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gas well leaks

Where Not to Frack a Big Gas Hole

November 17, 2014
Where Not to Frack a Big Gas Hole

Where there already is a high likelihood of methane leakage into groundwater. Which indicates that localized faulting is venting bigogenic and thermogenic gas into the aquifer. Probably not a great place to punch thousands of massively big fracking gas holes. . . which simply act as conduits from any gas deposit they hit up into groundwater. This begs the question - is there anyplace where the conditions are less prone to vent methane into groundwater ? And the answer is yes - there are exceptions that prove the rule - where there is an absence of karst or local faulting and there are trapping layers of clay or salt that act as a natural barrier to methane migration, such as in the Fayetteville Shale field. But that is an exception that proves […]

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Fracking Limbo : How Oil & Gas Wells Get Orphaned

July 21, 2014

The oldest trick in the fracking book is to list a well as “inactive” and then sell the lease. This removes the liability of plugging & abandoning (P&A) the well, and is what happens to the plurality of old wells. Some states allow wells to remain on the “inactive” list for years. But, as a practical matter, it only has to remain on the list long enough to be transferred to a shell entity that has no money to plug it. The well ends up as an orphan - abandoned - with no one to plug it. The only way to discourage this is for the initial operator to post a P&A bond to cover the cost, and that money cannot be redeemed until the well is P&A’d regardless of […]

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EPA’s Methane Greenwash

June 17, 2014
EPA's Methane Greenwash

The EPA could regulate methane as a greenhouse gas - if it wanted to. It regulates CO 2 as a greenhouse gas and that regulatory authority has been upheld by the US Supreme Court. (Scalia dissented on behalf of the frackers and Clarence “I concur” Thomas went “ugh”) The frackers say that methane emissions is not a problem. The new head of the Dept. of Energy, Ernie Moniz, aka “Easy Money” got his job by proving gas wells don’t leak. If so, they shouldn’t have a problem with some regulations. Right ? If the EPA does not regulate methane emissions, we will all get cooked by the fracker’s “best practices” Here is the NRDC’s and Sierra Club’s take on why the EPA should regulate methane as a potent greenhouse gas. […]

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FRACK THE DISNEY MOUSE

December 30, 2013
FRACK THE DISNEY MOUSE

Hey KIDS! Fracking for oil and gas is COOL! IT’S FUN! Mickey says you too can build a pipeline! Yep, Disney has jumped on the fracking hype and joined with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) to promote fossil fuel fracking to kids and make it fun! Elementary school classrooms in Ohio are being treated to a super special, game show-like day presentation, brought to them by Radio Disney and funded by the state Oil and Gas Association. All of the activities are aimed at teaching kids about science — the science, that is “behind oil and gas production and their value as natural resources.” The Wooster Daily Record describes how the program, “Rocking in Ohio,” combined science and fun (and industry interests) at the Wayne County fairgrounds this […]

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PORTIONS OF PENNSYLVNIA’S ACT 13 UNCONSTITUTIONAL

December 20, 2013
PORTIONS OF PENNSYLVNIA’S ACT 13 UNCONSTITUTIONAL

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on portions of ACT 13 is a victory for the people of Pennsylvania and a blow to the fossil fuel industry. Of special interest was the one-size-frack-all zoning provision, which sought to eliminate local community control of where and under what conditions the fossil fuel industry could operate. In affirming the municipalities’ standing to bring the Act 13 challenge, which was challenged by the state’s attorneys, Chief Justice Castille wrote in the 162-page majority decision that “[t]he protection of environmental and esthetic interests is an essential aspect of Pennsylvanians’ quality of life and a key part of local government’s role.” The decision also notes “how remarkable a revolution is worked by this legislation (Act 13) upon the existing zoning regimen in Pennsylvania, including residential zones,” […]

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Kevin Bogus Wins Fracking Fiction Award !

October 9, 2013
Kevin Bogus Wins Fracking Fiction Award !

(AP) Ardmore, OK. October 9th, 2013 The Associated Press’s resident Frak Flak, Kevin Begos (pronounced ‘bogus’ by the fractavist cognoscenti) has won this years Fracking Fiction Award, sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute. Begos received the award at a ceremony held last night at the tony Frackmore Club in the beautiful downtown Ardmore, Oklahoma Holiday Inn attended a bevy of celebrity frackers and frak shills, including the glamourous Brooke Shales, the TV Gas Blonde, who presented Mr. Begos with the award. When reached for comment by NFW’s seemingly omniscient and ubiquitous reporter, Mr. Bogus had this to say, tears welling up in his eyes: “I tried really really hard. I really thank these guys, the API, for such a great award.” Coughing,”It’s tough to write fracking fiction. Just ask Edgar Allan […]

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Sustainable Shale Development: The “Middle Ground” That’s Newspeak for Fraud

October 1, 2013
Sustainable Shale Development: The “Middle Ground” That’s Newspeak for Fraud

The Fraudulent “Logic” of the “Middle Ground” Among the most pernicious and calculative strategies for extorting consent currently in fashion with the natural gas industry and their public relations agents—particularly the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD)—is what I’ll call the “argument for the middle ground.” There are several varieties of this brand of rhetorical extortion, but the basic structure of such an “argument” goes like this: The truth can be counted on to lay somewhere in “the middle,” where “the middle” is invariably some “compromise” between opposing factions, and where “everyone” can feel good that their interests have been met more or less in that “middle.” This “truth” via consensus can then be promoted as “reasonable,” and “just” and anyone who seeks to counter it with opposing facts or a challenge […]

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EVENT HORIZONS with Dr. Robin Falkov

September 16, 2013
EVENT HORIZONS with Dr. Robin Falkov

I’ll be joining Dr. Robin Falkov’s radio show starting tomorrow - Tuesday 9/17 and discussing the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania. Hope you will all listen. I’ll be a regular on Tuesdays from 10:30am-11am EASTERN TIME Go here: http://www.freedomslips.com/hifihome/schedule.htm Scroll down to EVENT HORIZONS Dr Robin Falkov time slot, and click on it, radio player will pop up FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/robin.falkov?fref=ts   M-F 10am-Noon ET, 7-9am PT listen & access archives @ www.freedomslips.com info & updates www.healthfreedomrights.com/eventhorizons.html

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John Hanger–Right off the Rack

September 12, 2013
John Hanger–Right off the Rack

The following captures a likely dialogue between myself, Wendy Lynne Lee, and Kevin Heatley, both of Shale Justice. The event is democratic gubernatorial candidate, John Hanger’s, visit to a Shale Justice sponsored meeting at Bloomsburg University on September 3rd organized by Shale Justice Executive Committee member, John Trallo. The piece may be very fruitfully read in correspondence with the amazingly mangled announcement of the event in Marcellus Drilling News (Shale Justice Coalition Plans to Gate-Crash John Hanger Appearance | Marcellus Drilling News), and the excellent analysis of both the MDN total botch and the Hanger event itself by Dory Hippauf (HANGER AND THE UGLY CHOICES | Shale Justice). Heatley’s essay appears as primary text in bold, and mine appears in the quotation marks, italicized. Another evening event in Shale Gas country. Instead of relaxing […]

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Marcellus Wildcatter Bails

September 5, 2013
Marcellus Wildcatter Bails

Carrizo, who drilled a wildcat shale test well in Owego, New York - that leaked - is bailing out of the Marcellus/ Utica. Leaving behind leaking gas wells on both sides of the state line. Some of those shale wells that the frackers said “Never leak. Anywhere. Honest. Ever.” Except when they do, a lot, often, about everywhere. http://www.nofrackingway.us/2013/05/15/dog-bites-man-but-this-time-in-new-york/ Carrizo had an odd way of making a mess of things on both sides of the border. Kind of an Equal Opportunity Disaster waiting to happen: http://www.nofrackingway.us/2013/03/17/carrizo-oil-gas-blowout-spin/ So now they are trying to dump their New York acreage on some Greater Fool. “The Marcellus Shale divestiture primarily includes 2,850 net undeveloped acres in non-core areas of the play and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.” Carrizo Oil & Gas Sells Marcellus […]

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