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2010
Gas Drillers Plead Guilty to Felony Dumping Violations, Sabrina Shankman , ProPublica, (2010)

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Since Pennsylvania’s gas drilling boom ramped up in 2008, companies have been fined regularly for environmental accidents — $23,500 here for spilling 5,000 gallons of waste, $15,557 there for spilling 295 gallons of hydrochloric acid. The fines often amount to slaps on the wrist for companies that stand to make hefty profits from their wells.

But the penalties just got a lot more serious for an owner of Kansas-based Swamp Angel Energy and for the company’s site supervisor, who pleaded guilty last week to felony violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

As part of a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney for western Pennsylvania, part-owner Michael Evans, 66, of La Quinta, Calif., and John Morgan, 54, of Sheffield, Penn., admitted dumping 200,000 gallons of brine – salty wastewater that’s created in the drilling process – down an abandoned oil well. The maximum penalty for both Evans and Morgan is three years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Sentencing will be June 24. (See follow-up below). Attorneys for both men declined to comment.

Swamp Angel Energy was drilling in the Allegheny National Forest, in McKean County in northwestern Pennsylvania, and the brine was dumped just outside the border of the federal land. In mid-December, a federal judge overturned a ruling that had essentially banned drilling in the Allegheny Forest...

Follow-Up | U.S. EPA Compliance and Enforcement Criminal Case Activities (nz):

EPA's Criminal Enforcement program  investigates and helps to prosecute environmental violations which seriously threaten public health and the environment or involve conduct that may be willful, intentional, or deliberate.

Besides environmental violations, the cases may also have associated U.S. criminal code violations such as conspiracy, false statements, witness tampering, or interfering with a law enforcement investigation. Criminal enforcement sanctions -- which may include incarceration of individuals in addition to monetary fines against individuals, businesses, or corporations represent the enforcement program's strongest sanction and deterrent.

John Morgan and Michael Evans (PDF) (1 pg, 32K)

Acting United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar announced today, June 24, 2010, that a resident of Sheffield, Pennsylvania and a resident of La Quinta, California, have been sentenced in federal court in Erie as a result of their felony convictions for violating the Safe Drinking Water Act by unlawfully injecting brine produced from an oil drilling operation.

United States District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin imposed the sentences on John Morgan, age 54, of Sheffield, Pennsylvania, and Michael Evans, age 66, of La Quinta, California. Mr. Morgan received a sentence of three years probation, a $4,000 fine, eight months home detention and eighty hours community service. Mr. Evans received a sentence of three years probation, a $5,000 fine, ten months home detention and one hundred hours community service.

Gas drilling and toxic terrorists: New York City Mayor says risks of gas drilling "unacceptable", Noell, Natassaja , Examiner.com, (2010)

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Gas drilling and toxic terrorists: New York City Mayor says risks of gas drilling 'unacceptable'.

PA farmers Wayne and Angel Smith's spring water smells like fuel after Spectra Energy's operations.

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Gas Drilling Discussion (Suggested Agenda for) : Biblical and Theological Considerations, Beach Lake United Methodist Church , Beach Lake United Methodist Church, (2010)

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Statement by the National Council of Churches of Christ (2008). A Call for Faithful Stewardship of God’s Creation: Reflections on Natural Gas Drilling and Leasing. National Council of Churches in Christ. Published by Beach Lake United Methodist Church, Beach Lake, PA.

Beach Lake United Methodist Church.  Located in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, near the New York Catskills.

"Biblical and theological considerations are commended to everyone, whether or not they have been approached about a gas lease and regardless of whether they have signed one.  People are encouraged to think as broadly as possible and learn all they can in order to make the best possible decisions in the future.

Purpose:  To involve church members, wherever in the United States gas drilling is operative or proposed, in biblical and theological dialogue, in order to equip and motivate them to engage in discussions and decisions in their respective communities."

Gas Drilling Techniques Under Fire … Again, Rudolf, John Collins , NYTimes.com: Green | A Blog About the Environment, (2010)

According to the Environmental Working Group, a research and advocacy group based in Washington, drilling companies are side-stepping a permitting requirement for the use of diesel fuel in their fracturing fluids by using similar petroleum distillates that contain the same toxins as diesel, but require no permitting.

The report also cites evidence that drilling companies continue to inject diesel fuel underground without the proper permits.

Includes public comments.

See Environmental Working Group. "Drilling Around the Law"

Gas Drilling Trucks, Marcellus-Shale.us , Marcellus-Shale.us, (2010)

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Frac Trucks... some call them soup trucks, kettle trucks or frack trucks. Some of these tanker trailers are used to haul frac sand or cement for gas well casings. Whatever the name or use of these various trucks, they usually catch your attention when they are parked roadside or travelling down the highway as oversize loads.

All kinds of weird plumbing, pipes and gauges not seen in everyday life. Some carry containers of frac fluids or other devices that you never saw anything quite like before. Equipment used for installing and fracking Marcellus Shale gas wells.

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Gas industry approach would torpedo Barnett Shale study, Norman, Mike , Star-Telegram, (2010)

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Natural gas companies are wasting no time before attempting to sway a Fort Worth air quality study in their favor.

Gas Wells Are Not Our Friends | Endless Mountains Visitors Guide: New Attraction in PA - Visit a Well Pad, Peacegirl , Gas Wells Are Not Our Friends, (2010)

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"Read and weep. Here is part of the new brochure: Endless Mountains Visitors Guide. Imagine trying to make a gas well a wonderful and fascinating thing to visit in Pennsylvania. It is almost like trying to make visiting a ward in a VA hospital something to look forward to.

Come see the death and destruction here in Pennsylvania. It will be fascinating. Watch the gas drillers as they work diligently to ruin everything we treasure here in Pennsylvania. Read on.........(from the Endless Mountains Visitors Guide)"

ouch

Cartoon by John Cole, The (Scranton) Times-Tribune

See: Know Your Enemy | John Cole Cartoons

Gas wells' leftovers may wash into Ohio | Columbus Dispatch Politics, Hunt, Spencer , Columbus Dispatch Politics, (2010)

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A boom in natural-gas drilling in Pennsylvania could bring millions of barrels of salty toxic waste into Ohio.

That's a warning Ohio's oil and gas industry and environmentalists are sounding as hundreds of deep wells are drilled into Marcellus shale.

Tom Stewart, vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, and Jack Shaner, lobbyist for the Ohio Environmental Council, predict that Pennsylvania companies will soon truck their well wastes to Ohio, where brine is injected into 159 privately owned, state-regulated disposal wells. It is illegal to dump brine in Ohio streams and rivers.

Stewart said, "I have a big problem that that (well) capacity isn't overloaded by out-of-state water."

Shaner said, "We're looking at a wave of toxic brine headed into this state."

That's why both support a bill in the Ohio legislature that would create a 20-cent-per-barrel disposal tax on brine shipped in from other states. That's four times as much as a proposed 5-cent-per-barrel tax on Ohio brine.

Gasland - The Debate, McGinnis, Susan , Clean Skies, (2010)

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"Walter, do you believe natural gas can be extracted in an environmentally safe manner?

WALTER HANG: Not under the current regulatory scheme. If they do things better, if they require financial surety, we will find out. But under the existing regs, it cannot be done safely. The data proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Richard Haut is from Houston Advanced Research Center and is an expert on hydrofracking. Walter Hang is President of Toxics Targeting, and provides data to engineers, municipalities and homeowners on possibly contaminated properties.

See: Mixplex articles on Global Warming Experts and Climate Science Watch to read more about the compelling reasons to watchdog government regulation at best and challenge those who claim that peer-reviewed scientific analysis will weaken business development and national security. 

The opportunities to have both an educated public and the scientific community comment on the many environmental impact statements required for the mining and extractiive industries is a benefit to both the public and industry according to this report: Pew Environment Group (PEG) Factsheet: Industry Opposition to Government Regulation (PDF), October 14, 2010.  (Neil Zusman, 2010-08-28).

See: Watchdog: New York State Regulation of Natural Gas Wells Has Been "Woefully Insufficient for Decades."

See also: Environmental Integrity Project (EIP)

EIP combines research, reporting, and media outreach to spotlight illegal pollution, expose political intimidation of enforcement staff, and encourage federal and state agencies to take enforcement action to stop these practices.

See also: Nora Eisenberg. Onshore Drilling Disasters Waiting to Happen: An Interview With 'Gasland' Director Josh Fox | The Nation

Eisenberg: In your sleuthing, what was the most surprising discovery you made?

Josh Fox: Most baffling to me was how much the gas industry was able to get away with—like [insisting] that drilling is safe. Most people when they sign the lease don't realize that what they're in for is a complete industrialization of their property and an enormous problem with their air and water. The gas industry is somehow able to move into an area and say that everything is going to be just fine, you're just going to make a lot of money.

See: Gasland Trailer

Gasland Trailer 2010, Fox, Josh , YouTube, (2010)

GasLand (2010) Directed by Josh Fox. Winner of Special Jury Prize - Best US Documentary Feature - Sundance 2010. Screening at Cannes 2010. Nominated for 2011 Academy Award - Best Documentary Feature.

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It is happening all across America and now in Europe and Africa as well - rural landowners wake up one day to find a lucrative offer from a multinational energy conglomerate wanting to lease their property. The Reason? In America, the company hopes to tap into a huge natural gas reservoir dubbed the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. Halliburton developed a way to get the gas out of the ground—a hydraulic drilling process called fracking—and suddenly America finds itself on the precipice of becoming an energy superpower.

But what comes out of the ground with that natural gas? How does it affect our air and drinking water? GASLAND is a powerful personal documentary that confronts these questions with spirit, strength, and a sense of humor. When filmmaker Josh Fox receives his cash offer in the mail, he travels across 32 states to meet other rural residents on the front lines of fracking. He discovers toxic streams, ruined aquifers, dying livestock, brutal illnesses, and kitchen sinks that burst into flame. He learns that all water is connected and perhaps some things are more valuable than money.

See PBS interview with filmmaker Josh Fox.

See: Nora Eisenberg. Onshore Drilling Disasters Waiting to Happen: An Interview With 'Gasland' Director Josh Fox | The Nation

See: Drilling Isn't Safe.

Re-Edit by liltrax. July 9, 2010.

Gasland | NOW on PBS, Brancaccio, David, and Leonard Abigail , NOW on PBS, (2010)

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Abigail Leonard, producer.  Interview with Josh Fox, Gasland. Week of 3.26.10

Will the boom in natural gas drilling contaminate America's water supply?

This week, NOW (PBS) talks with filmmaker Josh Fox about "Gasland", his Sundance award-winning documentary on the surprising consequences of natural gas drilling. Fox's film—inspired when the gas company came to his hometown—alleges chronic illness, animal-killing toxic waste, disastrous explosions, and regulatory missteps.

See: Backlash: The Smear Campaign. Immediately upon the film's release, Energy In Depth issued a paper claiming to "debunk" the film's documentary evidence.

See: Mike Hale. The New York Times. June 21, 2010. The Costs of Natural Gas, Including Flaming Water.

Dave Shiflett. Bloomberg.com. June 21, 2010. Cook a Hamburger and Blow Up Your Polluted Fracking Town.

See: DEC Fracks NYC & Josh Fox of Water Under Attack's Responds

See also: Gasland Trailer 2010.

See: Drilling Isn't Safe.

Gasland: Drilling Isn't Safe, Fox, Josh, and International WOW Company , Drilling Isn't Safe, (2010)

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From Colorado to Pennsylvania, scientific data and documented cases have clearly shown that wherever fracking has occurred there is substantial risk of drinking water contamination, air pollution and severe illness among people and animals.
 
Hundreds of chemicals are used in fracking. Some 350 chemicals used to extract gas or found in gas wastes have been identified, among them known toxins like benzene. But the identity of hundreds of other chemicals used are kept secret by industry, as are their effects on human health.

Gasland is going a long way in spreading public awareness about gas drilling and the risks it poses on human and environmental health. Nationwide response to the film has been overwhelmingly positive. The Oil and Gas Industry's response: not so enthusiastic.

"Energy-In-Depth" is a PR Firm/Lobbying Group funded by the American Petroleum Institute. They are putting a misleading spin on information in Gasland to soothe and silence public curiosity about gas drilling.

The work of Energy-In-Depth lacks journalistic credibility and educated opinion. It's nothing short of an attack on truth. For public interest, we’ve prepared a response to their self-serving claims on gas drilling. Click here to learn more and pass along to friends.

See "Let's Talk About Cleavage", Energy In Depth. August 11, 2010.

Take Action. Adapt the film screening party to ongoing community benefits and information sharing.  Download: Gasland HouseParty Guide (PDF) 2010-06-21

GASLAND is on Facebook

Gasland The Movie

See: Mike Hale. NYT Review, "The Costs of Natural Gas, Including Flaming Water".

See: PBS Interview with Josh Fox, March 26, 2010.

See: the Water Portal page on SourceWatch with an excellent summary of the Gasland phenomenon.  Robert Koehler of Variety referred to the film as “one of the most effective and expressive environmental films of recent years… "GasLand" may become to the dangers of natural gas drilling what Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" was to DDT.”

See: Josh Fox Interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show.

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Geo Animation: Marcellus Shale Permits in PA Over Time | Blog | Rhiza Labs, Knauer, Josh , Rhiza Labs, (2010)

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Rhiza Labs | Online Mapping Software for exploring, visualizing, and sharing crowdsourced data on the web.

June 30, 2010

Geo Animation: Marcellus Shale Permits in PA Over Time

by Josh Knauer

3 Comments

Here at Rhiza Labs, we’re really excited to have a whole bunch of new public projects launching with our clients. These clients are pioneers who are exploring new ways to encourage communities of interest to aggregate data and share it publicly, while also providing these communities with incredibly powerful data analysis and visualization tools. One of the latest projects to launch, FracTracker.org, involves many dozens of community organizations that want to tract the impacts of Marcellus Shale gas wells in their communities.

I wanted to see how widespread this type of gas well drilling practice was, so I took the Marcellus Shale gas well permit data from the PA Dept of Environmental Protection and created a quick snapshot of the data, and then just clicked on the Action button in the upper right corner of the snapshot page and chose the options “Download as –> KML” to bring it into Google Earth. I then just hit “play” on the time slider within Google Earth.

Global Warming, Pew Charitable Trusts , Pew Charitable Trusts, (2010)

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The world’s leading scientists agree that the planet is warming and that human activities—especially the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of forests—are a big part of the cause.

See: Pew Environment Group: Global Warming

In a 2007 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the international group of scientists charged with reviewing, validating and summarizing the latest research concluded that the warming of the climate system is unequivocal. They stated that it is 90 percent certain that human-generated greenhouse gases account for most of the warming in the past 50 years.

Many published scientific reports have documented the actual observed impacts of a warming planet—including dramatic melting of the Arctic ice cap, shifting wildlife habitats, increased evidence of wildfires, heat waves and more intense storms. Americans are now seeing the impacts of global warming in their backyards. The warming trend poses serious risks to the economy and the environment.

Pew uses two approaches to address climate change: science and policy analysis and advocacy campaigns.

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change is a leading policy and research institute. It advances debate through analysis, public education and a cooperative approach with business. The center launched in 1998.

The Pew Campaign on Global Warming is aimed at adoption of a national policy to reduce emissions throughout the economy, and the Pew Campaign for Fuel Efficiency seeks more stringent fuel efficiency standards for the nation’s cars and trucks.

See: Global Warming Frequently Asked Questions | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

See: Pew Environment Group (PEG) Factsheet: Industry Opposition to Government Regulation (PDF), October 14, 2010.

See: Sourcewatch | Global Warming

Global Warming Experts, The Heartland Institute, and Sir Stern Nicholas , The Heartland Institute | BBC News, (2010)

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According to Sourcewatch, The Heartland Institute 2009 International Conference on Climate Change, held March 8-10th in New York at the Marriott New York Marquis Times Square Hotel, brought together scientists, economists, legal experts, and other climate specialists to "confront the issue of global warming."

These specialists, all climate change skeptics, aim to call attention "to new research that contradicts claims that Earth’s moderate warming during the 20th Century primarily was man-made and has reached crisis proportions."

See: The 2009 International Conference on Climate Change.

The conference was organised and "sponsored" by the Heartland Institute, a U.S. think tank that in preceding years received substantial funding from Exxon for its work downplaying the significance of global warming.

Please note that information taken from Sourcewatch should be verified using other, more reliable sources. It is a good place to start research, but because anyone can edit Sourcewatch, we do not recommend using it in research papers or to obtain highly reliable information.

See: BBC News. Oct. 31, 2006. "Climate change fight 'can't wait'"

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The world cannot afford to wait before tackling climate change, the UK prime minister has warned.

A report by economist Sir Nicholas Stern suggests that global warming could shrink the global economy by 20%.

But taking action now would cost just 1% of global gross domestic product, the 700-page study says. (Executive Summary, PDF, 27 pp.)

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See: Alan I. Leshner. Dec. 9, 2009. Washington Post. "Don't let the climate doubters fool you."

See: The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Reaffirms Statements on Climate Change and Integrity. 12/04/09.

See: Commentary: Dr. Michael J. Economides, editor-in-chief of the Energy Tribune, says environmentalists wrong on hydrofracking. Economides was short-listed for the EPA 2010 Hydraulic Fracturing Study.

Michael J. Economides is the editor of The Energy Tribune, and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston.

See: Ann Alexander. Oct. 22, 2010. NRDC Switchboard. "Climate change denial from the Book of Hesitations".