Vermont first state in nation to ban fracking for oil and gas 04 May 2012 With a 103-36 vote in the House of Representatives, Vermont on Friday became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing to extract oil or natural gas. The bill passed the Senate earlier this week. The House debate was short.
Tag: FRACKING
Gov. John Kasich to propose new tax on fracking to give Ohioans a personal income tax cut
By Reginald Fields, The Plain Dealer
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. John Kasich will propose a new tax on a form of oil and gas drilling known as horizontal fracking and then use the fresh revenue to give a personal income tax cut to Ohioans, The Plain Dealer has learned.
The complicated plan also would make changes to various existing taxes petroleum companies pay for pumping out oil and natural gas from beneath Ohio. And it even contains a tax break for some smaller operators, according to documents obtained by The Plain Dealer and confirmed by the governor’s office.
But the moneymaker in the deal is the new tax Kasich wants to apply to Ohio’s most sought-after resource, the natural gas liquids trapped deep below in Marcellus and Utica shale formations reached through fracking, a process that shoots a water and chemical concoction down through a drilled hole to break up the shale. Big Oil is salivating at the opportunity to reach these gases — butane, ethane and propane.
To read more, visit: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2012/03/gov_kasich_to_propose_new_tax.html
Fracking: Answer to Our Energy Crisis, or Could it Be a Disaster for the Environment?
The Guardian March 3, 2012 Fracking – the extraction of shale gas – was halted last year after it was linked to a series of tremors in Lancashire. Drilling companies hope a decision due soon will allow them to restart operations. But protesters say fracking can lead to water contamination, methane leaks and animals dying […]
Ohio: Seismologist Shills for Big Oil: ‘Don’t Blame Fracking’ on Earthquakes
The Intel Hub
January 10, 2012
A seismologist shills for “Big Oil” as water from your kitchen sick could ignite!
It has been openly admitted that gas fracking causes earthquakes and more (this is not a conspiracy).
Recently, there has been signs of a cover-up in Ohio— the fact that fracking causes earthquakes has worried local residents and caused some to demand a policy shift.
An excerpt from Business Insider reads;
Following seismic tremors in North-West England this Spring, the firm exploring for natural shale gas in the region has admitted that the disturbances were caused by the controversial exploration process of fracking.
Fracking involves cracking or fracturing rock, containing trapped shale gas, by using pressurized liquid. Shale gas is an increasingly important energy resource though there have been claims that it is worse for the environment than coal, largely due to the fracking process.
This is where it gets down and dirty.
An excerpt from Farm and Dairy reads;
John Armbruster, a seismologist with the Lamon-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, came to Youngstown and set up seismographs and began recording the quakes Nov. 30. His goal was to determine the precise locations of the earthquakes, how deep they were occurring, and state officials wanted to know the location of the quakes in comparison to the injection well located on Salt Springs Road on Youngstown’s west side.
The most recent earthquake hit Dec. 31 with a measurement of 4.0 on the Richter scale.
Don’t blame fracking
Armbruster says it’s not the fracking process that is to blame for the earthquakes.
“Fracking only takes a day or two. That’s not long enough to stimulate earthquakes. I don’t think that is the problem,” said Armbruster.
Earthquakes in the Mahoning Valley were not something you heard much about until 2011. Armbruster said that it is one reason why the subject is being discussed so much.
Armbruster said the brine water waste being placed in the injection well began in December 2010, but no one from the state level has told him how much has been deposited.
It’s also not known how long it takes for the fluid to move around beneath earth and to potentially cause the earthquakes.
“The fault zone acts like a big hydraulic jack and the fluid being injected at the top is acting like a pump at the surface. It then works at pumping the jack and causes the fault to move, which is the earthquakes being felt,” said Armbruster.
This video shows how your tap water can become flammable from fracking.
EPA finds toxic chemicals in water supply near fracking sites in Wyoming
EPA finds toxic chemicals in water supply near fracking sites in Wyoming 10 Dec 2011 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday it found chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas in water supplies in Wyoming. The EPA’s findings are based on two deep wells drilled to monitor water in the aquifer located in Pavillion, Wyoming. The EPA says that sampling turned up compounds “likely associated with gas production practices” in the monitoring wells in addition to private and public drinking wells.