Fracking Banned In New Jersey/ S-2576

Tim Scolnick Fracking Banned In New Jersey
On Friday, New Jersey legislators unanimously voted for S-2576, a bill which prohibits hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. fracking) for natural gas in the state.

S-2576 is largely symbolic since New Jersey does not use fracking to drill for natural gas. This bill does, however, send a clear message to the industry as well as neighbouring states looking to tap into the Marcellus Shale formation which reaches into New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and northwestern N.J.
In February, New York announced it will lift its 7-month moratorium on fracking in June despite public opposition and nearly two weeks ago, Pennsylvania’s Republican Governor Tom Corbett overturned a de-facto ban on leasing sensitive forest land for shale gas development. Additionally, the New Jersey decision to ban dangerous fracking is timely since the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), an intra-state agency overseeing the health of the Delaware River, is presently drafting regulations to control how and where fracking may proceed in the River’s bordering states.

As the New York Times has revealed, hydraulic fracturing poses a significant risk to water quality, public health and the environment.. The claim that gas is “clean” energy is also challenged by the sizable amounts of global warming pollution, comparable to coal, emitted in the entire life cycle of gas production and consumption.

In a Senate hearing earlier in the week, fracking lobbyists argued that Marcellus Shale offers vast and cheap reserves of natural gas. Ed Waters, Director of government affairs for the Chemistry Industry Council of New Jersey said, "If we don’t have that cheap supply of natural gas, we can’t compete in the global markets."

Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), Chairman of the Environment Committee, accepted that natural gas seems on the surface to represent a cheap supply of energy, but countered that:

BPT 2nd shale gas well to spud North Dakota

yourindustrynews » BPT 2nd shale gas well to spud and 2nd US shale well flowing

NORTH DAKOTA:Beach is expecting its second shale gas well, Holdfast-1, to spud later today. Beach’s second shale oil well in North Dakota USA,
Henderson Federal 4-26H, is flowing at 1,900 bopd during its clean up stage.
Despite recent localised rain in the Cooper Basin, Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT, “Beach”) is expecting to spud its second shale gas well, Holdfast-1, later today. Holdfast-1 is approximately 24 kilometres to the northeast of the first shale gas well, Encounter-1. The well is targeting the same Roseneath-Epsilon-Murteree shales which are expected to be of a similar order of thickness to the first well. Holdfast-1 is planned to reach a total depth (TD) of 3,625 metres in around 60 days. Further extensive coring is planned for this second well which will assist with gas in place estimates as well as assessing the mechanical properties of the rock for optimizing fracture stimulation design.

The Henderson Federal 4-26H well (Beach ~18.4% working interest, 14.7

Oil and Gas Collection: Hydraulic Fracturing, Toxic Chemicals and the Surge of Earthquake Activity in Arkansas

Oil and Gas Collection: Hydraulic Fracturing, Toxic Chemicals and the Surge of Earthquake Activity in Arkansas
The last four months of 2010, nearly 500 earthquakes rattled Guy, Arkansas. [1] The entire state experienced 38 quakes in 2009. [2] The spike in quake frequency precedes and coincides with the 100,000 dead fish on a 20-mile stretch of the Arkansas River that included Roseville Township on December 30. The next night, 5,000 red-winged blackbirds and starlings dropped dead out of the sky in Beebe. [3] Hydraulic fracturing is the most likely culprit for all three events, as it causes earthquakes with a resultant release of toxins into the environment. [4]

A close look at Arkansas’ history of earthquakes and drilling reveals a shocking surge in quake frequency following advanced drilling. The number of quakes in 2010 nearly equals all of Arkansas’ quakes for the entire 20th century. The oil and gas industry denies any correlation, but the advent of hydrofracking followed by earthquakes is a story repeated across the nation. It isn’t going to stop any time soon, either. Fracking has gone global.

Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) pumps water and chemicals into the ground at a pressurized rate exceeding what the bedrock can withstand, resulting in a microquake that produces rock fractures. Though initiated in 1947, technological advances now allow horizontal fracturing, vastly increasing oil and gas collection. [5] In 1996, shale-gas production in the U.S. accounted for 2 percent of all domestic natural gas production, reports Christopher Bateman in Vanity Fair. “Some industry analysts predict shale gas will represent a full half of total domestic gas production within 10 years.” [6] In 2000, U.S. gas reserve estimates stood at 177 trillion cubic feet, but ramped up to 245 tcf in 2008. These new technologies prompt experts to increase global gas reserve estimates ninefold. [7]

The grid below shows a section of the Arkansas River, with Roseville Township at bottom, where the first reports of the fish kill originated. The green lines surrounding and crossing the river indicate gas pipes, ranging from 8-20” in diameter. Any number of leaks in the pipes can explain the fish kill. Gas wells are shown by yellow ‘suns’ (see red arrows) and range from 1,500 to 6,500 feet deep. (Disposal wells, where drilling waste products are injected at high pressures, go as deep as 12,000 feet.) The red numbers next to the ‘suns’ give the number of gas wells in that spot, numbering close to 50 in this small area. [8]

Transborder Water Issues Canada/USA

Congenial relations between the United States and Canada have long been a source of pride for both countries. We characteristically speak about being each other's largest trading partners, and about the degree to which we have a shared, peaceful border. Over the years, the two countries have created a number of mechanisms for dealing with cross-boundary environmental matters relating to air, water and migratory wildlife.

One of the great accomplishments of the bilateral relationship between Canada and the United States in the past century has been the cooperative management of the many lakes and rivers that flow along and across our common boundary. The International Joint Commission (IJC) has provided a mechanism for joint management of the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes, and other boundary and transboundary waters. Two binational agreements, The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 have provided a framework for IJC undertakings.

But signs of disharmony in trade and environmental relations between the two countries have recently surfaced. Ongoing and potential conflict over water, or trade that is dependent on water, has become a political reality in Canada. Water scarcity has already affected many areas of the United States, and a few parts of Canada. The reasons for these shortages include increasing population, industrial development, climate warming, poor agricultural practices, poor prevention of water pollution, and watershed modification.

POWI has conducted research in a number of key areas relating to transboundary water. These include:

Legal instruments to protect Canada's waters from out of basin transfers