The history of the frack ban movement has yet to be written – until now. (How’s that for a pretentious opening ?) The first New York frack ban ordinance was written by a retired Virginia judge. The first four New York frack bans were inspired by a white paper written by a Florida real estate developer. The first regional conference on frack bans was co-sponsored by a Belgium beer company (not Gazprom) The first petition for a town ban was written by a New Jersey real estate developer.  Here’s how the municipal frack ban movement really got started in New York, and by inspiration, nationwide. History is written by the winners, but history is made by the doers. The municipal frack ban movement started in New York, as told by the doers, […]

Money. On the one hand, lots of it, and on the other, just a relatively few fat envelopes from a relatively few donors to the right gatekeepers who become enriched by the donations.  Government for the rich by the rich. Legalized graft. On a grand scale.  A small percentage of large donors basically pull the strings in any state capital as well as the nation’s capital. Campaigns for the United States Congress are privately funded in America. Eighty- five percent of that funding comes from large contributions. Candidates and political parties target the especially large contributors in their fundraising efforts. But the number of such contributors is tiny: No more than .05% of the American population gives even the maximum amount to one candidate for Congress. The number giving $10,000 or […]

By adopting a law that criminalizes disclosure of frack chemicals – which other states, such as Texas and Wyoming, require the fracker to disclose, and that Halliburton already makes available, the chemical components of which are publicly available from other sources, including state and national directories: California Proposition 65 – All components listed MA Right-to-Know Law  - One or more components listed. NJ Right-to-Know Law – One or more components listed. PA Right-to-Know Law – One or more components listed. Canadian Regulations -Canadian DSL Inventory All components listed on inventory. As a practical matter, anyone outside of the state of North Carolina with a chemistry set could publish a list of the chemical composition and distribute it in defiance of this pea-brained law. Evidently the frack shills of North Carolina […]

Illinois Fracking Fiasco in the Works May 27, 2014 Michael Berndtson From United States Geological Survey – Illinois Basin Yesterday, Memorial Day, in commemoration of our nation’s fallen and Chinese manufactured United States flag salesmen, and Illinois House panel voted 7 to 4 to work around the regulator process to get fracking on the New Albany shale. A more tempered write up can be found here. Our nations oil and gas lobbyist, mouth breathing downstater politicians, and petroleum engineers from Oklahoma didn’t even pay for the subsurface investigation to find the sweet spot for fracking the New Albany shale. Our federal tax dollars seemed to have paid for a US Geological Survey (USGS) to do that. The wonderfully written geological ramblings can be found in this report, New Albany Shale. I’m guessing oil […]

From The Rachel - a compendium of articles and reports on radioactivity in shale gas and shale gas drilling waste.  The most radioactive waste material are the drill cuttings from the horizontal (shale) section of a well. Since the shale is the most radioactive sedimentary layer, the horizontal section basically mines radioactive material. Disposing of radioactive drill cuttings can be particularly problematic. At a conventional well – where the cuttings are not from radioactive shale – drill cuttings are often buried at the drill site. Radioactive drill cuttings can be mixed with flowback and injected down an EPA Class II disposal well. Or the drill cuttings can be mixed with soil in “land farming” – the dilution solution. Probably the worst option would be to put radioactive drill cuttings in ordinary […]

BP, Antero,  EQT, Halcon are all pulling out of the Ohio Utica shale. Which Deborah Rogers predicted two years ago. What’s Ohio to do now for frackquakes and toxic frack dumping ? Here’s a summary of how Ohio was teed up by the frackers for a good fracking - first they paid the state off to eliminate Home Rule protections for towns, then they sent in the landmen to dupe the landowners.  If that sounds familiar, the frackers pulled the same stunt in Fracksylvania (worked) and tried it in New York (not so much). Yet. BP Pulls Out of Ohio’s Utica Shale One of the World’s Largest Oil Companies is Calling it Quits in Ohio’s Utica shale. BP announced today that it is pulling out of the region after disappointing results from test wells in Trumbull […]

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 […]