Rural Community Assistance Partnership

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Environmental Working Group: Gas-drilling doublespeak

Posted Wed, 2011/12/14 - 5:23pm by RCAP

Landowners say companies kept them in the dark on risks

Washington D.C. (EWG) – Gas drilling companies routinely warn their investors of a litany of possible disasters – such as leaks, spills, explosions, bodily injury and even death – but regularly fail to mention these risks when persuading landowners to sign leases for drilling rights, an Environmental Working Group investigation found.

ProPublica: Feds link water contamination to fracking for the first time

Posted Mon, 2011/12/12 - 4:09pm by RCAP

by Abrahm Lustgarten and Nicholas Kusnetz ProPublica, Dec. 8, 2011, 8:18 p.m.

In a first, federal environment officials today scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing, concluding that contaminants found in central Wyoming were likely caused by the gas drilling process.

The findings by the Environmental Protection Agency come partway through a separate national study by the agency to determine whether fracking presents a risk to water resources.

Former RCAP staffer: Minorities pay more for water and sewer, according to study

Posted Tue, 2011/12/06 - 1:45pm by RCAP

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Racial minorities pay systemically more for basic water and sewer services than white people, according to a study by Michigan State University researchers.

This “structural inequality” is not necessarily a product of racism, argues sociologist Stephen Gasteyer, but rather the result of whites fleeing urban areas and leaving minority residents to bear the costs of maintaining aging water and sewer infrastructure.