This is great work. I’d like to
Write to your Ohio Senator and Representative about Governor Kasich’s fracking bill
|
NEW YORK, NY — “Without fanfare, the nation’s nuclear power regulators have overhauled community emergency planning for the first time in more than three decades, requiring fewer exercises for major accidents and recommending that fewer people be evacuated right away.
The revamp, the first since the program began after Three Mile Island in 1979, also eliminates a requirement that local responders always practice for a release of radiation.
At least four years in the works, the changes appear to clash with more recent lessons of last year’s reactor crisis in Japan.
Under the new rules, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which run the program together, have added one new exercise: More than a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, state and community police will now take part in exercises that prepare for a possible assault on their local plant.
Still, some emergency officials say this new exercise doesn’t go far enough.
And some view as downright bizarre the idea that communities will now periodically run emergency scenarios without practicing for any significant release of radiation.
These changes, while documented in obscure federal publications, went into effect in December with hardly any notice by the general public.”
— Jeff Donn, Associated Press
Link to article
COLUMBUS — “Oil and gas drillers would have to disclose more details about the chemicals they use in Utica shale wells under a bill that passed the Ohio Senate yesterday.
Even as lawmakers, drilling regulators and industry officials praised the plan as the toughest in the nation, environmental-advocacy groups said the bill would still allow companies to withhold information about ‘fracking’ chemicals by calling them trade secrets…
Lawmakers removed a measure that would have required companies to identify trade-secret fracking chemicals to firefighters and ‘first responders’ called to emergencies at drill sites.
The bill instead would provide that information to doctors who are treating people who might be sickened by a chemical. But the bill would bar doctors from sharing that information for any purpose ‘that is not related to the diagnosis or treatment of an individual.’ ”
— Spencer Hunt, Columbus Dispatch
Link to article
— John Funk, Plain Dealer
— Associated Press
 COLUMBUS – The Ohio Senate this afternoon passed Gov. John Kasich’s fracking bill, Sub. S.B. 315, by a vote of 27-6. The bill had been amended and passed by the Ohio Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee this morning. Committee Chair, Sen. Shannon Jones, had introduced the bill at Kasich’s request. Sub. S.B. 315 now goes to the Ohio House for consideration.
The only Senators voting “No” were Michael Skindell (D-23 Cleveland), Capri Cafaro (D-32 Trumbull, Ashtabula counties), Nina Turner (D-25 Eastern Cuyahoga county), Charleta Tavares (D-15 Columbus), Tom Sawyer (D-28 Summit, Portage counties) and Joe Schiavoni (D-33 Mahoning, Carroll, and Tuscawaras counties).
Among the changes introduced into the bill by the committee was the medical gag rule, which has already become law in Pennsylvania. The provision reads as follows:
(H)(1) If a medical professional, in order to assist in the diagnosis or treatment of an individual who was affected by an incident associated with the production operations of a well, requests the exact chemical composition of each product, fluid, or substance and of each chemical component in a product, fluid, or substance that is designated as a trade secret pursuant to division (I) of this section, the person claiming the trade secret protection pursuant to that division shall provide to the medical professional the exact chemical composition of the product, fluid, or substance and of the chemical component in a product, fluid, or substance that is requested.
(2) A medical professional who receives information pursuant to division (H)(1) of this section shall keep the information confidential and shall not disclose the information for any purpose that is not related to the diagnosis or treatment of an individual who was affected by an incident associate with the production operations of a well.
— Paul Ryder, Assistant Director, Ohio Citizen Action
AKRON — “FirstEnergy’s annual meeting of shareholders lasted 10 minutes this morning as the company thwarted protestors who had been bussed in to voice their displeasure against the company.
For the first time, shareholders had to pass through metal detectors to get into the meeting. Board Chairman George Smart conducted the business portion of the meeting and ended the meeting within 10 minutes. FirstEnergy President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Alexander gave no remarks about the company — a first — and entertained no questions.”
— Betty Lin-Fisher, Akron Beacon Journal
link to article
NEW YORK, NY — “Chesapeake Energy Corp’s increasing shift from bank loans to costly funding is raising fresh questions about how long the spigot of cash will remain open and whether the company can sell enough assets quickly enough to pay for day-to-day operations.
The company’s problems were brought into sharp focus Monday when CEO Aubrey McClendon, who has a reputation for scrambling to close financing deals, told skeptical stock and bond holders how his company will use a loan from Jefferies & Co. and Goldman Sachs to pay down a $4 billion loan commitment from banks.”
— Anna Driver and Carrick Mollenkamp, Reuters
link to article
 LANCASTER — “After being offered (and refusing) two lease contracts for possible oil/gas exploration and drilling, we have made serious efforts to find out all we can about the process called hydraulic fracking — including attending two meetings put on by a legal firm that is organizing landowners. We were left with many unanswered questions.
We then attended a meeting put on by private individuals and researchers that addressed specific issues and questionable practices by the drilling companies. We wish there had been more landowners in attendance. It might have opened some eyes enough to make them step back and take a look at the “big picture” before signing any leases with these big money companies.”
— John and Lou Ellen Reef, letter to the editor, Lancaster Eagle Gazette
link to letter
Local residents don’t want SunCoke near, but OK with less emissions
 SunCoke began charging coal in 60 of their 100 ovens on October on Saturday, October 29, 2011. MIDDLETOWN — “Stricter emission standards won’t stop SunCoke Energy Middletown from operating in their backyards, but members of a local environmental watchdog group said they will benefit local residents.
Last week, Monroe City Council voted on an ordinance that would agree to a settlement of the four-year legal battle it has had with SunCoke Energy Middletown Operations.
SunCoke Watch, the residential group that organized to oppose the company’s presence, and Natural Resources Defense Council are also part of that settlement agreement.”
— Michael D Pitman, Middletown Journal
link to article
 Rachael Belz and Wendy McHale CLEVELAND – Friends and co-workers celebrated Rachael Belz’s sixteen years of work for Ohio Citizen Action at a party in Cincinnati on May 6th. Rachael is leaving the staff to pursue a degree in nursing at the University of Cincinnati, where she plans to build on the interest she has developed in public health during her years working on pollution prevention.
Since coming to Cincinnati to become program director in 1996, Rachael has been a leader in working with communities who are affected by toxic chemical pollution. She pioneered successful “good neighbor campaigns” at Cincinnati Specialties, Rohm and Haas, AK Steel, and Sunoco. As coal program organizer, Rachael traveled to communities across Ohio in the successful campaign to prevent AMP from building a new coal plant in Southeast Ohio, and has played a key role in calling on Ohio utilities to close their highly-polluting plants. Utilities have announced they will close ten of Ohio’s twenty large coal plants by early 2015.
Most recently, Rachael directed the campaign for Cincinnati’s “public aggregation” law for electricity, which voters passed by a vote of 59-41% in November 2011. Last month, Cincinnati became the first big city in the nation to offer 100% renewable energy to its residents.
Throughout her years in the organization, Rachael has also played key roles in statewide coordination, including training and supervising new organizers, fundraising, working closely with the field and phone canvass, and serving as executive director of Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund.
We are extraordinarily grateful to Rachael for her countless contributions to Ohio Citizen Action We wish her all the best as she embarks both on her nursing career and on married life later this month with her fiancé Jim Poole.
— Sandy Buchanan, Executive Director, Ohio Citizen Action
 NEW YORK, NY — “Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook on Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK +6.35% to negative from stable, citing recent operating results that revealed its large capital spending funding gap this year.
Chesapeake hopes to raise at least $10 billion through asset sales this year as it pares debt and funds its push toward greater oil production. The company is de-emphasizing its natural-gas production amid pressure from decade-low prices for the commodity.”
— Drew Fitzgerald, Market Watch
link to article
— Erich Schwartzel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
CHICAGO, IL — “U.S. utilities led by Southern Co. are burning a record amount of natural gas for generating electricity without triggering a forecasted boost to the fuel’s price from near 10-year lows.
…The historic switch to gas is set to peak this year without fulfilling industry predictions that it would eat up inventory and drive up gas prices. That’s because unparalleled output from new shale fields is oversupplying the $95 billion U.S. gas market, postponing relief for hundreds of producers.”
— Bloomberg News
Link to article
 Rebecca Roter SUSQUEHANNA, PA — “On May 7th, Rebecca Roter of formerly tranquil Susquehanna County reported her own microcosm of this tragedy:
I am going to look to move… I have a rig 3000 feet from my [water] well going up right now. Another pad fracking about one mile north of me…there are 24 permitted wells within about one mile of my house.
I also have the Williams compressor station being built about one mile up my dirt road. It sits above me and that is a real concern for me: all the air emissions that will roll down my valley.
That’s without even mentioning the flaring, the multiple spills, accidents and contamination incidents nearby. Rebecca has been a vital force for documenting, reporting and taking action on behalf of her neighborhood, county and state. For example, she’s assisted a significant network of people in stepping up to testify at compressor station hearings to attempt to prevent severe and sickening air pollution from gas drilling.
When the very people who are most dedicated and courageous are forced out, the loss has a potentially devastating ripple effect. If the ‘whistleblowers’ leave, who speaks up for the quieter folks left behind?”
— Iris Marie Bloom, Protecting Our Waters
link to article
 CLEVELAND – In April, we noted that President Obama had taken up the phrase “all of the above,” the energy slogan promoted by the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008. Now we have learned that the meaning of this slogan is highly etch-a-sketch-able.
At the beginning of last week, the official Obama-Biden website illustrated what he meant by “all of the above”:
 Then came complaints from three Congress members, Ed Whitfield (R-KY), Greg Walden (R-OR), and John Shimkus (R-IL). All of a sudden, the Obama-Biden definition of “all of the above” changed to this:
 The President did not explain why fuel efficiency was dropped. Of the six policies in his original chart, fuel economy is the most consequential. Obama policies regarding the rest have been marginal or have made things worse.
— Paul Ryder, Assistant Director, Ohio Citizen Action
 NEW YORK, NY — “All currently available options for dealing with contaminated wastewater from fracking are inadequate to protect human health and the environment, but stronger federal and state protections can better safeguard against the threats posed by this byproduct, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The report reveals how gas companies in Pennsylvania disposed of more than 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater last year and details the dangers presented by the disposal methods used.
…The report, In Fracking’s Wake: New Rules Are Needed to Protect Our Health and Environment from Contaminated Wastewater, represents one of the most comprehensive reviews to date of the available options for disposing high-volume wastewater from fracking. It analyzes wastewater disposal practices in Pennsylvania last year, and provides recommendations for better protecting public health and the environment nationwide. It was co-authored by NRDC and an independent scientist.”
— Kate Slusark, Natural Resources Defense Council
Link to press release
 Prairie State Energy Campus COLUMBUS — “An equipment failure may lead to months of further delays at an Illinois power plant partially owned by American Municipal Power of Columbus.
In a regulatory filing, AMP says that one of the plant’s large fans became damaged on March 27. The company owns 23 percent of the project, the Prairie State Energy Campus, which was scheduled to open late last year and is several billion dollars over budget.
…The company could not be reached today about the filing, which was made earlier this month with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
The Dispatch reported about Prairie State on April 29, showing how cost overruns have made the plant’s power much more expensive than today’s price on the open market. At that time, AMP said there had been a mechanical problem that was a normal part of a big project, and that the repair time was not a concern.”
— Dan Gearino, Columbus Dispatch
link to article
 Bayer CropScience chemical plant caused the deaths of thousands of people in Bhopal, India, back in December 1984. WASHINGTON, DC — “…this morning the National Research Council report is out, and the broad conclusion is, basically, that chemical companies and the agencies that regulate them need to do more to ensure inherently safer processes are fully considered and more frequently used. As the report issued this morning explains, tools that would help companies properly consider risks and make such decisions “have yet to take hold in the chemical process industry.” The report goes on:
Key obstacles to their use include lack of familiarity with the tools among chemical process industry decision makers and the fear that the methods are either too simplistic or too costly to use … The use of these techniques could benefit not only the communities at risk from safety breaches, but also the industries themselves, as decision making techniques can help with the identification of profitable safety solutions that otherwise could be overlooked.”
— Ken Ward, Jr., Charleston Gazette
Link to article
|
Register today!  June 2, 2012 |
