GreenWatch

B. McPherson Fracking hype in the UK may be just that. Laws have been changed to make it easier for petroleum corporations to shatter the shale beds to extract the oil or gas held in the rocks. People have been told that the sacrifice of land and water to facilitate this extraction is for the common good, that it will make the UK self-sufficient in natural gas. Prices will remain as is or be reduced. A credible report from the University of Sussex challenges that assertion. Published in The UK’s Global Gas Challenge, the report points out that the year 2000 was the last year that the UK was self-sufficient in natural gas. As the fields in the North Sea diminished their productivity, the UK gradually increased its dependence on foreign suppliers. Now about 50% of the natural gas that the UK uses comes from Norway and Qatar. The US has led the world in fracking to obtain natural gas. Canada has followed suit. There has been a large increase in the supply of natural gas, b...

Barbara McPherson When fracking approaches an old vertical well, blowouts can happen An environmental watchdog group, Environmental Integrity Project(EIP), has blown the whistle on frackers in Pennsylvania who have been pumping kerosene into their wells.  Much of the fracking liquid used in the petrochemical industry’s rock fracturing operations is unregulated in the USA. The Energy Policy Act 2005 makes most of the additives exempt from regulation except for diesel. Diesel and its products can be used if a permit is granted. EIP’s report Fracking Beyond the Law , alleges that using the companies’ own self-reported date that kerosene, derived from diesel, has been used in Pennsylvania operations. There have been no permits issued for its use. They go on to state that diesel has been used widely throughout the states to extract oil and gas. "Injecting diesel fuel into the ground to fracture shale and extract gas or oil is a potential threat to drinking water supplies...

B. McPherson Peaceful fracking protest turns ugly in Canada as RCMP close in. Violence broke out in the hamlet of Rexton, New Brunswick when police officers, armed and with dogs attempted to clear what had been a peaceful road blockade. The police were enforcing a court order to clear the road to a fracking company compound which held fracking equipment. Access to equipment owned by SWN Resources was barred by local the local Elsipogtog First Nation when progress on negotiations broke down. The road was blocked on September 30 th . A court order was issued on October 3 rd to clear the access. October 18 RCMP moved in. In the chaos that ensued Chief Arren Sock and Elsipogtog Council members were arrested. This sparked outrage among the protesters. Rocks were thrown, tear gas fired, non-lethal ‘sock bullets’ were fired and five police cars were torched. The violence sparked protests across the country. Ken Coates, an historian specializing in affairs of indigenous ...

B. McPherson Texas is getting fracked by BigOil The ongoing drought in Texas has cattle ranchers worried. Severe to exceptional drought has spread across 65% of the state. Water levels in reservoirs are expected to reach record lows in the coming weeks. Ranchers are reducing herds in an effort to keep pastures from overgrazing. In spite of this the majority of pastures in Texas are in poor shape. Texas cattle herds are their lowest since 1967. In addition to the lower levels in the reservoirs, the ground water is scarce and lake levels are falling. Some lakes are down to a third of their capacity. To preserve drinking water supplies, some farmers have been cut off from irrigating their parched fields leading to a worsening of the grazing and grain production. Water authorities are frantically drilling for underground aquifers to deal with the disaster Texas governor Rick Perry has declared hundreds of counties disaster zones WHEREAS, record high temperatures, prece...

B. McPherson Are you being fracked? Fracking or fresh water, that’s what it’s come down to in Lawrence County countryside. At the center of the pig protest is Maggie Henry, a farmer. She and her family have farmed the area for many years and along with neighbours have learned to live with the consequences of oil exploration. The area is riddled with abandoned oil wells from the 19 th Century oil rush in the area. Periodically leaking methane causes buildings to explode. The new gas rush using rock fracturing or fracking is a whole new ballgame. Shell is proceeding with fracking in the area and protesters have stationed a nine foot papier mache pink pig in the driveway of the well head. They have chained themselves to the legs of the monster pig impeding traffic to and from the well. This civil disobedience comes after Henry tried and failed through the courts to stop fracking in her area. There are several concerns around this relatively new technology. The fra...

By B. McPherson Fracking for natural gas in the fields outside of Innisfail, Alberta, has seen a spectacular result. A pumpjack in a farmer’s field suddenly started spewing a black liquid into the air. Fracking fluid, nitrogen and oil from the well were sprayed onto the field. Crews are attempting to clean up the mess. Chief Executive for the fracking company, Midway Energy, Scott Ratushny was quoted in the Calgary Herald: “ Approximately 50 cubic metres of oil, fracturing fluid, nitrogen and sand were spilled on the surface and have been recovered from the site, Ratushny said.”  "We have drilled over 40 wells in the Cardium in the region without any incidents," Ratushny said. "We've never seen this before." Calgary Herald Fracking has become a hot environmental issue as the pace of this technology has increased exponentially in the past few years. The search for natural gas – the clean fuel – has corporations fracturing rock formations with e...