EARTHblog
Unique Opportunity to Protect Wild and Scenic Chetco River
Once in a while an opportunity comes along, where all the pieces come together just at the right moment. This is that moment for Oregon's Chetco River. Despite its wild and scenic designation, the Chetco is still vulnerable to mining under the 1872 mining law, which prioritizes mining over all other land uses.
The Forest Service recently released an environmental assessment (EA) that makes it clear that suction dredge mining would threaten the outstanding values for which the area was designated - fisheries, water quality and recreation. It emphasizes that these values are critical to the local economy, and they can only be protected through a mineral withdrawal.
Tagged with: chetco river, oregon, suction dredge mining
Wrong. A fracking company HAS volunteered to participate in EPA’s study.
Sometimes, you are just wrong. Not inaccurate. Not mischaracterized. Just wrong.
Unfortunately for me, that is what I was in describing the fracking industry’s universal unwillingness to participate in prospective testing (before drilling/fracking and after) case studies in the Environmental Protection Agency’s research into the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water sources.
Tagged with: fracking, environmental protection agency, chesapeake, fracking study, wrong
Energy in Depth shows truth of Promised Land
It's no surprise the gas industry doesn't care for Focus Feature's new movie Promised Land.
Even prior to it's January 4 nationwide release the drilling industry was planning its attack on the script, written by Matt Damon and co-star John Krasinski and based on a story by Dave Eggers.
In an interview earlier this year journalist and filmmaker Phelim McAleer tried to cast doubt on the edgy plot twist where Krasinski's character, Dustin Noble, an eco-activist, turns out to be working under cover for the very same company which employees Steve, the landman played by Damon.
Tagged with: fracking, psyops, promised land, energy in depth
The Haile Gold Mine, the Loopholes, the Permitting, and the Push Eastward
The Haile Mine near Kershaw, South Carolina first struck gold in 1827. Back then, the Carolinas lead the nation in gold mining until California’s 1849 Gold Rush drove our Manifest Destiny westward. Since then, most hardrock mining has occurred in the Mountain West where large tracts of public land allow mining companies to remove America’s precious metals for free under the 1872 mining law.
Tagged with: mining reform, clean water act, loopholes, permitting, 1872, haile
Frackers, not EPA, are dodging water contamination issue
CORRECTION: An important part of this blog post is incorrect. One fracking company, Chesapeake Energy, has volunteered to take part in a prospective (before drilling/fracking and after) case study with EPA.
The AP ran a story yesterday titled EPA's Fracking Study May Dodge Water Contamination Frequency Issue. That title is misleading.
Because if EPA’s final draft doesn’t address the frequency of water contamination, it will be fracking companies -- not EPA -- that did the dodging.
Study of Hydraulic Fracturing and Its Potential Impact on Drinking Water Resources, is the first extensive federal scientific inquiry into the impacts of fracking. Earthworks applauds it.
As part of that study, EPA wants to test groundwater quality near an oil or gas well drill site, before drilling/fracking and after. It’s only common sense that a study of fracking’s impacts on water would involve testing whether fracking impacts water.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, disclosure, loopholes, fracking study
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