations such that oil & gas companies in Texas must now research seismic data for a 100 square mile area around the proposed site before they can receive a permit to drill...the regulations also allow the agency to suspend permits for disposal wells if they're “likely to be or determined to be contributing to seismic activity.”....this is interesting because it puts the regulators in the state obviously most involved in gas and oil drilling on record as seeing the connection between such drilling and earthquakes, whereas just to the north in Oklahoma, the frack quake capital of the nation, regulators are still denying there's a cause and effect...
also in the news this week was a meeting of gas an oil company executives this summer wherein they were advised how to wage war against environmentalists by exploiting fear and anger among voters, and spread personally embarrassing rumors about individual environmentalists, with the aim of paralyzing people about the issues, so they dont know who's right...the ideas, espoused by Washington political consultant Richard Berman, is to "get in people’s mind a tie, because "a tie basically insures the status quo,”....in another news story about attempts to disrupt the environmental movement, the UK’s Metropolitan Police are paying a £425,000 settlement to a woman who fathered the child of an uncover cop who was part of a special unit within the British police that infiltrated a number of environmentalist groups to gather intelligence...to gain the trust of environmentalists, this same cop apparently masterminded the protest bombing of a London department store...you see how this works; this makes environmentalists look bad, and the public demands that more cops be hired to break up the movement....
we'll start with a few on the fracking issues up in the coming midterms, and also include a few articles about a video of a Kasich- FitzGerald debate that apparently made Kasich look so bad that the video of it was deep-sixed by the Plain Dealer, which subsequently generated widespread coverage on the political websites...
Local bans on fracking up for vote in Utica Shale -- In this fall’s midterm races, hydraulic fracturing enjoys political support from many conservatives and liberals. President Barack Obama often touts it as a reason for new found energy independence. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, and Tom Wolf, his Democratic challenger, have generally disagreed only on how to tax it. Yet pockets of resistance to the extraction technique commonly known as fracking, which has revolutionized the oil and gas industry, have appeared in local governments across Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico, California and even industry-friendly Texas. This fall, ballot issues in four Ohio towns above the Utica Shale formation — Gates Mills, Athens, Kent and Youngstown — ask voters to approve a community bill of rights that effectively outlaws natural gas drilling. And the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit based in Franklin County, Pa., has been behind much of the action. “We’re getting more phone calls now than we’ve ever had,” said Chad Nicholson, the group’s Pennsylvania community organizer. “There’s a lot of activity around fracking, the family of activities that go along with it,” Mr. Nicholson said, referring to injection wells, pipelines and related activities. For 15 years, the group has urged local officials and activists to write a community bill of rights that trumpets a municipality’s right to protect its natural resources. More recently, that has come to mean harnessing opposition to fracking.
Kasich: Fracking tax is a 'complete ripoff' for Ohioans - Columbus Dispatch -- A week before he likely will win a second term, Gov. John Kasich pledged to renew his efforts to increase taxes and regulations on Ohio’s oil and gas industry.‘ Possibly signaling a pitched battle during the legislature’s lame-duck session this year, Kasich called the current severance tax of 20 cents a barrel “a total and complete ripoff to the people of this state.” The governor told about 250 the Columbus Metropolitan Club that he would use the higher tax revenue to help communities where fracking is taking place, and to give “everyone in Ohio” a tax cut. He also said, “Do we need more regulations? Yes. We need more regulations on the wellhead.” Kasich said he believes in and supports the oil and gas industry, but it must operate in a proper way. “If you don’t regulate this thing right, you’re going to lose people in the communities who say this is dangerous.” Kasich has proposed increasing the severance tax twice before, but has gotten nowhere with the legislature, controlled by his fellow Republicans. But if lawmakers don’t go for it this time, he said Ohioans may enact a tax themselves through a statewide ballot issue.
Why Doesn't The Plain Dealer Want You To See Gov. Kasich Being An Asshat? The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper just loves Ohio Gov. John Kasich. In 2010, it endorsed Kasich, seeing in him a candidate “given to Reagan-style optimism and bold, sometimes questionable, ideas.” The editorial board seems to have stopped questioning those ideas and has endorsed Kasich again, saying he’s “proven himself a good governor – and an excellent fiscal manager of Ohioans’ money.” You’d think that the Plain Dealer might want voters to see their man in action as he stunned them with the blazing intelligence, surefire wit, and easygoing confidence that so won the editors over, but that video went down the memory hole not long after it was initially posted. Ohio political blog Plunderbund describes Kasich as not exactly giving the most impressive performance of his political career: Kasich slumped in his chair, refused to acknowledge the other candidates and ignored repeated attempts by PD staff to answer even basic questions about his policies and programs. If you wondered why Kasich rejected multiple debate offers from FitzGerald this year, this is the video you need to see! I would provide a link to the video… except the PD took it down. We are going to guess it had something to do with a very nice and polite request from the ever-nice and polite folks in Kasich’s office. In fact, the Plain Dealer really does not want that video out there. After Plunderbund posted an excerpt of the video, they received this takedown nastygram from the Plain Dealer, threatening legal action. It seems to us considerably more vigorous than your average DCMA takedown template, no?
Cleveland Plain Dullards - This is today’s hot meme. The Cleveland Plain Dealer filmed (and posted) a joint interview with current (and likely re-elected) governor John Kasich and challenger Ed Fitzgerald. Kasick pretended Fitzgerald didn’t exist, repeatedly refused to answer a question and generally acted like a Republican. The Plain Dealer endorsed him anyway. Then they removed the video from there web site. I guess they stand for the principle that it’s not news if it makes the candidate they prefer look bad (that’s journamalism 101). Then a site of which I have never heard posted the video and, evidently determined to make sure it got maximum exposure “The Northeastern Ohio Media Group, a business partner with the Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland, has demanded that an Ohio liberal political blog pull a video of Gov. John Kasich’s awkward interview with the newspaper’s editorial board.” As a result, the video is, as I type this not available only at the obscure* Punderbund. But also at Eschatonblog, Talking Points Memo (same link as above), Balloon Juice, Wonkette and, well you get the picture. All those sites link to a YouTube video which will be taken down. However, YouTuber John Manyjars (whom you really really want to follow) can e-mail it to others who can post it
Ohio wants its slice of fracking's oil wealth -- The American fossil-fuel boom has spawned debates on what to do with this wealth. Ohio finds itself in the middle of one right now. The state’s Republican governor, John Kasich, is proposing to raise oil and gas taxes, to ensure the riches don’t all go to workers and companies based out of state. “His view is, this is some sort of a rip-off,” says Ohio State economist Mark Partridge. “That these energy resources are transported out of the state of Ohio, used and refined in other places. And all the profit and wealth goes to these other places and it leaves Ohio.” By most measures, Ohio’s taxes on energy production are low. They’re less than 1 percent, compared to 7 percent in Texas, 11 percent in Wyoming, and 25 percent in Alaska. Kasich wants to raise state taxes to 2.75 percent or even higher. Drilling companies threaten to leave and go to low-tax states. But that hasn’t happened historically. A study by Headwaters Economics notes “the academic literature generally disagrees that tax competition is important to oil production.”“The decisions on where to drill are not going to be determined by comparing different states,” says Michael Levi of the Council on Foreign Relations and author of "The
Power Surge: Energy, Opportunity, and the Battle for America's Future." “They’re going to be determined on a location-by-location basis, on whether a profit can be made." Governments that tax oil and gas taxes use the money in different ways. Some, like Norway, store it away for future generations in sovereign wealth funds. Other spend it on roads damaged by drilling, or invest in education. Governor Kasich of Ohio wants to cut taxes, which spreads the energy wealth. But Mark Haggerty at Headwaters Economics worries that makes the state budget more dependent on taxes from fossil fuels – a boom and bust sector.
Eastern Ohio pipeline hauling toxic mix catches fire - Columbus Dispatch - A pipeline carrying condensate, a toxic substance produced during natural gas and oil processing, caught fire in eastern Ohio early this morning. It burned several acres of Monroe County woodland before the pipeline pressure dropped low enough for the fire to burn itself out. Keevert said the fire started sometime after 2 a.m. near Cameron, in the eastern part of Monroe County and about 130 miles east of Columbus. It burned for several hours. Firefighters left the scene around 7:30 a.m. The line that caught fire was an 8-inch-diameter pipe that runs between eastern Ohio and a natural-gas processing plant in Natrium, W.Va., which is about 30 miles south of Wheeling along the Ohio River. The plant, Dominion Transmission’s Natrium Processing and Fractionation Facility, started operating about a year ago and is part of a joint venture between Dominion and Caiman Energy II. The pipeline that caught fire is run by that jointly held company, as is the Natrium processing facility. “We are investigating the cause of the incident and have notified all of the proper authorities,” . “There is no threat to the public and, at this time, we believe that there is minimal impact to the area immediately adjacent to the failure. Cleanup operations are underway.”
Major Gas Leak from Sheared Well Head near Steubenville, Ohio: A gas well leak is causing major evacuations in Jefferson County. Officials say it happened near Fernwood State Park and the Mingo Sportsmen’s Club. The specific location is along Township Road 187 near County Road 26. We’re told the call came in around 7:45pm. Officials say residents could hear and smell the gas, which we’re told is natural and methane gas. Officials believe that a well head owned by American Energy Partners sheered off. There is no fire but that is a concern. The Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency has issued a 1 mile radius mandatory evacuation. Officials have opened up the community center in Brilliant for residents if they need a place to stay. Residents will be unable to return to the area until the leak is fixed. To do that, a specialized group from Houston is being brought in. Call United Way at 2-1-1 for information. United Way is providing shelter at the Wells Twp. Senior Center, Smithfield Volunteer Fire Department, and Buckeye North Elementary in Brilliant. Here are the roadways affected by the mandatory evacuation:
Fracking-well explosion forces more than 400 families from Ohio homes - Columbus Dispatch - Poole, who lives above the Mingo Sportsmans Club less than a mile from the well, was one of about 400 families to be evacuated after the well ruptured on Tuesday night, spewing natural gas and methane into the air. Jefferson County’s emergency-management officials worried about what those gases could do to people and homes. Methane can become explosive in small amounts, and can cause headaches and dizziness. Poole didn’t have those symptoms, but the blowout left him worried. “What if I had been out there fishing and this thing had blown up?” he asked. “I’d have been instantly dead.” The well, which had been fracked to provide natural gas, is in Bloomingdale, a small village about 15 miles southwest of Steubenville and 140 miles east of Columbus. It is run by a subsidiary of American Energy Partners, which was founded by Aubrey McClendon, former CEO of Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. Jesse Comart, a spokesman for American Energy Partners, said in a prepared statement that the company brought in Boots and Coots, a well emergency-response company owned by Halliburton and based in Texas, to shut down the well and stop the gases from leaking into the air. Bethany McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said the department is investigating the cause of the well failure. Most residents were allowed to return to their homes by Tuesday night. Poole spent the night with family in a nearby village. The experience left him worried for his home and for the woods and lakes where he likes to hunt, hike and fish. “They’re telling everybody, ‘Oh, this is perfectly, 100 percent safe, it’s safe safe safe safe, it’s not hurting the water, it’s not hurting the air,’” he said. “Well, why were we evacuated last night?” He questioned why American Energy Partners hadn’t trained emergency responders in Ohio, rather than relying on a team that had to be flown in from Texas. “What if this happens again?” he said. “Are we in the same boat, we gotta call these people in Houston, have them come up here and fix this?”
Fracking Evacuation Raises New Concerns In Ohio | WBNS-10TV Columbus (video) Last night barricades went up, and people moved out, after a mandatory evacuation went out in Jefferson County after a frack well leaked natural gas and fluid into the air. "It's powerfully toxic if it gets in your community and neighborhood and you're breathing it," said Carolyn Harding, an anti-fracking activist. "I'm not afraid of it. What I am afraid of is that we are going to embrace it so fast, so furiously that we will create too many sacrifice zones. Harding says leaks like the one in Steubenville serve as a reminder of the risks associated with fracking. Anti-fracking rallies, like one in Columbus earlier this year, are not uncommon. And while Gov John Kasich told an audience yesterday "this industry is fantastic for this state," he also quickly added, "it has to be regulated. And they have to pay their fair share as they deplete our resources in this state." The oil and gas industry in Ohio has fought Kasich on everything from regulations to a higher severance tax. "The oil companies told me 'we don't care about the severance tax' and then they fought it," said Kasich. "And then they told me 'we think we need good regulations' and we couldn't get that through either, but we did because we got the Democrats to help us."
OH. Frack ! Ohio to Displace Fracklahoma as World Capital of Frackquakes ? -- Move over Fracklahoma, there’s a new frackquake contender, Ohio, who is fast catching up as a frackquake epicenter. Not just on disposal wells, but on the fracks themselves. Before 2011 three Ohio Counties: Harrison, Mahoning and Trumbull had no known earthquakes. Since then, the earthquake total is over 1,000. All of the earthquakes were human induced due to fracking for shale gas. The quakes are restricted to four locations, two housing injection wells and two fracking well pads. (table, references)
Oil and gas and earthquakes - Numerous studies have found earthquakes to be connected with hydraulic fracturing, and Ohio oil and gas regulators are dealing with the implications, reports Columbus Business First. Earthquakes have been linked to wastewater disposal wells, or the injection of fracking fluids back into the earth, but the quakes created are generally too low magnitude for people to notice. One instance, near Youngstown, Ohio, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) determined there was “a probable connection to hydraulic fracturing near a previously unknown microfault,” prompting more strict monitoring rules. Although Ohio has not had any noticeable earthquakes since then, a science journal has recently published a study that linked oil and gas drilling to earthquakes in Harrison County. The largest magnitudes registered between 1.7 and 2.2 on the Richter scale. It usually isn’t until earthquakes reach magnitudes of 3.0 or higher that people will notice effects, though. The quakes, which occurred in October 2013, would have been enough to bring oil and gas drilling operations to a halt had the ODNR’s more strict rules been in place. But despite the low magnitudes of the quakes, regulators in Ohio and Oklahoma are trying to determine the connection between various energy development activities and the recent influx of seismic disturbances, as well as trying to determine how to manage public concern.
Toxic air samples found at drill sites in Ohio, five other states - Akron Beacon Journal –– Community members from six states -- Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wyoming -- sampled the air near oil and gas facilities, including fracking sites, and found that the air contains dangerous toxics that are linked to health problems. Athens County Fracking Action Network and Appalachia Resist! worked together to obtain air samples near injection wells and open frack waste pits. Monitoring results from the 6-state sampling project showed that some chemical levels were hundreds of times higher than what some federal agencies have determined to be “safe.” The monitoring results were released today in a new report titled Warning Signs: Toxic Air Pollution at Oil and Gas Development Sites. The report was released alongside a peer-reviewed article, entitled, “Air concentrations of volatile compounds near oil and gas production: A community-based exploratory study,” published today in the journal Environmental Health. The air monitoring activities were coordinated by Coming Clean and Global Community Monitorand involved more than 12 community organizations in the six states, along with numerous national health, science and sustainable business organizations. The groups conducted air testing because community members think that they are being sickened by chemicals from nearby oil and gas facilities. Among the states, samples were taken at locations representing various phases of oil and gas extraction and production, including well pads, compressor stations and waste pits.
Groundbreaking Study Finds Cancer-Causing Air Pollution Near Fracking Sites » The air quality near fracking sites and other gas and oil operations may not be safe to breathe, according to a new study Air Concentrations of Volatile Compounds Near Oil and Gas Production: A Community-Based Exploratory Study, published today in the journal Environmental Health. “Horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and other drilling and well stimulation technologies are now used widely in the United States and increasingly in other countries,” the report stated. “They enable increases in oil and gas production, but there has been inadequate attention to human health impacts.” And the analysis of the air samples gathered in Arkansas, Colorado, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wyoming near oil and gas facilities, including fracking sites, found that those impacts could be considerable. They found numerous toxic chemicals that can cause a host of health problems including asthma, headaches and birth defects—in some cases in amounts hundreds of times higher than what is considered safe. It found levels of eight volatile chemicals that exceeded federal guidelines for health-based risk, especially benzene, formaldehyde and hydrogen sulfate. The study cites five reasons why the health impacts of oil and gas extraction and processing operations haven’t been more widely studied: more focus on threats to water supplies, limited state air quality monitoring networks, a still-evolving understanding of how certain oil and gas production processes contribute to air quality, variations in emissions and their concentrations, and research that overlooks impacts of importance to residents.
Fracking emits more formaldehyde than medical students experience from dead bodies - Telegraph: Fracking can pollute the air with carcinogenic formaldehyde at levels twice as high as medical students experience when dissecting dead bodies, a new report has found. Tests around shale gas wells in the US also found that levels of benzene were up to 770,000 higher than usual background quantities. The quantities were up to 33 times the concentration that drivers can smell when filling up with fuel at a petrol station. Levels of hydrogen sulfide, were also up to 60,000 times an acceptable odour threshold. The exposure a person would get in five minutes at one Wyoming site is equivalent to that living in Los Angeles for two years or Beijing for eight and half months.Tests have shown that one hour of exposure to chemicals at that level would cause fatigue, loss of appetite, headache, irritability, poor memory and dizziness. Both benzene and formaldehyde cause cancer. "Community-based monitoring near unconventional oil and gas operations has found dangerous elevations in concentration of hazardous air pollutants under a range of circumstances,” said Lead researcher, David Carpenter from the University at Albany in New York. “Our findings can be used to inform and calibrate state monitoring and research programs."
Fracking Study: High Levels Of Poisonous Chemicals Found Near Oil-And-Gas Drilling Sites In Five States -- High concentrations of airborne chemicals were recorded near oil-and-gas drilling sites in five states, a new study found. The report is the latest attempt by scientists and researchers to quantify how the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may affect Americans’ health. Eight harmful chemicals appeared near wells and fracking sites in Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wyoming at levels far above what federal regulators consider to be safe. The most common of the bunch were benzene -- a compound known to cause cancer in humans -- and formaldehyde, which is associated with certain types of cancer. “This is a significant public health risk,” Dr. David Carpenter, the study’s lead author and director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at Albany State University of New York, told U.S. News & World Report. At one site, benzene levels were five times the federal limit. “You could practically just light a match and have an explosion with that concentration,” he said. “It’s an indication of how leaky these systems are.” The study, published Thursday in the journal of Environmental Health, relied on data from 35 air samples taken at 11 sites on homes and farms near fracking sites. Participating citizens were trained by Global Community Monitor, an environmental justice group, and collected the samples during periods of heavy industrial activity, or when residents experienced headaches, nausea or other health issues. Another 41 “passive” tests were conducted to test for formaldehyde. “All the attention being paid just to pollution to water from fracking has been misplaced,” Carpenter told the Albany Times Union, a New York newspaper. “Our tests show that the air around gas sites is much more dangerous.”
Toxic Chemicals and Carcinogens Skyrocket Near Fracking Sites, Study Says - US News --Oil and gas wells across the country are spewing “dangerous" cancer-causing chemicals into the air, according to a new study that further corroborates reports of health problems around hydraulic fracturing sites. “This is a significant public health risk,” says Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany-State University of New York and lead author of the study, which was published Thursday in the journal Environmental Health. “Cancer has a long latency, so you’re not seeing an elevation in cancer in these communities. But five, 10, 15 years from now, elevation in cancer is almost certain to happen.” Eight poisonous chemicals were found near wells and fracking sites in Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wyoming at levels that far exceeded recommended federal limits. Benzene, a carcinogen, was the most common, as was formaldehyde, which also has been linked to cancer. Hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs and can affect the brain and upper-respiratory system, also was found. “I was amazed,” Carpenter says. “Five orders of magnitude over federal limits for benzene at one site – that’s just incredible. You could practically just light a match and have an explosion with that concentration.
Fracked Sick -- High Levels of Dangerous Chemicals Found Near Fracking. A five-state study raises new questions about the health impacts of fracking. Dirk DeTurck had a years-old rash that wouldn’t go away, his wife’s hair came out in chunks, and anytime they lingered outside their house for more than an hour, splitting headaches set in. They were certain the cause was simply breathing the air in Greenbrier, Arkansas, the rural community to which they’d retired a decade ago. They blamed the gas wells around them. But state officials didn’t investigate. So DeTurck leapt at the chance to help with research that posed a pressing question: What’s in the air near oil and gas production sites?The answer—in many of the areas monitored for the peer-reviewed study, published today in the journalEnvironmental Health—is “potentially dangerous compounds and chemical mixtures” that can make people feel ill and raise their risk of getting cancer. “The implications for health effects are just enormous,” said David O. Carpenter, the paper’s senior author and director of the University at Albany’s Institute for Health and the Environment. The study monitored air at locations in five states: Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming.In 40 percent of the air samples, laboratory tests found benzene, formaldehyde, or other toxic substances associated with oil and gas production that were above levels the federal government considers safe for brief or longer-term exposure. Far above, in some cases.
Fracking = Cancer. Any Questions ? -- Complete study here: http://www.ehjournal.net/
content/13/1/82 - Summary at the bottom of this news report. Oil and gas wells across the country are spewing “dangerous” cancer-causing chemicals into the air, according to a new study that further corroborates reports of health problems around hydraulic fracturing sites.“This is a significant public health risk,” says Dr. David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany-State University of New York and lead author of the study, which was published Thursday in the journal Environmental Health. “Cancer has a long latency, so you’re not seeing an elevation in cancer in these communities. But five, 10, 15 years from now, elevation in cancer is almost certain to happen.” Eight poisonous chemicals were found near wells and fracking sites in Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wyoming at levels that far exceeded recommended federal limits. Benzene, a carcinogen, was the most common, as was formaldehyde, which also has been linked to cancer. Hydrogen sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs and can affect the brain and upper-respiratory system, also was found. “I was amazed,” Carpenter says. “Five orders of magnitude over federal limits for benzene at one site – that’s just incredible. You could practically just light a match and have an explosion with that concentration. “It’s an indication of how leaky these systems are.”
The Scary Facts About Fracking - Across the country, fracking has contaminated drinking water sources, made nearby residents sick, turned pristine landscapes into industrial zones, and caused air and global warming pollution. The oil and gas industry has spent untold millions of dollars on advertising and public relations campaigns to convince the public that fracking is necessary and safe, but their efforts have included distortions of the truth or outright falsehoods. Environment America researchers have compiled the top five fictions spread by the oil and gas industry and their allies, followed by the facts from our report, Fracking by the Numbers, and other sources, that refute them. The truth will scare you!
Building Trades Chief Lauds Fracking Boom, Shrugs Off Environmental Concerns - In its quest for jobs, the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) of the AFL-CIO hasn't shied away from taking on environmentalists and progressives. The latest flashpoint is fracking, the controversial drilling practice propelling the nation's fossil fuel energy boom. On Tuesday, October 14, the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee released a report by Dr. Robert Bruno and Michael Cornfield of the University of Illinois which found that from 2008 to 2014, oil and gas development created 45,000 new jobs in the Marcellus Shale region—an area that includes parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The data came from the BCTD; the National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee, a joint labor-management committee that oversees collective bargaining agreements in the construction industry; and Industrial Info Resources, a third party specializing in "global market intelligence." Two days later, BCTD president Sean McGarvey, who also serves as chair of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee and whose union is a member of the committee, praised the report and defended the thriving industry."Oil and gas industry spending in the Marcellus Shale region has led to significant increases in construction and maintenance jobs," McGarvey told reporters on a conference call. "At a time when the U.S. construction industry was in the midst of what was arguably a depression, ... one of the few, if not only, bright spots, were the jobs that were created by virtue of domestic oil and gas development."
Public Trust in Pennsylvania Regulators Erodes Further Over Flawed Fracking Study -- Pennsylvania regulators used flawed methodology to conclude that air pollution from natural gas development doesn't cause health problems. The revelation has further eroded trust in an embattled state agency. The news was first reported Monday by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The paper cited court documents that show how air quality studies conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection in 2010 and 2011 failed to analyze the health risks of 25 chemicals. The studies also didn't report some instances where high pollutant levels were detected. The evidence came from statements of two DEP scientists who were deposed in a lawsuit. Their depositions call into question the report's conclusion that the air sampling found no health risks from shale development. The DEP "did not identify concentrations of any compound that would likely trigger air-related health issues associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities," the study's executive summary said. Two later DEP air sampling studies from 2011 used the same methodology. All three reports have been cited by Pennsylvania regulators and industry to support drilling activity.
Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline Wouldn’t Have A Major Impact On The Environment, FERC Rules - A new 124-mile natural gas pipeline could soon be running from Pennsylvania to New York, after a federal agency found the project won’t have a major impact on the environment. Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released a final environmental impact statement for the Constitution pipeline, which would run from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY. In it, FERC stated that though the pipeline would have “some adverse environmental impacts,” adhering to environmental recommendations from FERC would result in the impacts being “reduced to less than significant levels.” The pipeline, which is being built by Williams, Cabot Oil & Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas and WGL Holdings, would carry up to 650 million cubic feet of gas per day. If the pipeline gets all the necessary approvals — now that FERC has released its review, the project must be approved by New York state — the companies want to start construction in February and finish the project by 2015. As the Times-Tribune reports, the pipeline as it’s now routed crosses over 289 bodies of water, which means that, for many of these crossings, the pipeline company will have to dam the stream or divert water away from the area where they install the pipeline. For a few crossings, the company will lay the pipeline underneath the stream.
Frack Pizza Time ! -- Everybody run ! Call Homeland Security. Fracked well causes
evacuation of entire Pennsylvania town. Everybody gets a pizza ! “A mandatory evacuation has been ordered for a two mile radius after a gas well head was sheared off by crews working at a site near Cross Creek Twp. 187 and County Road 26. The order has been issued by the Jefferson County Office of Homeland Security and EMA. Pizza Hut and Dominos have been alerted. Two shelters are in place if evacuees need a place to go. They are at the Smithfield Fire Department and Wells Township Community Center. There are two buses at the New Alexandria Fire Department available for transportation to the shelters. The well is not on fire, but it is leaking natural and methane gasses according to Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla. He said there is a risk of explosion. Pizzas have been ordered. The Smackover Pizza Shop and the Daisy Bradford Pizza Parlor will remain open.Abdalla said crews will be flying in from Texas to cap the leaking well, and that windy conditions are helping to dissipate the gas. “Plus, we’re ordering a truckload of more pizzas, just in case.” Numerous fire departments and law enforcement agencies are on scene, and going door to door to help evacuate residents and hand out the free pizza + a large Coke coupons.
Pennsylvania Congressman Launches Investigation Into His State’s Fracking Rules -- A Pennsylvania congressman just launched an investigation into how his state deals with fracking waste, the Center for Public Integrity reports. Rep. Matt Cartwright, a first-term Democrat representing Pennsylvania’s 17th congressional district, sent a letter to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Wednesday, requesting “information about the state regulatory process for monitoring the handling and disposal of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) waste.”Fracking has led to a fossil fuel production boom in North America over the last few years, and made Pennsylvania the third-largest natural gas producer in the country after Texas and Louisiana. Fracking also leaves behind a host of toxic, sometimes even radioactive, pollutants, including fracking chemicals, sludge, fluids, rig wash, and more. A staff report by the House Energy and Commerce Committee identified 29 of the chemicals in fracking waste as known carcinogens, risks to human health and the Safe Drinking Water Act, and hazardous pollutants under the Clean Air Act.And thanks to an exemption in federal regulations, oversight of that waste and how to dispose of it falls to state governments. So Cartwright and the other Democrats on a the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs — part of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — are going to take a look at how Pennsylvania law specifically handles that duty.
Dozens Protest Methane Gas Storage Project on Seneca Lake - This proposed project has faced unparalleled public opposition due to unresolved questions about geological instabilities, fault lines, possible salinization of the lake and public health concerns. Even though Capital New York investigation revealed this month that Gov. Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) excised references to the risks of underground gas storage from a 2011 federal report on methane contamination of drinking water and has allowed key data to remain hidden, Crestwood still received federal approval to move forward with the construction of this methane gas storage project. “Crestwood is threatening our water, our local economy and our families,” said Doug Couchon of Elmira, another resident participating in today’s blockade. “We’ve tried everything to stop this disastrous project, and now peaceful civil disobedience is our last resort.” Protestors are outraged that Crestwood was given approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to store two billion cubic feet of methane (natural gas) in the caverns along the western shore of Seneca Lake where the New York State DEC temporarily halted plans to stockpile propane and butane (LPG) due to ongoing concerns for safety, health and the environment.
10, Including Biologist Sandra Steingraber, Arrested as Human Blockade of Methane Gas Storage Facility Continues - Ten people were arrested yesterday after blockading the gates of Texas-based Crestwood methane gas storage facility. Seven were arrested at the north gate, blockading a truck, and charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing. Three were arrested at the south gate and charged with trespassing. All have been released and have a Nov. 5 court date.After blockading the gates of Texas-based Crestwood methane gas storage facility on the shore of New York ’s Seneca Lake for two days last week, including a rally with more than 200 people, the human blockade continues. For the second morning in a row this week, the “ We Are Seneca Lake” protesters are blocking the Crestwood gate with protesters expanding the blockade to include a second driveway. With last Friday marking the day that the construction project on this huge gas storage facility was authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to begin, community members, after pursuing every other avenue to stop this project, are participating in ongoing nonviolent civil disobedience as a last resort. “We are not going away,” said renowned biologist and author Sandra Steingraber, PhD. “The campaign against dangerous gas storage in abandoned salt caverns near our beloved lake will continue with political pressure on our elected officials—who should be protecting our drinking water, our health and our wine, and tourism-based economy—and nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.”
Anti-Fracking Leader, 9 Others Arrested At Upstate Protest « CBS New York: — A leader of the anti-fracking movement in New York state was among 10 people arrested Wednesday during protests at an upstate natural gas storage facility, located in a depleted Finger Lakes salt mine. Joseph Campbell of We Are Seneca Lake said the group has been blocking gates each day since Thursday of last week at Houston-based Crestwood Midstream’s operations in Watkins Glen. They are opposed to Crestwood’s planned expansion of natural gas storage in depleted salt mines. The expansion has Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval.Opponents said the natural gas storage project and another to store propane in salt caverns would bring heavy industry, truck traffic and a risk of disastrous accidents to a region that thrives on tourism, agriculture and winemaking.Schuyler County Sheriff William Yessman said the protesters were charged with trespassing. Seven were also charged with disorderly conduct. They will answer the charges in Town of Reading Court on Nov. 5.Among those arrested was Sandra Steingraber, a biologist and author who is co-founder of Concerned Health Professionals of New York, a group opposed to shale gas development using high-volume hydraulic fracturing.
Dead babies near oil drilling sites raise questions for researchers - The smartphone-sized grave marker is nearly hidden in the grass at Rock Point Cemetery. The name printed on plastic-coated paper — Beau Murphy — has been worn away. Only the span of his life remains. "June 18, 2013 - June 18, 2013" For some reason, one that is not known and may never be, Beau and a dozen other infants died in this oil-booming basin last year. Was this spike a fluke? Bad luck? Or were these babies victims of air pollution fed by the nearly 12,000 oil and gas wells in one of the most energy-rich areas in the country? Some scientists whose research focuses on the effect of certain drilling-related chemicals on fetal development believe there could be a link. But just raising that possibility raises the ire of many who live in and around Vernal. Drilling has been an economic driver and part of the fabric of life here since the 1940s. And if all that energy development means the Uintah Basin has a particularly nasty problem with pollution, so be it, many residents say. Don't blame drilling for baby deaths that obituaries indicate were six times higher than the national average last year. "People like to blame stuff on that all the time, but I don't feel like it has anything to do with oil and gas. I just feel like it's a trial I was given," said Heather Jensen, whose two infant sons are buried near Beau. One died in late 2011 and another early in 2013. Questions about drilling's possible effect on infants and the unborn aren't confined to this northeast corner of Utah. Late in 2013, an unusually high number of fetal anomalies in Glenwood Springs, 175 miles away in Colorado, were reported to state authorities. A study found no connection with drilling.
Poisoned by the shale? Investigations leave questions in oil tank deaths -- Dustin Bergsing was 21 and six weeks a father when he arrived here at Marathon Oil Corp.’s Buffalo 34-12H well pad, a square of red gravel carved into a low hill. By dawn, he was dead. A co-worker found him shortly after midnight, slumped below the open hatch of a tank of Bakken Shale crude oil. It was Bergsing’s job to pop the hatch and record how much was inside. An autopsy found he died of “hydrocarbon poisoning due to inhalation of petroleum vapors.” An environmental engineer in Marathon’s Dickinson , N.D. , regional office heard about it a few days later. He’d been warning his bosses they were creating a dangerous buildup of lethal gases in their tanks. But, he said, they ignored him. “With that excessive gas, you get lightheaded,” he said in a sworn statement to the attorney for Bergsing’s family, Fred Bremseth. “It would be just like carbon monoxide. You’re gonna doze off, and Katy bar the doors, man — you’re dead.” . Bergsing died in January 2012. At least three other men have died this way during the Bakken Shale boom, found lifeless on steel catwalks, next to the hatches they’d opened to measure the bounty of the shale.
Is the way the state handles oil & gas complaints criminal? - When two Colorado-based green criminologists turned to examine the heated local issue of oil and gas development with their area of focus in mind — not what is a crime, but what should be considered a c