House Explosion in Orwell, Ohio, Thought To Be Caused By a Natural Gas Leak

Orwell, Ohio: One woman is dead, and her boyfriend is in critical condition after their house exploded July 16th.  A gas well is on the property, and natural gas (methane) would sometimes migrate into the water system.  The explosion occurred when the man lit a cigarette.

Read more here. Video included.

How Gas Wells Leak: Power Point By Chip Northrup

Dr. Ingraffea: New York Times

Gas Bridge To a Cooked Planet: Chip Northrup

Watch the trailer of Josh Fox's brilliant new documentary Gasland Part 2.

Below is Chip Northrup's commentary on the new documentary Gasland Part 2 by Josh Fox.

http://blog.shaleshockmedia.org/2013/07/09/gas-bridge-to-a-cooked-planet/

Northrup provides a lot of great information, including graphs showing what will happen in the near future if we continue to use fossil fuels or if we go to sustainables.

 

Where are we going when there is no more water to drink here on Planet Earth?

Smokey the Bear on Fracking

Marcellus Gas Drilling: The Mannings Tell Their Story

In less than 10 minutes, this video shines a light on the Mannings in Pennsylvania whose water is ruined. Listen to how their life has changed since hydrofracking began near their home. How much help have they gotten from the DEP or the gas company?

Yoko and Friends Travel To PA

On January 17, 2013, Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon, accompanied by other celebrities, engaged a tour bus to take them to Susquehanna County, PA, where they met with several local families who have been severely impacted by natural gas drilling. Vera Scroggins, fearless and relentless warrior against fracking (and all it entails), took this video which has some special moments. If you are bothered by the barking dog, just go to 11:30 on the video. At that point Yoko and Sean, Susan Sarandon, Josh Fox, and Arun Gandhi, and others are sitting in the living room of a local family and viewing some video of methane gas billowing out of the family water well. At one point, I was so touched when Sean said to his mom," Mom, look! That's gas coming out of the well!" He is so kind to his mother, and to him she is just "Mom." One other moment that touched my heart was when Sean was heard saying, "I gotcha." He was holding on to his mom's arm to make sure she didn't slip on the ice. He was brought up right! Such a gentleman and so solicitous of his mom. At the end of Vera's video, Sean speaks poignantly to everyone on the bus, telling of his personal interest in protecting the environment and expressing his deep emotion about how people have been hurt. He has compassion and empathy, qualities I wish more people had.  I was really impressed with this group.  They were sincerely affected by what they saw.

The Sky Is Pink: Josh Fox's New Movie For NY

Dear Friends,

I know I don’t have to tell any of you what a vulnerable moment this is for New York and all New Yorkers. The New York Times has reported that Governor Andrew Cuomo will soon announce that drilling will be permitted in parts of the following five New York Counties: Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga in the Southern Tier. The Governor’s office has made no official announcement as yet, but all indications suggest that the counties listed above will be the first to be sacrificed and that drilling may be permitted as early as this summer. We’ve made a new short film, The Sky is Pink, which has just been released at Rolling Stone Magazine online. The Sky Is Pink details the shocking campaign of misinformation perpetuated by the gas industry, their flagrant disregard for the health and safety of the communities they ravage, and the historic decision that Governor Cuomo is about to make. We’re telling Governor Cuomo that there are no expendable counties or communities in New York State and that we are not willing to allow the gas industry to exploit or endanger any of our fellow citizens. Governor Cuomo and his administration must be held to their promise to make decisions on behalf of New Yorkers based on sound science and they must provide the people of New York with a full Health Impact Assessment. We demand that no weak compromises or deals are cut that send New York down the slippery slope toward a full-scale assault by the gas industry. I’m asking you to help us make sure this film reaches far and wide. Clearly the 60,000 comments received by New York’s Department of Environmental Protection have been ignored. Clearly, we’re going to need to be even louder this time if we are going to be heard. We need to tell Governor that hydraulic fracturing is not safe, not now, not ever and not in New York State.

Read Jeff Goodell's article at Rolling Stone Magazine here: You`can also watch the full film here:
 http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/new-anti-fracking-film-by-gaslands-josh-fox-targets-cuomo-governor-what-color-will-the-sky-be-over-new-york-20120620

 Please, send it to everyone you know. Post it everywhere you can.

Love, Josh

Unearthed: The Fracking Facade

Published on May 4, 2012 by uneartheddocumentary Un•earthed: Setting the track record straight - A video exposing a flawed claim often abused in the sales pitch for promoting shale gas development across the world: "With a history of 60 years, after nearly a million wells drilled, there are no documented cases that hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') has lead to the contamination of groundwater." Brought to you by the team behind the upcoming South African feature documentary, Un•earthed, that is investigating natural gas development and the controversial method of extraction known as "fracking" from a global perspective. Should South Africa and other countries drill down?

https://www.un-earthed.com https://www.facebook.com/uneartheddocumentary

Snake Creek Bubbling With Methane In Susquehanna County, PA

Went to Snake Creek today, 5-18-12, and taped these bubbles streaming up and put a barbecue lighter to them which ignited the bubbles---watch -- this is in Franklin Forks near the swimming hole rope hanging from a large tree-- about 35 feet from the tree along the bank. Next to Snake Creek Marina , off route 29 , Franklin Forks, Susquehanna County, Pa. I've written and called the DEP and other regulatory agencies to investigate this. This is also near the 4 homes that recently since March were publicly equipped with methane venting stacks for high methane in their water wells. This is down the road from a gas drilling pad with four gas wells.

Vera
Anti-fracking Warrior
Susquehanna County, PA

Gas Company Investigating Contaminated Water Well in PA

Uploaded by veraduerga on Mar 23, 2012

Taped 3-22-12. WPX evaluating the well structure and think this is the problem why it is erupting. Faulty well structure. I ask them to focus on isotopic testing of the water and see where this methane is coming from! Gets a bit heated....

More details here and here and here.

After watching this exchange between Vera and the gas company reps, I have to think that, although they are trying to appear calm and respectful, they don't really know what to do.  They want to give the appearance of doing all they can to be "good neighbors,"  even though they imply that this is not a problem THEY created, but rather a problem with the well.  Even so, they say they are offering to pay for repairs.  Of course, we know that other people who live nearby are also having well water problems.  So are all these wells going bad at the same time?

It appears that this gas company is grasping at straws, and the homeowner is getting a little (or a lot) of run-around. 

Marcellus Shale Reality Tour: Part Five

Uploaded by GADCLuzerneCounty on Mar 15, 2012


A video by Scott Cannon http://gdacoalition.org

State regulators are investigating the cause of high methane levels in three Susquehanna County water wells after residents reported gray or black sludgy water, and one home's well began to erupt water through its cap.

The Department of Environmental Protection has not yet determined if natural sources, nearby natural gas drilling operations or some other cause has mobilized methane and metals into drinking water supplies. Inspectors were in the township hamlet of Franklin Forks on Wednesday to take a second round of samples from water wells.

DEP officials originally indicated to residents in January that the likely source of the gas was a natural methane seep documented for over a century in nearby Salt Springs State Park.

But the chemical markers of the Salt Springs methane have been well characterized by scientists and the department is just now in the process of determining the signature of the gas found in the water wells to compare to the seep.

Analyzing the stable carbon isotopes - a form of chemical fingerprinting of the gas - "could prove fruitful" in this case because Salt Springs is so well documented, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said.

The department also is considering the potential impact of nearby Marcellus Shale drilling on the water supplies.

"Everything is still part of the investigation," she said. "We're not ruling anything out."

DEP cited WPX Energy for defective casing or cement in two of the natural gas wells closest to Franklin Forks last year. The nested strings of steel casing and cement are meant to protect aquifers from gas and other fluids in the wells, but flaws in the barriers have caused methane to migrate into water supplies throughout the region, most notably in Bradford County and Dimock Twp. 15 miles south.

DEP inspectors also found gas bubbling from between the casing strings on three more WPX wells on the same two well pads - the DePue and Hollenbeck - although those wells were not cited for violations. Bubbling is often viewed by state regulators as an indication of a leak or defect in a well's construction.

WPX is an exploration and production company recently spun off from Williams Companies.

DEP is evaluating the WPX wells as part of its investigation, but it has not named any responsible party and has not ordered any company to replace or restore the water supplies, Ms. Connolly said.

Water Well In PA Exploding With Methane

Uploaded by veraduerga on Mar 11, 2012

Water Well on route 29 in Franklin Forks, Franklin Twp.,Susquehanna County, Pa., exploding with very high methane 38 mg/liter after gas drilling and fracking the past 6 months. Gas wells are one mile east and west of this property. The family and neighboring homes can not drink their water. Methane is in the house, and adults and children are living in the homes. DEP investigating. Methane and high metals found so far. Taped on 3-9-12 by Lauren Petracca.

More here....

EPA To Dimock Residents: Water Is On the Way- NOT!

This weekend Dimock residents were under the impression that the EPA planned to deliver emergency water to them.  But the decision was reversed, and the reason is unclear.  The affected families literally have no water with which to cook, bathe, wash clothes, and flush toilets.  This is just wrong.
Read more.

Methane Still Bubbling in Susquehanna at Sugar Run, PA: Day 444

Today it will be 444 days since methane began bubbling up in the Susquehanna River at Sugar Run in Bradford County. Still no resolution to the problem. Where is it coming from? When will it be stopped? Unanswered questions.

And another video:
 

From the Wyoming County Press Examiner, CLICK HERE.

And from Don Williams, filmed on July 17, 2011:

VIDEO

When will we get this problem resolved?

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

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!!

Footage of Susquehanna River Bubbling

Don Williams of Wyalusing, PA, kayaked at Sugar Run July 17th and took this footage.  Click on the link:

LINK

Why are these bubbles coming up from the river bed?  Where are they coming from? And why can't the gas companies do something about it?  Well, I think it is because, despite claims by gas drillers that what they are doing is safe and predictable,  we are still forced to live by the geology of the region which means we have no way of knowing where methane and other chemicals used in gas drilling, especially hydrofracking, go after they are put down the hole under immense pressure.  Not even half of the chemicals ever come back to the surface.  Where do they go?  They go wherever they find a pathway, and no one can even guess about that. 

Gas drilling is not a safe operation.  Too many unknowns.  And that is true no matter how many regulations and safeguards are followed.

Susquehanna River Still Bubbling

Susquehanna River, Wilmot Township, Bradford County, PA
Photo: Don Williams

Don Williams checked out this spot on July 17.  The bubbling is still going on in the Susquehanna River.  Know one seems to know how the bubbles got there or what to do about it.  We do know that these are methane bubbles.

Frack! the Movie Trailer

FRACK! The Movie Trailer from David Morris on Vimeo.


This gives a short glimpse of what happens when unconventional gas drilling comes to town.