Why did Cabot Oil and Gas demolish the former Sautner home on Carter Road, in Dimock, PA and who is the new buyer? Here’s the rest of the story:

Re-posted from A blog by Tom Wilber

When I last visited Carter Road, a contractor for Cabot Oil & Gas was demolishing the former home of Craig and Julie Sautner, the anti-fracking activists who had relinquished their three-bedroom ranch as part of a settlement with the Texas drilling company. This was part of a larger dilemma in their hometown of Dimock, Pennsylvania, where the Sautner’s water well was polluted by nearby Cabot drilling operations, according to records from the state Department of Environmental Protection. It’s a charge that Cabot has denied publically and settled privately – with the Sautners and dozens of other plaintiffs.

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Shale Workgroup to endorse Congressman Matt Cartwright’s (D-PA) CLEANER Bill

CLEANER Bill gets the Coalition's green light

The Coalition’s Steering Committee acted on the recommendation of the Shale Workgroup to endorse Congressman Matt Cartwright’s (D-PA) CLEANER Bill. The Congressman asked the Coalition for an endorsement of his legislation - the Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations (CLEANER) Act which would eliminate a loophole exempting oil and gas waste from Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) safety standards. This would end a 1980 RCRA exemption for the oil and gas industry and hazardous waste disposal standards would have to be abided by. The Shale Workgroup expressed concerns over impacts to surface and groundwater as well as drinking water based on the handling and disposal of waste. The bill has 49 cosponsors and the endorsement of almost 140 organizations across the country. Many of these organizations are Coalition members – Environment America, Earthworks, Sierra Club, PennFuture, Blue Heron Environmental Network, etc. The endorsement of the CLEANER Act adds to our endorsement of other shale related legislation (FRAC Act and FRESHER Act) and may be discussed by Coalition staff and members in future meetings with Members of Congress. 
 

Hoping for a Positive Fracking Outcome in West Virginia

In 2009, a total fish kill occurred in Dunkard Creek, which runs between West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The culprit was a type of algae that can only live in salt-water environments. Because the creek was freshwater, many wondered where the saltwater could have come from.

Source: Wikimedia Commons 

It's no secret that fracking water is many times saltier than normal ocean water, and authorities immediately started investigating whether local energy companies were to blame. Though the investigation was unable to definitively point any fingers, Consol Energy agreed to pay $5.5 million in penalties and to construct a saltwater treatment plant .

WV Department of Environmental Protection frustrates WV Delegates with lack of recommendations

Judiciary Committee during interims discussing the Marcellus Air, light, setback study article!!!!
WV Delegates Frustrated with WV Department of Environmental Protection
by DUANE NICHOLS on AUGUST 23, 2013

Whose problem(s) are they?

Legislature expected solid directives out of gas well pad research studies

From the Article by David Beard, Morgantown Dominion Post, August 22, 2013

CHARLESTON — Several delegates expressed frustration this week with the lack of concrete recommendations from the WV Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) after a series of gas well pad studies. Jim Martin, DEP Office of Oil and Gas chief, outlined the results of three legislatively mandated studies to the Joint Standing Committee on the Judiciary during interims. 

The studies — pits and impoundments, released in March; noise, dust, light and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), released in late May; and air quality, released in June — yielded just one recommendation to the Legislature: Reconsider well pad setbacks. The Dominion Post reported on them in depth in June and July. 

EPA setting rules as Fracking Pollution Continues to Rise

By RENEE SCHOOF The McClatchy Newspapers

The rush to capture natural gas from hydraulic fracturing has led to giant compressor stations alongside backyard swing sets, drilling rigs in sight of front porches, and huge flares at gas wells alongside country roads.

Air pollution from fracking includes the fumes breathed in by people nearby, as well as smog spread over a wide region and emissions of the greenhouse gas methane.

{{At the end of this article please read the Info from Yuri Gorby, Ph.D.}}

Royal Dutch Shell: They've Really Got Fracking Friends in Pennsylvania

Fracking Friends in Pennsylvania

Commentary by Walter Brasch, Wanderings Blog

Royal Dutch Shell, which owns or leases about 900,000 acres in the Marcellus Shale, had a great idea. It wanted to frack the Ukraine. But, there was opposition. So, Royal Dutch Shell decided to create a junket for some of the Ukrainians opposed to fracking to show them just how wonderful fracking is. They were going to bring the Ukrainians to northeastern Pennsylvania, and give them an all-expenses-paid four day tour. The tour was to begin at the end of July. Other shale gas corporations have created press junkets, where they lay out a nice day or two of activities, complete with handouts, trinkets, meals, and lodging. Members of the establishment press often go on these junkets. Some take what they’re told, rework it, and put it into print or on the air.

Now, the people of the Ukraine anti-fracking movement aren't idiots. They weren't just going to take whatever they were shown and told. So, they contacted the state’s leading fractivists and anti-fracking organizations. They wanted to learn all the facts—not just what was spoon-fed to them. They were willing to talk to anti-fracking activists when there were no other scheduled activities.

State Fracking Regulations Will Trigger FOIA And Trade Secrets Lawsuits

With a growing number of states demanding disclosure of its fracking recipes, the oil and gas industry is fighting to plug what it views as government-mandated leaks in its trade secrets pipeline.