Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Frack Off Ya Motherfracker

While oil continues to spew into the Gulf, Pennsylvania is teetering on the brink of its own energy related disaster.

Texas gas company allowed to resume fracking after three Pa. spills


Pennsylvania environment officials are racing to clean up as much as 8,000 gallons of dangerous drilling fluids after a series of spills at a natural gas production site near the town of Dimock last week.

The spills, which occurred at a well site run by Cabot Oil and Gas, involve a compound manufactured by Halliburton that is described as a "potential carcinogen" and is used in the drilling process of hydraulic fracturing, according to state officials. The contaminants have seeped into a nearby creek, where a fish kill was reported by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP also reported fish "swimming erratically."

The incident is the latest in a series of environmental problems connected to Cabot’s drilling in the Dimock area. Last winter, drinking water in several area homes was found to contain metals and methane gas that state officials determined leaked underground from Cabot wells. And in the spring, the company was fined for several other spills, including an 800-gallon diesel spill from a truck that overturned.


LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, Pa. --
Pennsylvania regulators said they're halting all gas drilling activities by the company whose natural gas well spewed out explosive gas and polluted water for 16 hours on Thursday night and Friday morning in Clearfield County.

The operators lost control while they were preparing to extract gas from fractured shale, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which said it plans to "aggressively" investigate what may be the Pennsylvania's worst Marcellus Shale drilling accident ever.


Of course, the energy industry doesn't see a problem.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that wider use of hydraulic fracturing will help the United States increase its domestic-energy supplies, even as the practice draws concern about its possible impact on drinking water.

Tillerson told the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment the that the U.S. energy industry "can now find and produce unconventional natural-gas supplies miles below the surface in a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible manner."
Market Edge: Cyclicals Can Rally, But Watch Bonds

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves pumping fluids (often a combination of water and chemicals) into horizontal wells to force natural gas out of the rock. It's the primary method XTO Energy Inc. and many other companies use for producing natural gas from difficult formations such as shale.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the chairman of the subcommittee, called the hearing to examine industry practices after Exxon made a $41 billion bid to buy XTO in December.

Members of the House used their opening remarks to both praise the jobs created by U.S. natural-gas production and the need to find energy at home.

Tillerson said that domestically produced natural gas will help create jobs and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, since the fuel burns more cleanly than coal. Without fracking, he remarked, "natural gas that's locked in rocks stays locked." The chief executive forecast greater U.S. supplies of natural gas, pressuring imported liquid natural gas and supplies from the Arctic that require new pipelines.


The really amazing thing is how this is so unremarkable.
The energy companies yatter on about how wonderful everything is while the actual reality is the antithesis of wonderful. They give public commitments to safety & the environment while privately fucking us raw.
& they do it again & again & again...

& we let them.

That's why I have no illusions that this film:



will change a damn thing.

Although, on the upside, the next time the electricity goes out, & I can't find any candles, maybe I'll just be able to use the faucet instead.

11 comments:

Morocco Bama said...

We watched the Gasland Documentary on HBO Monday night. It was excellent. You're at ground zero as far as that is concerned. When he showed the maps of where they are drilling, I thought of you and your family. Whatever you do, don't drink the water. However, you can't avoid breathing the air and this profoundly effects the air quality.

http://geology.com/articles/marcellus-shale.shtml

ericswan said...

three hurricanes in the gulf at the same time..ie..now!

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/carb/flash-rb.html

Morocco Bama said...

The wife and I have been tracking the trend of Corporatization. Everything these days is Corporatized.......Everything.....including the Indian Tribes that we plundered and sequestered. I'm searching for jobs and I came across this opportunity in Oregon. I wonder what Chief Seattle would say?

Chief Financial Officer
About the Job
Under the supervision of the Tribal Administrator, this position is responsible for directing the Tribal government’s accounting practices and financial planning, management and reporting in coordination with the Tribal Administrator and the tribal Accountant.​ Responsible for the enforcement of, and compliance with, Fiscal Management, Budget and Appropriations, Grants Management and Procurement.​ Monitors the financial management and accounting practices of tribal entities operating within the Tribal government structure.​ Develops and fosters relationships with government agencies, banking and lending institutions, investment managers, other Tribes, insurers, the financial community and Tribal members by performing the following duties personally or through subordinates.​ Provides staff support to Tribal Administrative Management staff and Tribal Council for overall direction for fiscal and financial policies and objectives.​

Requires a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Administration or a closely related field.​ (CPA, Master’s Degree preferred).​

Requires a minimum of five (5) years or progressively more responsible financial, accounting and supervisory experience with last three years at the executive management level.​ Requires advanced knowledge of governmental and business accounting and auditing standards and practices.​

Minimum of 5 years experience in governmental accounting and experience with Tribal government and funding agencies required.​

Requires independent decision making skills supported by excellent analytical skills and professional judgment.​

Must have the ability to direct and supervise multiple projects simultaneously.​

Must have excellent interpersonal skills.​

Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills.​

Must be familiar with accounting, management and office software systems.​ Familiarity with MIP accounting software preferred.​

Knowledge of Native American culture, Tribal Government, Health and Human services and gaming issues strongly preferred.​

Morocco Bama said...

In all fairness, Eric, those are tropical waves in the Caribbean....something very common this time of year. It remains to be seen if they develop further and then make their way into the Gulf. It's still very early in the season, so the chance for a whopper grinding its way through the oil/corexit infused waters of the Gulf are still very high. No need to sound the alarm too early.....I don't think people have enough changes of underwear to be shitting their drawers every time the wind blows.

If the Nuke option was never on the table for the Government, then why are Nuclear Physicists part of Obama's assembled team to consult on the spill?

If you Nuke it, the Gulf will be dead and off limits forever rendering the oil deposits beneath it untouchable, or the cost to extract it ridiculously high. In otherwords, another step towards scarcity. I'll be damned if McGowan's theory isn't fitting better as each day goes by.

When they do begin to depopulate in the U.S., you can be sure Richard and I will be the first to be involuntarily cremated.

Bigfoot said...

Is this what the free market means for these bloated avaricious dinosaurs? The freedom to be able to forcibly dominate and manipulate the energy industries through any and all means? This business as usual model looks awfully genocidal depending on how you tilt your head. Dickie thanks for the Gasland doco link, will add it to the list I have yet to watch. Amazes me how many excellent documentaries fly under the radar. Cheers for the links mr Swan and mr. Bama, will check out this McGowan fella also.

BP management..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5C9Q7ZLMVM

And here's a heroin and cornflakes piece on "green" mercury light bulbs.

http://arch1design.com/blog/?p=6625

ericswan said...

Hey Shrub..take a look at real estate up in Michigan. I hear you could buy a bank on Mainstreet, Lansing, Mich. for 7,000.00. I suggest you contact a moving company in your area just so you know that you are already too late to beat EXODUS. Apparently, they have so many bookings, they won't take reservations.

just_another_dick said...

Eric, like John Heywood said, it's an ill wind that blows no good.

MB., don't have HBO so I'll have to wait for the disc.
I just made my way through The Corporation, both the book & DVD.
If anything, it demonstrated that BP's actions aren't unique in the least.
The Gulf is just one big wet polluted externality.

Somehow Native American Corporations don't surprise me in the least.
They have to protect all that casino wampum from the prying eyes of Uncle Scam.

The article that did leave me dumbfounded was this one:

http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=84083

SACRAMENTO, CA - It's discouraging news for out-of-work job seekers.

Job recruiters are hearing more from hiring companies who don't want to consider applicants who are unemployed.

"It's happening. Some employers are requesting that applicants already have a job but there are still a lot of qualified people who are not working now," said Curt Cetraro with Connect Point Search Group in Sacramento.

California's unemployment rate is 12.3 percent.

Some job postings include restrictions like, "unemployed candidates will not be considered."

"There's a perception among employers that if you've been laid off, it must have been performance-related. But most of the time, that's simply not true," said Cetraro.


BF, in the end, money is all that matters. Milton Friedman, the economist whose Chicago School conceptualized, molded & mass produced the globalization dildo that's sticking out of our backsides, said that any CEO who concerns himself with anything other than making money (i.e. the environment, worker's rights, the public good)
is an immoral little bastard and should be fired immediately.
To be fair, Milton did say that it was moral for a CEO to fake a social agenda, as long it profited the Corporation.

Morocco Bama said...

Ironically, we're about to dump HBO. It's a waste of money. They used to have some decent series and movies, but lately it's been trash. This Gasland documentary was the only thing worthwhile in at least a year.

Big Foot, here's the link to Dave McGowan's website. He thoroughly bitch slaps Ruppert, mercilessly. Ruppert nothing but a thug fascist cop. The only cop I've ever had any respect for is Frank Serpico.

Eric, I don't live on the Gulf Coast.....I live in Atlanta. We do want to get the hell out of here, though.....that's been our goal for several years now, but we can't sell the house and cover the mortgage payoff. We will, it the not too distant future, probably walk away from it.....especially if interest rates climb precipitously.

http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/

Unknown said...

Michigan's jobless rate, if you do not know, is 2nd in the country slightly behind Nevada. Nevada's unemployment rate as of May is 14% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Michigan is at 13.6%. I would suggest that one buys property on Saturn instead of Michigan. An investment on our 6th planet would probably be a safer bet.

Michigan is indeed a beautiful and exotic state surrounded by the Great Lakes but the state is certainly an underdog when one understands economics. The push are careers involved with the medical and educational, especially the ones involved with computers. It seems that this is nationwide common knowledge.

You would be better off sticking your head up your poopshute than invest in Michigan.

One can visit Detroit's ex Mayor at the penitentiary in the northern region. An ambitious individual could produce a documentary about his life and situation. It could win the Palme d'Or.

ericswan said...

My view of the future is fresh water not jobs.

ericswan said...

Take heed and save these links to your computer even if you don’t think it’s worth it. I’m not sure we will be hearing from each other in the near future so go with God and good luck.

http://www.rense.com/datasetanalysis16.pdf

http://rense.gsradio.net:8080/rense/special/rense_Clif_High_110309.mp3