-
Squeezing Blood From Stone
SQUEEZING BLOOD FROM STONE By Paul Bermanzohn, MD The development, in 1993 after years of research and trial and error by Texas oilman George Mitchell, of a new technique called hydraulic hydrofracturing was combined in 2002 with horizontal drilling, another new technique, to make possible the extraction of so-called “natural gas” from long-coveted Marcellus Shale…
-
ShaleTest’s Truth Tour
The gas industry talks the talk about being a good neighbor. But do they walk the walk? What are they really like to live with? Calvin Tillman and Tim Ruggiero know firsthand from living up close and personal with the industry in Texas, and they’ve formed ShaleTest to help people across the country document the pre-drilling condition…
-
Would a local or statewide ban result in “takings” proceedings and liability? No.
Banning Hydrofracking Is Not A “Taking” of Property By Mary Jo Long, Esq. 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…
-
Rally May 2nd in Albany for a Statewide Ban on Hydraulic Fracturing
May 2 – Rally for a Statewide Ban on Fracking! 10:30 AM – West Capitol Park in Albany map Sign up for a Bus / Carpool by April 25th – http://bit.ly/BanBusSignupFacebook Event page: http://on.fb.me/g2mT8N Details: 10AM-10:30: Buses, vans, and carpools arrive from across the state10:30-11 AM: Music, people gather on the Capitol West Lawn 11AM-12:30: Rally w/speakers…
-
Commission review: DEC’s Division of Mineral Resources incompetent to regulate O&G
FAILURES OF DEC OIL & GAS REGULATION By Brian Brock Programs for oil and gas regulation by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation were reviewed by Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission in 1994. The resulting fifty five page report examines the details, but does not provide an overview. Nevertheless Finding I.10 is…
-
What’s all this about propane fracking?
From Ron Bishop, 4/11/2010: “A few “eco-friendly” fracturing schemes are out and about, but they all come with some* issues.” “Propane is a gas at ordinary pressures, but can be fairly easily liquefied with pressure. It is, of course, a fossil fuel itself. Using propane would get around using millions of gallons of water, but would not…
-
Why regulation cannot protect us
• No regulation can prevent the extraordinary squandering of fresh water, 5½ million gallons average per well, 100% of which becomes contaminated — permanently — and removed from the natural water cycle. This in an era of critically diminishing supplies of fresh water in the US and around the world. According to Prof. Tony Ingraffea, Cornell rock…
-
Prove it
In a February 23rd story, the Denver Post reports that homeowner Tracy Dahl lost his case before the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Dahl’s water went bad on June 30, 2010, according to the Post story, “the same day that Pioneer fracked its Alibi well about 1300 feet away.” The COGCC – which “regulates”…
-
Moratorium – The Real Deal?
Background: Horizontally drilled, high-volume hydrofracturing (HD/HVHF) in shales has been under de facto moratorium since 2008, when the DEC was ordered to take testimony on the impacts of that proposed technology. Until the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) is produced (probably late spring 2011) that de facto moratorium is already in place. The current moratorium legislation extends that…