Recent Fracking News
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 10:04PM
Democratic state Sen. Michael Skindell of suburban Cleveland introduced a bill Tuesday calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to await results of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study of potential environmental hazards.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 11:35PM About 70 residents urged Plain trustees to declare a complete ban on horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing within the township.
Ohio legislators are forcing residents to accept heavy industry in their backyards, said Susan Garver, who lives in the Sherwood Village allotment.
“I think this is the right time to act. We can’t drag our feet any more,” Garver said, urging trustees to ban horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
Residents commended trustees for banning “horizontal slick water hydraulic fracturing” on township property, but want the procedure stopped throughout the township.
Sunday, July 3, 2011 at 1:53PM “We are at the end of a legislative marathon that stirred emotion from lawmakers and the public,” French Environment Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said late yesterday before the vote. Hydraulic fracturing will be illegal and parliament would have to vote for a new law to allow research using the technique, she said.
Energy companies that plan to use fracking to produce oil and gas in France will have their permits revoked and its use could lead to fines and prison, according to the law passed by a vote of 176 in favor, 151 against by the senators in Paris.
Saturday, July 2, 2011 at 11:53AM The bill passed by large margins in both chambers: 32-1 in the Senate and 56-11 in the Assembly. It also had pretty strong support accross party lines. "It's a terrible practice, which has great potential to do irreparable harm to the water supply system," said State Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman, a Republican who cosponsored the measure. "It's a practice that should be outright banned nationwide."
Bateman couldn't say whether Gov. Christie is going to sign the bill into law. If he does, New Jersey would become the first state in the country to formally ban the practice. "If he's smart he'll sign it," said Bateman.
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:07PM The New Jersey Legislature sent Republican Governor Chris Christie a measure to ban drilling for natural gas using a process called hydraulic fracturing, which environmental groups say contaminates drinking water.
The measure passed the state Senate 32-1 and the Assembly 56-11 with 8 abstentions yesterday, according to the New Jersey Office of Legislative Services website. If Christie signs the bill, it will be the first statewide ban on fracking in the U.S. The governor won’t comment until state lawyers review the legislation, Michael Drewniak, his spokesman, said yesterday in an e-mail.
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:03PM New York environmental officials proposed a ban on drilling for natural gas with hydraulic fracturing in two major watersheds and on all state-owned lands while permitting it on private land only under "rigorous and effective controls" codified into state law.
Also Thursday, the New Jersey Legislature sent Republican Gov. Chris Christie a measure to ban fracking, which environmental groups say contaminates drinking water.
If Christie signs the bill, it will be the first statewide ban on fracking in the U.S. New York's legislature passed a similar ban in 2010 that was vetoed by Gov. David Paterson, who later imposed a temporary moratorium.
Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:00PM As shale gas has emerged as potentially significant source of fuel for this country, it has come under increased scrutiny. A NY Times series raised concerns about pollution of surface waters by the wastewater produced during drilling of natural gas wells using hydraulic fracturing. A recent study by Cornell University researchers called into question the conventional wisdom that gas is far better than coal in terms of its carbon pollution, in part because of concerns of methane leakage during and after fracking.
Now comes a new paper by Duke University researchers that documents “systematic evidence for methane contamination” of household drinking water wells by shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania and New York.
The study, which the authors said was the first scientific examination of water contamination near shale gas drilling operations, found that water supplies within one kilometer of drilling sites were contaminated by methane at 17 times the rate of those water wells farther from gas developments.
