Fracking Issues - NOT restricted to PA, but very relevant to all states with this problem.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-23/u-s-reduces-marcellus-shale-gas-reserve-estimate-by-66-on-revised-data.html


"Bridge fuel" my ass.

We find out the REAL reason for all this drilling...it's not for "energy independence"...it's to make the gas companies money! Apparently there's a huge glut of the stuff so the industry is planning to cut production/exploration sharply to get those prices back to sky-high levels! So much for teh job creators!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101611082


I never knew federal regulators were this naive.

By Nathan Pipenberg
Collegian Columnist

"If you listen to the natural gas industry’s talking points, what they have to say about the impact of gas drilling paints a nice picture. Natural gas burns cleaner than other fossil fuels, making it the perfect fuel to transition into greener energy sources. Drilling sites are small and non-invasive, since after initial construction the forest can replenish itself. I imagine a small well sitting atop a mountain, surrounded by trees.

Then my eyes snap open and I adjust to reality again — the reality that gas drilling is destroying our state forests."

More at:


http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/02/08/gas_drilling_destroying_pennsylvania_forests.aspx

Our beautiful forests and streams will be devastated in the next decade.

clear and pure. Then they decided to drill gas wells in the area. We now buy our drinking water. Our washing machine, dishwasher, sinks, tubs and toilets are now stained orange. I sometimes take baths in water that is actually black. I cannot see the tub through it. We buy new dishes yearly because they get so stained they are disgusting. I take clothes to a laundromat to keep them from being ruined. Do not ever believe anyone that tells you that gas drilling and fracking are safe. The gas company did tests on our water before and after the drilling. It was proof positive that they ruined our well. The only thing they would do was put in a water softener so for a while we had soft water we could not drink or cook with. But there was so much sediment in the water that the softener was clogged in a little over a year and not working at all. But we were lucky. At least our water does not burn like some do.

to Pennsylvanians with such impunity. Someday, the frackers and Tom Corbett will be held to account, I hope. You should post your story in GD, Appleannie1.

2 of the richest & most gop leaning counties.

If u r rich & can make a stink they will not poison you, if u r in the mtns & not so rich might, u might as well die. Thats about how well anyone in any of these fracking states can expect to be treated.


edit

oops much more about this further down the thread.......

end edit

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002467290#post1

It follows the history of corruption in PA and details some of the contributions to PA politicians, including Corbett, by the gas industry.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-bucks-gas-drilling-marcellus-amendment-20120429,0,2690231.story

Lawmaker wants to exempt Bucks County from Marcellus Shale law

April 29, 2012

A thin layer of 200-million-year-old mud lies thousands of feet beneath the fields, farms and homesteads of Nockamixon Township in upper Bucks County. That ancient mud, laid down in prehistory and dubbed the Lockatong Shale, might have a spot of natural gas locked away in its flaky layers.

And that hint of gas has Nockamixon in the throes of a lawsuit challenging the state's Marcellus Shale law, known as Act 13, which regulates the gas industry that's boomed with the use of unconventional techniques like horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of rock to release gas. . . .

A western Pennsylvania company named Turm Oil applied this year to drill in Nockamixon, and some residents and officials fear Act 13 strips them of power to control the gas industry. They worry about heavy truck traffic on narrow roads; the quality of their well water; and the rustic, rural nature of the township. . . .

he company applied in February for a permit to drill and operate a well on a scrubby, 100-acre parcel owned by Cabot Corp. of Boston. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, two oil and gas wells exist on the Cabot property, which was also a Superfund site. The township parried past drilling proposals with its own zoning restrictions barring oil and gas operations there.

for Bucks County, while leaving the rest of PA to the mercy of Act 13, is a great idea. I think it's despicable. Imo, we're all in this together and municipalities all across PA should be united in fighting Act 13.

Senator Mcllhinney sounds like a self-serving, rethug slug.

I grew up in Bucks Co. and remember when beautiful Lake Nockamixon opened. My dad and I canoed and fished on it when I was young. He really loved that lake.
God protect it from the drillers and the frackers.

I was born in 61 so bucks was still rural when i was growing up.

Had lots of fun almost drowning in the Delaware River several times.

The threat of poison & destruction coming to the richest areas of PA may actually be a godsend.

The GOPers in the 5 county Philly area are where most of the Gop Cash is stashed & if everything they worked for there entire lives is put under threat, there may be more resistance to this horrible situation.

With the droughts out west probably being permanent, Iowa, Nebraska & Kansas may turn into Nevada & people in Pennsylvania may need all the water & land it can use for food production.

I have a m/c and my weekend rides were in the rural areas of PA buying food, gas, and other consumables. Now I will not go into the mountains or spend any money in PA. The people who depend on tourism & hunting are gonna be put out of business forever. Not from me, but from anyone who does not want poisoned deer meat, poisoned fish, or being flattened by a semi tractor trailer on a dirt road.

US Route 6 was considered one of the nicest roads in the country, now between the Susquehanna & Delaware rivers it is loaded with trucks hauling water & bulldozer like crapola.

BTW it is legal to take any well water no matter how bad & serve it to anyone. I met a lawyer who is head of GE asbestos litigation team & had him look at PA's "doctor cant tell u if u have well water poisoning" and he was so stunned he said "I have something to read on the plane back to Texas".

Basically any nut of any political stripe can filter contaminated well water to make it look safe & serve it up to people they hate & IT IS LEGAL!!!!!

I am trying to figure out a way to scare Cocal Cola & others that allowing fracking in PA will destroy there brands & put them into conflict with the gas industry.

PA Department of Environmental Protection – FAIL
http://blog.shaleshockmedia.org/2013/01/10/pa-department-of-environmental-protection-fail/

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/dep-chided-at-hearing-on-drilling-676087/

Snip> Mr. Lauff, an analytical chemist and biologist, testified that DEP told him his water was OK to drink, and air pollution complaints went unaddressed. But testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found several water contaminants linked to nearby well drilling, and independent air tests found a variety of volatile organic compounds and carcinogens, including benzene, toluene and ethylbenzene.

Snip> The DEP was invited to present testimony at the two-and-a-half-hour hearing but declined. And no one from the department attended, an absence noted by one speaker after another who blistered the department for lack of responsiveness to their complaints, failure to provide complete water test results and lack of transparency in permitting Marcellus Shale gas operations.

Paul Carpenter / Allentown Morning Call / Column re: same fracking hearing:

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/carpenter/mc-pc-fracking-foes-stacked-deck-20130223,0,5437104.column

Snip> As I reported in September, I submitted several questions to DEP, in writing, about new DEP rules supposedly designed to protect the environment. Many of the rules, it seemed to me, did the opposite. For example, DEP now allows fracking fluids to accumulate in pits that are only 20 inches above groundwater tables. I'm still waiting for answers.

Snip> Taru Upadhyay let a very troublesome cat out of the bag, revealing that her lab, under orders from above, withheld information from property owners when contaminants were found in their water near gas wells, after DEP tested the water.

More than 60,000 gallons of unidentified hydrocarbon gunk have leaked into the ground near a gas processing plant, and more just keeps on leaking.

http://grist.org/news/natural-gas-liquid-is-gushing-near-a-colorado-creek-and-nobody-can-figure-out-how-to-stop-the-leak/#.UUsbxe1QLyA.email

by request, cross posted from E/E

Any anti-fracking related info is appreciated.

Thank you so much for making this fracking thread. Here is a cross-post from video & multimedia.

An interesting news report on our soon-to-be Sec. of Energy

2 minute version



13 minute version

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) is holding an invitation-only meeting next week about one of the most controversial issues it’s dealing with involving natural gas drilling on state lands.

The agency has come under scrutiny over whether or not it plans to allow Anadarko Petroleum to access mineral rights the company owns underneath the Loyalsock State Forest.


http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/03/27/dcnr-to-hold-closed-door-meeting-on-drilling-in-loyalsock-state-forest/

Background on the Loyalstock situation: http://www.democraticunderground.com/101656107


The meeting is April 4, 2013. I'm a little worried. I haven't gotten my invitation yet.

Finding out what went on at the "invitation only" meeting has been near impossible. I found this short report by a college professor who tried to observe the meeting with her students.

http://shalejustice.wordpress.com/2013/04/06/its-just-a-business-meeting-rep-garth-everett-on-fracking-the-loyalsock/

I imagine we, the riffraff, will be told Loyalsock's fate after all decisions have been made and the drilling has started.

More Than a Matter of Opinion: Ed Rendell’s Plea for Fracking Fails to Disclose Industry Ties
http://www.propublica.org/article/ed-rendell-new-york-fracking-op-ed-disclosure