Rural Community Assistance Partnership

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ProPublica: Poisoning the well: How the Feds let industry pollute the nation's underground water supply

Posted Wed, 2012/12/12 - 3:09pm by RCAP

by Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica, Dec. 11, 2012

Federal officials have given energy and mining companies permission to pollute aquifers in more than 1,500 places across the country, releasing toxic material into underground reservoirs that help supply more than half of the nation's drinking water.

In many cases, the Environmental Protection Agency has granted these so-called aquifer exemptions in Western states now stricken by drought and increasingly desperate for water.

GAO report: Energy-Water Nexus: Coordinated Federal Approach Needed to Better Manage Energy and Water Tradeoffs

Posted Tue, 2012/10/23 - 2:44pm by RCAP

The U.S. Government Accountability Office released on Sept. 13 a new report about the nexus between water and energy and warning that we’re running out of water because energy production is using too much of it, and leaving it unusable.

The office does not produce news releases about its reports, and so what follows are the findings as a way of summarizing the report, copied verbatim from its website.

Read the full report

E&E Publishing: Oil and gas frackers now have to tell EPA where they are doing it

Posted Tue, 2012/10/16 - 11:06am by RCAP

In an Oct. 9 article, E&E Publishing reported that "Oil and gas companies will soon have to start telling U.S. EPA before they 'frack' wells, a development that has caught many in the industry off-guard and rekindled some drillers' most potent fears about federal intrusion."

Read the full article