Thursday, July 29, 2010

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?
  

Friday, July 23, 2010

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.

   

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

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.  
 

Monday, July 19, 2010

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.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

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.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

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?