Rural Community Assistance Partnership

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hydraulic fracturing

E&E Publishing: EPA looking for ways to 'manage or minimize' injection earthquakes

Posted Fri, 2012/03/23 - 10:54am by RCAP

In a March 15 report on its EnergyWire, E&E Publishing reports that "a team from U.S. EPA is preparing recommendations for 'managing or minimizing' earthquakes triggered by oil and gas waste injection wells.

...EPA has not publicized its efforts on earthquakes -- the technical term is 'induced seismicity' -- but it has discussed efforts with state officials, researchers and interest groups."

Read the full article

ProPublica: From Gung-Ho to Uh-Oh: Charting the Government’s Moves on Fracking

Posted Mon, 2012/02/13 - 12:32pm by RCAP

A Feb. 7 article begins:

"Fracking has only recently become a household word, but government involvement with the drilling technique goes back decades. President Obama has championed the potential of natural gas drilling combined with more regulation. While there has been mounting evidence of water contamination, few regulations have been implemented."

A graphic produced by ProPublica traces officials' moves -- and levels of caution -- over time.

ProPublica: Years after evidence of fracking contamination, EPA to supply drinking water to homes in Pa. town

Posted Wed, 2012/01/25 - 12:45pm by RCAP

by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, Jan. 20, 2012, 2:58 p.m.

First, the earth around the rural town of Dimock, Pa., was cracked open as gas drillers used fracking to tap the vast energy supplies of the Marcellus Shale.

Then, in April 2009, residents there lost their access to fresh drinking water. Wells turned fetid. Some blew up. Tap water caught fire.