On Friday, May 4, 2012, the Obama Administration issued “New Rules!” for frackers on federal lands. According to John M. Broder in New Proposal on Fracking Gives Ground to Industry in The New York Times, Team Obama made “a significant concession to the oil industry, companies will have to reveal the composition of fluids only after they have completed drilling — a sharp change from the government’s original proposal, which would have required disclosure of the chemicals 30 days before a well could be started.”
In a statement on the US Department of the Interior website, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar comments, “This administration’s energy strategy is an all-out effort to boost American production of every available source of energy. As we continue to offer millions of acres of America’s public lands for oil and gas development, it is critical that the public have full confidence that the right safety and environmental protections are in place.”
Anti-Fracking Rally in Washington DC – Saturday, July 28, 2012
Contact: Your Legislators! Ask Them To Speak Out Against Unconventional Gas Drilling in Pennsylvania atStop the Frack Attack
May 3, 2102, Fracksylvania, USA: At long last, a date to focus on, and work towards. A time to make our objection to filthy shale gas drilling known. Hurray. Sign up now for the rally, get updates and information, and get psyched. Or simply save-the-date and be there to make history on July 28th and protect our human right to clean air, land and water. (more…)
The Clean Air Council Is Having a Frack Attack in Pennsylvania
Clean Air Council (CAC) has launched a legal blitz to force EPA engagement on the critical air issues associated with natural gas operations in Pennsylvania. Frank Finan breaks down the issue with infrared footage from a compressor station in Northeast PA, appropriately set to “Power” by Kanye West.
Untold Emissions
CAC is focused on forcing full compliance with the Clean Air Act from the Fracking Industry. The Frack Attack Objectives:
Emissions inventory
Repeal of major exemptions
Proper permitting
Meaningful air monitoring
Enforcement of permits
“PA DEP: Your authority to forsake Pennsylvania’s air quality lies on shaky ground.” – Your Friends at The Clean Air Council
Follow Frack Attack actions at cleanair.org. For more information, contact CAC staff attorneys Jay Duffy, judffy@cleanrair.org or David Presley dpresley@cleanair.org.
Nor do Shale Gas Drillers even try. Massive deforestation and rapid land fragmentation in Pennsylvania, much of it on Public Lands, is difficult to wrap your head around, yet our legislators are permitting it, literally. “I’m going up in a helicopter,” my friend, drilling injury lawyer Jon Ostroff declared. My own fear of flying aside, I’m glad when more people get a firsthand look at what is happening “out there” in what was once the Wilds of PA. Naturally I want prosperity for all 67 counties in the Commonwealth but, obviously, extreme fossil fuel extraction is not a sustainable way to achieve it.
When I seek a bird’s eye view of the Marcellus, I visit Marcellus-Shale.us. It’s chock full of dramatic photos, many of which have become the iconic images of a gas boom gone wrong. Recently, Elisabelle Bourgue shared this small screen gem with Protest ShaleGas Fracking:
Sign the CLAW PETITION for NO NEW DRILLING PERMITS in Pennsylvania HERE!
PA CLAW is a coalition of grassroots organizers and organizations working for a moratorium on Fracking for natural gas and its infrastructure across the state of Pennsylvania through various coordinated statewide campaigns and actions.
PennFuture Presents Just The Fracts on PA Act 13, The Marcellus Shale Act
Of the major environmental organizations opposed to Fracking in Pennsylvania, few push harder than Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, or PennFuture. This vibrant non-profit has been fighting for environmental justice since its inception, and in 2009 the National Wildlife Federation(NWF) named PennFuture as its official representative in Pennsylvania. Their tagline, “Every environmental victory grows the economy” resonates because sustainable energy must also be economical in order to generate sufficient demand. PennFuture has a long, distinguished history but it’s more interesting, perhaps, to know what the group is doing right now.
According to George Jugovic Jr., President & CEO:
We’re working to replace old, outdated dirty sources of power with clean, renewable Pennsylvania-made electricity.
We’re fighting factory farm pollution.
We’re helping to stop damage from mining and drilling.
We’re protecting watersheds from sprawl and pollution.
We’re reducing global warming pollution.
We’re watchdogging state government.
We’re providing $2 million per year of free legal services to protect the environment.
Putting ACT 13 In Layperson’s Terms (Thank You)
On April 23, 2012, Susan Philips posted a link to a pdf of PennFuture’s new Fact Sheet in Plain Language Version of Pennsylvania’s New Drilling Law Published. The Fact Sheet covers the highlights (lowlights, really) of the new Marcellus Shale Law. I found it very helpful in my attempt to understand just how badly Governor Corbett has undercut the Commonwealth with the bill he and Senator Joe Scarnati strong-armed Philadelphia area democrats to vote for. So here it is, in its entirety: (more…)
[Original Post]: Once fresh water is used for fracking, it can never be safely returned to the watershed. You simply can’t filter out heavy metals and radioactive isotopes like Radon 226. The only thing the water is good for is more fracking. Permanently removing many millions of gallons of fresh water from the Susquehanna and Delaware River basins will leave our region more vulnerable to drought. Small streams, the water tables they inform, and the many private wells which rely on them, will dry up that much faster. Depleted water tables may also contain heavier concentrations of naturally occurring substances already present. (more…)
If a stream dies, does anybody hear? Life in Boiling Spring Run in Central, PA ceased decades ago, yet while local residents have been reporting illegal dumping for years, the PA DEP has ignored the problem. Until 2009, that is, when DEP took samples, then declared the test results “Confidential.” (more…)
“If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply, here in the Northeast you couldn’t find a more chillingly effective and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic fracturing,” wrote Paul Hetzler, a former environmental engineer with the NY Department of Environmental Conservation in The Watertown Daily Times in December, 2011.
Paula Clair of Garrison, NY cites Hetzler in her thoughtful Op-Ed piece, Don’t Sacrifice Water For Profits, in TimesUnion.com on March 31, 2012, writing: “Water is life. There is no life without it. Don’t let big oil/gas sacrifice our state, our homes and our health for their profit.” Clearly, Clair gets it. She’s awake, and questioning the source of her water. Her words reflect the growing public concern for watersheds, fresh air and food supplies. The Natural Gas Industry may be saturating our commercial airwaves with slick ad campaigns, but we the people have YouTube!
The New Normal? Updated…
Methane contamination has become such an issue that one of PA’s largest water suppliers, Pennsylvania American Water Co. in Hershey, PA, is working to stay ahead of the toxicity curve. David Templeton and Don Hopey report in Water company plans to change disinfectant used in some systems, in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the company will switch more treatment plants from Chlorine to Chloramine for disinfection in order to control “carcinogenic disinfection byproducts including trihelamethane and haloacetic acid.”
According to Heinz Award winning Ecologist and Author, Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D., when you chlorinate water that is contaminated with methane you end up with disinfection by-products such as Trihalomethanes, or chloroforms, which are known to cause bladder and colon cancer.
Use of Chloramine in public water supplies is more widely opposed than Chlorine. While complaints from Chlorine are mostly aesthetic, such as taste and smell, complaints from Chloramine include skin rashes, respiratory and digestive problems. EPA admits that not as much research has been done on Chloramine as Chlorine. Nevertheless, PA American Water is looking to increase their use of Chloramine wherever possible. (more…)
Everyone cares about water. Luckily, there’s new information on watershed protection everyday, making it relatively easy to comprehend the urgent issues confronting the 15.6 million people who rely on the Delaware River Watershed. The “Little Giant” generates $22 billion in revenue for eastern Pennsylvania each year, according to The University of Delaware, and gas drillers should not underestimate how much the City of Brotherly Love loves this 333-mile long river.
Yesterday, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission approved 48 more water withdrawal permits despite vocal protests and the lack of public comment. According to StateImpactPA, there were Protests, But No Arrests at the March 15, 2012 Hearing in Harrisburg.The Wall Street Journal also picked up the story by the Associated Press.
Unlike other utilities and recreations large-volume water uses, withdrawals for unconventional gas drilling – fracking – become permanently toxic and are largely un-returned to the watershed. They forever deplete the hydrological cycle. (more…)
“No matter how powerful and well-heeled the gas industry lobbyists may be, when people come together to defend our environmental values, we almost always find a way to win.“
Ads Cost Money But The Truth About Shale Gas Drilling Is Free
I laugh a little when I hear Gas Industry folks complain about how well-funded the anti-fracking movement is. To which groups are they referring? I’m a fractivist. I volunteer, and I’m in very good company. The organizations I support are transparent about their funding, too, even if it’s the wrong brand of donor, as was recently the case with Sierra Club. Difficult as it must have been, Sierra came clean about Chesapeake Energy underwriting its Beyond Coal campaign. Now, I suspect, they’re working doubly hard to get beyond Gas.
It’s true, there’s a growing list of major environmental groups who want to ban or limit Unconventional Gas Drilling, (more…)
BRISTOL PA – The Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) announced the settlement of an appeal DRN filed with the PA Environmental Hearing Board concerning one of the first shale gas wells drilled in the Delaware River Basin. The well is a vertical gas well and was not hydraulically fractured.
The appeal — filed in coordination with Damascus Citizens for Sustainability and local residents — involved the Newfield Appalachia PA, LLC “Woodlands” well in Damascus Township, Wayne County, Pennsylvania. (more…)
Clean Water Action * Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania * Delaware Riverkeeper Network * Earthworks * PennEnvironment * Sierra Club, PA Chapter
February 8, 2012: PENNSYLVANIA SENATE AND HOUSE VOTE FOR PREEMPTION OF MUNICIPAL ZONING TO FAVOR GAS DRILLING AND OPERATIONS; INDUSTRY INTERESTS DOMINATE THE PUBLIC INTEREST Organizations decry lack of concern for communities, health, and property… (more…)
NOAA’sAir Sampling in Colorado Shows Methane Measurements that Disprove the Gas Industry’s “Cleaner Burning Fuel” Claim
While natural gas may be a cleaner fuel to burn, here’s more proof that it’s a particularly filthy fossil fuel to extract from the earth. A 2011 study by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was recently published in Journal of Geophysical Research and covered in the international journal, Nature. (more…)
Is frack waste in the soil sickening Lower Saxony?
The otherwise bucolic north German region of Neidersachen has become the epicenter of coal bed methane gas drilling activity – or “fracking” as it is known there, too. Sadly, ARD Munich reports that Benzene leakage from Exxon Mobil’s waste pipelines may be causing cancer clusters among residents in nine households. Since 2007, the company has known of problems with the PE pipelines used to transport produced frack waste water underground. Over the span of four years, ExxonMobil has remediated over 2,500 tons of highly carcinogenic, polluted soil yet waste transport continues unabated as Germany, like so many other nations, strives for Energy Independence. (more…)
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Keep Tap Water Safe 
