Marcellus Shale Well Blowout Prompts Evacuations

[RamboLiberal]

There is a developing story out of Clearfield County involving Marcellus Shale drilling and evacuations.

According to an official with Clearfield County's Emergency Services, authorities are evacuating part of the state forest in Lawrence Township after a Marcellus Shale well blowout.

It happened late Thursday night. No one was hurt, but the blowout is still not contained.

Natural gas and thousands of gallons of untreated water are spewing from the well.

Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Dan Spadoni says the accident happened when unexpectedly high gas pressure in the newly drilled EOG Resources well prevented crews from containing it.

Spadoni said the polluted water hasn't reached a waterway.

http://kdka.com/local/Marcellus.Shale.drilling.2.1732715.html

[livetohike]

1. Everyone up here (Jefferson County) is so hot to find out about

Marcellus Shale drilling. They only see the dollar signs if the well is drilled on their property. No one is thinking about danger to their water supply (private wells) or damage to the environment. Maybe now.....

[RamboLiberal]

2. Same down here in Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland

counties. I know of a township and an HOA with only 1 or 2 families objecting who are hot to get the royalty money. Amazing how they ignore the risks to their health, their neighbor's health, the water table damage and the damage to streams and rivers.

You'd think they'd wake up.

I'm hoping to get down to Pittsburgh to see a free showing of Gasland tomorrow (Saturday) night. If you haven't heard of the film it won a Sundance award. It's a guy from PA who was offered 100,000+ for the drilling lease of his land and went on a 3 week journey to discover the dangers of this type of drilling. It will be on HBO in 2 weeks & it was featured on Frontline. Google Gasland.

[livetohike]

3. Thanks for the heads up on "Gasland"

:hi: Will have to find out where/when I can view it (no HBO here).

I belong to a woodland owner's group and we've heard sad tales of people who have regular gas wells on their property and how fouled their water became. The lesson here is to test your well water once you hear there will be drilling on or near your property and then test it afterwards for proof that it got messed up. but you're right. Apparently there are many people who could care less what happens to the water and land.

[RamboLiberal]

4. They are showing it in PA and NY at free showings

When gas companies offered Josh Fox of Honesdale a lease to drill for gas in the Marcellus Shale beneath his property, Fox took off across the country with a film camera and some questions: "What comes out of the ground along with the gas? And how does it affect our air and drinking water?"

The result is the movie "Gasland," which won the special jury prize for documentaries at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Fox will present a special free screening of the film at 7 p.m. Friday in the Anita Tuvin Schlecter auditorium at Dickinson College in Carlisle. The event is sponsored by Clean Water Action, the Sierra Club and PennFuture.

Jan Jarrett, president and CEO of PennFuture, said it’s a "public education effort so people can get a sense of what the potential environmental impacts are of the gas drilling."

Fox is making a 20-stop tour of Pennsylvania and New York prior to the film’s premiere on HBO on June 21. He will participate in a panel discussion and short Q&A after the film

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2010/06/gasland_film_on_marcellus_shal.html

http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

[livetohike]

5. Thanks! There are showings in Warren and Bradford this

Sunday :-). I'm going to try to get to Warren.

[JPZenger]

6. Gas Industry Cash is Flowing to Corbett

[JPZenger]

7. Video of Good interview with maker of Gasland documentarian

http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/613/index.html

Was on PBS Now program, before PBS cancelled the series.

[JPZenger]

8. Much more at this article

http://www.thenation.com/article/next-drilling-disaster

Good article on this issue, including problems in PA.

Excerpt:


"The most notable among the exceptions was introduced by Cheney as an amendment to the 2005 energy bill. The so-called Halliburton Loophole, named after Cheney's former employer and the company that pioneered the fracking process in the 1940s, stripped the EPA's authority to regulate hydrofracking through the Safe Water Drinking Act. Companies were essentially given free rein to drill however and wherever they see fit, and to use and dispose of proprietary fracking fluids without any disclosure or safety requirements. The only remaining shred of federal oversight was a voluntary agreement with the three largest companies not to use diesel fuel—which they proceeded to ignore."



-----

This issue also involves the water supply for New York City.

The maker of the Gasland documentary says that "accidents are so common, that you have to consider them part of the process." He also describes how Cheney got the gas well industry exempted from the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

[JPZenger]

9. Enormous flames from gas well explosion in Texas

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/6/7/873772/-Gas-Well-on-Fire-in-Texas:-Update-#2

From today's headlines. Anyone notice a pattern here?

[JPZenger]

10. Gasland Maker on dailyshow

The above discussion addresses the documentary Gasland about the hazards of the natural gas drilling industry. The maker of that movie was interviewed on the Daily Show tonight. Watch tomorrow at www.dailyshow.com

[femmocrat]

11. EOG gets OK to resume drilling!

Pennsylvania gives gas driller OK to resume fracking
By The Associated Press

Saturday, June 26, 2010

HARRISBURG -- A natural gas drilling company whose work in Pennsylvania was shut down by regulators after a blowout at one of its wells three weeks ago learned Friday that it can resume hydraulic fracturing at its other wells in the state.

Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Neil Weaver said the state agency was satisfied by its review of the well sites where Houston-based EOG Resources Inc. is drilling and wants to break up mile-deep shale using the hydraulic fracturing process, also known as fracking.

"We looked at their operations, we reviewed their plans and operations in general in regard to the fracking and didn't find any issues or violations," Weaver said.

More at link: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/print_687768.html

IMO--- someone needs to investigate DEP's relationship (if any) to EOG? The blowout site in Clearfield Co. remains idle, however.

[kittykitty]

12. Vanity Fair Magazine-BIG article this month w/ video! see my post

A Colossal Fracking Mess
The dirty truth behind the new natural gas. Related: A V.F. video look at a town transformed by fracking.

Read More http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/06/fracking-in-pennsylvania-201006#ixzz0rzZwGSU5


edit: correct spelling

[femmocrat]

13. Highly recommend everyone read article and watch the video!

Thank you, kittykitty. Have you posted this as a stand-alone post? Sorry I missed it before. Could you repost it under its own heading so it would get more notice?

How ironic that Halliburton is involved. Figures. This scares the cr@p out of me.

[maryf]

14. Would you please post hydro fracking articles in the general discussion?

People need to know about this. thanks!