According to a story in the Huffington Post, a Pennsylvania company called Geisinger Health System has received a $1 million grant to study possible health impacts of natural gas drilling on the Marcellus Shale — a gas-rich underground rock formation that extends into Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.
The grant, provided by the Degenstein Foundation, is meant to underwrite a “large-scale, scientifically rigorous assessment” of the drilling technique ...
continue reading...New York’s selection of a geologist with industry ties for a study on the potential link between hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes has both environmentalists and government watchdogs concerned, according to a Bloomberg article.
The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation chose Robert Jacobi, a University at Buffalo professor who has advised drillers for two decades, to lead the seismology study as part of its environmental review of hydraulic fracturing.
The controversial drilling ...
continue reading...A story in the Philadelphia Inquirer says New Jersey’s one-year moratorium on the controversial method of natural gas extraction called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” has expired.
Fracking involves pumping large quantities of water underground to break up subterranean rock formations and release trapped deposits of natural gas. It’s controversial because the fracking water contains toxic chemicals, including the carcinogen benzene.
The process is used to extract gas from the Marcellus Shale ...
continue reading...
An opinion piece in the Huffington Post by writer Marcia G. Yerman compares the Gus Van Zandt movie Promised Land to movies such as Silkwood and The China Syndrome, in that it “uses mainstream entertainment to delve into American values, corporate responsibility, and activism.”
The central issue is the controversial method of natural gas extraction called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” which involves pumping chemically treated water underground to break up ...
continue reading...An editorial in the Baltimore Sun says Maryland should not allow the natural gas extraction method called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in the state without an independent study on the subject.
The editorial notes that natural gas companies have balked at providing $2 million to fund such a study, which should make Maryland residents wary.
“What are the natural gas companies hiding?” the editorial says.
At issue is whether drillers in Maryland ...
continue reading...The U.K. has lifted a ban on the controversial method of natural gas extraction called “hydraulic fracturing,” which has angered environmental activists.
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” involves pumping millions of gallons of chemically treated water deep underground to break up subterranean rock formations and release natural gas.
A story on CNN International points out that the method is controversial in the United States, where critics are worried about the potential for ...
