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EARTHWORKS in the News
Frack fricasee
High Country News | Sarah Gilman
May 8, 2012
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If you want evidence that it’s an election year, look no further than this press release from the Department of the Interior. It announces the department's first-ever regulations (pdf) for certain federal lands covering several aspects of that ever controversial practice, hydraulic fracturing, wherein millions of gallons of water, plus measures of sand and chemicals, are fired into a wellbore under pressure to break up oil and gas-bearing geological formations thousands of feet below the ground and release their bounty to the surface.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, regulation, doi
Shale Gas Developers Might Have to Disclose Fracking Chemicals
Energybiz | Ken Silverstein
May 7, 2012
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Both manufacturers and environmentalists are now left “scratching their heads” after the Obama administration has proposed new shale gas rules. Some businesses are befuddled why this kind of oversight is not left exclusively to the states while all greenies want to know why certain drillers are opposed to federal standards.
At issue is a proposal released last week by the U.S. Department of Interior that would require shale gas developers to reveal the chemicals they use while exploring for shale gas on public lands. In some places around the country, those chemicals are blamed for polluting ground water that comes out of faucets. By disclosing such processes, the explorers could potentially avert public criticism and earn the goodwill they need to improve the fortunes of shale gas.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, disclosure, chemicals
Critics: Fracking proposals fall short
UPI
May 7, 2012
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WASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should call on energy companies to ban the use of diesel in so-called fracking fluid for natural gas, critics say.
Advocacy groups claim energy policies aren't strict enough for hydraulic fracturing. The EPA last week issued draft permitting guidance for wells that use diesel fuels during hydraulic fracturing, known also as fracking.
Proposed federal fracking rules draw fire at Colorado hearing
Denver Post | Mark Jaffe
May 2, 2012
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A proposal for federal regulations on the use of "fracking" in oil land gas development on federal land drew fire from Utah, Wyoming and Colorado officials at a congressional hearing in Denver today.
The officials said state rules adequately oversee the process in which thousands or millions of gallons of fluid are pumped into wells to fracture rock to release oil and gas.
"There is no need for the federal government to step in and insert itself into a process that is working well," said Kathleen Clarke, director of the Utah Office of Public Land Policy Coordination.
Tagged with: fracking, colorado, natural resources committee, testimony, hearing
Fracking dominates the debate at Capitol
Durango Herald | Joe Hanel
May 2, 2012
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DENVER – Washington came to Colorado on Wednesday as a debate rages about who should regulate natural-gas and oil drilling.
The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a field hearing at the state Capitol to decry proposed federal oversight of hydraulic fracturing. Later in the day, state representatives wrestled with a Republican bill to punish cities and counties that stand in the way of drilling as well as a Democratic bill to strengthen state rules about fracking.
Tagged with: fracking, natural gas, colorado, house subcommittee on energy and mineral resources
Crucifixion, Indeed
Fort Worth Weekly
May 2, 2012
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Surprise and disappointment were tempered with hope this week from local environmentalists lamenting the recent resignation of Al Armendariz. The administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office quit on April 29 amid criticism about remarks he made in 2010. He used a crucifixion analogy to describe his strategy of enforcement with industry, and the remarks were posted on YouTube. Gas3U.S. Sen. James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, announced an investigation into what he described as the EPA’s “crucify them” strategy to keep the oil and gas industry in line with the agency’s guidelines. It’s probably no coincidence that Inhofe’s primary backers include the coal and petroleum industries.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, dr. al
EPA Official Trumpets Gas Industry as Top Lieutenant Gets Crucified
Press Action
May 2, 2012
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In the wake of the resignation of a high-ranking U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official who used the word “crucify” to describe his philosophy of enforcement against polluters, other agency officials are determined not to make further utterances that could offend the oil and gas sector and other polluting industries. In fact, the agency is going out of its way to sing natural gas’ praises.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, dr. al
EPA: Texas pollution feud will continue, despite Armendariz’s resignation
E&E | Gabriel Nelson
May 1, 2012
Al Armendariz had been administrator of U.S. EPA's Region 6 for six months when he went to a council meeting in Dish, Texas, a small town where pipelines carrying natural gas converge and compressor stations hum.
The date was May 10, 2010, and Armendariz tried to reassure the people of Dish that EPA would protect them from the toxic chemicals that the town's residents suspect are being released into their air and water as drillers tap into the Barnett Shale.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, dr. al
Resignation at EPA is cheered and bemoaned
Star-Telegram | Jim Fuquay
May 1, 2012
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The resignation Monday of Al Armendariz, the controversial regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency, was cheered by many Texas officials and bemoaned by environmental activists, leaving it unclear how his departure may affect regulatory enforcement of gas drilling operations.
Armendariz, a longtime advocate of tougher pollution rules for industry, was appointed by President Barack Obama to the EPA's Region 6 office, which oversees Texas and four other states. While a professor at Southern Methodist University, he gained public notice in 2009 with a study asserting that natural gas operations in the Barnett Shale gave off more emissions than all the region's cars and trucks combined.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, dr. al
Oil Industry Fought EPA Texas Chief Who Quit in ‘Crucify’ Furor
Business Week | Mark Drajem and Jim Snyder
May 1, 2012
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Before the notice was issued, the top official in Texas for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alerted health advocates that an emergency order was being issued against gas-driller Range Resources Corp. (RRC) (RRC)
“We’re about to make a lot of news,” Al Armendariz, who resigned yesterday as administrator for EPA Region 6 in Dallas, wrote in the 2010 e-mail. “Thank you all for your continued support and friendship.”
For critics, the advance word is just one example of a cozy relationship with environmentalists, ties they say led Armendariz to be an adversary to the oil and gas industry and a symbol of what lobbyists say is a hostile administration.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, dr. al
OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Drilling down on gas ‘fracking’
The Hill Blog | Ben Geman
April 30, 2012
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State of play: A top Environmental Protection Agency official will discuss the agency’s study of the environmental and health effects of the natural-gas development method known as “fracking” on Tuesday.
EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe will appear on the second day of a conference on shale gas extraction hosted by the National Academies’s Institute of Medicine.
The Institute has convened an array of public health professionals and other experts for the event, a wonky conference that’s unfolding amid political battles over fracking.
Click here for much more and a link to the webcast.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, dr. al
Riches or ruins? Lessons from Barnett Shale (video)
Victoria Advocate | Dianna Wray
April 29, 2012
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GODLEY - For a moment, they are standing in a timeless place.
It almost seems possible that the buffalo herds that once roamed the plains could reappear, that the men who worked the Chisholm Trail might materialize on the ridge of the neighboring hill in North Texas.
Bobby and Maureen Green stood on their back porch. They have lived on this hilltop just outside of Fort Worth for decades, a spot where the sloping green hills of the prairie meet the vast expanse of the plains.
Tagged with: fracking, texas, barnett shale
Residents’ tests detect benzene at well site, but Colleyville disagrees
Star-Telegram | Nicholas Sakelaris
April 25, 2012
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COLLEYVILLE -- Rather than take the city's word about air quality at a fracking site, three homeowners who live near it shelled out their own money to monitor emissions.
What they found has caused debate on whether Titan Operating violated Colleyville's drilling ordinance and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's limits for short- and long-term exposure to chemicals called volatile organic compounds.
The city has only one approved drilling site, and Titan conducted hydraulic fracturing operations on seven gas wells there Jan. 31 through Feb. 16. No pipeline has connected to the site, so the wells were capped.
Tagged with: fracking, texas, air testing, citizen monitoring, titan, colleyville
State and EPA Battle Over Fracking, Flaming Well Water
Houston Press | Brantley Hargrove
April 25, 2012
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"Look at that," he said in awe as the flame, liquid and sinuous, licked the rural darkness outside his home in Parker County. "It's getting bigger. Holy cow! Look at that. We're up to five feet. That's not even, what, 25 minutes? We could do this a lot bigger."
As the fire blazed and was recorded on a video camera during the summer of 2010, water poured from a nearby length of pipe atop the well that once supplied drinking water to his family's home. Since at least Christmas the year before, Lipsky would testify later, his submersible pump had coughed, sputtered and struggled to fill a 5,000-gallon holding tank with water. He hired a well-service tech to replace the pump, but found a very different problem: natural gas, and lots of it.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, clean water, citizen monitoring
Tests find air emissions of toxic chemicals from a gas well, environmental group says
Dallas News | Randy Lee Loftis
April 24, 2012
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Citizen-funded tests found air emissions of toxic chemicals from a natural gas well at the city limits between Colleyville and Southlake, an environmental group said Tuesday.
Some of the chemicals detected during a gas company’s hydraulic fracturing operation in February were at levels higher than Texas guidelines for long- or short-term exposure, the group said.
Private residents of Colleyville and Southlake paid for the monitoring and the analysis by a lab
Tagged with: fracking, texas, air testing, titan, colleyville
Colleyville residents claim independent study shows fracking emissions dangerous, city refutes
CW 33 | Dawn Tongish
April 24, 2012
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COLLEYVILLE, TX—
Trevor Matheson did his homework when he moved from one end of affluent Southlake to the border of Colleyville, where he thought he was escaping urban drilling.
"We didn't want to live near a well," Matheson said.
But, Matheson says even with the move he didn't avoid drilling. A mile away on a Colleyville pad site, Matheson says some of his neighbors may have found poisons in the emissions.
"Is is concerning."
Tagged with: fracking, texas, air testing, titan, colleyville
Colleyville Debates Independent Findings Of Toxic Emissions At Gas Well
CBS DFW
April 24, 2012
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COLLEYVILLE (CBSDFW.COM) – Results from a test by environmental group the Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project, found emissions from a gas well near the Southlake border contained dangerous levels of toxic chemicals.
READ: Earthworks Accountability Project Statement
But the city debates those findings; an inspector hired by Colleyville said residents should not be alarmed.
Installation of said well, owned by Titan Operating along Pleasant Run Road, was a contentious issue. Three residents paid $1,000 to have the well tested in February. Results were announced Tuesday.
Tagged with: fracking, texas, air testing, titan, colleyville
Citizens contend fracking polluted air in Southlake, Colleyville
Dallas News | Randy Lee Loftis
April 24, 2012
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Private residents took air samples during Titan Operating's hydraulic fracturing of a natural gas well between the two cities. According to a news release Tuesday morning from Earthworks' Oil and Gas Accountability Project, an environmental organization, the tests found emissions of toxic chemicals, including some that were over Texas state guidelines for long- or short-term exposures.
Tagged with: fracking, texas, air emissions, titan, colleyville
Residents near Colleyville drill site do their own air testing
Star-Telegram | Nicholas Sakelaris
April 24, 2012
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COLLEYVILLE—Rather than take the city’s word for air quality at a fracking site, three homeowners who live near it have shelled out their own money to monitor air emissions.
Early results showed several potential violations of Colleyville’s drilling ordinance and state regulations for short and long-term exposure to toxic chemicals, according to Earthworks, an oil and gas accountability group.
The testing was done at three homes within 1,100 to 1,700 feet of the Titan Operating pad site at 7504 Pleasant Run Road near the border with Southlake. The site is the city's only approval gas well.
Tagged with: fracking, texas, air testing
EPA air-pollution rules for drilling mirror Colorado regulations
Denver Post | Mark Jaffe
April 18, 2012
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The federal Environmental Protection Agency issued rules today aimed at cutting air pollution at new oil and gas wells by 95 percent.
The rules seek to capture or destroy volatile organic chemicals — such as benzene, a known carcinogen — from the drilling and fracking of new wells, the EPA said.
In Colorado, the impact of the rules look to be limited as the state already regulates oil and gas emissions, but they could bring some additional controls to the West Slope, environmentalists and state regulators said.
Tagged with: epa, drilling, colorado, air rules
Cell phones for flowers
Examiner | Douglas Canter
April 18, 2012
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Hilary Lewis, an Earthworks staffer, sits behind a folding table under an open tent in Farragut Square Park. She wraps a yellow blanket around her shoulders, and she waits with two Golden Triangle employees for the next person to venture into the park on this rainy day to trade their used cell phone for potted daffodils.
It's April 18, 2012, the second of a two-day flowers-for-phones recycling drive by Earthworks, a DC-based national environmental advocacy group, and the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District, a non-profit private downtown DC business development corporation. "We got 110 cell phones yesterday," Hilary says, "and we usually get more on the second day."
Tagged with: recycle my cell phone, recycling, dc
Playing Nice?
Fort Worth Weekly | Andrew McLemore
April 11, 2012
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North Texas environmental activists frequently feel as though local officials ignore their protests against gas drilling, but it turns out it’s easy enough to get the federal government’s attention — if the FBI thinks you might be planning eco-terrorism.
That’s what happened to University of North Texas student Ben Kessler, a Marine veteran and dedicated activist on fracking, who spent several months last fall dodging FBI phone calls that he felt were attempts to intimidate him and pump him for information about legitimate, peaceful environmental groups. Kessler is an organizer with Rising Tide, an international network of environmental groups that sometimes employ civil disobedience as a protest tactic.
Tagged with: fracking, keystone xl, activism, ecoterrorism, fbi
Mining Pollutes the World’s Waterways
Care2 | Gina-Marie Cheeseman
March 28, 2012
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Mining companies are clearly not protecting the waterways near their mining operations. Mining companies dump more than 180 million tons of hazardous waste each year into rivers, lakes and oceans worldwide, according to a report by Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada. The amount of mine waste dumped a year is 1.5 times as much as all the municipal waste dumped in the U.S. landfills in 2009.
Mine processing wastes, called tailings, contain up to three dozen dangerous chemicals including arsenic, lead, mercury and processing chemicals like acids and cyanide. Waste rock, the extra rock that does not contain significant amounts of ore, can also produce acid and toxic contamination.
Tagged with: mining, gold, no dirty gold, water, tailings
Wyoming regulators wrong to guard fracking fluid contents, groups claim
Trib | Jeremy Fugleberg
March 26, 2012
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Wyoming regulators improperly protected the identity of the chemical content of fluids used in hydraulic fracturing, a handful of groups contend in a lawsuit filed late last week.
The groups — three environmental groups and one government watchdog organization — are suing the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission over its decision to protect some companies’ information as trade secrets.
“It’s time to take a look at how the regulations are working in practice,” said Shannon Anderson of the Powder River Basin Resource Council.
The Powder River Basin Resource Council, the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Earthworks and OMB Watch filed suit in Natrona County District Court on Thursday, with the assistance of Earthjustice.
Tagged with: fracking, wyoming, disclosure, chemicals
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks energy policy
Daily Times | Chuck Slothower
March 26, 2012
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FARMINGTON — The Obama administration is pursuing an "all-of-the-above" energy strategy encouraging the production of oil and gas along with alternatives, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said.
"We're the world's largest producer of natural gas, and we want to continue to do that," Vilsack said Thursday in an interview with The Daily Times.
With November's election heating up, the administration is working to get ahead of public anger about gas prices. Vilsack's interview came on the heels of President Barack Obama's visit to oil and gas fields in Maljamar.
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, energy, all-of-the-above, policy
Lawsuit asks WOGCC to review frac fluid trade secret exemptions
Oil and Gas Journal | Paula Dittrick
March 26, 2012
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The Powder River Basin Resource Council (PRBRC) and other groups asked Wyoming’s Seventh District Court to require the Wyoming Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) in Casper to disclose more information about chemicals used during hydraulic fracturing.
Other groups joining the lawsuit included the Wyoming Outdoor Council, Earthworks, and OMB Watch. Earthjustice, a law firm, filed the lawsuit on Mar. 23 on behalf of the groups citing concerns about the safety of Wyoming’s groundwater and drinking water.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, disclosure, chemicals
New report skewers Colorado oil and gas regulators for failing to enforce rules
Real Vail | Troy Hooper
March 22, 2012
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A new report blasts the state agency charged with regulating the oil and gas industry for failing to enforce its own rules.
There were 516 spills in 2011 but the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) only assessed five fines, according to the report that Earthworks released this week.
"The COGCC’s mission is to foster responsible oil and gas development by balancing drilling with protection of landowners, public health, and the environment," Gwen Lachelt, the director of Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project, said in a prepared statement. “Right now, the COGCC’s rules, like its mission statement, are just empty words on a page. There is no balance here."
Tagged with: fracking, drilling, enforcement, cogcc
Former Texas Mayor Files Complaint Against Range Resources Official, Attorney
Press Action
March 22, 2012
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Calvin Tillman, former mayor of DISH, Texas, on March 19 filed a formal complaint in Texas against David Poole, general counsel of Range Resources Corp., and Troy Okruhlik, an attorney at Harris, Finley & Bogle PC, which serves as outside counsel for Range Resources. In the complaint, Tillman alleged that Poole and Okruhlik violated provisions of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
Tillman said in his complaint, filed with the State Bar of Texas Chief Disciplinary Counsel’s Office, that Range Resources, via Poole and outside attorneys employed by Harris, Finley & Bogle, issued a subpoena for him in 2010 in a case—Scott and Rebecca Law vs. Range Resources Corporation and Range Texas Production LLC—for which he “had no knowledge of the merits” nor had ever had any correspondence with the plaintiffs in the case.
Tagged with: texas, range resources, psyops, supeona
Vapors Sicken Arlington
Fort Worth Weekly | Peter Gorman
March 21, 2012
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Residents of several Arlington neighborhoods where Chesapeake Energy is drilling for natural gas claim the vapor clouds released by certain stages of the operations are making them sick — and they’re challenging the company to allow outside monitoring of the emissions.
Numerous people living in the Fish Creek, Norwood, Oaks, and Interlochen neighborhoods say they are getting nosebleeds, headaches, and other ailments when Chesapeake conducts fracking: shooting millions of gallons of chemical-laced water deep into underground shale formations to release trapped natural gas.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, texas, chesapeake, arlington
Editorial: Take air quality issues seriously
Denver Post
March 21, 2012
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A growing body of evidence that suggests significant air pollution adjacent to oil and gas wells where hydraulic fracturing is used merits closer attention — both from officials who regulate operations and the industry itself.
As the boom in oil and gas operations has spread across Colorado, we have maintained that drilling should be encouraged and face minimal regulatory roadblocks, unless there are findings that demonstrate serious environmental impacts.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, colorado, clean air
Environmental group seeks more oil, gas inspectors
Coloradoan | Bobby Magill
March 21, 2012
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When a contractor for EOG Resources was caught dumping radioactive sand into an unpermitted and unlined pit on March 8 near Grover northeast of Fort Collins, it was a state oil and gas field inspector who caught the company in the act during a routine oil well field inspection.
The inspector, John Montoya, was one of only nine field inspectors employed by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, or COGCC - inspectors whose job it is to keep tabs on more than 46,835 active oil and gas wells across the entire state, according to COGCC data.
Tagged with: fracking, colorado, enforcement, cogcc
State lax on energy producers, group says
Durango Herald | Joe Hanel
March 20, 2012
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DENVER – Colorado natural-gas and oil inspectors rarely issue fines and oversee too many wells to do a good job of keeping the state’s people safe, an environmental group charged Tuesday in a new report.
The allegations from the Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project, based in Durango, are the latest shots that conservationists have fired at Gov. John Hickenlooper for his support of the natural-gas and oil industry.
Tagged with: colorado, enforcement, cogcc
Report: Colorado oil, gas regulators ‘inadequate,’ not enforcing rules
Colorado Independent | Troy Hooper
March 20, 2012
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A new report blasts the state agency charged with regulating the oil and gas industry for failing to enforce its own rules.
There were 516 spills in 2011 but the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) only assessed five fines, according to the report that Earthworks released today.
“The COGCC’s mission is to foster responsible oil and gas development by balancing drilling with protection of landowners, public health, and the environment,” Gwen Lachelt, the director of Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project, said in a prepared statement. “Right now, the COGCC’s rules, like its mission statement, are just empty words on a page. There is no balance here.”
Tagged with: colorado, enforcement, cogcc
Former Small-Town Mayor Slams ‘Aggressive’ Tactics of Big Shale Gas Producer
Press Action
March 18, 2012
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Among U.S. shale gas producers, Range Resources Corp. has been the most aggressive in going after residents and activists who complain about the industry’s actions, according to Calvin Tillman, the former mayor of DISH, Texas, and an outspoken critic of the natural gas industry.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. and other leading U.S. gas producers often rely on industry organizations, such as Energy In Depth, to keep tabs on activists. So far, these companies have avoided using the legal system to try to silence their critics, Tillman said. Range Resources, on the other hand, has filed lawsuits and requested subpoenas against its critics. “No one has been as out-front and aggressive as Range,” he told Press Action.
Tagged with: fracking, texas ogap, barnett shale, range resources, psyops, dish
Scrutiny urged as Eagle Ford Shale boom continues
Victoria Advocate | Diana Wray
March 17, 2012
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CUERO - Headaches, dizziness, vomiting, skin rashes - the list went on and on as Wilma Subra catalogued the possible side effects of toxic emissions from living close to drilling and production sites.
Subra, the president and founder of Subra Company - a company that provides technical assistance to community groups dealing with environmental issues - conducted a seminar Saturday to help educate people about the Eagle Ford production area.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, texas ogap, eagle ford shale
Striking it rich in oil boom could be a mixed blessing
Gonzales Inquirer | Maren Minchew
March 16, 2012
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For centuries, many Texans have fantasized about striking oil on their property.
For many Gonzales area residents, this dream is becoming a reality thanks to the Eagle Ford Shale development.
Currently, shale production now provides 25 percent of America’s oil and gas supply, enabling the U.S. to pass Russia as the world’s largest producer of natural gas. This development is predicted to continue, meaning more Gonzales residents will continue to be approached by energy companies to explore for oil and natural gas on their land.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, eagle ford shale
Supermarket, investment industries want Bristol Bay fisheries protected
Cordoba Times | Margaret Bauman
March 16, 2012
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National concern for protecting the Bristol Bay fisheries is growing, this time with the clout of supermarket and investment industry leaders speaking on behalf of millions of consumers and billions of dollars in assets.
Support from the Food Marketing Institute and Trillium Asset Management came to light March 12 in a news release from Earthworks, a nonprofit organization focused on protecting communities and the environment from the impact of irresponsible mineral and energy development.
Tagged with: bristol bay, food marketing institute, food
Recycle cellphones at Carlucci’s office
LOHud.com
March 15, 2012
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State Sen. David Carlucci, D-New City, will host a continuing cellphone collection program at his district office at 95 S. Middletown Road, Nanuet.
Carlucci has partnered with Earthworks, an environmental nonprofit organization, to take part in its cellphone recycling campaign, which seeks to increase the rate of cell phone recycling among consumers.
Residents may drop off their unwanted electronics, including chargers and cases. For more information, call 845-623-3627 or email carlucci@nysenate.gov.
Tagged with: new york, recycle my cell phone
Food industry asks EPA to protect Bristol Bay seafood source
Juneau Empire | Russell Stigall
March 13, 2012
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The agency representing 75 percent of U.S. retail food store sales has sided with the Environmental Protection Agency in its ongoing assessment of Bristol Bay waters.
Erik Lieberman, regulatory counsel for the Food Marketing Institute wrote a letter to EPA’s Region 10 administrator encouraging the agency to complete its 404(c) report, scheduled to be released in April.
The letter was dated March 1 and can be found at bit.ly/OBB-FMI-letter). Earthworks released the letter in a press release Monday.
Tagged with: bristol bay, food
Miners accused of using oceans as garbage dump
ABC Australia | Matt Peacock
March 13, 2012
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ELEANOR HALL: Now to the call by an international coalition of environmentalists for global mining companies to stop dumping millions of tonnes of waste into the world's oceans.
A study by the US-based Earthworks and the Canadian group MiningWatch reveals that each year more than 180 million tonnes of hazardous mine waste is dumped into oceans, rivers and lakes of the world.
The groups warn that this is causing irreversible health effects for sea life and for the human populations that feed off it.
Tagged with: submarine tailings disposal, australia, troubled waters, toxic mine waste, dumping, taliings
Fracking and Psychological Operations: Empire Comes Home
Truthout | Steve Horn
March 8, 2012
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When among friends, you're far more likely to air your dirty secrets.
A corporate conference held in Houston, Texas, on October 31 to November 1, 2011, titled "Giving Communications Professionals At Unconventional Oil & Gas Companies The Tools To Design A Comprehensive Media & Stakeholder Relations Strategy For Engaging The Public On A Positive Image For The Industry" provides perfect evidence of this.
The goal at the conference was a simple one: communications professionals in the natural gas industry sharing with one another the optimal communications strategies and tools to fight back against media and community opposition to what is inherently a toxic product, natural gas.
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, drilling, texas, barnett shale, psyops
Poole’s Rush In
Fort Worth Weekly
March 7, 2012
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Fort Worth-based Range Resources is like most gas drillers in the Barnett Shale. They brag a lot about being environmentally friendly and eager to work with communities to ensure “health, education, safety, and other civic improvements,” as Range’s website says. And, like most gas drilling companies, they have teams of lawyers that foam like pit bulls when anybody tries to interfere with a company’s attempt to exploit mineral reserves for big money, regardless of the effects on said health, education, or safety of residents. Get in their way, you might get bit.
Tagged with: fracking, texas, barnett shale, range resources
Shale Gas Watchdog: Sharon Wilson Fills Void Left by Industry Lapdogs
Press Action
March 6, 2012
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Not everyone in Texas kowtows to the natural gas industry. Texas may have the reputation of being a state where the industry always gets what it wants, especially at the legislative and regulatory levels. But at the grassroots, where activist Sharon Wilson is fighting to raise awareness about the dangers of natural gas drilling, more and more Texans are getting to know the ugly truth about the industry.
Wilson, organizer for Earthworks’ Texas Oil & Gas Accountability Project, believes the best opportunities for making a difference are found at the local level. She gives talks to community groups, big and small, in gas producing regions up and down the state.
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, texas ogap
Dwindling Resources Trigger Global Land Rush
Alternet | Stephen Leahy
March 1, 2012
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UXBRIDGE, Canada, Mar 1 (IPS) - A global scramble for land and mineral resources fuelled by billions of investment dollars is threatening the last remaining wilderness and critical ecosystems, destroying communities and contaminating huge volumes of fresh water, warned environmental groups in London Wednesday.No national park, delicate ecosystem or community is off limits in the voracious hunt for valuable metals, minerals and fossil fuels, said the Gaia Foundation's report, "Opening Pandora's Box". The intensity of the hunt and exploitation is building to a fever pitch despite the fact the Earth is already overheated and humanity is using more than can be sustained, the 56-page report warns.
"We're calling for a global moratorium on large-scale new mining, extraction and prospecting," said Teresa Anderson of The Gaia Foundation, an international NGO headquartered in London, UK that works with local communities.
Tagged with: mining, no dirty gold, water, tailings, mine waste
WPX Energy postpones major gas drilling plan
Durango Herald | Emery Cowan
February 29, 2012
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Technological advances that are fueling a natural-gas drilling boom across the country are contributing to a bust in the San Juan Basin, a place where many of the advances were pioneered.
Last week, WPX Energy, the newly independent exploration-and-production arm of Williams, announced it would postpone plans for a major horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing operation that was to begin this summer on the Middle Mesa, just north of Navajo Reservoir near the town of Allison.
Instead, the company will focus on more lucrative oil and gas plays in northeast Colorado, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, said Kelly Swan, spokesman with WPX.
Until the announcement, WPX was one of the only operators in the area going forward with gas drilling.
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, drilling, new mexico, colorado, water, shale gas
Toxic Mine Waste Threatens World’s Waters
EcoWatch
February 28, 2012
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Each year, mining companies dump more than 180 million tonnes of hazardous mine waste into rivers, lakes, and oceans worldwide, threatening vital bodies of water with toxic heavy metals and other chemicals poisonous to humans and wildlife, according to report released on Feb. 28 by two leading mining reform groups.
An investigation by Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada identifies the world’s waters that are suffering the greatest harm or at greatest risk from the dumping of mine waste. The report, Troubled Waters: How Mine Waste Dumping is Poisoning our Oceans, Rivers, and Lakes, also names the leading companies that continue to use this irresponsible method of disposal.
Tagged with: mining, submarine tailings disposal, troubled waters, toxic mine waste, dumping
Advisory Warns Investors of Risks of Proposed Copper and Gold Mine in Alaska
Social Funds | Robert Kropp
February 24, 2012
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SocialFunds.com -- The world's largest salmon fishery is located in Alaska's remote and unspoiled Bristol Bay. Not only does the salmon population there support the commercial and sport fishing industries; it is central to the traditional subsistence ways of life of the local communities as well.
Such a location might seem to be among the last for a proposed copper and gold mine. Nevertheless, the UK-based Anglo American and Northern Dynasty, its Canadian mining partner, are seeking to develop the largest copper and gold mine in North America at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed.
Tagged with: mining, bristol bay, alaska, investors
Laying waste
Colorado Independent | Pam Zubeck
February 23, 2012
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Oil and gas drilling will bring jobs and money to El Paso County — and thousands of tons of gunk. A muddy mixture of clay and chemicals, what's left over after a hole is drilled, has to go somewhere. But where, and how?
When El Paso County commissioners adopted local regulations Jan. 31, they retained control of noxious weeds, emergency services, groundwater monitoring and road impacts. But they ceded authority for all other aspects of drilling oversight to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, including disposal of exploratory and production wastes.
Tagged with: oil and gas, regulation, colorado, clean water, waste
Anglo American’s Pebble Mine Poses High Risks for Investors
Bloomberg
February 22, 2012
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WASHINGTON -- An investor advisory released today raises significant questions about the serious risks associated with Anglo American plc’s (LSE: AAL, JSE: ANGLO) Pebble mine project in southwest Alaska. The advisory details the growing list of regulatory, legal, engineering, and political challenges facing the London-based mining giant as it struggles to secure permits for the controversial gold-copper mine planned for the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed, the world’s biggest wild sockeye salmon fishery.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, bristol bay, pebble mine, investors
Northern Dynasty sees consortium of majors developing Pebble as permitting approaches
Mining Weekly | Matthew Hill
February 18, 2012
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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The massive, and equally controversial, Pebble project in Alaska will most likely be developed by a consortium of major mining firms, a spokesperson for Northern Dynasty, the 50% owner, said this week.
The TSX-listed company, which has Rio Tinto as a near-19% stake, has been keeping potential investors up to speed with its progress “so that if there is a move by any company to take over Northern Dynasty, it would be a competitive situation”, Sean Magee said in an interview.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, pebble mine, keystone xl
Ethical Gold the Pride of 80 Jewelry Retailers on Valentine’s Day
Environment News Service
February 15, 2012
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WASHINGTON, DC, February 14, 2012 (ENS) - Some 80 jewelry retailers from around the world, including eight of the top 10 retailers in the United States, have committed to cleaning up dirty metals by signing the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules for more responsible metals sourcing.
The Golden Rules are a set of social, human rights, and environmental criteria for gold and other precious metals. Jewelers who have signed the Golden Rules are committed to selling gold jewelry that is mined and smelted responsibly.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, golden rules, macys, costco, valentines day
For Valentine’s Day, 80 Jewelry Retailers Commit to Sustainable Supply Chain
Sustainable Business
February 14, 2012
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Many aren't aware that mining for metals, such as gold, causing the most toxic pollution of any industry in the US.
Today, over 80 jewelry retailers from around the world, including 8 of the top 10 US retailers, committed to cleaning up dirty metals by signing the No Dirty Gold campaign's "Golden Rules" for more responsible metals sourcing.
80% of the gold mined worldwide is turned into jewelry.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, macys, costco, valentines day, tiffany's
No Dirty Gold Campaign Targets Macy’s and Costco
IDEX
February 14, 2012
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In a bid to get Macy’s – the fifth-largest retailer of gold jewelry in the United States – to sign up to the “Golden Rules” for more responsible metal sourcing, activists from No Dirty Gold yesterday (Monday) hung a balloon banner at Macys’ Washington, DC flagship store, that said “Macy’s: Don’t Break Our Hearts. Dump Dirty Gold.”
“Until Macy’s ends its love affair with dirty gold, the company’s commitment to sustainability and transparency is just a bunch of hot air,” said No Dirty Gold campaign coordinator, Nick Magel.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, macys, costco, valentines day
Perry’s Campaign Shed Light on Texas Environment
Dallas Observer | Bill Minutaglio
February 13, 2012
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In September, a high-ranking Manhattan editor who worked on Scott McClellan’s bestselling takedown of the Bush administration told me she was inundated with book pitches from Texas journalists eager to write about Rick Perry, the presidential candidate. Around the same time, Politico quoted Texas Tribune editor Evan Smith saying, “I have dropped to my knees before bed every night and prayed that this man would run for president.”
Tagged with: natural gas, texas, mineral rights
Don’t Be Stupid, Cupid—Show Your Love Responsibly
The Huffington Post | Annie Leonard
February 10, 2012
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For holidays tainted by commercialism, Valentine's Day gives Christmas a run for the money -- big money. The National Retail Federation estimates Americans will spend $17.6 billion on Valentine's gifts this year, including $4.1 billion on jewelry, $1.8 billion on flowers and $1.5 billion on candy. But for consumers with a conscience, the very things Madison Avenue markets as expressions of love are some of the worst stuff you can buy.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, valentines day, story of stuff
Barnett shale environmentalists come to town to talk fracking
Victoria Advocate | Dianna Wray
February 4, 2012
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CUERO - Standing in front of a dry-erase board, petroleum engineer Kathy Martin sketched a drawing of a vertical well, the kind commonly used to drill the Eagle Ford Shale.
"Oil companies always say there's a mile of rock between their drilling and the aquifer, but if there's a fault, that stuff can get through. Everything likes to take the path of least resistance, teenagers included."
Tagged with: fracking, texas, eagle ford shale, legislation
Town hall meeting to look at fracking, toxic emissions from Eagle Ford Shale
Victoria Advocate | Dianna Wray
February 1, 2012
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The third Neighbor to Neighbor Town Hall will address the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing and the possibility of toxic emissions from the process.
Fracking is the process where a mix of water, sand and chemicals is flushed into a brittle shale formation, allowing the hydrocarbons trapped in it to be produced.
Tagged with: fracking, texas, eagle ford shale, toxics test tag
Fracking gets a new friend in Obama
Durango Herald | Joe Hanel
January 26, 2012
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AURORA – In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama adopted a position on natural gas that could have come straight out of the mouth of John Hickenlooper, the petroleum geologist-turned-Colorado governor.
Obama called for public disclosure of fracking fluids while at the same time insisting the practice is safe and is key to America’s energy strategy.
Tagged with: fracking, natural gas, obama, state of the union
America’s fracking problem
Al Jazeera English | The Stream
January 26, 2012
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Hydraulic fracturing – also known as fracking – is the process of pumping water and chemicals underground to fracture rocks and release natural gas.
In the United States, there is a heated debate over the safety of these practices and whether they are hazardous to the environment and public health.
Tagged with: fracking, disclosure, psyops
EPA moving in on state regulation of drilling
E&E | Mike Soraghan
January 26, 2012
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U.S. EPA's decision to truck water to four homes in Dimock, Pa., is just its latest move to bypass state regulation of natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
From the suburbs of Fort Worth, Texas, to Pavillion, Wyo., to northeastern Pennsylvania, EPA officials have taken increasingly bold steps in drilling pollution cases, implying or even proclaiming that state officials did not do enough to protect their own residents.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, marcellus shale, texas, pennsylvania, dimock
Don’t Drink the Water
Fort Worth Weekly | Peter Gorman
January 25, 2012
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When Jeff Locker looks out over his 1,500 acres of land just outside Pavillion, Wyo., he remembers what it used to look like: three horses in the corral, fields of barley and alfalfa bending in the breeze. These days the view from every window looks out over nearby shale gas wells, his own contaminated water wells, and an empty pasture: He stopped keeping horses after two of them died from nerve damage after drinking from a large plastic stock tank fed by his well. His wife is suffering from extreme neuropathy — he describes it a shooting nerve pain that radiates from the base of her spine or up her shins — that also came on after she drank the well water.
Tagged with: fracking, epa, texas, wyoming, clean water not dirty drilling, ohio
Permits pile up as gas and oil activity rises
Durango Herald | Ann Imse
January 23, 2012
Colorado’s gas and oil boom combined with a cash-strapped state government has caused a backlog of 1,800 pending air-pollution control permits for gas and oil equipment.
“It could have an impact on jobs,” said Doug Hock, spokesman for Encana, a major natural gas and oil producer.
Construction projects can be held up for a year waiting for the state health department to start reviewing an application.
Tagged with: fracking, ogap, colorado
Fracking Companies Tap Military Psy Ops and Counterinsurgency Handbook to Make You Like Them
Scene Magazine | Kyle Swenson
January 17, 2012
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Fracking — or hydraulic fracturing, as it's known up in the top story, K2-view, Perrier-on-the-table board rooms of big-pocketed transnational oil and energy corporations, where the slightest breathy mention of the term fires up visions of parading dollar signs and upward NYSE jags in the minds of hungry suits — is controversial. As you may have heard. Any time a natural gas mining practice can be linked conclusively to seismic rumbles, you're talking about a concept that's going to have to work for public appeal.
Tagged with: fracking, range resources, psyops, anadarko
Colleyville residents brace for “fracking” of gas wells
CW 33 | Dawn Tongish
January 16, 2012
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COLLEYVILLE, TX—Two women picked up pecans outside the site where seven natural gas wells are located in Colleyville, but it is the fracking that may soon be going on inside the facility that has some local residents concerned. Titan Operating has plans to begin fracking the wells, rather than waiting for a pipeline connection to be built to carry the gas away, even though residents say that was not the original plan.
"We thought it was just an exploration thing and the fracking wouldn't start until they put a line in to take the gas away," Colleyville resident, Edward Mitchell said.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, natural gas, drilling, texas, barnett shale
A Mining Law Whose Time Has Passed
The New York Times | Robert M. Hughes and Carol Ann Woody
January 11, 2012
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IN 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a mining law to spur the development of the West by giving hard-rock mining precedence over other uses of federal land. But the law has long since outlived its purpose, and its environmental consequences have been severe.
Mining claims for copper, gold, uranium and other minerals cover millions of those acres, and the law, now 140 years old, makes it nearly impossible to block extraction, no matter how serious the potential consequences. Soaring metal prices are now driving new mine proposals across the West.
Tagged with: mining, 1872 mining law, public lands, gold mining, alaska, montana, rock creek mine, chetco river, kensington mine, fisheries scientists
Grand Canyon million-acre new mining claim withdrawal in effect
Mine Web | Dorothy Kosich
January 10, 2012
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Environmentalists praised the Obama Administration, while House and Senate Republicans accused the President of costing the country desperately needed jobs as U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced his decision to withdraw public lands near the Grand Canyon from new mining claims for two decades.
"We have been entrusted to care for and protect our precious environmental and cultural resources, and we have chosen a responsible path that makes sense for this and future generations," Salazar said as he announced the Public Land Order and signed a Record of Decision Monday during a ceremony held at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.
Tagged with: mining, grand canyon, uranium
Into hostile territory
Denton Record-Chronicle | Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe and Lowell Brown
January 7, 2012
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FLOWER MOUND — In the months before, it was just Tammi Vajda and several others who came to Town Council meetings.
They were outnumbered by other Flower Mound residents who favored natural gas drilling in town. They called Vajda names.
“My husband asked me why I did this,” Vajda said. After one brutal meeting in late 2009 — when some mineral owners called her a Zionist and a tree-hugging liberal — he all but stopped coming to meetings with her.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, texas, psyops, gas patch
Is it fracking or fracing?
Fuel Fix | Simone Sebastian
December 23, 2011
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Hydraulic fracturing has become a hotbed of controversy, but so has its nickname — fracking.
But the origin of the “fracking” moniker is far more innocuous than its current use in certain circles, as a kind of expletive. Battlestar Galactica used “fracking” as a surrogate for the more popular F-word.
Tagged with: fracking
County seeks new roadblock on Rosemont
Inside Tucson Business
December 22, 2011
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In their ongoing battle over development of the Rosemont Copper mine, Pima County officials are asking U.S. Forest Service officials to make sure the cash bond posted by the mining company is high enough to pay for cleanup of groundwater pollution and other environmental issues.
Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry asked Coronado National Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch "to address significant flaws in the current (draft environmental impact statement) DEIS and provide the public and interested parties with additional time to comment."
Tagged with: copper, rosemont, mine, santa ritas
40% of state drilling regulators have industry ties
E&E | Mike Soraghan
December 19, 2011
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Robert Finne was talking with a friend about the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission earlier this year when they both started wondering, "Who are these people?"
So they wrote to the commission and asked. Finne, a critic of gas drilling in the Fayetteville Shale, was surprised to learn that most of the commissioners owned oil and gas drilling companies.
Tagged with: oil and gas, regulation, drilling
Delegate amendment calls for study of ‘actual effects’ of drilling activity
State Journal | Taylor Kuykendall
December 16, 2011
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In the process of crafting regulations for drilling in the state's recently discovered Marcellus shale reserves, one member of the House of Delegates added a provision for studying setback distances that could revolutionize how drilling operations are sited.
Del. Woody Ireland, R-Ritchie, successfully proposed an amendment to the governor's bill regulating horizontal drilling during the special session. The amendment called for a study on utilizing actual impact measurements over "arbitrary" measurements such as distance. Ireland calls for the study of use of noise, light, dust and volatile organic compound exposure in determining setback distances for wells.
Tagged with: drilling, marcellus, environmental impacts, west virginia, horizontal drilling, dust, noise
Report: Texas Not Protecting Residents From Gas Drilling Dangers
CBS DFW | Jason Allen
December 14, 2011
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – A scathing new report accuses Texas of not protecting its residents from possible dangers of gas drilling. The report comes from the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project, part of the Washington-based group Earthworks.
The report recommends restrictions on emissions, new rules to contain drilling fluids and an evaluation on the amount of groundwater being pulled out of the aquifier for drilling.
Tagged with: fracking, public health, drilling, texas
As Gas Drilling Spreads, Towns Stand Ground Over Control
New York Times | Sabrina Tavernise
December 14, 2011
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SOUTH FAYETTE, Pa. — As energy companies move to drill in densely populated areas from Pennsylvania to Texas, battles are breaking out over who will have the final say in managing the shale gas boom.
The fight, which pits towns and cities against energy companies and states eager for growth, has raised a fundamental question about the role of local government: How much authority should communities have over the use of their land?
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, natural gas, pennsylvania, marcellus, local ordinances
Air Too Dangerous to Breathe: How Gas Drilling Can Turn Rural Communities Into Industrial Wastelands
Alternet | Nina Berman
December 13, 2011
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The exploding faucet may have launched the movement against fracking, but it's the unsexy compressor station that is pushing it to maturity.
Last week, more than a hundred activists from Pennsylvania and New York, including actor Mark Ruffalo, brought thousands of gallons of drinking water to 11 families in Dimock, Pa., who had been left dry after Cabot Oil and Gas stopped their water deliveries.
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, natural gas, pennsylvania, clean water, marcellus, gasland, clean air, dimock
Group pressures Macy’s on ethical sourcing
National Jeweler
December 7, 2011
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Washington--Environmental group Earthworks is applying more public relations pressure to the jewelry industry, this time advocating for Macy’s to commit to sourcing gold ethically.
Earlier this month, Earthworks issued a statement calling out the department store chain for being one of the last major retailers that has yet to sign the No Dirty Gold campaign’s “Golden Rules,” a set of social, human rights and environmental criteria for mining gold and other precious metals.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, bristol bay, jewelry retailers, golden rules, macys, conga
Both sides find fault in Colorado fracking rule
Denver Post | Mark Jaffe
December 6, 2011
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Colorado's proposed rule requiring drillers to disclose the ingredients in their fracking fluids drew fire from both environmentalists and industry representatives at a hearing Monday.
While both sides supported the basics in proposal from the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, each sought changes to the rule.
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, colorado, disclosure, trade secret
“Fracking” for Shale Gas: Neither Clean Nor Green
Tierramerica | Stephen Leahy
December 5, 2011
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Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" is being used to tap the last remaining natural gas deposits across large areas of the United States and western Canada, fueling continued dependence on hydrocarbons instead of a shift to genuinely clean energy sources to cool the planet.
Called shale gas, these deposits represent a new and enormous source of fossil fuel.
Tagged with: fracking, natural gas, methane, horizontal drilling, durban, shale
Panelists hear debate about fracking fluids
Durango Herald | Joe Hanel
December 5, 2011
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DENVER – Colorado oil and gas commissioners heard 12 hours of debate over hydraulic fracturing Monday, but they delayed making a decision on a rule that would require companies to reveal the chemicals they use.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is considering forcing companies to use the FracFocus.org website to disclose which chemicals they use to frack wells. Critics said the commission’s plan is too weak because it would allow companies to exclude their fluids from the website’s list by calling them a trade secret.
Tagged with: fracking, colorado, disclosure, chemicals
Groups Pressure Macy’s to Commit to Ethical Gold Standards
Diamonds.net | Ricci Dipshan
December 1, 2011
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RAPAPORT... Earthworks and social action group Change.org began a petition drive to rally consumers to press retailer Macy’s to commit to using ethically sourced gold. A similar petition aimed at retailer Target earlier this year signed-up 22,000 citizens and helped to convince the retailer to agree to the “Golden Rules,” which are a set of social, human rights and environmental criteria for mining gold and other precious metals by Earthwork's No Dirty Gold Campaign.
Tagged with: no dirty gold, jewelry retailers, macys
Fracturing democracy?
Facing South | Sue Sturgis
December 1, 2011
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The grassroots movement against the controversial technique of drilling for natural gas in shale formations -- known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" -- is gathering momentum, scoring recent political victories in several states with large gas reserves.
Tagged with: oil and gas, drilling, psyops, communities, sharon wilson
Meet the Change Makers: Tiffany's Diamonds and Gold Get Greenish Sparkle With Stance Against Pebble Mine
OnEarth | Adam Aston
December 1, 2011
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Most businesses hungrily pursue new sources of vital raw materials. Tiffany & Co., by contrast, has begun to forge a different path. In the last several years, the company has taken an increasingly public and vocal stand against an enormous gold mine that has been proposed at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, Alaska. Pebble Mine, as the project is known, is estimated to hold more than $300 billion worth of gold ore and other precious metals.
Tagged with: mining, gold, no dirty gold, alaska, jewelry retailers, rio tinto, pebble mine, tiffany's
Smokin’ Southwest: Take an aerial tour of fossil-fuel country
CNET | Martin LaMonica
November 25, 2011
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FARMINGTON, N.M.--Viewing the San Juan basin by air is one of the most dramatic ways to see where your energy comes from.
I got a chance to tour a portion of the basin on a small plane run by EcoFlight two weeks ago as part of a fellowship organized by the Institutes of Journalism & Natural Resources (IJNR). While most people have a vague idea of how energy is produced, the quick trip brought to life the footprint of large-scale energy production.
Tagged with: fracking, oil and gas, new mexico
Disclosure of ‘Fracking’ Chemicals not Complete
Columbus Dispatch | Spencer Hunt
November 21, 2011
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State regulators say they are ready to oversee an expected onslaught of drilling by energy companies eager to tap vast quantities of oil and gas buried deep in Ohio’s Utica shale.
Regulators point to proposed standards that companies would have to meet to safely drill oil and gas wells. The plan covers everything from which steel pipes would have to be used to construct the wells to what to do if a drill bores into an old mine shaft.
Tagged with: fracking, hydraulic fracturing, public health, disclosure, regulations, ohio, utica shale
Environment: Mining law overhaul is long overdue
Summit County Voice | Bob Berwyn
November 20, 2011
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SUMMIT COUNTY — If federal lawmakers are serious about shrinking the budget deficit, they should be looking seriously at a proposal by U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) that would make sure the oil, gas and mining industries pay their fare share.
Markey introduced his proposed legislation in the House Natural Resources Committee last week.
A key component of this comprehensive legislation would overhaul the General Mining Law of 1872, which allows mining of gold, copper, uranium and other metals virtually anywhere on Western public lands, with few environmental safeguards and no return to the taxpayers. Hardrock mining is the only industry that extracts resources from public lands that does not pay federal royalties.
Tagged with: 1872 mining law, subsidies, rep. ed markey
Officials seek local control on gas drilling
Standard Speaker | Laura Legere
November 19, 2011
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Municipal officials from 12 Pennsylvania counties sent a letter to state legislators this week asking them to cut provisions from pending House and Senate Marcellus Shale bills that would limit or remove local zoning control over oil and gas drilling.
The 46 officials argue that the bills unfairly exempt oil and gas operations from local land use regulations or standardize limits on local control.
Tagged with: fracking, ogap, regulation, marcellus shale, pennsylvania, drilling reform, local ordinances
Lawmakers Look at Drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
C-SPAN
November 18, 2011
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Tagged with: 1872 mining law, subsidies, rep. ed markey, c-span
NM regulators approve fracking disclosure rule
AP | Susan Montoya Bryan
November 18, 2011
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ALBUQUERQUE -- New Mexico oil and natural gas producers will be required to disclose the fluids used in hydraulic fracturing operations under a proposal approved Thursday by the state Oil Conservation Commission.
The commission made a unanimous decision to support the disclosure rule during a hearing in Santa Fe after taking testimony from industry experts and watchdog groups.
Tagged with: fracking, hydraulic fracturing, regulation, new mexico, disclosure, new mexico oil conservation division
Democrats tout bill to reform energy and mineral extraction
E & E News | Manuel Quinones
November 18, 2011
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Several House Natural Resources Committee Democrats have introduced legislation they say will raise $19 billion by reforming the rules for energy and mineral extraction on public lands.
While unlikely to gain much traction in the Republican-controlled House, environmental advocates are welcoming the bill, describing it as a way for companies to pay their fair share for public resources. The main sponsors -- Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the Natural Resources ranking member, and Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) -- see it as a push against GOP pressure to increase mining and drilling.
Tagged with: 1872 mining law, subsidies, abandoned mine fee, royalty, rep. ed markey
Groups press Signet on Pebble Mine issue
National Jeweler
November 16, 2011
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Dillingham, Alaska--Just ahead of the holiday season, Alaska Natives, commercial fishermen and mining reform group Earthworks are attempting to apply public-relations pressure to Signet Jewelers over a controversial mine project in Alaska.
The groups took out a full-page advertisement in the western edition of The New York Times on Monday asking why Signet, the parent company of Kay Jewelers and Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, hasn’t signed the Bristol Bay Protection Pledge. Earthworks Bonnie Gestring told National Jeweler that the groups expect to run the ad again but haven’t decided on a media outlet.
Tagged with: alaska, pebble, our bristol bay, bristol bay pledge, signet jewelers, jared jewelers, kay jewelers
Municipal officials oppose loss of local drilling rules
Pittsburgh Times-Tribune | Laura Legere
November 15, 2011
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Municipal officials from 12 Pennsylvania counties sent a letter to state legislators Monday asking them to cut provisions from pending House and Senate Marcellus Shale bills that would limit or remove local zoning control over oil and gas drilling.
The 46 officials, including five supervisors from Exeter Twp. in Luzerne County, argue that the bills unfairly exempt oil and gas operations from local land use regulations or standardize limits on local control.
"Local governments must be able to ensure protections through ordinances that reflect specific concerns," the officials wrote. "We oppose any legislation and reject all attempts to take away municipal zoning rights, to weaken or standardize a municipality's ability to protect itself, or to punish communities that choose to exercise their rights."
Tagged with: hydraulic fracturing, regulation, drilling, pennsylvania, local government, zoning
Alaskans: Why Won't Kay and Jared Jewelers Pledge to Shun Anglo's Dirty Gold? Full-Page Ad in New York Times Urges World’s Largest Jeweler to Join 50 Others Against Pebble Mine
Yuba Net | Earthworks
November 14, 2011
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DILLINGHAM, Alaska, Nov. 14 – In the weeks leading up to Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, Alaskans are asking Signet, the world's largest jewelry corporation, to promise not to use gold from the proposed Pebble Mine – a massive copper gold mine that threatens the world's most valuable wild salmon fishery.
Tagged with: bristol bay, jewelry retailers, pebble mine, kay jewelers, jared jewelers, signet
Drillers using counterinsurgency experts
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Don Hopey
November 13, 2011
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Marcellus Shale gas drilling spokesmen at an industry conference in Houston said their companies are employing former military counterinsurgency officers and recommended using military-style psychological operations strategies, or psyops, to deal with media inquiries and citizen opposition to drilling in Pennsylvania communities.
Tagged with: fracking, ogap, drilling, marcellus shale, psyops
Tiffany’s CEO: How to Keep a Supply Chain Sparkling
Green Biz | Adam Aston
November 12, 2011
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Sitting in his sun-soaked office at Tiffany & Co.'s Manhattan headquarters, chairman and chief executive officer Michael J. Kowalski reminded me of Breakfast at Tiffany's. In the 1962 classic, Audrey Hepburn coos over Tiffany's 5th Avenue flagship store, "Nothing very bad could happen to you there."
Tagged with: mining, gold, no dirty gold, bristol bay, jewelry retailers, pebble mine, tiffany's
Gas Companies Caught Using Military Tactics To Overcome Drilling Concerns
CBS DFW | Video
November 11, 2011
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) – The battle over gas drilling is now being compared to elements of an actual battlefield.
Energy industry officials were caught on tape at a conference in Houston using military terms to describe their opposition. One company says it uses ex-military psychological operations experts in its community plans.
Tagged with: fracking, drilling, texas ogap, psyops
Military Tactics Suggested at Gas Confab
Fort Worth Weekly | Peter Gorman
November 10, 2011
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When Sharon Wilson, director of the Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project for Earthworks!, and the activist blogger on texassharon.com signed up to attend a much ballyhooed gas industry confab in Houston last week, she wasn’t sure what to expect.
Tagged with: fracking, drilling, texas ogap, psyops
Local Anti-Gas Drilling Activist Catches Execs Pushing PSYOP to Deal With "Insurgency"
Dallas Observer | Leslie Minora
November 10, 2011
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Last week, during an oil-and-gas drilling confab at the Hyatt Regency in Houston, execs turned their attention to a very touchy subject: how to get folks decidedly against gas drilling on their side.
Tagged with: fracking, drilling, texas ogap, psyops
Next Frontier in Natural Gas Wars: Psy Ops
Mother Jones | Kate Sheppard
November 9, 2011
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It's one thing to say that Pennsylvania has become a battleground in the debate over natural gas extraction. But it's quite another to actually endorse and employ counterinsurgency tactics to fight opponents of hydraulic fracturing, the controversial process used to extract the gas from the ground. But that appears to be exactly what industry insiders called for at a recent conference.
CNBC, which obtained the audio from the event, has the report. In the audio files, recorded by an environmental campaigner from Earthworks, one industry insider suggests that those who oppose gas drilling constitute an "insurgency." Another advocates hiring former military psychological operations specialists to handle local populations.
Tagged with: fracking, hydraulic fracturing, psyops, media conference, insurgency, spin
Oil and gas reps suggest using counterinsurgency tactics on fracking opponents
Grist | Sarah Laskow
November 9, 2011
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It's obvious that the natural gas industry has no love for opponents of fracking in places like Pennsylvania. But recordings from an industry meeting reveal that the industry's animosity goes a little deeper than mere irritation -- they think of opponents as an "insurgency" that should be handled with techniques developed to fight terrorism in the Middle East.
Tagged with: fracking, drilling, texas ogap, psyops
Fracking Insiders Admit To Employing Military 'Psychological Operations' On American Citizens
Business Insider | Robert Johnson
November 9, 2011
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Tagged with: fracking, drilling, texas ogap, psyops
Frackers Use ‘Psy Ops’ To Deal With Pennsylvania ‘Insurgency’
Think Progress | Brad Johnson
November 9, 2011
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Natural gas fracking companies are treating the campaign to expand drilling in Pennsylvania like a military campaign, using “psy ops” to quell the “insurgency” of environmental, economic, and health concerns.
Tagged with: fracking, drilling, psyops
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