Louis W. Allstadt – From Supporter to Skeptic on New York State Fracking

October 1st, 2012 | Natural Resources News Service | | 2 comments

DEC Not Up To The Job – Oil & Gas Industry Influences Regulators

Louis W. Allstadt

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – Former Mobil Oil Corp. executive Louis W. Allstadt did not start out as an anti-fracking activist. He had to analyze the issue and then switch sides.

Initially, he bought into the natural gas industry’s gaudy promises that high-volume horizontal hydrofracturing could work economic miracles in rural upstate New York. He wrote in a 2009 newspaper opinion article that gas drilling “could provide enormous quantities of clean-burning natural gas with great economic benefits” to the state.

But after digging deeper, Allstadt veered away from the party line. Continue reading Louis W. Allstadt – From Supporter to Skeptic on New York State Fracking

Cuomo and Corbett Ignore Health Concerns from Gas Fracking

March 9th, 2012 | Natural Resources News Service | | 17 comments

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After natural gas drilling began near their rural homes about 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, Carol Moten and her neighbors noticed that their well water began to smell. Then came the headaches, skin lesions, and diarrhea, in household after household. A two-year-old dog fell over dead.

“We’re talking about little children that have nosebleeds, cats that fall off windowsills,” she said.

Three years ago, Moten and her neighbor, Donald Allison, visited Dr. Amelia Pare in nearby McMurray for their skin infections. Allison’s health continued to deteriorate and earlier this month he died from what the neighborhood understood to be bone cancer. He was 46. Continue reading Cuomo and Corbett Ignore Health Concerns from Gas Fracking

Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Part V: Wisconsin, the “Prove It First” State

November 17th, 2010 | Natural Resources News Service | | Leave a comment

Photo: Royalbroil / Wiki Commons
Photo: Royalbroil / Wiki Commons

Among the three Great Lake states, Wisconsin’s mining law is by far the strictest and has essentially halted sulfide ore mining in the state. In 1998, Wisconsin approved a law that requires any mining company seeking a permit for metallic sulfide mining to prove that they have operated a similar mine for 10 years without polluting surface or groundwater either from the mine or from the tailings. The company must also show that they closed the mine and remediated the site and, for at least 10 years after, the water above and below ground remained unpolluted. The law has been slightly weakened by the state’s Department of Natural Resources that has not written administrative rules to apply the law.

Continue reading Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Part V: Wisconsin, the “Prove It First” State

NYT: Estimates of Oil Flow Jump Higher

June 16th, 2010 | Environment | | Leave a comment

A government panel released Tuesday yet another estimate of the volume of oil spewing into the Gulf, finding that there may be as much as 60,000 barrels a day.

The new estimate is far above the figure of 5,000 barrels a day that the government and BP clung to for weeks after the spill started. Scientists on Tuesday estimated that the flow rate ranged from 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day – up from the rate they issued last week, of 25,000 to 30,000.

60,000 barrels a day is roughly 2.5 million gallons and it means an amount equal to the Exxon Valdez spill could be gushing from the well about every four days.

With BP capturing roughly 15,000 barrels a day, the new estimate suggests that as much as 45,000 barrels a day is escaping into the gulf. Although, BP expects to be able to capture 40,000 barrels a day by the end of June and 60,000 by mid-July.

READ THIS STORY AT NYTIMES.COM

Continue reading NYT: Estimates of Oil Flow Jump Higher

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