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Archive for October 10th, 2014
Frackers are dumping toxic waste into California’s groundwater
Posted by Grist: Madeleine Thomas on October 10th, 2014
Grist: California can officially add one more disaster to its rapidly growing list of water woes: The EPA just found that at least nine fracking sites throughout the state have been dumping billions of gallons of contaminated wastewater into its protected aquifers.
Not only do many of these aquifers supply drinking water to residents throughout the Central Valley, they`re also reaching dangerously low levels due to overuse, as many farmers rely on aquifers for irrigation and have been overpumping groundwater...
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Lab Official Pleads Guilty Faking Water Quality Tests for Coal Companies
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on October 10th, 2014
EcoWatch: A West Virginia lab technician pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of faking water sample quality tests so that coal mining companies could be guaranteed clean reports to submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), reports the Charleston Gazette.
John W. Shelton worked for Appalachian Laboratories Inc. (AL), a company certified by DEP to conduct such tests as part of the Clean Water Act. The company conducts tests...
Massive Methane Hot Spot Detected by Satellite
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on October 10th, 2014
EcoWatch: One tiny section in the U.S. is responsible for a significant amount of the country`s methane emissions, according to new information released by scientists from NASA and the University of Michigan.
In a study published this week, they analyzed satellite-gathered data and found that an area about 2,500 square miles, near the "Four Corners" where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah connect, produces the largest concentration of these greenhouse gas emissions ever found in the U.S., more than...
Cowspiracy Exposes the Truth About Animal Agriculture
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on October 10th, 2014
EcoWatch: A recent documentary, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, asks why most leading environmental organizations are ignoring a leading cause of environmental damage.
In 90 minutes, co-producers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn argue that our institutional and individual attention to selected environmental issues will not make a collective difference unless we also confront the realities of animal agriculture. Animal agriculture’s environmental effects are so pervasive that apparent progress elsewhere...
America’s Tiny Four Corners Region Is an Outsized Methane Hotspot
Posted by Time: Elizabeth Barber on October 10th, 2014
Time: One small spot in the U.S. Southwest is the surprising producer of the largest concentration of methane gas seen across the nation.
Levels of methane over the Four Corners region are more than triple the standard ground-based estimate of the greenhouse gas, reports a joint study of satellite data by scientists at NASA and the University of Michigan.
Methane is a heat-trapping gas whose increasing quantities in the atmosphere have fueled concerns about global climate change.
The methane "hotspot,'...
Fracking Setback in Poland Dims Hope for Less Russian Gas
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 10th, 2014
Bloomberg: Poland’s ambition to achieve energy independence from Russia is being undermined by drillers giving up on the nation’s shale wells after disappointing results.
The highest test flows during the country’s five-year search for unconventional gas were just 30 percent of what’s needed for commercial production, said Pawel Poprawa, a geologist at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. The number of active shale permits has fallen 43 percent from a high in January 2013 and explorers...
Wisconsin County Shuts Down Frac-Sand Operation ‘Running Wild’
Posted by Star Tribune: Tony Kennedy on October 10th, 2014
Star Tribune: A Wisconsin frac-sand mine that was “running wild” and dumping polluted wastewater into an unlined pond against regulations has been shut down by Trempealeau County. The Guza Pit, four miles south of Independence, Wis., had been operating without a permit and was shut down Monday with a “stop-work” order from county regulators. It could face fines when the situation is sorted out, said Kevin Lien, who heads the county’s zoning office. The episode illustrates the challenges local regulators have...