Global Frac News

Ruling due on unsealing gas well settlement by Don Hopey, January 19, 2013, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A closely watched legal challenge to the sealing of a court-approved settlement between Marcellus Shale development companies and the Washington County family that claimed the industrial operations damaged their health moved a step closer to resolution Friday. Washington County Court President ...

EPA changed course after company protest by AP Wire Service, January 20, 2013, Tulsa World WEATHERFORD, Texas (AP) – When a man in a Fort Worth suburb reported his family’s drinking water had begun bubbling like champagne, the federal government sounded an alarm: A company may have tainted their wells while drilling for natural gas. At first, ...

Moves to address frack practices by Shanon McLeay, January 18, 2013, Strathmore Times Wheatland County councillors submitted their views, in a resolution proposal to the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Communities (AAMDC) zone office, regarding the County’s stance on Resource Development in Alberta. It includes a call to halt Coalbed Methane retrieval and the use of ...

Delegates: Children’s Environmental Health Report Provides Fuel for Change by Angela Harvey, January 18, 2013, Southern Maryland Online ANNAPOLIS — Maryland lawmakers said Thursday they plan to use a new environmental report to support legislation designed to protect children from environmental health dangers, including pesticides and fracking chemicals. The Maryland Environmental Health Network released its 2012 ...

Governor has failed to protect state’s water table with fracturing allowances by Danielle Favorite, January 17, 2013, The Kalamazoo Gazette Because Governor Snyder opened vast tracts of public land to hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas (including in Allegan and Barry counties), he also should take steps to avoid water contamination from production as has occurred ...

Woodstock Town Board First in State to Adopt Resolution in Support of Criminalizing Hydraulic Fracturing by Sovereign People’s Action Network, January 17, 2013 Ulster County, NY – The Town Board of Woodstock, at its monthly meeting on January 15, reviewed and adopted a resolution in support of a New York State law to criminalize hydraulic fracturing ...

LIPG hopes frack fluid disclosure eases concerns over contamination by Derek Clouthier, January 16, 2013, Cochrane Eagle The secrecy surrounding what chemicals are being used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluid has ended, with the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) and the Lochend Industry Producer’s Group (LIPG) disclosing the ingredients to the public. Despite what has been ...

Interpreting air quality around Three Creeks by Logan Clow, January 16, 2013, Peace River Record-Gazette Frustration and more questions than answers came following a presentation from Dr. Ian Johnson at McKinney Hall, outside of Three Creeks last Thursday (Jan. 10). … Johnson has performed air quality testing that correlates to industrial activity and has also been ...

Gas Drillers’ Cozy Relationship With Universities by Richard Schiffman, January 14, 2013, Care2 Causes Last week, the oil company Chevron took out a full-page ad in the Atlantic Monthly to say – seemingly innocuously – that hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, needs to be “good for everyone.” It was a part of Chevron’s ubiquitous “Human ...

Fracking Study Shows California Dangers, Finds Richard Meehan Consulting Press Release January 14, 2013, Business Wire During 2012, Plains Exploration & Production Company (PXP) released a series of technical studies which purported to demonstrate that their oil recovery operations, including “fracking” (hydraulic fracturing), in the Los Angeles Inglewood oil field, have no known adverse effect on ...

Money, politics and pollution in fracking country by Will Bunch, January 15, 2013, The Daily News It turned out that the company’s owner, John Moran Jr., wasn’t just a major political donor who’d given more than $100,000 to Corbett’s gubernatorial campaign, but he also had gifted more than $2,400 for Corbett’s personal travel, including hosting the ...

Shale gas: the RCMP and CSIS on high alert Translation of Les fractivistes rendent la GRC nerveuse by Amie du Richelieu, January 15, 2013 The ecologists opposed to shale gas, especially in Quebec, are in the crosshairs of the RCMP and CSIS, the newspaper La Presse has learned. Indeed, the police fear a radicalization of the movement and associations with ...

Encana’s Flickering Flame of Hope by the Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2013 EnCana’s stock jumped initially on Monday morning, before fading. The hope is that Mr. Eresman’s departure heralds a radical change in strategy. Yedlin: CEO’s departure comes as no surprise by Deborah Yedlin, January 12, 2013, Calgary Herald To followers of Encana, the abrupt announcement Friday that ...

WATCH Risky Business – Al Jazeera’s report on CSG in Australia 25 Min. January 14, 2013, by AlJazeeraEnglish One day, the kids were having a bath, and they started screaming. And when Kathy pulled them out of the bath they had a ring-line at water level, everything below the water level was red, like a chemical burn.  Everything ...

DEQ-approved spread of toxic frack flowback in Michigan worse than originally thought Press Release by banmichiganfracking, January 14, 2013 Mackinac area tourist campground sprayed Paradise Lake roads sprayed Mackinaw State Forest road drenched with frack fluids Deadly materials used CHARLEVOIX, MICH. — Michigan grassroots environmental group Ban Michigan Fracking learned through documents obtained from the State through the Freedom of Information ...

Fourth-graders have concluded fracking’s bad by Steve Israel, January 13, 2013, recordonline If it were up to nearly four dozen future voters at a Middletown elementary school, fracking would be banned in New York — and the rest of the world. Just listen to what those fourth-graders at Maple Hill Elementary School have to say about ...

State bans fracking until environmental tests are carried out by Paul Melia, January 12, 2013, Irish Independent DRILLING for natural gas located in bedrock deep below the surface will not be allowed until a number of scientific studies are completed. The Government has ruled out the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, until environmental chiefs complete ...

Well site incident under investigation by Patrick Callan, January 12, 2013,  Grande Prairie Daily Herald-Tribune The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) remains on site at Questerre Energy Corporation following an uncontrolled release of completion fluids from a natural gas well site near Grande Cache Friday afternoon. Questerre says they are currently conducting testing operations on a Montney natural gas well in ...

Report DEP didn’t count all wells under Act 13 by Rachel Morgan Calkins, January 9, 2013, Ellwood City Ledger How did Gehman get his numbers? Gehman said the amount of money he estimates is being forfeited by under-reporting the state’s wells was calculated taking into account the price of gas, whether the wells are horizontal or ...

The Fracking DEC Gets Sued ! by Chip Northrup, January 11, 2013, Shaleshockmedia So the DEC has effectively abandoned all of its environmental responsibilities – in an effort to push some stillborn drilling regulations hastily out the door. In so doing, it has made several fundamental errors, as Team Slottje detail in the…demand letter to the DEC This is what comes of trying ...

Indigenous lawyer to speak on fracking by Jacqueline Ronson, January 11, 2013, Yukon News “The four biggest shale gas plays in Canada, the most developed, just so happen to be in my mother and father’s traditional territory,” said Caleb Behn who is Eh-Cho Dene and Dunne Za. A young indigenous lawyer and activist plans to visit ...

Down goes Encana’s Eresman! Natural gas giant’s president and CEO abruptly announces his retirement by Darren Campbell, January 11, 2013, Alberta Oil Magazine That’s big news in and of itself. But what’s bigger is that the retirement is effective immediately. It’s an odd development. Some big names in the oil patch have either retired (Suncor’s Rick ...

Alberta Tories accused of burying water issues by Darcy Henton, January 11, 2013, Calgary Herald Alberta Environment is set to launch a public consultation on water issues in 20 communities, but critics say a leaked government document suggests the process is shaping up to be a million-dollar sham. Public Interest Alberta said Thursday the water strategy ...

Encana ‘Disappointed’ By Pavilion Comment Period Extension by Karen Boman, January 11, 2013, Rigzone An Encana Corp. spokesperson expressed disappointment at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) extension of the public comment period on the Pavilion draft report to Sept. 30, 2013, from its original conclusion date of Jan. 15. The decision “is a disservice not ...

Frankly Fracking by Helen Rezanowich, Winter 2013, Herizons I was surprised that a true hero of this blockade story, Lois Frank, was not even mentioned.  Tailfeathers, Jill Crop Eared Wolf and Lois Frank were the three women arrested and charged with intimidation for their courageous blockage, but only Frank fought the charges in court.  The other ...

When Women Blow the Whistle by Barbara D. Janusz, Winter 2013, Herizons Researchers and regulators have taken an interest in whistle-blowers, too, and have asked: What is it that makes a person more likely to blow the whistle-is it a sense of injustice, or is it the possibility of being rewarded for doing the right thing? ...

Fracking Shale Gas: Myths and Realities Veteran energy reporter Andrew Nikiforuk keys off Cornell University engineering professor Anthony Ingraffea, a world-recognized fracking expert, to get to the bottom of four big claims used by industry to reassure the public. IN THIS SERIES Shale Gas: Myth and Realities Nikiforuk tackles top claims fracking industry uses to reassure public. First in ...

New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission Shuts Down Environmental Testimony at Pit Rule Hearing by Earthworks and New Mexico Environmental Law Centre, January 10, 2013 Rejection of Expert Witnesses Part Of National Trend To Avoid Truth About Oil & Gas Development Impacts Today, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission concluded a public hearing on proposed amendments to the ...

Face to Face: Risk of contamination from fracking is too high by Katherine Beinkafner and Paul Rubin, January 8, 2013, poughkeepsiejournal.com Most reasons to ban high-volume hydraulic fracturing in New York state originate from petroleum production practices that will contaminate near-surface aquifers and surface waters with the ultimate impact of degrading farmland and delivering serious health ...

Why You Need An Explosives Bunker For Fracking by Nathan Heffel, January 10, 2013, KUNC A bunker for housing explosives for fracking has been proposed for a site outside of Nunn. If built it will have the capacity to hold 7,000 pounds of prepackaged explosives. The proposed bunker highlights a little known, but relatively common part ...

County worried about proposed oilpatch response plans by Paul Cowley, January 9, 2013, Red Deer Advocate Proposed changes to provincial regulations around oilpatch emergency response has raised concerns at Mountain View County council. Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board is updating Directive 071: Emergency Preparedness and Response Requirements for the Petroleum Industry and has asked for public ...

Energy industry letter suggested environmental law changes, Greenpeace says oil and gas companies got what they wanted from Ottawa by Max Paris, January 9, 2013, CBC News Within 10 months of the request, the industry had almost everything it wanted. The letter, dated Dec. 12, 2011, was addressed to Environment Minister Peter Kent and Natural Resources ...

Fracking Farce 2012 by Joyce Nelson, Jan-Feb 2013, Vol 23, No. 1 Watershed Sentinel In 2012, the horror stories about fracking just kept rolling in. There are increasing reports of livestock illnesses and deaths on farms near shale oil and natural gas operations in Alberta, Colorado, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and North ...

Alberta urged to “stay the course” on water management plan Method to measure success is needed, report says by Colette Derworiz, January 7, 2013, Calgary Herald The Water for Life strategy was introduced in 2003 to protect the province’s rivers, lakes and groundwater. It led to the creation of the Alberta Water Council, an arm’s length ...

Fracking issue creating a reel buzz with documentary, drama by Mark Hume, January 6, 2013, The Globe and Mail The debate over gas development in northeast British Columbia has been building in intensity over the past two years, but it is just starting to heat up. The release of a new film, Promised Land, starring Matt ...

Trial set for local business owner by Evan Bevins, January 4, 2013, The Marietta Times A New Matamoras business owner accused of dumping well wastewater into a Monroe County stream is set to stand trial in Feb. 11. Robert D. Armstrong and his company, RCA Oil and Gas LLC, were indicted Nov. 29 on a charge ...

Is Promised Land a Fracking Good Movie? by Alynda Wheat, January 4, 2013, People Magazine Promised Land is more engaging – not to mention funnier – than a movie about fracking has a right to be.

Canadian government confirms contamination of groundwater from hydraulic fracturing by Deborah Rogers, January 4, 2013, Energy Policy Forum Energy In Depth, an industry funded advocacy group, issued an interesting post on the Canadian government’s recent admission that hydraulic fracture stimulation, or fracking, had indeed caused ground water contamination. EID stated in its post: “Numerous reports and independent ...

Energy industry slams Matt Damon fracking film as Hollywood fiction by Kelly Cryderman and Carrie Tait, January 4, 2013, The Globe and Mail A blend of engineering and geology hardly makes for a Hollywood blockbuster. But the latest movie about hydraulic fracturing – yes, there’s more than one out there – has an A-lister taking shots ...

Craig man killed in explosion attempting to offload frac waste by Krai 55 Country, January 4, 2013 Moffat County Sheriff’s Office says employees from Herod Industries were attempting to offload some produced water into a tank from a fracking site. … They tried to thaw the valves with a propane heater, which is what is believed to ...

Gas Drilling Is Called Safe in New York by Danny Hakim, January 3, 2013, The New York Times  ALBANY — The state’s Health Department found in an analysis it prepared early last year that the much-debated drilling technology known as hydrofracking could be conducted safely in New York, according to a copy obtained by The New ...

Fracking trade secrets would get no protection under draft Alaska rule by Ellen M. Gilmer, January 3, 2013, E&E News Companies will not be able to keep trade secrets for hydraulic fracturing ingredients if a proposed Alaska rule is adopted. The chemical disclosure rule, part of draft fracking regulations released late last month by the Alaska Oil and Gas ...

Methane leaks erode green credentials of natural gas, Losses of up to 9% show need for broader data on US gas industry’s environmental impact by Jeff Tollefson, January 2, 2013, Nature, doi:10.1038/493012a Scientists are once again reporting alarmingly high methane emissions from an oil and gas field, underscoring questions about the environmental benefits of the boom ...

Dangerous fluids hauler charged by Alberta government over 2011 spill, Oilfield Service Ltd. faces three charges by HazMat Staff, January 2, 2013, Hazmatmag Industrial fluids hauler Oilfield Service Ltd. is facing three charges from the Alberta government related to a petroleum product spill that occurred on June 9, 2011. The charges were announced December 6, 2012, ...

Citizens pulling together to stop fracking by Mary Ann Sumner and Stephen J. Stelick Jr., December 31, 2012, Times Union The Genesee County-based drilling company Lenape Resources filed a lawsuit late last month to force the citizens of Avon, in nearby Livingston County, to accept hydrofracking. It’s not the first time that Big Oil and Gas ...

Alberta, des citoyens osent enfin briser l’omerta, traduction libre d’un reportage récent by lesamisdurichelieu, January 1, 2013. Some are brave enough to speak out, French translation of: Local Alberta resident responds to ERCB’s request for feedback by Dawn Smith, December 31, 2012, Rocky View Weekly A local resident is not impressed by the Energy Resources Conservation Board’s (ERCB) call ...

SPOG’s 2013 plans include spring exercise by Patricia Riley, January 1, 2013, Mountain View Gazette The Sundre Petroleum Operators Group (SPOG) has outlined some of its plans for the new year, including a spring mutual aid exercise and an education session about flaring at an environment committee Learn at Supper event ...

Richard Moorman: Notes from the Shale Gas Trenches by Natural Gas Europe, December 31, 2012 The former CEO of Tamboran Resources, Richard Moorman was determined to convince the public in Ireland of the benefits of developing their unconventional gas resources. It was not an easy job, but for months he was on the ground at public forums ...

Jeremiah Magers Now Suing CNX, Columbia by Casey Junkins, December 31, 2012, The Intelligencer CAMERON – Chesapeake Energy attorneys deny the company’s drilling and fracking contaminated Jeremiah Magers’ drinking water well with methane, so he is now suing CNX Gas Corp. and Columbia Gas Transmission for the problem. Since 2009, Magers has been dealing with issues ...

2012 12: The trucks above were dumping Encana’s drilling waste in the same field within the same week two months after Encana lawyers refused (in a case management call) to drive to Drumheller court – so Chief Justice Wittmann moved the case to Calgary.  Rigs, waste and water trucks can drive in rural Alberta but ...

ERCB: Rules coming for fracking and unconventional resources by Suzy Thompson, December 20, 2012, Fast Forward Weekly The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) is in the process of a large-scale review of its fracking regulations, with changes implemented sometime in 2013. The ERCB is specifically concerned with water aquifer protection, preventing above-ground chemical spills, and interwellbore communication. “That’s when ...

A Fracking Surprise in Texas by Jim Hightower, December 30, 2012, commondreams How ironic: Fracking recently got fracked! This brutish technique for extracting natural gas from deep within the Earth, led by such profiteering giants as Exxon Mobil and Halliburton, has rapidly swept across America. Indeed, it has run right over local residents who’ve had their ...

Fouled Waters: Woodlands trying to solve its own problems, Water tests by state, U.S. agencies, driller provide no answers by Erich Schwartzel, December 30, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Video by Julia Rendleman CONNOQUENESSING TOWNSHIP — With each passing week, more and more residents in the Woodlands start to live in a waterless world. The backwoods neighborhood of 200 homes and ...

Resolution Passed about Fracking Regulations and Enforcement by National Farmers Union , AGM November 22, 2012 Whereas the legal regulatory requirements across Canada are lacking proper protection of groundwater and surface water from hydraulic fracturing, and Whereas the current regulatory scheme does not give the operators enough incentive to care, and Whereas the adversely affected individuals and communities will not get appropriate restitution, Therefore ...

Plan to mine CBM gas under homes in Sydney by Ben Cubby, December 29, 2012, Brisbane Times LARGE-SCALE coal seam gas drilling would take place directly under suburban streets and backyards in Sydney under a proposal being assessed by the state’s planning and infrastructure department. … About 10,000 homes in the affected area, covering suburbs such as ...

Ewart: The top 10 energy stories of 2012 by Stephen Ewart, December 29, 2012, Calgary Herald 4. Fracking up … As regulators develop new rules or update existing ones and industry groups shared best-practices, the fracking revolution is just beginning in Canada as some 5,000 wells have been fracked in Alberta since 2008. This new era gained attention ...

Fracking away our aquifers? The EPA is allowing oil companies to inject drilling and fracking waste into drinking water aquifers below Northern Colorado. The water is far too deep to be used today – but water experts say that might not always be the case by Bobby Magill, December 28, 2012, Coloradoan.com The documents the EPA ...

‘No backing for fracking’ by Neil C. Oliver, LL B, December 28, 2012, The Irish trimes Sir, – Fracking or no fracking? That is the question, to which the answer, as far as Northern Ireland is concerned, is simple, clear and unequivocal: there should be no backing for fracking. The fracking process uses high-pressure liquid to split ...

“Energy In Depth” – A Reporters’ Guide to Its Founding, Funding, and Flacks by Lisa Graves, December 28, 2012, PR Watch, The Center for Media and Democracy What is Energy In Depth, really? EID describes itself as “a research, education and public outreach campaign focused on getting the facts out” about hydraulic fracturing, widely known as “fracking.” ...

SPECIAL REPORT: Chesapeake, McClendon endure rocky year; more uncertainty ahead by Brian Grow, Anna Driver, Joshua Schneyer and Carrick Mollenkamp; editing by Blake Morrison and Michael Williams, December 27, 2012, Reuters UK The lawsuit by Otis Eastern says contracts with Chesapeake and its affiliates were signed before the sales occurred. Chesapeake remains a defendant in the ...

Local believes water diversion from Dogpound could hurt fishery by Derek Clouthier, December 27, 2012, Cochrane Eagle A local writer and environmentalist has voiced concern over Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) issuing permits to energy companies to extract water from Dogpound Creek. Guy Woods highlighted in a blog last month that his trepidation lies ...

‘Promised Land’ review: Damon’s depths by Mick LaSalle, December 27, 2012, The San Francisco Chronicle “Promised Land” is a fine place to start appreciating Matt Damon, who always makes it seem as if everybody else is acting and he’s just going through the movie being natural. Damon is the actor who leaves no fingerprints, who never calls ...

Expert raises new fears over effects of fracking by Bath Chronicle, December 27, 2012 Dr David Packham, senior lecturer in materials science at the Claverton Down university, has spoken out about the impact that fracking could have if it was given the go ahead in Bath and north east Somerset or on the Mendips. He said ...

Groundwater contaminated after fracking fluid leak in Canada by Boulder Weekly, December 27, 2012 An investigation into a fracking fluid leak near Calgary, in Canada, has confirmed groundwater contamination. On Sept. 22, 2011, Crew Energy Inc. workers “inadvertently perforated above the base of groundwater protection” and proceeded with hydraulic fracturing operations using 130 cubic meters of gelled propane ...

Minister ‘misleads’ over fracking, Energy Minister John Hayes has been accused of misrepresenting a Durham University study after he claimed it concluded fracking could not contaminate drinking water by Louise Gray, December 26, 2012, The Telegraph In an interview on Radio 5 Live, Mr Hayes, said “the idea that that water will get into the main ...

County investigating possible road bans to prevent oilfield traffic damage by Dan Singleton, December 25, 2012, Rocky View Weekly In an effort to better protect the county’s road network from damage caused by heavy oilfield truck traffic, Mountain View County councillors have instructed administration to determine which roadways in the municipality may need to have immediate ...

Resolution aims to compensate landowners by Dan Singleton, December 25, 2012, Mountain View Gazette In an effort to get financial compensation for landowners impacted by oil and gas activities, Mountain View County councillors have passed a motion to have a provincewide resolution prepared on behalf of the municipality. During last week’s council meeting Coun. Al Kemmere ...

INSIGHT-In fracking culture war, celebs, billionaires and banjos by Joshua Schneyer and Edward McAllister, December 24, 2012, Reuters Not so long ago, fracking was a technical term little known beyond the energy industry. … The Northern Irish director Phelim McAleer’s documentary, “FrackNation,” is an unabashedly pro-drilling mantra set to air next month on AXS TV, the ...

Heather Mallick’s favourite books of 2012 by Heather Mallick, December 24, 2012, Toronto Star It was not a splendid year for books, as the great publishing shakeout began. Digital publishing began to overtake ink and paper, publishers went under and authors were poor, no change there. Great fiction was thin on the ground and most of ...

National Organizations Call on Premiers to Step in to Save Chief Spence Media Release by Canadian Union of Public Employees, Council of Canadians and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, December 24, 2012 Dave Coles, President of CEP, Paul Moist, President of CUPE, and Maude Barlow, Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, are asking the premiers to ...

Alberta to start using FracFocus by United Press International Inc., December 20, 2012 Residents in Alberta will soon be able to get information about hydraulic fracturing fluid online, the provincial government said. Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board [name changed from the Energy Utilities Board, EUB, after the Board was caught breaking the law and spying on ...

Fracking regulations should ban practice altogether by Burt Wilson, December 20, 2012, The Sacramento Bee The best rule the state could propose for the fracking of shale wells is to eliminate it altogether. The water pumped into the wells is loaded with toxic chemicals — some of which are carcinogenic — and they will percolate upwards ...

Hearing granted to unseal drilling settlement by Linda Metz, December 19, 2012, Observer Reporter For more than a year, the Observer-Reporter and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have been fighting to gain access to a sealed legal settlement between a Mt. Pleasant Township couple and a group of gas drilling companies. Their quest began in Washington County Common ...

Scientist Say Frackwater Isn’t Drinkable by Chip Northrup, December 19, 2012, Shaleshockblog Unless you are on an ultra high sea salt, high barium, high arsenic and high radium 226 diet. Which may account for all the novel ways the frackers are trying to make billions of gallons of the stuff disappear – as “de-icer” onto roads, ...

Cranberry W.Va. fracking-test workers getting back pay by The Associated Press, December 19, 2012 Sixty-nine Pennsylvania and West Virginia workers for a company that tests water samples at natural gas and oil drilling sites are getting more than $187,000 in back pay after wrongly being denied overtime. The U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday announced the ...

Fracking blowout report released by ERCB by Johnnie Bachusky, December 18, 2012, Mountainview Gazette The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) has handed down its report into the fracking blowout near Innisfail 11 months ago but due to a lack of enforcement regulations at the time no punitive measures are being taken. “At the time there were ...

Longmont wants fracking fight moved to Boulder County by Scott Rochat, December 18, 2012, Longmont Times-Call The Colorado Oil and Gas Association sued the city Monday in Weld County District Court, charging that Longmont’s new ban of hydraulic fracturing was effectively a ban on drilling as well. Longmont voters added the ban to the city charter ...

Industry advised government prior to pipeline review by Drew A. Penner, December 18, 2012, Mountainview Gazette Alberta’s Energy Minister Ken Hughes is talking tough after Greenpeace revealed he met with industry leaders as the government began to decide on parameters for a review of the province’s 400,000 kilometres of pipeline. A series of emails uncovered by ...

City in Colorado Is Sued Over a Fracking Ban by Jack Healy, December 18, 2012, The New York Times An industry group representing oil and gas companies has sued a city in Colorado that outlawed hydraulic fracturing, saying voters had no right to ban the drilling practice. The lawsuit, filed on Monday by the Colorado Oil ...

Government announces ban on fracking in Sacred Headwaters by Jimmy Thomson, December 18, 2012, The Tyee.ca The B.C. government announced Tuesday that an agreement had been reached to ban fracking in the Sacred Headwaters. The ban will take effect on the day that a four-year moratorium on all activity related to coalbed methane extraction was set to expire. Shell ...

ERCB proposing new approach to unconventional resource regulatory framework by Amanda Stephenson, December 18, 2012, Calgary Herald Alberta’s energy regulator is seeking public input on new rules designed to address the oil and gas industry’s growing use of “fracking” or hydraulic fracturing in large-scale, manufacturing style developments. A discussion paper drafted by the ERCB would require ...

Farmer released from jail after confronting workers over mine discharge by Don Hopey, December 18, 2012, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette UNIONTOWN, Pa. — A still-indignant 73-year-old cattle farmer walked out of the Fayette County Jail on Monday morning after serving a four-day contempt-of-court sentence for confronting natural gas pipeline company employees who he said were pumping acidic mine water ...

Colorado oil and gas industry sues to kill Longmont fracking ban by Bruce Finley, December 17, 2012, The Denver Post The oil and gas industry on Monday hit Longmont with a lawsuit to kill voters’ recent ban on fracking within city limits. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association contends the ban is illegal because it denies ...

Encana provided $4K grant for Red Cross disaster relief in Fremont County by County 10 News, December 15, 2012 (Riverton, Wyo.) – Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. granted the American Red Cross of Wyoming (ARC) $4,000 to provide disaster relief services to victims of man-made or natural disasters in Fremont County, such as wildfires, floods, ...

Fracking goes prime time on sitcom, Fracking is becoming a national topic, even on TV sitcoms by Steve Israel, December 16, 2012, Times Herald Record Sean Lennon and Yoko Ono? Figures they would take out a full page ad in the New York Times against fracking — especially because the mother/son political activists have land out ...

Encana’s fracking spokesperson, Wendy Wiedenbeck, is not so innocent by Wendy Leonard, Erie Rising, December 16, 2012, Daily Camera Recently in the news, Encana’s spokeswoman, Wendy Wiedenbeck, has been portrayed as the innocent victim of verbal attacks from oil and gas opponents. As Wiedenbeck left the Boulder County commissioners’ meeting last week, citizens let her know ...

Teck liable for Columbia River clean-up in Washington state, judge rules by The Canadian Press, December 15, 2012, The Globe and Mail Teck Resources treated the Columbia River as a free waste disposal system for decades, said a Washington state judge who has ruled the Canadian company is liable for the cost of cleaning up the ...

The Fracking Mess by Ray Grigg, December 14, 2012, Special to Courier-Islander, Canada.com In a future review of our history, we will likely conclude that fracking created a bigger mess than it solved.

Judge rejects oil, gas lease bid collusion settlement by Dennis Webb, December 14, 2012, The Daily Sentinel Citing the “unrepentant arrogance” of one of the defendant companies, a federal judge has rejected a proposed settlement involving alleged collusion by two energy firms in bidding on federal oil and gas leases in Gunnison and Delta counties. Senior Judge Richard ...

Fracking ban in Sacred Headwaters set to expire Dec. 18 by Jimmy Thomson, December 14, 2012, The Tyee.ca A moratorium on a large coal bed methane project in northern B.C. is about to expire. The moratorium has prevented Shell Canada from conducting “any oil and gas activity or related activity” in the Sacred Headwaters project since ...

Alberta lays environmental charges against oilfield company after leak by The Canadian Press, December 14, 2012, Times Colonist The Alberta government has laid charges against a Medicine Hat oilfield service company under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act. The charges stem from a joint investigation with the City of Medicine Hat’s Fire Department, Public Services Division ...

Local councils to be stripped of right to decide on fracking, Ministers are hoping to speed up Britain’s shale gas “revolution” by taking away powers from local councils to decide on controversial fracking projects by Rowena Mason, December 14, 2012, The Telegraph Under new laws, Government ministers, rather than local authorities, could have the final say ...

MORE THAN 100 LEADING MEDICAL, SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS URGE WHITE HOUSE TO HALT RUSH TO EXPANDED SHALE GAS FRACKING FOR EXPORT PURPOSES First, Do No Harm:  Get the Health Facts Now Is the Message From Petitioners to Obama Press Release by Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, December 13, 2012 WASHINGTON, D.C. Moving ahead rapidly with plans ...

Update: PetroChina inks $2.18 billion Encana deal, Joint venture to invest $4 billion to develop Alberta Duvernay by Dan Healing, December 13, 2012, Calgary Herald Less than a week after Ottawa clarified rules on state-owned enterprise investments in Canadian energy companies, Encana Corp. has announced a $2.18-billion joint venture with PetroChina. Canada’s largest natural gas producer ...

ERCB and AESRD answers questions about fracking by Kathryn McMackin, December 12, 2012, Cochrane Eagle In an attempt to soothe the concerns of Rocky View County residents, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) and the county council hosted an information session on Dec. 6 at the Cochrane RancheHouse. A panel of ...

Fracking to blame for well blowout near Innisfail, ‘Company essentially drilled too close to another well bore,’ says Alberta’s energy regulator by CBC News with files from the Canadian Press, December 12, 2012 An investigation into the blowout of a well near Innisfail last January shows fracking was responsible. The blowout spewed nearly 500 barrels of ...

Colorado oil and gas panel shaping rule to measure harm to groundwater by Bruce Finley, December 10, 2012, The Denver Post “This is our attempt to get more buy-in, more acceptability for these activities where they haven’t happened yet,” said Mike King, state director of natural resources, also serving on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. No ...

Why is the Fracking Industry Worried Sick Over Promised Land? by Sharon Kelly, December 11, 2012, ecowatch This month Focus Features releases Matt Damon’s new movie Promised Land and the oil and gas industry is worried sick about it. Promised Land is about a Pennsylvania farm town deciding whether to go forward with shale gas drilling ...

Gas line explodes in West Virginia, homes burn, freeway damaged by Kari Huus, December 11, 2012, NBC News A gas line explosion rocked the town of Sissonville, W.Va., Tuesday, setting off an inferno that burned multiple homes, damaged and closed a portion of the freeway, and knocked out power and phone lines to some residents — ...

Newspapers Can Argue to Open Records in Fracking Suit by Jon Hurdle, December 11, 2012, New York Times Advocates for greater openness for Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry are heartened by a state appeals court’s decision to allow two newspapers to press for the unsealing of records in a lawsuit brought against the industry by a western ...