Here’s a strange one. On April 7th, the last day to file a comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the so-called “Constitution Pipeline”, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) filed this comment: http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20140407-5245 The USACE is a party to this proceeding because they have jurisdiction for any pipeline which impacts “waters of the United States”. Don’t try to read it the document above… it’s status was quickly changed to “Privileged”. Meaning: SECRET. But not before we saved a copy! Read it here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/216940906/US-Army-Corps-of-Engineers-comments-on-DEIS-Constitution-Pipeline-CP13-499 A day later, they filed this comment: http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20140408-5149 So if you compare both letters, line by line, you will see they are identical. Except for one paragraph at the end: In addition, the New York, Baltimore, and Buffalo District Corps of Engineers (Districts) are […]

In Pennsylvania, opponents of gas drilling say regulators are slow and unprepared in responding to air quality complaints. by Naveena Sadasivam, ProPublica There are more than 6,000 active gas wells in Pennsylvania. And every week, those drilling sites generate scores of complaints from the state’s residents, including many about terrible odors and contaminated water. (Photo: William Avery Hudson/cc/flickr)How the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection handles those complaints has worsened the already raw and angry divide between fearful residents and the state regulators charged with overseeing the burgeoning gas drilling industry. For instance, the agency’s own manual for dealing with complaints is explicit about what to do if someone reports concerns about a noxious odor, but is not at that very moment experiencing the smell: “DO NOT REGISTER THE COMPLAINT.” When a resident […]

Debbie Dogskin is dead. She was found in her Fort Yates, North Dakota, mobile home frozen to death with an empty propane tank. [1] [2] What was the cause of the propane shortage which caused prices to rise and supplies to dwindle in the northern midwest and the northeast this winter? Short answer: It was an engineered gamble by industry seeking to maximize profits. There were really four factors which contributed to the shortage this winter. 2: Abnormally wet corn harvest required extra propane to dry 3: Abnormally cold winter increased demand 4: Lack of local storage in the places with the greatest demand. But what was the number 1 reason? The Enterprise TEPPCO line (which ships refined liquids, NGLs, mostly or all propane in winter) was a looped line […]

Many of us have believed the EPA was stripped of their authority to regulate fracking in 2005. Turns out: this is not true! I have discovered, The Halliburton Loophole, has a loophole! This is Good News! Bottom Line: The EPA does have the authority to prescribe requirements which “interferes with or impedes“ the underground injection of fluids pursuant to hydraulic fracturing…  === (now here’s the key phrase:) === … if such requirements are essential to assure that underground sources of drinking water will not be endangered by such injection. In other words: The EPA has the authority to BAN FRACKING Tomorrow! or Today. ding! ding! ding! Please read that again until the enormity of that sinks in. Now I do agree — If you read Section 322 “Hydraulic Fracturing” of […]

Debbie’s First Blunder of the week: Broome County Exec unveils a new “comprehensive” One Stop Shop for Gas Drilling Info in Broome County:  http://broomenaturalgas.com/ Coupla problems: Comprehensive? Hah. It’s nearly content-free. They spent $6,000 of taxpayer money and a year developing it! But there’s no mention of any negative impacts. Probably just an oversight? Just a few links to industry sources, pro-fracking landowner groups, etc. As websites go, it’s pitiful. Oh and one other small detail: There’s no economic shale gas in the whole state: http://tinyurl.com/ShaleGasPotentialInNY1 (as you’ll find out in Vestal on Friday: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20140129/NEWS01/301290030 ) But the best part is this quote: Preston says, “This is not a push to promote safe natural gas drilling in New York state.” Which is either a Freudian slip or a bit of […]

Permanent supply of DILBIT in every basement. No smoking outside or inside. Children born there to be known as “Tar Babies’  Houses to be sold as Tar Boxes. How’d you like a Tar Pipeline to China in your ‘hood ?  After all, it’s your patriotic duty as Americans to get this Canadian goo to China as cheaply as possible. http://www.arkansasmatters.com/story/mayflower-neighborhood-dead-after-oil-spill/d/story/9JMSFBamOkedQDYnJYgFhQ   MAYFLOWER, AR — Before the 3,500 gallons spilled from a ruptured oil pipeline here, the Northwoods subdivision was considered one of the nicest neighborhoods in Mayflower.Nearly 10 months later, home after home sits empty, leaving just a few residents left in some areas to hang on.”People think it’s like know nobody lives here, but we’re still here on the corner,” said Michele Ward, one of the few left on N […]

The“Washington Legal Foundation”is a Rent-a-Shill for the tobacco industry,  fracking, you name it . . .  Have now decided that they are opposed to Home Rule in New York. Foundation asks New York court to invalidate fracking bans By BOB DOWNING Published: January 15, 2014 A press release received today from the Washington Legal Foundation: WLF ASKS N.Y. HIGH COURT TO INVALIDATE MUNICIPAL ZONING BANS ON FRACKING Norse Energy Corp. USA v. Town of Dryden New York Court of Appeals ALBANY, NY—The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) today asked the New York Court of Appeals to overturn a decision that threatens to allow N.Y. municipalities to ban oil and gas exploration locally, even though the state legislature has expressly preempted all oil and gas regulation. In a brief filed in Norse Energy Corp., USA v. Town of […]

In more ways than one . . .   http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/researchers-find-nearly-6000-natural-gas-leaks-in-districts-aging-pipe-system/2014/01/15/f6ee2204-7dff-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines Researchers Find Explosive Leaks in District’s Gas Lines (Robert B. Jackson) – Methane at 10 percent (100,000 ppm) gas concentration measured in a telecommunications manhole in Washington, D.C. Researchers found nearly 5,893 natural gas leaks from the city’s aging pipe system. CAPTION Share to Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Add to PersonalPost Share via Email Print Article More By Lenny Bernstein, Updated: Thursday, January 16, 6:00 AM E-mail the writer Researchers who conducted a street-by-street survey of the District found nearly 6,000 natural gas leaks from the city’s aging pipe system, including 12 in manholes where methane had collected to potentially explosive levels, according to a study published Thursday. The team, after warning Washington Gas about those 12 locations, retested them four months later and discovered […]

Many local media are reporting that incoming Binghamton Mayor Rich David cancelled the appeal of the court decision which overturned the Binghamton moratorium on a technicality. e.g., BINGHAMTON — Within 10 days of taking over City Hall, Mayor Rich David dropped the appeal of a court decision striking down the moratorium on oil and gas drilling in Binghamton.  — “Binghamton withdraws fracking-ban appeal“, Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin. 1/15/14 http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20140114/news01/301140034/binghamton-withdraws-fracking-ban-appeal Only thing is, the Binghamton moratorium expired on December 31, 2013. So basically, Rich David is trying to impress his pro-drilling friends at the Greater Binghamton Chamber, who put him in office, by claiming credit for cancelling an appeal which is moot. He might as well take credit for the sun setting. (No Rich, it was going to do that […]

Idle No More at Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address: Mohawk Nation Drummers from Akwesasne assert their rights. This year, authorities ruled that no drumming would be allowed in the concourse under the state capitol in Albany during the governor’s state of the state address. That memo never reached members of the Mohawk Nation who came to Albany to add a first nations perspective to the call for a ban on fracking. The problem for the police is that this rule took no account of the religious and culture centrality of the drum to native peoples, nor the implicit understand of this on the part of supporters who instantly rallied in support of the drummers. It was an inspiring. Chants of “let them go” changed to “let them drum”.  The […]

They were evidently taking taking orders from their guru, an old guy in a white robe and a beanie, known as “Il Papa,” AP reports.  A major Fractavist Sleeper Cell, lead by Miriam “Moon Child” Hurst, retired high school trigonometry teacher, and Ralph “Road Dog” Gibbs, aging bus driver and part time banjo player (a sure giveaway), has been exposed in Ohio ! Delete all emails from these crazed rebels. Deny you have any knowledge of their devious activities. Hide your inflammatory yard signs and insurgent bumper stickers. Tuck your dreds under a gimme cap – they could be your ticket to the pokey. Remember: The First Rule of Fractavist Club is to deny there’s a Fractavist Club.  Apology issued for terror training scenario Posted: Thursday, December 12, 2013 5:45 pm | Updated: 8:22 pm, […]

Warning– this borderlines on Satire… but it’s ALL TRUE! We don’t mean to pick on Ralph Hill as a person. He’s probably a swell church-going man. We only mean to pick on his professional performance. Since he just got canned by the WPX Board of Directors, it feels a little like picking on someone who’s already down… It’s just so darn fun, and his screwups – a BUNCH of ‘em, to boot!– have been so spectacular, they can only be called… EPIC… Ralph Hill’s WPX Energy is like Doofy Doofis, the four-eyed fat kid with buck teeth that everyone picks on. It’s so easy to pick on Ralph Hill, there is a little attendant guilt or shame… But he deserves this for the living hell he’s unleashed on Pennsylvania. So […]

I guess they decided that if dumping fracking filth on the roads and in water treatment plants is illegal in Texas, the World’s Capital of Frack Filth. Maybe it’s not such a hot idea for New York, unless you think Radium 226 on your tires improves traction. No Frack Waste in Onondaga County Bill Monahan fills his truck with water that will be used for hydraulic fracturing at a pumping station in Pennsylvania last year. Onondaga County legislators voted today to ban hydrofracking fluids from roads and treatment plants. (Andrew Maykuth | Philadelphia Inquirer) Print By Glenn Coin | gcoin@syracuse.com  Follow on Twitter on December 17, 2013 at 4:08 PM, updated December 17, 2013 at 5:46 PM Syracuse, N.Y. — The salty fluids from hydrofracking will be banned from roads and treatment plants in […]

My pal Deborah Goldberg, or as I call her Lady Chainsaw, is where the rubber meets the road in the legal battles to keep frackers at bay. Great interview here. She looks so harmless, doesn’t she ? At least that’s what shale shysters Tom West and Scott Kurkoski thought before she had their guts for garters. Advice to frackers: If this person shows up carrying a legal brief, cell phone and notepad – do not make eye contact – walk slowly back to your truck, get in, lock the door, and head back to Oklahoma. Do not speed or forget to use your turn signals. Should be OK. PODCAST Print this page  Email this page CAMPAIGN: Fracking Gone Wrong: Finding A Better Way Fracking is a dangerous way of getting oil and gas […]

Cornell’s professors have asked the University to divest itself of investments in fossil fuels. Before we’re all fossils. Most of New York state’s future electrical energy needs can be met with new wind and hydro power – but that will take some leadership  in Albany. New York has to look to the future on this - the production of fossil fuels is not even much of an option in this state, as we explained on October  30th at Cornell.  Full story here : http://www.dcbureau.org/201312179489/natural-resources-news-service/ivy-league-university-votes-to-dump-oil-and-gas-investments.html#more-9489 December 11, 2013 Cornell University Faculty Senate Votes to Divest Ithaca, NY — The Cornell University Faculty Senate made a strong statement on Wednesday by adopting a resolution that calls for the University to divest its $5.7B endowment from the top 200 fossil fuel holding companies.  (1) These companies […]

Great report by Laurie Barr on what happens when oil and gas wells move into a neighborhood.  They take over. To the detriment of the other residents . . . Life on the Wrong Side of the Oil Field Tracks. Dec. 7, 2013 (SOSPA) By Laurie Barr Save Our Streams PA www.saveourstreamspa.org The industry can be broken down into two distinct groups, the old and the new. While Gov.Tom Corbett promotes the successes of the new unconventional drilling industry during his re-election campaign, oil rises up from the shadows of the dilapidated pump-jacks, helping to shed light, revealing a long history of a dysfunctional  agency charged with the oversight of both the old and new style drilling. Leaking well on the Thomas’ Property, Duke Center, Pennsylvania ( SOSPA Photo left) Some […]

Final day – comments in on Cuomo’s Plan to Festoon New York State With Cryogenically Cooled Gas Bombs  Need a few more comments to surpass 50,000 comments, which we are submitting today. Submit 13 great comment letters from Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy: http://bit.ly/18lHYji And/or use Frack Action comment tool: http://www.frackaction.com/take-action/comment-proposed-lng-regulations/ And please share this on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=717283378283894&set=a.289293371082899.79840.134846486527589&type=1&theater

Not all of Fracksylvania’s frack filth gets exported to Ohio and Idafrackingho. Some of it is already being dumped in New York -as “brine.”  So here’s the game  - the gas goes to China, and New York gets the filth. Sound like a plan ? http://thelcn.com/2013/11/25/dec-confirms-fracking-fluid-processed-at-cuylerville-plant/ DEC confirms fracking fluid processed at Cuylerville plant November 25, 2013 by Howard W. Appell A 3-year-old rumor was confirmed during the question and answer session at the Nov. 6 DEC-AkzoNobel information meeting at SUNY Geneseo Newton Hall: In 2010 the Cuylerville desalination plant was used to treat fracking fluid from wells in Pennsylvania. DEC Special Assistant Ray Yacuzzo qualified that the treatment was a one-time experiment, and that the more odious elements in the waste fluid — radioactive material and heavy metals — were […]

One fracked mortgage at a time. Add SECU to the list of lenders that are telling frackers to take a hike.  http://www.cutimes.com/2013/11/14/secu-pulls-back-from-financing-fracking-property SECU Pulls Back From Financing Fracking Property BY DAVID MORRISON November 14, 2013 • Reprints Share on linkedinShare on twitterShare on facebookShare on emailMore Sharing Services6 The State Employees’ Credit Union said it now is one of a growing number of financial institutions in some parts of the country that have stopped financing purchases of property whose owners have sold the mineral rights. The mineral rights have most often been sold to facilitate exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas, often through a procedure known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking, which extracts oil and natural gas from primarily shale deposits with a mixture of water and chemicals forced underground at pressure. […]

Even in death, Norse’s PR spin is emblematic of the disconnect between the actual prospects for shale gas in most of Upstate (terrible) and the PR of the gas industry: that there is a lot of shale worth fracking in New York (Norse could not find any) and that the state moratorium drove the majors away and made Norse go bankrupt (wrong again, most of the majors left the state before the moratorium). Norse crooked its investors and got sued. It crooked the towns it drilled in on road damages. It could not make any money on vertical gas wells.  And it proved where the Utica and Marcellus “fairway” are not located in New York.  Then tried to start a Shale Shamstitute at the University of Buffalo as part of the […]

Our pal Art Berman explains why most of the shale gas boom is non-sustainable, and never was going to be.  New York Shale Gas Potential Overview here

Frackers are talking about getting Coast Guard approval to barge frack waste down the Erie Canal. Would not touch that with an 11′ barge pole. The following article provides insight on the Coast Guard’s proposal to allow fracking waste to be transported by barge, the problem with barge spills, and Pennsylvania’s lax rules that encourage illicit dumping. As Lou Alstadt has pointed out, a consequence of transporting fracking waste by barge could be a lot of northbound trucks carrying fracking waste through Otsego County up to the Erie Canal. http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/02/05/shale-industry-moves-ship-fracking-waste-barge-threatens-drinking-water-supplies Here is a link to the federal website to comment… http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketBrowser;rpp=25;po=0;dct=PS;D=USCG-2013-0915   A friend, who happens to have been a licensed ship commander in charge of a tanker fleet, weighs in on the prospect:  “There are several water routes north from the PA gas […]

Excellent presentations at Cornell Geology Department Building. Audience of 200 and great Q&A. Hosted by Dr. Ingraffea and planned by Sara Hess, Irene Weiser and Karen Edelstein.  The Power Points will be narrated online, then a video out of the presenters – Lou Allstadt, ex Executive Vice President Mobil Oil, Jerry Acton, ex Lockheed Martin, Brian Brock, retired geologist, and yours truly. Summary of presentations here. Cornell Panelists: Most N.Y. Shale Likely Unprofitable Little local economic gain. Collateral damage likely. 8:03 PM, Oct 31, 2013   |  Comments    A panel at Cornell University Wednesday night said the economic advantage of hydraulic fracturing in New York state is limited compared to neighboring Pennsylvania. Written by Andrew Casler ITHACA — Hydrofracking would bring little economic gain to New York state and more environmental fallout, according […]

Local zoning ordinances apply to gas wells in almost every state – and where the state tries to override local ordinances – as in Pennsylvania – the issue of jurisdiction is  being litigated. In Dallas, the City Manager leased some mineral rights before the City council approved the drilling permit.  When the driller showed up to drill the wells, the City council disapproved the permit. So the driller wants its money back. And the City is firming up restrictions on drilling.  October 17, 2013 Debate Shows Power of Cities to Limit Reach of Drilling By JIM MALEWITZ DALLAS — Claudia and Ed Meyer do not want drilling near their West Dallas home or anywhere else in the city, for that matter. Their neighborhood sits next to a patch of land that developers, […]