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.
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:54PM An estimated 2,000 people showed up this morning to protest the industry and its controversial drilling process known as “fracking.”
“My backyard is a wildlife habitat,” noted Susan Breese of Susquehanna County (right), who calls herself a natural-born environmentalist. But she says that’s been a lot tougher since a shale-gas well was drilled near her home in 2008.
The main issue for her, and one echoed by other foes, is contaminated water. Hers has more than double the allowable limit of barium and nearly four times the limit for strontium.
Monday, September 19, 2011 at 9:37PM Interspersed with the expressions of love, hope and resolution were substantive points of anxiety. No one knows how much contaminated water will escape and where it will go. Even if we stop it here other towns might surrender and we could see a truck kicking up dust and leaking sand every 60 seconds, seven days a week. The noise level will make conversation impossible; no more sitting on the porch of the hotel or the coffee shop. Property values will plummet by 50 to 75 percent (this from a long-time Realtor). Banks are reluctant to write mortgages on property that is being drilled on. There might be limited short-term benefits to a few, but the boom will be followed by a bust, and when it is all over “people won’t want to live here anymore.”
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 2:41PM As the public sentiment grows for a ban on High Volume Hydrofracking (HVHF),
lawyers and others who speak for corporate profit-making opportunities in
natural gas say that laws banning or limiting gas drilling is a “taking” of
property. Even some who seem to be on our side make the same claim. This claim
is groundless and misguided. It is a scare tactic to prevent public pressure on
our elected officials against HVHF.
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.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 2:02PM From West Virginia Public Broadcasting:
June 27, 2011 · Morgantown's new ban on Marcellus shale gas drilling within a mile of its borders is facing a court challenge. The ordinance applies only to unconventional horizontal gas wells and a practice known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
Northeast Natural Energy sued the city last week in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
It was joined in the lawsuit by Enrout Properties LLC, which owns the surface and mineral rights to a site outside the city where Northeast Natural Energy is sinking wells.
Morgantown City Council adopted the ordinance after taking four hours of testimony at its meeting last Tuesday.
The lawsuit claims the city overreached its authority and unlawfully took property rights.
Morgantown Mayor Bill Byrne says the state should regulate Marcellus shale drilling.
He says the city acted because the Legislature has failed to adopt any regulation.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 1:39PM A compilation or articles, studies and websites that suggest that argiculture and industrilization due to natural gas drilling can not co-exist.
