Biblio
The Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) exists to help individuals & communities identify the most important environmental problems facing them - empowering & energizing them with tools to prioritize & develop their own action plans towards more sustainable solutions for a healthy environment. Read more»
Check out FracTracker.org! The blog part provides a forum to discuss the impacts you have seen or felt regarding natural gas drilling in this region, as well as share data through the site's online data tool.
The data tool is an online information commons where you can access & upload all sorts of geographically-linked data. We will be hosting regional training sessions this summer on how to use FracTracker. Contact us with questions or to find out when & where the trainings will occur.
According to a review by Josh Kusnetz of ProPublica, FracTracker "allows people to search by topic or select a specific area on a map. It also shows who uploaded the specific data set and whether other people have downloaded it or found it helpful.
Since anyone can upload a data set, this transparency is critical to determining whether the information is reliable. CHEC will remove irrelevant data, but it doesn’t vet everything for accuracy. CHEC is counting on users to police the data themselves and to distinguish the good from the bad."
Our mission is to explore life beneath the seafloor and make transformative discoveries that advance science, benefit society, and inspire people of all ages and origins.
In a provocative 1992 essay, Thomas Gold postulated the existence of a "deep, hot biosphere", supported by geological energy sources. The potential for the oceanic deep biosphere to influence global biogeochemical processes scales with the size of the subseafloor as a habitat.
See: Probe Earth's Interior with Advanced Radiation Sources
The ramifications of a massive buried biosphere of "intraterrestrial microbes" are significant, leading to paradigm shifts in our thinking in the biosciences and geosciences.
"Despite an intense focus on discovering abiotic hydrocarbon sources in natural settings, only a handful of sites convincingly suggest that abiotic organic synthesis occurs within the geosphere...
...The crux of this topic is that currently there is no foolproof approach to distinguishing abiotic versus biotic organic synthesis. Thus, it is especially important to be cognizant of the possibilities and limitations of abiotic hydrocarbon production when considering a deep subsurface biosphere where the organic matter may be synthesized by both abiotic and biotic processes." (Proskurowski, 2010)
See: Life in the Oceans | The Why Files.
See: The Sloan - Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO)
The Deep Carbon Observatory is a program of the Carnegie Institution for Science, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
The Sloan - DCO mission includes the fostering of international cooperation in addressing global-scale questions, including the nature and extent of deep microbial life, the fluxes of carbon dioxide from the world's volcanoes, and the distribution and characteristics of deep hydrocarbon reservoirs.
The DCO is currently composed of four science directorates: Deep Life; Reservoirs and Fluxes; Energy, Environment, and Climate; and Physics and Chemistry of Carbon.
Gold, Thomas. The Deep Hot Biosphere : The Myth of Fossil Fuels. New York: Springer | Copernicus, 1998.
Goncharov, Alexander. “Unanswered Questions in Deep Carbon Research” presented at the 2009 Annual Meeting keynote | Sloan Deep Carbon Cycle Workshop, Carnegie Institution, Geophysical Laboratory | Washington, D.C., May 15, 2008. (PDF 4.4 MB)
Proskurowski, G. “Abiogenic Hydrocarbon Production at the Geosphere-Biosphere Interface via Serpentinization Reactions” in Timmis, Kenneth N., ed. Handbook of Hydrocarbon and Lipid Microbiology. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, 2010.
This video shows Texas Black Angus cattle drinking from drilling sludge pits at two different drilling sites in Denton County. I have witnessed cattle drinking from sludge pits regularly over the past few years.
Unlike most other states, Texas law does not require that sludge pits be lined or fenced, but it does require the pits be "cleaned up" within 120 days after completion of the well.
There are many sludge pits in Texas that never get cleaned up. These are a threat to wildlife, livestock, soil and our drinking water.
See Bluedaze by Sharon Wilson (TXSharon)
Catskill Mountainkeeper is a member based advocacy organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the long term health of the six counties of the Catskill Region. Up to date news about gas drilling, boating, bears, stories, and more.
See: People's Stories
Excerpt of e-mail from Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy:
Anyone not living under a rock must be aware of the mountain of bad news that's recently come to light about fracking.
The New York Times recently ran an extensive three part series that detailed many of the dangers associated with fracking as well as the industry pressure that has forced state and federal agencies to turn a blind eye to practices known to put the public at risk.
Among the findings: Pennsylvania water treatment plants have been accepting radioactive drilling wastewater that is 2,000 times more polluted than permitted by federal drinking water standards. That means that one million gallons of wastewater would need to be diluted with 2 billion gallons of fresh water in order to meet minimal standards for human consumption.
Also last week: Arkansas ordered a temporary moratorium on new injection wells, which are suspected of causing 700 small earthquakes in the last six months alone.
Because about four million gallons of fracking fluid remains underground in each Marcellus well, every Marcellus well is an injection well. Even a single small earthquake could spell big trouble if it opens up fault lines and permits toxic fracking fluid to migrate into drinking water.
The EPA recently determined that methane leaks from natural gas operations are 9,000 times higher than previously suspected. Methane is a greenhouse gas twenty to thirty times more destructive than carbon dioxide.
See: ECONOMIC BENEFIT? REALLY?
As the horrific truth about the dangers of fracking continue to come to light, economist (and Catskill Citizens member!) Jannette Barth, Ph.D., continues to deconstruct the myth that drilling will be a boon to local communities and the state. Her latest report points out distortions and misstatements in the industry- funded studies that tout the economic benefits of fracking.
See: Janette Barth: Unanswered Questions About The Economic Impact of Gas Drilling In the Marcellus Shale: Don’t Jump to Conclusions.
See: Christopherson to study economic impact of gas drilling in Marcellus Shale.
Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy is a volunteer grassroots organization intended to give residents a voice in the emerging energy decisions in the Catskills.
Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy News Page.
See: Steve Coffman. (2009). The Safety of Fracturing Fluids – A Quantitative Assessment
According to the EPA's National Emission Inventory, Chevron was responsible for 4,030,422.95 pounds of green house gas emission pollution in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana in 2002.
Chevron was the first international oil company to operate in Nigeria and has, for almost 40 years of operations there, practiced the wasteful process of burning off of gas associated with oil drilling.
This gas flaring has resulted in the flaring of billions of cubic feet of natural gas. These flares have and are wrecking havoc on the air and water quality in the Niger Delta. Communities living near the flares are suffering from a myriad of health issues and are more likely to get cancer and suffer from asthma as a result of breathing flare smoke. Many flares have been burning for over 20 years and in locations only a few hundred yards from the center of the nearest village.
According to the Canadian Public Health Association, gas flares contain as many as 250 toxins and their smoke emits particulate matter---including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxides and carcinogenic substances as well as unburned fuel components, including benzene, toluene, xylene, and hydrogen sulfide. Exposure to benzene and its metabolites causes acute nonlymphocytic leukemia and a variety of other blood-related disorders in humans.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency Flare smoke can cause aggravated asthma, increases in respiratory symptoms like coughing and difficult or painful breathing, chronic bronchitis, decreased lung function, and premature death.
Gas Flaring also causes acid rain, corroding roofs, acidifying lakes and streams and damaging vegetation. This acid rain, combined with frequent oil spills--totaling more than 10 Exxon Valdez spills--and dumping of toxic drilling waters into rivers has severely depleted fish stocks, which the people of the Delta rely on.
See: Chevron Human Energy Stories | Addressing Climate Change
See: Poison Fire
See: Rancho Los Malulos | A satirical view from the McGill Brothers Lease
See: Natural gas: the commodity world’s ugly duckling
See: Controversial gas 'fracking' extraction headed to Europe
See: As You Sow - Corporate Accountability, Shareholder Action, and ToxicsReduction
In the 1970s, Congress passed a host of environmental laws that sought to adopt a preventive approach to reducing disease and protecting health and environment. Since then, average body burdens of some persistent toxic materials such as lead and cadmium have fallen, but those of other newer materials, like persistent flame retardants, have risen.
The major obstacle to a protective chemicals management system remains the culture of trade secrecy that allows firms to withhold information about potential health and safety dangers of their products. In my book, The Secret History of the War on Cancer, and in recent testimony to the President’s Cancer Panel on cancer prevention, I have advanced the concept of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Toxic Hazards.
The current regulatory system has failed to protect workers, their families and communities. Under the present adversarial system, companies can legally withhold information on the dangers of workplace hazards under the rubric of trade secrets, and they can also legally conceal information on health hazards as part of sealed settlement agreements...
Author's note: This essay is in response to: What is the key obstacle to implementing an effective, health-protective, chemicals management system?
See: Sandra Steingraber. Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment
See: Marcellus-Shale.us. "Our Look at the The Halliburton Loophole":
This exemption (from the Clean Water Act - authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005) allows non-disclosure of the toxic ingredients used near wells and aquifiers in drilling and waste injection. The rush to exploit the Marcellus Shale (referred to by BP's Tony Heyward as a "game-changer") allows gas drillers to legally keep secret the contents of the fracturing fluids used in fracking. Endocrinologist Dr. Adam Law of Ithaca, New York recently testified at the EPA Hearings in Binghamton that doctors cannot treat patients for exposure to chemicals if they don't know what they were exposed to. TEDX, The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, directed by Dr. Theo Colborn in Colorado continues to investigate the relationship between health and environmental distress.
See: Poisoned profits : the toxic assault on our children
See: Tox Town
See: The National Children's Study (2010)
The National Children’s Study will examine the effects of the environment, as broadly defined to include factors such as air, water, diet, sound, family dynamics, community and cultural influences, and genetics on the growth, development, and health of children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21 years. The goal of the Study is to improve the health and well-being of children and contribute to understanding the role various factors have on health and disease. Findings from the Study will be made available as the research progresses, making potential benefits known to the public as soon as possible.
See:Fracking: Implications for Human and Environmental Health
"We need to develop a system to minimize the disposal costs for gas producers and make water safe for all users," said Gregory, who is responsible for the development of a new remediation technology based on electrochemical cells."
CalFrac is one of the companies the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce is investigating on the potential environmental impacts from hydraulic fracturing.
"Hydraulic fracturing operations are constantly improving through advances in technology, which are intended to translate into cost savings and enhanced production for Calfrac’s customers."
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - April 16, 2010.
More than 15 months after natural gas drilling contaminated drinking water in Dimock, Pa., state officials are ordering the company responsible -- Houston-based Cabot Oil and Gas -- to permanently shut down some of its wells, pay nearly a quarter million dollars in fines, and permanently provide drinking water to 14 affected families.
The order is among the most punitive in Pennsylvania's history and reflects officials' frustrations over a string of drilling-related accidents. The record of spills, leaks and water contamination in Pennsylvania -- several of which are tied to Cabot -- has spotlighted the environmental risks of drilling for natural gas across the country, jeopardized development of the massive Marcellus Shale resource deposit, and contributed significantly to actions by both Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to bolster federal oversight of drilling.
"The events at Dimock have been the black eye for the industry and have also been a black eye for Pennsylvania," the state's chief environment official, John Hanger, told ProPublica. "It's been an enormous headache. If Cabot doesn't get this message, the company has got an amazing hearing problem."
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading independent North American natural gas producer. The company’s reserves are focused in both conventional and unconventional basins in Appalachia, the Rocky Mountains, the Mid-Continent and the Gulf Coast.
See: Cabot Oil & Gas’s Marcellus Drilling to Slow After PA Environment Officials Order Wells Closed. Lustgarten, Abrahm. ProPublica. (2010).
See: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania DEP takes aggressive enforcement action against Cabot Oil
See: Associated Press. December 16, 2010. The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. "Gas driller to pay $4.1 million in settlement."
HARRISBURG — The state Department of Environmental Protection has abandoned its plan to force a Houston-based drilling company to pay nearly $12 million to extend a public water line to residents whose wells have been contaminated with methane gas, citing a lack of political support.
Environmental regulators say Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. instead will pay residents of Dimock a total of $4.1 million under a settlement with the company announced late Wednesday. Cabot also has agreed to pay to install whole-house gas mitigation systems in each of the 19 affected homes.
The settlement infuriated residents, who say the DEP caved to political pressure.
See also:
- Legere. Hazards posed by natural gas drilling are not limited to below ground
- Legere. Cabot and DEP clash over Dimock water contamination
- Lippert. Shale Gas Costing 2/3 Less Than OPEC Oil Incites Water Concern
- Lustgarten. Frack Fluid Spill in Dimock Contaminates Stream, Killing Fish.
- Lustgarten. Pennsylvania Orders Cabot Oil and Gas to Stop Fracturing in Troubled County
- McFerrin. Fight Over Gas Wells in Chief Logan Heads to Supreme Court
- Noell. Natural Gas Drilling Threatens Communities in Northeastern United States
- Piette. Water All Around … Or is There?
Molly Ivins has written about how the EPA was virtually dismantled as the Bush-Cheney administration handed over the role of oil and gas regulation to the oil and gas industry. While Governor of Texas, Bush allowed Texas industry to voluntarily comply with Federal Clean Air Regulations. Of the hundreds of Texas companies that might have volunteered, according to Ivins, only three did.
Bushwhacked by Molly ivins offers a critique of the presidency of George W. Bush, describing how the same flawed policies he used to govern Texas have affected health and safety standards, the economy, and the environment.
Paul Krugman. Strictly Business. Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America Book Review. The New York Review of Books. November 20, 2003.
Chapter 9 of Bushwhacked, by Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose, entitled “Dick, Dubya, and Wyoming Methane,” tells you all you need to know about the Bush Interior Department.
We learn, in particular, that J. Steven Griles, the deputy secretary—and probably the real power in the department—has spent his career shuttling back and forth between being a government official and lobbying for the extractive industries.
And he has never worried much about ethical niceties—little things like recusing himself from decisions that affect his former clients. Moreover, Griles isn’t likely to be disciplined, even when he brazenly supports industry interests over the judgments of government experts.
After all, just about every other senior official at Interior, including Secretary Gale Norton, has a similar résumé. So it’s a very good bet that the new rules on mining-waste disposal don’t reflect a careful economic analysis of the pros and cons.
See: Ed Swartz: The Grass Isn't Growing
See: Stripping the West, a NOW Converstion with Bill Moyers.
See C-Span Book TV Oct. 2, 2004. Bushwacked: Life in George W. Bush's America. Read Chapter: "Dick, Dubya, and Wyoming Methane." (152)
See: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Hydraulic Fracturing Study (2010-2012)
Bruce Baizel. Testimony presented to the Committee on Environmental Protection, James F. Gennaro, Chair, Council of the City of New York, September 10, 2008. Earthworks Publications. Durango, CO.
"My testimony will first address the three main risks to water posed by gas development: well drilling and production, hydraulic fracturing and transportation of fluids to and from the wellsite. I will then briefly describe some specific incidents that illustrate these risks in a number of different states. Then, I will briefly discuss the current New York regulations most applicable to the risks associated with gas development. Finally, I will present some of the approaches that other municipalities and states have developed to try to address these risks."
Bruce Baizel is Senior Staff Attorney for the The Oil and Gas Accountability Project, a program of Earthworks, P.O. Box 1102, Durango, Colorado 81302.
See: Lustgarten (2009) "Buried Secrets: Gas Drilling’s Environmental Threat - ProPublica"
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - April 7, 2010.
Series: Buried Secrets: Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat.
A federal study of hydraulic fracturing set to begin this spring is expected to provide the most expansive look yet at how the natural gas drilling process can affect drinking water supplies, according to interviews with EPA officials and a set of documents outlining the scope of the project.
The research will take a substantial step beyond previous studies and focus on how a broad range of ancillary activity – not just the act of injecting fluids under pressure – may affect drinking water quality.
The oil and gas industry strongly opposes this new approach. The agency’s intended research "goes well beyond relationships between hydraulic fracturing and drinking water," said Lee Fuller, vice president of government affairs for the Independent Petroleum Association of America in comments (PDF) he submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency.
See 22 page Powerpoint, Hydraulic Fracturing Applicability of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act Science Advisory Board Discussion.(2010).
Photo by Alex Wong | Getty Images. See source here.
Amicus Curiae
Faith Based organizations offer information relevant to the Supreme Court deliberation on the matter of Connecticut vs. American Electric Power. 2011-03-18.
Amici curiae are fourteen faith-based organizations that are active participants in the ongoing attempt to respond to global climate change and have a strong interest in developing limits on greenhouse gases, which are the primary cause of global climate change.
Amici represent a broad spectrum of Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish communities. Although they differ on many matters of faith and policy, they are united in their concern about threats to the environment. They believe that human beings are stewards of God’s Creation and that humans have a moral obligation to prevent and mitigate harm to the planet, to our fellow humans, and to all of God’s creatures.
An amicus curiae (also spelled amicus curiæ; plural amici curiae) is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it. The information provided may be a legal opinion in the form of a brief (which is called an amicus brief when offered by an amicus curiae), a testimony that has not been solicited by any of the parties, or a learned treatise on a matter that bears on the case. The decision on whether to admit the information lies at the discretion of the court. The phrase amicus curiae is legal Latin and literally means "friend of the court".
See: Gas Drilling Discussion (Suggested Agenda for) : Biblical and Theological Considerations
