Governors Assoc. Issues Recommendations on Water Usage in Fracking
The National Governors Association (NGA) issued a 16-page report last Thursday encouraging governors and their states to adopt policies that encourage a) the use of less drinking water for fracking, and b) the use of more recycling of flowback water in fracking. The report, titled “State Practices to Protect Drinking Water While Developing Shale Energy” (full copy below), is the result of a a 35-member panel that met in March. The panel included gubernatorial advisers, state and federal regulators, professors, environmentalists and representatives of the oil and gas industry. We’ve had a look over the recommendations and frankly, there’s really nothing new in them that isn’t already either being done or in the process of being done. In addition to the study, MDN includes below some perspective on just how much drinking water gets used for fracking versus water used for other purposes…
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While all eyes have been on the possible hostile takeover of midstream giant Williams by another midstream giant, Energy Transfer Equity (see
The director of Philadelphia’s Office of Emergency Management, Samantha Phillips, has told anti-drilling zealots to (in our words) “stuff it” with respect to their demands to know the city’s emergency plans in case a trainload of oil derails in or near the city. Phillips will not disclose detailed emergency plans–rightly so–for fear that terrorists could potentially use the information should such a disaster ever occur. Of course public safety is the last thing on the minds of anti-drillers like those in THE Delaware Riverkeeper–a group attempting to incite unrest in Philly by sponsoring “scare them to death” rallies. Phillips is holding firm and will not release details to Riverkeeper to sleazily use in furthering their own twisted agenda…
There was a rupture of a gas pipeline at a Jay-Bee Oil and Gas drill pad in the Big Run area of Tyler County, WV early Friday morning. There was no explosion, and no one was injured–but there was a fire and the fire could be seen for miles in the dark early morning. The fire from the ruptured pipe (cause still being investigated) burned for an hour before it was extinguished. The wells on the pad are currently shut-in while the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection investigates. This is not the first Jay-Bee accident in the Big Run area…