Independent Weekender story, 6/9/2010:
Dimock looking at frack facility
Dimock Township Supervisors discussed plans for a hydraulic fracturing solution facility which will prepare hydrofracking solution for the gas well industry as well as storage for produced water awaiting shipping and/or treatment.
Somerset Regional Water Resources has submitted plans to the state Department of Environmental Resources and hopes to obtain the necessary permits for waste transfer and storage. The supervisors noted concerns with possible tank registration requirements.
The property, which is owned by Joseph and Nicole Vibbard, will include a large residual waste storage facility, as well as a structure designed for the storage and mixing of gas industry “products” with water before being taken to gas well sites. The property was formerly a veal farm.
Township secretary Paul Jennings said there is a 30-day time line if residents wish to submit comments to DEP about whether to issue the permits.
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Switzer said that there are seven driveways in a row, including hers, on the left side of SR 3023, and that with the speed of traffic on that state road passing through Dimock, “It’s there but for the grace of God we haven’t been killed” pulling out of their driveways onto the paved road.. . . . .
Norma Fiorentino asked if the supervisors knew what was in the water that Cabot Gas and Oil has been applying to the dirt roads in Dimock.Resident Catherine Probasco said that the water she has seen being applied to Baker Road last summer was oily and foamy. The supervisors said that the calcium for dust control approved at last month’s meeting has been purchased and applied.
Ellis said that Cabot should supply the supervisors with a letter specifying in writing what is in the water they are applying to township roads. “The supervisors should make Cabot give them a report of what they are putting on the road, instead of always praising them.”
Sautner said that he was wondering, “now that the gas wells are here, are we considered residential still, or commercial, or industrial?”
Paul Jennings answered, “That’s up to the assessment office.”
Sautner replied, “Our water is ruined, our property value has dropped down to nothing, but my taxes went up. We are still paying high taxes like anyone else with clean water.”
Lettie Ellis said, “Why not invite the assessment committee to come here to address this?”
Switzer said that there needs to be someone looking out for safety. “A pipeline in Texas exploded today, and there was a blowout at a gas well site in Clearfield,” she said. “Luckily, not in a school yard. Not two hundred feet from a home, like the Carters.”
She noted that there have been 50 incidents of gas migration into water in Pennsylvania. Several residents agreed that if an incident of any kind arose on Hunsinger Road, a disaster would be likely, due to the conditions of that dirt road.
For complete story, click here
Tags: Cabot, Dimock, road spreading, roads
From: Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Subject: Prison time for activist over green jobs banner? We’re not kidding
Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 16:00:26 -0400Dear Friends,
Despite the Gulf disaster, no one from BP has been arrested and sent to jail. Despite safety violations at coal mines, no one from Massey Energy has been handcuffed. But today I write to inform you that one of America’s best global warming activists is probably facing several months of jail. He’s been convicted by a D.C. jury, and now he awaits sentencing on July 6th. Why? Because he peacefully dropped two banners on Capitol Hill that said: “GREEN JOBS NOW” and “GET TO WORK.”
I’m not joking. Ted Glick of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network was convicted by a jury May 13th of peacefully dropping the banners inside the U.S. Senate Hart Office Building last September. The DC U.S. Attorney’s office clearly has decided to make an “example” of Ted because of his previous two — count ‘em, two — convictions related to peaceful acts of climate civil disobedience. Can you believe it? You can see a three-minute video of Ted’s September “crime” right here. He’s the guy toward the end simply lowering the banners. Period.
Now Ted is facing up to three years in jail. Based on the judge’s comments last week, it really does appear that he will be incarcerated for at least a month or two.
So here’s what you can do:
First, please write a respectful but firm snail-mail letter to Judge Frederick H. Weisberg telling him why you think Ted should not go to jail. The judge’s address is below. Just type something up, print it and mail it off. Explain why only a suspended sentence is fair, especially given all the real injustices out there on global warming. There is reason to believe that that a large number of thoughtful, well-reasoned letters to the judge could bring leniency.
Second, take an action right now that will help create a world where global warming is no longer such a threat and people like Ted won’t have to drop banners and get arrested in the first place! Sign the “Windmills, Not Oil Spills” petition to stop new offshore drilling in America and promote clean energy alternatives instead.
Thanks for your support, your activism, and your prayers as CCAN fights to keep a morally innocent staff member out of jail during this time of great global crisis.
Sincerely,
Mike Tidwell
Director, Chesapeake Climate Action NetworkHere’s the judge’s address:
Judge Frederick H. Weisberg
DC Superior Court
500 Indiana Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001**Please keep in mind**
The letters should be respectful. Suggested topics include:
- If you personally know Ted and have shared experiences with him, tell the judge;
- Describe the urgency of the climate issue and the need to pressure our government to take action on it;
- Give your views on what would be a justice-based approach by the legal system toward nonviolent actions of the kind Ted took part in.
Please let other people know about this campaign. And it would be helpful if you could send us a copy of your letter to Judge Weisberg, or if you could let us know that you have sent a letter. You can email Ted at ted@chesapeakeclimate.org, or you could send by regular mail to Ted’s attention at CCAN, P.O. Box 11138, Takoma Park, Md. 20912.
–
Mike Tidwell
Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network
www.ChesapeakeClimate.org
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Cineplex Rex
makes videos about gas drilling’s effects on communities.
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Right now, there are 57 videos on CineplexRex’s YouTube channel about drilling’s effects on communities: water issues, air quality issues, property rights issues, property values issues, dust issues, privacy issues, safety issues, noise issues, odor issues, traffic issues, livestock issues, health issues … oh, and
lots and lots of tense meetings with citizens asking gas company reps questions about how their situations will ever be put to rights, and gas company reps making assurances they won’t follow through on… hearings, meetings with lawyers and state and town officials.
Notice how it’s always the gas company reps and the officials who are
at the head of the room, like teachers, and the affected citizens are in the audience, as if they were students in a classroom?These are OUR homes. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
When do WE tell THEM how it’s going to be?How about NOW?
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Tags: blogger
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Posted in Bad Neighbors, Community Effects, Cost Externalization, Fighting Back, Mean Energy
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Frack Country Blues
Frack Country Blues posts feature original cartoons with salient commentary.
Tags: Pennsylvania
An excerpt from GreenMuze.com:
Ugly Reality of Fracking
4.19.2010
After her well water was contaminated by nearby fracking in 2006, Ernst decided to go public, showing visiting reporters how she could light her tap water on fire, and speaking out about Alberta land owners’ problems with the industry, especially Calgary-based EnCana. EnCana is Canada’s second biggest energy company (after Suncor) and is now also a major player in British Columbia, with hundreds of natural-gas wells in the province.
Ernst, a biologist and environmental consultant to the oil and gas industry, says EnCana “told us ‘we would never fracture near your water.’ But the company fracked into our aquifer in that same year [2004].” By 2005, she says, “My water began dramatically changing, going bad. I was getting horrible burns and rashes from taking a shower, and then my dogs refused to drink the water. That’s when I began to pay attention.” More than fifteen water-wells had gone bad in the little community.
Tests revealed high levels of ethane, methane, and benzene in Ernst’s water. “EnCana told us they use the same gelled [fracking] fluids as in the States.” Fracking has become a huge controversy in the US, with pending legislation that would impact its regulation.
Ernst says she heard from “at least fifty other landowners the first year” she went public, and she continues to get calls. Groundwater contamination from fracking “is pretty widespread” in Alberta, “but they’re trying to keep it hidden.” Canada has no national water standards and conducts little information gathering about groundwater.
Read the complete article at GreenMuze.com: Ugly Reality of Fracking
Tip of the hat to FrackMountain for bringing this article to our attention.
Tags: Canada, contamination, EnCana, fracking, water wells
Some selections from a Pennsylvania blog
Frack Mountain
“On the broadcast, Steve Corbett related how he has been unable to get anyone from EnCana to talk with him. They are about to change our world in a very surreal, industrial, and irreversible way – yet are too arrogant to address any of these potentialities with the public.
“Even if you had the perfect company doing all the right things, fracking is still a dirty, radioactive, water wasting, toxin injecting, air polluting, community disrupting, waste producing, land damaging, infrastructure intensive, property devaluing, inefficient way to produce energy. Add on top of that a secretive and entitled corporation – you are begging for trouble.”
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2010.04.10 Here’s an admission of the possible hazards by the industry
Range Resources Corporation (hydrofrackers) filed this with the SEC in 2006 as part of their prospectus:
Our business is subject to operating hazards and environmental regulations that could result in substantial losses or liabilities Oil and natural gas operations are subject to many risks, including well blowouts, craterings, explosions, uncontrollable flows of oil, natural gas or well fluids, fires, formations with abnormal pressures, pipeline ruptures or spills, pollution, releases of toxic natural gas and other environmental hazards and risks. If any of these hazards occur, we could sustain substantial losses as a result of: • Injury or loss of life; • Severe damage to or destruction of property, natural resources and equipment; • Pollution or other environmental damage; • Clean-up responsibilities; • Regulatory investigations and penalties; or • Suspension of operations. As we begin drilling to deeper horizons and in more geologically complex areas, we could experience a greater increase in operating and financial risks due to inherent higher reservoir pressures and unknown downhole risk exposures. Source:Range Resources Prospectus
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2010.04.09 Dispatch from Dimock
It is like a war zone up here in Dimock. Helicopters hovering overhead all the time dropping their seismic testing “pods” – spooking my horses. Workers in the fields and woods stringing miles of seismic testing wire – trucks heavy equipment driving by constantly – dust – noise – skies lit up at night from the drilling rigs – constant noise from the drilling and fracking. Drillers park their chemical trucks next door here at work and I walk over sometimes and try to read the names of the chemical containers – can’t understand the names of the chemicals but they all have skull and crossbones next to them – what would one think that means! Sorry for the rant – just have to vent once in a while. Chuck.
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… our family has experienced in a very direct and personal way, the devastating impact these gas leases can have on individual property owners. Now we wonder whether anyone will want to buy my Dad’s home, and, if so, at what price? Who would have thought that the beautiful woods, meadows and ponds surrounding my Dad’s home would someday become a liability rather than an asset?
For my family, this recent experience was a wake up call. We applaud your efforts on behalf of clean water and preserving a livable environment for the residents of the Back Mountain area. These efforts serve the larger community and are clearly the more important mission of your organization. However, before it is too late, we also want to bring to the attention of Back Mountain area residents the potential impact of these leases on their property values. Like my Dad, many area residents may be unaware that a gas lease exists near their home and the activities that are allowed under the lease (testing, drilling, laying pipeline, installing lease roads, installing pumps, compressors, separators, tanks, power stations, transporting oil and gas by pipeline or otherwise, “and all other rights and privileges necessary, incident to, or convenient for the economical operation of said Leasehold Premises…” quoting from the Memorandum of Oil and Gas Lease impacting my Dad’s home). I hope that you will communicate our fears to the local area elected representatives. It is truly a scandal that at all levels – national, state and local – elected officials have failed to protect ordinary citizens with reasonable regulation of the gas industry.
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One way to follow Frack Mountain’s posts is by checking the RSS feed in our sidebar; another is to set your browser to receive the feeds.
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Tags: blogger, Dimock, EnCana, fracking, hazard, Pennsylvania, property values, Range Resources
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May 5, 2010
“Gas Companies Are Picking the Pockets of the Citizens of Pennsylvania”
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There have been a lot of my friends in the industry who have found it necessary to begin aggressive personal attacks on me. Several industry publications, such as the Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter have had articles and editorials stating that I am pretty much everything but a nice person. This activity is not new; however, the intensity has been elevated and it has gotten much more personal. This tells me that I must be making an impact, or they would not attack me personally. This also tells me that they have given up on attacking the message, now they are only attacking the man.
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Obviously, anyone who would bother to read the Powell Newsletter knows that it is industry funded. As everyone also knows by now, I do not accept compensation or travel expenses for my presentations, and unfortunately those at the Powell Newsletter can’t say the same. They are in all reality a paid cheerleader for the natural gas industry, join me Gene…rah rah rah…gooooo… Chesapeake.
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Frankly, if the industry wants to truly be successful they would embrace the ideas that I bring forward, which is doing business in a respectful and responsible manner. I find that in every presentation I give, there are always a few who show up that have read the propaganda and are looking for a fight. However, after listening to my message it is apparent that I am not some anti-drilling wacko and the picture that has been painted of me is inaccurate, and it is always nice to hear that they agree with my points before they leave.
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Everyone knows that the industry has an ugly baby, except for the industry themselves. I know it must be difficult to admit your baby is ugly, but like they say about alcoholics, you must first admit you have a problem before you can move on. Instead this industry continues to deny their baby is ugly.
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There is really no doubt for anyone who has accomplished even a small amount of research that there is certainly a downside to this industry. If this downside is not mitigated in some manner we will be looking at a mess that will need to be cleaned up down the road when all of these companies are long gone. As history has shown us, these companies are typically nowhere to be found when it comes time to clean up the mess. That cleanup project is left for the citizens and taxpayers, not the companies who made billions making the mess. The industry will outsource this cost to the hard working American people, just as they try to do for all of their costs.
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The industry wants us to believe that they are a fledgling industry who cannot afford to take simple measures needed to make the shale plays a win-win situation. I think that most of us know that this industry spends billions lobbying to prevent them from being mandated to do it right. Therefore, they could and should do this process more responsibly and respectfully.
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They are picking the pockets of the citizens of Pennsylvania, who will be paying for the mistakes made by their elected officials for many years to come. This state is one of two that have oil and gas activities, and do not have a severance tax for the minerals. They pay this tax in every other state, and will gladly pay it in Pennsylvania, but continue to lobby for the outsourcing of their costs to the taxpayers. This could be billions when it is all said and done, but as it stands, the billions will come from hard working Pennsylvania taxpayers.
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Every location that has natural gas exploration in Pennsylvania has something in common, and that is destroyed roads. Instead of being the good neighbor we keep hearing about, they outsource the cost of the road repair to the taxpayers. However, these small communities simply can’t afford to pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars in road repairs; therefore, the citizens in these areas drive on destroyed roads, worse than I have ever seen. If the natural gas industry wanted to improve their image, they should embrace a severance tax in Pennsylvania, instead of chasing me around the country.
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As the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico shows, we are one wrong move from a catastrophic event. As any good Texan does, I really enjoy my gulf shrimp. Unfortunately, thanks to the reckless actions of this industry, it will likely be several years before I can enjoy it again. That is not the bad part though; the bad part is that something similar will happen here before this is over. It is only a matter of time before we have that catastrophic event somewhere in one the shale plays. However, in the shale plays they have put this hazardous activity in school yards and neighborhoods. So guess what is going to happen when the catastrophe happens here? There will be a lot of dead people.
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The last editorial written by Gene the “propaganda machine” Powell himself, was entitled “All Hat and No Cattle” (http://www.barnettshalenews.com/documents/2010/TillmanEditorialAllHat4-27-2010.pdf). I must admit that I do not have any cattle. However, I would like to have cattle, but I am afraid they would die or abort their calves, like they do in the small town of Clearville, PA, home of Clearville Gas Storage. In this area the hard working Americans have to purchase their own filtration system to take the high levels of arsenic out of their well water. Most of the surface and ground water has been contaminated by this reckless industry in Clearville, PA.
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As one of my new friends in Pennsylvania said, I am the new villain for the industry extremists. They rally around the Powell Newsletter, which gives me an entire section of every issue. Whatever happens, they blame me for their problems. If a large landowner refuses to sign a one sided lease, it will be my fault. If a community demands that the industry be responsible, it is that Calvin Dewayne Tillman’s fault. When people rally around the idea of a fair and equitable severance tax…yep, you guessed it…Calvin’s fault. It has nothing to do with the industry that has contaminated dozens of private water wells in Pennsylvania, and is destroyed air quality and property values wherever they have been, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. It has nothing to do with the industry that outsources its cost to the taxpayers, while its executives make hundreds of millions dollars in bonuses. Nope, those things have no influence on public perception. It is only that mayor of DISH; Calvin Dewayne Tillman, that causes all of this grief for the natural gas industry.
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If the industry would be responsible and respectful, instead of searching out a new way to attack me, they would be much better off. However, it appears the more they attack me, the more people come to see what the big deal is. As bad as they hate it, every presentation that I give is to a packed house. Furthermore, I find dozens more who want me to speak in their town. People want to know the truth through eyes of someone that has lived it, not a paid cheerleader. I truly wish the industry would do the smart thing and let me help them become responsible and respectful. However, they are going to continue to be the irresponsible bully, blaming me for all of their problems.
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Mr. Powell is right on another matter; I have no shortage of arrogance against this industry. Maybe it was my Oklahoma raising, or the fact that my parents would not allow me to stand by while a bully ran over those too passive to defend themselves, but I am not afraid of this industry and certainly will not be deterred by their personal attacks. Frankly, seeing this fear that has been struck in these industry extremists keeps me going, when my energy has run out. You should see the looks on their faces, when I walk over and shake their hand. So I hope Mr. Powell and the extremists keep “Poking the Bear”, regurgitating the same propaganda, because in the end, that may be what forces them to be respectful and responsible, and hopefully those companies that choose not to will perish. God bless.
Calvin Tillman
Mayor, DISH, TX
(940) 453-3640“Those who say it can not be done, should get out of the way of those that are doing it”
Tags: Chesapeake, DISH, Pennsylvania, Tillman
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For one thing, you probably need a good laugh. Just the source of the blog’s name will get you started.
Another Monkey: Front page news- Marcellus Shale vs Farmville
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From the Susquehanna County Independent newspaper, April 21, in the weekly “News From Dimock” feature:
“We residents of Dimock Township owe a great big “Thank You” to the neighbors who have been complaining loudly for months that Cabot’s faulty drilling practices have ruined their drinking water. Some of us did not take them seriously but they kept at it… Finally, DEP has proved them right and declared a year’s moratorium on drilling. This does not purify their drinking water but perhaps it will prevent contamination for the rest of us. Thank you dear neighbors-especially those who live on Carter Rd. and points east.”.
Tags: Carter Road, Dimock, Pennsylvania
From EnergyJustice.net
> SIGN THE PETITION <
The Kerry, Graham and Lieberman climate bill has become so compromised it’s rotten. Let Congress know that you are deeply concerned about climate change, and therefore support a vote AGAINST this bill. Tell them a much, much stronger climate bill is absolutely necessary!
When the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act last year, many (including NASA climate scientist Dr. James Hansen) called the bill “worse than nothing,” and found themselves, sadly, opposing climate legislation. Why?? Because the bill failed to rise to the challenge, offered absurdly weak targets, provided ludicrous quantities of corporate handouts to polluters, funded a slew of dirty false solutions (carbon capture and sequestration, biomass burning, nuclear, etc). Overall, it sought to maintain business as usual, rather than putting the nation on the path to avoid catastrophic warming.
Many powerful industry and government interests view climate change not as a serious problem to be resolved by all means possible, but rather as an opportunity to maintain and enhance profits. They would seek to build more polluting incinerators, continue mountaintop removal and coal burning, expand industrial agriculture, drill our coastlines, mine uranium and build more nuclear reactors, leaving us to cope with more cancer, asthma and other health problems, and an altogether questionable future for our children.
When Senators Kerry & Boxer introduced a companion bill largely mirroring “worse than nothing,” it was entirely rejected by some Senators, who, unbelievably, fail to recognize climate change as a problem worth addressing, and are entirely beholden to their fossil fuel and other industry supporters. Kerry went back to the drawing board, this time inviting the participation of industry and the climate change deniers who have made it clear that in order to win the needed 60 votes, they would require fulfillment of their “wishlist.” We are now faced with a bill written to fulfill the wishes of the worst polluters and guaranteed to be FAR worse than nothing.
The Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill would even take away EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act — our one proven tool for regulating air pollution, which industry fears because it will be more effective than the carbon trading schemes in this legislation. The Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill would even invalidate any state and local-level laws that are stronger than the weak policies in their bill!
Just because this is a so-called “climate bill” doesn’t mean it is a good bill! Tell your senator and representatives to vote AGAINST this rotten bill because it fails on every count. Demand a much, much stronger climate bill that will embrace targets that meet the mandates of climate science, put an end to dirty energy, restore ecosystems, protect our health and fulfill our obligations to the international community.
For more information, and to sign the petition, visit
Tags: climate change, greenhouse gas
On April 17, 2010, Calvin Tillman, mayor of Dish, Texas, and Texas citizen & landowner Tim Ruggiero address an audience in Clearville, PA as part of Tillman’s return visit to NY & PA, 4/15-19
Must-see: Spectra Energy Watch’s blog - “Two Texans Share Shale Gas Experience”
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Tags: clearville, DISH, Ruggiero, Texas, Tillman
MB writes:
I just attempted to call Grannis about this decision to do separate
reviews for NYC and Syracuse. I told the operator what my call was
about and I was transferred to the Division of Mineral Resources. I
asked them to please transfer me back to Grannis’s office. After I was
on hold for several minutes, someone answered my call and when I
explained that I was calling to register my displeasure at the plan to
give unequal treatment to different parts of the state, I was told
that they are not taking calls on this matter except through the
Division of Mineral Resources. She said that I could email my concerns
to Grannis, and then they would be documented. I told her I knew the
decision was not hers and I was not angry with her, but that I was
furious that the commissioner’s office is not taking calls on this
matter. I went ahead and told her that I was opposed to the unequal
treatment–she said she was keeping no record of the call. I told her
that I understood that, but I was telling her my position so that if
she got many, many similar calls, she could go and tell her superiors
that she had gotten a lot of calls in opposition to the unequal
treatment, even if the individual calls were not recorded. I also told
her that I have lived in and paid taxes in NY for over 25 years, and
that I bet if Chesapeake were to call about something they would get
through.People calling about Walter Hang’s effort to get the dSGEIS withdrawn
have been getting similar treatment.We live in this state and they are not taking our calls! Are they
deliberately trying to piss us off or what? Do they think this will
make us LESS determined to stop this nightmare? If I sound furious,
that’s because I am.If you have not already done so, please consider calling and sending
emails to the appropriate officials to express your displeasure at the
DEC’s recent decision to create separate regulations for the NYC and
Syracuse watersheds. Phone numbers and email addresses are:DEC Commissioner Alexander “Pete” Grannis:
518-402-8545
pgrannis@gw.dec.state.ny.usEPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck:
212-637-5000
enck.judith@epa.govGovernor David Paterson
518-474-8390
governor@chamber.state.ny.usWhen contacting Grannis and Paterson, you may also wish to complain
about the fact that, as of last Friday, Grannis’s office was NOT
accepting phone calls on this issue: they were instead transferring
the calls to our “friends” over in the Division of Mineral Resources.
Tags: DEC, hydraulic fracturing, Marcellus, SGEIS, statewide ban, watershed
The continuous air monitor is now up and running in DISH. It is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I am thrilled of this development, and this is a real victory for the citizens of this community. You may see the data at the link below, and please spread the word.
Calvin Tillman
Mayor, DISH, TX
Tags: air quality, DISH, Texas
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Posted in Bad Neighbors, Community Effects, Cost Externalization, Fighting Back, General, Mean Energy
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Oh, frabjous days!
It’s so good to have to be adding new blogs to the blogroll all the time.
New additions just in the last 48 hours include:
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Faces of Frackland
Hydrofracking Virginia Journal
Lincoln Place Action Group
Northern NM Conservation Project
The Polyline Lawsuit
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It just might be that the days
of the oil & gas industry
doing whatever it wants,
wherever it wants,
to whoever it wantsare coming to an end.
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