Researchers tested wastewater discharged or leaked into Pennsylvania and West Virginia waterways and found ammonium and iodide in abnormally high levels in hydraulically fractured and conventionally drilled oil and gas operations, both of which are exempt from the Clean Water Act.
Blog Archives
Lawsuit Challenges State Fracking Panel
The Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit challenging the North Carolina legislature’s role in appointing the majority of members of the body responsible for developing rules to regulate fracking in the state.
Fracking and pipelines threaten Appalachia
The natural gas industry has overwhelmed scores of communities across the country, building miles of new pipelines and erecting huge drilling rigs. Appalachian Voices today launched web pages about efforts to open North Carolina to fracking and proposals to build natural gas pipelines through several Appalachian states, and the growing citizen movement to shift to cleaner energy.
Exposed: Linking Human Health and the Environment
As an assortment of pollutants leach into our lives, the harmful effects continue to surface in public health. Read about the connections between human health and environmental concerns associated with energy, pesticides and climate change. This article is featured in an Appalachian Voices webinar
TAGS: Climate change Coal Ash coal combustion Environmental Justice fracking mountaintop removal coal mining Pesticides public health
Legal Battles Flare Up Regarding Atlantic Coast Natural Gas Pipeline
The proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would deliver natural gas produced in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to power plants and other industrial customers in the Southeast, and is already stirring controversy along the proposed route.
Proposed N.C. Fracking Rules Move Forward
North Carolina’s Mining and Energy Commission approved proposed changes to state rules on hydraulic fracturing this November. Citizens and environmental groups submitted nearly 220,000 public comments on the rules governing fracking safety standards, but the commission made few significant changes the public proposed.
Hey North Carolina, New York just banned fracking
New York’s debate over whether or not to allow fracking came to a close today when Gov. Andrew Cuomo sided with the state’s top public health and environmental officials in calling for a ban on the practice. The announcement was exceptional for the much-needed truth it inserts into the fracking fight that could, just maybe, help other states come to their senses.
Weak fracking rules pass in N.C.
The North Carolina Mining and Energy Commission issued their final vote on proposed changes to the rules regulating the process of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas last Friday, voting unanimously to approve the rule set. Despite the outpouring of public comments requesting stronger rules, almost all of the commission’s changes fell short of what the public overwhelmingly asked for, and the few changes that strengthen the rules only minimally do so.
North Carolinians speak out against fracking: Are elected officials listening?
More than two dozen environmental and social justice groups came together in Raleigh last week to hand deliver 59,500 petition signatures to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, calling on elected officials to reinstate the ban on fracking in the state. Clearly, thousands of North Carolinians don’t want to see fracking in North Carolina, the question is: are our elected officials listening to us?
North Carolinians React to Proposed Fracking Rules
The N.C. Mining and Energy Commission held public hearings in August and September on the proposed rules it has put forth to regulate fracking in the state. At each of the four hearings held across the state, North Carolinians overwhelmingly expressed concerns with the rules’ shortcomings and the state’s rush to begin fracking.
