Fracking Freebyrd

Here's my tribute to Herbster from No Frack Mountain.

We will miss YOU. The poetry?    Ehhh.

To: The Marcellus Shale Coalition

...and a Happy New Year. For us. 

  

Whatever the price...

Let it all go

I hear the voices when I'm dreaming

Just a Drop of Water...

  


  

One Final Song of Thanks

I received several e-mails regarding my "final" post.

To all who wrote...thank you.

Our journey continues.

    

Das Ende: (A)pathetic Soliloquy

As I watch the continued desecration unfold, I become more disgusted with each passing moment. Dimock, Dunkard Creek, Hickory, Sugar Run, Cameron. Well after well, stream after stream; the list grows almost daily at this point.

The Susquehanna, one of the most ancient rivers on this planet, is bubbling methane thanks to horizontal drilling. Where is the outrage?  People who profess to be good stewards of the environment are signing leases behind closed doors and swilling at the trough with the rest of the pigs. I hope the money received was worth it, for the stench of their guilt permeates their very souls and is evident to all.
 
Yes, there are many who are opposed to drilling, but most of them are working in silos and are blinded by their egos. Seriously - another last-minute petition or protest is going to do WHAT?

We need to think big and act BIGGER. We must become ONE.

My vision of what needs to happen is not pretty, and it will not be easy, but I believe it is nonetheless the path on which I must now embark, for in order for me to be at peace with the man in the mirror and my Creator, I need to move beyond this (a)pathetic soliloquy.

Thanks to all for stopping by over these many months. I am definitely not giving up. For lack of a better farewell message, I am going fracking underground.

I bid you peace.

+++

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

+++

     

Tom Corbett: Serial Driller

Pictures and words can be deceiving.

Remember this guy?

Vote as if your very existence depended on it.

Onorato for Governor.    

      

How many times....

Talisman Kills Barney

I'm sure you remember my Fracking Frackosaurus post about Talisman's dinosaur coloring book.

Well, Talisman is in the news again, only this time the picture ain't as pretty. A couple of wells in Bradford County have been contaminated near Talisman's drilling sites, and there have been reports of purple water. Of course, it's all still under investigation.

Folks - you read it here first. Talisman has killed Barney.

May the purple lizard RIP.




  

Methane Bubbling in WV's Fish Creek

And, just like the methane bubbling up in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, Chesapeake Energy appears to be the culprit. Read the rest of the story here.

As I've covered this issue in great detail in previous posts, I won't waste your time or mine with another extended rant. Since the natural gas industry has effectively muzzled our governments with wads of cash, they are expecting that we will simply bend over and smile while they destroy our environment and our fresh waters for generations yet unborn while they reap their profits.

IMHO, it's time to hack it off, shove it down their fracking throats and cram their worthless carcasses back into the hole they slithered out of. How's that for a final solution?

Whew. I feel much better now.

MSC Member Seneca Resources Paves Paradise

          
It just boggles my fracking mind that with all their expertise, with all their geologists, and with all their lofty pledges to be responsible corporate citizens, that Seneca Resources filled in an exceptional value wetland in Tioga State forest and were stupid enough to get caught.

FILLED IT IN!! Read more here.

And yes, Seneca Resources is a FULL MEMBER of the Marcellus Shale Coalition. Now remember, these are the same folks that recently issued the following pledge as part of their "Guiding Principles":

We implement state-of-the-art environmental protection across our operations;

The ink isn't even dry on their fracking pledge and they get caught filling in not only a wetland - but an exceptional value wetland to boot. And the DEP decided to fine them a hefty $40,000.00.

I mean seriously. $40,000? Did they say "ouch"?

And was it good for you, too, DEP?

Wimps.

If I was Governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I would have grabbed the keys to the biggest, most powerful piece of earth moving machinery I could find and proceeded to bulldoze Seneca Resources drilling pad into the stone age and then set my GPS for Canonsburg. I would have made Buford Pusser look like Mother Teresa. These people do not understand "nice", nor do they deserve it. 

People, the time for being "nice" is over. The natural gas industry is the environmental and sociopathic scourge of our generation. They are Satan incarnate, and when they get caught with their tails dangling in the breeze, which is happening with increasing frequency these days, they scurry away and cower in silence like all true frackophiles.

Hey - wait a minute.

Renegade for Governor?? Could you imagine that?

I like it.

Ben Franklin said it Best!

Imagine the possibilities if we were all on the same page.

We are not.

And unless this happens, they will win.

Check your egos at the door, roll up your sleeves, and let's get to work; together. 

Otherwise, we will all fail separately.

  "We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

-In the Continental Congress just before signing the Declaration of Independence, 1776.

The War of Words will Escalate

A clash between the state's environmental regulators and gas driller Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. over the cause and solution for contaminated water wells in Dimock Twp. escalated on Tuesday, with the Cabot CEO accusing the Department of Environmental Protection of waging "a public war against us."

It appears Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. has taken issue with Pennsylvania's DEP Secretary John Hanger. On that one matter, i.e. Mr. Hanger's overall performance, we are on the same page.

On everything else Cabot's CEO  Dan O. Dinges had to say, we differ significantly. What a whiner.

Read more about it here.  And here.

Since I have no doubt whatsoever that some clandestine unit buried deep within the bowels of our government is monitoring not only this blog but all electronic communications of the growing anti-drilling Marcellus Militia, I'll provide my fellow Americans traitors with a little tidbit for your next watchlist bulletin.

Read the title. Read the title. Read the title.
     
Got it?
      
  

Marcellus Shale Golf, anyone?

     
Our DEP Secretary, the "Honorable" John Hanger, is a keynote speaker at a Marcellus Shale golf outing this week. Former Governor Tom Ridge will be there as well, along with bigwigs from the natural gas industry. I wonder if PSU's Dr. Terry Engelder was invited?

The whole concept of this gathering makes me want to choke and puke. The fact that our DEP Secretary is attending tells me he suffers from some very bad advice, doesn't care about the public's perception, is totally clueless, or is networking for a place to land in the event he gets canned when the new governor takes office.

I do find it interesting that the golf resort has absolutely no mention about this event on their online calendar. None. Guess they were afraid of a protest or possibly fomenting more dissent? Snakes; every last one of them.

However, I do like the concept of a shotgun start.

Pull.

Homeland Security in Cahoots with Frackers

   
Take a few minutes to read this article in Workers World.

I believe Senator Lisa Baker should subpoena former Governor Tom Ridge, Marcellus Shale Coalition President Katherine Klaber, and PA State Attorney General Tom Corbett to testify at her public hearing on Monday, 9/27 in Harrisburg.

They all should be asked some very simple questions, such as: Did you or anyone you know receive copies of the ITRR Bulletins? and Were you aware of the existence of the ITRR Bulletins and, if so, who informed you of the same? - for starters.  We need every stone to be overturned: e-mails, phone records - everything.

There are a ton of people already squirming in H-burg over this.

That's not enough.

Resignations are in order, with jumping out of windows as an acceptable alternative.

Our PA and American Constitutions are being trampled on, and this grandson of a coal miner will not tolerate the charade in Harrisburg much longer. It is time to vote them all out and elect a write-in Governor to help get us out of the Marcellus mess. 

Believe me, it can be done.
        
 

Fracking Fracosaurus ( aka Talisman Terry )

  
A coloring book touting natural gas drilling?

I knew these folks were a little short on sharp saws in the shed, but this latest attempt to educate brainwash the next generation of Pennsylvanians makes me realize I have grossly overestimated the number of folks with IQ's over 80 working in the NG industry.

Check it out here, and try not to laugh too hard.

Seriously; great job, Talisman. 

  

PA Intelligence (?) Bulletins Released

   
Under intense and growing scrutiny, the PA Office of Homeland Security has posted a copy of ALL ( or so they claim ) PA Intelligence Bulletins provided by the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR).

Check it out here.

I've already found my group on one of the Bulletins.
 
How about you?
    

India's Marcellus Ploy

        
In case you haven't been following it, an increasing number of energy companies have been JV'ing their way into the Marcellus Shale play. Make no mistake; the word is out that early gas production yields are high and everyone wants a piece of the profits. This time, it's India's Reliance Industries, Ltd.

Read about it here.

So I ask; where do you think the gas will be going? Where do you think the profits will be wired? And do you think Reliance cares a rat's eyeball about what happens to Pennsylvania's air, land, and waters?

Day by day, deal by deal, the probability of being able to stop this madness is slipping away.

Or is it?
            

Why is this man smiling?

The Susquehanna River and its tributaries and aquifers are being sucked dry, private water wells are being contaminated almost every week, and the Susquehanna is bubbling methane in places it never did before - and PA Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger is smiling?

Provided you have the stomach for it, read the rest here.

The first online comment by craigws1128 says it all: Clueless!

DEP Confirms Susquehanna Bubbles are Methane!!

Chesapeake's response?

Well, Brian...I'm glad you think so. They couldn't pay me enough to be where you are right now.

They are Killing our River

  
More than anything; I fear the rage within.

This may not pass.
  

  

DEFCON 3

    
I get a lot of drilling-related emails from various sources. I read and view all of them with a pound of salt, as everyone has an agenda.

I received one last night that supposedly included an internal BIG governmental agency memo about environmental extremism directed toward the energy industry and its connection to former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge being hired by the Marcellus Shale Coalition. Needed a few more pinches of salt with that one.

I already know they're watching us. But - do they really know who's watching them?

See everyone in Binghamton.
   

Impeach Everybody!

How much longer are we going to allow this to continue?

  

There WILL Be.....

   Imagine this. You've worked hard all your life. Weekends. Holidays. Long into the night.

You sacrificed to buy your first home. You've done without vacations and "things" so you could put your kids through college and give them a headstart on a better life.

Hold that thought.

Then one day, you get a certified letter from Laser Marcellus Gathering Company notifying you that they are planning to put a natural gas pipeline through your property, and that the commonwealth of Pennsylvania has given them the legal right to seize your land, if necessary, through the process of eminent domain.

Hold that thought as well.

This is about to happen right now. And we need to stop it.

If passed, I have no doubt a lot of people will soon be seeing red. None.

I've heard it before. I heard it at Gas Stock.

This is about to boil over and there appears to be nothing in play to stop it. Our legislators are useless.

My brothers and sisters...stand ready.

   

Bedlam's Angry Beat!

Wow...these folks are good!




Thanks!

SRBC: The water's fine!!

According to the SRBC's Paul Swartz in this article, everything is fine in the Susquehanna River's watershed.

Unfortunately, I disagree with Mr. Swartz. Everything is not fine. Day in and day out, we read about private drinking water wells being contaminated, roads being turned to silly putty by "mineral oil" spills, and gas wells catching on fire or exploding and spewing who knows what into the environment.

Without the "hydro", hydrofracturing would be a dead idea on some engineer's laptop. But, alas, the SRBC does not know how to say "NO".

When the outrage that is building reaches the tipping point, I would not want to be the SRBC, the DEP, a spokesperson for any of the companies responsible for these events, or the next governor of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

More Wells Contaminated near Chesapeake Drilling Site

Get ready folks. If the natural gas industry is allowed to drill the estimated 30,000 wells planned for the Marcellus Shale zone, this headline will become commonplace, day in - day out.

When will this madness stop? Does anyone out there realize what has to happen here?

This must come to an abrupt end, and at this point, our DEP and elected officials are a complete waste of our tax $. 

This will turn south very quickly, and the sooner, the better.

    

Know Thy Adversary...

...and give them no edge. Nothing.

They watch everything we do. Every day. 24/7.

Even @ 2:30 a.m.

So from Fracking Underground to you...chill out.

Pretty please?

EnCana: Stone Cold Serial Drillers

  Over the decades, I've seen some people that were really, really good at masking their true emotions. Poker players. Serial killers. People with IQ's below 90. Brian Grove. Podiatrists.

But when I saw the pic of the three EnCana reps at a recent Luzerne County Zoning Board hearing, I realized that they had taken that art form to a heretofore unattainable level. Remember when your Mom used to say: "I hope your face doesn't freeze like that!"? 

Theirs did.

Do NOT play poker with any one of these three. Okay, maybe Brenda. She is smokin' hot stone cold.

See y'all at GAS STOCK.

P.S.: To my fellow bloggers; drop using the f-bombs, okay? They accomplish nothing.

Don't get mad. Get even.

  

SACRED HOOP

If you aren't involved in supporting this event, get up off your duffs and find a way to help the organizers of GAS STOCK make this an event to remember. Now, bitte.

Posts on YouTube and blogs ain't gonna get it done. People on the streets and in the faces of BIG OIL and their paid-for politicos and shills will.

This is an opportunity we cannot ignore. I will be there.

Look for the sacred hoop.

    

FRACKING LIES!

  
I continue to read articles that reference this imaginary and impermeable layer of bedrock or clay between the Marcellus Shale formation and the surface that is somehow going to protect our drinking water aquifers from the migration of fracking fluids or other contaminants. 

That is and continues to be a lie being perpetrated by BIG OIL and its disciples.

I've read many posts and comments that address this issue. I still consider this one to be among the best.

What else are they lying about?
  

Do Fear The Reaper

The FRapture Begins

Mark your calendars: at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday - July 21, 2010 - EnCana's drill bit broke the earth in Luzerne County, PA, USA.

At almost that same instant, in a back room at Molly Maguire's in Phoenixville, PA, a crypt-like silence overtook our gathering. The coincidence of the date, the time and the company was too much to grasp.

Still is.

Let the countdown begin.

   

Hey...BIG OIL

  

"Any of you boys want to shoot, now's the time. There isn't one of us that doesn't want to be someplace else. But this is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something. Your call." - J. R.  

 

Phoenixville Rising

Since I have to be in King of Prussia on Wednesday afternoon, I'm going to check out Molly Maguire's in Phoenixville. I need to see if the MM group really exists or is just someone's mind game.

I'll be there around 8.

Gas Stock : I Cannot Wait!

All We Are...

EnCana to Pavilion: Not Our Fault!

EPA finishing up Pavillion-area monitoring wells


By MEAD GRUVER (AP) – 20 hours ago

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has almost finished drilling two monitoring wells to test for pollution in a central Wyoming community where residents suspect chemicals related to gas drilling have contaminated their well water.

Meanwhile, the EPA has pushed back a meeting with residents of the Pavillion area. Originally planned for July, the public meeting now will be held in August.

The agency wants to make certain ahead of the meeting that homeowners have accurate information about the contamination and any health risks, EPA spokesman Richard Mylott said.

"One of the things that's become clear is getting a good health-based assessment of the many wells we've sampled is time-consuming," Mylott said Tuesday.

Area residents say chemicals related to a process called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," may have polluted their wells. Fracking involves pumping water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas.

The EPA tested wells in the area in March 2009 and January 2010. Contamination is suspected in 11 water wells. Mylott said two new wells to check for groundwater pollution are being completed and should be operational by August. One homeowner, Louis Meeks, said the EPA considered but decided against drilling a monitoring well on his property because he'd tried drilling a new water well and hit dangerous amounts of natural gas.

"They were scared of that and so were the drillers," Meeks said Tuesday. "They didn't want to have problems."

A couple weeks ago, an EPA employee tested his water by turning on hot shower water and running a detector to see if gas was present, Meeks said. "He did say there was a problem. There was gas there," he said.

Meeks said he hauls drinking water to his home at his own expense. His well water "reeks" from pollution, he said, and taking a shower "cleans your sinuses." Meeks said he has health problems and so does his wife but no one seems to care.

"They're not doing anything out there for anybody, Encana," he said, referring to the company that did the gas drilling locals believe caused the pollution.

EnCana Corp. officials have said no link has been confirmed between groundwater pollution and the company's drilling in the area. The EPA expects to release its findings on a pollution source by year's end.

Encana spokesman Randy Teeuwen did not return a message Tuesday seeking comment.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

The SRBC is water's Wall Street

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission makes money when water is withdrawn from our streams and rivers. The number I've seen in print is 21 cents per thousand gallons. Using 1 million gallons a day, let's do the math: 1,000,000 gallons per day / 1,000 = 1,000 x .21 cents = $210.00 per day x 365 days = $76,650.00 income per year from one withdrawal site. Multiply that figure by hundreds of approved withdrawal sites in the Susquehanna watershed.

Get the picture people? Water withdrawals = profits for the SRBC. No withdrawals = no profits.

Now, whose best interests do you think they have in mind as they continue to rubber-stamp withdrawal applications? Where is that money going?

Chesapeake's Encyclopedia of Excuses

Another well contaminated, another slew of evasive comments by Chesapeake Energy and their Bradford County mouthpiece, Mr. Brian Grove. He's the guy with the blue flame over his head in the photo above.

From my perspective, if you take the time to read both articles posted at the Sentinel's blog, you should quickly realize that even if you have your water tested well before drilling begins, there is absolutely no guarantee that should your well or water supply eventually become contaminated, that the drilling companies in the area will admit any responsibility. How's this for a non-answer:

When asked for comment, Brian Grove, director of corporate development for Chesapeake, issued this statement, noting that "Chesapeake places the highest priority on health, safety, and environmental protection in our operations.

The thing that absolutely blows my mind is that the methane reading after the well's water turned brown was 1,920 times higher than the baseline reading in the tests done in December 2008, yet Chesapeake claims there is no connection between their drilling activity and the newly-contaminated well. Let's see; the well is ~1/2 mile from the drillpad, and the lateral wellbores extend up to 5,000 feet or more from that location. One of the articles states a lateral wellbore goes directly under the Bohlander's property, where there evidently was a whole lotta fracking going on. Voila!! It's as obvious as the nose on Pinocchio's face; no connection whatsoever.

If you live in the Marcellus Shale region, all of this is coming to a neighborhood near you.

Are you prepared and willing to accept this?

Size Matters

Caught this commentary this morning. The ripple effect of GASLAND continues.

The unholy alliance between Big Business and Big Government is destroying this country. The "small people" do matter. The time is approaching when the little guy is going to rise up and take back what is rightfully theirs. Some people are waking up. Some people are getting angry. Some people care about the future of this country.

Borton Who?

I have a real issue with the recent selection of a 24 year-old who evidently still uses dad's Brylcreem to be the point person for the $25M+ River Common project. I wonder what criteria the folks at Riggs Rigged Asset Management used to select this guy? Who were the other applicants?

Dad's engineering firm is on my radar screen because of their involvement and/or support of the impending Marcellus Shale drilling disaster in Luzerne County. Sonny boy just became another blanking blip.

The first line of the article linked above pretty much sums it up.

Karl Borton today will be named the first director of River Common Programming and Outreach, according to sources who requested anonymity.

Anonymity and nepotism are still alive and well in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Check out this speech

BRAVO!

'Nuff said

Who killed the frog: Halliburton or Cabot?

I tripped across this ad in an online newspaper.

Now, I believe everyone who has a private water-supply well in the MSZ ( Marcellus Shale Zone ) should have their water tested ASAP, especially in Luzerne County. However, these folks are taking the fear factor to a whole new level as far as commercial advertisements go. The ad itself sends a better anti-drilling message than most of the newer blogs that have sprung up as of late. Check out the slide show at the top of the ad.

I will say "hats-off" to the person that put this together. However, I think you crossed a few lines.

As is, I believe this one has potential lawsuit written all over it. I'd recommend pulling the pics with Halliburton and Cabot in them ASAP. The other photos are pretty powerful on their own. And the folks in Dimock should get a percentage of any profits derived from new business driven by this ad. To seek to profit from their misfortune is pretty low, even in my book.

Otherwise, I hope you gave the frog a proper burial.

Marcellus Maguires

I tripped across this blog while doing a Marcellus *wildcard search.

This one bothers me.

Marcellus Maguires.

Gene...you go first.

I caught a recent article about a meeting in Luzerne County where longtime political activist Gene Stilp is joining the anti-drilling fray. I'll defer further comment at this time, but will offer that if he jumps in full-time, this is going to get very interesting.

Gene - you are good. But you ain't superman and in a contest between you and a big truck, you will lose.

This is cutting edge?

I obtained this today from a co-worker. (S)he let me view it first before (s)he told me it was an internal communication from within a member of the BIG OIL community. (S)he mentioned the company, but I'll leave that information off the table. Trust me on this; this person knows people who know people.

I'm not quite sure what was more disturbing; the write-up or the pictures. The photos tell the story, and the intro (hopefully) preps you for the rest. Please read it carefully and think about all the promises and claims being made by the natural gas drillers invading our commonwealth. Think something like this can't happen in PA?  Have you read the headlines lately?

You may have heard the news in the last two days about the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which caught fire, burned for two days, then sank in 5,000 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico. There are still 11 men missing, and they are not expected to be found.

The rig belongs to Transocean, the world’s biggest offshore drilling contractor. The rig was originally contracted through the year 2013 to BP and was working on BP’s Macondo exploration well when the fire broke out. The rig costs about $500,000 per day to contract. The full drilling spread, with helicopters and support vessels and other services, will cost closer to $1,000,000 per day to operate in the course of drilling for oil and gas. The rig cost about $350,000,000 to build in 2001 and would cost at least double that to replace today.

The rig represents the cutting edge of drilling technology. It is a floating rig, capable of working in up to 10,000 ft water depth. The rig is not moored; It does not use anchors because it would be too costly and too heavy to suspend this mooring load from the floating structure. Rather, a triply-redundant computer system uses satellite positioning to control powerful thrusters that keep the rig on station within a few feet of its intended location, at all times. This is called Dynamic Positioning. The rig had apparently just finished cementing steel casing in place at depths exceeding 18,000 ft. The next operation was to suspend the well so that the rig could move to its next drilling location, the idea being that a rig would return to this well later in order to complete the work necessary to bring the well into production.

It is thought that somehow formation fluids – oil /gas – got into the wellbore and were undetected until it was too late to take action. With a floating drilling rig setup, because it moves with the waves, currents, and winds, all of the main pressure control equipment sits on the seabed – the uppermost unmoving point in the well. This pressure control equipment – the Blowout Preventers, or ‘BOP’s” as they’re called, are controlled with redundant systems from the rig. In the event of a serious emergency, there are multiple Panic Buttons to hit, and even fail-safe Deadman systems that should be automatically engaged when something of this proportion breaks out. None of them were apparently activated, suggesting that the blowout was especially swift to escalate at the surface. The flames were visible up to about 35 miles away. Not the glow – the flames. They were 200 – 300 ft high.

All of this will be investigated and it will be some months before all of the particulars are known. For now, it is enough to say that this marvel of modern technology, which had been operating with an excellent safety record, has burned up and sunk taking souls with it.

The well still is apparently flowing oil, which is appearing at the surface as a slick. They have been working with remotely operated vehicles, or ROV’s which are essentially tethered miniature submarines with manipulator arms and other equipment that can perform work underwater while the operator sits on a vessel. These are what were used to explore the Titanic, among other things. Every floating rig has one on board and they are in constant use. In this case, they are deploying ROV’s from dedicated service vessels. They have been trying to close the well in using a specialized port on the BOP’s and a pumping arrangement on their ROV’s. They have been unsuccessful so far. Specialized pollution control vessels have been scrambled to start working the spill, skimming the oil up. In the coming weeks they will move in at least one other rig to drill a fresh well that will intersect the blowing one at its pay zone. They will use technology that is capable of drilling from a floating rig, over 3 miles deep to an exact specific point in the earth – with a target radius of just a few feet plus or minus. Once they intersect their target, a heavy fluid will be pumped that exceeds the formation’s pressure, thus causing the flow to cease and rendering the well safe at last. It will take at least a couple of months to get this done, bringing all available technology to bear. It will be an ecological disaster if the well flows all of the while; Optimistically, it could bridge off downhole.

It’s a sad day when something like this happens to any rig, but even more so when it happens to something on the cutting edge of our capabilities. The photos that follow show the progression of events over the 36 hours from catching fire to sinking.

Bad Times for the Oil & Gas Industry...and wildlife.

In addition to this widely circulating post about someone being threatened by some hardcore ruffian-types at a drilling site in PA, I tripped across these pics this morning.

Of course, according to BP, environmental impacts are minimal.

Another Drilling "Incident" in W. VA

This time in West Virginia. Unfortunately, this time some workers were hurt.

It's all over the wires by now. Start here.

Dr. NIMBY Speaks

Wow. I don't know where to begin with this one, but suffice it to say that Dr. Smith should have gone with his first instinct; he really doesn't truly understand enough about Marcellus Shale drilling to offer a meaningful commentary. Living in northeastern PA, I followed his "Defend Our Watershed" group from its inception. There is a significant gap between reading about environmental issues and understanding them. As he offered:

 Given my previous modest involvement in environmental advocacy, I have been asked by a number of people to weigh in on the issue. Up to now I have been reluctant, as I was not knowledgeable enough to have an answer. I’m still not sure that I am.

I couldn't have said it better. Please - stick to what you know, Doc.

Speaking of which, a very good and longtime friend has a PhD; specifically in some area of water chemistry. He works for a huge water-related utility in a very responsible position directly involved in the treatment of drinking water. He's one of the most meticulous, detail-savvy individuals I know when it comes to water quality, and he is now heavily involved with Marcellus-related water withdrawal and frackwater (flowback) treatment discussions. In so many words, he told me the other day - emphatically - that there is currently no technology available to adequately treat flowback water to a point where it could or should ever be released into our streams and rivers. PERIOD.

Although I can't recall the exact words he used, he more or less said that if anyone claimed otherwise, they were lying. Imagine that; someone in the natural gas industry who seeks to profit from the exploitation of our natural resources would utter a mistruth. 

EOG Resources - f/k/a ENRON

Yep - that's correct. The company involved in and/or that caused one of the most visible natural gas incidents to date in Pennsylvania was once the almighty Enron.

You remember, right? Their CEO, "Kenny Boy" Lay, was a close & personal friend of our former president, Dubya. While on a family vacation in Colorado, he died before he was scheduled to be sentenced. Another Enron official, J. Clifford Baxter, committed suicide before he was set to testify in front of Congress. Conspiracy theories abound.

Anyway, seems they cooked their books for so long and in so many ways that, to quote from Wikipedia: 

As was later discovered, many of Enron's recorded assets and profits were inflated, or even wholly fraudulent and nonexistent

So, when we hear EOG Resources tell us that environmental damage was minimal or contained after 16+ hours of an unchecked blowout, we should believe them - right??

RFK, Jr. Quote: "...pathological liars."

I could write a fairly lengthy post this morning, but I think this article and the RFK, Jr. quote pretty much covers all bases for today.

Imagine that. A leading environmental attorney with a name recognized throughout the world would choose to use those two words in describing the natural gas industry. Although I completely agree with him, as many of you know, I believe in a kinder, gentler approach.

I mean, there's gotta be at least one part-time pathological liar in the bunch, right? Therein lies cause for hope.

IOGA: A Wellspring of Lies

The web is already jam-packed with stories about yesterday's announcement by American Rivers that the upper Delaware had been named as the nation's most endangered river due to gas drilling. In reading several of the articles this morning, I found it interesting that the speakers at the press conference along the Delaware River were actually heckled and confronted by the pro-drilling peepulz.

One of the PDP's quotes, which I've heard multiple variations of, went like this:

"I don't know how they can conclude that, when hydraulic fracturing has never harmed a drop of drinking water," countered Jim Smith, spokesman for the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York. "In 60 years of hydraulic fracturing across the country, more than a million wells have been fracked, including 14,000 in New York."

Well, Jimbo, here's the part you left out. The vast, vast, vast majority of those wells were vertical wells only. One hole, straight down, one frack. What's going on today with horizontal hydrofracturing is a whole new ballgame, and you know it.

I really am getting tired of these peepulz and their lies. 

Thanks, again, to American Rivers and the multiple groups that partnered to make this happen. Maybe, just maybe, the disparate troops in the Susquehanna watershed will take a lesson from this. As it always does, time will tell.

American Rivers KICKS GAS

In every struggle between right and wrong, between good and evil, there is always a turning point. For those that need a swift kick in the noogies this morning; THIS IS IT!

Not only was the upper Delaware River ( PA, NY ) named the #1 most endangered river in the nation because of natural gas drilling, but another PA river ( the Monongahela - which means falling banks ) was also named to the Top 10 list for the very same reason. Falling banks - ya' gotta love it.

Hey, BIG OIL! Choke on it.

Daylight Again - 5/31/2010

The Next American Revolution

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

My friends, with everything that's going on in our country, isn't it time? Look at what the citizens in Flower Mound TX just did. When their leaders failed to respect their wishes, they changed the course of their future in the election booth. Now, in an incredibly short period of time, they have begun to enact change. Real, positive change. Although I live a thousand+ miles away, I feel as if I'm there and, I believe - what happened there is just the beginning.

Around northeastern PA, with regard to natural gas drilling, a common blurb from the lips of our elected officials is that "our hands are tied."

I say - that's a good start. It'll make escorting you away from the public trough that much easier.

One last thought to my cryptic critic in northeastern PA; Fortnight this..!..

Happy Memorial Day!

Shell Oil - Your New Neighbor

$4.7 billion is a lot of money, and that is what Shell Oil recently paid to stake its claim in the Marcellus Shale play.

Shell Oil; great company, right? Check out what the folks in Nigeria are going through.  Point #2 should get your attention. Of course, it ( or something comparable ) can't happen here, right?

Moratorium in Flower Mound

Several weeks ago, the people of Flower Mound TX elected themselves a new mayor. You can read more about it here. The major issue going into the election? You got it - natural gas drilling.

Well, just a few weeks after Ms. Northern was elected mayor and got to work, guess what they just enacted in Flower Mound TX? Right again - an administrative moratorium on new gas drilling permits.

Hmmmmm. I wonder why the Lehman Township $upervisor$ ( Luzerne County, PA, USA ) didn't think of that? Or the people in Harrisburg?

Where there is a will, there is a way. Vote 'em all out and let's get to work!

Kudos to the people of Flower Mound TX. Semper Fi!

Teddy Nailed "It"

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” -  Theodore Roosevelt

So my question is...where do you stand?

PFBC SVX

I've been buying fishing licenses and paying for boating registrations for close to 40 years. The wimp*ss position the PFBC has been taking on Marcellus Shale drilling is really starting to tick this PFD wearing midnight paddler off to no end. 

They should be disbanded and/or folded into the equally lame SRBC, DEP or DCNR - take your pick. 

Double O Sideburns

For those not following these EnCana folks too closely, seems they had a little problem last year with some bombings up north. Those mounted dudes in the red suits arrested a guy in January of this year, only to let him go a day or two later. So far, even with a $1M+ bounty up for grabs, the 6 or so bombings remain unsolved the last time I checked. 

I've been hearing that some high-falootin' local folks are trying to find a lawyer to help them fight these intruders from Alberta and Denver. Don't waste your money. If you want results, there's only one guy I'd recommend to get these folks to pack up and slither north of the border where they belong.

I've been watching all his former haunts for weeks, and I finally caught up with him a few days ago. He ain't cheap, and he ain't James Bond, but he'll get the job done.

Call me for his number.

I hope I'm not there

More and more of the "public" meetings being held about Marcellus Shale are being patterned after the one above. Middle of the day, representatives of BIG OIL being allowed to speak freely, and the public being reduced to writing questions on 3 by 5 cards that are selectively presented to the "expert" panel for thoughtful consideration. After the meeting, the (still) clueless politicians babble on about what a great hearing it was and how hard they are working to protect their constituents and create jobs while juggling their other role as a superhero. Suppress your gag reflex as you read about it here.

Eventually, in one of these meetings, in the not too distant future, someone is going to snap. I don't know when it will be, and I don't know where it will be. I just hope, with every fiber of my being, that I am not there.

Wendy, ...I'm coming home.

FATHER!