Just watch for ten minutes to see how the Greeley District Six Board of Education plays nice with Extraction Oil regarding the proposed (and now approved) 24 wells near one of their elementary schools, Bella Romero. Their letter expresses hope that the project is delayed so a traffic study could be done first, but Vice President Steve Hall wanted to scratch that one. And, board member John Haefeli wanted to add some niceties/appreciation to the letter that requested that the Weld County Commissioners ask Extraction Oil for a mitigation, namely of putting a sidewalk in along Cherry Avenue where most of the fracking traffic would pass.
Of course, we now know it will not happen. According to the article in the Greeley Tribune, Weld County Commissioner Barb Kirkmeyer "said she wouldn't consider it".
Click here to jump to the pertinent part in the video.
Here is the whole video in case you can stand listening to it all.
Showing posts with label oil and gas wells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil and gas wells. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
In Greeley Protest is Futile!
What is so surprising about city councils, or boards of education for that matter, bowing down to corporations and lawyers, and ignoring the wishes of its residents? The Greeley City Council is once again showing that, no matter how many people protest oil and gas pads near their homes, it is futile. Still, the more elected officials get confronted with concerns and protests, the harder it will prove for their conscience to ignore those, that is...if they have a conscience. Thankfully two city council members have, and they voted to uphold the planning commission's decision!
After six hours of testimony on Tuesday, the Greeley Council overturned its planning commission, allowing a 22-well oil and gas facility in west Greeley — a move that aligned with the city’s own development code rather than public sentiment.
Hundreds of people turned out for the hearing, an appeal by Denver-based Extraction Oil and Gas, of the Greeley Planning Commission’s January decision to deny its project, 6-0. The hearing filled the hearing room at the Greeley-Evans School District 6 administration building, as well as its lobby, where almost 300 chairs were brought in to accommodate the crowds, filled with neighbors against the project and hundreds of oil and gas workers wearing stickers that read, “Oil and gas feeds my family and yours!”
Read the whole Tribune article here: Greeley City Council overturns Planning Commission denial of Triple Creek project.
Mayor Norton: I sympathize with the neighbors and sympathize with comments, but I think beyond that we have to protect private property rights of the many citizens of Greeley who have mineral rights and have a right to access them.
Sandi Elder: I’ve had experience with wells in my backyard and have no problems, and my neighbors and I asked for no mitigations. They offered to put up bushes and trees, but we wanted to see mountains and still do.
Mike Finn: ..what I would worry about us voting against this .You’re just opening up a lawsuit. If I were sitting as a judge, it’s so clear they have a right for this. It blows me away that people don’t see it.
Rochelle Galindo: We appoint a planning commission for a reason and I have every right to trust in their decision and the information presented to them. As far as what was presented tonight, I find it really hard to support his particular development, mostly because it does have a huge impact on traffic flow in that area.
Also the raptor breeding season will definitely prolong the project for several months. For those reasons, I’m going to vote to uphold decision.
Randy Sleight: This has been one of the toughest things I’ve had to grapple with and deal with...I’m a firm supporter of oil and gas development, I work in the industry. I deal with compounds, facilities like this on a daily basis. So in this area, I don’t happen to believe this facility is suitable for the area. It is too intense, too large, there’s too much going on. Too much storage. That’s the emotional side.
On the practical and legal side, the applicant has in fact followed everything they’ve been asked to do. Unemotionally, this is a use by special review issue. I don’t consider it too much of a mineral rights owner issue. If extraction was not going to do what they’re doing, what would they do about their mineral rights? So that’s a moot point. [emphasis mine]
What matters is the fact that the state compels us to apply certain standards to oil and gas development within any zoning area. ... Legally, as a council ... we have the obligation to go ahead and overturn what the planning commission did. That’s not to say they were wrong, but when take emotion out of it and you look at the facts and evidence, the applicant has done everything they’ve been required to do. I’m going to have to support overturning of the decision.
But, where is the concern by the others for the well-being of children who have to live within close proximity of an industrial site that spews VOC's? Yes, I mention children as they are the ones so easily ignored and overlooked in all matters of policy making.
As long as we disregard the well-being of the children in our society, we shouldn't be surprised that we end up with a large number of people in governing positions who have no compassion and/or integrity to do what is right for people and the environment.
Is it not a farce, let alone a blatant lie, when we read this on the city's website?
Is it not a farce, let alone a blatant lie, when we read this on the city's website?
Hundreds of people turned out for the hearing, an appeal by Denver-based Extraction Oil and Gas, of the Greeley Planning Commission’s January decision to deny its project, 6-0. The hearing filled the hearing room at the Greeley-Evans School District 6 administration building, as well as its lobby, where almost 300 chairs were brought in to accommodate the crowds, filled with neighbors against the project and hundreds of oil and gas workers wearing stickers that read, “Oil and gas feeds my family and yours!”
Read the whole Tribune article here: Greeley City Council overturns Planning Commission denial of Triple Creek project.
 |
The Greeley-Evans School District 6 administration building.
|
 |
| Mayor Tom Norton holds up more than 1,000 pages of letters for and against the Triple Creek project. |
 |
Oil and gas industry workers had come from outside of Greeley
and wore stickers in support of their jobs.
But, does Oil & Gas not also pollute and poison? |
Mayor Norton: I sympathize with the neighbors and sympathize with comments, but I think beyond that we have to protect private property rights of the many citizens of Greeley who have mineral rights and have a right to access them.
Sandi Elder: I’ve had experience with wells in my backyard and have no problems, and my neighbors and I asked for no mitigations. They offered to put up bushes and trees, but we wanted to see mountains and still do.
Mike Finn: ..what I would worry about us voting against this .You’re just opening up a lawsuit. If I were sitting as a judge, it’s so clear they have a right for this. It blows me away that people don’t see it.
Rochelle Galindo: We appoint a planning commission for a reason and I have every right to trust in their decision and the information presented to them. As far as what was presented tonight, I find it really hard to support his particular development, mostly because it does have a huge impact on traffic flow in that area.
Also the raptor breeding season will definitely prolong the project for several months. For those reasons, I’m going to vote to uphold decision.
Randy Sleight: This has been one of the toughest things I’ve had to grapple with and deal with...I’m a firm supporter of oil and gas development, I work in the industry. I deal with compounds, facilities like this on a daily basis. So in this area, I don’t happen to believe this facility is suitable for the area. It is too intense, too large, there’s too much going on. Too much storage. That’s the emotional side.
On the practical and legal side, the applicant has in fact followed everything they’ve been asked to do. Unemotionally, this is a use by special review issue. I don’t consider it too much of a mineral rights owner issue. If extraction was not going to do what they’re doing, what would they do about their mineral rights? So that’s a moot point. [emphasis mine]
What matters is the fact that the state compels us to apply certain standards to oil and gas development within any zoning area. ... Legally, as a council ... we have the obligation to go ahead and overturn what the planning commission did. That’s not to say they were wrong, but when take emotion out of it and you look at the facts and evidence, the applicant has done everything they’ve been required to do. I’m going to have to support overturning of the decision.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Planning Commission rejects oil wells in west Greeley!
Tribune opinion:
Denying project in west Greeley smacks of favoritism
The Triple Creek Directional project was the first multi-well oil and gas project denied by the Greeley Planning Commission in recent memory. We have no idea why. What was it about this project that made it so offensive to those on the planning commission? Well, we have a pretty good idea, and it’s an idea that leaves us disturbed.
But let’s take another look at the project first. The facility would be on a 69-acre piece of property surrounded by nine existing well sites. The setbacks would be 1,000 feet, twice the minimum distance required by the state. The company planned to use electric drilling rigs, which eliminate the loud noises that come from the diesel engines of other drilling rigs. The company hoped to put up berms and a sound wall while the wells were drilled and employ a new tool that would help suck up emissions.
Oil and gas facilities have no place near residences, right? Well, actually, in 2013, the commission approved up to 18 wells and 20 tanks near Northridge High School. Another one features 40 wells near 35th Avenue and 4th Street, a location in the heart of residential neighborhoods. In 2014, the commission approved 58 wells on an existing pad near U.S. 85 and U.S. 34, even with neighbors complaining about the pad being too close to a new school and a new subdivision.
OK, so maybe it’s that this is a new thing to Greeley, and we just haven’t grown used to seeing oil and gas wells. We hope you’re laughing at that last argument. Yes, Greeley is an oil and gas town, just like the county where it sits.
Extraction Oil and Gas went well beyond what we’d call reasonable measures to appease the residents who were understandably concerned about their homes. And yet the commission rejected it anyway. Why?
Well, we can’t find a reason, save for two speculations that leave us troubled. The first is the fact
and the second is the fact this facility is in an area full of middle-to-upper-class homes. It’s a much nicer area, or at least a richer one, than the site off 11th Avenue near Island Grove Regional Park, where 22 wells were approved in 2011, or the 58 wells near U.S. 85 and U.S. 34. Check out the comments of Planning Commissioner Eddie Mirick, who seems to be making our argument for us, even while he rejected the site.
So these people apparently don’t deserve to have wells near their homes because they contribute greatly to the city. So apparently people who contribute greatly to the city, financially or otherwise, should get more of a say about what goes near their homes.
We disagree. Greeley is an oil and gas town. We’ve enjoyed millions in tax dollars from the boom. There’s already several precedents. Therefore, if a company turns in a good proposal for oil wells, one that goes well beyond the state’s requirements to make life easier on the residents,
Otherwise we’re inconsistent, and that’s dangerous.
Inconsistencies encourage homeowners to file lawsuits and inspire hard feelings, and they tend to hurt people with lower incomes the most, because they don’t have the financial resources or the back-slapping connections to shoo away things they don’t want near their home.
The planning commissioners seem to be playing favorites here. We almost hope Extraction will appeal the decision to the Greeley City Council, where the constant threat of being voted out of office helps keep them focused on the whole city, not just those who want special treatment.
— The Tribune Editorial Board
Source: http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/opinion/20023293-111/tribune-opinion-denying-project-in-west-greeley-smacks
Denying project in west Greeley smacks of favoritism
The Triple Creek Directional project was the first multi-well oil and gas project denied by the Greeley Planning Commission in recent memory. We have no idea why. What was it about this project that made it so offensive to those on the planning commission? Well, we have a pretty good idea, and it’s an idea that leaves us disturbed.
But let’s take another look at the project first. The facility would be on a 69-acre piece of property surrounded by nine existing well sites. The setbacks would be 1,000 feet, twice the minimum distance required by the state. The company planned to use electric drilling rigs, which eliminate the loud noises that come from the diesel engines of other drilling rigs. The company hoped to put up berms and a sound wall while the wells were drilled and employ a new tool that would help suck up emissions.
We see nothing wrong with the project there. Maybe it’s the fact the project would be near a residential neighborhood.
Oil and gas facilities have no place near residences, right? Well, actually, in 2013, the commission approved up to 18 wells and 20 tanks near Northridge High School. Another one features 40 wells near 35th Avenue and 4th Street, a location in the heart of residential neighborhoods. In 2014, the commission approved 58 wells on an existing pad near U.S. 85 and U.S. 34, even with neighbors complaining about the pad being too close to a new school and a new subdivision.
OK, so maybe it’s that this is a new thing to Greeley, and we just haven’t grown used to seeing oil and gas wells. We hope you’re laughing at that last argument. Yes, Greeley is an oil and gas town, just like the county where it sits.
There are around 450 wells throughout Greeley. That’s why we have such a problem with the planning commission rejecting this site.
Extraction Oil and Gas went well beyond what we’d call reasonable measures to appease the residents who were understandably concerned about their homes. And yet the commission rejected it anyway. Why?
Well, we can’t find a reason, save for two speculations that leave us troubled. The first is the fact
100 people showed up to squawk about it
and the second is the fact this facility is in an area full of middle-to-upper-class homes. It’s a much nicer area, or at least a richer one, than the site off 11th Avenue near Island Grove Regional Park, where 22 wells were approved in 2011, or the 58 wells near U.S. 85 and U.S. 34. Check out the comments of Planning Commissioner Eddie Mirick, who seems to be making our argument for us, even while he rejected the site.
“It would be very detrimental to the community in and around the area, who have lived there a long time, enjoy their homes and environment, and contribute greatly to the city and have for years in many ways.”
So these people apparently don’t deserve to have wells near their homes because they contribute greatly to the city. So apparently people who contribute greatly to the city, financially or otherwise, should get more of a say about what goes near their homes.
We disagree. Greeley is an oil and gas town. We’ve enjoyed millions in tax dollars from the boom. There’s already several precedents. Therefore, if a company turns in a good proposal for oil wells, one that goes well beyond the state’s requirements to make life easier on the residents,
the commission should approve it, regardless of the influential people who live nearby.
Otherwise we’re inconsistent, and that’s dangerous.
Inconsistencies encourage homeowners to file lawsuits and inspire hard feelings, and they tend to hurt people with lower incomes the most, because they don’t have the financial resources or the back-slapping connections to shoo away things they don’t want near their home.
The planning commissioners seem to be playing favorites here. We almost hope Extraction will appeal the decision to the Greeley City Council, where the constant threat of being voted out of office helps keep them focused on the whole city, not just those who want special treatment.
— The Tribune Editorial Board
Source: http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/opinion/20023293-111/tribune-opinion-denying-project-in-west-greeley-smacks
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Gas Fumes Force Family Out
The article in The Post Independent below is no longer accessible under its original link (I think!) Try it here: Silt Mesa family claims gas fumes forcing them out
But luckily I found the content here. In case that disappears too, I have posted the article below:
SILT, Colorado - One of the most vocal critics of gas drilling activities in the Silt Mesa area has been told by a doctor that she and her family have to move for their health's sake.Beth Strudley, her husband, Bill, and their two sons have been house shopping for weeks, after one of the sons reportedly began suffering from severe rashes, nose bleeds and blackouts.
But it was not until Dec. 28 that she got confirmation of her fears from a Grand Junction physician, Dr. Joseph Wezensky of Kokopelli Health & Wellness, said Beth Strudley." He said, 'Get out of that house, now!'" Strudley reported."Our water's screwed, the air is screwed, we have to leave our house," she said on Monday, during a break in the meeting of the Garfield County commissioners.
Strudley has been protesting plans by Antero Resources to drill for gas in the area north of Interstate 70 known as Silt Mesa and Peach Valley, which is where she and her family have lived for four years, maintaining that the gas drilling is compromising air and water quality in the area.
Downplaying the concerns and fears expressed by Strudley and other residents of Garfield County in recent years, the industry has maintained that their activities are closely regulated by the state government and do not pose health hazards to nearby residents. The industry position is that there is no conclusive evidence of illness due to a person's proximity to gas wells that have been hydraulically fractured, or frac'ed, despite more than 60 years of the practice in various gas-rich parts of the United States.
In 2005, Strudley told the Post Independent, she called the offices of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and was told "they'll never drill for gas on Silt Mesa." She said she was told that one gas drilling company had done some testing in the late 1980s and concluded that it was not an economically viable location for extracting natural gas.
But new drilling techniques brought Antero into the neighborhood last summer, and Strudley has been protesting against the drilling rigs, the service trucks and the industry in general ever since. Her most highly public effort involved posting large signs in her yard that proclaimed, "Antero Is Going To Poison Our Water," among other warnings."Unfortunately, that bloody sign, everything I have on it has come true," she said.
William Strudley, 13, was the first to show symptoms, beginning with severe nosebleeds that his mom said could only be stemmed by putting Tampon feminine napkins up his nose. He then developed a persistent rash over much of his body that itches and burns.Then, two weeks ago, his mother said, he passed out in the bathroom for no apparent reason. In the meantime, her other son, Charlie, 11, has begun showing the same symptoms, as have she and her husband."I have to buy a new box of Tampons," Strudley said with a flash of humor. "Everybody's been using them."
Speaking to the Board of County Commissioners, she said, "My son, our whole family, has been chemically poisoned by the toxic fumes that Antero Resources is enveloping Silt Mesa in, on a daily basis, since Aug. 9, 2010," when Antero put up its first rig in the area. "Silt Mesa is becoming the sad twin sister of Divide Creek," she told the commissioners, referring to another part of Garfield County that has seen intensive gas drilling activities.
In her statement, Strudley cited the case of Chris Mobaldi, a former resident of Garfield County who lived south of Rifle. She died last year of a rare pituitary tumor that she, her husband and a family doctor felt was related to her exposure to gas drilling activities.
"The rest of the world is watching in horror of what you are allowing to happen," she admonished the commissioners, adding that Wezensky told her that living where she is living "is on a fast track to all kinds of cancers."This, I believe, is now your problem to fix," she declared. "You need to get Antero Resources away from our homes and families. Well, what are you going to do? How are you going to stop my son from dying?"
The commissioners did not respond to Strudley's remarks, but called on the next speaker on the meeting's agenda.
By John Colson: jcolson@postindependent.com
But luckily I found the content here. In case that disappears too, I have posted the article below:
SILT, Colorado - One of the most vocal critics of gas drilling activities in the Silt Mesa area has been told by a doctor that she and her family have to move for their health's sake.Beth Strudley, her husband, Bill, and their two sons have been house shopping for weeks, after one of the sons reportedly began suffering from severe rashes, nose bleeds and blackouts.
"We have to get out of Silt Mesa."
Strudley has been protesting plans by Antero Resources to drill for gas in the area north of Interstate 70 known as Silt Mesa and Peach Valley, which is where she and her family have lived for four years, maintaining that the gas drilling is compromising air and water quality in the area.
Downplaying the concerns and fears expressed by Strudley and other residents of Garfield County in recent years, the industry has maintained that their activities are closely regulated by the state government and do not pose health hazards to nearby residents. The industry position is that there is no conclusive evidence of illness due to a person's proximity to gas wells that have been hydraulically fractured, or frac'ed, despite more than 60 years of the practice in various gas-rich parts of the United States.
In 2005, Strudley told the Post Independent, she called the offices of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and was told "they'll never drill for gas on Silt Mesa." She said she was told that one gas drilling company had done some testing in the late 1980s and concluded that it was not an economically viable location for extracting natural gas.
But new drilling techniques brought Antero into the neighborhood last summer, and Strudley has been protesting against the drilling rigs, the service trucks and the industry in general ever since. Her most highly public effort involved posting large signs in her yard that proclaimed, "Antero Is Going To Poison Our Water," among other warnings."Unfortunately, that bloody sign, everything I have on it has come true," she said.
William Strudley, 13, was the first to show symptoms, beginning with severe nosebleeds that his mom said could only be stemmed by putting Tampon feminine napkins up his nose. He then developed a persistent rash over much of his body that itches and burns.Then, two weeks ago, his mother said, he passed out in the bathroom for no apparent reason. In the meantime, her other son, Charlie, 11, has begun showing the same symptoms, as have she and her husband."I have to buy a new box of Tampons," Strudley said with a flash of humor. "Everybody's been using them."
Speaking to the Board of County Commissioners, she said, "My son, our whole family, has been chemically poisoned by the toxic fumes that Antero Resources is enveloping Silt Mesa in, on a daily basis, since Aug. 9, 2010," when Antero put up its first rig in the area. "Silt Mesa is becoming the sad twin sister of Divide Creek," she told the commissioners, referring to another part of Garfield County that has seen intensive gas drilling activities.
In her statement, Strudley cited the case of Chris Mobaldi, a former resident of Garfield County who lived south of Rifle. She died last year of a rare pituitary tumor that she, her husband and a family doctor felt was related to her exposure to gas drilling activities.
"The rest of the world is watching in horror of what you are allowing to happen," she admonished the commissioners, adding that Wezensky told her that living where she is living "is on a fast track to all kinds of cancers."This, I believe, is now your problem to fix," she declared. "You need to get Antero Resources away from our homes and families. Well, what are you going to do? How are you going to stop my son from dying?"
The commissioners did not respond to Strudley's remarks, but called on the next speaker on the meeting's agenda.
By John Colson: jcolson@postindependent.com
Saturday, September 27, 2014
OIL & GAS INFORMATIONAL MEETING
All parents and community members are invited to attend the public meeting regarding an Oil & Gas proposal for 19 Wells, 20 Tanks, 19 Separators and 2 Water Tanks to be located on the property located approximately 1,000 ft from the Frontier Elementary School Playground, and 581 ft from Walmart and in close proximity to neighboring businesses and housing.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30th
5:00 p.m. at Frontier Academy Elementary School
2560 W. 29th Street
Greeley
The City staff will explain the review process, and the operator (Extraction Oil & Gas formerly Mineral Resources Inc.) will provide information about the development plan. Citizens may ask questions. If you need further information please email FPG - Frontier Parent Group at fpg.parentgroup@gmail.com
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Residents Offered $50,000 to Release Company of Liability
From Aggressive Tactic on the Fracking Front
It didn't take long for the residents of Finleyville who lived near the fracking operations to complain – about the noise and air quality, and what they regarded as threats to their health and quality of life. Initially, EQT, one of the largest producers of natural gas in Pennsylvania, tried to allay concerns with promises of noise studies and offers of vouchers so residents could stay in hotels to avoid the noise and fumes.
But then, in what experts say was a rare tactic, the company got more aggressive: it offered all of the households along Cardox Road $50,000 in cash if they would agree to release the company from any legal liability, for current operations as well as those to be carried out in the future. It covered potential health problems and property damage, and gave the company blanket protection from any kind of claim over noise, dust, light, smoke, odors, fumes, soot, air pollution or vibrations.
...it is unlikely that companies will start handing out such agreements en masse, [as]..doing so could decrease landowners' confidence about the safety of the company's operations and their personal health. "People are going to say the gas companies must be concerned about air pollution because they're offering these easements," said Clark. "Everybody's going to get suspicious."
Earlier this year, a couple in Texas was awarded $3 million in a lawsuit against a gas drilling company. The couple alleged that the company's operations had affected their health, decreased their property value and forced them to move away. The case was one of the first successful lawsuits alleging that air pollution from gas drilling activity caused health issues.
..some of the residents have refused to negotiate with the company. "I was insulted," said Gary Baumgardner, who was approached by EQT with the offer in January. "We're being pushed out of our home and they want to insult us with this offer." Baumgardner says his house is like an amphitheater, constantly vibrating from the drilling. At times the noise gets up to 75 decibels, equivalent to a running vacuum cleaner, he said.
Earlier this year, EQT Corp. put up a sound barrier to limit the noise, but Baumgardner says it has made little difference to his quality of life. "We took the pictures down in the bedroom because they still vibrate at night," he said. Baumgardner says he has had to leave his house at least three times so far because the gas fumes from the well site were too much to bear. A local health group has installed air quality monitors in his home and several of his neighbors.
Last year when the one of the monitors began flashing red, his daughter, pregnant at the time, fled the house. She has since moved away after her doctor advised her not to live close to a drilling site. "Our house is most often not livable," said Baumgardner. EQT's response to his complaints, he said, has been "constant dismissals, excuses, delays and broken promises."
It didn't take long for the residents of Finleyville who lived near the fracking operations to complain – about the noise and air quality, and what they regarded as threats to their health and quality of life. Initially, EQT, one of the largest producers of natural gas in Pennsylvania, tried to allay concerns with promises of noise studies and offers of vouchers so residents could stay in hotels to avoid the noise and fumes.
...it is unlikely that companies will start handing out such agreements en masse, [as]..doing so could decrease landowners' confidence about the safety of the company's operations and their personal health. "People are going to say the gas companies must be concerned about air pollution because they're offering these easements," said Clark. "Everybody's going to get suspicious."
Earlier this year, a couple in Texas was awarded $3 million in a lawsuit against a gas drilling company. The couple alleged that the company's operations had affected their health, decreased their property value and forced them to move away. The case was one of the first successful lawsuits alleging that air pollution from gas drilling activity caused health issues.
..some of the residents have refused to negotiate with the company. "I was insulted," said Gary Baumgardner, who was approached by EQT with the offer in January. "We're being pushed out of our home and they want to insult us with this offer." Baumgardner says his house is like an amphitheater, constantly vibrating from the drilling. At times the noise gets up to 75 decibels, equivalent to a running vacuum cleaner, he said.
Earlier this year, EQT Corp. put up a sound barrier to limit the noise, but Baumgardner says it has made little difference to his quality of life. "We took the pictures down in the bedroom because they still vibrate at night," he said. Baumgardner says he has had to leave his house at least three times so far because the gas fumes from the well site were too much to bear. A local health group has installed air quality monitors in his home and several of his neighbors.
Last year when the one of the monitors began flashing red, his daughter, pregnant at the time, fled the house. She has since moved away after her doctor advised her not to live close to a drilling site. "Our house is most often not livable," said Baumgardner. EQT's response to his complaints, he said, has been "constant dismissals, excuses, delays and broken promises."
Friday, June 27, 2014
Fracking Chemicals Disrupt Hormones
June 23, 2014 :"We don't know what the adverse health consequences might be in humans and animals exposed to these chemicals," Kassotis said, "but infants and children would be most vulnerable because they are smaller, and infants lack the ability to break down these chemicals."
... "Among the chemicals that the fracking industry has reported using most often, all 24 that we have tested block the activity of one or more important hormone receptors," said the study's presenting author, Christopher Kassotis, a PhD student at the University of Missouri, Columbia. "The high levels of hormone disruption by endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that we measured, have been associated with many poor health outcomes, such as infertility, cancer and birth defects."
The results were presented Monday at the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society: ICE/ENDO 2014 in Chicago.
Source: Hormone-disrupting activity of fracking chemicals worse than initially found
See some of the chemicals used on the Haliburton site: Colorado: What's In The Fluids?
Note that each fracturing job uses several million gallons of water! So, that 'measly' 0.5% of actual frack fluid additives still contains thousands of gallons of chemicals!
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Oil and Gas Well Drilling: "Very Loud, Very Dirty"
This informative half hour video tour shows the industrial scope of a drilling site. The narrator says "It's very loud, very dirty" and "there are lots of ways to get hurt out here". When he's under the platform to show the Blow Out Preventer, or BOP, he says that's a dangerous place to be.
Under the yellow link below, is a video of the Windsor frack water blowout that happened in February 2013. It spewed for 30 hours before it was finally shut off. The Windsor rig used by PDC Energy is not nearly as solid and professional looking as the one shown in the video tour, and perhaps we should be concerned about that!
If we cannot stop wells from being drilled, we should at least expect that it is done with top notch equipment to make it as safe as possible. It's usually the smaller operators like Mineral Resources in Greeley that use small, mobile rigs.
See this one at Island Grove in the summer of 2013
Under the yellow link below, is a video of the Windsor frack water blowout that happened in February 2013. It spewed for 30 hours before it was finally shut off. The Windsor rig used by PDC Energy is not nearly as solid and professional looking as the one shown in the video tour, and perhaps we should be concerned about that!
- 80,000 gallons of frack water spilled at oil well east of Fort Collins Full story: http://tinyurl.com/lwepzlv
If we cannot stop wells from being drilled, we should at least expect that it is done with top notch equipment to make it as safe as possible. It's usually the smaller operators like Mineral Resources in Greeley that use small, mobile rigs.
See this one at Island Grove in the summer of 2013
Saturday, May 24, 2014
What drilling sounds like
This
gives a good idea of the constant droning that's heard far away
from the Northridge site despite the 'sound wall'. It will continue 24/7
until the drilling is completed. As I shot video and photos, a man in a
white truck came to check me out. We had a pleasant, and long
conversation. He wanted me to note that no diesel power is used for the
drilling.
The sight and sound from the Sheep Draw trail on the other side of the pad. According to Synergy the sound will be worse during the actual fracturing period, slated to begin in July, which will also see heavy truck traffic into and from the site.
A peek around the sound wall
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)