Fracking leading to premature births

Preterm births were 40 percent higher among women who lived in areas of intense drilling and fracking operations, and these women's pregnancies were 30 percent more likely to be considered "high-risk," the authors found.

Being born premature is linked to breathing problems, cerebral palsy, and hearing and vision impairments. In addition, preterm-related causes of death are the single leading cause of infant deaths, the CDC reports, accounting for 35 percent of infant deaths in 2010. Preterm birth can cause long-term neurological disabilities.

A new study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has linked hydraulic fracturing — the process of pumping chemical-laced water into shale to extract the oil or gas embedded within — to premature births and high-risk pregnancies.

[Climate Progress]

Environmental News Digest

Mercury Levels In The Ocean Are Now 3 Times Higher Than Before The Industrial Revolution - Largely the result of burning and mining coal http://thkpr.gs/1u1Ds2l 

Drilling Company Owner Gets 28 Months In Prison For Dumping Fracking Waste Into River http://thkpr.gs/1sxaOTL

New Study Finds Tornado Outbreaks Could Have a Climate Change Assist - http://thkpr.gs/1swGzwl

Watch John Holdren's (Obama's Science Advisor) excellent 3 minute video on the link between wildfires and Climate Change - Very Powerful http://youtu.be/hDsNq-rVplE

Canadians Can't Drink Their Water After 1.3 Billion Gallons Of Mining Waste Flows Into Rivers http://thkpr.gs/1tStxvZ

Tesla Trumps Toyota: Why Hydrogen Cars Can't Compete With Pure Electric Cars - http://thkpr.gs/1sqWqN2 

Top PR Firms say - We Won't Work For Climate Denier Clients http://thkpr.gs/1tOWsRw

Toledo Water Ban Lifted But Test Results Kept Secret http://thkpr.gs/1sngKin 

Drillers Illegally using Diesel Fuel to Frac

A new report charges that several oil and gas companies have been illegally using diesel fuel in their hydraulic fracturing operations, and then doctoring records to hide violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

The report,  by the Environmental Integrity Project, found that between 2010 and July 2014 at least 351 wells were fracked by 33 different companies using diesel fuels without a permit. The Integrity Project, an environmental organization based in Washington, D.C., said it used the industry-backed database, FracFocus, to identify violations and to determine the records had been retroactively amended by the companies to erase the evidence.

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires drilling companies to obtain permits when they intend to use diesel fuel in their fracking operations. As well, the companies are obligated to notify nearby landowners of their activity, report the chemical and physical characteristics of the fluids used, conduct water quality tests before and after drilling, and test the integrity of well structures to ensure they can withstand high injection pressures. Diesel fuel contains a high concentration of carcinogenic chemicals including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene, and they disperse easily in groundwater. [Clean Techies]

Fracking Occurring in Drinking Water

Energy companies are fracking for oil and gas at far shallower depths than widely believed, sometimes through underground sources of drinking water, according to research released Tuesday by Stanford University scientists.

Though researchers cautioned their study of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, employed at two Wyoming geological formations showed no direct evidence of water-supply contamination, their work is certain to roil the public health debate over the risks of the controversial oil and gas production process.

Fracking involves high-pressure injection of millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals to crack geological formations and tap previously unreachable oil and gas reserves. Fracking fluids contain a host of chemicals, including known carcinogens and neurotoxins.

"Thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and millions of gallons of fluids containing numerous inorganic and organic additives were injected directly into these two formations during hundreds of stimulation events," concluded Dominic DiGiulio and Robert Jackson of Stanford's School of Earth Sciences in a presentation Tuesday at the American Chemical Society conference in San Francisco. [LA Times]

Impacts of Fracking

Here is the latest on fracking - This time from Ohio... 

Operators of an Ohio wastewater injection well sue individuals over billboards criticizing the project, in what advocates say is part of a broader pattern of industry quieting opponents in the state. 

Actions by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) have also thwarted citizens' attempts to speak out against fracking and related activities, Johnson said. ODNR staffers showed up with at least 14 armed personnel and a dog at one 2013 meeting in Portage County.

This time from Oklahoma... 

Oklahoma's Geology Survey recorded an unprecedented 20 small earthquakes across the state on Tuesday, highlighting the dramatic increase of seismic activity that has occurred there as the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing — otherwise known as fracking — has spread across the state.

Cornell University geophysics professor Katie Keranen is the latest researcher to produce a scientific study showing a probable connection between earthquakes wastewater injection, finding in July that the more than 2,500 small earthquakes that have hit Oklahoma in the past five years can be linked to it. Keranen's study analyzed four prolific wastewater disposal wells in southeast Oklahoma City, which collectively inject approximately four million barrels of wastewater into the ground each month. The research showed that fluid from those wells was migrating along fault lines for miles, and Keranen's team determined the migration was likely responsible for earthquakes occurring as far as 22 miles away.

15 million live within 1 mile of fracking well

The WSJ looked at census and natural gas well data from more than 700 counties in 11 major natural-gas producing states, and found that at least 15.3 million Americans have a natural gas well within one mile of their home that has been drilled since 2000. That's more than the population of Michigan or New York.   [Climate Progress]

Pope Francis takes stand against fracking

Pope Francis holding a T shirt with the message "Water is more valuable than Gold"

Pope Francis holding a T shirt with the message "No to Fracking" 

Flooding and Fracking don't mix - see Colorado

Colorado flooding has not only overwhelmed roads and homes, but also the oil and gas infrastructure stationed in one of the most densely drilled areas in the U.S. Nearby locals say an unknown amount of chemicals has leaked, mixing fracking fluids and oil along with sewage, gasoline, and agriculture pesticides.

"You have 100, if not thousands, of wells underwater right now and we have no idea what those wells are leaking," East Boulder County United spokesman Cliff Willmeng said Monday. "It's very clear they are leaking into the floodwaters though."

Photographs shared by East Boulder County United, show many tanks have been ruptured and others floating in the flood. At least one pipeline has been confirmed broken and leaking. [Climate Progress]

Fracking company bans children from talking - forever

When drilling company Range Resources offered the Hallowich family a $750,000 settlement to relocate from their fracking-polluted home in Washington County, Pennsylvania, it came with a common restriction. Chris and Stephanie Hallowich would be forbidden from ever speaking about fracking or the Marcellus Shale. But one element of the gag order was all new. The Hallowichs' two young children, ages 7 and 10, would be subject to the same restrictions, banned from speaking about their family's experience for the rest of their lives.

The Hallowich family's gag order is only the most extreme example of a tactic that critics say effectively silences anyone hurt by fracking. It's a choice between receiving compensation for damage done to one's health and property, or publicizing the abuses that caused the harm. Virtually no one can forgo compensation, so their stories go untold. [Climate Progress] [Yahoo]

The Hallowich family (photo: Pat Panchak/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Sustainability News

The Georgia Public Service Commission voted in favor yesterday of a plan that will require the state's largest energy provider to increase its solar power capacity by 525 megawatts by the end of 2016. [Atlanta Business Chronicle]

Air pollution kills more than 2 million people worldwide per year, with sooty particles and ozone causing the most deaths, according to a new study. [Guardian]

Warning! The bridge is out - Natural gas prices rise - use of coal rises along with CO2 emissions [LA Times]

In Southern California, fish populations dropped 78 percent in 40 years, which experts say can't be related "to anything other than a regional oceanographic climate effect." [LA Times]

The United States is now one of four countries to achieve 10 gigawatts of solar power capacity, and installations are only expected to accelerate. [CleanTechnica]

EPA's recent retreat on a study linking fracking to drinking water contamination in Wyoming is not the only time the agency has retreated on fracking investigations and studies. [High Country News]

The Great Barrier Reef's coral cover has declined 50 percent since 1985, and its overall condition is now classified as "poor" — changes due in part to extreme weather in Australia. [Guardian]

MIT climatologist (and Lexington resident) Kerry Emanuel has a new study out showing that with unchecked greenhouse gas emissions, the world faces not just more intense hurricanes, but up to 20 more per year by the end of the century. [Climate Central]

Toronto was pummeled with a "month's worth of rain" yesterday, causing floods that stranded 1,500 on a commuter train and downed power in much of the city. [NBC News]

The life expectancy of 500 million people may have dropped 5 years due to the promotion of coal use in Northern China. [Washington Post]

Google has invested $1 billion in renewable energy, making the company a major player in the energy sector. [Fuel Fix]

Washington, D.C. is considering waiving parking space requirements for new buildings, echoing shifts other cities have made in response to shrinking car ownership. [Wall Street Journal]

Private citizens protect pubic land

A three-month fundraising sprint has saved a revered slice of the Wyoming Range in central Wyoming from oil and gas drilling.

The Trust for Public Land announced in October it had purchased oil and gas leases on 58,000 acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest from the company planning on drilling the area, but needed to raise $8.75 million to finalize the deal.

The area under threat – known as both the Noble Basin and Hoback Basin – was featured last July in a video produced by the Center for American Progress. It is a place loved by residents of western Wyoming for its hunting, fishing and other recreation opportunities. Rich in wildlife, the area is important habitat for elk, deer, moose, antelope and other species. It also contains the headwaters of a stretch of the Hoback River that was previously designated by Congress as a wild and scenic river.

[Climate Progress]

Public Lands, Private Profits

Should we mine for uranium on Grand Canyon? Should we frack the Bridger Teton National for natural gas? Should we mine for coal near Bryce Canyon?


This short video series talks about current plans to do all three. If you care about the future of some of America's greatest treasures and the most beautiful areas of our country - watch these videos.

Scientists urge tighter fracking standards

An influential group of scientists has urged US officials to step up their policing of shale gas operations and to consider stronger regulations to reduce environmental and health risks at the facilities.

The scientists called on regulators to revisit, and in many cases beef up, their guidelines to avoid surface spills at shale gas works, and to ensure the safe storage and disposal of toxic fluids used in controversial hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, operations.

The scientists recommended that states do more to prevent accidents, such as spillages, underground leaks and gas explosions.

http://bit.ly/xRlgDD

Fracking Graphics

Here's one view on fracking from Wellhome, a home improvement company focusing on residential energy efficiency.