Fine Print on Baker Hughes New Fracking Fluid Disclosure Policy Draws Skepticism
Back in 2008, Cathy Behr, a nurse who worked at a Durango, Colorado hospital was hospitalized after suffering a cascade of organ failures. Days earlier, Ms. Behr had treated an oil and gas field worker who arrived in the emergency room doused in a fracking chemical mix called Zeta-Flow, the fumes from which were so powerful […]
Salish Sea Orca Whales Not Mating, Socializing in Polluted Soundscape
Vessel noise is already hindering endangered southern resident killer whales from communicating and finding fish and the noise bombardment will get worse if proposals for coal terminals and pipelines in B.C and Washington State are approved, said scientists and environmentalists at a conference looking at the health of the Salish Sea. “Ships dominate the soundscape of […]
Energy Industry Makes Last-Ditch Effort to Short Circuit Colorado Fracking Ballot Initiatives
Colorado’s oil and gas industry is trying to short-circuit proposed ballot initiatives that would strictly regulate drilling and fracking by pushing a watered-down, last-minute bill in the state legislature. The industry-backed “grand bargain” bill would give local governments limited, feel-good regulatory authority over oil and gas operations, like the ability to determine setbacks from drilling rigs […]
Details of TransCanada Pipeline Safety Whistleblower Scandal Emerge Amid Keystone XL Delay
Former TransCanada employee and engineer Evan Vokes, who released thousands of pages of records after he was dismissed by the corporation in 2012, believes that a newly acquired internal email shows his managers tried to discredit him for raising the alarm on their safety practices. Vokes obtained the email in Feburary 2014 through access to information […]
U.S. Officials Search For Answers On Bitumen Spills As Canada Eyes Enbridge, Kinder Morgan Oil Pipelines
U.S officials are struggling to figure out how bitumen from the Alberta oilsands will behave if there is a spill either from a pipeline or into the Salish Sea, the fragile ocean environment between Canada and the U.S. As the U.S. debates the future of the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport Alberta oil […]
Gulf Stream: Williams Suspends Bluegrass Gas Export Pipeline, Announces New Export Line
Right before the champagne bottles began popping for activists engaged in a grassroots struggle to halt the construction of Williams Companies‘ prospective Bluegrass Pipeline project — which the company suspended indefinitely in an April 28 press release — Williams had already begun raining on the parade. The pipeline industry giant took out the trash on Friday, April 25, announcing its intentions […]
Fracking Data Woefully Lacking in Canada, Finds Federal Report
There is simply not enough reliable information to be confident about the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, according to a new report released by the Council of Canadian Academies. The report, commissioned by Environment Canada, takes a broad view of the implications of “fracking,” from possible contamination of land and water to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to […]
Explosive Virginia Train Carried Fracked Bakken Oil, Headed to Potential Export Facility
Platts confirmed CSX Corporation’s train that exploded in Lynchburg, Virginia was carrying sweet crude obtained via hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale basin. CSX CEO Michael Ward has also confirmed this to Bloomberg. “Trade sources said the train was carrying Bakken crude from North Dakota and was headed to Plains All American’s terminal in Yorktown,” Platts explained. “The Yorktown facility can […]
VIDEO: Heartland Institute's Joe Bast Reluctantly Stands by Denial of Cigarette Smoking Risks
This is a guest post by Lee Fang and Nick Surgey, originally published on Republic Report. Before the Heartland Institute became famous for its leading role in climate change denial, the group spent many years working to defend the tobacco industry. Just as the group is now known for its over the top attacks on […]
Breaking: CSX Railroad "Bomb Train" Carrying Crude Oil Explodes in Lynchburg, Virginia
A freight train owned by CSX Corporation has erupted in downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, which sent “flames stories high” into the air, creating a large black cloud. ABC‘s WSET has reported four of its cars were “labeled crude oil” and one witness interviewed on WSET who is an employee at Lynchburg’s Market at Main restaurant, Randy Taylor, told show […]