Saturday, February 27, 2010

Democracy Now! Addresses the Gas Industry


Congress to Investigate Safety of Natural Gas Drilling Practice Known as Hydraulic Fracturing

The top Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have asked eight oil-field companies to disclose the chemicals they’ve used and the wells they’ve drilled in over the past four years. Last week, Waxman also revealed two of the largest gas drilling companies have pumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel-based fluids into the ground in violation of a voluntary agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Guests:

Josh Fox, director of GasLand. Won Special Jury Prize for Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. In GasLand, Josh Fox travels across the United States to meet people whose lives have been impacted by natural gas drilling.

Lisa Bracken, lives on a wildlife sanctuary near Divide Creek in Colorado. Divide Creek suffered environmental damage in a blowout cause by natural gas drilling. She appears in GasLand.

Joe Levine, co-founder of the groups Damascus Citizens for Sustainability and NY-H2O, which oppose the gas drilling.


DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Drilling Companies Ignore Laws


Picture by Pete Hardenstine

Four truck drivers were fined and jailed on Wednesday, February 3rd, in Towanda PA. They were charged with driving with invalid permits. The state police alos found "numerous safety, permit and load securement violations." The trucks were impounded. The drivers, unable to post bond, were sent to the Bradford County Correctional Facility. They work for T. K. Stanley, Inc., of Waynesboro, Mississippi.

Some observations: None of the truck drivers were from the local area. Weren't at least the truck driving jobs supposed to go to locals? The company trucks were being operated without the proper permits, and they were probably way over the limit for tonnage. I have personally seen these huge trucks driving way over the speed limit on these narrow back roads. They can scare the living daylights out of us ordinary people. I've been nearly driven off into the ditch a couple of times. And lastly, everyone probably realizes that these violations go on every single day. And we can see the roads going to pot, literally. We also know, do we not, that there aren't enough inspectors or state police to monitor all the roads of Bradford County. So the gas drillers can just go on as usual, knowing that there will be a few fines here and there, but for the most part, they don't have to really worry about it. Why should they?

Read this article from pressconnects.com.


DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!