Academy Award Nominated Josh Fox Is Arrested At a Public Hearing at the U.S. Capital

Shame, shame on Andy Harris, Republican representative from Maryland. He had Josh Fox arrested rather than allowing him to film the hearing on hydrofracking and the EPA study on water contamination in Pavilion, Wyoming. Transparency? A thing of the past to Rep. Harris.

In a stunning break with First Amendment policy, House Republicans directed Capitol Hill police to detain a highly regarded documentary crew that was attempting to film a Wednesday hearing on a controversial natural gas procurement practice. Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, can be heard at the end of the clip asking Republican Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.) to halt the arrest and permit the man to film the public hearing.

IS DEMOCRACY DEAD?

Press Conference in Dimock, PA: January 20, 2012

Today, 1-20-12, Press Conference at the Sautner House in Dimock, Pa., Susquehanna County, where Julia Walsh of Frackaction.org of NY introduces Dimock residents with polluted water. Craig Sautner speaks, followed by Victoria Switzer, then Silver Lake resident, Craig Stevens and Josh Fox, "Gasland", Producer. EPA decides to bring water in a large tanker for polluted residents after reviewing more test data received by Cabot Gas and DEP and EPA will test 61 homes in the area starting this Monday and Tuesday and continue to bring water to several homes in Dimock. Industrial chemicals, barium , arsenic and metals, besides methane found in the water. Four EPA people were there.

Only four homes in Dimock are slated to receive clean water from the EPA so far, but there are many more homes still in need of clean water.

THANK YOU, EPA, FOR BRINGING CLEAN WATER TO DIMOCK.  A GOOD START, BUT THERE ARE MANY MORE FAMILIES IN NEED OF CLEAN WATER.

The Gasketeers

Used with permission from Stevo

In days of yore, long ago, the King of France had his own private guard to

protect him," the Musketeers". Our new King Gas has come up their own private

guard, " the 3 Gasketeers". Fear not my fellow fighters, for there was another,

known as " the fourth Musketeer".

That is you my friends, you are " the fourth and greatest Musketeer of all !

You prove daily that the pen is mightier than their sword. So, draw that pen from

it's scabbard, raise it to the sky, and say " I'll never go thirsty again"! Thanks.

Gasfucius says : " Our lives are the sum total of our experiences. But it is not just

the experiences, it's the people we experience it with. So let's not be a "Mouseketeer" ! "

                                                                                                                -Stevo

DOWN WITH KING GAS!

Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting on Democracy Now

Efforts by lawmakers and regulators to force the federal government to better police the natural gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," have been thwarted for the past 25 years, according to an exposé in the New York Times. Studies by scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on fracking have been repeatedly narrowed in scope by superiors, and important findings have been removed under pressure from the industry. The news comes as the EPA is conducting a broad study of the risks of natural gas drilling with preliminary results scheduled to be delivered next year. Joining us is Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, a firm that tracks environmental spills and releases across the country, based in Ithaca, New York, where fracking is currently taking place.

Gas Companies Used Diesel in Fracking

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

NPR's Terry Gross: How Safe Is Your Drinking Water?

An estimated one in ten Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals, parasites, bacteria, or viruses, or fails to meet federal health standards. Terry Gross, on her radio show, Fresh Air, on NPR today, talked with journalist Charles Duhigg who says that part of the problem is that water-pollution laws are not being enforced.

If you have a half hour to spare, sit down and listen in.

Mr. Duhigg covers many areas of concern, and Ms. Gross asks those probing questions that we wish a lot more interviewers would ask!

Click here to hear this excellent interview.

Charles Duhigg is writing a series for the New York Times entitled, "Toxic Waters," a series about the worsening pollution in American waters and regulators' response. Check out some of his installments:

Power Plants: Cleansing the Air at the Expense of Waterways

Agricultural Runoff: Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells

Industrial Waste: Pollution Grows With Little Fear of Punishment

Herbicides: Debating How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your
Water Glass

Watch a remarkable short video called "From Air To Water Waste," by clicking here. The video is on the right hand side of your screen in a tiny box!

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!
FIND OUT WHAT'S IN YOUR WATER

Dunkard Creek Massacre

A major fishkill was first detected in West Virginia on September 1st and reported a week later. The problem occurred in Dunkard Creek, a beautiful stream along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border. An article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Don Hopey explained that a bloom of toxic algae was being blamed for killing thousands of fish, mussels, and other aquatic creatures in more than 30 miles of the creek. The type of algae, golden algae, is usually found in hotter and desert environments, so it is baffling how this algae ended up in the creek. There are two mine treatment facilities in the area near St. Leo, West Virginia. There is also a new borehole which was being used as an injection well for drilling wastewater.

Consol Energy operated the two deep mines. A subsidiary of Consol, CNX Gas Company, is also involved with these mine operations. CNX had been cited for violations at its Morris Run injection well in 2007-2009 and fined $157,500. It is possible that these mines are not the source of the polluted creek water. Several environmental groups, watershed and sportsmen's organizations, and the PA Campaign for Clean Water are calling on the EPA to stop all gas well drilling discharges into Dunkard Creek and require Marcellus shale gas drilling operations to document where they are disposing of all wastewater.

Meanwhile, many people who have enjoyed the creek are devastated by what has happened. Betty Wiley, president of the Dunkard Creek Watershed Association, said,

We've just been decimated down here. Everything is being killed almost from the headwaters of the creek to where it flows into the Monongahela River. It's such a tragedy for the creek. An ecosystem has been destroyed.

Preliminary counts have estimated that more than 10,000 fish have died. Environmental agencies say it is the worst they have seen. Eighteen species of fish and at least 16 species of freshwater mussels have been been all but wiped out. The salamander mussel and the snuffbox mussel are both being considered for the federal endangered species list.

Federal and state investigators have reported extremely high total dissolved solids (TDS) and chlorides- properties found in wastewater from Marcellus Shale gas well drilling operations but not mine water. Furthermore, dead fish were found about a mile and a half up the creek above the treatment plant, making it quite unlikely that the mines could be solely responsible for the lethal discharge. State agencies are now looking at the possibility that someone has illegally dumped drilling wastewater into the creek to avoid the expense of complying with laws governing disposal. West Virginia DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco says,

The elevated levels of TDS and chlorides in the creek indicate oil and gas drilling wastewater. We are following up on every lead that people give us. If they saw a truck pull up to the creek and put a hose in, we want to know about it. We want the name on the truck, a license plate number, anything we can use to identify it.

Ed Presley, who owns property along the creek said,

It's disgusting to see that much life wiped out. To see the quality and beauty of that stream and then to see what happened to it, well, it really tears at you.

The gas industry is the most unregulated industry in the nation. However, even the regulations that are in place, such as the treament of wastewater are almost impossible to enforce because there are not anywhere near enough inspectors. Another problem is the remoteness of many areas which makes it easier for gas industry employees to cut corners and discharge wastewater into streams and rivers without permits or proper treatment. If this is happening, it must be stopped. Citizen watches may become necessary in every area where drilling is taking place.

More information on this fishkill:
Here (United Business Media) and here (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

Read Don Hopey's poignant article published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday, September 20, 2009. We are going to experience more and more fishkills and polluted streams. Gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale is only just beginning to invade Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, and Ohio.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!
REPORT VIOLATIONS!

What Is the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act was enacted in 1986 to establish a process for informing people of chemical hazards in their communities. Companies are required to report the locations and quantities of certain chemicals stored, released, or transferred. Some of this information is made available to the public in an annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Congress originally specified which industries were required to report to the TRI, but gave the EPA the authority to add or delete industries. The EPA was also given discretion to require reporting from any facility, based on criteria including the toxicity of the chemicals involved, proximity to other facilities that release a toxic chemical or to population centers, and the history of releases at the facility. While petroleum bulk stations, terminals, refining and related industries are required to report to the TRI, oil and gas exploration and production are not.

This information is part of testimony presented by Amy Mall, Natural Resources Defense Council, on the applicability of federal requirements that protect public health and the environment to oil and gas development. Ms. Mall appeared before the Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Henry Waxman, on October 31, 2007. On that day, the NRDC released a report entitled, “Drilling Down: Protecting Western Communities from the Health and Environmental Effects of Oil and Gas Production." This report discusses hazardous materials that can enter the environment during oil and gas exploration and production, the loopholes in federal laws that allow industry to legally release these contaminants into the human environment, and the technologies readily available to control pollution and minimize toxic waste in order to reduce any impacts to human health.

Summary: The oil and gas industry has expanded rapidly during the last decade in the United States, particularly in the Rocky Mountain region, and predictions call for that trend to continue. Oil and gas production is a dirty process; many of the steps involved can be sources of dangerous pollution that can have serious impacts on the region’s air, water, and land—and on people’s health. Despite the number of dangerous materials involved in oil and gas production—and the frequent proximity of these operations to residences and other community resources—the oil and gas industry enjoys numerous exemptions from provisions of federal laws intended to protect human health and the environment.

To examine the entire report, click here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!