April 2011
29 posts
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“The conscious disregard of the high degree of risk of physical harm to the...”
– Lawyer Chris Heavens in a lawsuit recently filed in a West Virginia Circuit Court against driller Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC and two other companies. http://bit.ly/jz4DkX
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“You are the biggest prostitute
in this room”
– Activist Gene Stilp to Lieutenant Governer Jim Cawley @ Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Commission Meeting this morning in Harrisburg. Learn more about the Commission: http://bit.ly/eMlzkW
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Response to PA Gas Well Accident Took 13 Hours
When Chesapeake Energy lost control of a Marcellus Shale gas well in Pennsylvania on April 19, an emergency response team from Texas was called in to stop the leak. By the time the team arrived more than 13 hours later, brine water and hydraulic fracturing fluids from the well had spewed across nearby fields and into a creek.
Why did a team have to be called in from Texas, as the Scranton...
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“It has been one nightmare after another for them”
– Attorney Todd J. O’Malley, on behalf of three families in Bradford County who are suing Chesapeake Energy, claiming they “suffered water and property contamination caused by the negligent and grossly negligent oil and gas drilling activities” by the company.
Read more @...
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“Chesapeake officials said yesterday that they had halted all post-drilling...”
– Read more from Post-Gazette reporter Laura Olson @ http://bit.ly/fYcnOp
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Shale news of the day: Bradford County well...
A Bradford County well suffered a blowout late Tuesday night, allowing thousands of gallons of chemically laced hydraulic fracturing fluid to flow from the site for at least half a day. Seven families near the Chesapeake Energy site were evacuated, though no injuries or natural gas escapes were reported. DEP officials were checking a small nearby tributary, into which the fracking...
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“I will protect the environment, but I will help grow an industry that is hiring...”
– Gov. Tom Corbett (PA)
Read more: http://bit.ly/fgwBzu
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Shale news of the day: April 15
Commenting on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s gas-drilling regulations wraps up today, and officials will have plenty of input to consider. There’s been a moratorium on drilling in the river basin since last summer, as the commission put together an 83-page draft regulation. After the comment period – which drew more than 43,000 responses, including 36,000 delivered in boxes by...
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Shale news of the day: April 13
From Washington, Dan Malloy reports that EPA officials testified yesterday on treating drilling wastewater, saying some current plants are ill-suited to do so. And following several reports of radiation in that water and new testing requirements from DEP, six southwestern Pennsylvania treatment plants have stopped accepting that wastewater.
Read more @ http://bit.ly/eIFyea
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WatchSenator Bob Casey (D-PA) spoke at a committee hearing this morning on natural gas drilling.
Video courtesy of C-SPAN
To learn more, visit www.post-gazette.com/pipeline
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Shale news of the day: April 12
West Virginia is hoping to land a multi-billion facility that removes certain chemicals, such as ethane, from extracted natural gas, reports the Daily Mail in Charleston. An official there gave the state a 50-50 shot - but added that there have been “serious discussions with Pennsylvania.”
In New York, the Associated Press reports that drilling opponents rallied on the...
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Shale news of the day: April 11
First up, this morning’s P-G features an investigative piece from our friends at ProPublica, who dug into the background of Acting Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary C. Alan Walker. They found repeated instances of pollution involving the former coal businessman’s mines, as well as a consistent view that industry should have a bigger role in regulation
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Shale news of the day: April 8
In Washington County, Rice Energy has filed a court complaint that a North Bethlehem ordinance is “over-reaching and deprives the company ‘of its legal right to develop its oil and natural gas property interests.’”
In a terse letter back to EPA officials, Acting Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer says the state is accelerating some water...
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Shale news of the day: April 6
The P-G’s Don Hopey breaks down a brewing conflict between Range Resources and Mount Pleasant Township, which has led to letters from the company threatening to pull their operations from the town.
In the state Capitol, House Republicans will be unveiling a seven-bill package to encourage natural gas as an alternative motor fuel. Its status as clean-burning has some environmentalists on...
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“Some regulators are concerned that fracking, which is used in most new wells,...”
– Read more @ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11094/1136832-84.stm 