Recent Fracking News
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 11:11AM EVENT: State Rep. Robert Hagan, D-Youngstown, has scheduled a community forum on the issue for Jan. 11 and has called for a statewide moratorium on injection drilling until 2014. The Youngstown City Council voted Wednesday to support his proposal.
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 11:05AM Hydraulic fracturing waste can be shipped here by truck, but no permits have been obtained for rail, according to Heidi Hetzel-Evans, communications manager for the ODNR. Bringing in waste by rail may involve an off-loading method that could create different concerns than truck transportation,
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:58AM Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:38AM PITTSBURGH — One of the government's top scientists says much more research is needed to determine the possible impacts of shale gas drilling on human health and the environment.
"Studies should include all the ways people can be exposed, such as through air, water, soil, plants and animals," Dr. Christopher Portier wrote to The Associated Press in an email.
Portier is director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
WSJ.com
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:23AM According to Kasich’s logic there’s no reason to slow down on the expansion of fracking since the fracking process and fracking wells are completely safe, it’s only the millions of gallons of toxic waste the process produces that’s a problem. So hey, full speed ahead!
Gas and Oil industry groups, not surprisingly, are pushing the exact same story. And they’ve formed a new group to help promote their message, hiring a Kasich ally to lead the effort.
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 10:09AM Ohio EPA is asking for comments on their proposed “Draft General Permit for Shale Gas Exploration Surface Water Impacts.” Ohio EPA Seeks Public Comments on Draft General Permit For Wetland and Stream Impacts at Shale Gas Well Sites
Comment period ends Jan. 13th, 2012
http://www.epa.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=II_clMQeDlU%3d&tabid=5024
Monday, January 9, 2012 at 9:10AM While fracking obviously has some economic benefits for involved individuals, companies, and communities, critics have pointed out that the expected benefits are vastly overstated by the industry and the Ohio government. The recent study The Economic Value of Shale Natural Gas in Ohio, conducted by OSU economists Weinstein and Partridge, showed that the widely touted creation of 200,000 jobs in Ohio through fracking is more likely to be in the vicinity of 20,000 jobs. A similar number of fracking-related jobs was in fact created inPennsylvania between 2004 and 2010, although the industry prediction was much higher (between 100,000 and 200,000).
While 20,000 additional jobs may still be welcome in a shaky economy, the researchers point out that “like virtually every other economic event, there are winners (e.g., landowners or high-paid rig workers) and losers (e.g., those who can no longer afford the high rents in mining communities and communities dealing with excessive demands on their infrastructure).” The authors also emphasize that industry-funded studies usually don’t address the fact that most fracking jobs are temporary but “long-term regional economic development requires permanent jobs” [p. 2]. If most of those 20,000 jobs are only short-term jobs and (as seems to be typical) are mostly held by out-of-state workers, then the boom will be quite short-lived.
Moreover, while some landowners may end up with a considerable amount of money, one must seriously question the assumption that there is an overall net positive economic effect of drilling. A study cited by Weinstein and Partridge submits that “previous industry-funded reports have focused on the benefits while ignoring the costs and risks associated with natural gas extraction” and that they “haven’t properly accounted for other impacts, including the costs of environmental degradation,” nor for “the impact on infrastructure, property values, and the ‘displacement impact’ pollution can have on other industries such as tourism and fishing” [p. 5].
