Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Pa Fracking Fluid Contain Neurologically Harmful Chemicals
MARC LEVY HuffPost 06/28/10 07:30 PM HARRISBURG, Pa. — More than two years after the start of a natural gas drilling boom, Pennsylvania is making public a complete list of the chemicals used to extract the gas from deep underground amid rising public fears of potential water contamination and increased scrutiny of the fast-growing industry. Compounds associated with neurological problems, cancer and other serious health effects are among the chemicals being used to drill the wells, although state and industry officials say there is no evidence that the activity is polluting drinking water. The Associated Press obtained the list from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which assembled what is believed to be the first complete catalog of chemicals being used to drill in Pennsylvania's gas-rich Marcellus Shale. The department hopes to post it online soon. It counts more than 80 chemicals being used by the industry in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," as it pursues the gas in the mile-deep shale. Many of the compounds are present in consumer products, such as salt, cosmetics, gasoline, pesticides, solvents, glues, paints and tobacco smoke. Environmental advocates worry the chemicals are poisoning underground drinking water sources. However, environmental officials say they know of no examples in Pennsylvania or elsewhere. "If we thought there was any frack fluid getting into fresh drinking water ... I think we'd have to have a very serious conversation about prohibiting the activity completely," said Scott Perry, the director of the department's Bureau of Oil and Gas Management. Conrad Volz, who directs the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, said state and federal agencies haven't done enough research to come to that conclusion. A decades-old technology, hydraulic fracturing was coming under increased scrutiny even before the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Its spread from states such as Texas, Colorado and Wyoming to heavily populated watersheds on the East Coast has led to worries about water contamination and calls for federal regulation. Hydraulic fracturing is exempt from the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, leaving states to regulate the activity. In New York state, regulators have effectively held up drilling on the Marcellus Shale while they consider new regulations. Last year, they published a list of more than 250 chemicals that could potentially be used there. In Pennsylvania, where approximately 1,500 Marcellus Shale wells have been drilled and many thousands more are expected in the coming years, the state is working to buttress its regulations even as rigs poke holes in large swaths of the state. Last week, HBO aired a documentary called "Gasland" that portrayed the natural gas industry as an environmental menace that spoils water, air and lives. The industry has challenged the film's veracity, saying it botches facts, exaggerates evidence and spotlights citizens whose claims already have been investigated and debunked. Pennsylvania assembled the list in recent months from information the industry is required to disclose and decided to prepare it for the public as public interest grew, Perry said. Industry officials say the chemicals pose no threat because they are handled safely and are heavily diluted when they are injected under heavy pressure with water and sand into a well. Industry officials say the chemicals account for less than 1 percent of the fluid that is blasted underground. The mixture breaks up the shale some 5,000 to 8,000 feet down and props open the cracks to allow the gas trapped inside to flow up the well to the surface. One compound, naphthalene, is classified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as a possible human carcinogen. The EPA said central nervous system depression has been reported in people who get high levels of toluene by deliberately inhaling paint or glue. In its online guidelines on xylene, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration cites an industrial hygiene and toxicology text that says chronic exposure to xylene may cause central nervous system depression, anemia, liver damage and more. The chemicals are used to reduce friction, kill algae and break down mineral deposits in the well. Various well services firms make different proprietary blends of the solutions and supply them to the drilling companies, which blend them with water at the well site before pumping them underground. In recent years, some makers of the solutions have sought to replace toxic ingredients with "green" or food-based additives. For instance, Range Resources Corp., one of the most active drilling companies in Pennsylvania, is close to rolling out a 100 percent biodegradable friction reducer, spokesman Matt Pitzarella said Monday.
BP Oil Spill Reaches New Orleans' Lake Potchartrain
NOLA FINALLY
AFFECTED BY OIL SPILL -
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
(above): Workers use nets to scoop small globs of oil from the water in
Rigolets Pass, which connects the Gulf to Lake Pontchartrain.
Cain Burdeau reports:
"New Orleans, which managed to escape the oil from the BP spill for more than two months, can't hide any longer.
"For the first time since the accident, oil from the ruptured well is seeping into Lake Pontchartrain, threatening another environmental disaster for the huge body of water that was rescued from pollution in 1990s to become, once more, a bountiful fishing ground and a popular spot for boating and swimming.
"Over the July Fourth weekend, tar balls and an oil sheen pushed by strong winds from faraway Hurricane Alex slipped past lines of barges that were supposed to block the passes connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the lake.
"State authorities closed the lake's eastern reaches to fishing on Monday, though most of it remained open. Barges were lined up at bayous and passes to stop the oil from coming in, and cleanup crews Tuesday used nets to collect tar balls from marinas and docks. They also planned to lay out 9,000 feet of special permeable booms. But the lake was too choppy for skimmer vessels to operate.
"About 1,700 pounds of oily waste has been collected, said Suzanne Parsons Stymiest, a spokeswoman for St. Tammany Parish."
(above): Tar balls wash ashore on Texas beaches
NOLA finally affected by oil spill - what are your comments?
Greg Dempsey
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SECULARHUMANIST
Voice of the People
=====
Oil seeps into New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain
By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer Cain Burdeau, Associated Press Writer - 2 hrs 41 mins ago
NEW ORLEANS - The amount of oil infiltrating 600-square-mile Lake Pontchartrain (pronounced PAHN-chuh-trayn) appears small so far. And tests on seafood have not turned up any oil contamination, said Brian Lezina, a state biologist. But the pollution is distressing to the many people in Louisiana who have a deep attachment to the lake.
"You won't hear songs about a lot of the marshes in south Louisiana, but you will hear songs about Lake Pontchartrain," Lezina said.
Out in the Gulf, meanwhile, stormy weather kept skimmers from working offshore Tuesday for yet another day and delayed the hookup of a big new ship intended to suck more crude from the gushing well. Also, the arrival of a Navy blimp intended to hover above the relief effort was delayed until Friday.
Tar balls from the spill also washed up on Texas beaches over the holiday weekend, meaning the disaster now touches all five Gulf Coast states, spanning more than 500 miles of coastline.
Lake Pontchartrain, named for the French count of Pontchartrain during the reign of Louis XIV, is on the northern edge of the city. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico by two main passes: the Rigolets, a winding passage of about 10 miles, and the Chef Menteur, around nine miles long.
For centuries, it has been a playground, a source of seafood and a backdoor route to New Orleans for invading British troops and hurricane storm surge.
Until the 1970s, its shores were a top destination for city folks who took streetcars and buses to the lake to swim and to dine at restaurants that cooked up the lake's crabs and other seafood. They played in penny arcades and rode the Zephyr roller coaster at the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park.
But pollution shut down the swimming and chased away marine life, and the amusement park closed in the early 1980s.
The lake's restoration included a ban on commercial clam dredging and new regulations governing urban runoff. Slowly, the lake revived. In recent years, sightings of dolphins and manatees have delighted locals, and commercial and recreational fishing is thriving.
About 60 commercial fishermen catch blue crabs and shrimp in the lake, and scores of sport fishermen can be found on any given day reeling in speckled trout, redfish, flounder, black drum and sheepshead.
"Even the people involved in the restoration didn't believe it could be restored. It was completely written off. It was thought to be an impossible task," said John Lopez, a scientist with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, which led the restoration effort. "It has been a dramatic turnabout."
The oil could be the second setback in five years. Hurricane Katrina knocked out seafood docks and lakeside restaurants in 2005. The lake's water quality also took a hit when the Army Corps of Engineers drained the city's contaminated floodwaters into the lake.
"So far, this stuff has been offshore for the majority of the population in the southeastern portion of Louisiana," Anne Rheams, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, said of the oil spill. "This is bringing it closer to home."
Gerica, like the dozens of other commercial fishermen who use the lake, planned to pick up his crab traps as soon as the weather cleared.
Anthony Montalbano Jr., the chef and owner of II Tony's, an Italian seafood restaurant next to the lake, said it has been a struggle to stay open. Katrina swamped his restaurant at Bucktown, a lakeside community in New Orleans that has the feel of a bayou town.
"This was going to be our best year since Katrina for sure, but not now," Montalbano said as the TV in the bar showed an ad for a law firm suing BP.
___
Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman and Tom Breen in New Orleans contributed to this report.
AFFECTED BY OIL SPILL -
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
(above): Workers use nets to scoop small globs of oil from the water in
Rigolets Pass, which connects the Gulf to Lake Pontchartrain.
Cain Burdeau reports:
"New Orleans, which managed to escape the oil from the BP spill for more than two months, can't hide any longer.
"For the first time since the accident, oil from the ruptured well is seeping into Lake Pontchartrain, threatening another environmental disaster for the huge body of water that was rescued from pollution in 1990s to become, once more, a bountiful fishing ground and a popular spot for boating and swimming.
"Over the July Fourth weekend, tar balls and an oil sheen pushed by strong winds from faraway Hurricane Alex slipped past lines of barges that were supposed to block the passes connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the lake.
"State authorities closed the lake's eastern reaches to fishing on Monday, though most of it remained open. Barges were lined up at bayous and passes to stop the oil from coming in, and cleanup crews Tuesday used nets to collect tar balls from marinas and docks. They also planned to lay out 9,000 feet of special permeable booms. But the lake was too choppy for skimmer vessels to operate.
"About 1,700 pounds of oily waste has been collected, said Suzanne Parsons Stymiest, a spokeswoman for St. Tammany Parish."
(above): Tar balls wash ashore on Texas beaches
NOLA finally affected by oil spill - what are your comments?
Greg Dempsey
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SECULARHUMANIST
Voice of the People
=====
Oil seeps into New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain
By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer Cain Burdeau, Associated Press Writer - 2 hrs 41 mins ago
NEW ORLEANS - The amount of oil infiltrating 600-square-mile Lake Pontchartrain (pronounced PAHN-chuh-trayn) appears small so far. And tests on seafood have not turned up any oil contamination, said Brian Lezina, a state biologist. But the pollution is distressing to the many people in Louisiana who have a deep attachment to the lake.
"You won't hear songs about a lot of the marshes in south Louisiana, but you will hear songs about Lake Pontchartrain," Lezina said.
Out in the Gulf, meanwhile, stormy weather kept skimmers from working offshore Tuesday for yet another day and delayed the hookup of a big new ship intended to suck more crude from the gushing well. Also, the arrival of a Navy blimp intended to hover above the relief effort was delayed until Friday.
Tar balls from the spill also washed up on Texas beaches over the holiday weekend, meaning the disaster now touches all five Gulf Coast states, spanning more than 500 miles of coastline.
Lake Pontchartrain, named for the French count of Pontchartrain during the reign of Louis XIV, is on the northern edge of the city. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico by two main passes: the Rigolets, a winding passage of about 10 miles, and the Chef Menteur, around nine miles long.
For centuries, it has been a playground, a source of seafood and a backdoor route to New Orleans for invading British troops and hurricane storm surge.
Until the 1970s, its shores were a top destination for city folks who took streetcars and buses to the lake to swim and to dine at restaurants that cooked up the lake's crabs and other seafood. They played in penny arcades and rode the Zephyr roller coaster at the Pontchartrain Beach amusement park.
But pollution shut down the swimming and chased away marine life, and the amusement park closed in the early 1980s.
The lake's restoration included a ban on commercial clam dredging and new regulations governing urban runoff. Slowly, the lake revived. In recent years, sightings of dolphins and manatees have delighted locals, and commercial and recreational fishing is thriving.
About 60 commercial fishermen catch blue crabs and shrimp in the lake, and scores of sport fishermen can be found on any given day reeling in speckled trout, redfish, flounder, black drum and sheepshead.
"Even the people involved in the restoration didn't believe it could be restored. It was completely written off. It was thought to be an impossible task," said John Lopez, a scientist with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, which led the restoration effort. "It has been a dramatic turnabout."
The oil could be the second setback in five years. Hurricane Katrina knocked out seafood docks and lakeside restaurants in 2005. The lake's water quality also took a hit when the Army Corps of Engineers drained the city's contaminated floodwaters into the lake.
"So far, this stuff has been offshore for the majority of the population in the southeastern portion of Louisiana," Anne Rheams, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, said of the oil spill. "This is bringing it closer to home."
Gerica, like the dozens of other commercial fishermen who use the lake, planned to pick up his crab traps as soon as the weather cleared.
Anthony Montalbano Jr., the chef and owner of II Tony's, an Italian seafood restaurant next to the lake, said it has been a struggle to stay open. Katrina swamped his restaurant at Bucktown, a lakeside community in New Orleans that has the feel of a bayou town.
"This was going to be our best year since Katrina for sure, but not now," Montalbano said as the TV in the bar showed an ad for a law firm suing BP.
___
Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman and Tom Breen in New Orleans contributed to this report.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
EPA to Vist Gulf Coast Tomorrow
CONTACT:
EPA Press Office
press@epa.gov
202-564-6794
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2010
TOMORROW: EPA Administrator Makes Sixth Trip to Gulf Region to Oversee Response to the BP Spill
WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson returns to the gulf coast tomorrow to monitor EPA’s on-the-ground response to the BP oil spill, meet with federal responders and BP representatives, and speak with residents about ongoing federal efforts to mitigate the spill’s impact on the region. She will travel to New Orleans and Pensacola, Fla.
This marks Administrator Jackson’s sixth visit to the gulf region since the oil spill began. During the trip, she will be briefed by EPA and Coast Guard officials on the latest response updates and monitoring data, and oversee beach clean up efforts in the region. The administrator will also meet with EPA scientists in Gulf Breeze, Fla., for a briefing on ongoing dispersant testing.
Administrator Jackson and EPA continue to work closely with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, who is leading the administration-wide response and directing all interagency activities.
To request an interview with Administrator Jackson, please email johnson.alisha@epa.gov.
For more information on EPA’s efforts in the gulf and for the latest air, water, sediment and underwater dispersant monitoring data: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill.
FRIDAY, JULY 2
10:00 a.m. CENTRAL Briefing with Local Officials
CLOSED PRESS
1:00 p.m. CENTRAL Town Hall Meeting: “Expanding the Environmental Conversation”
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd
New Orleans, La.
OPEN PRESS
3:00 p.m. CENTRAL Meeting with Environmental Groups
CLOSED PRESS
SATURDAY, JULY 3
10:30 a.m. CENTRAL Tour of EPA’s Gulf Breeze Lab and Pensacola Beach Operations Lab
Gulf Breeze and Pensacola, Fla.
CLOSED PRESS
1:15 p.m. CENTRAL Stakeholder Meeting
Gulf Breeze, Fla.
CLOSED PRESS
R235
Note: If a link above doesn't work, please copy and paste the URL into a browser.
EPA Press Office
press@epa.gov
202-564-6794
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2010
TOMORROW: EPA Administrator Makes Sixth Trip to Gulf Region to Oversee Response to the BP Spill
WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson returns to the gulf coast tomorrow to monitor EPA’s on-the-ground response to the BP oil spill, meet with federal responders and BP representatives, and speak with residents about ongoing federal efforts to mitigate the spill’s impact on the region. She will travel to New Orleans and Pensacola, Fla.
This marks Administrator Jackson’s sixth visit to the gulf region since the oil spill began. During the trip, she will be briefed by EPA and Coast Guard officials on the latest response updates and monitoring data, and oversee beach clean up efforts in the region. The administrator will also meet with EPA scientists in Gulf Breeze, Fla., for a briefing on ongoing dispersant testing.
Administrator Jackson and EPA continue to work closely with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, who is leading the administration-wide response and directing all interagency activities.
To request an interview with Administrator Jackson, please email johnson.alisha@epa.gov.
For more information on EPA’s efforts in the gulf and for the latest air, water, sediment and underwater dispersant monitoring data: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill.
FRIDAY, JULY 2
10:00 a.m. CENTRAL Briefing with Local Officials
CLOSED PRESS
1:00 p.m. CENTRAL Town Hall Meeting: “Expanding the Environmental Conversation”
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
900 Convention Center Blvd
New Orleans, La.
OPEN PRESS
3:00 p.m. CENTRAL Meeting with Environmental Groups
CLOSED PRESS
SATURDAY, JULY 3
10:30 a.m. CENTRAL Tour of EPA’s Gulf Breeze Lab and Pensacola Beach Operations Lab
Gulf Breeze and Pensacola, Fla.
CLOSED PRESS
1:15 p.m. CENTRAL Stakeholder Meeting
Gulf Breeze, Fla.
CLOSED PRESS
R235
Note: If a link above doesn't work, please copy and paste the URL into a browser.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Hands Across the Sands
Yesterday afternoon, a Louisiana judge overruled President Obama's suspension of offshore drilling. This decision leaves Big Oil free to resume operations off the Louisiana coast, despite the obvious risks.
It's more clear than ever before: offshore drilling will continue to expand unless we keep the pressure on government leaders and the oil industry. This Saturday, we have a chance to focus the world's attention on this crucial issue through a massive coordinated action: Hands Across The Sand.
On June 26th At 11 AM, tens of thousands of individuals will head to nearby beaches to join hands in a massive demonstration of support for clean energy. With enough supporters, these simple events will make a powerful statement the world cannot ignore - please join us and draw a metaphorical line in the sand against offshore drilling
Find and attend a Hands Across The Sand event near you
We hope to make Hands Across The Sand the largest demonstration against offshore drilling in history, but we need your help to reach this goal. Please take a few moments to find an event near you. You don't even need to live near a beach - use the event-finder to choose a local solidarity event.
Can't find a nearby Hands Across the Sand event? Step up and organize one for your community - we'll connect you with local organizers to take your demonstration to the next level.
Hold a Hands Across The Sand event in your community
Thanks for everything you do. We hope to see you at the beach this Saturday!
athleen Rogers
President, Earth Day Network
athleen Rogers
President, Earth Day Network
PS, don't forget to show your support by wearing an Earth Day Network t-shirt to the beach.
© Copyright 2010, Earth Day Network
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Visit Earthday.org; http://www.earthday.org/
© Copyright 2010, Earth Day Network
Unsubscribe from this mailing list
Visit Earthday.org; http://www.earthday.org/
Monday, June 21, 2010
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