The energy industry is notorious for doing the bare minimum in terms of ethical and legal protection of the environment. Here’s more news of environmental concerns.
More Quakes Reported
Fracking Advocates are Relentless
They want to overturn the ban on fracking in the Delaware Watershed. Support Delaware Riverkeeper!
Non-profits advocate for maintaining fracking ban in Delaware River watershed
The non-profits urged the commission, during public comment, not to overturn a ban on fracking that was implemented in 2021.
Texas is making a big mistake. (Not their first.) Shall we stop buying food grown in Texas?
Is your Town Protecting Your Property?
Land use ordinances and other municipal constraints can be employed to protect citizens from the ravages of fracking. Read about it.
Bad Actors make Bad Press
The Energy Industry has long spread disinformation and done cover-ups to avoid public outrage at their actions. That’s why it is important to note reports of wrongdoing, even though they may not be here in Pennsylvania. Citizens should not trust or rely on fossil fuel producers to be responsible for the far-reaching costs and effects of their operations.
Texas warns of fracking waste risk – PressReader Texas regulators are warning that wastewater from fracking in the biggest U.S. oil basin is causing a “widespread” increase in underground .. |
Who Needs Protection?
So you’d like to contribute the water your wells produce to help alleviate the water shortage, but you need a bit of protection? Why?
Oil companies want protection as Texas considers allowing treated fracking water released into rivers
As the state grapples with a threatened water supply, industry and lawmakers have invested millions in research to clean the toxic backwash for use in agriculture.
Yes, I am being facetious. Big Oil and Gas have a terrible record for social and environmental responsibility. Giving them protection from liability would be naive and stupid. The cost of insurance, the cost of cleaning up the toxic byproducts should already be priced in, but it isn’t. That’s just another example of the hidden ways the public subsidizes fossil energy.
Quakes
ODNR links earthquakes to fracking operations in Noble County – Farm and Dairy
Several earthquakes in Noble County, Ohio were linked to hydraulic fracturing operations at a well pad; the Ohio Department of Natural Resources halted operations.
Ohio fracking operation suspended in connection to recent earthquakes
An ODNR official said some of the quakes were strong enough to be felt.
It’s called a “permit” because our society is accepting as necessary, something that is not otherwise desirable.
They don’t want to pay for the harm they do
The Invisible hand of Fossil Energy Punishes
Letter to the editor: Fracking’s destruction
Here is an excellent letter posted to western Pennsylvania’s “Trib Live”
Tribune-Review | Saturday, May 17, 2025 5:00 a.m.
Contrary to industry cheerleading, gas is not a better energy option than other fossil fuels. Fracking destroys agricultural and forest land, pollutes air and water and poses serious risks to public health, e.g., seven times the risk of lymphoma and a 20% increase in hospitalizations for children with asthma.
Increasingly, Pennsylvania residents don’t want these industrial operations near their homes, schools or churches. The letter “We need truth on air quality” (May 6, TribLive) challenged area air monitoring results that indicated poor air quality because, the writer noted, some monitors were placed near frack operations. However, approximately 1.5 million Pennsylvania residents live within a half-mile of oil/gas wells, and millions more near compressor stations and processing facilities. A perhaps unintended message was that Pennsylvania residents get it, fracking is a dirty business.
The letter “Data center concerns, opportunities” (May 2, TribLive) supported the proposed Upper Burrell AI site because it will provide its own energy. However, “its own energy” will come from six on-site fracked well pads. All of this is a real concern as research continues to indicate serious health concerns, as violations mount (roughly 25,000 since 2008), and unplugged frack wells are abandoned (171 to date) with plugging expected to cost up to $8.5 billion.
The Trib has reported on local action on zoning ordinance restrictions for solar and wind sites. Is the same consideration being given to frack sites which pose real risks to the land and residents? If not, why not?
Jan Milburn
Ligonier