Fracking: Air Quality

Dr. Sandra Steingraber speaks about the effects of hydrofracking on air quality. There are harmful health effects which will compromise our children's future. Will we be able to spend more money on special education and health care for our children?

Fracking: Water Quality

Dr. Sandra Steingraber, author and college professor, speaks about her well water in the Ithaca, NY, area, and asks important questions which have not yet been answered. Shouldn't we hold off on fracking until we know the answers, she asks?

Gas Drilling: More Truck Traffic Accidents, More Spills

Waste water truck line-up

Two people were sent to local hospitals August 7th after a water tanker truck rolled over on State Route 14 near Alba, PA, spilling 1,600 gallons of recycled water from gas drilling operations.  The truck driver was severely injured in the early morning crash.  After the truck came to rest upside down and partly in the road, a car came by and struck the trailer of the truck.  That driver was taken to a hospital as well.

Here is the strange part about this accident.
The PA Department of Environmental Protection were called to the scene and said that there was no "saline" in the truck and the treated water contained "no chemical contaminant."  This water was being transported from Williamsport, PA, after having been "treated" and was being taken to another well pad to be used again for another hydrofracking job.  According to the PA DEP, no clean-up was necessary except for some motor oil and hydraulic fluid from the truck itself.  The Bradford County Public Safety Director Robert Barnes said he did not know where the treatment facility was located- the one where this recycled frack fluid had been treated.

I have read that this recycled frack fluid becomes more and more salty every time it is treated for re-use and that eventually it becomes unusable and must be discarded.  Also I know that this frack fluid contains radioactive material brought up from the ground during fracking.  I do not believe this recycled frack fluid can be called water by any stretch of the imagination.  It could possibly be called recycled frack fluid, but not water.  That gives the false impression, in my opinion, that this fluid is somehow harmless, almost as if you could drink it safely.

I am also puzzled as to how the PA DEP got to the scene so fast and determined that there was no public health or environmental hazard at the crash site.  I know the DEP inspectors do a good job, but this is extraordinary!  Usually after accidents, samples are taken and sent to a lab and it takes a week or so to get the results.

The truck was operated by Principal Enterprises, LLC, of Canton, PA.  The gas drilling company was Talisman Energy USA, formerly known as Fortuna.

Read more.....

Interested in the business of treating frack water?  Go here. The industry makes some pretty amazing claims as to just how pure the treated "water" is.  Do we buy it?

I still maintain that, once fresh water is stolen removed from our rivers and streams and used for hydrofracking, it is no longer water, but rather produced water, or brine.  It will never ever be fit to drink or use in any other way as pure water.  It will never return to the hydrologic cycle as happens, for example, when water is used on golf courses.  This water is only useful to gas drillers and then only for a short while.  Then it becomes  useless even for fracking.  To read the advertisements for this water treatment process, you would think you could give the treated water to a baby.

Some interesting Reader Comments (Towanda Daily Review):

"I talked to one of these local water truck drivers earlier today and he said that he is putting in roughly 100 hours behind the wheel every week. Even working 7 days straight that is over 14 hours behind the wheel every single day. These drivers are being told to make as many trips as possible during their shift. So we have exhausted drivers racing from point A to point B and back - it's amazing we haven't seen more of these trucks involved in accidents."

"Amazing! The DEP was able to do all that testing & obtain the results in less than 24 hours???"

" I ran into one of these tanker rollovers on Sunday afternoon at near 5PM on Route 706 between the Frank and Mary's and the old Red House bakery. It was totally on its back, with wheels in the air, down from the road near a creek. There was lots of emergency services and another tanker (probably to pump the load of whatever out). Why hasn't this rollover been reported on by the Review? It did occur in Bradford County."

"There are too many crashes for the paper to possibly report them all. A couple weeks ago in Monroeton a water tanker ran completely over the front of a car. Squashed it flat. That was never in the paper. We would need a bigger paper."

"Within the past two weeks I have almost been hit head on by two tractor trailers in the Troy area. The first one broke my mirror and the second one would have hit me, but I swerved into the ditch. I encourage all truck drivers to remember that they are supposed to be professional drivers and should obey speed limits and avoid texting or talking on the phone."

"Excuse me for being suspicious, but I simply do not believe that EVERY time there is an accident and a spill by the gas industry, DEP almost immediately says there is no danger, no chemicals, etc. These trucks carry chemicals and highly toxic waste. This is why we need laws that require tracking this "stuff" from start to finish. I, too, wonder how it is they (DEP) can make such quick determinations and tell us it is safe? Each one of these accidents has the high potential to pollute our water. There are far too many of these incidents and too little reporting on them. I have heard these drivers work extremely long hours, often working 7 days in a row. This is insanity. Too much is at risk. I'd be interested in knowing that it was checked and double checked as to just WHERE this frack water was treated!"

And that's just a few of the comments at the end of the article! 

And here is another article related to this subject from the New York Times if you have a moment to check it out.                  

And finally, an interesting interactive graphic about wastewater chemicals.

I guess that's enough reading material for one day!


     

Hydrofracking: A Personal Testimony and Warning

Silica dust in the air

Hello: My name is Carl L. Mc Williams, I am married to Karen and we live in Garfield County, Colorado. There are over 10,000 active CH4 (methane) gas wells inside Garfield County, Colorado.

I spent one full year working on these CH4 wells. I was employed by  LONKAR US LTD. a Canadian company and I worked on a "swabbing rig". We were not part of the exploration (drilling). We serviced existing and producing natural gas wells. A swabbing rig is a "workover-rig" and our purpose was to remove water from the well that had stopped the flow of natural gas in a producing well. It turns out that the water we were removing was residual "fracing" water and we were never informed of the benzene and other chemicals that exist in this "production water".

In March of 2008, my swabbing rig was working on a well site where the gas company had reused the same "fracing" fluids in an attempt to save money. The problem with that is the reusing of "fracing" fluids causes the manifestation of H2S, (Hydrogen Sulfide Gas) which, in doses above 50 ppm for 30 minutes is deadly. My co-worker died and I spent three months in recovery. My employer and the billion dollar energy company basically lied and covered-up their gross negligence in ordering my co-worker and I to expose ourselves to the deadly H2S without proper safety equipment, such as supplied-air-respirators. Federal OSHA fined my employer. I blew the whistle to OSHA and was fired for doing so. My whistleblower case with OSHA is still pending and I have been black-balled from the industry.

That said, I do want to bring to your attention a very deadly practice that is taking place on every "fracing" job site. "Fracing" uses silica sand in the "fracing mix". The truck drivers, pulling "sand-cans" (box-car-size-trailers) full of silica sand arrive at the well site and using high pressure pumps unload from the "sand-cans" the silica sand into the "fracing tanks". During this process there is created a silica sand dust cloud that is much more dangerous than asbestos. Just as cut glass will lacerate the flesh of your arm, this silica sand dust is an airborne particulate, that when breathed into the lungs will cause lung damage that is a quicker death than asbestos exposure and extremely painful for the victim.

I informed Federal OSHA of this danger to Americans but nothing has happened from OSHA yet.

Therefore, I am informing you folks. The gas drilling industry has an expression: "WELL-FIELD-TRASH". The corporate officers of the natural gas industry considers all of their well workers to be "TRASH". The worker safety-protection measures on these gas well sites is non-existent.

Pass the word about the silica sand dust these Americans are breathing

Carl McWilliams
Silt Mesa, Colorado

This piece was originally published here.

There Goes the Lake: "Did we do that?"

There used to be a lake here.
Duke Lake provided Greene County (PA) residents with a popular spot to fish, boat, and swim.

Six years ago, the earth moved in Greene County, PA.  A dam at Ryerson Station State Park's 62-acre Duke Lake cracked as a result of longwall mining nearby.  The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was forced to drain the lake because of safety concerns.  Litigation ensued.  Consol Energy is responsible for the crack in the dam.  But now they don't want to pay to replace the dam.

Duke Lake is still dry.  Here is the latest advisory:

8/17/2011 1:56:00 PM

Duke Lake at Ryerson Station State Park was drawn down on 7/28/05 due to concerns about the dam. As a result there is currently no lake, no boating and only limited trout fishing available at the park until the concerns can be addressed and the lake refilled. The limited trout fishing areas are in the stream above what once was the lake near the iron bridge, and below the breached dam. The park is still open for camping, hiking, and picniking year-round and when in season, the swimming pool is open

Read the PennFuture article here.

Here's Don Hopey's article published August 25, 2011, in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  A judge will issue a decision as to whether Consol Energy will have to pay for the damages soon.

Mining State Forests in PA: What Is Alan Walker Thinking?

Alan Walker

Alan Walker, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, has proposed that we solve all of the state’s fiscal problems by taking a strip mine approach to the state forest.

Secretary Walker would do well to consider his duty under Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution:

The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.

The Pennsylvania Environmental Council is distressed about Walker's appointment as Secretary of PA's Department of Community and Economic Development.
PennFuture's comment on this is compelling.

We can't drink (un)natural gas!

Protect public lands!

No drilling in state forests!

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) In Dryer Sheets

Baby, watch out!

This blog is usually all about un-natural gas drilling and the chemical hazards related to it.  Today news comes across my desk that in our own homes scented laundry products, for example, dryer sheets, have been found to contain hazardous chemicals.  Read more......

A Compressor Station Comes to Your Neighborhood

Compressor Station in Hickory, PA

  According to the next door neighbor, "It is lit up like a Walmart parking lot at night." A recent visitor to the house next door reported bad odors and loud noise from this compressor station and wondered aloud, "How can people live next to this? What are they breathing?"

This compressor station near Hickory has plans to go from housing two to four Cat 1340 HP compressors.

Fulton Compressor Station Washington Avenue, Hickory, PA

Permitted total facility allowed emissions are:NOx - 38.94 TONS per year
VOC - 12.40 TONS per year
CO - 49.02 TONS per year

 

The emission figures above are for the original two compressors,
with four compressors these amounts would double to:NOx - 77.88 TONS per year
VOC - 24.80 TONS per year
CO - 98.04 TONS per year

A personal story:
July 20, 2011

Dear Council:

Thank you for the opportunity to share with you my family’s personal story as it relates to various health issues we have been experiencing after a Marcellus Shale compressor station was built near our home.

My name is Pam Judy. I am a resident of Carmichaels in Greene County.

In April 2006 we built a new home on property originally belonging to great grandparents and a part of the family farm. For three years my family enjoyed the peace and quiet of living in the country. However, in the spring of 2009, that quiet way of life abruptly came to an end when a compressor station was built 780 feet from our home on an adjoining landowner’s property.

Due to the noise and the fumes from the engines and dehydration unit that settle in our yard we can no longer spend time outdoors. Shortly after operations began, we started to experience extreme headaches, runny noses, sore/scratchy throats, muscle aches and a constant feeling of fatigue. Both of our children are experiencing nose bleeds and I’ve had dizziness, vomiting and vertigo to the point that I couldn’t stand and was taken to an emergency room. Our daughter has commented that she feels as though she has cement in her bones.

In November of last year our son was out on our property scouting for deer in preparation for the opening day of the season. Some of these areas were in close proximity to the compressor site. Within one day of being out, he developed blisters in his mouth and throat, had extreme difficulty swallowing, and on Thanksgiving morning he went to the emergency room of a nearby hospital.

After conducting research regarding possible emissions from facilities such as this, and the associated illnesses, I contacted Calvin Tillman, Mayor of Dish Texas. Dish residents had experienced a similar problem a few years ago when drilling was done into the Barnett Shale. Mayor Tillman provided me with a list of blood and urine tests which could be done to determine exposure. In May 2010 I had those tests performed and the results revealed my body contained measurable levels of benzene and phenol.

This prompted me to become even more vigilant in determining what we were being exposed to. In June 2010, I was able to convince the PA DEP to conduct an air quality study which focused on concentrations of volatile organic compounds typically found in petroleum products. The study consisted of a 24 hour canister air sampling in my yard and 4 days of monitoring at the site where an infrared camera was used.

The results of the 24 hour canister sampling revealed 16 chemicals including benzene, styrene, toluene, xylene, hexane, heptane, acetone, acrolein, propene, carbon tetrachloride and chloromethane to name a few.

Most, if not all, of the aforementioned compounds are known carcinogens and, if exposed, carry with them the very symptoms my family and I have been experiencing. Benzene has been directly linked to various blood cancers including leukemia and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

In November 2010 the DEP released their final report regarding findings at this site as well as four additional locations. That report states the department could find no emission levels that would constitute a concern to the health of residents living near Marcellus operations and that the sampling results were used to characterize the acute non-cancer health risks associated with industry emissions. The report further states that they did not address the cumulative or long-term impact of air emissions or the lifetime cancer risks because this was a short-term study.

Given the health issues we have been experiencing since this facility began operations, I am extremely concerned that as a result of prolonged exposure to the previously mentioned chemicals, we will develop even more serious health issues including cancer. Yet this report focused on the non-cancerous health risks.

As the Marcellus industry continues to grow so does the number of compressor sites required. With every compressor site comes increased atmospheric hydrocarbon emissions that will, in my opinion, and in the opinion of former DEP Secretary John Hanger, have a huge cumulative impact on air quality in PA.

As a local governing body you have the authority to impose restrictions on companies wanting to do business in your community. I would implore you to exercise that authority and establish set-backs so that compressor sites cannot be built 780 feet from a residence. I realize that such facilities are a necessary evil of this industry. However, they should be built in more desolate areas with the least amount of impact.

I have likened the Marcellus industry to that of the asbestos industry years ago. Both our government, and the asbestos industry, through very elaborate public relations schemes led us to believe there was no harm in being exposed to asbestos. Only to find out years later the true cancer risks. I truly believe we could be facing a similar situation as a result of the Marcellus industry. And for those of who have been exposed it could be too late.

For this reason, I would ask that you take every precaution to protect the residents of your community. It is your duty as elected officials to insure their welfare and safety. A charge you should not take lightly.

Should any members of council wish to speak with me in person, I would be more than happy to do so. And if I can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Respectfully,
Pam Judy

Check out this excellent web site:  http://www.marcellus-shale.us/
The information and photos in this post are all from this great site.  Take a look.  There are many pictures which, of course, are worth a thousand words.  Thank you, Stephanie Hallowich!

Compressor Station, Washington County, PA
More than just a colossal eyesore!

   

New Billboard Targets Hydrofracking in Williamsport, PA

As seen on Route 15 in Williamsport, PA

Visit Responsible Drilling Alliance on Facebook.

Halliburton Comes Out With New Line of Fracking Products

Drink up?

Halliburton came out with "first-of-its-kind fracture fluid system" comprised of materials from the food industry.  It is marketed under the name "CleanStim™."  

An employee of Halliburton was asked by his superior to take a sip of this stuff.  Here's the story.

I think I'll plan a Frack Tea Party!

NY Governor Cuomo's Legacy

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

Quote of the Day:

In terms of an enduring legacy, what Andrew Cuomo has to be concerned about is the possibility of being remembered as the governor who brought upstate New York hot and cold running methane out of its water pipes.
                                                         
--Fred LeBrun, Times-Union 8/22/2011



Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Gas-fund-gives-cover-to-Cuomo-2134248.php#ixzz1VrVtMQ7s

Looking For Gas in All the Wrong Places

Andes, NY

Andes, NY, Delaware County, was the location of an important meeting last Friday. One hundred and sixty residents met in the school gym to hear a presentation on hydraulic fracturing and to share views on the impact of fracking should it come to town.  Read Stanley Fish's piece from the NYT here. You'll be heartened.

The day before this meeting an article appeared in the New York Post, entitled "Why Andes is worth a peek."  This is worth reading!  See what a gem this little town is.  So many treasures to be preserved, protected, and shared.

The overwhelming feeling after the town meeting Friday was that fracking does not fit in to the value and beauty of Andes.  Will the people prevail and ban hydrofracking?  I hope so.  If Andes stays strong and resists this destructive industry- the natural gas industry-,  not only will it dodge this lethal bullet, but it will also inspire others to do the same.

Tar Sands Action: Josh Fox

Tar Sands Action/ Josh Fox from JFOX on Vimeo.

Canada's boreal forest is being destroyed day by day by the extreme fossil fuel development of the tar sands. This operation uses obscene amounts of water and natural gas and produces obscene amounts of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gasses. The area, the size of Florida or England, will be destroyed beyond saving- total destruction without hope of reclamation- ever.  The Obama administration is now considering building a pipeline, known as the Keystone XL Pipeline,  in order to deliver the oil throughout the US, even as far as the Gulf Coast.  An action is planned, starting August 20th, ending September 3rd, in front of the White House in Washington, D.C.  Josh Fox, director of the documentary, "Gasland,"  is asking people to come to Washington to join the effort.  This will be a very civil civil disobedience action.  Many arrests are expected.  Training will be given to each day's group of protestors.

More information:  Tar Sands Action.

Feeling Tricked By Your Gas Lease?

Joe Heath, attorney for Onondaga Nation, and resident of Cortland, NY, talks about gas lease issues that you may have encountered, especially as pertains to renewing or not renewing a lease. How can you fight the Big Boys and stand up for your rights?  Mr. Heath explains how you can do it.  Look for such things as extension clauses, force majeure clauses, delay rental clauses, and automatic renewal clauses, and many more tricks that can make your life miserable.

From Essential Dissent.

Is Your Water at Risk from Fracking?

From Food and Water Watch, a clever, entertaining video that lasts 2½ minutes!

Food and Water Watch Mission Statement:

Our Mission

Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping the global commons — our shared resources — under public control.

For more information, click here.

Gas Well Study Cooking Class: Making Fracking Gel

In this video we make slickwater fracking fluid using guar gum, kerosene and water and talk about the gel fluid, solvents used (like diesel, methanol or kerosene), and land application of fracture waste in West Virginia.

For more information see http://members.citynet.net/sootypaws/gws.

Laurel Lake Creek Pipeline Drilling Resumes (Susquehanna County, PA)

Salt Spring State Park
Laurel Lake Creek flows into Silver Creek which flows through this park.
[Photo: Gary Li]

It's a go for Laser Northeast Gathering Company!  They can now resume their installation of the 33-mile natural gas pipeline.  They had a little glitch- three "inadvertent returns" of drilling mud- this month, but now everything is back to drill, baby, drill normal.  The pipeline has to go under Laurel Lake Creek, a stream designated as an exceptional value waterway.  However, in eleven days, there were three accidents involving mud mixed with bentonite surging up into the pristine creek and making an utter mess.  The PA DEP is saying that there will be no lasting damage, no effect on aquatic creatures.  They say that most of the spilled material was recovered.  Think about this:  You pour gallons and gallons of mud into a creek.  How do you know you got most of it up?  And how do you really know how much mud actually did come up out of the ground and into that water? 

Laser CEO Thomas Karam met with DEP Secretary Michael Krancer in Harrisburg Monday and got the go-ahead to proceed with the pipeline project. They re-started drilling on Tuesday.  They are going to use a smaller drill to try and "intercept the existing pilot bore."  Laser already constructed a flume at the site to divert the water around the bore.  See video.

No fines have been levied thus far. 

Comment regarding the mud return from Susquehanna River Watch: LINK

FIRST, DO NO HARM

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primum_non_nocere]

LINK to PressConnects article.

Laurel Lake Creek Mud Inadvertent Return: Update

Laser Pipeline drilling polluted Laurel Lake Creek, and this is their present resolution plan to stop the mud from further leaking into the creek. The Pipeline is presently stopped from drilling by DEP and waits new plans and approval from DEP to resume drilling. filmed 8-14-11

This unfortunate accident- actually 4 mud blowouts- in Laurel Lake Creek, Susquehanna County, PA, is just another example of what can happen in the gas drilling industry. The pipeline company has admitted that it is surprised. It is not familiar enough with the geology of PA. But that doesn't stop them from going right ahead and trampling all over the place, taking risks with an exceptional value creek.

Gas Royalties in Texas: New Deductions Affect Royalty Checks

Chesapeake Energy has decided to deduct post-production costs from royalty checks in the Barnett Shale Play in Texas.  About 20,000 royalty owners will likely see their royalty checks slashed by roughly 25 percent after the company deducts expenses associated with post-production, such as gas gathering, compression, and transportation, according to the Star-Telegram.  The changes took effect with the July royalty checks, based on May production.  Only those leaseholders who have specific clauses precluding assessments for post-production costs will be exempt from this new policy. Would you like to read the letter they sent to landowners who have signed leases with them?  Here it is:  http://www.askchesapeake.com/Barnett-Shale/Royalty-Owners/Pages/Gathering-Deductions.aspx

Chesapeake Energy can do this with leases that do not specifically prohibit the assessment.  That's how it works.  Pennsylvania, watch out.

A related article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Read Sue Heavenrich's blogpost on The Marcellus Effect.

PA Governor Corbett Devalues Renewable Energy, Supports Gas Industry

Governor Corbett

Pennsylvania's primary energy office, the Office of Energy and Technology Deployment, has been severely slashed.  The directors of the office have been removed and reassigned to the Office of Energy Management and the Governor's Green Government Council, according to Don Hopey in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday.  The governor has also put a stop to signing contracts that support clean energy supply. There are many negative ramifications to this change of focus, for example, losing possibly more than 100,000 good jobs.  Read more here:  LINK

Governor Corbett had the bright idea of paddling the Susquehanna River in a kayak recently, but he purposely avoided any citizens who might ask him the hard questions about the gas industry and its effect on the river.

Natural Gas Drilling: It's Horrible What They Do (frack parody)

Another frack parody for Catskill Citizens http://www.catskillcitizens.org/. This time it's a parody of James Blunt's "You're Beautiful".

Here are the lyrics:

my life was brilliant
now it's a joke
turn on my faucet
and then I choke

the gas that their drilling for
is probably killing me
they can filter it all night but it still won't be clean

it's horrible
it's horrible
it's horrible what they do
it just ain't right when your water ignites
and it smells repulsive too
would you care if it were you

well it comes out brown
and makes a hissing sound
and it kills all the grass whenever it hits the ground
and they're so good at passing the blame
to them life and death are just part of the game

it's horrible
it's horrible
it's horrible what they do
begging on your knees
but you signed that lease
so there's nothing you can do
and here's what they think of you

la la la
la la la
la la la loser

it's horrible
it's horrible
it's horrible what they do

everyone at Haliburton should be ashamed of themselves
they only care about money they don't care about you
But it's time to face the truth,
cause they're coming next for you.


A huge thank you to Josh Fox and everyone who had anything to do with Gasland the Movie or supporting the cause!!

Jake Brakes Prohibited in Wyalusing, PA

Noise pollution is a significant problem, especially in gasland areas wherever that may be.  This week Wyalusing Borough voted to prohibit the use of jake brakes which make a loud machine gun type of sound when applied. With all the gas drilling vehicles everywhere in Bradford County, this will perhaps make carrying on a conversation on a street corner or sleeping at night a little easier.  However, the slow and persistent destruction of the environment and the dangers to public health will continue despite tiny measures such as this.

LINK

Laurel Lake Creek Update: Another "Inadvertent Return" of Mud (PA)

A very sad situation gets worse. Another inadvertent return (mud blowout) in Laurel Lake Creek, Susquehanna County, PA. This pristine stream is supposedly protected by the PA DEP as an exceptional value stream. Such a designation means that it is protected more than other streams. So much for that plan. If you watch the men standing in the stream, trying to "fix" this mess, does it strike you that they seem to just be randomly throwing what look like sandbags haphazardly as if they have no clue what to do. Are they just trying to act busy and look like they are doing something beneficial? To me it looks like a lost cause. From crystal clear water to thick coffee. News is that there have been three mud blowouts in the last week or so in this creek. Drilling stops, then resumes, and then another blowout. Isn't there a definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Here is Part Two of the video taken by a resident of the area on Monday, August 8th. You can see the mud coming up in the creek.

This just in from Vera, reporter from Susquehanna County (August 10th):

[The mud is] still leaking and being pumped out;

day 13 --first happened July 29th. The ban on drilling still on for that section--it's coming out of different spot in the creekbed; about 10 feet from the other spot-- our geology is a challenge for them--

thanks, to the Gaia Earth-- Be a challenge-

WHERE WILL WE GO AFTER OUR PLANET IS UNINHABITABLE?

Third Spill At Pipeline Muddies Susquehanna County Creek (PA)

This is very sad news. Three mud spills in just a few days. No small matter to ruin a creek deemed exceptional value.  But this kind of thing will continue in all probability because the pipeline industry cannot know that something is wrong before it happens.  Or maybe they can know, but they will continue to drill and install pipelines anyway.  A little collateral damage is okay, right?

Read more here. (Laura Legere, writer)

And here. (Marcellus Drilling News)

Marcellus Shale Reality Tour: Bradford County, PA

This 40-minute film shows a group of 15 citizens from Luzerne County, PA, including some public office holders, as they traveled by bus to Bradford County, PA, to see firsthand the drilling operations in all its stages, including compressor stations and pipelines. Compelling testimony from land owners who have been severely impacted by the gas drilling industry.

The film project was done by GDAC. (Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition)  Check out their website.

Heavy Fraffic

A clip from a movie called "Groundswell." Heartbreaking truths about what the gas industry is doing to us- destroying the life we wanted to live. David Kagan, a retired English and mathematics teacher, has lived in Pine Creek's southernmost village of Torbert since 1991. Here he talks about what the natural gas industry has done to him personally.

To read some of David Kagan's work, click here.

Another Truck Overturns, Spills Fracking Fluid in PA

A tractor trailer carrying an acid used in hydrofracking overturned around midnight in North Mahoning Township, Indiana County, PA.  Another sharp turn in a road- perhaps driving too fast?  Nine of the ten of the containers on the truck started leaking along with diesel fuel.  Ten houses were evacuated.

When is this going to stop?  Truck accidents are too common.  The driver was injured and taken to a hospital. Imagine being awakened at midnight by a knock on the door and told you must get out.  Scary and a rude awakening for sure.

Click here to read the original article.

Laurel Lake Creek Mud Spill: Susquehanna County, PA

An eyewitness covering this accident continues her report:  "Next day , I went to see more clean-up activity than ever and more mud oozing out and two containment pits-- and it's spreading over a 1/2 mile to the next creek-- they can't stop it so far-- it's powerful mud and a lot a pressure under the earth pushing this out-- the creek is all brown and muddy and it was pristine clear-- what a sad sight--"

A PRISTINE WATERWAY IS RUINED

GAS DRILLING IS HAZARDOUS TO OUR HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF OUR PRECIOUS ENVIRONMENT

Drilling Mud Truck and Car Collide in Susquehanna County, PA: One Fatality

John Jones, age 57, was killed in this accident. He had at least two children.

Water Tanker Tips Over Into Ditch: Susquehanna County, PA

This accident was minor.  Yet it took several hours to get the truck out of the way while more trucks waited in a long line to get through.  No one was hurt.

I applaud the brave person who filmed this incident.  She goes wherever she finds the real news and provides videos for us who can't be there on the scene.  Indy Media at its best!

Mud Blowout in Exceptional Value Watershed: Susquehanna County, PA

Laser Pipeline mud and bentonite blow out into exceptional-valued Laurel Lake Creek, Silver Lake Township, Susquehanna County, Pa. Videotaped 8-1-11. Rockford company drilling and drill bit came out into creek spilling the mud. Company pumped and contained the spill into a containment pond but it's still seeping downstream into the creek as we witnessed. DEP has been there and investigating. The latest impact on our delicate environment.

To read the Pennsylvania Code for High Quality or Exceptional Value Waters, click HERE.  This accident has impacted a body of water designated as exceptional value.

(Click on map to enlarge.)

From the DEP website:

The highest quality streams are rated as ‘EV’ and DEP testing must show a high biotic integrity and health with test data from over a year period to obtain this rank. EV streams include all streams that flow through state natural areas, or federally protected wilderness areas, other waters that receive a score of 92% biotic integrity ranking, and wilderness trout streams. Once a stream has been defined in such a way, the stream is protected in that DEP regulation does not permit uses along the stream that would lead to any degradation of the stream quality. The ‘HQ’ streams are the next level of quality (slightly degraded) and must show a macro-invertebrate community score of 83% or better, or be a state designated class A trout stream. HQ streams are defined as still sustaining cold water fisheries. The EV streams are mostly found in undeveloped areas of a watershed and represent, perhaps, some of the more pristine streams remaining in the state. One road block in this designation system is the number of streams that are untested or evaluated. Evaluations are usually made by DEP staff although the public can petition for a review. Because of staff limitations, many streams remain unevaluated.

IS THERE A SAFE WAY TO DRILL?

CAN A MESS LIKE THIS BE REVERSED?