Showing posts with label Fracking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fracking. Show all posts

Monday, October 21, 2013

Canadians Riot Against Fracking Demonstrators set five cop cars on fire

Dozens of anti-fracking protestors were arrested in Canada after throwing Molotov cocktails and torches into at least five police cruisers on Thursday.
The demonstrators were rallying against a shale exploration project in New Brunswick, Canada, home to the Elsipogtog First Nation tribe, theNational Post reported.
Many of the protestors were tribe members and New Brunswick locals.
The Post reports:
The Mounties said at least 40 people were arrested for firearms offences, threats, intimidation, mischief, and violating the court-ordered injunction.
The RCMP began enforcing the injunction at around 7:30 a.m. to end the blockade of a compound where energy company SWN Resources stores exploration equipment. Route 134 at Rexton and Route 11 between Richibucto and Sainte-Anne-de-Kent were closed to traffic for about 12 hours and schools in the area were closed early for the day after they were locked down as a precaution.
Rogers-Marsh said police decided to enforce the injunction because threats had been made against private security guards at the site the night before. She wouldn’t reveal what tactics police were using to contain the crowd and refused to comment on reports that officers had fired rubber bullets.
The Elsipogtog First Nation’s chief was also arrested during the protest.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

IHS: Shale Oil Boom Could Go Global

shale oil drilling monterey californiaThe shale oil boom that has led to resurgence in U.S. production could be replicated internationally, according to a new study from research firm IHS Global Insight.

Oil is recovered from shale formations using a combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The process has also allowed for a significant increase in gas production, particularly at the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania.

Domestic oil production recently hit its highest level since May 1989, driven by shale plays like North Dakota’s Bakken and Eagle Ford in Texas. Previous studies by IHS have shown North America has about 43 billion barrels of commercially recoverable oil.

The group’s latest report suggests global shale formations potentially hold seven times the amount of technically recoverable oil located in North America.

While it remains to be seen how much of the oil is commercially recoverable, the geological study from IHS identified 148 global shale plays that may have 300 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil.

Because well-level data does not exist outside of North America, IHS grouped international plays based on their geographical characteristics. It then compared each play to its closest equivalent in North America to get an estimate of its technical potential.

Via: Fox Business


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Friday, September 13, 2013

Enviros attack CA Dems’ fracking bill

Environmentalists are protesting a Democratic bill on its way to California Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk that would regulate — but not ban — hydraulic fracturing.
On Wednesday, California lawmakers passed a bill that would “erect a permitting system, mandate groundwater monitoring and dictate more disclosure, including having fracking firms notify neighbors of planned wells and release more information about the chemicals they shoot underground,” The Fresno Beer reports.
Environmental activists were displeased.
“This bill will not protect Californians from the enormous threats of fracking pollution,” said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Fracking poses unacceptable risks to the air we breathe, the water we drink and our climate. We’ll keep working to end this inherently dangerous activity in our state.”
The Center for Biological Diversity is part of Californians Against Fracking — a coalition of environmental groups that have been pushing for a complete ban on fracking in California and have adamantly opposed the more moderate bill, which has been backed by state Democrats.
“There’s only one prudent next step to protect California’s water, air, and climate – for Governor Brown to place an immediate moratorium on fracking, acidizing, and other unconventional methods of exploiting fossil fuels,” said Victoria Kaplan, campaign director at MoveOn.org.
However, state Democrats have supported the bill despite the fact that it’s not a complete moratorium on fracking.
“I still believe that a moratorium is the best way to go with respect to fracking,” said Democratic Assemblyman Richard Bloom, “but this bill is the next best alternative.”

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Los Angeles: 'Fracking' moratorium proposed by two L.A. City Council members

Anti-fracking activists rally in Washington. Two L.A. councilmen are proposing a moratorium on fracking.Los Angeles City Council members Paul Koretz and Mike Bonin are calling for a moratorium on the practice of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” which is used by energy companies to extract hard-to-reach oil.
In a prepared statement Tuesday, the councilmen called fracking and its related processes a “major threat” to the city’s local water supply, air quality and private property. During fracking, oil companies add a chemical mix to pressurized water to improve oil and gas production in wells.
A similar process, called acidization, uses hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids to break down shale formations covering potential oil reserves. Koretz and Bonin have called a Wednesday press conference to announce their support for a moratorium.
They will be joined by representatives of consumer and environmental groups, including the Los Angeles chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and Citizens Coalition for a Safe Community.
Critics say the drilling techniques carry risks because chemicals could leach from wells into nearby water supplies. Oil companies say the processes have been used for decades without problems and are safe. Any action to ban the extraction methods would have to go through committee reviews, public hearings and a vote by the full council.
The council Tuesday voted unanimously to back a state legislative proposal, authored by Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), that would for the first time impose a regulatory framework on so-called well-stimulation processes.  
Pavley’s bill has been controversial because it would require oil companies to disclose the precise mix of chemicals used in fracking and acidization, something the industry has resisted. Four previous attempts to ban or impose a moratorium on fracking at the state level have failed.
Councilman Bernard C. Parks introduced a separate motion Tuesday that would direct the Planning Department and other City Hall officials to establish land use regulations and zoning laws that would “ensure public health and safety is protected from the negative impacts of fracking activities.” His motion will go to committee for review.

Friday, July 26, 2013

LANDMARK FEDERAL STUDY: NO INDICATION FRACKING CONTAMINATES DRINKING WATER

PITTSBURGH (TheBlaze/AP) — A landmark federal study on hydraulic fracturing, frequently referred to as fracking, shows no evidence that chemicals from the natural gas drilling process moved up to contaminate drinking water aquifers at a western Pennsylvania drilling site, the Department of Energy told The Associated Press.
After a year of monitoring, the researchers found that the chemical-laced fluids used to free gas trapped deep below the surface stayed thousands of feet below the shallower areas that supply drinking water, geologist Richard Hammack said.
Although the results are preliminary – the study is still ongoing – they are a boost to a natural gas industry that has fought complaints from environmental groups and property owners who call fracking dangerous.
Drilling fluids tagged with unique markers were injected more than 8,000 feet below the surface, but were not detected in a monitoring zone 3,000 feet higher. That means the potentially dangerous substances stayed about a mile away from drinking water supplies.
“This is good news,” said Duke University scientist Rob Jackson, who was not involved with the study. He called it a “useful and important approach” to monitoring fracking, but cautioned that the single study doesn’t prove that fracking can’t pollute, since geology and industry practices vary widely in Pennsylvania and across the nation.
The boom in gas drilling has led to tens of thousands of new wells being drilled in recent years, many in the Marcellus Shale formation that lies under parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia. That’s led to major economic benefits but also fears that the chemicals used in the drilling process could spread to water supplies.

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