Pennsylvania Makes Public 243 Cases of Fracking Contaminated Water 29AUG14

FRACKING is polluting the ground water in Pennsylvania and around the nation, here are 243 cases proving this fact. Gov corbett r tb PA and the repiglican / tea-bagger controlled commonwealth government in Harrisburg have been corrupted by the gas and oil industries, failing to investigate and even covering up water contamination and health problems to protect these industries. There is help from scientific and environmental organizations for communities fighting to protect their residents and water supplies and the residents of Pennsylvania can also fight back by voting for candidates who will best protect their health and environment this November. From +Daily Kos .....

FRI AUG 29, 2014 AT 02:12 PM EDT

Pennsylvania Makes Public 243 Cases of Fracking Contaminated Water

byFishOutofWaterFollow

 
 

Sherry Vargson, of Granville Summit, PA, lighting her fracking-contaminated tap water.

The state of Pennsylvania has released redacted details of 243 cases of water contamination caused by fracking and related activities by the natural gas industry. Claims made by the fracking industry that they have not contaminated water are utter rubbish. These 243 cases which took place in Pennsylvania between 2008 and 2014 involve a wide range of contamination problems including the contamination of multiple water supply wells by one fracking operation.  State officials did not indicate how many more cases of contamination may have occurred since 2008 that are not included in this list.

The 243 cases, from 2008 to 2014, include some where a single drilling operation impacted multiple water wells. The problems listed in the documents include methane gas contamination, spills of wastewater and other pollutants, and wells that went dry or were otherwise undrinkable. Some of the problems were temporary, but the names of landowners were redacted, so it wasn't clear if the problems were resolved to their satisfaction. Other complaints are still being investigated

Here is an example case I went to semi-randomly.

The 243 cases can be found here.

It is clear that fracking has been causing wide ranging water problems but the industry has pressed hard to keep them from being made public. Pennsylvania's inspector general has admitted the problems with fracking have overwhelmed state regulators.

 
The release of contamination information also comes about a month after a report from the state’s Inspector General that found that the rapid growth of the state’s gas industry “caught the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) unprepared to effectively administer laws and regulations to protect drinking water and unable to efficiently respond to citizen complaints.”

They repeatedly lied to us in North Carolina in public meetings which I attended that there were no documented cases of fracking contamination of water supplies.  North Carolina Republicans were given dog and poly show tours of Pennsylvania gas wells. They came back with glowing reports selling fracking to North Carolinians.

State Sen. Bob Rucho returned from a taxpayer-funded trip to Pennsylvania's shale gas drilling region talking about green pastures and cows - not drinking water contamination or health concerns.

"I was impressed with the best industry practices they've established," he said, dismissing complaints about shale gas extraction as erroneous or exaggerated. "What we saw was green grass and cows grazing."

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/...

The fracking industry was lying to North Carolina's state representatives and citizens.
Those lies have now been exposed.

A permanent moratorium on expanding fracking to new areas needs to be declared now to stop more water from being contaminated and to remedy deficiencies in regulation that are alllowing water to be contaminated in violation of federal water quality laws.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO FISHOUTOFWATER ON FRI AUG 29, 2014 AT 02:12 PM EDT.

ALSO REPUBLISHED BY NORTH CAROLINA BLUE AND DK GREENROOTS.

Water Supply Determination Letters

The following list identifies cases where DEP determined that a private water supply was impacted by oil and 

gas activities. The oil and gas activities referenced in the list below include operations associated with both 

conventional and unconventional drilling activities that either resulted in a water diminution event or an 

increase in constituents above background conditions. This list is intended to identify historic water supply 

impacts and does not necessarily represent ongoing impacts. Many of the water supply complaints listed 

below have either returned to background conditions, have been mitigated through the installation of water 

treatment controls or have been addressed through the replacement of the original water supply. This list is 

dynamic in nature and will be updated to reflect new water supply impacts as they are reported to DEP and a 

determination is made; however, the list will retain cases of water supply impacts even after the impact has 

been resolved.

A redacted copy of the water supply determination letter/order can be viewed by clicking on the “Complaint 

#” or “ORDER” cell in the table. Each row on the list represents a single water supply determination. A single 

water supply determination may be represented by multiple “Complaint #s” (i.e., when more than one 

Complaint # is included in the same row) and, conversely, separate water supplies may be identified using 

the same “Complaint #” (i.e., when multiple rows list the same Complaint #). The list also identifies the 

municipality and county where each water supply is located along with the date of the water supply 

determination letter or the date the order was issued.

Something funny in the water (from fracking?) 14JAN14

IT is amazing the EPA would stop investigations in drinking water contamination and fracking in three communities across the nation, especially in the wake of the water pollution disaster this last week in West Virginia. Clean drinking water is priceless, and there are laws to protect our water the EPA is supposed to enforce. We need to force the EPA to reopen these investigations and if fracking is found to be responsible then the companies must be fined and forced to clean up their mess and provide clean water in these communities and be financially responsible for the health care cost of those made sick from this polluted water. Please sign the petition from the NRDC to the EPA telling them to reopen these investigations, click the link. And for more on fracking and help for communities fighting it and / or dealing with the aftermath do a search on this blog.....

Protect our water from fracking A troubling trend is putting our drinking water in peril. Residents in Dimock, PA, Pavilion, WY, and Parker County, TX noticed problems with their drinking water. When their state officials wouldn’t help, the EPA agreed to investigate. But the EPA abruptly pulled out in all three communities, despite evidence of water contamination. Last month, the EPA’s own internal watchdog said that the risk faced by residents in Parker County is still unknown. The EPA is supposed to protect us from pollution, but it seems to be backing down in response to pressure from oil and gas companies Demand safe water for all. Tell EPA head Gina McCarthy to reopen investigations into groundwater contamination linked to fracking. I’ve worked for seven years protecting our land and communities from harmful oil and gas operations. I’ve seen it all from irresponsible corporations—but this is an alarming trend from the EPA, the agency in charge of protecting human health and the environment. When the EPA fails to act on science in controversial fracking-related cases across the country, we’re left defenseless from the dangers of fracking. Families shouldn’t be on their own when it comes to making sure their drinking water is safe. Email Administrator McCarthy and demand that the EPA reopen investigations into contaminated water from fracking. Thank you, Amy Mall Senior Policy Analyst, NRDC

Help rein in a fracking industry run amok, NO FRACKING ON FEDERAL PUBLIC LANDS 15NOV13

THE NRDC is increasing the pressure on Pres Obama to close all federal lands to fracking. The big oil and gas industries are pushing back. The fact remains these lands belong to the American people, not corporations, and we do not want the water and air contaminated by fracking. Click the link to sign the petition....

President Obama promised to protect us from the ravages of fracking. But his Administration is stepping aside as the oil and gas industry targets our public lands and clean drinking water supplies. Tell President Obama to impose a fracking moratorium on all federal lands! The fracking boom has already taken a devastating toll on communities across America, leaving toxic pollution and plummeting property values in its wake. Now, the oil and gas industry has set its sights on our national forests, wildlife refuges -- even lands within view of national parks. Instead of protecting our natural heritage and its clean water supplies, the Obama Administration is preparing to step aside and let fracking run roughshod over them. Tell President Obama to rein in Big Oil & Gas by imposing a fracking moratorium on all federal lands -- one that will last until he keeps his promise to protect us from the excesses of the oil and gas industry. Here’s what’s at stake: wild places from Virginia to California ... clean drinking water for millions of Americans ... and backyards across the country where the government controls the oil and gas rights beneath private property. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) -- charged with safeguarding our public lands from the worst abuses of fracking -- has just proposed a shocking set of rules that reads like an industry wish list. Those rules would not stop energy companies from fracking next to national parks, inside national forests, and across millions more acres of treasured lands. Nor would they stop the frackers from drilling alongside drinking water supplies on public lands. Here are just a few of the places where the BLM is essentially preparing to hang out a sign that says “Open for Drilling:” Virginia’s George Washington National Forest ... Ohio’s Wayne National Forest ... Colorado’s White River National Forest ... California’s Los Padres National Forest. Not to mention lands outside Glacier and Grand Teton National Parks! Plus: the BLM controls the drilling rights to some 57 million acres of private property -- a vast area as big as Georgia. So for many Americans, BLM has the power to green light fracking operations literally in their own backyards. Do you think an agency that has cozied up to the oil and gas lobby should decide the fate of vulnerable citizens from coast to coast? Please help us hold President Obama to his word and protect the American people from an oil and gas industry that is running amok. Urge the President to impose a fracking moratorium on our public lands right now. With one stroke of his pen he can safeguard our natural heritage, protect our drinking water and shield communities from California to Virginia that sit near public oil and gas reserves. And call on him to move America beyond all fossil fuels as rapidly as possible, toward a future powered by 100% clean energy. We must do no less if we want to stave off catastrophic climate change. Thank you for standing with us against the onslaught of fracking. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

Oil & gas companies, ken cuccinelli & tom rust vs. the people of Virginia 6OKT13

ken cuccinelli and big gas & oil screwing the people of Virginia, with tom rust's (r 86th VA) approval, at least he must approve because he isn't calling for cuccinelli to return consol energy's $100,000 donation. From Daily Kos. and see more at JENNIFER BOYSKO OR tom rust? THE RACE FOR 86TH DISTRICT DELEGATE TO RICHMOND http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/jennifer-boysko-or-tom-rust-race-for.html .......


It doesn’t get more rotten than this. An out-of-state oil company, CONSOL Energy, is getting sued by thousands of Virginia landowners who were denied royalties after CONSOL extracted natural gas from their land. They lost nearly $28 million.

What is Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli doing about it? His office may have used public resources to actually *help* CONSOL Energy defend its lawsuit. As if CONSOL Energy didn’t already have enough rich lawyers already.

Could it be because CONSOL Energy gave $100,000 to Cuccinelli’s campaign for Governor?


Keep fighting,
Paul Hogarth, Daily Kos

Iowa’s GOP Governor Blasts Romney Campaign On Wind Tax Credits: They Need To ‘Come Out Here To The Real World’ 2AUG12

ANOTHER example how romney's policies are going to hurt our economy, our environment and the people who have been duped into supporting him. I am sure if enough repiglican politicians and their corporate masters had more money invested in wind turbines there wouldn't even be a debate about extending the tax credits. But they have been bought by and are controlled by their big oil, big gas and big coal corporate masters who are reaping huge profits and tax credits. I would think a governor of a state that may loose 7000 jobs because of corporate ownership of his own political party would do more than condemn the party's corporate presidential candidate. If he has a spine he should threaten to withhold his political support and endorsement. Think Progress.....

By Stephen Lacey on Aug 2, 2012

Now that Mitt Romney’s campaign has officially declared the candidate’s desire to kill tax credits for wind while maintaining tax credits for the mature oil and gas industries, Midwestern Republicans are not happy.
Iowa Republican Representative Tom Latham said Romney’s decision “shows a lack of full understanding of how important the wind energy tax credit is for Iowa and our nation.”
And Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the man working behind the scenes to get an extension of the tax credit for wind, said he thinks “people that didn’t know what they were doing said it.”
In an interview with Radio Iowa today, Republican Governor Terry Branstad also had strong words for Romney’s campaign, saying they “need to get out here in the real world and find out what’s really going on” before abandoning support for the industry. The wind industry supports 7,000 jobs in Iowa and makes up 20 percent of the state’s electricity.
Branstad said he’d like to speak with Romney personally about the issue:

“I hope to have that opportunity….  The statement has been made by somebody involved in his campaign, not by Governor Romney. And I think there’s a confusion on their part.
“We think it needs to be continued, not forever, but it does need to be continued for a while and the result is it’s been a very good thing for Iowa in terms of 20% of our energy is now generated by wind. We now have a lot of farmers that receive rent from having wind turbines on their property and we have a lot of jobs associated with it so we think he needs to be educated as to how important this is and I’m hopeful that we can see.. they’re lumping the two together and they need to understand there is a differential… And Senator Grassley is working really hard to get this extended.”
Reporter: “But on his campaign website for months, he has called them wind mills, he doesn’t call them wind turbines and he says they are as economically unproductive as solar energy.”
Branstad: “They don’t understand. You’ve got a bunch of people that have put the website together that are a bunch of east Coast people that need to get out here in the real world and find out what’s really going on.”

The wind tax credit, which has helped the wind industry drop costs by 90 percent and compete with the heavily subsidized coal and gas sectors, is set to expire at the end of this year. Already, wind companies are laying off employees and cancelling factories. Navigant Consulting estimates that up to 37,000 jobs could be lost if the credit is allowed to expire.
Fellow Republicans aren’t just concerned about the economic impact. They’re also concerned about potential political fallout in a region where wind is such an important piece of the economy. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Iowa Republican Representative Steve King implied he thinks the tax credit issue could have an impact:
“We need to win Iowa this time. President Obama thinks it’s a must-win state for him, and I think it’s a can-win state for Mitt Romney, but this wind piece.…”
He faded off without finishing the sentence — unsure what Romney’s stance on wind will do to the candidate’s political prospects.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/02/632931/iowas-gop-governor-blasts-romney-campaign-on-wind-tax-credits-they-need-to-come-out-here-to-the-real-world/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+climateprogress%2FlCrX+%28Climate+Progress%29&mobile=nc