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Archive for April 10th, 2013
Radioactive Water Leaks From Japan’s Damaged Nuclear Plant
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on April 10th, 2013
Environment News Service: The Government of Japan has ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co. to fix fresh radioactive water leaks at its damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Leaks in three underground storage pits at Fukushima Daiichi have released an estimated 32,000 gallons of radioactive water since Friday, TEPCO officials report.
The underground tanks contain water that became radioactive when it was sprayed into the Fukushima Daiichi reactors continuously for months to cool the nuclear fuel after the earthquake...
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California court ruling gives hope to foes of fracking
Posted by Reuters: Rory Carroll and Braden Reddall on April 10th, 2013
Reuters: A court ruling that the U.S. government must consider the environmental impact of "fracking" on federal lands leased to oil companies offers opponents of the technique a useful weapon in the fierce public debate in California and other parts of the country.
In a regulatory setback for hydraulic fracturing on public lands, a federal magistrate judge in San Jose, California, on Monday ruled that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to analyze its impact on 2,500 acres in Monterey County. ...
Repsol suffers spill at Alaska exploration well – state
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 10th, 2013
Reuters: A ruptured hose at an Alaska well on Tuesday sprayed about two-thirds of an acre of snow-covered tundra and forced Spanish oil firm Repsol to halt exploration tests briefly at the North Slope prospect, state environmental officials said.
The early morning spill, of about 6,600 gallons of crude oil, produced-water and other fluids, occurred during a flow-back test at the exploration well, one of three Repsol drilled this winter on the North Slope, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation...
Energy nominee Ernest Moniz backs natural gas ‘revolution’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 10th, 2013
Associated Press: President Barack Obama`s choice to lead the Energy Department pledged to increase use of natural gas Tuesday as a way to combat climate change even as the nation seeks to boost domestic energy production.
Ernest Moniz, a Fall River native and physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said "a stunning increase" in production of domestic natural gas in recent years was nothing less than a "revolution" that has led to reduced emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that...
Amid Drought, Water Board in New Mexico Confronts State Over Supply
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 10th, 2013
New York Times: A small water agency in southern New Mexico has moved to force state agencies that control water distribution to deprive some users of their supplies. The local agency, the Carlsbad Irrigation District, or C.I.D., acted to ensure that its alfalfa farmers receive the supplemental deliveries to which they say they are entitled. The irrigation district voted unanimously last week to make what is known as a “priority call” on the Pecos River, a move that could force New Mexico’s Office of the State...
Quake risk from fracking ‘minimal’
Posted by BBC: Matt McGrath on April 10th, 2013
BBC: New research suggests that fracking is not a significant cause of earthquakes that can be felt on the surface.
UK scientists looked at quakes caused by human activity ranging from mining to oil drilling; only three could be attributed to hydraulic fracturing.
Most fracking events released the same amount of energy as jumping off a ladder, the Durham-based team said.
They argue that the integrity of well bores drilled for fracking is of much greater concern.
The research is published in...