Fracking in Texas
Pennsylvania to Become 'Gasland'?
Published date:
11/08/2010 (All day)
Publication:
The Real News Standing on top of one of the world's largest natural gas fields, some Pennsylvanians prepare to take on their new governor, the gas indusrty, the famous 'Halliburton Loophole', and Karl Rove in order to stop the drilling. read more »
Obama's Enthusiasm for Gas Drilling Raises Eyebrows
Published date:
11/04/2010 (All day)
Publication:
The New York Times President Obama's newfound interest in expanded natural gas drilling yesterday surprised many on all sides of the drilling debate, from environmentalists to drillers and even the coal industry.
Representatives of drilling groups said they had no idea that Obama would make natural gas his lead olive branch to the newly empowered Capitol Hill Republicans. But they were pleased that he did. read more »
The Next Drilling Disaster?
Published date:
06/03/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
The Nation 
A tour of Dimock, Pennsylvania, with Victoria Switzer is a bumpy ride over torn-up roads, around parking lots filled with heavy machinery and storage tanks, and past well pads that not long ago were forests. The winter here was quiet, but with the thawing ground came the return of the rigs, the trucks, the constant noise and lights of a twenty-four-hour-a-day gas drilling operation. "It's a modern-day Deadwood out here," Switzer says, likening the activity to the gold rush. "No rules, no regs, just rigs." read more »
What the Frack? Natural Gas from Subterranean Shale Promises U.S. Energy Independence--With Environmental Costs
Published date:
03/30/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
Scientific American 
Natural gas cracked out of shale deposits may mean the U.S. has a stable supply for a century--but at what cost to the environment and human health?
DISH, Tex.—A satellite broadcasting company bought the rights to rename this town a few years ago in exchange for a decade of free television, but it is another industry that dominates the 200 or so residents: natural gas. Five facilities perched on the north Texas town's outskirts compress the gas newly flowing to the surface from the cracked Barnett Shale more than two kilometers beneath the surface, collectively contributing a brew of toxic chemicals to the air. read more »
Halliburton Hunts New Bacteria Killer to Protect Shale-Gas Boom
Published date:
03/29/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
Bloomberg.com 
March 29 (Bloomberg) -- Halliburton Co. and Schlumberger Ltd., trying to forestall a regulatory crackdown that would cut natural-gas drilling, are developing ways to eliminate the need for chemicals that may taint water supplies near wells.
At risk is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process that unlocked gas deposits in shale formations and drove gains in U.S. production of the fuel. Proposed regulations might slow drilling and add $3 billion a year in costs, a government study found. As one solution, energy companies are researching ways to kill bacteria in fracturing fluids without using harmful chemicals called biocides. read more »
Oilfield Company Failed to Report Fracking Violations to EPA -- Documents
Published date:
03/23/2010 (All day)
Publication:
New York Times / Greenwire One of the world's largest oilfield services companies continued to tell U.S. EPA it was complying with an agreement barring the injection of diesel fuel near drinking-water aquifers, documents show, after admitting to Congress that it had violated the pact.
BJ Services Co. acknowledged in January 2008 to investigators from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that it had violated a 2003 agreement not to use diesel in specific types of hydraulic fracturing. When that was disclosed last month, a BJ Services executive said that the company had "self reported" the violation to EPA. read more »
Bill White's BJ Services Problem
Published date:
03/18/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
The Texas Observer 
Have you heard about Bill White’s BJ Services problem? No, White isn’t involved in an Eliot Spitzer-style sex scandal. (Thank God.)
BJ Services is a Houston-based oil field services company under investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee for the use of “fracking” fluids that may be contaminating groundwater in Texas and elsewhere. Since 2003, while the mayor of Houston, White earned $2.6 million serving on the board of BJ Services. read more »
Dish mayor puts fear of frack into natural gas industry
Published date:
02/12/2010 - 2:57pm
Publication:
Dallas Morning News The natural gas industry is paying inordinate attention to Calvin Tillman, the mayor of tiny Dish, Texas.
Sure, he's the guy who commissioned the air quality study that has triggered more studies around the Barnett Shale, as well as political chatter about drilling moratoriums and new regulations. If these things come to pass, drilling and completing natural gas wells could become much more expensive for producers. read more »
Health Issues Follow Natural Gas Drilling In Texas
Published date:
11/03/2009 - 12:00pm
Publication:
National Public Radio Vast new natural gas fields have opened up thanks to an advanced drilling technique. While natural gas is a cleaner burning fuel than coal or petroleum, extracting it is still hard, dirty work. Some people who live near the massive Barnett Shale gas deposit in north Texas, have complaints. Health and environmental concerns are prompting state regulators to take a closer look.
Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required. read more »
Texas gas company allowed to resume fracking after three Pa. spills
Published date:
10/09/2009 - 4:12pm
Publication:
Colorado Independent Hydraulic fracturing – the subject of so much controversy on Colorado’s Western Slope lately – will be allowed to resume in Susquehanna County, Pa., after state environmental officials said they were satisfied with prevention plans submitted by a Texas company that reported three chemical spills related to the process last month. read more »