EPA Causes Environmental Disaster in CO; Connection to Marcellus?
We’ve watched, with some interest, the unfolding story that began last week in Colorado when the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) caused an environmental disaster of incalculable proportions. EPA workers were fiddling around with, what, testing?, at the now abandoned Gold King Mine, an old gold mine where millions of gallons of wastewater used during mining was stored. During their testing (or whatever they were doing) at the site, they accidentally unplugged the wastewater storage pond and millions (originally said to be 1 million, now disclosed as 3 million) gallons of very nasty wastewater with lead, arsenic and other heavy metals flowed into the the Animas River north of Silverton, CO, turning the water “an opaque orange color reminiscent of boxed mac and cheese.” Stick with us–we’re about to make a connection to the Marcellus Shale…
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On Friday Baker Hughes, which is being forced into a merger with Halliburton by the end of this year/early next year, issued a summary of rig counts last Friday. At first blush it appears to be good news, but when you dig under the surface, it’s not–at least for the Marcellus/Utica. The international rig count was 1,118, down 28 from the 1,146 counted in June 2015. However, the average U.S. rig count for July 2015 was 866, up 5 from the 861 counted in June 2015. It appears we’ve turned the corner on how low rig counts will go–we’ve bottomed and are either holding steady (in the U.S.), or perhaps every so slightly gaining ground again. But then we ran the numbers for the Marcellus/Utica and found rig counts continue to decline month over month…
Another anti-pipeline screed from PBS reporter Susan Phillips at the taxpayer-funded StateImpact Pennsylvania website. This is another propaganda piece in a series meant to smear the superb safety record of pipelines, which happen to be the safest form of transportation on earth (see