Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment
An article in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram speaks for itself. Excerpts: State regulators found high levels of benzene at more than one out of every five sites in the Barnett Shale natural gas field, according to results released Thursday. Benzene levels...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
In a recent post I blogged about widespread concern across the country of insufficient regulation, inspection, and enforcement by state regulators. A scathing new investigation by ProPublica shines a much brighter light on this issue. The investigation examined 32 states and found...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Earlier this month Exxon-Mobil Corporation pleaded guilty in federal court to causing the deaths of approximately 85 birds that were exposed to toxic oil and gas waste left in open air pits and tanks in five different states. These birds were protected...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution
The Delaware River Watershed supplies drinking water to approximately 15 million people and gets its water from four states: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale formation underlying two of these states, Pennsylvania and New York,...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is travelling to Wyoming later this week. She is being hosted by Governor Dave Freudenthal on a tour of energy production sites, including a natural gas drilling operation in Pinedale. NRDC has worked with local partners for years to help protect...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Moving Beyond Oil
Earlier today, the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lisa Jackson, testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. During the hearing she was asked about the risk to drinking water safety posed by the practice...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution
In Drilling Down, we wrote about Elizabeth Chandler, a veterinarian in western Colorado. Dr. Chandler has been observing health changes in livestock, including goats, pigs and cattle, that are kept near natural gas production activities. She is particularly concerned about...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution
Both National Public Radio and CBS's 60 Minutes recently reported on a lawsuit in Ecuador where rural citizens are suing Chevron for polluting their environment. One of Chevron's claims is that the methods used in Ecuador -- including unlined, open...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Thanks to the dogged persistence of Governor Ritter and his expert staff, Colorado has new oil and gas rules that will help make the industry a better neighbor and position it for a cleaner and stronger energy future. The new rules were...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment
Several of my colleagues have been blogging about coal ash -- waste from coal-fired power plants that is contaminated with toxic metals. More than two-thirds of this waste is dumped into landfills, storage ponds or old mines or otherwise stored...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming
A new report was just issued on "Emissions from Natural Gas Production in the Barnett Shale Area and Opportunities for Cost-Effective Improvements." The report was conducted by Dr. Al Armendariz, an environmental engineering professor at Southern Methodist University. Among his conclusions: (1) The oil...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy
I used to live in Los Angeles near the famous La Brea tar pits. It turns out I lived above an old oilfield that had been drilled in the early 1900s. I now live in Colorado, but recently I've heard...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution
As a non-partisan organization, NRDC does not endorse candidates, but now that Barack Obama has been declared the winner of the presidential election, we can begin to look at the environmental implications of the voters' decisions. Last week, Senator Obama...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution
The Colorado Air Pollution Control Division projects that in 2010 oil- and gas-related sources will comprise 69% of the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in areas of Colorado outside of the Denver area and El Paso and Pueblo Counties. This is an increase...
Posted by Amy Mall in Curbing Pollution , Moving Beyond Oil , Solving Global Warming , U.S. Law and Policy
Read the fine print and you'll find that the financial rescue package passed by Congress last week also provided a big favor for dirty fuels that have a much greater climate impact than conventional fuel. Yep - more than $4...
