Fox News Interview Implosion? Host Stuart Varney Kicks Off Anti-Fracking Guest

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“The US Environmental Protection Agency has issued a long-awaited draft report on hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) which concluded that there is no evidence that fracking has ‘led to widespread, systemic impact on drinking water resources in the United States,’” writes lexology.com.

“A landmark Environmental Protection Agency report on the impact of hydraulic fracturing has found no evidence that the contentious technique of oil and gas extraction has had a widespread effect on the nation’s water supply, the agency said Thursday,” writes The New York Times.

“Nevertheless, the long-awaited draft report found that the techniques used in hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, do have the potential to contaminate drinking water.”

Recently, host Stewart Varney interviewed anti-fracking activist and producer of the documentary Gasland Josh Fox about the recent EPA report.

It always seemed like Fox doesn’t interview liberal guests very often, because the interviews boil down to chaos. Often, they choose to interview their own people – Fox News contributors, analysts, other hosts, etc.

What is FOIA?  FOIA is the Freedom of Information Act.  According to Wikipedia, it is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the U.S. government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures, and grants nine exemptions to the statute.  This amendment was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, despite his misgivings, on July 4, 1966, and went into effect in 1967.  FOIA allows groups to petition the government to release certain information on an ethical basis.

The excitement begins around the 3:10 mark.

(Updated article)

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=498e9211-b7fd-4311-a6b6-eba00fc7a2bb

http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/06/epas-draft-of-four-year-fracking-study-finds-no-inherent-water-risks/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/us/epa-hydraulic-fracking-water-supply-contamination.html

Arlington Gas Well Reportedly Sealed After Leak

startelegramvideo

A natural gas well in Arlington, Texas, was sealed up on Sunday by a company called Boots and Coots after a mishap at the drilling site.  The Fort Worth Star-Telegram states that the issue  prompted voluntary evacuations of homes.

No natural gas was reportedly released during the incident, city officials said, but 115 people were asked to leave their homes during the third effort to plug the well, according to the Star-Telegram.

Just before 3:30 p.m., Arlington city officials claimed that the well was sealed off and residents could go home. Those asked to evacuate had homes within an eighth of a mile from Vantage Energy’s Lake Arlington Baptist Church well site.

“This was a very serious situation,” Arlington Fire Chief Don Crowson said in a prepared statement.

“To get this incident under control, we worked closely with all city departments, Vantage Energy, AISD, the Red Cross and our faith-based organizations. Working together, we resolved this as quickly and safely as possible.”

At about 3 p.m. Saturday, Vantage Energy called 911 to report that natural gas was pushing pressurized fracking water out of the well.

As a precaution, the Fire Department at first evacuated 13 nearby homes. The evacuation zone was expanded at about noon Sunday after two efforts to plug the leaking well were unsuccessful. The well was reportedly brought under control around 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Public safety crews created dirt berms to contain fracking water that was back-flowing out of the well. Fire officials said the water did not enter Lake Arlington, a source of the city’s drinking water.

They said the drilling company would need to remedy effects of the incident at the drilling site. The Fire Department and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality conducted air monitoring, and no flammable gases were detected, Crowson said..

To help displaced residents, the Red Cross opened an Emergency Evacuation post at Martin High School in Arlington.

The drilling incident comes just days before a proposed state law, House Bill 40, comes up for debate in the Texas Legislature on Tuesday.

The bill, which would bolster state control over urban drilling, had to be rewritten after city officials complained during a contentious hearing in Austin that it limits local government influence over urban drilling.

The bill limits local control to surface activities such as noise abatement and trucking. Attempts to ban drilling would not be allowed.

Shortly before the well was brought under control, Fire Chief Crowson met with an elected state official Sunday afternoon at an Arlington fire station to reaffirm the need for cities to maintain local control.

“I’m concerned there is a potential that local control may be lessened. It is exactly local control that keeps the local community safe,” Crowson said.

Arlington has 56 pad sites with 306 gas wells, Crowson said. While the Fire Department has responded to gas releases and other incidents at pad sites in the past, Crowson said this was the first time an emergency well control team had to be called in.

More:

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/arlington/article18334295.html#storylink=cpy

(Updated post)

Farmer Asks Politicians To Drink Fracking Water

Secular Talk

At a Nebraska Oil & Gas Conservation committee hearing, a local Nebraska farmer invited the members in attendance to drink glasses of water tainted by fracking.

What Led to the Fracking Ban in New York?

What led to the fracking ban in New York?

Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced he would move to prohibit fracking in New York State, saying there is not enough research on public health effects and economic benefits to allow it.

Oddly, many large and often-read publications such as the Washington Post protested the move by New York’s Governor Cuomo.

However, a Quinnipiac poll showed that a majority of New Yorkers agree with the ban.

Sam Seder and Cliff Schecter discuss it.

4.2-Magnitude Earthquake Near Guthrie, Oklahoma. Sources: Earthquakes On The Rise In Oklahoma

Guthrie, Okla. — A 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck near Guthrie, Oklahoma on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

In the past few years, earthquakes have become common in the state.

An increase began in 2009, when 20 quakes of 3.0 magnitude or higher occurred, followed by 43 the next year and increasing every year except for 2012.

According to thinkprogress.org, U.S. Geological Survey scientists state that from 1978 until 2008, the average rate of earthquakes registering a magnitude of 3.0 or more was only two per year.

Damage and injury are far more likely with quakes that register 4.0 and higher, the USGS reports.

Just last Sunday, nine earthquakes were recorded, including two that were 3.8 magnitude.

“When they first started happening they were a big deal,” said Althea Peterson, a reporter with Tulsa World who has written about many earthquakes.

KOCO.com reports about a woman named Nancy Frederick.  At Frederick’s home in Oklahoma City, glass shattered as pictures hung on walls fell to the ground.

Frederick said she’s grown used to the constant earthquakes but Tuesday’s quake was the strongest she’s felt. She has even taken out earthquake insurance.

“People are starting to see foundational damage, cracking around door frames,” Peterson told CNN on Tuesday. In Tulsa, the quakes are felt, but barely, like a low rumble. “It’s nothing I ever expected in Oklahoma,” said Peterson.

http://www.koco.com/news/42magnitude-earthquake-shakes-near-guthrie/27610384#ixzz3Awx0dVdc

“Firewater” Video from Pennsylvania

The “firewater” is due to methane in the well-water, which is attributed to local gas fracking.  The video comes from Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

 

 

http://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/5-videos-showing-how-fracking-can-make-water-flammable/

View post on imgur.com

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/sunday-times-review-of-dep-drilling-records-reveals-water-damage-murky-testing-methods-1.1491547

It Doesn’t Get Much Weirder

Steve Lipsky, who proved that his well water would catch fire due to gas leakage from fracking, is being sued for “defamation” by the company doing the fracking.  Natural gas has been building up in his well.  He has shown journalists that he can light his water on fire, and also that gas comes out of a vent from his well.   The fracking company decided this was “defamation.”

https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/07-1

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/11/08/2913651/steve-lipsky-range-resources/

http://ecowatch.com/2013/11/07/fracking-victim-sued-defamation-prove-water-flammable/