News Archives

News archives covering FracTracker Alliance staff, maps, & research. Please email Sarah Carballo to request an interview with a staff member: carballo@fractracker.org.

In-Depth: Bill would ban most foreign oil in California

April 4, 2022 – 10 News ABC San Diego

A new bill in the California Legislature would effectively ban almost all of the foreign oil imported into California. Senate Bill 1319 would prohibit oil imports “if the source of the oil is a foreign nation with demonstrated human rights abuses… or a foreign nation with environmental standards that are lower than those in California.” State Sen. Shannon Grove, a Republican from Bakersfield, is the sponsor. She says the bill would help the environment by favoring oil produced in California, which has stricter environmental rules for drilling and oil production. “What you can do is produce oil under the strictest and most environmental quality regulatory processes to make it safe,” she says. According to the California Energy Commission, the state imported 56.2% of its oil from foreign countries in 2021. Alaska provided 14.9% of California’s oil. In-state oil accounted for 28.9%. Grove says the state should decrease its dependence on foreign oil to help the environment and the economy. Read More.

Tennessee bill to preempt local bans on fossil fuel projects nears finish line with modifications

March 29, 2022 – Nashville Public Radio

The preemption bill designed to expedite fossil fuel projects advanced Thursday after a 16-4 vote by the Tennessee House Commerce Committee — but not without changes. The latest version of the bill offers communities some ability to protect their water through Tennessee’s drinking water program via new amendments. “We were pleased to see those amendments accepted. But ultimately, the goal of the bill was to preempt local control, so that’s why we stayed against it,” said Sarah Houston, the executive director of Protect Our Aquifer. The nonprofit fought a proposed oil pipeline in Memphis last year because of its threat to local drinking water. Chairman Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, the bill sponsor, maintained that this bill, and thus new fossil fuel infrastructure, was necessary for the state’s energy reliability. “If you’re an opponent to fossil fuels or you want to see innovation and you want this country to change its energy policy, what better way than to seek a ban at a local level,” Vaughan said. Read More.

Award Nominee ‘Toxic Tours’ Maps Plastic Pollution Stories In Communities Around The World

March 22, 2022 – Forbes

“Toxic Tours” have been organized by environmental justice groups in their communities for decades. An online platform with the same name offers a window into the daily reality of frontline communities plagued by single-use plastic. The “Toxic Tours” platform stretches from sea to plastic-polluted sea and was conceived by #breakfreefromplastic member organizations who have been doing those real-life tours for years. They include Antwerp Shalegas Free, Center for Coalfield Justice, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, FracTracker Alliance, Friends of the Earth Scotland and Sierra Club Delta Chapter. The stories about plastic production were filmed by environmental justice groups from around the world, says Von Hernandez, global coordinator of #breakfreefromplastic. Frontline communities are invited to reach out and add their stories. Read More.

Chemical recycling: ‘Green’ plastics solution makes more pollution: Report

March 22, 2022 – Mongabay

A host of cutting-edge plastics processing technologies, known collectively as ‘chemical recycling,’ are releasing large quantities of toxic and hazardous substances into the environment. But the majority — while making fuel and chemicals — are producing no recycled plastic, according to a recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). With over 240 million metric tons of new plastics generated every year, a growing global mountain of plastic waste now threatens to destabilize Earth’s operating system,  potentially closing the habitable window of climate and biogeochemical conditions that human civilizations have relied upon for survival over the past 12,000 years. The United States is one of the world’s top plastic producers, but less than 9% of what it makes is currently recycled, mostly through the established process of mechanical sorting and shredding. Read More.

As a Senate Candidate, Mehmet Oz Supports Fracking. But as a Celebrity Doctor, He Raised Significant Concerns

March 20, 2022 – Inside Climate News

When Dr. Mehmet Oz appeared as a guest on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show nine days ago to give his thoughts about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, the celebrity doctor covered expected ground, discussing the plight of civilian victims of the war and the “dwindling” supplies of food, water and medicine in the country. But the conversation ended with Oz expressing his full support for fracking in Pennsylvania. Oz spoke from a town hall meeting in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where he is campaigning as a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Flanked by an American flag and the blue state flag of Pennsylvania, with a handful of supporters sitting behind him, their faces blurred out of focus, Oz talked about the grim reality of the war and the toll it’s taken on children in Ukraine. Read More.

Environmental Problems of Guernsey Power Station in Ohio

March 19, 2022 – FrackCheck WV

I met Kevin Young, a resident of Guernsey Co. Ohio, who’s life has been completely upended by the construction of the Guernsey fracked gas power station, owned by Caithness Energy LLC. This is the largest new fracked gas power plant in the US. The plant sits on top of an abandoned coal mine, which contains thousands of shafts that run underground for miles. To stabilize the mine, the company carved injection wells every 25 feet over the site and filled them with huge amounts of toxic coal ash mixed with what residents suspect to be fracking waste water. Fracking wastewater, also called brine or produced water, contains toxic chemicals and radioactive isotopes. For months as the mine was filled, toxic coal ash filled the air, covering every surface in Kevin’s home. Since construction began two years ago, his wife Marlene has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. I saw the dust, which was very sticky and not like regular household dust. It felt like it had been stuck on with glue. This is what Kevin and Marlene were breathing. Read More.

More Than 1,100 Groups Tell Biden: Stop Fossil Fuels Now

February 25, 2022 – PopularResistance.org

After his first year in office, President Biden and his administration have failed to take meaningful action to keep fossil fuels in the ground. We are sending a powerful, unified message to Biden and demand that he use his executive authority to stop approving fossil fuel projects and exports, end new federal fossil fuel leasing and development on public lands and waters, and declare a national climate emergency. We also delivered Biden a gigantic presidential pen and executive order at the White House. The Build Back Fossil Free campaign has organized a huge letter to Biden reiterating our demands for bold executive action to keep fossil fuels in the ground, protect communities from the toxic impacts of coal, oil, and gas development, and declare a climate emergency* to advance energy justice. With over 1,100 organizations signed on, this letter demonstrates the strength and breadth of our movement as we demand Biden fulfill his promises to the people and take bold action to stop the climate crisis. The people are done waiting. Read More.

California Oil Safety Rule Contains ‘Zombie Well’ Loophole, Advocates Say

February 18, 2022 – Biz News Post

Late last year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom won praise from environmentalists when he announced new rules that require 3,200 feet of buffer space between new oil wells and homes, schools, businesses and health facilities. The state agency that approves the construction of wells endorsed a view long advanced by environmental justice advocates — concluding that living near wells leads to poor health, including perinatal and respiratory damage. But a loophole in the rules could still put hundreds of communities at risk from new wells — even if the state doesn’t consider them new. The rules currently under consideration define a new well as “a new boring that involves installation of surface casing where none existed previously.” This wouldn’t exclude operators from restarting idled wells across the state, even if they sit within the 3,200-foot setback zone. In some cases, the wells might be so old that few residents living near them can recall a time when they were active. Read More.

State Senator Lena Gonzalez Introduces Fossil Fuel Divestment Bill in CA Legislature

February 17, 2022 – Daily Kos

On February 17, Sen. Lena Gonzalez (D-Long Beach) introduced a bill in the California Legislature that would mandate that California’s public pension funds stop investing in fossil fuel companies. SB1173, the Fossil Fuel Divestment Act, would require these state pension funds to make no new investments in fossil fuel companies and to divest existing fossil fuel investments by June 2027. Senator Scott Weiner (D-Sacramento), is co-sponsoring the bill. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest non-federal pension funds in the country, have over $9 billion invested in fossil fuel companies and related energy sector industries. CalSTRS has about $469 billion in assets, while CalPERS has $327 billion in assets. Read More.

State Senator Dave Min introduces bill to ban offshore drilling in California waters

February 9, 2022 – Daily Kos

In a major challenge to the powerful oil industry in California, Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine) has introduced a bill to ban offshore drilling in state ocean waters, including oil production under current lease agreements. Senate Bill 953 would end all drilling in California state waters by the end of 2023. There are currently 11 leases and three active oil rigs in California state waters, those ocean waters within 3 miles of shore. Min said SB 953 fulfills his pledge for action in the wake of last year’s Orange County Oil Spill that leaked nearly 25,000 gallons of crude oil just off the coast of Huntington Beach, shutting down beaches and recreational and commercial fishing from Orange County to San Diego. This was the largest spill in California waters since the 2015 Refugio Beach oil spill fouled many miles of the Santa Barbara County Coast, including “marine protected areas” created under the helm of a Big Oil lobbyist under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. Read More.

Big Oil Has a Plan to Turn Appalachia Into Hydrogen Country

February 8, 2022 – VICE

The fossil fuel industry has a new plan for Appalachia: Blue hydrogen. An alliance between some of the largest corporations in the energy business—Shell, General Electric Gas Power, EQT Corporation, Equinor, Mitsubishi, US Steel and Marathon Petroleum—announced in a press release late last week their plan to create a “hydrogen industrial hub” in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Their plan is to work with local stakeholders in the process, creating “a national model for sustainable energy and production systems.” The companies are putting their faith in an element that’s gained traction as an energy form in recent months, as the bipartisan infrastructure bill includes billions of dollars to build out clean hydrogen energy development. Hydrogen is also the most abundant element in the universe, existing in water, alcohols, and the like. Producing hydrogen as an energy source requires separating H atoms from other elements in the molecules where it naturally occurs (so, removing the H from H2O, for example). Read More.

LA City Council votes to prohibit drilling of new oil and gas wells, phase out existing production

February 7, 2022 – Elk Grove News

On January 26, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to prohibit the drilling of new oil and gas wells, phase out  production of existing oil and gas wells and create a process for the phase-out and cleanup of existing oil wells, with a just transition, according to a statement from Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) California. “Oil drilling is and has always been an inherently incompatible land use with neighborhoods and schools and hospitals and homes,” said LA City Councilmember Paul Koretz, EOPA California Leadership Council, and one of the co-authors of the original motion. “No one should have to wake up in her own bed with a nose bleed caused by toxic oil drilling chemicals. Nor with cancer caused by the same. That said, we must also ensure the affected workers have a secure working future. Today’s item will take care of both.” The motion specifically directs the Department of City Planning to work with the City Attorney’s office to draft an ordinance that prohibits any new oil and gas extraction operations and makes existing extraction activities a nonconforming land use in all areas of the city, according to Koretz. Read More.

Over a dozen communities reveal the nearby effect of plastic manufacturing via the Toxic Tours platform

February 4, 2022 – APN News

New Delhi : #breakfreefromplastic is a global movement consisting of more than 8,000 individuals and organizations working together to stop plastic pollution for good. They launched an Event called The Toxic Tour. The Toxic Tours project brings the concept of local Toxic tours to a digital space, reaching viewers around the world before UNEA5 and achieving the goal of protecting the planet and its natural resources sustainably. The event was attended by multiple participating Environmental Justice (EJ) groups and featured highly visual content, with live interpretation in Mandarin, Filipino, Spanish, French, Hindi, and Portuguese. Read More.

Western States Petroleum Association spent $17.5 million lobbying CA officials over past 3 years

February 2, 2022 – Daily Kos

Deep regulatory capture by Big Oil is thriving in California, despite continual boasting by politicians that the state is the nation’s “green” and “progressive” leader. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento, has spent over $17.5 million lobbying the California Legislature and other state officials over the past three years. In 2021, WSPA spent $4,397,004 lobbying legislators and state officials to serve Big Oil’s agenda, according to data filed with California Secretary of State’s Office. The association spent $957,137 on lobbying in the fourth quarter of 2021. The money went to an array of in-house lobbyists and outside lobbying firms, topped by Ramball Environ in Philadelphia that received $116,981 in the fourth quarter and $366,864 in 2021. Read More.

Working Families Party tapping into a new generation of progressives

February 2, 2022 – CALmatters

Californians have expressed a lot of interest in the Working Families Party, a party for the multiracial working class, fighting for a nation that cares for all of us. Since taking on my new role last month as the first state director for the party in California, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about our goals. Here is one that keeps coming up: Why does California need a working families movement when California is already so blue? Let’s look at one startling example. California is the seventh-largest oil-producing state in the country, yet has zero rules buffering active oil and gas wells from our homes and schools. More than 7 million residents, 14% of California’s population, live within 1 mile of a well, according to an analysis by the nonprofit FracTracker Alliance. Read More. 

Report: The Fossil Fuel Industry’s Job Claims are “Wildly Inaccurate”

January 28, 2022 – CounterPunch

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento, claims that there are 368,000 jobs in the oil and gas industry in California. “The oil and gas industry is a vital part of California’s energy mix,” WSPA stated on their website. “As a leading economic force and major employer, we proudly contribute to communities across the state, providing more than 368,000 jobs in CA.” But a just-released Food & Water Watch analysis counts just 22,000 jobs in the industry in California, based on Department of Labor statistics — and says this total has dropped 40 percent over the past decade. “Overall, oil and gas production account for barely one-tenth of 1 percent of all employment in California,” the analysis revealed. Read More.

LA City Council votes to prohibit drilling of new oil and gas wells, phase out existing production

January 27, 2022 – Daily Kos

On January 26, the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to prohibit the drilling of new oil and gas wells, phase out  production of existing oil and gas wells and create a process for the phase-out and cleanup of existing oil wells, with a just transition, according to a statement from Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) California. “Oil drilling is and has always been an inherently incompatible land use with neighborhoods and schools and hospitals and homes,” said LA City Councilmember Paul Koretz, EOPA California Leadership Council, and one of the co-authors of the original motion. “No one should have to wake up in her own bed with a nose bleed caused by toxic oil drilling chemicals. Nor with cancer caused by the same. That said, we must also ensure the affected workers have a secure working future. Today’s item will take care of both.” Read More.

New analysis reveals fossil fuel industry’s job claims are ‘wildly inaccurate’ in California, U.S.

January 27, 2022 – Daily Kos

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento, claims that there are 368,000 jobs in the oil industry in California. “The oil and gas industry is a vital part of California’s energy mix,” WSPA stated on their website. “As a leading economic force and major employer, we proudly contribute to communities across the state, providing more than 368,000 jobs in CA.” But a just-released Food & Water Watch analysis counts just 22,000 jobs in the industry in California, based on Department of Labor statistics — and says this total has dropped 40 percent over the past decade. “Overall, oil and gas production account for barely one-tenth of 1 percent of all employment in California,” the analysis revealed. Read More.

CA Crosses Line Of 10,000 Oil Drilling Permits Issued Since Newsom Took Office, Groups Urge Newsom To Cease All Permitting Says Consumer Watchdog

January 26, 2022 – PR Newswire

As the LA City Council votes today to ban oil and gas wells, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance reported that Governor Newsom has approved 10,212 oil drilling permits since he assumed office in 2019. The total is nearly identical to the number of permits Governor Jerry Brown approved in his first three years. According to the latest analysis by FracTracker Alliance of permits approved through December 31, 2021, and posted by Consumer Watchdog at www.Newsomwellwatch.org, the number of permit approvals fell from 2020. Nevertheless, Newsom’s number is nipping on the heels of Brown’s 10,268 permits dispensed in his first three years in office. Brown ultimately approved 31,545 wells during his eight years in office. “We are pleased to see that Governor Newsom’s oil regulators are approving fewer permits,” said Consumer Watchdog’s Energy Project Director Liza Tucker. “But the Administration should not have crossed that 10,000-permit threshold and needs to ban any permits for any drilling if we are to protect the public and the planet—starting with environmental justice communities.” Read More.

Over 360 groups call on Biden to phase out oil and gas drilling on federal lands

January 19, 2022 – Daily Kos

As U.S. oil and gas production is forecasted to expand to record levels by 2023, over 360 climate, tribal, religious and conservation groups today petitioned the Biden administration to use its executive authority to phase out oil and gas production on public lands and oceans by 2035. “The petition provides a framework to manage a decline of oil and gas production to near zero by 2035 through rulemaking, using long-dormant provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the National Emergencies Act,” according to a statement from the coalition. “Without such action, it will become increasingly difficult for the United States to meet its pledge to help avoid 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming and its unprecedented social, environmental and economic damage.” Read More.

Living Closer to Oil and Gas Drilling Linked to Higher Risk of Pregnancy Complications, New Study Finds

January 14, 2022 – Biz News Post

Living near oil and gas drilling may increase pregnant women’s risk of developing gestational hypertension and eclampsia, according to a new study. “We observed for those pregnant women within one kilometer of drilling that there’s about a 5 percent increase in odds of gestational hypertension, and 26 percent increase odds of eclampsia,” Mary Willis, a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University and one of the authors of the study, told DeSmog. “So, it’s this really close range where we are seeing a potential impact right on women’s health.” The study, published in International Journal of Epidemiology in December 2021, looked at nearly 3 million births in the state of Texas over the course of 13 years between 1996 and 2009. Read More.

Federal government forecasts that U.S. oil production in 2023 will surpass record high set in 2019

January 12, 2022 – Daily Kos

In case you were thinking that the federal government was addressing the climate crisis by reducing oil drilling and dependence on fossil fuels in the U.S. at this time, I’ve got some alarming news for you. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts that U.S. oil production will average 12.4 million barrels per day during 2023, surpassing the record high for domestic crude oil production set in 2019. “In its January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), EIA forecasts U.S. crude oil production will increase for nine consecutive quarters, from the fourth quarter of 2021 through 2023,” according to a press release from the EIA issued yesterday. “EIA also expects OPEC to increase its crude oil production to 28.9 million barrels per day in 2023, up from an average of 26.3 million barrels per day in 2021.” Read More.

Critics Say Newsom’s Proposed 2022-23 Budget ‘Falls Short’ on Confronting Fossil Fuels

January 11, 2022 – Daily Kos

Governor Gavin Newsom on January 10 unveiled his 2022-23 state budget proposal including a $45.7 billion budget surplus, receiving both criticism and praise from environmental and climate advocates. The budget proposal followed one of the most catastrophic years for fish and the ecosystem in California history during which the Delta smelt became virtually extinct in the wild, only 2.6 percent of winter-run Chinook juveniles on the Sacramento River below Keswick Dam survived warm water conditions and most spring-run Chinook salmon on Butte Creek perished before spawning. The proposal also came after a year in which Consumer Watchdog and Fractracker Alliance revealed at www.NewsomWellWatch.org that Newsom’s oil and gas regulatory agency, CalGEM, had approved a total of 9,728 oil drilling permits from January 1, 2019 until October 1, 2021. In addition, the groups found that the Newsom Administration approved 150 offshore drilling permits in state waters since January 1, 2019. Read More.

The war on plastics, 2022: A change of climate

January 10, 2022 – GreenBiz

Remember plastic pollution? It wasn’t long ago that the world seemed wrapped up in plastic: outrage over plastic drinking straws and bags, mostly, but also the entire plastics and packaging industries. We fretted over the fate of various critters, notably a hapless sea turtle whose viral video led many to treat plastic straws with roughly the same disdain as nuclear waste. Consumer brands scrambled to commit to ending plastic waste sometime in the future, in many cases by making their packaging recyclable or compostable, never mind the wholly inadequate global infrastructure available to actually recycle or compost the stuff. The whole thing inevitably spawned a culture war that led some American politicians to ban plastic straw bans as an expression of “freedom.” It was a war on plastic that, it seemed at the time, might actually curb plastic’s environmental excesses. That was so 2018. Read More.

Fracking affects the Muskingum Watershed

December 29, 2021 – The Bargain Hunter

In early June 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invited the public to participate in the preparation of a regional master plan and integrated environmental assessment for 15 projects in the Muskingum River Basin. A master plan is the strategic land use management document that guides the management and development of all recreational, natural and cultural resources within the water resource development project for the next 15-25 years. The announcement stressed the importance of public participation as being “critical to the successful revision of the master plan.” A series of informational webinars was held at the end of June, and the public was provided with an address to send in their comments by Aug. 16, 2021. Since I live near one of the projects to be addressed under this plan, Tappan Lake, I decided to research the previous watershed plans and to send in comments. Read More.

Environmental groups air concerns about $6B Nacero project

December 26, 2021 – Yahoo! News

A proposed gas-to-gasoline industrial plant in Luzerne County, touted as being environmentally friendly, is anything but, says a group of local, state, and national environmental organizations who have joined forces to oppose the project. The organizations that came out against the $6 billion project slated for the Newport Township/Nanticoke City/Hanover Township area, are: Action Together NEPA, Berks Gas Truth, Better Path Coalition, Clean Air Council, Climate Reality Project: Pennsylvania Chapters Coalition, Concerned Health Professionals of PA, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, FracTracker Alliance, Green Amendments For the Generations, Interfaith Power and Light, League of Women Voters Pennsylvania, PennFuture, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley, Watchdogs of Southeastern PA (WaSEPA). Read More.

World Talks on a Treaty to Control Plastic Pollution Are Set for Nairobi in February. How To Do So Is Still Up in the Air

December 25, 2021 – Inside Climate News

Governments are taking steps to rein in plastic waste. But none of what’s been done so far has been up to the challenge of a growing plastics industry fed by consumer demand for more plastic products, resulting in a deepening global plastic waste crisis. As a result, there is now an intensifying focus on the possibility of a global treaty to control plastic pollution. The next milestone in a diplomatic process that began in 2014 could come in February, in Nairobi, Kenya, when the U.N. Environmental Assembly meets to decide if it will endorse the beginning of official negotiations over a plastics treaty. Read More.

Over 50,000 Californians urge CalGEM to support health and safety setbacks around oil and gas wells

December 22, 2021 – Daily Kos

Yesterday, December 21, marked the end of the public comment period for the California Department of Conservation’s public health rulemaking process to increase protections for communities on the frontlines of oil drilling in a state where thousands of permits for new and reworked oil wells have been approved in the last three years. In 60  days, more than 50,000 people submitted comments to the Department’s California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) in support of a proposed rule to require health and safety setbacks of 3,200 feet between “sensitive receptors” and oil and gas wells in California. That’s a rate of almost 1,000 comments a day, according to Aimee Dewing, Communications Lead for the Last Chance Alliance. Read More.

Community activists lauded in fight for environmental and racial justice

December 10, 2021 – Environmental Health News

John Beard, 18 years a city councilman for the Texas fenceline community of Port Arthur, almost gave up and walked away. Love Sanchez, a Karankawa Kadla mom from the Texas Gulf Coast, lived in the background, shy and voiceless. Veronica Coptis, growing up amid Pennsylvania’s coal, oil and gas fields, was “angry and yelling a lot.” And Travis London, deep in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, needed something hard and “crystal clear” to grab hold of. All four bloomed to become leaders, fighting for social and environmental justice largely against fossil fuel companies in their communities. All four were feted Thursday as 2021’s Community Sentinel Award winners by the Fractracker Alliance, an annual award honoring those who address the root causes of environmental injustice in the United States, with a strong focus on racial justice in the face of oil, gas, and petrochemical activity. Read More.

Return of Nigeria’s crude oil mafia

November 30, 2021 – Punch NG

With the Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) regime giving a broad hint on the removal of petrol subsidy to cut off huge payouts on imports, it is oddly disturbing that the country is paying scant attention to a sharp increase in oil theft. A widespread activity in the Niger Delta, oil pilfering costs the Nigerian economy billions of dollars in revenue annually. Feeling the pinch more than ever, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has justifiably laid the issue on the table again for national discourse. Without a doubt, the salient points from the discussions might potentially persuade the Buhari regime to act firmly. Read More.

Marcellus shale natural gas driller proposes compressor station in Upper Burrell

November 28, 2021 – Trib Live

Olympus Energy is seeking state approval to develop a Marcellus shale natural gas compressor station in Upper Burrell, off White Cloud Road on undeveloped industrial property owned by Arconic. Olympus Energy of Canonsburg has three well pads to tap natural gas in the Marcellus shale rock formation approved by the township and state Department of Environmental Protection in various stages of development. The compressor station, known as the Rogers compressor, is proposed near the Calliope well pad site, also off White Cloud Road. The proposed station is strategically located to maintain the pressure and flow of the natural gas to take it to the market, said Kimberly Price, Olympus spokeswoman. Read More.

Proposed School to Be Steps Away from Dangerous Pipelines

November 22, 2021 – NBC Philadelphia

After a year of being cooped up in their Philly rowhome, Cameron and Brianna Stevens decided to buy a house on three acres in Delaware County. “I wanted to raise our kids in an environment that was healthier and calmer and peaceful,” Brianna Stevens said. The couple is expecting their first child. So, when they heard that a new elementary school was being proposed right across the street, they saw that as a positive. “We were like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s great.’ You know, that’s convenient. That’s nice,” she said. That is, until they learned about the two gas transmission pipelines running through a corner of the proposed school property. The Rose Tree Media School District wants to build a new elementary school on a 36-acre plot in Edgmont to address a growing population. And so far, the district has paid $1.25 million for one parcel on the 1500 block of Middletown Road and is currently under agreement with the owner of the second parcel next to it. Read More.

In California, an effort to protect frontline communities from environmental health risks

November 20, 2021 – PBS News Hour

More than seven million Californians live within a mile of an oil or gas well, which studies show can create silent health hazards. Now, there are efforts to put more distance between people and pollutants. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Tom Casciato has the story, beginning in the small city of Arvin. This story is part of our ongoing series, Peril and Promise: The Challenge of Climate Change. Listen Here.

New report: CA oil industry consumed 4.6 billion gallons of freshwater for extraction in 3 years

November 10, 2021 – Daily Kos

FracTracker Alliance has released a new report on water use by the oil and gas industry in California — and the data is alarming as a severe drought continues in California, despite the recent storms: www.fractracker.org/… “We found that the oil and gas industry consumed over 4.6 billion gallons of freshwater for extraction operations in California during the 3 year period from 2018-2020,” said Kyle Ferrar, author of the report. “In total, California oil and gas operations consume upwards of 280 billion gallons of water per year for extraction and refining.” The report includes data summaries and maps that highlight the need for water conservation by California’s oil iand gas industry, the most powerful corporate lobby in the state. Read More.

Nalleli Cobo: the young activist who led her LA neighborhood against big oil

November 10, 2021 – The Guardian

At the age of nine, Nalleli Cobo started getting nosebleeds so severe that she had to sleep sitting up so as not to choke on the blood. Then there were the stomach cramps, nausea, headaches and body spasms, which made walking difficult. For a time she wore a heart monitor as doctors struggled to understand what was wrong. But it wasn’t just Cobo. The nine-year-old was growing up in University Park, a low-income, majority-Latino neighborhood in Los Angeles, the smoggiest city in the US, which ranks highest in the country for deaths linked to air pollution. She and her three older siblings were raised by her Mexican mother, grandmother and two great-grandparents. (Her father was deported to Colombia when she was three.) And suddenly, almost her entire family was ill – including her mother, who developed asthma at 40, as did her grandmother at 70. Read More.

“Responsibly Sourced Gas” (RSG) is Still Natural Greenhouse Gas (GHG)

November 5, 2021 – FrackCheck WV

The fracked natural gas industry has never been the most responsible or efficient consumer of resources. Drillers are using ever-increasing amounts of water and sand in order to produce the same volume of gas, with a corresponding rise in the levels of solid and liquid waste created. Nevertheless, the industry has begun a new wave of branding around “Responsibly Sourced Natural Gas,” or RSG. But what does RSG really mean? We argue that right now it’s an inadequate and ill-defined measurement of the overall ecological and social burden imposed by fracking. Instead, we suggest a new ratio for more accurately calculating fracked gas’s full impacts so that the fossil fuel industry can’t use RSG standards as a thin green veil for continuing its polluting practices. Read More.

The US is a plastic mismanagement leader

November 5, 2021 – GreenBiz

In recent years, countries across the globe have implemented laws to mitigate plastic production and pollution. In the past two years, both large developed nations such as Australia and smaller developing countries such as Sri Lanka and Belize have passed ambitious national laws to phase out a number of plastic products such as bags, cutlery and straws. But the U.S., a leading producer and consumer of plastics, remains woefully behind, even as it stands as one of the world’s biggest polluters. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the country produced 35.7 million tons of plastic waste in 2018, more than 90 percent of which was either landfilled or burned. The U.S. ranks second in the world in total plastic waste generated per year, behind only China — although when measured per capita, the U.S. outpaces China. In 2019, the U.S. also opted not to join the United Nations’ updated Basel Convention, a legally binding agreement aimed at preventing and minimizing plastic waste generation that was signed by about 180 other countries. Read More.

When offshore oil rigs shut down, taxpayers could get stuck with a bill

November 2, 2021 – Orange County Register

While the October oil spill near Huntington Beach is fueling calls to end offshore pumping, operators of aging West Coast wells may be delaying closures in an effort to avoid the huge expense of plugging and dismantling their rigs, according to industry observers. The cost of shutting down the 23 platforms that connect to 734 wells in federal waters off the coast of California would run $1.6 billion, according to federal estimates. And decommissioning consultant John B. Smith said final costs could end up being twice that. While all but one of those platforms is connected to a dozen or more wells, few if any currently are taking advantage of that capacity. Companies that keep even a portion of their pumping operation active can avoid closure costs. “Operators have an incentive to keep at least one well producing … due to the high cost of decommissioning and the negative effect it can have on a company’s balance sheets,” said Smith, who spent more than 35 years administering offshore oil and gas leases for U.S. Department of the Interior. Read More.

Plastics set to overtake coal plants on U.S. carbon emissions, new study shows

October 27, 2021 – South Africa Today

Plastics will outpace coal plants in the U.S. by 2030 in terms of their contributions to climate change, according to a new report released Oct. 21 by Beyond Plastics, a project at Bennington College in Vermont. Yet policymakers and businesses are not currently accounting for the plastics industry’s full impact on climate change, allowing the industry to essentially fly “under the radar, with little public scrutiny and even less government accountability,” the report says. Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and a former regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says the report was intentionally released in the lead-up to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, when world leaders will gather to discuss strategies for tackling climate change. “There’s a little discussion on waste, but not much,” Enck told Mongabay in a video interview. “But plastics’ contribution to climate change is not on the agenda.” Read More.

Consumer Watchdog Praises Governor Oil Setback Rule, Says More Needs To Be Done To Phase Out Oil Drilling In California

October 21, 2021 – MarketWatch

Consumer Watchdog today called Governor Newsom’s draft rule creating a first-of-its-kind 3200-foot setback between oil wells and communities a “historic moment for California and the nation, but one that needs to followed with immediate denial of oil and gas permits as part of a full phase out plan for drilling in this state no later than 2030.” “California’s oil boom went bust a long time ago and the oil that is left is dirty crude oil that is energy-intensive to refine,” said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog. ”Oil refineries that make our gasoline in California run on a majority of crude oil from OPEC and South America that is lighter and less energy intensive to refine. It’s a no brainer to stop oil companies from drilling that poisons communities.  Next, we need a plan to stop all existing drilling in the state and plug those wells. The fact that offshore drilling permits are still being renewed by the state of California after the recent Orange County oil spill is a sign that much more needs to be done to protect the public and our land. Governor Newsom took a big historic step today, but he now needs to follow Los Angeles County’s lead in phasing out all oil drilling in a reasonable time.” Read More.

California moves to ban oil wells within 3,200 feet of homes and schools

October 21, 2021 – CNBC

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday proposed a statewide 3,200-foot buffer zone to separate homes, schools, hospitals and other populated areas from oil and gas wells. The draft rule, released by the state’s oil regulator California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM), would not ban existing wells within those areas but would require new pollution controls. California is the seventh-largest oil-producing state in the country but has no rule or standard for the distance that active wells need to be from communities. More than 2 million state residents live within 2,500 feet of an operational oil and gas well, and another 5 million, or 14% of the California’s population, are within 1 mile, according to an analysis by the non-profit FracTracker Alliance. Read More.

Activists urge CALDEM to reject fossil fuel and law enforcement money, will march to Capitol Friday

October 20, 2021 – Daily Kos

Activists from the youth-based Sunrise Movement throughout California will march from CalSTRS in West Sacramento to the State Capitol in Sacramento on Friday, Oct. 22 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m to demand that the California Democratic Party (CADEM) Executive Board vote to ban fossil fuel and law enforcement contributions to the Party. California politicians constantly portray the state as a “green” and “progressive” leader despite the fact that the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency, CalGEM, has approved over 9,000 new and reworked oil and gas wells since January 2019 and still doesn’t require health and safety setbacks around oil and gas wells like those other states mandate. These pro fossil fuel policies continue because of Big Oil and Big Gas capture of regulators, ranging from Governor’s Office, to the Legislature, to the regulatory agencies, panels and commissions. Read More.

We told you so – California’s ocean waters and coast still aren’t protected from big oil spills!

October 19, 2021 – Elk Grove News

I wrote the below article in 2010 warning of the consequences of not protecting the ocean from oil spills, oil drilling, pollution and all human impacts other than fishing and gathering in the “marine protected areas” created under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. This article warned of the consequences of allowing a Big Oil lobbyist and other corporate operatives to oversee “marine protection” in California in a classic example of Deep Regulatory Capture. As Sara Randall, then the program director of the Institute for Fishery Resources and Commercial Fishermen of America, said so eloquently at the time, “These marine protected areas, as currently designed, don’t protect against oil spills. What’s the point of developing marine protected areas if they don’t protect the resources?” Read More.

Oil wells in Bolsa Chica reserve could jeopardize wetlands

October 15, 2021 – The Orange County Register

A steward of the Bolsa Chica wetlands, Kim Kolpin describes her panic earlier this month when she heard that oil was spilling offshore of the habitat-rich park she has worked at since 1996. The 1,400-acre Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach is home to 23 species that are endangered, threatened or of special concern. It’s treasured by birdwatchers for the nearly 300 feathered resident and migratory species, many of which lay their eggs there. All told, there are an estimated 900 species of critters, including turtles, rays and octopuses. In the end, the spill made landfall mostly south of the wetlands. And a quickly installed boom at the reserve’s tidal inlet has, so far, helped prevent any sign of oil entering the ecosystem. But while that’s been a huge relief to Kolpin and others, the biggest ongoing oil threat to the wetlands might come from within the preserve itself. Read More.

Danger of Cryptocurrency

October 15, 2021 – Sri Lanka Guardian

In capitalism every few years or decades something new comes along that causes rapid creation of wealth — think microwaves, electronics, and military weapons expansion during the Cold War; semiconductors; the rise of venture capital as an industry; the personal computer craze of the 1980s; the rise of the Internet and hedge funds in the 1990s followed by Internet commerce, genomics, nanotechnology, and the commercialization of information gathering and surveillance (data mining) to benefit corporations and investors. One of the latest “innovations,” as they’re known in the financial sector, is cryptocurrency, which has exploded since its public introduction in 2013. Related to data mining, cryptocurrency mining has taken off like wildfires in a windstorm — and like those deadly events can accelerate climate chaos in ways we couldn’t imagine just a few years ago. Read More.

Cryptocurrency: A New and Dangerous Climate Disruptor – Resilience

October 15, 2021 – Business Mayor

The get-rich-quick scheme, banned in China and elsewhere, is invading U.S. communities unchecked, posing as an “equalizing, democratizing” currency. It’s not. In capitalism every few years or decades something new comes along that causes rapid creation of wealth — think microwaves, electronics, and military weapons expansion during the Cold War; semiconductors; the rise of venture capital as an industry; the personal computer craze of the 1980s; the rise of the Internet and hedge funds in the 1990s followed by Internet commerce, genomics, nanotechnology, and the commercialization of information gathering and surveillance (data mining) to benefit corporations and investors. Read More.

Concerned Ohio River Residents Group Demonstrates in Wheeling and Moundsville, Urging Shift From Petrochemical Facilities

October 13, 2021 – O&G Links

Photos by Eric Ayres Protesters display banners from the Wheeling Suspension Bridge on Wednesday as part of an effort aiming to urge the Biden Administration to stop permitting new and expanding petrochemical facilities, including the proposed PTT Global Chemical ethane cracker plant in the Ohio Valley. A group of regional activists made stops in Wheeling and Moundsville on Wednesday to speak out against future fracking, the creation of residual plastics and the expansion of petrochemical facilities in the Ohio Valley and beyond. The events in the area were just one part of a nationwide effort under the banner “Break Free From Plastics Actions Against Extraction.” Organized by the group Concerned Ohio River Residents, the protests drew activists of all ages and from all walks of life to the Ohio River area to march and speak out for their cause. Read More.

Environmental Justice Advocates Respond to Oil Spill: End Neighborhood and Offshore Oil Drilling Now

October 13, 2021 – CounterPunch

Since 2019, Governor Newsom’s state oil and gas regulatory agency, CalGEM has issued over 9,000 onshore drilling permits while state lawmakers have repeatedly killed legislation that would have directly protected frontline communities from serious adverse health effects from oil and gas drilling next to homes, schools, prisons, and healthcare facilities, according to the groups. Governor Newsom’s oil and gas regulators have continued granting offshore oil well permits also. As of October 1, 2021, there have been a total of 150 reported permits issued for offshore wells since January 1, 2019, according to a new analysis of permits approved through October 1, 2021 and posted at www.NewsomWellWatch.org by Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance. Read More.

Report: Drilling spills ruined wells and polluted streams in Westmoreland, across Pennsylvania

October 12, 2021 – Honest Columnist

It has been more than four years since Edward and Alice Mioduski of Loyalhanna Township have been able to drink water from their well near Loyalhanna Lake. Drilling mud mixed with the mineral bentonite leaked from the hole that Sunoco Pipeline L.P. was boring underneath the lake in May 2017. It bled into the aquifer that their 95-foot-deep well had tapped into for decades. The crystal-clear water turned cloudy gray with little white blobs floating around. “Within a short time, it went to hell,” Alice Mioduski said. Before that, their water was “the nectar of the gods. We never ran out of water.” Now, they have a 1,500-gallon plastic tank in their backyard that provides water for showering and washing clothes — when it doesn’t freeze in the winter — paid for by Sunoco. A filtration system inside the house provides water for drinking and cooking. Read More.

Western States Petroleum Association launches lawsuit against ‘defacto moratorium’ on fracking in CA

October 11, 2021 – Elk Grove News

As a massive oil spill kills fish and birds off the Orange County coast, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in California, today launched a lawsuit against what it called “a defacto moratorium” on well stimulation (fracking) permits in California by the Gavin Newsom Administration. Under intense pressure from environmental justice advocates that have pushed for a ban on fracking for the last 10 years, the Newsom administration this year began to deny fracking permits while continuing to issue hundreds of other oil production well permits employing other methods of extraction. Fracking only amounts to 2 percent of oil production in California, according to the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency, CalGEM. The agency has approved 12 fracking permits to date, compared with 48 fracking permits last year to date, a 75 percent decrease from 2020, according to the Newsomwellwatch.com website operated by Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance. Read More.

We told you so – California’s ocean waters and coast still aren’t protected from big oil spills!

October 10, 2021 – Daily Kos

I wrote the below article in 2010 warning of the consequences of not protecting the ocean from oil spills, oil drilling, pollution and all human impacts other than fishing and gathering in the “marine protected areas” created under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. This article warned of the consequences of allowing a Big Oil lobbyist and other corporate operatives to oversee “marine protection” in California in a classic example of Deep Regulatory Capture. As Sara Randall, then the program director of the Institute for Fishery Resources and Commercial Fishermen of America, said so eloquently at the time, “These marine protected areas, as currently designed, don’t protect against oil spills. What’s the point of developing marine protected areas if they don’t protect the resources?” Read More.

Report: Drilling spills ruined wells and polluted streams in Westmoreland, across Pennsylvania

October 10, 2021 – Yahoo! News

It has been more than four years since Edward and Alice Mioduski of Loyalhanna Township have been able to drink water from their well near Loyalhanna Lake. Drilling mud mixed with the mineral bentonite leaked from the hole that Sunoco Pipeline L.P. was boring underneath the lake in May 2017. It bled into the aquifer that their 95-foot-deep well had tapped into for decades. The crystal-clear water turned cloudy gray with little white blobs floating around. “Within a short time, it went to hell,” Alice Mioduski said. Before that, their water was “the nectar of the gods. We never ran out of water.” Now, they have a 1,500-gallon plastic tank in their backyard that provides water for showering and washing clothes — when it doesn’t freeze in the winter — paid for by Sunoco. A filtration system inside the house provides water for drinking and cooking. Read More.

California pipeline deal may keep oil pumping for 20 years, despite disastrous spill

October 10, 2021 – Salon

A little more than a year before an underwater pipeline leaked 144,480 gallons of crude oil, tarring Southern California beaches and killing fish and wildlife, the city of Long Beach signed a lease with Houston-based Amplify Energy that could extend the pipeline’s life through 2040, according to government records. A subsidiary of Amplify, the oil company responsible for the leak, is paying the city $84,449.83 a year for 37,430 square feet of property, according to a lease agreement signed on June 17, 2020. Since 1979, offshore oil drillers have leased an area now known as the Beta Pump Station from the city of Long Beach. The pump station is located at the Port of Long Beach’s southeast basin, where there are also active oil wells. Read More.

‘Ground Zero for Pollution:’ In This L.A. Neighborhood Surrounded by Oil Refineries, Residents Grapple With Health Issues

October 9, 2021 – CNBC

Stepping out of a coffee shop near Interstate 110 in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles, you’re immediately hit by a foul odor. Magali Sanchez-Hall, 51, who’s lived here for more than two decades, is used to the smell of rotting eggs wafting from the hundreds of oil wells operating in the neighborhood. She’s used to her neighbors describing chronic coughs, skin rashes and cancer diagnoses, and to the asthma that affects her own family, who live only 1,500 feet from a refinery. “When people are getting sick with cancer or having asthma, they might think it’s normal or blame genetics,” she said. “We don’t often look at the environment we’re in and think — the chemicals we’re breathing are the cause.” Read More.

Western States Petroleum Association launches lawsuit against ‘defacto moratorium’ on fracking in CA

October 8, 2021 – Daily Kos

As a massive oil spill kills fish and birds off the Orange County coast, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in California, today launched a lawsuit against what it called a “a defacto moratorium” on well stimulation (fracking) permits in California by the Gavin Newsom Administration. Under intense pressure from environmental justice advocates that have pushed for a ban on fracking for the last 10 years, the Newsom administration this year began to deny fracking permits while continuing to issue hundreds of other oil production well permits employing other methods of extraction. Fracking only amounts to 2 percent of oil production in California, according to the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency, CalGEM. The agency has approved 12 fracking permits to date, compared with 48 fracking permits last year to date, a 75 percent decrease from 2020, according to the Newsomwellwatch.com website operated by Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance. Read More.

Before oil spill, Long Beach approved 20-year pipeline pump station lease

October 7, 2021 – Daily Press

A little more than a year before an underwater pipeline leaked 144,480 gallons of crude oil, tarring Southern California beaches and killing fish and wildlife, the city of Long Beach signed a lease with Houston-based Amplify Energy that could extend the pipeline’s life through 2040, according to government records. A subsidiary of Amplify, the oil company responsible for the leak, is paying the city $84,449.83 a year for 37,430 square feet of property, according to a lease agreement signed on June 17, 2020. Since 1979, offshore oil drillers have leased an area now known as the Beta Pump Station from the city of Long Beach. The pump station is located at the Port of Long Beach’s southeast basin, where there are also active oil wells. Read More.

Should oil and gas companies be exempt from Pennsylvania’s hazardous waste laws?

October 7, 2021 – Environmental Health News

In the wake of growing concerns over the oil and gas industry’s handling of radioactive waste, activists and policymakers are working to change laws that exempt the industry from safety regulations. For decades, national environmental organizations have tried unsuccessfully to close federal loopholes that exempt the oil and gas industry’s radioactive waste—which has been linked to elevated cancer rates—from regulation. Industry and government reports indicate that these exemptions persist because the cost of treating the waste as hazardous would be tremendous. Meanwhile, other industries that generate radioactive waste—like nuclear energy, research, and pharmaceutical industries—are meticulously regulated by multiple federal agencies. Read More.

Related: How joining a climate program could save Western Pennsylvania kids’ lives and lungs

“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) doesn’t get involved unless you’re operating under an NRC license,” Flyer explained. “The oil and gas industry isn’t generating radioactive materials for commercial use or disposing of [waste] regulated under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which would require an NRC license, even though their operations pick up naturally occurring radioactive materials—it’s just incidental to their operations.”

CA Dangerously Close To Approving 10,000 Oil Drilling Permits since Newsom Assumed Office; Groups Demand Gov. Deliver On Putting Oil Drilling Into Rear View Mirror

October 6, 2021 – PR Newswire

Governor Newsom’s oil regulators have approved 9,728 oil drilling permits since he assumed office in 2019, according to a new analysis of permits approved through October 1, 2021and posted at www.NewsomWellWatch.org by Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance. The groups said Newsom should immediately cease approval of more oil permits to avoid hitting the 10,000 mark. As of October 1, 2021, there have been a total of 150 reported permits issued for offshore wells since January 1, 2019. Five of these permits were for new drilling and the remaining 145 for reworks (including sidetracks and deepening operations). Half of the total were issued for idle wells that should be plugged and properly abandoned to reduce the risk of blowouts, leaks, and other accidents. Over the first three quarters of 2021 there have been 17 offshore permits issued. Read More.

CA Oil Permit Approvals Close to 10,000 Since 2019 As Oil Spill Fouls SoCal Beaches

October 6, 2021 – Daily Kos

Governor Newsom’s oil regulators have approved 9,728 oil drilling permits since he assumed office in 2019, according to a new analysis of permits approved through October 1, 2021 and posted at www.NewsomWellWatch.org by Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance.  The groups said Newsom should immediately cease approval of more oil permits to avoid hitting the 10,000 mark. As of October 1, 2021, there have been a total of 150 reported permits issued for offshore wells since January 1, 2019. Five of these permits were for new drilling and the remaining 145 for reworks (including sidetracks and deepening operations).  Half of the total were issued for idle wells that should be plugged and properly abandoned to reduce the risk of blowouts, leaks, and other accidents. Over the first three quarters of 2021 there have been 17 offshore permits issued. Read More.

Newsom assails ‘those damn platforms’ in new fight against oil drilling

October 5, 2021 – Politico

California Democrats are seizing on a massive oil spill that has sullied popular beaches in Orange County and killed sea life to pursue long-sought bans on offshore drilling. They’re seeking action in both Washington and Sacramento, where lawmakers are pushing to unilaterally prohibit drilling-related activities in waters off the California coast. The 144,000-gallon slick has newly galvanized California lawmakers and environmental groups, who have struggled to convince leaders even in this blue state to restrict oil production in recent years. Newsom on Tuesday excoriated fossil fuels’ contribution to climate change and got in a dig at former President Donald Trump before throwing his support behind a congressional effort to ban new offshore drilling on the West Coast. Read More.

Why do we still have offshore oil wells? How do they work?

October 5, 2021 – Los Angeles Times

The oil spill that’s fouling Southern California beaches has many Californians wondering why the state still has offshore oil wells more than 50 years after the state declared an end to new drilling, and more than 35 years after the federal government stopped issuing new leases. The reason is that once a lease is issued and permits are granted, they remain in use until they are revoked or a well is no longer generating profits. And the decades-old wells continue to produce, contributing thousands of barrels of crude oil each day to the U.S. output. Here are the answers to some basic questions about offshore wells and the role they play in the larger energy picture. The simple answer is that there’s oil. Although sizable reserves remain on land, Alexei Milkov, a professor of geology and geological engineering at the Colorado School of Mines, said people have been searching onshore for oil fields for 150 years, “so any large accumulations onshore have been found and exploited.” Offshore, there’s still the chance to find big new fields. Hence the interest in offshore development. Read More.

CALIFORNIA OIL SPILL FUELS DEMOCRATS’ CALLS TO LIMIT PRODUCTION

October 5, 2021 – Huffman.house.gov

The massive oil spill spreading across the Orange County shoreline is already reaching Sacramento. The 144,000-gallon slick, coming weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom handily fended off a recall attempt by Republicans, has galvanized progressive California lawmakers and environmental groups around a renewed push to limit petroleum production. Newsom on Tuesday excoriated fossil fuels’ contribution to climate change and got in a dig at former President Donald Trump before throwing his support behind a congressional effort to ban new offshore drilling on the West Coast. “Those damn platforms, fossil fuels. It’s not very complicated. We need to grow up, grow out of this dependency and this mindset, this mindset that we can’t do more and do better,” he said at a press conference in Huntington Beach. “I want the Trump administration folks, all those folks out there, all those Republicans out there who still think the answer to the problem is more offshore drilling to just know: Not in our backyard. It won’t happen.” Congressional Democrats are also looking to the spill to press their advantage. Read More.

Gavin Newsom Slammed for Issuing 138 Oil Permits as California Cleanup Continues

October 5, 2021 – Newsweek

Energy industry watchdogs have called on California governor Gavin Newsom to stop issuing oil permits in state waters, as the cleanup from a spill in the south of the state continues. Local wildlife habitats and beaches have been hit hard by the estimated 100,000-gallon oil leak about five miles off Huntington Beach in Orange County. The cause of the leak reported on Saturday is not yet known and oil removal efforts have continued apace following the spill to an estimated 3,000 barrels, CNN reported. Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Orange County and said in a statement on Monday that his state would “mobilize all available resources to protect public health and the environment.” Read More.

End oil drilling permits? + Equality California union breakthrough + Group seeks Newsom vetoes

October 4, 2021 – The Sacramento Bee

After an oil pipeline spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean in federal waters off the coast of Orange County this weekend, the group Consumer Watchdog is re-upping its call for Gov. Gavin Newsom to cease issuing both offshore and onshore oil drilling permits. “This current spill makes it clear like never before that there is no such thing as safe proximity to oil drilling,” said Consumer Watchdog’s Liza Tucker in a statement. “Governor Newsom must stop issuing both offshore and onshore permits immediately and set a barrier of 2,500 feet between vulnerable communities and oil operations if his own oil and gas supervisor won’t.” The group points out that since taking office, Newsom has dispensed 138 oil permits for operations in state waters, including five new drilling permits and 133 permits to perform work on existing offshore wells. Read More.

Nobody could have been surprised by this spill. Now here’s what has to happen

October 4, 2021 – Los Angeles Times

The people who devote themselves to protecting the California coast have been saying it for years: It’s virtually impossible to prevent an oil spill like the massive crude slick that is now fouling beaches and marine habitats along the Orange County coast. “There is no way to assuredly prevent human error or mechanical failure,” Richard Charter, senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation, told me in 2018 when the Trump administration was angling to open six regions off the California coast to drilling. In the Orange County spill, one theory is that a ship anchor clawed and maybe dragged a pipeline, but if so, that’s just one more example of what can go wrong in the process of extracting oil from the ocean. Read More.

Newsom Administration issued 138 offshore well permits in CA waters prior to big oil spill!

October 4, 2021 – Daily Kos

As birds, fish and other wildlife die from the 126,000 gallons of crude oil unleashed by the devastating oil spill off Huntington Beach, the oil and gas regulatory agency under Governor Gavin Newsom has issued 138 oil permits for operations in state waters since he assumed office, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance revealed today. And while “marine protected areas” created under the leadership of a Big Oil lobbyist are currently threatened by the massive oil spill, the two groups said the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) is 278 days late in delivering Newsom a rule setting a barrier between oil operations and vulnerable communities. Read More.

Alan Lowenthal, other local elected leaders renew calls for ban of offshore drilling

October 4, 2021 – Long Beach Post

Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, who chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, called for a “multi-agency Biden administration investigation” into the oil spill in Huntington Beach. Lowenthal is planning to hold a hearing about the leak and the mop-up effort. “It is absolutely critical that we determine the cause of this spill and determine what steps Congress can take to prevent such spills in the future,” Lowenthal said in a statement. “For far too long, the offshore drilling industry has hidden behind adhering to the bare minimum of safety measures—prioritizing profits over safety, public health and environmental protection. This has to end.” Read More.

Governor Newsom Must End Oil Permits In State Waters And Order 2,500-Foot Barrier Between Communities And Oil Drilling, Consumer Watchdog And FracTracker Alliance Say

October 4, 2021 – PR Newswire

While an oil spill in federal waters damages Southern California beaches, wildlife and habitat, oil regulators under Gov. Gavin Newsom have issued 138 oil permits for operations in state waters since he assumed office and are 278 days late in delivering Newsom a rule setting a barrier between oil operations and vulnerable communities, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance said today. “This current spill makes it clear like never before that there is no such thing as safe proximity to oil drilling,” said consumer advocate Liza Tucker. “Governor Newsom must stop issuing both offshore and onshore permits immediately and set a barrier of 2,500 feet between vulnerable communities and oil operations if his own oil and gas supervisor won’t.” California banned the dispensing of new oil drilling leases in state waters up to two miles from shore in 1969 after the devastating Santa Barbara oil spill. But new drilling and other work on wells in existing leases in state waters was never banned. Though advocates urged Jerry Brown to halt this practice, he never did. Neither has Newsom. Read More.

Another Major Oil Spill Hits the Southern California Coast

October 4, 2021 – CounterPunch

It was only inevitable that another oil massive spill would hit the California coast, as offshore oil drilling continues off Southern California and Big Oil continues to capture the Governor’s Office, Legislature and state regulatory agencies and commissions. The inevitable happened Saturday when a major oil spill off the Orange County coast reportedly dumped at least 126,000 gallons of oil into coastal waters and local wetlands. The source of the 13-square mile spill was apparently from a leak from a pipeline connected to Platform Elly, located five miles off the Huntington Beach and just over 7 miles off Long Beach. The offshore rig is one of three operated off the coast by Beta Offshore, a Long Beach, California-based unit of Houston-based Amplify Energy Corporation. Royal Dutch Shell PLC installed the platforms in 1980. Read More.

Huntington Beach Oil Spill: Local Elected Leaders Renew Calls For Ban Of Offshore Drilling

October 4, 2021 – CBS Los Angeles

Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, ramped up his calls Monday to ban offshore drilling in light of the oil spill in Huntington Beach. “Obviously, I’m quite concerned for my constituents and beaches,” Levin said. “My belief is we need to end all offshore drilling and phase out existing offshore drilling.” Levin has introduced legislation to do just that, and similar language is included in the Biden administration’s Build Back Better infrastructure bill. “On page 984 is our language that would ban new drilling off the California coast and other parts of the country as well,” Levin said. Levin recalled meeting with former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on the issue during the Trump administration. Read More.

The US falls behind most of the world in plastic pollution legislation

October 4, 2021 – Environmental Health News

In recent years, countries across the globe have implemented laws to mitigate plastic production and pollution. In the past two years, both large developed nations like Australia and smaller developing countries like Sri Lanka and Belize have passed ambitious national laws to phase out a number of plastic products like bags, cutlery, and straws. But the U.S., a leading producer and consumer of plastics, remains woefully behind, even as it stands as one of the world’s biggest polluters. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the country produced 35.7 million tons of plastic waste in 2018, more than 90% of which was either landfilled or burned. The U.S. ranks second in the world in total plastic waste generated per year, behind only China — though when measured per capita, the U.S. outpaces China. Read More.

Another Major Oil Spill Hits the Southern California Coast!

October 3, 2021 – Daily Kos

It was only inevitable that another oil massive spill would hit the California coast, as offshore oil drilling continues off Southern California and Big Oil continues to capture the Governor’s Office, Legislature and state regulatory agencies and commissions. The inevitable happened Saturday when a major oil spill off the Orange County coast reportedly dumped at least 126,000 gallons of oil into coastal waters and local wetlands. The source of the 13-square mile spill was apparently from a leak from a pipeline connected to Platform Elly, located five miles off the Huntington Beach and just over 7 miles off Long Beach. The offshore rig is one of three operated off the coast by Beta Offshore, a Long Beach, California-based unit of Houston-based Amplify Energy Corporation. Royal Dutch Shell PLC installed the platforms in 1980. Read More.

Santa Barbara Co. Planning Commission rejects ExxonMobil’s hazardous oil trucking proposal

September 30, 2021 – Daily Kos

In a victory for community and conservation groups, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission on September 29 voted to deny ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks along a hazardous California highway so it can restart three drilling platforms off the Santa Barbara Coast that have been shut down since the Refugio Oil Spill of 2015. “The 3-2 initial vote came unexpectedly Wednesday, during the first of two days of scheduled public hearings on the project, and is expected to be followed Nov. 3 with a formal vote and findings recommending the Board of Supervisors deny the project,” according to a press release from a coalition of groups. Read More.

Company planning a second shale wastewater injection well in Plum

September 27, 2021 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With Allegheny County’s first oil and gas waste injection well less than a year old, the Delmont-based company behind it has already filed for a permit for another one in Plum Borough. Penneco Environmental Solutions has asked federal regulators to convert another oil and gas well on the same property into an injection well to store the briny brew that comes out of oil and gas wells. The operating well, called Sedat 3A, was converted in the same way. The well pad that holds it has three other old oil wells on it. Read More.

Advocates Say Governor’s $15 Billion Climate Package Fails to Deliver Action on Fossil Fuels

September 23, 2021 – Daily Kos

Against a backdrop of trees at the site of the KNP Complex Fire in Sequoia National Park as wildfires rage across California, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the California Comeback Plan’s $15 billion climate package — the largest of its kind in the country. Although climate justice and environmental advocates described the package as “impressive,” Food and Water Watch said the package lacks the “ultimate fire prevention method”: halting new permits for the drilling of oil and gas in California. The Governor signed legislation outlining investments in the package to “build wildfire and forest resilience, support immediate drought response and long-term water resilience and directly protect communities across the state from multi-faceted climate risks, including extreme heat and sea level rise.” Read More.

Sand Control Solutions Insights by Leading Companies, Future Growth, Revenue and Demand Forecast to 2025

September 22, 2021 – MarketWatch

The sand control solutions market is projected to reach USD 3.2 billion by 2025 from an estimated USD 2.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period. The continuous development from unconventional reservoirs and efforts to increase reserve to production ratio from the wells are the key factors driving the growth of the sand control solutions market. Likewise, the increasing offshore exploration & production as well as subsea activities are expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the sand control solutions market during the forecast period.However, fluctuating crude oil prices, and challenging operations in high-pressure high temperature well hinder the growth of the market. Read More.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Approves Motions to Phase Out Oil and Gas Drilling

September 16, 2021 – Daily Kos

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved two companion motions that will put Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the nation, on a path to ban existing oil drilling and transition fossil fuel workers to careers in clean energy and other climate-friendly industries. There are approximately 1,600 active and idle oil wells within unincorporated communities of LA County. Over half of those wells are within the 1,000 acre Inglewood Oil Field, the largest urban oil field in the nation, located in Los Angeles County’s Second Supervisorial District. Sentinel Peak Resources, a Denver based Quantum Energy Partners portfolio company, owns and operates the oil field. Read More.

Two years ago, Andrew Weaver revealed he ripped up Liberal party membership; today, he’s a Trudeau supporter

September 15, 2021 – The Georgia Straight

This week, former B.C. Green leader Andrew Weaver was in Richmond with Justin Trudeau touting the Liberal climate plan. The UVic professor called it “bold and thoughtful.” “This is the plan that I’ve been dreaming of for most of my life,” Weaver declared with Liberal candidate Joyce Murray standing behind him. Murray, who’s seeking reelection in Vancouver Quadra, focused on climate emissions when she sought her master’s degree in the early 1990s. She’s running against one of the Green party’s climate scientists, Devyani Singh, who’s doing postdoctoral work focusing on methane emissions. It’s a remarkable political turnaround for Weaver. In 2019, he expressed exasperation to the Straight about the federal Liberals’ inaction on the climate. In fact, he confessed at the time that he quit the party because of Trudeau’s handing of this issue. Read More.

GUEST APPEARANCE: Protecting our air, water: We’re all in it together

August 28, 2021 – Finger Lakes Times

Several local publications recently printed another public relations statement by Greenidge Generation. The bitcoin mining operator along the western shore of Seneca Lake in Dresden is trying hard to convince the community that its business model is a net benefit for the region — that is, burning massive amounts of fossil fuels and discharging oceans of heated water into Seneca Lake to ultimately power banks of computers to produce bitcoin. The company says that the carbon offsets it has purchased make it the “first fully carbon-neutral bitcoin mining operation of its kind in the United States.” What Greenidge won’t mention, is that under New York state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, stationary electric sources like power plants cannot avail themselves of offsets; they are not a substitute under state law in moving us to a cleaner, carbon-neutral future. Read More.

Advocates tell DOE that the cost of Appalachian petrochemicals too great

August 24, 2021 – Pittsburgh Business Times

Environmental advocates made their case for environmental justice and the health and economic impacts of ethane and petrochemical development in Appalachia during a public hearing Tuesday convened by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. DOE has been tasked by the U.S. Congress to produce a report on the potential value of Appalachia-produced ethane, a byproduct of natural gas, production and use in industry domestically as well as its transport internationally for manufacturing. DOE convened Tuesday’s session to get advocates’ and residents’ opinions about the development in a report that will be published by the end of the year. Read More.

Residents in a densely-populated Pittsburgh suburb are demanding public hearings on two proposed fracking wells

August 19, 2021 – Daily Climate

Residents in two Pittsburgh suburbs are demanding public hearings on a proposal to drill two new fracking wells within a mile of an elementary school. The wells, proposed by Apex Energy, would be within one mile of Level Green Elementary School and within two miles of 12,733 residents in Penn Township and Trafford Borough (about 17 miles east of Pittsburgh). The wells would be near several environmental justice communities, which are defined as, which is defined in Pennsylvania as any census tract where 20% or more of the population lives at or below the federal poverty line, and/or 30% or more of the population identifies as non-white. Environmental justice communities often face disproportionately high levels of pollution and negative health impacts caused by the overlapping effects of poverty, racism, and pollution. Read More.

California denies 42 new fracking permits, but approves 1,019 oil and gas permits in 2021

August 8, 2021 – Daily Kos

Less than a month after denying all of Aera Energy’s 21 applications for fracking permits, the Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) denied 42 of California Resources Production Corporation’s applications for fracking operations that the company submitted for review in 2019 and 2020. These wells are located in the Elk Hills, Jerry Slough, Kettleman North Dome, and North Shafter fields in Kern County, the center of oil production in California. The corporation, the largest oil-producing company in California, was formed in April 2014 as a corporate spin-off of Occidental Petroleum. In July 2020, the company filed bankruptcy with $5 billion in debt. It emerged from bankruptcy in October 2020. Food and Water Watch and other advocates noted that the agency cited missing application materials for the denial, making no mention of risks to public health and safety, environmental quality and climate change cited in the previous fracking permit denials for Aera Energy. Read More.

REPORT: The Oil and Gas Leasing Pause Has Minimal Impact

August 5, 2021 – Natural Resources Defense Council

In a newly released report—commissioned by NRDC in partnership with the Center for Western Priorities and eight other groups—the Conservation Economics Institute (CEI) finds that the temporary moratorium on leasing public lands for oil and gas development has negligible economic effects and that oil industry claims of doom was nothing but hyperbole. On January 27, 2021, President Biden issued a sweeping executive order aimed at reinvigorating the United States’ response to the climate crisis. As part of that order, the administration suspended federal oil and gas leasing on public lands and ocean waters temporarily, pending a Department of the Interior (DOI) review of the onshore and offshore federal oil and gas programs. That review process kicked off with a public forum on March 25, 2021, where representatives from Indigenous tribes to industry to front line community members presented their perspectives on the oil and gas programs. Read More.

Rekha Basu: Jessica Reznicek is no terrorist. But the longtime activist is going to serve time as one

August 3, 2021 – Star Tribune

On Aug. 11, 39-year-old Jessica Reznicek will report to a federal women’s prison in Waseca, Minnesota, to begin an eight-year sentence for damaging pieces of machinery involved in construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. She was indicted in September 2019 on nine federal charges related to her 2016 pipeline vandalism — or civil disobedience, as she prefers — pleading guilty eventually to one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility. She did it, as she told the court, because she feared oil would leak from the pipeline and further contaminate Iowa’s drinking water. She was sentenced in June, four years after she and fellow climate activist Ruby Montoya publicly announced what they had done. (Montoya has also taken a plea but has yet to be sentenced.) After her release, Reznicek will live under federal supervision for three years. She and Montoya also have been ordered to make $3.2 million in restitution to pipeline owners Energy Transfer LLC. Read More.

Radioactive, for 1,600 years

August 1, 2021 – Sandusky Register

It might be that it’s just not something people want to think about. But the fact is radioactive waste from fracking getting shipped to loosely regulated landfills in Ohio has the potential to poison the environment for 1,600 years. Despite efforts from environmental organizations to educate the public about the radioactive risks created by the boom in shale gas fracking since the early 2000s, or documentaries from Public Herald like “Triple Divide” (2013), “Triple Divide (Redacted) (2017),” and “INVISIBLE HAND” (2020) that covered radioactive waste, some Ohioans remain unaware that it is piling up, in many cases, in their own backyards. Sil Caggiano, senior battalion chief for the Youngstown Fire Department, blames the lack of awareness on the state’s protection of the industry. “It’s the third rail of politics here in Ohio,” Caggiano said. “You don’t screw with the fracking.” Caggiano contends his fellow first responders and civilians are not being given the knowledge owed to them by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, also known as SARA Title III. The act requires that states “organize, analyze and disseminate information on hazardous chemicals to local governments and the public.” Read More.

EPA Approval of PFAS for Fracking May Spell a New Health Crisis for Communities

July 30, 2021 – Truthout

For over a month, noxious wastewater has been leaching across the ground on Ashley Watt’s family ranch in the Permian Basin in West Texas where she lives and raises cattle. It started in mid-June, when a well Chevron Corps drilled in the 1960s (and plugged with cement in the 1990s before abandoning it) burst open. The well spewed what Watt described on Twitter as “super concentrated brine and benzene” into her water supply, the Pecos River Basin alluvial aquifer. After a month on site, according to Watt, Chevron plugged the well on July 16, but it failed a pressure test and continued bubbling brine at the surface again just over an hour later. Two calves and four cows have died, as Bloomberg News reported, and the well continues to spray onto the sandy land, where the water table is just over 50 feet below ground. “Anything poured on the surface will be in the water table shortly,” Watt wrote. “This is a desert, and without clean water there is no ranch nor home.” Read More.

CA Permit Approvals For New Well Drills Are Down 64% For The First Six Months; Consumer Watchdog Urges Governor To Seize Golden Opportunity To Move From Fossil Fuels

July 26, 2021 – Yahoo! Finance

Permit approvals to drill or rework new oil wells fell by 64% in the first six months of 2021 over the same period last year, giving Governor Newsom an excellent opening to more decisively transition off of fossil fuels, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance said today. The number of permit applications filed by oil and gas companies also fell by 52%. The overall number of oil and gas permits approved under Newsom now totals 9,014 since he took office in January 2019, according to NewsomWellWatch.com, which is run by the groups and maps all California oil wells, with just 1,019 permits approved, by comparison, in the first six months of 2021. Read More.

Rekha Basu: Jessica Reznicek is no terrorist. But the longtime activist is going to serve time as one.

July 22, 2021 – The Hawk Eye

On Aug. 11, 39-year-old Jessica Reznicek will report to a federal women’s prison in Waseca, Minnesota, to begin an eight-year sentence for damaging pieces of machinery involved in construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. She was indicted in September 2019 on nine federal charges related to her 2016 pipeline vandalism — or civil disobedience, as she prefers — pleading guilty eventually to one count of conspiracy to damage an energy facility. She did it, as she told the court, because she feared oil would leak from the pipeline and further contaminate Iowa’s drinking water. She was sentenced last month, four years after she and fellow climate activist Ruby Montoya publicly announced what they had done. (Montoya has also taken a plea but has yet to be sentenced.) After her release, Reznicek will live under federal supervision for three years. She and Montoya also have been ordered to make $3.2 million in restitution to pipeline owners Energy Transfer LLC. Read More.

Radioactive Material in the Oil and Gas Industry

July 21, 2021 – National Resources Defense Council

Oil and gas extraction activities, including fracking, drilling, and production, can release radioactive materials that endanger workers, nearby communities, and the environment. Radioactive elements are naturally present in many soils and rock formations, as well as in the water that flows through them. Oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) activities can expose significant quantities of these radioactive materials to the environment. Read More.

The Truth About RuPaul’s Relationship With His Husband

July 16, 2021 – The List

If there is one person who dominates the world stage, it’s RuPaul. Not only does the queen of drag need only one name to be identified, but Mama Ru has defined the artistry that is drag in a groundbreaking way. To use his words, “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.” If one thing is clear, it’s that RuPaul has excelled in a way that many of us only dream of. To be synonymous with an entire industry is a feat that few of us dare to achieve, but RuPaul is a living legend with a pretty massive net worth. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has made Mama Ru a household name — he has, without question, expanded and redefined the boundaries of drag and has pushed the artistic form into the mainstream.  Read More.

Whistleblowers say ‘bad seeds’ undermine pipeline safety

July 15, 2021 – E&E News

Two former pipeline inspectors say they were fired for reporting hazards on a volatile liquids pipeline to Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s massive new petrochemical plant northwest of Pittsburgh. The inspectors, Frank Chamberlin and Susan D’Layne Carite, said they warned Shell managers and even federal regulators in 2019 that the anti-corrosion coating was defective on the company’s Falcon pipeline. That could increase the threat of corrosion, a leading cause of pipeline ruptures. A representative of the coating manufacturer told Chamberlin the protective layer was “unacceptable,” and another person on the project told him it peeled from the pipe during installation. Rather than fixing the problem, he says, Shell ordered them off the project and the contractor fired the two inspectors, who live together in a rural part of upstate New York. The couple’s allegations are contained in their whistleblower complaint they filed with the Labor Department. Read More.

Heart Attack Risk Tied to Drilling/Fracking Operations

July 11, 2021 – Frack Check WV

Doctors have criticized fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a drilling method used to extract natural gas or oil from the earth, for contributing to health issues like asthma, birth defects, and even cancer. Now, a new study is linking the practice to heart attacks. Researchers reviewed data from 2005 to 2015 on unconventional natural gas development and acute myocardial infarction — a heart attack — in counties in New York, where fracking is banned, and Pennsylvania, where it is not. The researchers found that heart attack rates were higher in Pennsylvania residents. Areas with higher fracking activity were associated with 1.4% to 2.8% increases in heart attack hospitalizations, varying a bit per age group and per level of fracking activity. Read More.

CA oil industry has used 1.8 billion gallons of freshwater for drilling operations since Fall 2018

July 7, 2021 – Daily Kos

In a new report, Food and Water Research reveals that since Governor Newsom was elected, from Fall 2018 to June 2021, the oil and gas industry used 1,804,566,792 gallons of freshwater, nearly 2 billion gallons, for drilling operations that could otherwise have supplied domestic systems. For a comparison of what that looks like, the nearly 2 billion gallons of water used to drill oil and gas wells in the state would fill about 2,732 Olympic-sized pools or supply local California households with over 72 million showers, according to the report. It also exceeds the amount of water that Californians are recommended to use on a daily, per capita basis during drought, 55 gallons/day. Read More.

Pipeline & Process Services Market Worth USD 4.90 Billion at 5.4% by 2028 Backed by Presence of a Large Number of Oil & Gas Fields in North America

July 7, 2021 – Yahoo! Finance

The global pipeline & process services market size is expected to gain momentum by reaching USD 4.90 billion by 2028. Fortune Business Insights, in its report titled “Pipeline & Process Services Market, 2021-2028.”, mentions that the market stood at USD 3.30 billion in 2020 and is likely to exhibit a CAGR of 5.4% between 2021 and 2028. This is attributable to the rising oil & gas trade activities and the presence of stringent regulations regarding oil & gas pipelines globally. In May 2021, Saudi Arabia reported a 428% surge in overall factory investments. It is termed to be a 27.92% year-on-year growth. The country aims to develop several industries such as petrochemicals, oil & gas, chemicals, mining, and others. Read More.

Newsletter: How many abandoned oil wells threaten your favorite national park?

July 1, 2021 – Los Angeles Times

June has barely come to an end, and parts of California and the West are already suffering through unprecedented heat, punishing drought and rapidly spreading wildfire — a harrowing preview of life on a planet that is only getting more chaotic. In Vancouver, police responded to 65 sudden deaths over four days as temperatures soared. A town even farther north obliterated Canada’s all-time temperature record with a 121-degree reading, which also would have shattered the record high in Las Vegas. Portland broke its heat record three days in a row, ultimately reaching 116 degrees. In Seattle, where fewer than half of homes have air conditioning, the mercury hit 108 degrees, also an all-time high. There are at least 80 deaths being reported as potentially heat-related in the Pacific Northwest, and I’d be stunned if that number didn’t grow. Pay close attention to Spokane, in eastern Washington, where thousands of people lost power as the heat forced an electric utility to implement rolling blackouts. Read More.

US national parks plagued by 31,000 abandoned oil and gas wells leaking potent greenhouse gas methane

June 25, 2021 – Independent

America’s national parks are plagued by tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells, according to new analysis. These orphaned wells, for which the owners have long since vanished or are now insolvent, spew super-potent greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere, along with leaking brine into the groundwater at parks and nearby communities. Dealing with abandoned wells and mines, some which have been unattended for decades, gets support from both Republicans and Democrats along with environmentalists and some industry bodies. Methane is powerful but short-lived compared to fellow planet-heating carbon dioxide, the former lasting about a dozen years while CO2 hangs around for centuries. But in its relatively brief life span, methane traps dozens of times the heat of CO2. Tackling its release is crucial in battling the climate crisis. Read More.

Ohio EPA Extends Air Permit for Proposed PTT Global Cracker Plant

June 23, 2021 – The Intelligencer and Wheeling News Register

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency extended a permit that is necessary for PTT Global Chemical America to move ahead with plans to build an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County. The air pollution permit-to-install, which was granted more than two years ago, initially was set to expire Tuesday; however, PTTGCA sought and received an extension that makes the permit valid through Feb. 24, 2022. PTTGCA filed for the extension on Feb. 19 of this year and received a letter dated Feb. 23 granting approval. The document explains that the extension is due, in part, to the fact that issuance of the permit was appealed. Read More.

G7 LEADERS: STOP PUSHING ALL FOSSIL FUELS & INVEST IN THE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION

June 9, 2021 – The Council of Canadians

Joint Letter
As governments gather for the G7 Summit to discuss how to build a “strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive recovery,” it is critical that G7 governments put “global ambitions on climate change and the reversal of biodiversity loss at the centre” of their plans1 and stop financing fossil fuels. We are at a pivotal moment in the climate emergency. The devastating local, regional, and global impacts of climate change are already disproportionately affecting frontline communities, Indigenous people, women, youth, social movements, workers, unions, urban movements, and farmers in the global South. The longer action is delayed, the harder it will be to avoid the worst climate impacts and ensure a just transition for workers, communities, and countries. At the same time, the economic and health impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, combined with the increasing impacts of climate change, have created devastating situations for countries in the global South. Read More.

PA needs protective buffers from fracked gas development | PennLive letters

June 4, 2021 – PennLive

Shale gas and petrochemical infrastructure has been harming Pennsylvania residents for years. These industrial projects are being built far too close to where people live, work, and gather. Fracked gas is extracted next to schools and homes. Human health suffers. Natural resources are threatened. Air pollution flows from shale gas wells and related facilities (e.g. compressor stations, processing plants, etc.), causing adverse health effects, especially in vulnerable populations like children and the elderly. Fracking chemicals are showing up in blood samples from children living in shale gas regions. Rare cancer clusters have surfaced in fracked areas. Study after study shows an increased risk of negative health outcomes with increased proximity to oil and gas development, most notably when it’s within a half mile. Read More.

Spills are threat to surface water in Ohio

June 4, 2021 – The Bargain Hunter

Once again Ohio’s politicians are promoting another set of bills that will harm the health of the residents of the state and contribute to long-term contamination of the environment. HB 282 and SB 171 “would enact section 1509.228 of the Ohio Revised Code to establish conditions and requirements for the sale of brine from oil and gas operations as a commodity and to exempt that commodity from requirements otherwise applicable for brine.” The main benefactors of this legislation would be the owner of the company that sells AquaSalina, a substance made from waste brine, and the oil and gas industry that generates millions of gallons of toxic brine that will be used to make a deicer or a substance to control road dust. Read More.

Truth To Power | Erica Jackson | Fractracker Alliance | May 21, 2021

May 21, 2021 – Foward Radio on SoundCloud

On today’s episode of Truth To Power, we talk with Erica Jackson of Fractracker Alliance.

Erica leads FracTracker Alliance’s outreach efforts and supports the mapping and data needs of communities impacted by oil and gas development. Utilizing FracTracker’s online platforms, outreach programs, and mapping and data expertise, Erica engages the public in fracking issues and provides resources to support local organizations and campaigns. Her work – in partnership with local allies – focuses on the Ohio River corridor and other regions confronted by fossil fuel harms. Listen here.

Report: CA legislators responsible for SB 467’s defeat received $288,607 from fossil fuel interests

May 20, 2021 – Daily Kos

On April 27, Amy Moas of Greenpeace began a series of pieces profiling some of the many ways that the fossil fuel industry exerts pressure across California’s government with a well-written and well-researched piece, “California’s Fossil Fuel Friendships – Part 1. Votes for Polluters over People.” … In her first piece, she reported on the 4 lawmakers holding up crucial health protections for more than 2 million Californians living near drilling, focusing on two bills —  AB 345 in 2020 and SB467 in 2021- that would have required health and safety setbacks around oil and gas wells for the first time. Read More.

Living Near Fracking Wells Is Linked to Higher Rate of Heart Attacks, Study Finds

May 12, 2021 – Ecowatch

Living among fracking wells is linked to higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths due to heart attacks, according to a new study. The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Research, compared heart attack rates in Pennsylvania counties with fracking to demographically similar counties in New York where fracking is banned. “There’s a large body of literature linking air pollution with poor cardiovascular health and heart attacks, but this is really the first study to look at this from a population level related to fracking,” Elaine Hill, a researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center and one of the study’s co-authors, told EHN. Read More.

California to ban new fracking permits by Jan. 2024, phase out oil extraction by 2045

May 12, 2021 – IndyBay

On April 23, Governor Gavin Newsom took action to ban new fracking permits by January 2024 and to phase out oil extraction in California by 2045. The Governor directed the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division to “initiate regulatory action to end the issuance of new permits for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) by January 2024.” In addition, Governor Newsom requested that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) “analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction across the state by no later than 2045,” according to a press release from the Governor’s Office. His latest directive contradicts the Governor’s previous claim that he didn’t have the executive authority to ban fracking — and that it was the Legislature’s role to do it. Read More.

Study: Fracking Leads to Higher Heart Attack Risks

May 12, 2021 – Verywell Health

Doctors have criticized fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a drilling method used to extract natural gas or oil from the earth, for contributing to health issues like asthma, birth defects, and even cancer.1 Now, a new study is linking the practice to heart attacks. Researchers reviewed data from 2005 to 2015 on unconventional natural gas development and acute myocardial infarction—a heart attack—in counties in New York, where fracking is banned, and Pennsylvania, where it is not. The researchers found that heart attack rates were higher in Pennsylvania residents. Areas with higher fracking activity were associated with 1.4% to 2.8% increases in heart attack hospitalizations, varying a bit per age group and per level of fracking activity. Read More.

Thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells in Ohio can be hidden. Drones Could Help Find Them – Energy News Network

May 10, 2021 – OLT News

After successful trials using drones to uncover abandoned oil and gas wells, authorities in Ohio are looking to expand their use and speed up the remediation of hundreds of sites across the state. Ohio has approximately 1,000 sites in its orphan well inventory. There are probably “a lot more,” said Eric Vendel, chief of the oil and gas resource management division of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The hope is that the drones equipped with magnetometers could help locate wells that are not yet on the state’s radar. Read More.

New Lawsuit Challenges ‘Fast-Track’ Permits Used for Oil and Gas Pipelines Nationwide

May 5, 2021 – DeSmog Blog

Five environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in a Montana federal court alleging that the way that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues permits for oil and gas pipelines nationwide violates some of the country’s cornerstone environmental laws. This new lawsuit, filed May 3, is the most recent round in a nearly decade-long battle, sparked under the Obama administration, over how regulators approach the environmental impacts from oil and gas pipelines and the extent to which the public gets a say in the permitting process. That battle centers on whether pipeline builders should be allowed to use a generic permit, known to regulators as Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12), when pipelines cross rivers, streams and wetlands. Read More.

Groups ask feds to renew Falcon Pipeline scrutiny

May 5, 2021 – Beaver County Times

Residents and environmental advocates are demanding more transparency from federal regulators tasked with investigating Shell Pipeline Co.’s Falcon Pipeline. The People Over Petro Coalition on Tuesday held a virtual meeting urging the federal Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to hold a formal public hearing related to its ongoing oversight of the Falcon pipeline. Representatives from PHMSA, a U.S. Department of Transportation agency, said they would relay the request to PHMSA’s public affairs division. “We deserve to know our government, on all levels, is working to keep us safe after they permitted this pipeline to come into our region,” said Heaven Sensky with the Center for Coalfield Justice during Tuesday’s meeting. Read More.

More details about Falcon pipeline investigation emerge

May 5, 2021 – Farm & Dairy

More details were released about the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s investigation into issues with Shell’s Falcon pipeline. In a May 4 letter sent to FracTracker Alliance, PHMSA said that it looked at photos of the two pieces of pipe, but could not substantiate a whistleblower’s claims that the pipeline had been built with a defective corrosion coating. Falcon pipeline travels travels through Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. “One photo showing a pipe with scratch marks on it, which PHMSA determined that the coating had indeed been damaged but did not constitute a safety issue,” said Erica Jackson, manager of community outreach and support with FracTracker Alliance, during a virtual public meeting, held May 4, hosted by The People Over Petro Coalition. Read More.

Letter: Shell needs to answer questions

May 5, 2021 – Ellwood City Ledger

Pipelines leak, spill, rupture and explode all too often, and the two-legged Falcon Pipeline that now reaches into southern Beaver County is no exception. So if, as state environmental regulators tell us, witnesses have reported Shell’s firings of workers who have spoken out about defective corrosion coating protection on the Falcon — and possible falsification of records — it’s time to ask questions. How many such workers have been silenced? How many issues were not reported for fear of retaliation? Patrick McDonnell, secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, has warned that these issues “pose a possible threat of product release, landslide, or even explosion” for more than 8,700 people living within 1.25 miles of a pipeline poised to carry 107,000 barrels per day of highly volatile ethane much too close to their homes and schools. According to Fractracker Alliance, corrosion failure is the second leading cause of incidents for hazardous liquid pipelines like the Falcon, and a review of federal data over nearly two decades exposes Shell’s safety record as one of the nation’s worst. Read More.

Your Not-So-Friendly Neighborhood Oil Well

April 29, 2021 – Planetizen

“Every year, upward of 140 million barrels of oil are extracted from the state of California,” writes Judith Lewis Mernit for Yale Environment 360. But “unlike more rural oil-producing states, where oilfields might be uninhabited but for the people who work on them, drilling in California happens to a large degree in residential settings.” “In Signal Hill to the south near Long Beach, drilling rigs butt up against playgrounds,” while a wall obscures an active oil well just behind the Beverly Center, a posh mall in Los Angeles. “In addition to drilling operations, refineries in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay areas, handle some of the dirtiest oil in the world, from Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands to the state’s own carbon-heavy crude,” writes Mernit. According to a 2020 analysis by FracTracker Alliance, over 7 million Californians live within a mile of an oil or gas well. Read More.

First Responders: Prepared for LNG Emergencies? The Evidence Is Not Reassuring

April 27, 2021 – Delaware Currents

Hazardous materials regularly roll through Northeastern Pennsylvania communities by rail and road and it’s left to local first responders to be ready for when things go wrong. Haz-mat incidents vary in degrees of danger, records show. Commonly, crews are called to overturned trucks leaking diesel fuel. Infrequently, there are more serious incidents, such as a chlorine leak at a water plant, a broken mercury thermometer or a potentially lethal gas unleashed from a mix of household cleaners. And sometimes calls can take unexpected turns. Read More.

Climate activists applaud Gov. Newsom’s fracking ban but caution it still a ‘half-measure’

April 24, 2021 – Press TV

Climate action advocates have cautiously praised California Governor Gavin Newsom’s plan to ban hydraulic fracturing by 2024, but stressed that the move is still a half-measure as it allows continued oil drilling for the next two-and-a-half years. The Democratic governor announced on Friday that he had directed California’s top oil regulator to implement regulation to stop issuing new fracking permits by 2024, as part of a broader policy to completely cut out oil extraction by 2045. “The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day,” Newsom said in a Friday press release. “As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I’ve made it clear I don’t see a role for fracking in that future and, similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil.” Read More.

California’s New Fossil Fuel Pledge ‘Significant’ But Still a ‘Half-Measure,’ Say Climate Advocates

April 23, 2021 – Common Dreams

Climate campaigners on Friday cautiously applauded California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s moves to cut off new hydraulic fracturing permits by 2024 and evaluate phasing out oil production by 2045, while also stressing that the timeline still needs to be accelerated. The embattled Democratic governor of the world’s fifth-largest economy directed the state Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division to initiate regulatory action to stop new fracking permits and requested that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) analyze how to stop extracting oil statewide. Read More.

Consumer Watchdog Applauds Fracking Ban, Calls For More Steps As First Quarter 2021 Oil Permit Approvals Plunge

April 23, 2021 – PR Newswire

Governor Newsom’s ban on fracking in 2024 is a step in the right direction, and with the number of permit approvals falling dramatically so far this year, he has a perfect opening to take even stronger steps, Consumer Watchdog said today. “We applaud Newsom’s executive action to ban fracking, but he shouldn’t kick the can down the road another three years,” said Consumer Advocate Liza Tucker. “The ban should be immediate. And Newsom should move on establishing a 2,500-foot setback between frontline communities and oil drilling operations. An anticipated rule from CalGEM on that is long overdue.” Read More.

California becomes largest oil producer in world to commit to total O&G phaseout, ban fracking — but not soon enough

April 23, 2021 – Price of Oil

Today, Gov. Newsom announced a ban on new fracking projects by 2024 and directed the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction across the state by no later than 2045. The Governor’s announcement comes after years of pressure from environmental justice, public health, labor and climate organizations across California, who call on Newsom to stop issuing new oil and gas drilling permits, phase out existing oil extraction, and establish 2,500-foot setbacks between oil wells and sensitive land uses. While the announcement sets a vision for a managed decline of fossil fuel extraction, it sets a sluggish pace that fails to keep pace with science-backed timelines necessary to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. Read More.

A Gas Pipeline Runs Through It: Brooklyn Faces Massive Grid Project

April 23, 2021 – Patch

In Brooklyn, construction is underway for a 7-mile pipeline meant to reinforce the city’s natural gas system. Environmental activists have waged countless protests against the project run by National Grid—gaining political allies, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, who announced opposition in December. Groups fighting the plan want to end all construction of fossil fuel infrastructure to reduce carbon and other emissions that lead to climate change and pollute the local air. Two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, the bulk of that originating from natural gas in residences. Natural gas makes up more than 60% of energy sources in multifamily buildings, according to a December 2020 report from the Urban Green Council. Read More.

California governor seeks ban on new fracking by 2024

April 23, 2021 – Yahoo! News

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state’s powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election. Newsom’s order is the beginning of a lengthy rule-making process that, if successful, would make California the largest state to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production. “California needs to move beyond oil,” Newsom said in a news release, arguing it would “create a healthier future for our children.” Read More.

Leaking Oil and Gas Wells: A Ticking Time Bomb

April 22, 2021 – Exposed by CMD

They could be in your town or the next town over. Or both. Nobody knows. They’re contributing to health problems across the country, to climate change, and to other environmental problems. They are wells that oil and gas companies drilled to extract fossil fuels and then simply abandoned. Oil extraction techniques have been around since before the Civil War. In general, the well-drilling process involves pumping fluid at high pressure into deep-rock formations to free oil and natural gas. Read More.

House Committee on Oversight & Reform, Subcommittee on the Environment: Hearing on “The Role of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in Preventing Action on the Climate Crisis,” Written Testimony of Jill Antares Hunkler, seventh-generation Ohio Valley resident

April 21, 2021 – Congressional Documents & Publications

It is an honor to have this opportunity to share the truth about fossil fuel extraction in Appalachia. I respect the members of this subcommittee and appreciate your courageous leadership in service of the people. My intention is to share this truth: Continuing to subsidize the fossil fuel industry will not only perpetuate the climate crisis, but the plastics pollution, environmental justice and public health crises, as well. I consider myself a fracking refugee. I was forced from my home at the headwaters of the historically pristine Captina Creek Watershed in Belmont County, Ohio, after being surrounded by oil and gas infrastructure and the associated pollution from a compressor station, 78 fracking wells, a transfer station and an interstate pipeline with numerous gathering pipelines, all within a five-mile radius of my home. Read More.

Shell Falcon Pipeline Under Investigation

April 14, 2021 – Paint Square

Following probes initiated last year by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell, state and federal agencies are now investigating the safety of Shell Pipeline’s Falcon project. Expected to begin operations next year, the Falcon Pipeline stretches 98 miles through Southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Once operational, the pipeline will deliver ethane to the cracker plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, to refine the natural gas liquid into plastic pellets. After the infrastructure is completed, oil giant Shell plans to operate both the pipeline and the cracker plant. Read More.

200 Groups to Biden: Align Federal Fossil Fuel Programs With U.S. Climate Goals

April 14, 2021 – Common Dreams

Hundreds of climate, Native American, religious, business and conservation organizations today called on the Biden administration to do a comprehensive environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws to align federal fossil fuel programs with U.S. climate goals to curb global warming. The letter asks the Interior Department to evaluate a legal finding of climate harm from fossil fuel expansion. It describes how the administration can use existing laws to end new fossil fuel leasing onshore and offshore and manage a just, orderly decline of production consistent with its goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Read More.

VISION scorecard reveals only 9 CA legislators are climate and environmental justice champions

April 12, 2021 – Daily Kos

On April 7, the environmental justice coalition VISION released a comprehensive scorecard assessing the oil and gas records of California legislators over the past nine years. Despite the Legislature’s constant portrayal of itself as the nation’s “green” and “progressive” leader, only 9 state legislators emerged as “champions” in the scorecard. Even more alarming, nearly 50% of Assemblymembers received an “F” grade for their ties to the fossil fuel industry. According to VISION, “It is the first and only scorecard to take into account the past nine years of service, cumulatively scoring legislators’ key votes on environmental justice provisions and major financial contributions received from the oil and gas industry.” Read More.

“Someone Decided It Was Okay to Poison Us”

April 11, 2021 – Mother Jones

Nalleli Cobo was nine years old when her nose started bleeding, off and on throughout the day, and often into her pillow at night. Then came the headaches and heart palpitations; for a while, her doctor had her wear a heart monitor. “I got to the point where I couldn’t walk,” Cobo, who is now 20, says. “My mom had to carry me from place to place.” Read More.

LNG From Pennsylvania to New Jersey: 400 Tanker Trucks a Day

April 10, 2021 – Delaware Currents

A plan to bring liquified natural gas from Wyalusing, Pa., to a port in Gibbstown, N.J., has focused largely on the potential hazards of transporting as much as 3 million gallons of the highly flammable product at a time by rail. But the project sponsor also has plans to send as many as 400 tanker trucks per day, each carrying 10,000 gallons of LNG, crisscrossing Pennsylvania and New Jersey roadways, passing through or near small cities and communities with congested roads. That’s significant given that project proponents, federal government and risk evaluators of the LNG-by-rail project have repeatedly said that the likelihood of a failure of an MC-338 cryogenic highway tanker is greater than that of a specialized rail tanker. Read More.

California AG believes proposal to drill for gas in Suisun Marsh is not ‘in the public interest’

April 4, 2021 – Daily Kos

In California, so-called “protected areas” on both land and water are often NOT protected from oil and gas drilling. The classic case of this is the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative that failed to protect the ocean from oil and gas drilling, fracking, military testing, corporate and government pollution and other human impacts on the ocean besides fishing and gathering. As I’ve discussed in article after article, what passes for “protection” in California is often overseen by the very same industries that have caused environmental destruction in the first place. In one of the biggest West Coast environmental scandals of the past 20 years, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) served as the CHAIR of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create “marine protected areas” in Southern California at the same time that she was lobbying for increased offshore drilling. Read More.

The Oil Well Next Door: California’s Silent Health Hazard

March 31, 2021 – Yale Environment 360

Nalleli Cobo was nine years old when her nose started bleeding, off and on throughout the day, and often into her pillow at night. Then came the headaches and heart palpitations; for a while, her doctor had her wear a heart monitor. “I got to the point where I couldn’t walk,” Cobo, who is now 20, says. “My mom had to carry me from place to place.” Doctors were stumped as to what was wrong. “I’d always been a healthy little girl,” Cobo recalled. “And then all of a sudden I’m meeting cardiologists and neurologists and all these other -ologists, and no one could figure out what I had.” Only after being sick for four years, in 2013, did she get a possible answer. Physicians for Social Responsibility, a public-health nonprofit, sent a toxicologist to Cobo’s South Los Angeles community to talk about how certain chemical byproducts of oil extraction, among them benzene and hydrogen sulfide, can cause symptoms similar to what Cobo was experiencing. Read More.

‘Cancer-causing’ chemicals found in children living near fracking well sites following two-year investigation

March 31, 2021 – Independent

Politicians and environmental activists are demanding action on fracking after a two-year investigation revealed alarming levels of toxic chemicals linked to the drilling method in children. A series of in-depth reports, published by non-profit Environmental Health News (ENH) this month, looked at the health impacts on five, non-smoking families living within miles of fracking sites in southwest Pennsylvania. The US has become world leader in fossil fuel production due to fracking, or hydraulic fracturing. The technique recovers gas and oil pockets from shale rock by drilling horizontally and then injecting gallons of water, sand and chemicals underground at high-pressure. Read More.

Shell’s Falcon pipeline under investigation by state, federal agencies

March 24, 2021 – Farm and Dairy

Shell’s Falcon pipeline is under investigation by state and federal regulators after a whistleblower reported issues with the construction of the line. According to documents acquired by the environmental group FracTracker Alliance through a public records request, a whistleblower contacted the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHSMA, in 2019 with allegations that the pipeline may have been built with a defective corrosion coating. Other environmental concerns brought up by the whistleblower, a former Shell employee, were referred to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Read More.

Culver City Council votes 4-1 for resolution urging CA to close down SoCalGas Playa del Rey facility

March 22, 2021 – Elk Grove News

The Culver City Council on March 8 voted 4 to 1 on a resolution calling on the Gavin Newsom Administration to develop a timeline and plan for closing down the neighboring SoCalGas natural gas storage facility in Playa del Rey at the Ballona Wetlands. Council Members Alex Fisch, Daniel Lee, Yasmin-Iman McMorrin, and Albert Vera voted for the resolution, while Grant Eriksson voted against it. The vote took place two days before Governor Newsom’s state of the state address at the State Capitol. It also occurred the night before the Kern County Board of Supervisors voted 5 to 0 to go in the opposite direction from Culver City, approving an ordinance to fast-track over 40,000 new oil and gas wells. Read More.

Advocacy group says Shell’s Falcon Pipeline under investigation for safety issues

March 17, 2021 – Beaver County Times

Shell’s controversial multistate pipeline is under investigation by several state and federal agencies for issues that an environmental advocacy group said poses serious threats to public safety, workers and natural resources. FracTracker Alliance, a nonprofit that focuses on the oil-and-gas industry, obtained documents that indicate an investigation into safety matters with the Shell Falcon Pipeline involving the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the state Attorney General, the Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to a release, the investigation focuses on potential “noncompliance with construction and public safety requirements and alleged cover-up of incidents that could put the public at risk.” A Shell Pipeline spokesman said that government and regulatory agencies have provided oversight throughout the construction process. Read More.

DEP pointed feds to whistleblower complaints about Shell pipeline

March 17, 2021 – StateImpact PA

Federal and state regulators are investigating a whistleblower’s tip that Shell used defective corrosion coatings on its Falcon pipeline, which will feed the company’s Beaver County ethane cracker. The tip ping-ponged its way through state and federal agencies, according to a February 2020 letter from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell to a top federal pipeline safety official. The letter states the DEP was also aware of alleged falsification of records and retaliatory firings in connection with the complaint. Read More.

Falcon Pipeline, which provides natural gas to Shell cracker plant, under investigation for possible corrosion

March 17, 2021 – Pittsburgh City Paper

Last year, a natural gas pipeline being constructed through Southwestern Pennsylvania garnered the attention of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, who then notified federal agencies in charge of regulating pipelines and other environmental concerns. In a February 2020 letter to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Pa. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell wrote that issues “pose a possible threat of product release, landslide, or even explosion.” Read More.

Federal, state agencies probe Shell’s Falcon pipeline after whistleblowers’ allegations

March 17, 2021 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Early last year, Penn­syl­va­nia’s top en­vi­ron­men­tal of­fi­cial tried to raise an alarm at the high­est level of the fed­eral agency re­spon­si­ble for pipe­line safety. “I write to you re­gard­ing a very se­ri­ous pub­lic safety mat­ter for Penn­syl­va­nia,” the let­ter from Patrick McDon­nell, sec­re­tary of Penn­syl­va­nia’s Depart­ment of En­vi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion, be­gan. The DEP, he said, had cred­i­ble in­for­ma­tion that some sec­tions of Shell Pipe­line’s Fal­con proj­ect “may have been con­structed with de­fec­tive cor­ro­sion coat­ing pro­tec­tion.” He also men­tioned wit­nesses with “first-hand knowl­edge of bad cor­ro­sion coat­ings, fal­si­fi­ca­tion of records and re­ports, re­tal­ia­tory fir­ings and other ac­tions by Shell.” Read More.

The Storage and Transportation of LNG: What Could Go Wrong?

March 11, 2021 – Delaware Currents

Lonnie E. Click, a fire chief in Benton County in southern Washington, was at his desk when he first heard the call: an explosion at a liquified natural gas storage facility. The call was outside his jurisdiction but, based on what he was hearing on the radio, he decided to head to the scene. From atop a hill, Click could see smoke coming from the plant 20 miles away. Federal investigators would later describe a “rolling detonation” at the facility on March 31, 2014, that set off a large fire and explosion that injured five workers and could be felt up to six miles away. The explosion was so forceful that pieces of metal greater than 2,000 pounds were propelled more than a quarter of a mile, Click recalled at a 2016 conference. Read More.

Fractured: Readers respond on fracking reporting

March 9, 2021 – Daily Climate

In “Fractured” we followed the stories of five families living in or near fracking country in southwestern Pennsylvania. All are coping to various degrees with unexplained illnesses, anxiety, depression, social strain. Tests of their urine found biomarkers that suggested high levels of exposure to toxic compounds commonly used in fracking operations – ethylbenzene, styrene, toluene. We found chemicals like benzene and butylcyclohexane in drinking water and air samples. These five families are not alone. We asked readers and organizations to share their stories. Here’s how they reacted. Read More.

Contending with unseen hazards

March 9, 2021 – Australian Mining

More than 39,000 kilometres of natural gas transmission pipelines are sprawled across Australia, three times the distance between the country and the North Pole. Energy infrastructure company APA Group owns and controls nearly 40 per cent of Australia’s pipelines and services many remote mine sites. As the country’s largest transporter of natural gas, the company supplies and delivers around half of the nation’s annual gas usage through high pressure pipelines. From outback locations to urban environments, the pipelines are built and operated to the highest standards to transport the gas safely and withstand human activities around them. But they are by no means immune to high-impact activities and rupture incidents. Read More.

17 key environmental bills on the 2021 agenda in California’s Legislature

March 4, 2021 – Desert Sun

California’s legislative session came to a wild ending in 2020 when the clock ran out on major bills. Key pieces of environmental legislation were among those that died on the floor, and conservationists are hoping 2021 brings a different story. At the time, Mary Creasman, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters, said, “We only have until 2030 to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis and prepare for what’s happening, and right now there’s no clear vision or agenda from leadership in Sacramento on how to tackle this challenge.” Read More.

The Shift to Renewable Energy Can Give More Power to the People

March 4, 2021 – The New Yorker

The pandemic has driven a lot of people outdoors: reports show that park visits are up around the world and parking lots at hiking trails are packed. That’s understandable—by now you’d need to chop down a sizable forest to print out the studies showing that time in nature reduces stress, cuts healing times, and enhances the functioning of the immune system. As Sadie Dingfelder wrote in the Washington Post in December, “I’ve always found it relaxing and rejuvenating to be outdoors, but the anxiety and isolation of the pandemic, the uncertainty of civil unrest and, oh, I don’t know, the potential crumbling of American democracy have made me crave nature like a drug.” Read More.

Pennsylvania Families Exposed to Unusually High Levels of Oil and Gas Industry Chemicals, Report Finds

March 3, 2021 – DeSmog Blog

A groundbreaking four-part report by Environmental Health News (EHN) offers new scientific evidence that living near oil and gas development can expose people to a wide array of hazardous and carcinogenic chemicals — not just those living near shale drilling and fracking, but also those living near older conventional oil and gas wells. Read More.

Fractured: Buffered from fracking but still battling pollution

March 1, 2021 – The Daily Climate

On a balmy evening in September of 2019, eight women gathered around a conference table in a small office about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Sunlight streamed through large windows, casting a warm glow over a side table set with coffee, biodegradable cutlery, and three kinds of pie. “Eat pie, ladies,” commanded a tall, middle-aged woman with silver-streaked hair. As a mother of four and the outreach coordinator for the nonprofit organization hosting this event, Ann LeCuyer was comfortable telling people what to do. She’d spent the last four years helping the group, Protect PT* (short for Protect Penn-Trafford), work to keep fracking out of the small municipalities of Penn Township, Trafford, and surrounding neighborhoods. Read More.

Disposal of Fracking Wastewater from PA, WV & OH Raises Issues

February 27, 2021 – FrackCheck WV

Judy Burger of Belmont County, Ohio stands next to her home, where across the road two frack waste injection wells are being constructed. She fears noise and pollution from constant truck traffic. Each well drilled using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas production creates tens of millions of gallons of wastewater, called produced water or brine. In Ohio, much of that wastewater is disposed of in underground injection wells, including waste from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. As the number of injection wells grows in Ohio, local communities want some control over where these wells are located. Read More.

Gavin Newsom Has a Big Oil and Gas Problem

February 26, 2021 – Future Human

On the outskirts of Bakersfield, California, it doesn’t take much effort to stumble upon an oil or gas well. “You don’t have to drive far, especially once you get out into those rural areas,” Julie Solis, who lives in the city, tells Future Human. “The rural communities are really where they’re getting hit the hardest.” Two of Solis’ four children attend school at Bakersfield College, which is on the edge of town. Right across the street is the massive Kern River Oil Field, where there are active oil and gas wells less than a mile away. Kern County, like many places in liberal, climate action-friendly California, is a hotbed for oil and gas drilling, with over 35,000 active oil and gas wells, according to 2019 data from FracTracker Alliance, a watchdog nonprofit that monitors the activities of the oil and gas industry. Read More.

Pa. sends a lot of fracking waste to Ohio. People there want more say in where injection wells go

February 22, 2021 – StateImpact PA

Each well drilled using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas production creates tens of millions of gallons of wastewater, called produced water or brine. In Ohio, much of that wastewater is disposed of in underground injection wells, including waste from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. As the number of injection wells grows in Ohio, local communities want some control over where these wells are located. Read More.

CA Senators Wiener and Limón introduce bill, SB 467, to ban fracking and require 2500 foot setbacks

February 17, 2021 – Daily Kos

Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) today introduced legislation, Senate Bill 467, to ban fracking and other destructive oil extraction methods and to require setbacks between oil extraction and homes and schools in California. You can expect the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron, Aera Energy and California Resources Corporation to spend big money lobbying to oppose this legislation, like they have done with every bill introduced into the Legislature to ban fracking and to require a 2500 foot health and safety setback between oil and gas wells and homes and schools. Read More.

Consumer Watchdog Applauds Bill To Ban All Dangerous Forms Of Oil Extraction Including Hydraulic Fracturing

February 17, 2021 – PR Newswire

Consumer Watchdog today welcomed newly introduced state legislation—SB 467—to ban fracking and a host of other more commonly employed and dangerous techniques used to coax stubborn-and-hard to reach oil and gas out of the ground. “This bill is the quickest and soundest way to ensure a transition away from oil and gas production in California while the Newsom Administration endlessly studies how to accomplish the task,” said consumer advocate Liza Tucker. “It employs common sense in a step-by-step approach that also considers the needs of oil workers in the context of protecting public health and the environment.” Read More.

Big Oil Spent $10 million Lobbying California Officials in 2020

February 17, 2021 – CounterPunch

The powerful oil industry lobby in California in 2020 spent less on lobbying in California than it did in 2019, but still managed to defeat legislation it opposed and getting CalGEM, the state’s gas and oil regulatory agency, to double the number of new oil production well permits approved in the state. The top four oil industry lobbyist employers — the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), Chevron, Aera Energy and California Resources Corporation — spent $10,192,047 lobbying the Governor’s Office, Legislature and regulatory agencies to advance Big Oil’s agenda in 2020, according to data posted on the California Secretary of State’s website by February 1. Read More.

SoCal marine protected areas, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta threatened by oil and gas wells

February 16, 2021 – Daily Kos

A recent report by Kyle Ferrar of the Fractracker Alliance confirms my extensive reporting on how the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative in Southern California, chaired by Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) President, did little or nothing to protect the marine environment from oil and gas drilling. The report also reveals the threat to the ecosystem presented by oil and gas production wells on state land on Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. This is particularly alarming considering that Newsom Administration is currently fast-tracking construction plans for the Delta Tunnel, potentially the most environmentally destructive public works in California history. Read More.

Lawmakers opposing order to pause new oil leasing received $13 million from fossil fuel interests

February 13, 2021 – Daily Kos

While some analysts have claimed the bankruptcy of several oil companies and the collapse of oil prices last year during the pandemic signaled the “end” of the fossil fuel industry, you wouldn’t know that from the millions of dollars the Big Oil and Big Gas have poured into the campaign coffers of federal lawmakers to oppose any effort to transition to clean energy. Fossil fuel executives and oil and gas industry political action committees have poured millions into the campaigns of lawmakers now criticizing the Biden administration’s efforts to move the country away from fossil fuels and build a clean energy future, according to a new Public Citizen report. Read More.

Frac Sand Mining is Disturbing Thousands of Acres in the US

February 13, 2021 – Frack Check WV

The perils of fracking are well documented, but the impacts from mining frac sand are less widely known. In this OpenHour, we speak with the people fighting for clean air and water, fertile farmland, & sustainable livelihoods in fenceline communities from across the midwest. Fracking is an extractive technology that has spread across massive landscapes and unzoned, small towns in the USA as industry has purchased up land rights to conduct operations. Mining for silica sand, use of chemicals, and local water all are pumped into the ground to release small pockets of oil & gas. We will hear directly from community members who have been bringing their communities together to unite in the struggles for healthy homes and justice amidst broken promises from frac sand companies. Read More.

The Kern County Planning Commission Votes In Favor Of Gas and Oil Ordinance Despite Public Outcry

February 12, 2021 – Valley Public Radio

After hearing more than 100 public comments, the Kern County Planning Commission voted Friday to pass the recommendation for a proposed oil and gas ordinance that would allow the permitting of up to 40,000 new oil and gas wells over the next 20 years. Representatives from the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the League of United Latin American Citizens spoke in favor of the ordinance citing jobs for Latinx community members as a top reason. But the majority of the comments voiced concern over the new ordinance. Read More.

Kern Co. Planning Commission to vote on proposed ordinance to allow 67,000 new oil wells!

February 11, 2021 – Indy Bay

The Kern County Planning Commission tonight will vote on a proposed ordinance to allow 67,000 new oil and gas wells to be drilled in Kern County over the next 20 years. This will nearly double the number of wells already there. After a pandemic year in which the Gavin Newsom administration doubled the number of new oil production wells in California, the Kern County Planning Commission tonight will vote on a proposed ordinance to allow permitting of more than 67,000 new oil and gas wells over the next 20 years with no additional environmental review. Read More.

Appalachian Fracking Boom Was a Jobs Bust, Finds New Report

February 11, 2021 – DeSmog Blog

The decade-long fracking boom in Appalachia has not led to significant job growth, and despite the region’s extraordinary levels of natural gas production, the industry’s promise of prosperity has “turned into almost nothing,” according to a new report. The fracking boom has received broad support from politicians across the aisle in Appalachia due to dreams of enormous job creation, but a report released on February 10 from Pennsylvania-based economic and sustainability think tank, the Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI), sheds new light on the reality of this hype. Read More.

Appalachia’s fracking boom has done little for local economies: Study

February 11, 2021 – Daily Climate

Appalachia’s fracking boom has failed to deliver on promises of jobs and benefits to local economies, according to a new study. The study, published today by the Ohio River Valley Institute, a nonprofit think tank, revealed that while economic output in Appalachian fracking counties grew by 60 percent from 2008-2019, the counties’ share of the nation’s personal income, jobs, and population levels all declined. The analysis concluded that about 90 percent of the wealth created from shale gas extraction leaves local communities. Read More.

Big Oil spent $10 million lobbying CA officials as new oil production well permits doubled in 2020

February 5, 2021 – Daily Kos

The powerful oil industry lobby in California in 2020 spent less on lobbying in California than it did in 2019, but still managed to defeat legislation it opposed and getting CalGEM, the state’s gas and oil regulatory agency, to double the number of new oil production well permits approved in the state. The top four oil industry lobbyist employers — the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), Chevron, Aera Energy and California Resources Corporation — spent $10,192,047 lobbying the Governor’s Office, Legislature and regulatory agencies to advance Big Oil’s agenda in 2020, according to data posted on the California Secretary of State’s website by February 1. Read More.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Despite Pledge, Signed 1,709 Oil and Gas Production Permits

February 1, 2021 – Newsweek

Out of all the Joe Biden administration’s suite of executive orderson climate signed on Wednesday, advocates in California have latched on to one in particular: a promise to halt new oil and gas lease sales on public lands and offshore and to review existing leases. Some of them hope that the move could inspire similar action by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, which has so far approved more than 8,000 oil and gas permits on state lands. Read More.

Environmentalists Demand Gavin Newsom Join Biden’s Halt of Oil and Gas Drilling

January 29, 2021 – Capital & Main

Out of all the Biden administration’s suite of executive orders on climate signed on Wednesday, advocates in California have latched on to one in particular: a promise to halt new oil and gas lease sales on public lands and offshore and to review existing leases. Some of them hope that the move could inspire similar action by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, which has so far approved more than 8,000 oil and gas permits on state lands. The president’s order, which directs the secretary of the interior to pause on entering into leases, will itself not have a huge effect on oil and gas production in California; production on federal lands accounts for less than 10% of all drilling in the state. Read More.

Frack check: Debunking natural gas pipeline claims made in a recent Energy Transfer commercial

January 27, 2021 – Pittsburgh City Paper

On Jan. 24, oil-and-gas giant Energy Transfer shelled out some serious money to re-run one of their commercials during the NFL conference championship games. The commercial implies that oil and natural gas lines are necessary to keep tanker trucks off of roads and tanker train cars off of railways, “just to meet our energy needs.” The commercial posits underground pipelines as bucolic havens, and railroads and highways as dangerous. Highways are dangerous, and pipelines do have far fewer incidents compared to America’s roads. But any notion that pipelines are solely peaceful and perfectly safe comes tumbling down when confronted with reality. Read More.

Earthworks report reveals California fails to safely manage radioactive and toxic oil and gas waste

January 27, 2021 – Daily Kos

Between 2008 and 2018 alone, oil and gas companies created a statewide total of over 1.3 trillion gallons of oil and gas wastewater in California, enough liquid to fill over 17.6 million household bathtubs. That’s one of the many findings of a new report released by Earthworks, along with allies VISION California and Center for Biological Diversity. The report reveals that California, often portrayed by the state’s politicians and national media as the nation’s “green” leader, is actually one of the worst states in the U.S. when it comes to regulating the oil and gas industry’s waste. Read More.

Protect PT offers advice on environmental hazards

January 24, 2021 – Mon Valley Independent

As residents and elected officials in Rostraver Township continue to battle environmental issues related to the Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill, Protect PT, a nonprofit environmental  group serving Westmoreland and Allegheny counties, has been hosting a series of Zoom workshops to teach residents how to better protect themselves against environmental hazards, particularly those related to the oil and gas well industry. The community impacts may be at the well sites, along the routes traveled by trucks handling waste from the sites or at disposal sites. “Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill and others have been taking oil and gas waste for the past 10 years,” said Protect PT executive director Gillian Graber. Read More.

Plum residents, environmental groups ask Governor Wolf to stop fracking waste injection well

January 21, 2021 – Public Source

Last week, Plum Borough residents, representatives from Protect PT and Breathe Project and national fracking experts held a press conference via Zoom to oppose the opening of a fracking waste injection well on Old Leechburg Road in Plum. The plan is to convert a former oil and gas well into a 1,900-foot-deep wastewater disposal well. “The residents of the Allegheny River Valley urgently ask Governor Tom Wolf to exercise his executive power to revoke the permit for the Penneco Sedat #3A class 2 waste disposal well in Plum Borough,” reads the statement from the group. “The well site puts several downstream Allegheny River public drinking water systems at risk, including the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority.” Read More.

Big Wigs, Big Gowns, Big Money: How Does RuPaul Spend All That Money?

January 21, 2021 – Edge Media Network

RuPaul’s entertainment and real estate empire has come into the spotlight once again in a new feature in the South China Morning Post. RuPaul’s celebrity caché has significantly increased since the 2009 debut of the hit series “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which has since grown into a global franchise, recently expanding its reach to Australia and New Zealand. Conversely, the show has also contended with criticism around the show’s historical lack of trans-inclusion. (This season welcomes its first transgender male contestant, Gottmik.) Whether fans have stayed or sashayed away, the drag entrepreneur’s hovers around $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Read More.

When a Gas Plant Moves Next Door

January 21, 2021 – Ideastream

Kevin and Marlene Young built their house in the country, so they had space for horses. “I was raised around horses, and that’s my love,” Marlene said. With names like Buckeye Blast and Creekside Pete, their horses aren’t just pets. They built a half mile track to train them as racehorses. “If you see my track, the polls out there are placed 1/8 mile apart, and that’s how you clock a horse to tell how fast you’re going,” Kevin said. Their horses have won tens of thousands of dollars in prize money. Read More.

Breaking: California Doubles New Oil And Gas Production Well Permits, Misses Drilling Setback Rule

January 19, 2021 – Daily Kos

California oil regulators more than doubled the dispensing of permits in 2020 to drill new oil and gas production wells, issuing more than 1,700 in 2020, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance reported in a press release today. “At the same time, the Newsom Administration failed to meet its own New Year’s Eve deadline for a draft rule designating the safe distance for drilling from a community, giving itself until Spring.  Public interest groups who have pushed for a 2,500-foot setback are troubled by the delay. States such as Colorado have instituted setbacks of 2,000 feet,” the two groups stated. Read More.

Newsom Administration Doubles New Oil And Gas Production Well Permits, Misses Deadline for Drilling Setback Rule, Says Consumer Watchdog

January 19, 2021 – PR Newswire

California oil regulators more than doubled the dispensing of permits in 2020 to drill new oil and gas production wells, issuing more than 1,700 in 2020, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance reported today. At the same time, the Newsom Administration failed to meet its own New Year’s Eve deadline for a draft rule designating the safe distance for drilling from a community, giving itself until Spring.  Public interest groups who have pushed for a 2,500-foot setback are troubled by the delay. States such as Colorado have instituted setbacks of 2,000 feet. Read More.

Gibbstown LNG Project: Many Hurdles Remain

January 15, 2021 – Delaware Currents

A planned project to transport liquid natural gas from a plant in Pennsylvania to a port in New Jersey still has to finish a Rubik’s Cube-like puzzle of regulatory, logistical and legal hurdles before becoming a reality. Pieces of the complex plan have so far gained approvals from at least 19 different local, state and federal government bodies but the project has drawn intense opposition from critics over safety, environmental and other concerns, including the risk of running so-called “bomb trains” carrying LNG through heavily populated communities. Read More.

Governor asked to intervene on Plum wastewater injection well

January 14, 2021 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Community and environmental organizations have asked Gov. Tom Wolf to revoke a state issued permit for a shale gas fracking waste disposal well in Plum, saying the well could endanger public drinking water supplies in Pittsburgh and nearby communities. Protect PT, the Breathe Collaborative, and Citizens for Plum say in the letter to the governor that allowing the Penneco Sedat #3A class 2 waste injection well to operate will significantly increase the risk of toxic chemical and radioactive contamination of surface and groundwater, cause mine subsidence and increase chances of earthquakes. Read More.

Environmental groups call on Gov. Tom Wolf to stop Plum oil and gas disposal well

January 14, 2021 – Trib Live

Environmental groups have called on Gov. Tom Wolf to revoke a state-issued permit that allows an oil and gas company to dispose of fracking fluids at a site in Plum. “We again want to ask the governor of Pennsylvania to uphold our constitutional rights to clean air and pure water and revoke the permit for the Plum waste injection well,” said Gillian Graber, executive director of ProtectPT, an environmental group based in Harrison City. Read More.

Coalition: CA Governor’s 2021 Budget Doesn’t Address Fossil-Fueled Public Health and Climate Crises

January 12, 2021 – Elk Grove News

At the end of a tumultuous week dominated by the Trump-instigated attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom on January 8 submitted his 2021-22 State Budget proposal to the State Legislature. The $227.2 billion fiscal blueprint offers funding for immediate COVID-19 response and relief efforts while “making investments for an equitable, inclusive and broad-based economic recovery,” according to the Governor’s Office. Read More.

Opposition Continues to LNG Transport thru Philadelphia and on the Delaware River & Bay

January 10, 2021 – Frack Check WV

After the Delaware Riverkeeper Network again appealed the controversial construction of a second dock for liquified natural gas (LNG) export in Gibbstown, New Jersey, its construction was re-approved in a Delaware River Basin Commission meeting on December 9th. The project’s opposers continue to raise concerns over the highly risky transportation of LNG and the impacts from LNG production at the New Fortress Energy processing plant in Wyalusing Township, Bradford County, PA. Read More.

Gavin Newsom’s New Year’s Gift: 14 new fracking permits, delayed public health regulations

January 9, 2021 – IndyBay

California Gavin Newsom has come under fire from environmentalists and the public over the fracking and other oil drilling permits that CalGEM issued in 2020 for Aera Energy and other oil companies. How did CalGEM, the state agency overseeing oil and gas regulations, celebrate New Year’s Eve? They issued 14 more fracking permits to Aera Energy and delayed to spring 2021 the release of public health regulations for oil and gas wells. Read More.

Exporting the U.S. Shale Boom Has Changed Oil Markets Forever

January 7, 2021 – Bloomberg

Five years ago on New Year’s Eve, the Theo T left the Texas Gulf Coast with the first U.S. shale crude shipment overseas. The oil, gathered from nearby ConocoPhillips wells and sold to trading giant Vitol Group, set sail for Italy just two weeks after lawmakers lifted a long-standing ban on exports. It was the start of a trade that would reshape global oil markets, shift geopolitical power and upend entire economies. The shale boom itself has turned the U.S. into the world’s largest oil producer and has moved it ever closer to a long-cherished dream of ending dependence on Middle East oil. But the export boom created an entirely new market, sending crude pulled from the shale fields of Texas, New Mexico and North Dakota to more than 50 countries, with shipments often surpassing those of any OPEC nation aside from Saudi Arabia. Read More.

Treat fossil fuels like nukes. Endorse a new nonproliferation treaty

January 3, 2021 – Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles City Council is poised to endorse a call for a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Approval could make Los Angeles the first U.S. city — New York is also in the running — to sign on to the treaty resolution. Introduced in November by Councilman Paul Koretz, it won unanimous support in committee and awaits likely passage by the full council in the new year. The treaty would do just what its name says: Signatory governments would agree to stop further expansion of the fossil fuel industry within their boundaries. A U.N. report released Dec. 2 indicates just how imperative that step is: To limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal set in the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, global emissions would have to drop 6% a year between now and 2030; alarmingly, nations instead project an average annual increase of 2% a year. Read More.

Happy New Year: CalGEM approves 14 new fracking permits, delays release of public health regulations

December 31, 2020 – Daily Kos

How did CalGEM, the state agency overseeing oil and gas regulations, celebrate New Year’s Eve? They issued 14 more fracking permits to Aera Energy and delayed to spring 2021 the release of public health regulations for oil and gas wells. The agency announced the delay in regulations on the year’s last day as people were getting ready to celebrate the arrival of the New Year locked down in their homes due to the COVID Pandemic. Read More.

The ‘Revolutionary’ Fight Over California’s Hidden Oil and Gas Wells

December 30, 2020 – Gizmodo

At the corner of West Pico Blvd. and South Genesee Ave. in west Los Angeles sits a tan, six-story building. It’s nothing much to look at: It’s set back from the street by a manicured lawn, lined by a row of trees on each side. An American flag flies out front. At a quick glance, it appears no different from any other office building; it looks like it could be home to medical practitioners, accounting firms, or insurance agencies. But sit outside of it for long enough, and you won’t spot many white collar workers coming in or out. Nor would you catch glance of any workers through office windows. That’s because the windows on this building are fake. In fact, the whole building is a facade; its top is open and inside of it is an active oil well site operated by Freeport-McRoran that produces thousands of barrels of oil per year. Read More.

Global Sand Control Solutions Market 2020-2025 with Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes Co, Weatherford, and Superior Energy Services Dominating – ResearchAndMarkets.com

December 30, 2020 – Yahoo! Finance

The global sand control solutions market is projected to reach USD 3.2 billion by 2025 from an estimated USD 2.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period. The continuous development from unconventional reservoirs and efforts to increase reserve to production ratio from the wells are the key factors driving the growth of the sand control solutions market. Likewise, the increasing offshore exploration & production as well as subsea activities are expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the sand control solutions market during the forecast period.However, fluctuating crude oil prices, and challenging operations in high-pressure high temperature well hinder the growth of the market. Read More.

New report recommends health and safety setbacks of one mile around California oil and gas wells

December 27, 2020 – Daily Kos

The Fractracker Alliance has just published a new study on the potential impacts of health and safety setbacks and environmental justice in California revealing that 2.7  million people, mostly low income and people of color, live within 2,500′ of oil and gas infrastructure, and a total of 7.37 million Californians live within 1 mile of oil and gas wells. The report, People and Production: Reducing Risk in California Extraction, makes a number of conclusions, including recommending a setback of at least one mile between oil and gas wells and homes, schools, based on the peer reviewed literature. Read More.

Amid climate crisis, California approves far more drilling permits

December 24, 2020 – San Francisco Chronicle

In the same year Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that the state faced a “climate damn emergency” with wildfires, his administration approved far more permits to let companies drill new oil and gas wells. California approved 1,646 drill permits in the first nine months of 2020 — a 137% increase over the 694 permits it approved during the same period last year, according to data from the state Geologic Energy Management Division, the agency that regulates oil and gas extraction. Read More.

Empower NJ & 100 Groups Call on Murphy to Stop Disastrous Gibbstown LNG Port

December 23, 2020 – Insider NJ

The Empower NJ Coalition along with 100 groups and organizations sent a letter to Governor Murphy expressing disappointment in the DRBC vote which approved the Gibbstown Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Port. When asked about the LNG port just a day before the DRBC vote, Governor Murphy said, “That’s an independent body, there’s a process in place. I’m not going to get ahead of it. I’ll let the process play out…I’m not supporting an LNG facility there, and I’m certainly hoping it’s not what happens…” He let the process play out that approved one of the most dangerous fossil fuel projects in the Delaware Region. Read More.

Global Sand Control Solutions Market Report 2020-2025 – Focus on Gravel Pack, Frac Pack, Sand Screens, Inflow Control Devices, Others

December 22, 2020 – Yahoo! Finance

The global sand control solutions market is projected to reach USD 3.2 billion by 2025 from an estimated USD 2.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period. The continuous development from unconventional reservoirs and efforts to increase reserve to production ratio from the wells are the key factors driving the growth of the sand control solutions market. Likewise, the increasing offshore exploration & production as well as subsea activities are expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the sand control solutions market during the forecast period.However, fluctuating crude oil prices, and challenging operations in high-pressure high temperature well hinder the growth of the market. Read More.

Tribal groups fight fracking: ‘Why we don’t drink the water’

December 16, 2020 – Green Biz

Lisa Finley-DeVille started drinking bottled water around the same time her friend’s horses began to get sick and die. A half decade ago on the Fort Berthold Reservation in western North Dakota, Deville drove up to see her friend in the New Town area. The horses looked dehydrated and brittle, just skin and bones. They’re eating, but it’s like they’re not eating, her friend told her. It was down the hill, at the pond the horses drank from, where the answer lurked. She believes wastewater from nearby oil and gas production leaked there, where the horses drank it up, poisoned. “I’m always worried,” Finley-Deville says. “This is why we don’t drink the water.” Read More.

Who will fill Kamala Harris’ Senate seat? Newsom ought to appoint a climate hawk

December 10, 2020 – Red Green & Blue

On Sunday, December 6, President-elect Biden’s transition team announced that it would be tapping California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services, according to a press release from the Last Chance Alliance. Uniting more than 750 public health, environmental justice, climate, and labor organizations, the group urged Governor Gavin Newsom to end fossil fuel extraction across California and build a “just climate future where every community can thrive.” Read More.

Advocates Urge Gov. Newsom to Appoint Climate Justice Leaders to Vacant Positions

December 9, 2020 – Daily Kos

On Sunday, December 6, President-elect Biden’s transition team announced that it had picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services, according to a press release from the Last Chance Alliance. “Should Becerra be confirmed by the Senate, Governor Newsom faces the opportunity to fill both his position and the seat in the US Senate left vacant by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris,” the alliance stated. “While California has long paved the way for progressive national policy, Governor Newsom has fallen shamefully short of offering even basic health protections to the millions of Californians who live on the front lines of fossil fuel extraction and production.” Read More.

The sand control solutions market is projected to reach USD 3.2 billion by 2025 from an estimated USD 2.1 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.9%

December 8, 2020 – Global Newswire

Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report “Sand Control Solutions Market by Location, Application, Well Type, Type And Region – Global Forecast to 2025.” Likewise, the increasing offshore exploration & production as well as sub-sea activities are expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the sand control solutions market during the forecast period.However, fluctuating crude oil prices, and challenging operations in high-pressure high temperature well hinder the growth of the market. The onshore, by location, is expected to be the fastest-growing market from 2020 to 2025. The onshore segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 to 2025.Onshore oil & gas wells are predominantly present in regions such as North America, the Middle East, and Africa. Read More.

North Brooklyn Pipeline Bringing Fracked Gas to NYC Nears Completion

December 7, 2020 – Untapped New York

A controversial underground project is nearing completion in Brooklyn, but fierce opposition from local residents and elected officials, now including Mayor de Blasio, may hinder its progress. Officially named The Metropolitan Natural Gas Reliability Project, but more commonly known as the North Brooklyn Pipeline, the project’s goal as stated by National Grid is to “improve Brooklyn’s natural gas system by increasing the system’s safety, reliability, and operational flexibility.” Those who oppose the pipeline, however, fear it will bring increased health and environmental risks to already disenfranchised neighborhoods. Read More.

PD Editorial: Oil well regulators get caught looking the other way

December 5, 2020 – Press Democrat

A recently released audit of the California Geologic Energy Management Division should anger Californians. It found that regulators ignored health and safety rules and approved hundreds of oil and gas wells without required environmental reviews. The audit, conveniently released right before Thanksgiving when it would receive as little notice as possible, was ordered after a Palm Springs Desert Sun investigation found that officials with the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, or DOGGR, were using empty placeholder files to circumvent extensive reviews required for steam injection wells. Read More.

LNG Gibbstown, N.J. Project Heads Back to DRBC

December 3, 2020 – Delaware Currents

The controversial construction of a second dock at the Rapauno Port & Rail Terminal in Gibbstown, N.J. may be “re-approved” at the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) fourth-quarter business meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. As is typical for DRBC’s business meetings, there will be no opportunity for additional public comment on the findings and recommendations of the Hearing Officer in the matter of the Delaware River Partners’ Gibbstown Logistics Center Dock 2 Adjudicatory Hearing. Read More.

How Fracking has Contaminated Drinking Water

December 3, 2020 – Consumer Reports

Lisa Finley-DeVille started drinking bottled water around the same time her friend’s horses began to get sick and die. A half decade ago on the Fort Berthold Reservation in western North Dakota, Deville drove up to see her friend in the New Town area. The horses looked dehydrated and brittle, just skin and bones. They’re eating, but it’s like they’re not eating, her friend told her. It was down the hill, at the pond the horses drank from, where the answer lurked. She believes wastewater from nearby oil and gas production leaked there, where the horses drank it up, poisoned. “I’m always worried,” Finley-Deville says. “This is why we don’t drink the water.” Read More.

Plummer: Hope for action beyond climate deferral

November 28, 2020 – The Register Guard

In Eugene, the home of the tree-hugger, a new kind of climate denial is taking shape — climate deferral. In 2010, the city of Eugene released its first Community Climate and Energy Action Plan, calling for a reduction of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50% below 2005 levels by 2030. In 2014, the city upped the ante with what was at the time one of the most ambitious municipal climate goals in the country: the Climate Recovery Ordinance, aiming to reduce fossil fuel usage by 50% of 2010 levels by 2030. And just this summer the city released its Climate Action Plan 2.0, reiterating the same goals that it has been discussing for the past decade. Read More.

Department of Finance audit reveals repeated oil and gas regulation violations

November 26, 2020 – IndyBay

Just days after California oil and gas regulators approved eight more fracking permits for Chevron this year, the California Department of Finance released a blistering audit detailing repeated violations of the state’s oil and gas regulations. The 16-page report published on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend reveals that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM), the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency, repeatedly skipped required reviews when approving hundreds of oil and gas wells last year. Read More.

Protesters at Oil & Gas Fracking or Pipeline Sites May Receive Criminal Charges

November 22, 2020 – FrackCheckWV

The oil and gas industry continues to use rhetoric focusing on national security and energy independence in order to advocate for legislation to criminalize climate activists. Backlash against protestors and environmental stewards has only increased since the onset of COVID-19, suggesting that industry proponents are exploiting this public health crisis to further their own dangerous and controversial policies. Read More.

CA joins Trump in pushing drilling permits that nobody needs, as oil production plummets

November 20, 2020 – Red Green & Blue

A report just released by Consumer Watchdog and the Fractracker Alliance reveals that California permits to drill new oil production wells in the first nine months of 2020 rose 160%, while new wells actually drilled plummeted. For the first time, they linked the map to video footage that capturers leaky oil infrastructure at half a dozen well sites that received new permits under the Newsom Administration – wells that are very close to homes and communities. Read More.

CA Permits To Drill New Oil And Gas Production Wells Rose 160%, While New Wells Actually Drilled Plummets To 60

November 19, 2020 – Daily Kos

Oil companies received 160% more oil production drilling permits in the first nine months of 2020 over the year before, but the number of oil wells drilled in California has slowed to a trickle, Consumer Watchdog and the FracTracker Alliance said today. The two groups updated the permit numbers and locations on an interactive map at NewsomWellWatch.com. Today, for the first time, they linked the map to video footage capturing leaking infrastructure at half a dozen well sites near communities that received permits under the Newsom Administration. The footage at well sites — captured by Earthworks’ Community Empowerment Project California Organizer using optical gas imaging technology—makes the pollution emitted from oil wells visible. The groups referred the fugitive emissions to the California Air Resources Board for appropriate action. Read More.

Letter to the editor: We need capitalism that considers long-term effects

November 15, 2020 – Trib Live

The people of Southwestern Pennsylvania do want a pollution-free environment, but that is not possible with fracking. Just ask the people in Amity and Prosperity. I do take issue with the statement that banning fracking “would eliminate over 600,000 jobs by 2025 in Pennsylvania alone.” According to FracTracker Alliance, Pennsylvania jobs in natural gas never reached more than 30,000, and it is now less. Due to mismanagement of fracking, it is a dying industry. The regulations that President Trump eliminated will not save the industry, but it did increase our environmental pollution. Read More.

AG Becerra, Governor protest federal oil lease sales as CA regulators increase oil drilling permits

November 11, 2020 – Daily Kos

On November 9, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, Governor Gavin Newsom and two state agencies filed a protest challenging the proposed sale of seven oil and gas leases in Kern County by the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The proposed December 2020 sale involves seven parcels totaling 4,133.58 acres of Federal public lands and mineral estate within the Bakersfield Field Office. Ironically, the protest against the BLM oil and gas lease sale takes place at a time when state oil and gas regulators under Governor Gavin Newsom have expanded oil and gas drilling in Kern County and other areas in California. Since January 2019, CalGEM, under the Department of Conservation, has approved 7071 oil and gas drilling permits. Read More.

Why fracking got so much airtime in the home stretch of Trump’s campaign

November 3, 2020 – Vox

In the final week of his campaign, President Donald Trump has reemphasized his pro-fracking message. The primary target: Pennsylvania. Both candidates have frequented Pennsylvania, the nation’s No. 2 natural gas producer, in the final week of the race. It is a critical swing state this year, with FiveThirtyEight projecting that it is most likely to be the tipping point in deciding the presidency. According to the site’s latest polling average, former Vice President Joe Biden’s lead over Trump in the state has narrowed, but he is still ahead by 4.7 points. Read More.

Culver City stands up to Big Oil, votes to phase out drilling in largest urban oil field in U.S.

October 28, 2020 – Daily Kos

On October 26, the City Council of Culver City, the site of the largest urban oil field in the U.S,  stood up to the oil industry and voted unanimously to phase out oil drilling. This vote took place as the Gavin Newsom Administration has expanded oil and gas drilling in California during a year of record heat, record fires and an unprecedented pandemic  — and the City Council members hope that the Governor will take note of the historic decision. Read More.

Gavin Newsom pledged to ban fracking in California — but he just greenlit more of it

October 26, 2020 – Salon

On Sept. 23, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to ban hydrofracturing in the state by 2024. Just three weeks later, on Oct. 16, his administration approved permits to frack six new wells owned by a company with whom he has lobbying ties. That company, Aera Energy—a joint venture of Shell and ExxonMobil—is represented by the lobbying firm Axiom Advisors. Axiom’s lobbyists include Jason Kinney, a senior advisor to Newsom while he served as lieutenant governor, and Kevin Schmidt, a policy director for Newsom during the same time period. Read More.

Swing-state Pennsylvanians are divided on fracking. Here’s why.

October 22, 2020 – Vox

Natural gas fracking has been getting a lot of airtime on the campaign trail in recent weeks. In the final presidential debate, President Donald Trump once again claimed that former Vice President Joe Biden would ban fracking. “I have never said I oppose fracking,” Biden replied. “What I will do with fracking over time is make sure we can capture the emissions from fracking, capture the emissions from gas.” Trump tried to make the same claim in Pennsylvania, a key swing state, earlier this week. In front of a crowd of thousands gathered in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Trump played a compilation of video clips in which former Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris described their plans to transition away from fossil fuels. Read More. 

Newsom Administration Issues Six More Fracking Permits To Aera Energy Consumer Watchdog Says

October 19, 2020 – PR Newswire

The Newsom Administration issued six more fracking permits to Aera Energy late on Friday afternoon at a time of great risk to the environment and to the public health of affected communities also exposed to Covid 19, Consumer Watchdog said today. The number of fracking permits issued this year—despite a nine-month moratorium imposed by Newsom that ended last April—now comes to 54 issued to Aera and Chevron.  Newsom says he wants to ban fracking, but, contrary to the findings of public interest lawyers, claims the legislature needs to act to end fracking.  He committed to signing legislation to do that next year should it pass the legislature. Read More.

Newsom Administration approves 6 more fracking permits, bringing the total to 54 this year

October 17, 2020 – IndyBay

“Gov. Newsom sacrifices our health, food, water and climate while dodging criticism when he issues new fracking permits on a Friday night,” said Alexandra Nagy, California Director of Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Action. “Newsom’s concern over climate change is a deceptive mirage as his actions reveal a strong adherence to the status quo. The Gavin Newsom Administration on the afternoon of October 16 issued a memo to environmental groups revealing that CalGEM, the oil and gas regulators in California, will be approving six fracking (well stimulation treatment) applications for Aera Energy in Belridge, California. Read More.

Alliance launches ad campaign to pressure Governor Newsom to phase out oil drilling in California

October 8, 2020 – Daily Kos

During a year of an unprecedented epidemic, record fires and record heat, the California agency in charge of regulating oil and gas drilling, CalGEM, has approved over 1540 new oil and gas drilling permits so far. Faced with this expansion of fossil fuel drilling in California, Last Chance Alliance, a coalition of over  750 climate, environmental justice, and public health groups, has launched an ad campaign calling on Governor Gavin Newson to phase out oil drilling as part of his plan to address the climate crisis, according to a press release from the alliance. Read More.

As oil drilling expands, Newsom pledges to ‘conserve’ 30% of land and coastal waters by 2030

October 8, 2020 – Daily Kos

Food & Water Action California State Director Alexandra Nagy criticized Newsom for failing to deliver on climate change while his administration has issued over 2,600 oil and gas drilling permits this year so far. “Governor Newsom needs to go back to the drawing board and tackle the state’s biggest polluters head-on,” said Nagy. “We’re losing patience with his lack of meaningful action.” Read More.

There’s No Oil in Wisconsin. The Fracking Bust Hit It Anyway.

October 8, 2020 – The Wall Street Journal

For years, Mary Drangstveit could feel the shale boom reverberating in her kitchen. This spring, oil prices crashed and the rattling ceased. It brought relief for her and distress for some others in her community. Digging stopped at the sand mine next door in Blair, Wis., which had rumbled since 2015 to supply drillers with silica they blasted into shale to let out oil and gas. The coronavirus pandemic and a switch by drillers to cheaper sand accomplished what locals like Mrs. Drangstveit, 77, couldn’t in their efforts to fight the mine at town meetings and court. The mine’s owner, Hi-Crush Inc., filed for bankruptcy in July. Rival Covia Holdings Corp., an Ohio company with Wisconsin mines, did so in June. Other mines have closed or cut hours. “This has been the most peaceful summer of the last six years,” Mrs. Drangstveit said.. Read More.

The House Just Passed Another “Save Our Seas” Act. Here’s Why it Won’t.

October 7, 2020 – The Intercept

The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act purports to offer a bipartisan solution to the unthinkable amount of plastic — 11 million metric tons, a figure predicted to nearly triple by 2040 — that enters the ocean every year. It seems Congress would agree. On Thursday, the federal bill was expedited to the floor of the House of Representatives and passed on suspension, a procedure typically reserved for noncontroversial bills. In the less than 15 minutes of debate to precede the vote, no dissenting views were raised. Read More.

Climate Advocates Criticize Newsom’s Executive Order for Not Addressing Oil Drilling

October 1, 2020 – Indy Bay

California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 23 signed an executive order (EO) requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035, along with additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector. In response, representatives of the Last Chance Alliance, a coalition of hundreds of environmental, climate justice, social justice and public interest groups, said the executive order fails to address in-state oil drilling, “ignoring supply-side policy to address the climate crisis.” Read More.

New Sierra Club Report Says CRC’s Failure Could Leave California Taxpayers with $900 Million Burden

October 1, 2020 – Daily Kos

The Sierra Club released a new report today (October 1) revealing that the financial failure of California Resources Corporation (CRC), a spin-off of Occidental Petroleum, could leave California taxpayers bearing more than $900 million in costs for the remediation of thousands of CRC’s abandoned wells. CRC is California’s largest oil and natural gas producer with the state’s most “diverse operations,” according to the CRC website. Read More.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and Big Oil: It’s Complicated

September 29, 2020 – Visalia Times Delta

It was early November 2018, and the boosters of Kern County were nervous. Gavin Newsom had been elected governor of California a few days before, and he had promised all campaign long to get tough on California’s oil industry. At the county’s annual Energy Summit, Lorelei Oviatt, director of the county’s planning and natural resources department, let it be known in a freewheeling speech that California’s oil industry was not going down without a fight. Read More.

“Brownsville is not a sacrifice zone,” Activists Cry At Protest Against North Brooklyn Pipeline

September 28, 2020 – Bklyner.

Latrice Walker, assemblywoman for New York State’s District 55, still distinctly remembers what it was like growing up with childhood asthma in Brownsville. “There were days when I would be on a machine at Kings County Hospital clinging to my chest, because I couldn’t breathe,” she told a crowd of around 100 protestors gathered at Zion Triangle on September 26 to oppose the fifth phase of construction of the Metropolitan Reliability Infrastructure (MRI) project, more commonly known as the North Brooklyn pipeline. Read More.

Wiener says he’ll move to ban fracking in California, following Newsom’s lead

September 24, 2020 – The San Francisco Chronicle

A trio of California lawmakers plans to introduce a bill to ban the controversial fossil fuel drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in an effort to expand the state’s fight against climate change. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said he’s working with two other legislators on the matter after Gov. Gavin Newsom embraced a plan this week to phase out new fracking. The details are not yet sorted out, but Wiener told The Chronicle he would like to introduce the bill as soon as lawmakers reconvene in December. Read More.

Newsom orders 2035 phaseout of gas-powered vehicles, calls for fracking ban

September 23, 2020 – Los Angeles Times

Emphasizing that California must stay at the forefront of the fight against climate change, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday issued an executive order to require all new cars sold to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035 and threw his support behind a ban on the controversial use of hydraulic fracturing by oil companies. Read More.

Climate Justice Advocates Criticize Newsom’s Executive Order for Not Addressing Oil Drilling

September 23, 2020 – The Daily Kos

California Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order (EO) requiring sales of all new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission by 2035, along with additional measures to eliminate harmful emissions from the transportation sector. In response, representatives of the Last Chance Alliance, a coalition of hundreds of environmental, climate justice, social justice and public interest groups, said the executive order fails to address in-state oil drilling, “ignoring supply-side policy to address the climate crisis.” Read More.

As Climate-Driven Wildfires Ravage California, Gov. Newsom Pressured to Ban Fossil Fuel Fracking

September 23, 2020 – Between the Lines

Thus far in this early stage of the year’s fire season, five times more acres in California have burned compared to last year’s destructive fires. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, talking with the press amid smoldering ruins of a burned down home, declared, “This is a climate damn-emergency.” But activists and experts in California point out that Newsom’s administration has been fanning the flames of the climate crisis. Read More.

Two Advocacy Groups Challenge California Oil Regulator To Correct The Record On True Oil Drilling Permit Numbers

September 22, 2020 – Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog and the FracTracker Alliance challenged the state’s Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk “to be honest with the public about the data” on oil drilling in the state. They stated his refusal to acknowledge data published by the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) “sullies CalGEM and reflects poorly on an Administration that claims desperately to want to stem the cruel tide of climate change.” Read More.

Group Plans to Sue Governor Newsom Over Illegal California Oil Wells

September 21, 2020 – Daily Kos

As the Western States Petroleum Association and Chevron continue their capture of California regulators in a year of record heat, record fires and an unprecedented pandemic, the Center for Biological Diversity on September 21 notified California Governor Gavin Newsom of its intent to file a lawsuit to halt illegal permitting of oil and gas wells in California. Read More.

Power Up: California may be burning. But it’s also still drilling for oil

September 15, 2020 – The Washington Post

Much of the ire over the fires raging across the Pacific Northwest has thus far been directed at President Trump. But frustrations with California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom are also bubbling over his own climate policies. Trump went to California yesterday, where Newsom challenged him to accept climate science, which shows that human-made climate change has made the West more vulnerable to extreme blazes. Trump instead blamed the multiple wildfires on lack of good forest management. Read More.

Pre-COVID natural gas extraction hit record high in Pennsylvania

September 15, 2020 – Beaver County Times

Pennsylvania drillers extracted a record-high volume of natural gas last year, while the number of new wells drilled declined from the year prior. Unconventional natural gas drillers extracted 6.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2019 – more than 10% higher than 2018, according to a new oil and gas report released by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. More than 1,700 drilling permits were issued, primarily at unconventional wells. Read More.

California Well Abandonments Outpacing Drilling Permits

September 9, 2020 – Natural Gas Intelligence

California oil and natural gas permits for well abandonments to date this year are twice the number of new drilling permits being sought, according to regulators. The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) said it has received the lowest number of well stimulation permit applications since late 2016 when state Senate Bill 4 took effect. Forty-eight permits had been approved, with six denied and 248 pending third-party review. Read More.

Conservation Groups Oppose Exxon’s Plan to Restart Offshore Rigs Idled by Refugio Oil Spill

September 6, 2020 – Elk Grove News

Exxon’s offshore rigs have remained idle since the Refugio Oil Spill, but the oil giant, responsible for the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska in 1989, had plans to restart its offshore drilling platforms in Santa Barbara County and truck that oil through California. Read More.

Ventura County approves nation’s first 2500 foot health and safety setback from oil wells

September 2, 2020 – Daily Kos

After years of community members organizing and going to hearing after hearing, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in an on-line 14-hour final hearing last night voted 3 to 2 to tentatively approve the nation’s first 2500 foot health and safety setback from oil wells as part of their General Plan. Read More.

California Legislature’s end-of-session scramble leaves environment bills on cutting room floor

September 2, 2020 – Desert Sun

Monday at midnight marked the deadline for California lawmakers to pass bills out of the Legislature. But in a session replete with the COVID-19 pandemic, racial justice and wildfires, numerous bills were left to die on the cutting room floor. Among them was the majority of the environmental agenda in what some legislators, environmentalists and public health advocates labeled a disappointment. Read More.

Permits To Drill New Oil And Gas Wells Zoom Up 190% In The First Six Months Of 2020 Under Gov. Newsom In Worrisome Trend, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance Report

September 2, 2020 – PR Newswire

As COVID-19 cases shattered California daily records in the second quarter of 2020, oil regulators under Gov. Newsom also shattered records for dispensing new oil and gas production well drilling permits, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance said today. Read More.

Approvals for new oil and gas wells up in California

September 2, 2020 – The San Diego Union-Tribune

Despite pushing back against the Trump administration’s plan to expand oil extraction in California, the state has issued 190% more new oil and gas drilling permits in the first six months of 2020 than were approved under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first six months in office, two advocacy groups said Wednesday. Read More.

California Permits to Drill New Oil and Gas Wells Increase 190% in First Six Months of 2020

September 2, 2020 – Daily Kos

As the California Resources Corporation and other oil companies filed for bankruptcy and COVID-19 cases shattered California daily records in the second quarter of 2020, oil regulators under Governor Gavin Newsom approved over 1500 new oil and gas production well drilling permits, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance revealed in a report released on September 2. Read More.

Ventura County leads in effort to expand oil setbacks with vote looming Tuesday

August 29, 2020 – Ventura County Star

Ventura County supervisors are headed Tuesday toward adoption of some of the largest setbacks ever enacted to separate oil wells from neighboring homes and schools in California, including a buffer of 2,500 feet that officials believe would be the biggest in the nation. It’s a concept that Audrey Nicholson can embrace. She lives in what she calls “oil country,” near a string of petroleum facilities that stretches north of her home on the edge of Ventura. Read More.

Rumors of RuPaul’s fracking ranch may be surprising to some – but not his Wyoming neighbors

August 28, 2020 – The Guardian

It was not the way most people would have expected an interview with RuPaul, host of RuPaul’s Drag Race show, to pan out. During a conversation on NPR earlier this year, RuPaul sparked concerns that oil companies may be fracking on his 60,000-acre ranch in eastern Wyoming. A “modern ranch, 21st-century ranch is really land management”, he said, and one aspect of that is to “lease the mineral rights to oil companies and you sell water to oil companies”. Read More.

Pipeline protests: A decry of fossil fuels, not a voice for the environment

August 21, 2020 – Oil & Gas 360

Pipelines transporting crude oil, natural gas, and refined products have been a controversial topic for lawmakers, environmental groups, and energy producers throughout the last decade. Since pipelines are the cleanest and safest method of transporting hydrocarbons, the logic behind these protests remains lost on many individuals. But, what the general public must understand is that many protesters are not necessarily trying to shut down pipelines, they are trying to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and force an immediate shift to renewable energy. Read More.

The three CA Senate Democrats who voted against setbacks bill took $142,206 from Big Oil & Gas

August 19, 2020 – Daily Kos

Three California Senate Democrats who voted with Republicans against an amended version of AB 345, a bill that would require the establishment of an environmental justice program at the California Natural Resources Agency, received $142,206 in donations from oil and gas corporations. Read More.

Refinery Shutdown, County Staff Critique Jeopardize ExxonMobil Offshore Drilling Plan

August 13, 2020 – Daily Kos

May 19 of this year marked the fifth anniversary of the massive Plains All American Pipeline spill near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County that resulted in the idling of Exxon’s three offshore oil platforms that rise like sentinels from the coastal waters. Read More.

CA Senate Committee Votes 4 to 5 Against Bill to Create Health and Safety Zones Around Oil Wells

August 6, 2020 – Daily Kos

Sacramento – California, a state that politicians and the mainstream media constantly tout as “green” and “progressive,” still doesn’t have health and safety setbacks around oil and gas wells like Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Dakota and other oil and gas producing states do. The  Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water yesterday voted 4-5 against AB 345 (Muratsuchi), a bill that would help to create health and safety buffer zones for the nearly 1.8 million Californians who currently reside in highly polluted areas close to oil and gas wells across the state. Read More.

United Domestic Workers Co-Sponsors AB 345 on Day Before Senate Committee Hearing

August 5, 2020 – Daily Kos

The United Domestic Workers of America (UDW/AFSCME 3930) has just announced they’ve joined as co-sponsors of an amended version of Assembly Bill AB 345 (Muratsuchi), legislation originally designed to require 2500 foot health and safety setbacks from oil and gas wells in California. Read More.

Tired of Wells That Threaten Residents’ Health, a Small California Town Takes on the Oil Industry

August 3, 2020 – Inside Climate News

In September 2018, Estela Escoto sat down with a team of lawyers and community organizers and weighed her options … Escoto, president of an environmental justice group called the Committee for a Better Arvin, was frustrated, but not surprised. For years, she and the committee had been struggling to keep oil and gas development out of their neighborhoods. Read More.

NCAC URGES TRANSPARENCY IN COVID-19 DATA COLLECTION

July 27, 2020 – National Coalition Against Censorship

NCAC has joined Open the Government and two dozen organizations in urging Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar to rescind an order to hospitals requiring them to send daily COVID-19 data reports to HHS, a change that creates urgent concerns about transparency, accountability, and the politicization of data. Read More.

‘Tired of being the canary in the mine’: pressure grows to push oil and gas wells away from homes

July 22, 2020 – The Guardian

Experts say that more than a decade of research – including two new studies out of California, and one on a Texas community – has made it clear that current setback distances, in states where they exist, are inadequate to protect public health. Read More.

As California Oil Giant Files for Bankruptcy, Environmental Justice Groups Urge Governor to Plan for Just Transition

July 18, 2020 – Elk Grove News

The California Resources Corporation (CRC), the largest oil and natural gas exploration and production company in the state, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, potentially leaving California taxpayers on the hook for a massive cleanup. Read More.

CalGEM Regulators Divest Oil Stocks In Wake Of Consumer Watchdog Conflicts Probe

July 16, 2020 – Consumer Watchdog

Oil and gas regulators at the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) no longer hold oil stocks or other interests in the sector that they regulate in a radical departure from past practices, Consumer Watchdog said today. A new conflict of interest policy at the division’s parent agency, the Department of Conservation (DOC), now prohibits such investments without explicit written approval by DOC’s director. Read More.

California’s Department of Conservation rolls out new ethics policy after years of complaints

July 15, 2020 – Desert Sun

The California Department of Conservation, which has for years weathered accusations of a cozy relationship with the oil industry, has quietly introduced a new ethics policy that has drawn praise from advocates of good governance. Read More.

Babies born near natural gas flaring are 50 percent more likely to be premature: Study

July 15, 2020 – Environmental Health News

Living near fracking operations that frequently engage in flaring—the process of burning off excess natural gas—makes expectant parents 50 percent more likely to have a preterm birth, according to a new study. Read More.

California Regulators Approve 12 New Permits for Chevron to Frack in Kern County

July 14, 2020 – Counterpunch

As Tribes, conservationists and environmental justice advocates were celebrating a federal ruling temporarily halting operations by the owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline, anti-fracking activists in California were disturbed that California regulators are continuing to approve new permits for fracking in the San Joaquin Valley. Read More.

Support amplifies for proposed state methane rule

June 24, 2020 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

All of the 32 speakers at Tuesday evening’s virtual public hearing voiced degrees of support for the state Department of Environmental Protection’s proposal to limit emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds at shale gas operations. Read More.

New report finds increased threat from radioactive oil & gas waste in North Dakota

June 18, 2020 – Earthworks

A new report released today by the national environmental nonprofit Earthworks reveals that North Dakota’s massive surge in fracking wastewater production, also known as “produced water,” has potentially increased North Dakotans exposure to carcinogens, heavy metals, and radioactivity. Read More.

Shell’s Falcon Pipeline Dogged by Issues with Drilling and Permit Uncertainty During Pandemic

June 15, 2020 – DeSmog Blog

Over the past few months, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders, Shell Pipeline Company has pressed onward with the construction of a 97-mile pipeline running through Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Shell plans to use the Falcon pipeline to supply its $6 billion plastics plant currently being built in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, with ethane, a raw material pulled from shale wells in the state and from neighboring Ohio. Read More.

Bike Messengers

June 12, 2020 – Grist

On Saturday, as protests demanding racial justice and an end to police violence took over New York City, a separate but related demonstration wound its way through Brooklyn echoing those cries and adding a few more. This other protest took place on bikes, as a few dozen New Yorkers rode the route of a partially constructed natural gas pipeline. Read More.

Proof of Harm To CA’s Unborn From Proximity To Oil Wells Proves Need For Barrier Between Wells And People, Says Consumer Watchdog

June 4, 2020 – Consumer Watchdog

The first definitive study showing perinatal harm from oil production in California to pregnant mothers proves that the state must institute a barrier of 2,500 feet between residents and oil wells and stop issuing new oil permits for wells within that zone, Consumer Watchdog said today. Read More.

May 2020 OilWire bulletin: The USD 77 billion per year edition

May 29, 2020 – Oil Change International

“As the world grapples with the unprecedented disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis continues to devastate lives and livelihoods.” If there was not enough for the world to deal with, industry is making moves. Oil Change International produces the monthly OilWire bulletin in collaboration with the Global Gas & Oil Network, this month featuring FracTracker’s story on intensive water use by the fossil fuel industry in Pennsylvania. Read More.

Spotlight on Green News & Views: Backyard avian maternity ward; memories of Mt. St. Helens

May 23, 2020 – Daily Kos

Included in this roundup is FracTracker’s contribution to a letter to CA Gov. Newsom. “This morning a coalition of 100 labor and environmental groups sent a letter asking California Governor Gavin Newsom and California State Legislators to ‘protect people and not polluters’ during this unprecedented coronavirus pandemic.”
Read More.

Labor and Environmental Groups Ask Governor to ‘Protect People and Not Polluters

May 19, 2020 – Indy Bay

On May 18, a coalition of 100 labor and environmental groups sent a letter asking California Governor Gavin Newsom and California State Legislators to “protect people and not polluters” during this unprecedented coronavirus pandemic. Read More.

ExxonMobil Seeks to Restart Three Platforms Idled After Refugio Oil Spill

May 15, 2020 – Indy Bay

“On the anniversary of this deadly oil spill, in the middle of a public health crisis, Santa Barbara should embrace a clean energy future,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We need to end offshore drilling, not bring it back to life with another dirty oil pipeline.”
Read More.

New California oil permits rose 7.8% in 2020’s first quarter as oil prices plunged

May 9, 2020 – Indy Bay

From January 1 to March 31, 2020, the same time that the Newsom Administration approved 1,623 new permits, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in California, spent $1,089,702 lobbying state officials during the period. Read More.

CA Oil Well Permits Under Gov. Newsom Outpace First Quarter Last Year In Loss For Public Health, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance Report

May 7, 2020 – Consumer Watchdog

As the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded, new oil well permits under Gov. Gavin Newsom rose 7.8% in the first quarter of 2020 through April 4, compared to the first quarter of 2019, Consumer Watchdog and FrackTrackerAlliance reported today. Read More.

The struggle against California’s expansion of fracking continues as oil prices plunge

April 26, 2020 – Daily Kos

Dozens of oil tankers with 20 million barrels of crude oil are at this time floating off the California Coast from Long Beach to San Francisco with nowhere to go. The oil aboard these tankers could satisfy 20 percent of world’s production, according to oilprice.com.
Read More.

Don’t Bail Out Oil and Gas — Use the Money for Environmental Cleanup Instead

April 26, 2020 – TRUTHOUT

Despite the evidence that the fossil fuel industry in the U.S. is not profitable and basically a giant money pit, President Trump tweeted last Tuesday that he has directed his cabinet to come up with a bailout plan for the floundering industry. The announcement came on the heels of a historic plunge in crude oil that sent prices deep into the red. Read More.

Project remains priority for PTTDLM partnership

April 26, 2020 – The Times Leader

DILLES BOTTOM — The developers of a proposed petrochemical complex in Belmont County say they remain committed to the project in response to reports that the COVID-19 outbreak may interfere with construction of the plant. Read More.

Lower Youghiogheny River named the 10th most endangered river in the U.S.

April 22, 2020 – Pittsburgh City Paper

The Pittsburgh region has come a long way from its industrial past when pollution was the norm, but it still has a long way to go. The region still has some of the worst air quality in the nation, and extractive industries like natural gas are contributing to methane links and environmental degradation. Read More.

As Oil Prices Plunge, Fracking and Oil Drilling Expands in California!

April 20, 2020 – Daily Kos

Despite the collapse in U.S. oil prices, the Gavin Newsom Administration continues to expand oil and gas drilling, including fracking, in California.
Read More.

‘Gigantic impact’: Chesapeake Energy’s complex legacy

April 14, 2020 – NonDoc

In 2007, Forbes named Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy the “best managed” oil and gas company in the country. It was a designation based not only on the firm’s financial success but also on the “management ability, innovation and leadership” of its executives, including co-founder and CEO Aubrey McClendon. Read More.

Coalition slams Newsom administration for approving 24 new fracking permits

April 11, 2020 – Indy Bay

The issuing of new fracking permits took place less than two months after Consumer Watchdog and the FracTracker Alliance reported that the total number of oil and gas well permits issued in 2019 under the Newsom Administration rivals the number issued during the last year in office of former Governor Jerry Brown. Read More.

Coalition criticizes CA for approving 24 new fracking permits after a nearly six-month moratorium

April 8, 2020 – Daily Kos

Environmental justice advocates, conservationists and public health advocates were very disappointed by the approval of environmentally destructive fracking operations as coronavirus infections, hospitalizations and deaths increase daily, although less than in other states due to Governor Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order and other emergency measures. Read More.

California regulators approve new fracking permits during COVID-19 epidemic

April 4, 2020 – Daily Kos

In the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic and after a nine-month moratorium on new fracking operations,  the State Department of Conservation on Friday approved 24 new fracking permits in Kern County, the center of the oil industry in California. Read More.

Market Headwinds Buffet Appalachia’s Future as a Center for Petrochemicals

March 21, 2020 – Inside Climate News

Less than two years ago, the Trump administration and the chemical industry were promoting development of a plastics manufacturing center in Appalachia they thought would benefit Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. Read More.

RuPaul gets called out for alleged fracking on his Wyoming ranch

March 18, 2020 – Fast Company

On a recent episode of NPR’s talk show Fresh Air, Terry Gross interviewed TV host and drag queen RuPaul Charles.

It was a standard chit-chat covering RuPaul’s rise from humble beginnings to becoming the world’s foremost drag queen and host of the Emmy-winning hit TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race. However, in the last five minutes of the interview, Gross brought up RuPaul and his partner Georges LeBar’s 60,000-acre ranch in Wyoming. Read More.

Look beyond fracking for better solutions

February 28, 2020 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Shannon Smith weighs in on the danger of perpetuating the  “jobs verse environment” narrative in the 2020 presidential election. Read More.

Newsom’s ‘State of the State’ ignores threats from oil drilling

February 23, 2020 – Desert Sun

Kyle Ferrar discusses why Governor Gavin Newsom’s failure to mention oil drilling in his second State of the State address is part of a broader problem. Read More.

February 23, 2020 – The New York Times

BIG IVY, N.C. — I live in Appalachia, and on Sunday mornings I hike the Appalachian Trail across the mountains I call home. It is my church. I drink from its springs and rest in the shade of its ancient forests. Read More

Ohio anti-protest bill could criminalize support for pipeline demonstrations

February 12, 2020 – Energy News Network

Activists say a bill advancing in the Ohio legislature could criminalize activities such as offering rides, water or medical aid to anti-pipeline protesters.

Even chanting “stop the pipeline” could be construed as encouraging damage to critical infrastructure under the bill’s vague language, critics say. Read More

After School Lockouts and Flunked Inspections, Colorado Eyes Suncor Crackdown

January 21, 2020 – Westword

When Lucy Molina and her family moved from one side of Commerce City to the other five years ago, there was one thing that she and her kids immediately loved about their new home: the small park nearby, practically in their back yard, with a playground and plenty of green space to run around in. Read More

America’s Radioactive Secret

January 21, 2020 – Rolling Stone

Oil-and-gas wells produce nearly a trillion gallons of toxic waste a year. An investigation shows how it could be making workers sick and contaminating communities across America. Read More

Big Energy Front Group Launches Push for Troubled Atlantic Coast Pipeline

December 9, 2019 – Truthout

A lobbying group formed by oil and gas industry insiders to push for increased fossil fuel production has turned its focus from promoting offshore drilling in the Atlantic to championing Dominion Energy’s and Duke Energy’s controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). Read More

Fracking, oil wells to get more scrutiny under new rules from Gavin Newsom

November 19, 2019 – The Fresno Bee

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a crackdown on fracking projects and a moratorium on new oil wells that use high-pressure steam. Read More

California governor signs bill to limit gas, oil development

October 15, 2019 – MarketWatch

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed a law intended to counter Trump administration plans to increase oil and gas production on protected public land. Read more

Will a push for plastics turn Appalachia into next ‘Cancer Alley’?

October 11th, 2019 – The Guardian

Construction cranes climb into the sky and sprawl across the massive petrochemical facility that will turn a byproduct of fracked gas into plastic on the banks of the Ohio River, just outside Pittsburgh. Read more

Extinction Rebellion Activists in Sacramento

September 27th, 2019 – CounterPunch

Over 20 activists from the Extinction Rebellion today targeted the offices of the Western State Petroleum Association (WSPA) offices at 1415 L St. at 12 Noon. They sang songs, shouted out chants and briefly blocked the street in front of the WSPA offices just down the street from the State Capitol. There were no arrests. Read more

Ohio firefighters kept in the dark on drilling and fracking chemicals

September 30, 2019 – Energy News Network

Companies injected trade secret chemicals into more than 1,400 wells in the state from 2013 to 2018, a report says.

Ohio firefighters and emergency responders are being kept in the dark about potentially hazardous chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing. Read more

California has gone months with no new fracking permits. But dozens of illegal oil spills are flowing

September 13, 2019 – Desert Sun

California has issued no permits for fracking since late June, according to records reviewed by The Desert Sun and watchdog groups.

But permits for sometimes risky “enhanced recovery” wells and related storage are up nearly 60% in 2019 so far under Gov. Gavin Newsom, compared to Gov. Jerry Brown’s last year in office. Regular oil and gas drilling permits are up 20%. Read more

Environmental groups continue push to investigate link to fracking and childhood cancer

September 12, 2019 – Pittsburgh Action News 4

CANONSBURG, Pa. — Three environmental groups point to published research that link the fracking industry with chronic illnesses and they continue to suspect a deeper concern related to childhood cancer rates.

FracTracker, Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health and Center for Coalfield Justice held their most recent community information meeting to create awareness. Read more

‘Outrageous conflicts of interest’: Watchdog groups urge California Gov. Gavin Newsom to fire oil regulators

July 11, 2019 – USA Today

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Two consumer groups are calling on California’s governor to freeze all new oil drilling permits and to clean house at the agency that issues them after the organizations uncovered records showing that top state regulators and engineers held investments in Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP, Valero and other petrochemical giants. Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom fires top official over fracking permits — but won’t ban the oil wells

July 12, 2019 – LA Times

Newsom’s actions follow a report by two environmental and consumer advocacy groups, FracTracker Alliance and Consumer Watchdog, which found that along with the increase in fracking permits, a number of California’s top oil regulators and officials held investments in major oil companies, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron. The findings were first reported by the Desert Sun newspaper.

“We support the governor’s decision to eliminate the regulators who have these conflicts of interest, so the regulators are able to act in the best interests of the public health of Californians,” Kyle Ferrar of FracTracker Alliance told The Times. Read more

Watchdogs Call For Resignations & Permit Freeze As California Oil Regulators Approve Surge In Well Permits While Personally Invested In Oil Companies

July 11, 2019 – Consumer Watchdog

Los Angeles, CA — A review of state conflict of interest forms shows that eight regulators managing the state’s oil and gas well approval and inspection process have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the oil companies they regulate.  One of the regulators is among the top three in command at the State’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). Read more

California’s Biggest Secret? How Big Oil Dominates Public Discourse to Manipulate and Deceive

June 7, 2019 – Counterpunch

On Earth Day 2019, fifteen activists from the Extinction Rebellion carrying brightly colored signs and banners gathered at 12th and L Streets in front of the State Capitol in Sacramento and then marched at 10:30 a.m. to the looming offices of the powerful Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), located at 14th & L Streets. Read More

Appalachian gas storage hub seeks federal clean energy loan guarantee

May 31, 2019 – Energy News Network

Several environmental groups are considering legal options if the Trump administration approves $1.9 billion taxpayer-backed guarantee. Read More

Bill to protect National Monuments from oil and gas drilling passes through California Assembly

May 25, 2019 – Daily Kos

Torrance, CA – Legislation by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) designed to protect National Monuments from the proposal by the Trump administration to open new oil and gas drilling leases on federal public lands in California passed the Assembly Floor on May 22. Read More

Sweeping New Report on Global Environmental Impact of Plastics Reveals Severe Damage to Climate

May 15, 2019 – Common Dreams

WASHINGTON – In 2019 alone, the production and incineration of plastic will add more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere—equal to the pollution from 189 new 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants, according to a new report, Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet. Read More

Pipeline Incident Statistics Reveal Significant Dangers

January 8, 2019 – NRDC

Oil and gas pipelines in the US are lacking adequate regulation, inspection, and enforcement. As one example, our colleagues at the FracTracker analysis recently published an alarming analysis of fossil fuel pipeline incidents from January, 2010 to November, 2018—almost 9 years. Read More

State DEP Action Clears Way for Construction of Shell Falcon Ethane Pipeline in 3 Counties

December 27, 2018 – Trib Live

The ethane pipeline that will feed Royal Dutch Shell’s “cracker” plant in Beaver County has cleared the latest hurdle with the state. The state Department of Environmental Protection said it has approved permits for the Shell Falcon Ethane Pipeline , 45.5 miles of which will be located in Southwestern Pennsylvania . Read More

The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting Climate Science and Policy

December 21, 2018 – Inside Climate News

When Republican Rep. Steve Scalise stepped to the dais in the U.S. House of Representatives in July and implored his colleagues to denounce a carbon tax, he didn’t reach for dire predictions made by the fossil fuel titans that pushed for the resolution.

Instead, he talked about America’s farmers. Read More

Ingram: Natural Gas Pipeline Puts Pittsylvania at Risk

December 19, 2018 – Rockingham Now

Pipeline companies have been working on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) since 2015; both are proposed to transport fracked gas from West Virginia, through Virginia to the coast. Read More

Brown and Trump Administrations Announce Water Agreement that will Destroy Fisheries and Bay-Delta

December 17, 2018 – Elk Grove News

As Jerry Brown gets ready to leave the Governor’s Office in January, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced Thursday that they and the Bureau of Reclamation reached an agreement  on updating how the State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Water Project (CVP) are operated “to meet environmental regulations,” reported first here on the Daily Kos. Read More

Judge Orders Moratorium on Offshore Fracking in Federal Waters off California

November 16, 2018 – CounterPunch

In a victory for the ocean, a federal judge on Friday, November 9, ordered the Trump administration to cease issuing permits for offshore fracking and acidizing in federal waters — waters over 3 miles from shore — off the coast of Southern California. Read More

Will Gov. Brown Plug the Dangerous Hole in California’s Climate Action?

May 22, 2018 – EcoWatch

California Gov. Jerry Brown is gearing up to host leaders from state, tribal, and local governments, business and citizens from around the world at a Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this September. His goal is to “inspire deeper commitments” in support of the Paris agreement goals. He has emphasized that, on climate, “so far the response is not adequate to the challenge” and “no nation or state is doing what they should be doing.” Read more

Fossil Dollars Help Fuel GOP Candidate for Ohio Governor

May 8, 2018 – Bloomberg Environment & Energy Report

Fossil fuel companies and utilities are quietly throwing their weight behind Republican Mike DeWine, Ohio’s attorney general, in the race to replace term-limited Gov. John Kasich (R). Read more

Sparking Petrochemical Valley?

April 11, 2018 – The Appalachian Voice

Plans for cracker plants and a gas liquids storage hub could lead to a toxic plastics industry in Appalachia. Read more

Residents ask whether the proposed Shell ethane pipeline is an acceptable risk

April 4, 2018 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The question of what is an “acceptable risk” loomed large over the first of three public hearings on a proposed Falcon ethane pipeline meant to deliver the natural gas liquid to the petrochemical giant rising in Potter Township. Read more

Data to the people: Activists use explosion of information to bring oil and gas projects home to citizens

February 16, 2018 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Feature article on the data and mapping work of FracTracker’s Kirk Jalbert by PG reporter, Anya Litvak. Read more

Activist groups want more time to review Shell Falcon pipeline permits

January 31, 2018 – StateImpact PA

Environmental groups are asking a state agency to extend a 30-day comment period on environmental permits for a pipeline that would bring natural gas liquids to Shell’s Beaver County Ethane Cracker. Read more

For Native People, Fighting Trump’s Repeal of Fracking Regulations Is Personal

January 26, 2018 – Earther

Navajo Nation member Mario Atencio has seen the ways oil and gas can divide people. His cousins work for the industry out in New Mexico, and his grandmother lives in the unincorporated town of Counselor, not far from Chaco Canyon in the northwest corner of the state. Now, Atencio sits on the board of Diné CARE, a Navajo-led environmental organization, which is suing the Trump administration for its repeal of an Obama-era fracking rule, which would have implemented better protections for people like Atencio’s grandmother. Read more

For those living along Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipeline, a human chain of frustration

January 7, 2018 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Patrick Robinson is one of 105,419 people who live along the 350-mile, 17-county corridor of the Mariner East 2 natural gas pipeline. Landowners have been complaining about cloudy water, permit violations, illegal drilling and dumping since construction began almost a year ago. Read more

Pennsylvania shuts down construction on Sunoco gas pipeline

January 3, 2018 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pennsylvania regulators halted construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline after a pattern of “egregious and willful violations” that has trailed the year-old project. Read more

The Dangers of Fracking Waste: Is There Any Safe Way to Dispose of It?

December 8, 2017 – Counter Punch

Commercial Landfills in Colorado have been advised that disposal of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production (E&P) waste is not exempt from Colorado Solid Waste Regulations (1), for example, 6 CCR 1007-2.  Disposal of fracking waste is a nation-wide problem. Read more

Protesters resisting Mariner East 2 pipeline in Pennsylvania feeling intimidated

November 30, 2017 – Newsline

A resistance camp in Pennsylvania called Camp White Pine is seeing signs of intimidation in its battle against the Mariner East 2 pipeline and fracking as a whole, as it looks to thwart two oil giants’ plans to finish the pipeline. Read more

Industrial Polluting Facilities Are Poisoning Black Communities

November 14, 2017 – The Skanner / NAACP

A landmark report co-authored by Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sheds light on how airborne pollutants caused by oil and natural gas development affect communities of color and low-income communities. Read more

Pipelines Fuel Concern for Waterways in Coal Country

October 16, 2017 – West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Boordering western Pennsylvania, the landscape of eastern Ohio is changing, literally. Stretches of hillsides are being cleared of trees, to make way for well pads and pipelines. The oil and gas industry is starting to take a front seat in what’s traditionally been rural coal country. As in Pennsylvania, some people are excited about the new industry. But others are concerned that there’s not enough regulation in place to protect waterways, and other aspects of the environment, from potential harm. Read more

Can California Ban Fracking?

October 4, 2017 – The International Business Times

If you were to parachute into Kern County about 40 miles west of Bakersfield, you might doubt California’s status as a national leader on climate. Pumpjacks spread out in every direction across a hellscape scraped bare of anything green. Scattered at irregular intervals, spires of latticed steel reach up more than a hundred feet, secured with guywires: evidence of hydraulic fracturing, a practice sufficiently infamous that its household nickname, fracking, invokes images of tap water so toxic you can light it on fire. Read more

Pittsburgh Is Going Green, But Who Is Getting Left Behind?

September 1, 2017 – Gizmodo

America’s storied “Steel City” is on the forefront of an energy revolution, transitioning from its long reliance on fossil fuels to renewables and energy efficient homes. Read more

Mapping Sunoco’s drilling mud spills

August 1, 2017 – State Impact PA

Sunoco’s pipeline construction has resulted in 90 spills at 42 distinct locations across the state, according to new information provided as part of ongoing litigation. The amount of drilling mud spilled into aquifers, streams and wetlands across the state is estimated at about 220,000 gallons. Read more

Dozens testify against Trump administration’s proposed delay of key methane rule

July 10, 2017 – ThinkProgress

Dozens of people showed up at the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters on Monday to speak out against the agency’s proposed two-year delay in the implementation of its methane rule for new and modified oil and gas drilling wells. Read more

Alberta a black hole for up-to-date fracking information

June 26, 2017 – CBC News Canada

There have been more than 1,000 hydraulic fracturing operations in Alberta since January. But finding out what’s happening in any region of the province right now is next to impossible. Read more

Ohio pipeline spill raises broader questions about oversight

May 12, 2017 – Midwest Energy News

Releases of more than two million gallons of drilling mud triggered federal and state agency actions against the developer of Ohio’s Rover Pipeline this month, and advocates suggest those incidents may be part of a bigger problem in the rush to develop Ohio’s shale oil and gas. “I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Ted Auch at FracTracker Alliance, with many other problems, he and others suspect, going undetected. “How many little spills are there?” Read more

Data trove offers new details on complaints to DEP during shale boom

January 31, 2017 – StateImpact PA

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection received 9,442 public complaints about environmental problems in areas where unconventional natural gas development occurred from 2004 to the end of November 2016, an investigation reported, unveiling a trove of documents from the state’s natural gas boom. Read more

Line Items

November 16, 2016 – American Metal Market

Despite new safety rules requiring retrofitting or replacement of tank cars used to transport oil by rail, a host of market conditions will at least delay any boost the steel industry could have foreseen from an increase in orders for the new rail cars. Read more

Fracking’s total environmental impact is staggering, report finds

October 15, 2016 – True Viral News

A new report from an environmental group claims kids and elderly people are more at risk from living close to fracking areas. Environment Texas released a report on Thursday detailing how many schools, hospitals, day care centers and nursing homes are within a mile of fracking wells. Read more

Latino Communities, Particularly in US Southwest, At Greater Risk of Cancer and Respiratory Diseases from Air Pollutants from Oil and Gas Industry, Report Finds

September 28, 2016 – Chron.com

Clean Air Task Force, League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Hispanic Medical Association, and Earthworks today released a report and interactive map that demonstrate, for the first time, the specific risks to Latino communities of diseases from airborne pollutants from oil and gas development. Read more

Gaz de schiste: les déchets chez les pauvres…

August 1, 2016 – CentPapiers

Article in French about shale gas waste and environmental justice. Read more

The True Cost of Fracking

May 25, 2016 – EcoWatch

Arsenic. Cadmium. Chromium. Radon. Lead. These are just a few of the toxins used in hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, a controversial drilling process to retrieve oil and natural gas from shale deposits under the surface of the Earth. Read more

Fracking: environmental groups sue EPA in call for strict rules on waste

May 4, 2016 – The Guardian

Fracking has led to hundreds of billions of gallons of waste full of toxic chemicals – yet the process is hardly subject to any standards, coalition says. Read more

Forum discusses the effects of frac sand mining in Wisconsin

April 21, 2016 – WEAU.com

Several organizations hosted a forum Thursday at The Plaza Hotel in Eau Claire to discuss the effects of frac sand mining in western Wisconsin. Read more & watch video

Range Resources exec’s well-site remarks drawing sharp criticism

April 18, 2016 – PowerSource

Does Range avoid rich neighborhoods? Read more

Groups call for more transparency

April 5, 2016 – Midwest Energy News

Since 2011, shale gas drilling has been a way of life for some eastern Ohio communities, with residents acutely aware of both the benefits and drawbacks. But as production declines, are those perceptions changing? Organizers of a 2014 survey hope to find out. Read more

Rise of Fracking Wastewater Injections in Ohio Sparks Fears of Earthquakes, Water Contamination

March 7, 2016 – EcoWatch

Ohio has become a major wastewater dump for the fracking industry, sparking fears of groundwater contamination and concerns that injection of wastewater into wells could trigger the same earthquakes currently rattling frack-happy Oklahoma. Read more

Lack of action from state and federal government means that community organisations are picking up the slack of monitoring the effects of fracking in the Northeast

February 26, 2016 – London School of Economics

The rise of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has been controversial, with many campaigners expressing concern about the implications for the local environment, including streams and rivers. In new research, Abby Kinchy writes that monitoring of the effects of fracking on local watersheds in the Marcellus Shale region of New York and Pennsylvania by state, local, and multistate government is often patchy, and that many local volunteer and non-profit organisations are taking up the slack of such monitoring. Read more

Hold Your Breath — Nearly 200 Infrared Videos Expose Methane Pollution All Across the United States (VIDEO)

February 25, 2016 – Alternet

It’s not just Aliso Canyon — fugitive, toxic methane gas escaping into the air is a much more widespread problem than anyone could have imagined. Read more

Il petrolio, Il crollo dei prezzi spiegato in una pagina

January 2016 – RaiNews (Italy)

In Italian – Oil, the drop in prices explained in a page. Read more

Lack of data on fracking spills leaves researchers in the dark on water contamination

January 22, 2016 – StateImpact PA

A recently published peer-review of the EPA’s fracking study criticized the agency for reaching conclusions in their draft report without adequately explaining the lack of data and research available, including information related to wastewater, chemical and fuel spills resulting from oil and gas production. Read more

Reguladores do estado examinam se o fracking está ligado ao vazamento de gás nos poços de Alison Canyon

January 20, 2016 – Não Fracking Brasil

Reguladores do estado estão investigando se a prática controversa de perfuração do fraturamento hidráulico, ou fracking, contribuíram para o enorme vazamento de gás natural perto de Porter Ranch. (State regulators are investigating whether the controversial drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, contributed to the massive leak of natural gas near Porter Ranch.) Read more

Regulators probing whether fracking was connected to Aliso Canyon gas well leak

January 13, 2016 – Los Angeles Daily News

State regulators are investigating whether the controversial drilling practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, contributed to the massive natural gas leak near Porter Ranch. Read more

Fracking research collaborative cuts across state lines

December 17, 2015 – Midwest Energy News

In mid-October, a trio of shale drilling states — Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — signed an agreement to grow the natural gas industry on a regional level, focusing on job training, infrastructure and other areas. Read more

“We Need Not Be Polite” Hears First National Conference On Oil Train Threats

November 25, 2015 – DeSmogBlog

…These known risks and lack of regulations have created new activists across the continent and the Oil Train Response 2015 conference was the first time they have all come together in one place to discuss the issue and organize together. The event was sponsored and organized by The Heinz Foundation, FracTracker and ForestEthics. Read more

Analysis shows Utica shale output falls short of projections

October 26, 2015 – Midwest Energy News

A recent analysis of oil and gas production data for Ohio’s Utica shale play casts doubt on earlier optimistic projections from both industry and state government sources. Read more

Gaps in Fracking Knowledge Could Hinder Sustainable Future

September 25, 2015 – Research & Development

Though applied since the 1940s, hydraulic fracturing boomed in the 1990s, according to The Geological Society of America. New technology allowed the practice to be applied to horizontal wells for extracting shale gas. Unprecedented growth followed. According to a 2014 report by FracTracker Alliance, over 1.1 million active oil and gas wells exist in the U.S. Read more

Book Details Railroad Tracks for First Responders

September 22, 2015 – The Tribune-Democrat

Training officer Joel Landis with the Somerset County, Pa., Hazmat Team helped land federal funding to organize a project for responders to prepare for railroad emergencies. Read more

Ein Mitstreiter aus den USA?

August 26, 2015 – Rotenburger Neue Presse

Interview with colleague, Max Gruenig of Ecologic Institute US, regarding the collaborative Our Energy Solutions project. Read more

Company continues to mine sand in critical dune area along Lake Michigan

August 11, 2015 – Michigan Radio

Since the 1930s, Sargent Sand Company has held a permit to mine sand from its property that’s surrounded by Ludington State Park. For years, the 400 acre mine was dormant as the company negotiated to sell its land to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. That sale fell through. Last year, the mine cranked back up again, and the neighbors aren’t too happy about it. Read more

Shale Trail

July 16, 2015 – Down To Earth

The US is seeing a shale gas revolution. Domestic gas prices are historically low and the US is on the verge of exporting it. Chandra Bhushan decodes the pros and cons of the gas boom. Read more

Umweltaktivist Andreas Rathjens erkundet Bohrstellen mit US-Organisationen

July 10, 2015 – Kreiszeitung.de

Andreas Rathjens is a local supporter of the Citizens’ Initiative Clean Drinking Water and fights fracking in Germany. Together with representatives of US organizations, FracTracker Alliance and Ecologic Institute, which deal with the practices of the gas and oil production, he led a tour of the Südkreis Rotenburg. Read more

Fracking and water: Quantity, not just quality, a concern

June 15, 2016 – Midwest Energy News

Even in a water-rich state like Ohio, growing water use for fracking could strain water reserves, according to new research from the FracTracker Alliance, a non-profit organization that compiles data, maps and analyses about the impacts of the oil and gas industry. Read more

Increased Fracking Water Use in Ohio: Compromising Watershed Integrity?

July 13, 2015 – Public News Service

Water consumption for hydraulic fracturing usage increased from 177,000 gallons in 2000 to  more than 5 million in 2014. Ted Auch explains where this water is coming from and the potential usage increase in the next two years. Read more

Radioactivity Risk from Oil & Gas Activity in Marcellus Region

July 1, 2015 – FrackCheckWV

This is an overview of our post concerning TENORM levels associated with hydraulic fracturing activity.

Fracking to forge ahead in UK but not without rules, say Tories.

June 30, 2015 – International Business Times

UK’s Conservative party and its supporters, Tories, have decided to go ahead with the continuation of hydraulic fracturing, mainly due to the commercial pressures. But they say not without supervision or rules. This shows the disparity in opinion when it comes to hydraulic fracturing, since New York was one of the first states to ban fracking overall. Read More

Event highlights need for renewable energy

April 14, 2015 – Science News

Syndicated by Rocket News and Technician Online

FracTracker Alliance, along with Ecologic Institute and members from Environment North Carolina reached out to students through an event called Our Energy Solutions. It contrasted the harmful effects of hydraulic fracking to renewable energy sources throughout North Carolina and focused on the public health concerns that also come with hydraulic fracking. To learn more about the potential of renewable energy in North Carolina. Read more

Digging Under the Surface

April 13, 2015- Before It’s News

Citizens of West Virginia are coming to the realization that giving up their land or their mineral rights was not such a good idea. These fracking companies have set out contracts that state “for as long as the well is in production, this lease maintains force” in WV, also considered the “sweet spot” of the recent oil and gas boom. Homeowners talk about what it is like to live with fracking near their property, the negotiation violations and how the oil and gas companies work through contract loopholes to lessen their responsibility of damages. Read more

Rigged Decks

April 20, 2015 – Audubon

Karen Edelstein from FracTracker provides offshore rig information and John Arvin, an Ornithologist for Gulf Coast Bird Observatory analyses the impacts of offshore rigs on bird migration patterns and populations. Read More

What the Frack Is Happening Under Long Beach?

April 22, 2015 – OC Weekly

Perhaps you’ve driven past them at night: several towering panels lit up like a psychedelic art installation, with a 45-foot waterfall gushing down the side and onto the boulder-strewn, pedestal-shaped, very-much-manmade island… Read More

Most states don’t track oil industry violations, and those that do assess piddly penalties

April 2, 2015 – Daily Kos

FracTracker and NDRC unleash information about reported violations, and the results are shocking. Read More

Is Philly doing enough to reduce the risk of a deadly oil-train derailment?

April 2, 2015 – Philadelphia City Paper

Philadelphia’s residents are showing growing concerns about their proximity to volatile oil trains passing through their city and homes. Read More

Greens rank frackers with most violations

April 2, 2015 – The Hill

Chesapeake Energy Corp. appears to have accumulated far too many violations, with most being in the state of Pennsylvania.  Read More

Is Your Local Fracking Company Breaking the Rules? You’ll Probably Never Know

‎April 2, 2015 – Mother Jones, Syndicated by Environment Guru; Climate Desk

The lack of transparency in the fracking industry’s violations shocks citizens, as well as the little data that is available.  Read More

NRDC: Oil, gas violations largely unreported

April 2, 2015 – UPI.com

Syndicated by oilgasdaily.com, United Press International, Daily Kos

NRDC and FracTracker explore reasons as to why there is such little regulation regarding oil and gas violations. Read More

Top 10 Oil & Gas Companies for Spills & Legal Violations, identified

April 2, 2015 – Kansas City Infozine

Syndicated by Yubanet.com; The State Journal; e-News Park Forest; Ohio.com/drilling; NRDC

What companies are doing the most damage through violations? Read More

Fracking operators ran up 2.5 violations a day, study shows

April 2, 2015 – Chicago Tribune

West Virginia, Colorado and Pennsylvania are the only states with data available about regulation violations. How many violations are occurring in the rest of the country by day? Read More

Report identifies Top 10 oil, gas companies for spills, violations

April 2, 2015 – Akron Beacon Journal

The top 10 violators are categorized by State and Federal land. Read More

It’s Almost Impossible To Find Data On Oil And Gas Spills In Most States

April 1, 2015 – Huffington Post

Two of the top 3 violators in the country offer comments about their violation records, while the top violator declines to comment. Read More

Fracking Linked to Adrenal Problems

March 24, 2015 – lawyersandsettlements. com

Molly and her husband use Fractracker to identify the 50 wells located within a seven mile radius from her home. She explains the health effects it is having on her, her husband and her neighbors. Read More

Obama’s New Fracking Rules Won’t Apply to Majority of U.S. 

March 20, 2015 – Newsweek

New hydraulic fracturing regulations will only apply to federal and tribal lands, leaving intact private and state lands. Meanwhile, oil and gas producers find these regulations unnecessary and have taken action against them immediately following the announcement. Read More

Pennsylvania Pushes Tougher Fracking Regs

March 13, 2015 – Allegheny Front

Governor Tom Wolfe and his acting Department of Environmental Protection secretary John Quigley announce stricter regulations on fracking, specifically those controlling wastewater storage, fracking near schools, noise management, and public involvement. Read More

Study finds thousands live in PA blast zone

March 10, 2015 – CBS News

Fractracker and Penn environment released a report that illustrates just how many Pennsylvanians are within a half mile from railroads where crude oil is transported. Read More

New Map Shows Fracking on PA State Lands

Mar 9, 2015 – NPR

A map by FracTracker shows the gas wells on Pennsylvania’s public lands. Read More

Harrisburg city council to push for safety measures to protect residents from bomb trains

March 9, 2015 -The Patriot – News

Harrisburg city councilman Brad Koplinski set forth a legislation urging state and federal agencies to increase regulation on trains traveling with crude oil, trains known as “bomb trains”. Read More

Special issue of journal looks at fracking’s effects on people, animals

March 3, 2015 – Yahoo news

A peer-reviewed journal researches the public health impacts of fracking, observing health issues arising near drilling sites, and what this could mean to the 243,000 Pennsylvanians working in the oil and gas industry today. Read More

Millions of Pennsylvanians live in oil train explosion evacuation zone

March 2, 2015 – Patriot News

More than 4 million Pennsylvanians are at risk in their homes due to prevalent  train derailments and explosions. Gov. Tom Wolfe speaks on the subject. Read More

Oil trains called legitimate and urgent threat to 4 million Pennsylvanians

March 2, 2015 – ABC 27 News

Brook Lenker discusses the potential and urgent dangers of oil trains coming through our communities and the shadows we live in when it comes to obtaining data from oil and train companies. Read More

Studies explore concerns about natural-gas production and health

March 2, 2015- The Dallas Morning News

Several studies reveal health effects after short and long-term exposure to chemicals released from conventional drilling as well as fracking. Read More

Gas Industry’s Solution to Toxic Wastewater: Spray It on Roads

March 2, 2015 – Newsweek

Oil and gas companies claim that the brine from conventional drilling is non-toxic and will not harm wildlife or the environment; however, researchers and scientists disagree. Read More

Train derailment could affect 183,000 in Pittsburgh, study says

March 2, 2015- PowerSource (The Pittsburgh Gazette)

Matt Kelso illustrates the potential dangers of oil-carrying trains running through our neighborhoods. Read More

Oil train derailment report to include Johnstown

February 26, 2015- The Tribune Democrat

A train carrying crude oil exploded in West Virginia. What could a similar catastrophe mean to you? Read More

Buffalo’s Bomb Trains

February 2015 – ArtVoice

With one third of Buffalo’s population living in a disaster evacuation zone, the local media’s silence is deafening. With map by FracTracker. Read More

Five Questions about the FracTracker Alliance & Challenges of Strategic Communication in Unconventional Oil & Gas

January 2015 – C4CS Newsletter

Interview with FracTracker’s Manager of Education, Communications, and Partnerships – Sam Malone. Read more

Fracking forum draws large crowd

January 28, 2015 – Richmond Register

On Tuesday January 27, 2015, Frack Free Foothills held a community forum to discuss unconventional drilling in Berea, KY, with FracTracker’s Bill Hughes presenting. Read more

New– and worrisome–contaminants emerge from oil and gas wells

Jan 15, 2015- The Georgia Straight

A new study identifies two new contaminants polluting the water in Pennsylvania and West Virginia– ammonium and iodide. Read More. 

Environmental concerns raised as oil companies take fresh look at fracking in Kentucky

January 10, 2015 – Lexington Herald-Leader

There’s been little heat so far in Kentucky over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a technique of drilling for oil and natural gas that has caused division elsewhere in the country, but now the controversy has gushed up here. Read more

Fracking Spurred Ohio Earthquakes: Some Not Surprised

January 6, 2015 – Public News Service

Some environmentalists and energy-industry observers say they are not surprised by a new study that connects earthquakes to hydraulic fracturing in Ohio. Read more

To fill in the blanks on Marcellus data, volunteers turn to crowdsourcing

January 6, 2015 – PowerSource (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Oil and gas companies may have the money to pay research analysts for quality data, but public interests have the numbers on their side. Read more

FracTracker – A Resource for Good

January 2015 – Zielone Wiadomosci

An introduction to FracTracker Alliance and our work. Read more

Effects of fracking on the health of children

December 26, 2014 – Al Jazeera America News

Jennifer London reports on why parents are upset over drilling near schools, with an interview of Kyle Ferrar, CA Program Coordinator, FracTracker Alliance. Video (will update link when video available)

CMU, Fractraker teaming up to monitor crude oil trains through region

December 13, 2014 – PowerSource (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Trains carrying millions of gallons of crude oil from Midwestern shale oil fields pass through the region daily and at speeds approaching the limit established to reduce derailment risks, according to a pilot study by Fractracker Alliance and Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab. Read more

PR Firm to Advise New York Oil & Gas Group to “Win Ugly”

November 12, 2014 – Earth Island Journal

Leaked transcript shows energy companies will be told to make the fight against fracking opponents personal Read more

Pennsylvania’s frack ponds now number more than 500

November 11, 2014 – StateImpactPA

In 2005, Pennsylvania had 11 frack water pits. Just eight years later, aerial maps show that number has jumped to 529. It’s unclear how many of these sites store fresh water used for fracking, and how many store the toxic wastewater that results from oil and gas drilling operations. Read more

Ohio Governor Hoping To Amend “Outrageous” Drilling Tax

November 2, 2014 – OilPrice.com

With U.S. midterm elections just days away, one Republican state governor is coasting to re-election despite promising to aggressively push for higher taxes on the oil and gas industry. Read more

Shale Drilling Destroys Regional Water Resources

September 2014 – Fresh Water Accountability Project

Grand Rapids, OH – Ohioans are beginning to realize that unconventional shale drilling uses a great deal of water, permanently ruining it for other uses. But what they may not know is fracked gas and oil wells in Ohio are turning out to be less productive over time, with more water needed so the effects of water usage are rising. Read more

SkyTruth maps impoundments using aerial photos

September 20, 2014 – Observer-Reporter

Attempting to identify every Marcellus Shale impoundment in Washington and Greene counties is an arduous – perhaps impossible – task for the average citizen to undertake. Read more

Audit of fracking fluids highlights data deficiencies

August 15, 2014 – Chemistry World

A US survey of almost 250 chemicals used in fracking has identified potentially harmful compounds and exposed a lack of information about them that is hampering efforts to understand fracking’s environmental impact. Read more

Open Canvas amadpainter and Mark Eddy guest Bill Hughes

August 4, 2014 – WVNS

Charleston, WV – As rules to deal with low-level radioactive waste from Marcellus wells are going into effect, concerns are rising about the long-term impacts of it. Comments from Bill Hughes, chair of the Wetzel County Solid Waste Authority. Map of Marcellus drilling sites available. Read more

Norwegian shale-accident: 70,000 fish died and tons chemicals leaked

July 8, 2014 – EnergiWatch

Up to 100 tons of chemicals may be leaked into the wild after a fire at one of Statoil’s fracking facilities in the United States. The debate on fracking flare up again. Read more

Another Study Finds Appalachian Water Use, Underground Injection Volumes Increasing

July 11, 2014 – NGI’s Shale Daily

A recently released study by the FrackTracker Alliance shows that water use and wastewater generated from horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has dramatically increased in the Appalachian Basin since 2010, leading to a corresponding increase in the use of Class II underground injection wells, especially in Ohio. Read more

Court Ruling Shift Fracking Fight to Local Level

July 6, 2014 – Ithaca Journal

ALBANY — A key ruling by the state’s highest court has shifted the hydraulic fracturing debate to the local level, but the future of fracking in New York still relies on an opaque decision-making process by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration. Read more

5 Shocking Places Where Fracking Is Taking Off

July 1, 2014 – AlterNet

By now, many people have heard about the booming Bakken Shale in North Dakota where there is a mad rush for oil, enabled by the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a practice that pumps millions of gallons of water, chemicals and sand underground to break rock and release hydrocarbons. Read more

Directors Of ‘Triple Divide’ Documentary LIVE

July 1, 2014 – HuffPost Live

Public Herald co-founders and journalists Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman join HuffPost Live to discuss “Triple Divide,” an in-depth investigative fracking documentary co-narrarated by Mark Ruffalo.Read more

New York Towns Can Prohibit Fracking, State Appeals Court Rules

June 30, 2014 – The Guardian

Opponents of hydraulic fracturing celebrated a major victory over the oil and gas industry on Monday after the highest court in New York state agreed that cities and towns can prohibit drilling within their boundaries. Read more

Anti-Fracking Win in N.Y. Court May Deal Blow to Industry

June 30, 2014 – Bloomberg

New York’s cities and towns can block hydraulic fracturing within their borders, the state’s highest court ruled, dealing a blow to an industry awaiting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision on whether to lift a six-year-old statewide moratorium. Read more

Fracking boom threatens US water supplies

June 18, 2014 – Climate News Network

OREGON, 18 June − Since the onset of the fracking boom almost a decade ago, every state in the US has been examining its geological resources in the hope of finding oil or gas it can access through this extraction method. Almost half the states are now producing at least some shale gas, with a few – Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, North Dakota – sitting on massive deposits. Read more

More Crashes and Arrests? Report Examines Social Costs of Fracking in Ohio

June 16, 2014 – Public News Service

The rapid growth of the oil and gas industry is changing the faces of many of Ohio’s small towns. A new analysis finds a correlation between certain public safety standards and permits to frack for natural gas in counties over the Utica shale formation. Read more

Fracking water use may lead to droughts

June 14, 2014 – Mansfield News Journal

With some groups touting the economic benefit hydraulic fracturing could have locally, scientists fear the effect of current trends for the future of the Muskingum River Watershed. Read more

N.Y.’s Local Fracking Bans Spur Debate Before Top Court

June 4, 2014 – Bloomberg

New York’s cities and towns shouldn’t be able to block hydraulic fracturing within their borders because such prohibitions are trumped by state law, opponents of the bans told the state’s highest court. Read more

In Fracking Hotbed, a Muted Approach to Regulation

May 13, 2014 – ProPublica

Ohio annually processes thousands of tons of radioactive waste from hydraulic-fracturing, sending it through treatment facilities, injecting it into its old and unused gas wells and dumping it in landfills. Historically, the handling and disposal of that waste was barely regulated, with few requirements for how its potential contamination would be gauged, or how and where it could be transported and stored. Read more

Hydraulic Fracturing: Alliance calls on FracFocus to release disclosure reports to public

May 2, 2014 – EnergyWire

Officials running FracFocus.org, the online repository for chemicals used by the oil and gas industry, need to make public the detailed reports on hydraulic fracturing chemicals they provide to states, the FracTracker Alliance said in an open letter issued this week. Read more

How A Former Corporate Lawyer Stood Up To Fracking Companies, And Won

April 28, 2014 – Co.Exist

With her innovative legal strategy, Helen Slottje showed upstate New York communities how to head off the dangerous natural gas drilling boom sweeping the region. Now, as she’s honored with this year’s Goldman Prize, her ideas are spreading across the nation. Read more

Group kicks off listening project in Carroll, Columbiana counties

April 14, 2014 – Akron Beacon Journal

Communities United for Responsible Energy (CURE), FracTracker Alliance, The Ohio Environmental Council, the Laborers International Union Locals 809 and 1015 announce the launch of the Columbiana and Carroll Counties Listening Project. Throughout the spring and summer, the organizations will survey and compile the stories of 1000 Columbiana and Carroll County residents for theListening Project, highlighting the affects of the shale fracking boom on local residents and their families. Read more

FracTracker maps out all 1.1M oil and gas wells in the U.S

March 31, 2014 – E&E News

Finding the nearest active oil or gas well could be just a few clicks away with the latest map from the FracTracker Alliance. Read more

Deal renews conversation on drilling protocols

March 28, 2014 – Pittsburgh Business Times

Environmental regulations are a renewed talking point in a recent deal between Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC), Allegheny County and Huntley & Huntley Inc., experts say. The deal, inked March 17, allows for off-site gas extraction under Deer Lakes Park, according to Allegheny County. Read more

Fracking the USA: New Map Shows 1 Million Oil, Gas Wells

March 27, 2014 – AP

…But the data also illustrate how conflicting definitions of an oil and gas well can result in dramatic discrepancies in a state’s well count… Read more

Fracking Heats Up in California: Moratoria and Earthquakes

March 24, 2014 – JD Supra

The last several weeks have seen some interesting developments suggesting an increase in temperature in Oil Pumperthe debate over hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Read more

The impact of natural gas extraction and fracking on state and local roadways

March 21,2014 – Journalist’s Resource

As of March 2014 there were approximately 1.1 million oil and gas wells in the United States, a direct consequence of technological advances that have increased domestic energy production to levels unseen since the 1970s. Much of the growth has been in natural gas obtained through hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” which involves injecting immense quantities of water and chemicals into the ground to fracture the rock and release deposits that would otherwise be inaccessible. Read more

Was the Los Angeles Earthquake Caused by Fracking Techniques?

March 17, 2014 – Mother Jones

Was the 4.4-magnitude earthquake that rattled Los Angeles this morning caused by fracking methods? It’s hard to say, but what’s clear from the above map, made by Kyle Ferrar of the FracTracker Alliance, is that the quake’s epicenter was just eight miles from a disposal well where oil and gas wastewater is being injected underground at high pressure. Read more

Keystone XL: Not the Only Pipeline on Ohio’s Radar

March 14, 2014 – Public News Service

While the nation has been focused on the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, Ohioans may not realize how many other pipeline projects could be running across the state. Read more

Water for drilling may create long-term water supply problems

December 13, 2013 – The Akron Beacon Journal, Bob Downing

A report just issued from FracTracker, a data gathering and dissemination organization, supports concerns that water profiteering from sales of millions of gallons by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) in SE Ohio can create long-term water supply problems. Read more

Americans Uninformed About Fracking Says New Study

November 21, 2013 – Climate Central

Most Americans have heard little or nothing of the oil and gas production process called hydraulic fracturing, and many don’t know if they support or oppose it, according to a new paper by researchers from Oregon State, George Mason and Yale universities. Read more

Colorado Cities’ Rejection of Fracking Poses Political Test for Natural Gas Industry

November 7, 2013 – New York Times

With three Colorado cities approving bans or moratoriums on hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, the natural gas industry is being forced to re-examine its political strategy after a period of explosive growth and broad backing. Read more

Michigan Shale Viewer

September 8, 2013 – Geology.com

Our Michigan Shale Gas Viewer was featured on Geology.com’s website. Read more

Showdown in the Ohio Valley

September 5, 2013 – DC Bureau

What could make a former Marine, retired cop, and self-described “ultra-conservative” oppose fracking in his home state of Ohio? … With photos by FracTracker’s Ted Auch. Read more

Fracking Cases to Top Court

August 29, 2013 – The Wall Street Journal

New York’s top court on Thursday said it would hear challenges by energy companies and landowners to two upstate towns’ bans on fracking, the controversial hydraulic fracturing process of extracting natural gas from underground shale. Read more

Fractracker verrät, wo gebohrt wird (FracTracker reveals wells drilled)

August 27, 2013 – Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

Fracking is booming in the United States. But how polluting is the controversial method of gas and oil production, is difficult to estimate. (Article originally in German) Read more

Ohio fracking photo tour

August 23, 2013 – Green City Blue Lake

The shale gas drilling boom is not just a theoretical possibility for the 28,587 people of Carroll County, OH. They are already living with dramatic changes to the county’s woods and fields and rolling hills. This photo tour provides a glimpse of what it looks like when fracking comes to rural Ohio. Read more

Battles Escalate Over Community Efforts to Ban Fracking

August 22, 2013 – National Geographic

As President Obama visits upstate New York and northeastern Pennsylvania to discuss his education agenda, the issue of fracking looms large in the background. While his trip highlights many unresolved issues related to America’s new wealth of natural gas and oil, a growing number of communities are taking matters into their own hands. Read more

Is Nothing Sacred? Frack and Chaco Culture National Historic Park

August 7, 2013 – KCET.org

With a map by FracTracker Alliance… New Mexico, home to sacred archaeological history sites is in focus of all fracking stakeholders because of the Mancos Shale. Read more

Is Nothing Sacred

July 19, 2013 – ideastream

With a map by FracTracker’s Ted Auch. Read more

Local Government Beats Ban Fracking

June 2013 – Green Builder Magazine

Grassroots activism in New York is putting the breaks on runaway “fracking” for natural gas. Read more

New Project Maps Suspected Impacts To Well Water

May 10, 2013 – WOUB News

A new mapping project by a group of environmental organizations aims to document impacts to well water quality people believe is caused by unconventional gas and oil operations like hydraulic fracturing. Read more

New York’s Zoning Ban Movement Fracks Big Gas

May 9, 2013 – Truthout

… the entire industry has had its eyes on New York State, which has become the epicenter of an international struggle against unconventional gas. Read more

Shale Development Supporters in New York Fear Damage is Done

May 7, 2013 – NGI’s Shale Daily

In the wake of a New York appellate court ruling that two local bans on oil and gas activities should be upheld, supporters of shale development in the Empire State worry that the damage may be done, regardless of how the bans fare through a possible appeal. Read more (subscription required)

A Meeting of the Minds Over Fracking in Ohio

April 5, 2013 – Public News Service

It’s a first-of-its-kind meeting of the minds when it comes to fracking in the Buckeye State. Today (April 5th) and Saturday, scientists, doctors, attorneys, researchers and other experts are gathering in eastern Ohio to present and discuss the impacts of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Read more

FracTracker monitors shale development in Ohio

April 4, 2013 – The Plain Dealer

Shale gas development has swept into Ohio in a big way, but for many the energy push is remote — unfamiliar and out of sight in rural parts of the state. Even so, the shale play has set off heightened debate about the possible windfall and drawbacks of horizontal fracturing to release natural gas and oil from deep shale deposits.

FracTracker Alliance, a non-profit that recently expanded into Ohio, hopes to take some of the emotion out of the discussion by supplying accurate, detailed information about the shale boom. Much of that information is in the form of online, interactive maps at FracTracker.org… Read more

FracMapper site lets users pinpoint local gas/oil drilling

April 3, 2013 – Allied News

Searching the Internet for the most accurate and updated information on local gas and oil drilling is confusing for many people, but a nonprofit has stepped up to make that data available in an easy-to-read format… Read more

Renowned Experts Address Health and Economic Impacts at Ohio Fracking Conference April 5 – 6

April 3, 2013 – EcoWatch

On April 5 and 6, a group of scientists, doctors, attorneys, researchers, environmental advocates and policy experts will assemble in Warren, Ohio, to present and discuss the impacts of fracking. This conference is one of the first in the state to study and discuss facts, concerns and evolving science related to unconventional gas drilling in Ohio. It will be held at the Wean Foundation, 147 West Market St. in Warren, Ohio… Read more

Digging into Shale Gas and Its Effects on Public Health

March 26, 2013 – Pennsylvania Public Health Training Center

You hear about it daily in the news; natural gas is an immense, domestic energy source for the United States. Economic analysts and the industry promote this fossil fuel as a solution to our need for foreign energy and a cheaper, cleaner-burning fuel for household use.  But with these benefits also come significant risks… Read more

Find Oil and Gas Wells Near You With FracTracker Map

March 1, 2013 – ideastream

Researchers with FracTracker Alliance have been collecting data about Ohio’s growing shale industry. They’ve created a map that identifies oil and gas wells drilled into the Utica and Marcellus formations. The map also plots the deep injection wells that store drilling waste water. ideastream’s Michelle Kanu talked with the map’s creator, Ted Auch, about how to navigate her way around. Read more

Drilling for Answers: The Marcellus Shale

February 25, 2013 – Whirl Magazine

Learn from leaders deep in the Marcellus Shale conversation as they answer the questions you’ve been asking. Read more

FracTracker Alliance working to provide drilling information to Ohio residents

February 11, 2013 – Beacon Journal

WARREN: The lack of information about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the Marcellus shale of Pennsylvania led to the formation of FracTracker in mid-2010. Read more

Gas Free Seneca Interview

February 2013 – WRFI Radio

Yvonne Taylor and Joseph Campbell discuss the proposed Inergy gas storage facility near Watkins Glen, New York. Listen

Clean Water Action calls on California regulators for a moratorium on fracking (Photos)

December 21, 2012 – Examiner.com

Clean Water Action called on California regulators for a moratorium on fracking on the heels of a lawsuit recently filed charging the California Division of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) was lax in developing draft regulations regarding the process to extract oil and or natural gas known as fracking. Read more

Conservationists fight to save one of PA’s gem streams

December 2012 – Chesapeake Bay Journal

Groups point out that state has authority to protect Rock Run, but fear that it won’t… Article by Karl Blankenship from his experience during our first media tour through Loyalsock State Forest. Read more

“If you’re going to use river water as your source of drinking water, you shouldn’t discharge bromide” – Salts of the Earth

November 21, 2012 – Pittsburgh City Paper

It’s something of a mystery: Levels of chemical compounds called bromides have been rising and falling in the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers and no one knows exactly why. Read more

FracTracker Alliance Profile

October 2012 – WJPA News

Quick audio blurb about what it is we do here at FracTracker. Read more

Website collects, lets people track shale-drilling data in their area

September 2012 – Chesapeake Bay Journal

A feature issue by Rona Kobell about our organization and our roots as a University of Pittsburgh project. Read more

‘Fracking’ watchdog group to expand into Ohio

August 20, 2012 – Beacon Journal

Announcement of our receipt of a two-year $130,000 grant from the Cleveland-based George Gund Foundation in order to expand our FracTracker work into Ohio. Read more

Shale gas drilling declines in Pennsylvania

July 1, 2012 – Examiner.com

Philadelphia Energy Examiner, Robert Magyar, discusses the trends in shale gas drilling data with a look at PA DEP reports and Matt Kelso’s wells drilled trend analysis on FracTracker from this June. Read more

A Plan to Regulate Gas Drilling

June 13, 2012 – New York Times

A map made by FracTracker NYS Consultant, Karen Edelstein, found its way to the New York Times. The article discusses Gov. Cuomo’s plan to regulate gas drilling, which would require the approval of municipalities for the gas-drilling process to begin in their areas. Read more

Objective Marcellus shale gas data at FracTracker.org

May 24, 2012 – Examiner.com

Philadelphia Energy Examiner, Robert Magyar, gives a glowing review of FracTracker.org and our data analyses. Many thanks! We hope to be able to continue to provide objective and exploratory data analyses as drilling continues. Read more

Gas Drillers Wrangle Over NY Limitations, Bans

May 12, 2012 – Associated Press

Features statistics provided by FracTracker’s NYS Consultant, Karen Edelstein. Read more

Wildlife research grants are worth time and effort

February 2, 2012 – PennLive.com

Letter to the editor by FracTracker’s Director, Brook Lenker. Read more

New databases improve access to state gas drilling records

January 28, 2012 – Republican Herald

A redesigned website for the state’s Office of Oil and Gas Management features new data tools that simplify the public’s access to permit records, drilling dates, inspections and enforcement actions for the state’s multiplying natural gas wells… Read more

Crude Awakening

January 26, 2012 – Colorado Springs Weekly

Matt Kelso’s data analyses on the shale gas drilling industry’s violations per well drilled by company were mentioned. (Page 18) High-Res Article | Text-Only

Community Foundation for the Alleghenies Announces Director for its New FracTracker Fund

December 12, 2011 – Press Release

The Community Foundation for the Alleghenies has named a former state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources official to manage its newest fund, FracTracker.org, effective this week. Brook Lenker, who served as manager of education and outreach in the department for nearly eight years, will manage FracTracker.org staffing and operations; expand the website capabilities; coordinate and develop content; publicize and expand use of the website by journalists and other users; broaden community and academic outreach; and undertake additional strategic initiatives. Read more

Underground Story Bubbles Up in Pittsburgh Newsroom

April 11, 2011 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There are two words you hear a lot around the newsroom at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette these days:  Marcellus Shale. This article discusses the public-private partnerships that make up the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Pipeline project, including FracTracker.org. Read more

Program aims to educate public on shale drilling

January 18, 2011 – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A new program to help the public monitor Marcellus Shale well development and report problems at drill sites has been launched by the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities and a Fayette County environmental group. The Marcellus Citizens Stewardship Project will offer free training to individuals on how to assess the sights, sounds and smells produced by shale drilling operations in their communities and report their observations via online forms to an interactive Marcellus drilling data site, “FracTracker,” established by the university center. Read more

Tracking the Fracking

November 12, 2010 – Sustainability Now

Samantha Malone of CHEC discussed how FracTracker.org came to be & how it is being used to track & share shale gas drilling data. Listen

Shale Watch: Follow the jobs, events & latest online reports

August 24, 2010 – Pop City Pittsburgh

Running to keep up with the latest developments on the Marcellus Shale play from news to jobs to events? Here’s a one-stop report on the news in a nutshell from the past month… The best source for all things shale is University of Pittsburgh’s Fractracker where information on well permits, drilling activity, infractions and news are updated regularly.

New Warehouse for Shale Mining Data

July 16, 2010 – Project on Government Oversight

A great new resource for keeping tabs on the oil industry has just opened up—the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Healthy Environments & Communities (CHEC) has developed the FracTracker, a website where people can upload data on the Marcellus Shale gas reserves under the Appalachian basin. Read more

For Gas-Drilling Data, There’s a New Place to Dig

July 13, 2010 – ProPublica

Starving for data about natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale? A new website hopes to feed your need. A couple of environmental & public health groups have teamed up to create FracTracker, a web tool that brings together different data sets & presents the information on a map. Read more

Website all about shale info

July 8, 2010 – Times Leader

Two health & environmental organizations have teamed up to host a new website with a web-based tool for tracking & visualizing data related to gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale region. FracTracker.org, hosted by the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds & managed by the Center for Healthy Environments & Communities, or CHEC, of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, officially launched on June 29. Read more

Website To Track All Things Marcellus

July 6, 2010 – WDUQ

The Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health has launched a new web page that it hopes will help everyone learn more about the impacts on Marcellus Shale drilling in PA. The site, FracTracker.org, will include a blog where CHEC director Dan Volz says “snapshots” of what is happening in the Shale play will be posted for people that do not want to dig into the data on their own. For those who are more adventurous, the site also holds a web-based data tool developed by Pittsburgh-based Rhiza labs that will allow users to layer data sets and then produce a visualization of the information. Read more

Website tracks shale drillers

July 1, 2010 – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

A group of researchers, software developers and environmentalists has introduced an online tool designed to track what’s happening in Pennsylvania’s rapidly expanding natural gas industry.

Follow the drilling with Fractracker, datatools for the shale play–check it out!

June 30, 2010 – Pop City

A unique online tool is tracking the gas fracing activity & encouraging the collaboration of researchers & environmentalists across three states. Fractracker.org is a central clearinghouse for all things Marcellus Shale. Want to know exactly where the wells are? There’s an up-to-date interactive map. Interested in gas extraction incidents & infractions? Click on the regularly updated list. The site hopes to put all the available information in one place from New York to Pennsylvania & West Virginia.

Pitt Center Launches Online Tracking Tool to Assess Impact of Marcellus Shale Drilling

June 29, 2010 – Press Release

The Center for Healthy Environments & Communities (CHEC) at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health has convened a group of experts to address the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling with the launch of Fractracker.org, a new web-based tool for tracking & visualizing data related to gas extraction. Read more


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