Global Frac News

You can’t drink oil by Iain Aitken, Rimbey, June 20, 2014, Red Deer Advocate I’m surprised by the lack of discussion surrounding the recent Council of Canadian Academies report on hydraulic fracturing (fracking). This independent scientific organization’s assessment states there is reason to believe shale gas development poses a risk to water resources but the extent ...

Lawsuit against Cabot Oil can proceed by Terrie Morgan-Besecker, June 11, 2014, Times-Tribune A Dimock Twp. couple suing Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. over their methane-contaminated well should be permitted to proceed with a negligence claim, but other counts in the suit should be dismissed for lack of evidence, a federal magistrate judge said. U.S. District ...

Alberta Energy Regulator should be ashamed by Diana Daunheimer, June 24, 2014, Mountain View Gazette Click link or image to read letter [Refer also to: Sounds like Alberta! Pennsylvania health officials ordered to ignore fracking-related health complaints, Former Department of Health employees say they were forbidden to talk about drilling Judge Upholds Jury Verdict for Parr Family in Texas ...

Pennsylvania health officials ordered to ignore fracking-related health complaints, Former Department of Health employees say they were forbidden to talk about drilling by Lindsay Abram, June 23, 2014, Salon Live near one of the more than 6,000 fracking wells drilled in Pennsylvania within the last six years? Suffering from skin rashes, nausea or nosebleeds, and worried ...

NBASGA takes legal action to stop shale gas Press Release by WEPAC, June 24, 2014 MONCTON, NB (June 23, 2014) – The New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance (NBASGA) is taking the provincial government to court to stop shale gas development in the province.“We’re taking this action to protect the health and well-being of New Brunswickers, both ...

Minister meets with water partnership by Miriam Ostermann, June 17, 2014, Strathmore Standard The village of Rockyford is finding itself caught at a crossroads, with Alberta Environment tightening the screws on the municipality to upgrade their water treatment plant starting in 2015, while funding from Alberta Infrastructure for the project is currently nonexistent. The plant is exceeding its ...

A Push for New Look into Tainted Water’s Source by Jim Malewitz and Neena Satija, June 19, 2014, New York Times Steve Lipsky has nearly everything he needs on his 14-acre estate along the Brazos River, west of Fort Worth. The estate includes a guesthouse, a resort-style swimming pool and a seven-bathroom, 15,000-square-foot home where he ...

Judge Approves Three Million Dollar Verdict in Fracking Lawsuit Mose Buchele, June 20, 2014, State Impact Texas Aruba asked Dallas County Judge Mark Greenberg to throw out the three million dollar verdict. But late Thursday Greenberg denied that motion. The case is important because drilling companies often reach out-of-court settlements with plaintiffs. Those can include gag orders. ...

Recent court rulings: Range Resources responsible for disclosing chemicals by Emily Petsko, June 16, 2014, Observer Reporter Range Resources will be held responsible for disclosing a full list of products and chemicals it used at a Marcellus Shale gas-drilling site in Amwell Township, according to a pair of recent rulings. Both a state Environmental Hearing Board judge ...

Fate of $3 million fracking damage award for Texas couple in judge’s hands by David Hasemyer, June 18, 2014, InsideClimate News A Texas judge will soon decide whether to accept a jury’s $2.9 million award to a Wise County family who claims to have been sickened by emissions from the gas and oil wells surrounding ...

Fracking is dangerous and it can and has been proven by Patty Pickup, Rocky View County, June 16, 2014, Rocky View Weekly Re: “Previous fracking letter includes a number of inaccurate facts, letter ” June 2 Dear Editor, Mr. Meikle has made several disparaging remarks about “inaccuracies” in Mrs. Hawkwood’s letter. I will seek to support her statements and direct readers to ...

Regulator checks oilsands companies in northwest Alberta for odours by The Canadian Press, June 16, 2014, Edmonton Journal Alberta’s energy regulator is mounting a two-week, round-the-clock compliance check near Peace River to ensure oilsands companies are following new rules on odour emissions. Mark Roberts, who was forced to leave his farm last January due to strong odours ...

NY Assembly passes fracking ban; Senate hopes dim by pressconnects, June 16, 2014, New York’s state Assembly has voted to ban hydraulic fracturing for natural gas for three years, but that’s as far as the bill is likely to go. Monday’s 89-34 vote in favor of the ban on fracking could be largely symbolic, since the Senate isn’t expected ...

Peter Watson named as new National Energy Board chair and chief executive by The Canadian Press, June 13, 2014, Calgary Herald The National Energy Board is getting a new boss. Peter Watson has been appointed to a seven-year term as the federal energy watchdog’s chairman and CEO, federal Natural Resources Minister Greg Rickford announced Friday. Watson, whose ...

Balcombe anti-fracking group take protest to High Court by BBC News Sussex, June 13, 2014 Lawyers for the Frack Free Balcombe Residents Association (FFBRA) claim West Sussex County Council’s decision to allow energy company Cuadrilla to carry out further tests is unlawful. Permission was granted following test-drilling by the company last summer. Both the council and Cuadrilla ...

For leading Encana to illegally and intentionally frac into a community’s drinking water supply (injecting 18 million litres of frac fluid), as CEO, Gwyn Morgan (currently on the Board of the heinous lying Fraser Institute, previously head honcho of the law-violating SNC Lavalin), needs to be stripped of his Order of Canada too. Louis LaPierre stripped ...

Wyoming to test for same groundwater pollutants in Pavillion by Benjamin Storrow, June 12, 2014, Star-Tribune State officials said Thursday that they intend to test the Pavillion area’s groundwater for nearly all the potential pollutants examined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its study of the region’s water supplies. That news drew criticism from some ...

New Democrats release draft of Alberta’s plan to reform energy rules by The Canadian Press, June 12, 2014, Lethbridge Herald The Alberta New Democrats have released what they say is a blueprint for how the governing Tories plan to reform energy industry regulations. The draft paper proposes tailoring environmental requirements to specific risks in different areas. The document ...

Your Lawn Need Fracking? by Zoë Schlanger, June 12, 2014, Newsweek MUST WATCH: Newsweek Feature Stories: Forced Fracking 2:33 Min. by 92nd Street Y  “To me, it didn’t sound right,”  Matteo says. “But everybody we knew, they flocked there. At this time, nobody had heard of hydraulic fracturing. Everybody thought these were the conventional wells you see everywhere in western Pennsylvania. ...

Encana pays $3.1B to enter Eagle Ford shale by Oil and Gas Financial Journal, June 9, 2014 Encana, Canada’s largest natural gas producer, has entered a deal with Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas to purchase Eagle Ford shale assets for $3.1 billion. The buy was spurred by Encana’s strategy to reduce its dependence on natural gas and refocus ...

Analysis: Oil Companies Used 45 Million Pounds of Air Toxic Chemicals in Los Angeles Area Over Past Year Press Release by Centre for Biological Diversity, June 11, 2014 Air Pollutants From Fracking, Acidizing Threaten Public Health, Report Says LOS ANGELES— Oil companies over the past year used more than 45 million pounds of dangerous chemicals in Los ...

BP loses another round in its battle to stiff oil spill victims by Michael Hiltzik, June 10, 2014, Los Angeles Times Oil giant BP this week extended its .000 batting streak in its effort to kill its own settlement in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, losing a bid to have the Supreme Court halt ...

Communities should send clear ‘no fracking’ message by Expositor, June 11, 2011 Since The Expositor introduced the possibility of shale gas extraction, a process commonly called fracking, on Manitoulin, no-one has come forward to say that Manitoulin Island and its known deep-rock natural gas reserves are not on the radar for exploration by businesses bent on ...

Terry Greenwood: Pennsylvania Farmer, Daisytown, Washington County, PA by Friends of the Harmed “The DEP sided with the gas company when I called them. I was told by the DEP , “there’s nothing wrong with this, they dump the water right on the land in West Virginia”. I had to fence off the area where the spill ...

Lafayette fracking ban not being enforced, lawsuit claims by The Associated Press, June 10, 2014, The Republic Two Lafayette residents are suing Colorado officials for not enforcing a ban on hydraulic fracturing. … Sixty percent of Lafayette voters supported a measure that prohibits any new oil and gas extraction in the city. The Colorado Oil & ...

unearthed: World Premier Sheffield International Documentary Film Festival, UK June 10 & 11, 2014, documentary by Jolynn Minnaar

Oldman River Water Tribute Lethbridge Alberta, June 8, 2014 Jessica Ernst’s statement read at the tribute by Rena Woss: Thank you for honouring me, and inviting me to your Oldman River Water Tribute. A wise community learns from the mistakes of others. A healthy community knows it’s OK to be opposed to the oil and gas industry. Lethbridge watched the ...

Alberta launches new program to help municipalities protect from flooding by The Canadian Press, June 9, 2014, Lethbridge Herald Alberta has introduced a new grant program to help municipalities better protect their residents, property, and infrastructure from the effects of floods or droughts. Municipalities, First Nations, and Metis settlements can apply for funds from the ...

Anti-fracking campaign dampens British buzz over shale by Shawn McCarthy, June 9, 2014, The Globe and Mail The walk from the village of Balcombe to the drill site takes less than half an hour on a footpath that winds through the dense West Sussex forest, past a farmyard, and then down the overgrown verge of a ...

St. Albert residents sitting on abandoned oil and gas wells by Viola Pruss, March 16, 2013, St Albert Gazette Several St. Albert residents whose properties are on or near and abandoned oil and gas wells have been contacted by Imperial Oil about tests to be done on their land. The oil company and Coun. Cam MacKay ...

Encana’s bet against natgas puts it in black by Mark Wilcox, May 13, 2014, Wyoming Busines Report Encana Corp. (NYSE:ECA), which just completed the $1.8 billion sale of the Jonah Field, posted net earnings of $116 million in the first quarter after a fourth quarter loss of $251 million. While the major sale that drilled 100 workers ...

Chesapeake faces new charges on Michigan leasing by Bloomberg, June 5, 2014, Fuel Fix Chesapeake Energy Corp., already facing antitrust claims in Michigan over bids on gas exploration rights, was charged with racketeering and fraud for allegedly lying to landowners about leases it took out on their property. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a statement ...

Scientists: Tests prove fracking to blame for flaming Parker County wells by Brett Shipp, June 5, 2014, WFAA.com, ABC NEWS 8 INVESTIGATES For the past two years, News 8 has aired a series of stories of flames shooting from water wells in Parker County. Dangerous levels of methane gas somehow found its way into the water ...

Panel has inflated gas volume estimates, retired geologist says, Report on fracking ‘complete rubbish’ by mary Ellen MacIntyre and Selena Ross, June 4, 2014, Chronicle Herald A retired geologist who once mapped Nova Scotia for the provincial government questions the conclusions of a panel on the potential for shale gas in the ground. “It’s complete rubbish,” ...

National news site with focus on energy politics to be launched, Vancouver Observer wins the Canadian Journalism Foundation 2014 Excellence in Journalism Award, and announces a new national news organization by Mychaylo Prystupa, June 4, 2014, Vancouver Observer Digital news publisher Linda Solomon used the spotlight of her news team’s win at the Canadian Journalism Foundation Awards gala ...

Fracking risk to drinking water greater in Britain than United States, warns expert by Graham Hiscott, June 4, 2014, The Daily Mirror Claim that water contamination risk much higher in UK comes as Government set to give drilling go-ahead David Smythe, Professor of Geophysics at the University of Glasgow, says those citing the US as an example ...

Manitoba Oil & Gas Review 2014, Serving Manitoba’s Oil and Gas Industry by , 2014, DEL Communications Inc. The Big Lie Continues: The Manitoba Petroleum Branch lies like oil and gas ministries/agencies/regulators do across Canada. From Page 19: [Refer also to: January 22, 2014: Alberta’s Troubling “Directive 83” Could Create Precedent for Drilling in Manitoba February 5, 2013: Hydraulic Fracturing in ...

N.Y.’s Local Fracking Bans Spur Debate Before Top Court by Chris Dolmetsch and Danielle Sanzone, June 3, 2014, Bloomberg Business Week New York’s cities and towns shouldn’t be able to block hydraulic fracturing within their borders because such prohibitions are trumped by state law, opponents of the bans told the state’s highest court. Lawyers defending such ...

Chief NSW scientist recommends ‘ban on fracking’ in Sydney Water catchment area if health risks unknown by ABC News, June 3, 2014 The state’s top scientist says fracking should be banned if the risk to human health can’t be known for sure. Chief Scientist Professor Mary O’Kane was commissioned by the New South Wales government to report ...

National Conservation Plan Ignores National Parks, Wilderness by Maura Forrest, June 2, 2014, CBC News in Huffingtonpost.ca Some scientists and environmental groups are coming down hard on the federal government’s first ever National Conservation Plan, claiming that it will neglect most of Canada, given its focus on agricultural and built-up areas near urban centres. The new ...

Bill to void levee board lawsuit against oil and gas heads to Gov. Bobby Jindal by Chris Granger, Associated Press, May 30, 2014, nola.com BATON ROUGE, La. — The oil and gas industry won a significant victory Friday in the Louisiana Legislature, receiving final passage of a bill that seeks to kill a lawsuit filed by ...

Don’t believe the oil industry on fracking by John Scott, May 31, 2014, Chico Enterprise-Record The oil and gas industry tells us on TV that hydraulic fracking is safe. This is so outrageously untrue, because fracking for gas and oil has already destroyed many groundwater aquifers forever, and the property values have dropped to zero. Fracking ...

Texas family wins $2.9 million fracking lawsuit, setting stage for more lawsuits to follow by Tom Boggioni, May 30, 2014, rawstory.com A north Texas family won a $2.9 million lawsuit against a Plano-based oil company after convincing a jury that emissions from the company’s fracking operations were making them sick. According to Inside Climate News, the Parr ...

Regulator Report: Methane in Parker County water can’t be tied to drilling by Jim Fuquay, May. 29, 2014, Star Telegram The amount of methane in several Parker County water wells is increasing, but the Texas Railroad Commission says it still can’t link the contamination to nearby gas drilling activity. In a report released Wednesday, the commission ...

Encana spinoff PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. surges in Toronto Stock Exchange debut by Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press, May 30, 2014, Calgary Herald Encana Corp. spinoff PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. (TSX:PSK) made an impressive debut Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with its shares surging about 32 per cent over their initial public offering price. PrairieSky’s stock closed ...

Finally some good news on Pavillion by Star-Tribune, May 27, 2014 Poor Pavillion hasn’t had a lot of good news involving water in recent years. But recently, quietly, some good news–in the form of water–trucked its way east from Pavillion’s municipal system to nearby residents’ newly built cisterns. The cisterns and the get-it-fixed Wyoming attitude behind them ...

Ease fracking laws or we’ll pull out, warns Cuadrilla, Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, wants fracking companies to have automatic access rights by Ben Webster and Tim Webb, May 31 2014, The times The energy company leading efforts to exploit Britain’s shale gas reserves has threatened to pull out unless the law is changed ...

Quebec announces extensive studies to assess oil and gas potential, St. Lawrence Lowlands, Anticosti Island subjects of fracking probes by Kevin Dougherty, Gazette Quebec Bureau Chief, May 30, 2014, Montreal Gazette Quebec’s Liberal government announced on Friday it will carry out extensive environmental studies, as a prelude to developing the province’s oil and gas potential. A ...

Fracking expert says two key words dropped from report, Council says there was no government interference with final version by John Spears, May 29, 2014, Toronto Star The scientist who chaired an expert panel on the impact of fracking says that two significant words were deleted from the final version of the report, released a month ...

Live on CFAX 1070, An hour in studio: Ian Jessop interviews Jessica Ernst May 28, 2014, Victoria, BC Quote by President Lyndon B. Johnson on signing the Wilderness Act of 1964, sent by David W., read on the show by Ian Jessop: “If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave ...

Fracking Ed workshop talks about cracks in energy regulation by Maureen Mariampillai, April 16, 2014, Slave Lake Lakeside Leader

Fracking wastewater ‘perfectly fine,’ in use at Lafarge cement plant by Francis Campbell, May 24, 2014, The Chronicle Herald Lafarge has begun using fracking wastewater in its cement plant near Brookfield. Trucks started hauling the wastewater from Atlantic Industrial Services in Debert for use in the Lafarge cement-making kiln earlier this week. “This is twice-treated water,” said Lori ...

I will not Synergize or Gag and Settle by Jessica Ernst, May 24, 2014, Courtenay BC A few slides: Encana’s hydrocarbon well data on file with Alberta’s public water well data base – “Gas Present No” at the time of drilling the gas well, before Encana frac’d the Rosebud aquifers! View all Slides Our Water ~ Our Future 2014 May 23 ...

Four Fatalities Linked to Used Fracking Fluid Exposure During ‘Flowback,’ NIOSH Reports by Robert Iafolla, May 20, 2014, Daily Environment Report Initial government field studies on hydraulic fracturing operations suggest that workers could be exposed to hazardous levels of volatile hydrocarbons from used fracking fluids, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said May ...

In Utah Boom Town, a Spike in Infant Deaths Raises Questions by Zoë Schlanger, May 21, 2014, Newsweek In Donna Young’s 19 years as a midwife, she’s made house calls to hundreds of mothers in Utah’s Uintah Basin, and never delivered a stillbirth—until last May. She was startled. “Everything seemed to be normal, everything seemed to ...

EIA Cuts Monterey Shale Estimates on Extraction Challenges by Zain Shauk and Naureen S. Malik, with assistance from Eliot Caroom in New York and Joe Carroll in Chicago, May 21, 2014, Washington Post (Updates with comment from industry group in 10th paragraph.) May 21 (Bloomberg) — The Energy Information Administration slashed its estimate of recoverable reserves from ...

Santa Cruz becomes first California county to ban fracking by Rory Carroll, May 20, 2014, Reuters Santa Cruz on Tuesday became the first California county to ban fracking, the latest in a string of moves by local governments in the state to take a stand against the controversial oil and gas producing method. … The scenic county of ...

Oilpatch critics say Alberta energy regulator is denying them right to speak by Bob Weber, The Canadian Press, May 18, 2014, The Calgary Herald Expert observers and opposition politicians worry Alberta’s new energy regulator is drawing the circle of who can speak so tightly that one hearing on a proposed energy project had to be cancelled ...

Fracing near Ponoka Alberta contaminates another drinking water supply: Ann Craft, business woman and landowner goes public after getting nowhere with 2.5 year old water contamination case and delivery to her home of toxic sour crude produced water as replacement drinking water Alberta Hansard, The 28th Legislature, Second Session, May 7, 2014 Drinking Water Contamination Complaint Mr. Fox: ...

Temporary restraining order filed to stop Northshore fracking by wdsu.com, May 15, 2014 ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. —Attorneys for the group Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany Parish have filed documents in federal court to stop Helis Oil & Gas from drilling between Mandeville and Abita Springs. Helis proposed to drill down 13,000 feet to obtain data ...

Safety over Secrecy Act Introduced Press Release by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, May 13, 2014 Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has introduced legislation to protect the health and safety of American citizens by limiting the ability of big corporations to demand that plaintiffs remain silent about their experiences as a condition of settling ...

Frack Canada report a preview of the frack Yukon report? by Peter Becker, May 14, 2014, The Whitehorse Star To those regions that are already fracked in frightening finality, or in the process, the report is more late than helpful. It also poses the question if the “Go Slow” report means to help others, like Yukon, or ...

‘Over my dead body’: northern BC residents overwhelmed by massive LNG push by Mychaylo Prystupa, May 13, 2014, Vancouver Observer Bear Claw lodge owner Gene Allen opposes LNG projects. Photo by Mychaylo Prystupa In the Kispiox Valley 650 km north of Vancouver — where “No LNG” lawn signs seem to be everywhere — rancher Gene Allen had ...

Year of change for energy regulator, More transitions to come as AER boosts efficiency by Amanda Stephenson, May 14, 2014, Calgary Herald Jim Ellis doesn’t mind admitting he’s had a challenging year. As president and CEO of the new Alberta Energy Regulator, which was launched in June 2013, Ellis has spent the past 12 months presiding ...

PA court weighs gas drilling rules, patient rights by The Associated Press, May 14, 2014, A Pennsylvania appeals court appeared skeptical of gas drilling rules that would limit what “trade secrets” the industry must share after a spill. The Commonwealth Court also heard arguments Wednesday on whether injured patients and their doctors would have to keep ...

Liberals speak on Sulfolane-contaminated wells by Gord Fortin, May 8, 2014, Edson Leader The Alberta Liberal Party said they too would like to see the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development release all records on Sulfolane-contaminated wells in South Rosevear. “I think that is the very least of what both the government, ...

Workers trying to secure out-of-control oil well near Tioga by Amy Dalrymple, May 12, 2014, Prairie Business Magazine Workers on Monday were still trying to secure a well that had been out of control since Friday. Crews reported losing control of the well about 8 p.m. Friday and an unknown amount of oil, gas and water has ...

Communities want more input in urban drilling decisions by Amanda Stephenson, May 12, 2014, Calgary Herald It was the news Lethbridge residents had been hoping for. The southern Alberta city, population 90,000, had spent two years opposing a plan by Calgary-based Goldenkey Oil Inc. to drill three exploratory wells in an empty field inside city limits, ...

Chesapeake hit with new anti-trust charge by Noah Brenner, May 9, 2014, upstreamonline  Michigan prosecutors have slapped Chesapeake Energy with a second charge of anti-trust violations in addition to the two other charges the US shale giant is already facing in relation to an alleged conspiracy to depress lease prices in the Collingwood shale play. Encana agrees ...

Lackawanna College gets $2.5 million by Power Source, April 12, 2014 Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation is giving $2.5 million to Lackawanna College, officials announced at a news conference at the Theater at Lackawanna College Friday. The money will go directly to the School of Petroleum and Natural Gas ...

N.W.T. elders parliament votes for a freeze on fracking by CBC News, May 9, 2014 ‘We happen to be in an area of the country where the term ‘elders’ means something:’ Jean-Pierre Isoré ​Elders from across the Northwest Territories weighed in on fracking as part of a model debate in the legislative assembly yesterday. In the end, ...

Alberta ranchers voice health concerns about fracking by Cam Tucker, May 7, 2014, Metro Nielle Hawkwood began noticing about four years ago that her hair was falling out. She also began experiencing skin irritation – as did her husband, Howard — as well as nosebleeds. Two years ago, she was diagnosed with alopecia, which causes significant hair loss. “The ...

B.C. horse breeder recounts fracking leak scare by Matt Kieltyka, May 7, 2014, Metro Pat Gerlinsky and Glenda Wagar, who own a farm in Pouce Coupe, B.C., say they’ve experienced permanent health impacts after a 2009 gas leak near their property. Glenda Wagar jolted from bed at 3 a.m. as the roar of jetting gas boomed through the ...

Expert Says Independent Air Sample of Evacuated Home in Arvin Shows Relatively High Levels of Chemicals Linked to Hydraulic Fracturing Press Release, May 5, 2014, Global Community Monitor – Empowering Communities Meanwhile Silence from Officials is Deafening – No Responses to Public Record Requests More than a month after being evacuated from their homes in Nelson Court, ...

Public Health Experts Call on Governor to Study Fracking’s Impact on Cancer-Causing Radon Levels Before Making a Decision On Whether to Allow Drilling Press Release May 8, 2014 State Medical Society Weighs in Supporting Legislation That Protects Public Health by Limiting Radon Exposure Albany, NY – Leading public health experts and the American Lung Association of the ...

Ernst Argues Alberta’s Energy Regulator Not Immune to Charter, Court hears appeal as part of landowner’s ongoing fracking lawsuit by Andrew Nikiforuk, May 9, 2014, TheTyee.ca In a blindingly white and ultra-modern courtroom on the 26th floor of the TransCanada Pipeline Tower in downtown Calgary, three Court of Appeal justices heard arguments yesterday on whether government regulators or officials are ...

Alberta Landowner Takes Fight with Energy Regulator Back to Court, Jessica Ernst’s appeal of previous ruling in fracking case starts Thursday by Andrew Nikiforuk, May 7, 2014, TheTyee.ca Jessica continue de foncer translation by translation by Amie du Richelieu, May 9, 2014

MUST READ: Alberta government admits it knew of earlier sulfolane leak, Environment watchdog knew of 2008 leak as early as 2009 and didn’t tell residents by Marion Warnica, May 6, 2014, CBC News Concerns linger over sulfolane in water 3:13 Min. Government comes clean on chemical leak 1:49 Min. Read Section 110 of Alberta’s Environmental Protection and ...

Denton imposes moratorium on gas drilling ahead of petition seeking ban by Nicholas Sakelaris, May 7, 2014, Dallas Business Journal The Denton City Council voted in a surprise move Tuesday night to stop all gas drilling inside the city’s limits, imposing a moratorium until Sept. 9. The move comes just hours before the group Denton Drilling Awareness ...

Revamping Encana will double oil output with $3.1-billion Texas deal by Carrie Tait, May 7, 2014, The Globe and Mail Encana Corp., the Canadian natural gas company that is in the midst of restructuring, has struck a multibillion-dollar deal to buy a slice of a major oil play in Texas. Encana has reached an agreement to ...

Colorado Congressman Called A ‘Terrorist’ For Pushing Community Control Of Fracking by Andrew Breiner, May 6, 2014, Think Progress When Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call saw a question on Twitter Friday about working with U.S. Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) on an compromise to give control of fracking to nearby communities, he responded quickly: “We shouldn’t negotiate ...

Shale Gas Plagued By Unusual Methane Leaks, Scientists investigate high levels of damaging gas released in fracked areas by Andrew Nikiforuk, May 6, 2014, TheTyee.ca According to a spate of recent scientific studies from the United States and Australia, the shale gas industry has generated another formidable challenge: methane and radon leakage three times greater than expected. … The new studies quantifying methane ...

Long-awaited fracking report highlights known unknowns by Paul Schneidereit, May 6, 2014, Chronicle Herald Last week, the wait was over. … Anyone hoping for a definitive answer was disappointed. The expert panel basically said that while fracking’s economic potential in Canada is undoubtedly vast, too much remains unknown to declare the process safe for either people ...

British medical journal, The Lancet, writes story on plight of Peace River-area families dealing with bitumen pollution by Sheila Pratt, May 5, 2014, Edmonton Journal The prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet, ran a story last week on the plight of seven families forced to leave their homes between 2011 and 2014 due to ill health ...

Encana pays $5 million to settle antitrust case, Michigan drops criminal charges by Dan Healing, May 5, 2014, Calgary Herald Encana Corp. agreed to pay $5 million and plead no contest to state charges Monday to end an antitrust case involving alleged collusion to drive down drilling rights prices in Michigan in 2010. The action follows ...

Stabilis Closes ENGI Acquisition by LNG World News, May 2, 2014 Stabilis Energy has closed its acquisition of all of the U.S. based assets of Encana Natural Gas (ENGI), a unit of Encana. Denver-based ENGI is a leading distributor of LNG fuel to domestic high horsepower engine operators in the oilfield, mining, rail, marine, over the road ...

Alberta gave grants to group critical of oilsands by Bill Kaufman, QMI Agency, March 25th, 2014, Sunnews The province has supplied $88,000 in grants to oilsands critic-environmental think-tank the Pembina Institute and its foundation over the past five years. Details of the grants from Alberta Culture were acquired by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation through a Freedom ...

West Texas county sues Odessa oil service company for dumping chemicals by Byron Harris, March 11, 2014, News 8 ODESSA, Texas — Ector County in West Texas is suing an Odessa oil services company for as much as $1 million in fines for allegedly dumping thousands of gallons of toxic oil field chemicals down Odessa city ...

Urban drilling for oil and gas raises new questions in Alberta by Kelly Cryderman, May 4, 2014, The Globe and Mail Goldenkey Oil Inc.’s plan was to drill three exploratory oil wells in a farmer’s field in Southern Alberta – something that used to be a straightforward undertaking in a province that relies on underground resources ...

Fracking concerns 7:21 Min. by ClareFrackingConcern, April 30, 2014 Please play your part in prohibiting fracking from coming to Ireland.

Gas plant near Edson first leaked sulfolane in 2008 by CBC News, April 16, 2014 A plant near Edson that is now the focus of an advisory from Alberta Health Services leaked unsafe levels of sulfolane six years ago, CBC News has learned. On March 12, Alberta Health Services advised residents near the South Rosevear Gas ...

Balcombe poet and anti-fracking protester cleared after arrest by Mid Sussex Times, May 2, 2014 A protester who led demonstrators in song at last summer’s anti-fracking protests in Balcombe was acquitted at Eastbourne Magistrates Court yesterday. Author Simon Welsh, 35 of the High Street, Balcombe, is understood to be the only village resident arrested during last ...

Fracking Data Woefully Lacking in Canada, Finds Federal Report by Erika Thorkelson, May 2, 2014, desmogblog.ca There is simply not enough reliable information to be confident about the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, according to a new report released by the Council of Canadian Academies. The report, commissioned by Environment Canada, takes a broad view of the implications ...

Oil drilling near Everglades prompts worries about fracking, water by Dave Paresh, May 2, 2014, LA Times The Collier County Commission voted unanimously to challenge the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to revoke an oil drilling permit. Concerns about an “enhanced extraction procedure” that conservationists in South Florida likened to fracking led an oil drilling firm ...

Man dies on well site, apparently from H2S: 20-year-old found dead over open cover of crude tank by Katherine Lymn, April 30, 2014, thedickinsonpress.com WILLISTON — A 20-year-old man died earlier this week at a well site 5 miles south of Williston. Zachary Buckles, of Glasgow, Mont., was found unresponsive at the site and died sometime ...

Fracking Growth Outpacing Scientific Knowledge in Canada: Report, Environment Canada-commissioned study urges a ‘go slow’ approach by Andrew Nikiforuk, May 1, 2014, TheTyee.ca In the absence of environmental baseline data, a new report notes the hydraulic fracturing industry has probably moved too far, too fast. One of Canada’s premier scientific bodies has issued a critical report on ...

Texas Oil Field Explosion Kills 2, Injures 9 by AP, April 30, 2014, Huffingtonpost.com MENTONE, Texas (AP) — A buildup of pressure caused an explosion as workers were changing a wellhead Wednesday at a West Texas oil field, killing two of them and injuring nine others, a sheriff said. Loving County Sheriff Billy Hopper said authorities ...

Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction in Canada. Ottawa (ON): The Expert Panel on Harnessing Science and Technology to Understand the Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction April 30, 2014, Council of Canadian Academies Press Release April 30, 2014 A new expert panel report, Environmental Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction in Canada, concludes that shale gas development must be ...

Birth Outcomes and Maternal Residential Proximity to Natural Gas Development in Rural Colorado by Lisa M. McKenzie, Ruixin Guo, Roxana Z. Witter, David A. Savitz, Lee S. Newman, and John L. Adgate, April 2014 HTML version Des malformations congénitales liées à l’extraction du gaz naturel Translation of Nikiforuk’s article below by Les Ami(s) du Richelieu, February 10, 2014 Birth Defects ...

Harper government bombarded telecom companies with requests for private customer info without warrant: Commissioner by Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press, April 29, 2014, Calgary Herald The federal government asks Canadian telecom companies for private customer information about 1.2 million times each year, documents released Tuesday by the federal privacy commissioner’s office show. It is unclear how ...