Fracking in West Virginia
Cuomo will not rule out fracking, New Yorkers protest to protect clean water
Published date:
11/14/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
Examiner It was a hot debate in New York politics during the midterm elections, and it has now become even more intense as governor-elect Andrew Cuomo prepares to take office.
Natural gas drilling in New York has been the subject of concern for the last few months. Although it provides a substantial source of energy, the process of obtaining the natural gas could potentially poison the state’s entire water supply. read more »
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 »
Pennsylvania Well Blowout, West Virginia Explosion Highlight Dangers of Natural Gas Drilling
Published date:
06/09/2010 - 7:59am
Publication:
NewsInferno The safety of hydraulic fracturing is being called into question again, following two drilling accidents in the past few days in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Officials in Pennsylvania have ordered EOG Resources Inc. (EOG) to halt natural-gas drilling in the state following a well blowout there last Thursday. In West Virginia, seven people were injured in a methane explosion at a well near Moundsville. read more »
Explosion at West Virginia Natural Gas Drilling Site Burns Seven
Published date:
06/08/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
Reuters A fireball and explosion burned seven members of a crew drilling for natural gas at an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia Monday, the second big fire at an energy formation known as the Marcellus Shale in less than a week, a government worker said.
"Seven workers were taken to the hospital for burns,'' Prentice Cline, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration assistant in Charleston, West Virginia said.
Local media reports said the injuries were not life-threatening. read more »
House Bill Eyes Shale Gas Drilling
Published date:
03/03/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
The Observer 
The rush to tap vast natural gas reserves trapped in the Marcellus Shale bedrock underlying rural West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio has led to a heated regional debate concerning the safety of a controversial drilling process known as “fracking,” or natural gas hydraulic fracturing. Legislation introduced in the West Virginia House by Delegate Tim Manchin, D-Marion, would begin to regulate the large volume of water withdrawn for drilling and fracturing. It would also require drilling companies to identify the contents of potentially polluting frac fluids, and set up a system for tracking the disposal of those fluids.
Fracking, combined with horizontal drilling, is a process by which millions of gallons of water, mixed with a brew of chemicals and sand, are pumped thousands of feet underground, then forced sideways for as much as a mile, shattering bedrock strata, and thereby releasing natural gas impounded there. High-end estimates say that there may be more than 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas locked up in the Marcellus Shale, enough to supply the entire United States for two years. The value of the gas could be as high as $1 trillion. read more »
Hydraulic Fracturing of Oil and Gas Wells
Published date:
01/01/2010 - 12:00pm
Publication:
EarthWorksAction.org - Threats to water quality
- Inadequate regulation of hydraulic fracturing (including the Halliburton loophole)
- Hydraulic fracturing 101
- More facts, news, other information
Hydraulic fracturing is a common technique used to stimulate the production of oil and natural gas. Typically, fluids are injected underground at high pressures, the formations fracture, and the oil or gas flows more freely out of the formation. Some of the injected fluids remain trapped underground. A number of these fluids, such as diesel fuel, qualify as hazardous materials and carcinogens, and are toxic enough to contaminate groundwater resources. Read more details in OGAP's basic primer on hydraulic fracturing.