Problems for Ohio’s Waste Injection Wells

In Ohio, citizens opposed to hydraulic fracturing, protest against waste injection wells. photo: Progress Ohio

Podcast: The Poison Beneath Us ProPublica’s podcasts on iTunes Whiff of Phenol Spells Trouble by Abrahm Lustgarten for ProPublica The stench of phenol was overpowering, wafting from mud taken from a layer of rock thousands of feet beneath southern Ohio. It [...]

The Story of Pesticide Protection for Farm Workers

A sign defaced warning about the dangers of pesticides. photo: Wikimedia Commons

Farmworkers plagued by pesticides, red tape by Ronnie Greene for iWatch News NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Laboring in the blackberry fields of central Arkansas, the 18-year-old Mexican immigrant suddenly turned ill. Her nose began to bleed, her skin developed [...]

The Failure of Waste Injection Wells Nationwide

Illustration of a deep injection well for disposal of hazardous, industrial and municipal wastewater. Categorized as a "Class I Well" under the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act. photo: Wikimedia Commons

Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us by Abrahm Lustgarten for ProPublica Over the past several decades, U.S. industries have injected more than 30 trillion gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth, using broad expanses of the nation’s geology as [...]

USGS Finds Manmade Earthquakes Since 2001 from Oil & Gas

A well pad off of Walnut Road, in Tioga State Forest Pennsylvania, operated by Seneca Resources. photo: J.B.Pribanic

USGS: Recent Earthquakes “Almost Certainly Manmade” Report Implicates Oil and Natural Gas Drilling By Dusty Horwitt and Alex Formuzis for EWG Washington, D.C. – A U.S. Geological Survey research team has linked oil and natural gas drilling operations [...]

EPA’s List of Questionable Chemicals Goes Almost Two Years Without Action

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‘Chemicals of concern’ list stuck at OMB EPA proposal has been under review for 638 days by Chris Hamby and Jim Morris for iWatch News About 21 months ago, a proposed list of widely used chemicals that may [...]

EPA Study Finds Hydraulic Fracturing Contaminates Drinking Water Aquifer

Natural gas well site in Tioga County Pennsylvania. photo: Joshua B. Pribanic

Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time by Abrahm Lustgarten and Nick Kusnetz for ProPublica In a first, federal environment officials today scientifically linked underground water pollution with hydraulic fracturing, concluding that contaminants found in central Wyoming were likely [...]

Fracking Chemical Found in Wyoming Water: The EPA Rules Out Agriculture

A hydraulic fracturing fluid containment pond at a Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operation on State Game Lands 59 in Potter County. Pennsylvania General Energy has multiple well pads, ponds, and a gas refining and metering facility and has incurred multiple violations, including failure to report deficient well casings and leaking chemical tanks. © Joshua B. Pribanic

EPA Finds Compound Used in Fracking in Wyoming Aquifer by Abrahm Lustgarten for ProPublica As the country awaits results from a nationwide safety study on the natural gas drilling process of fracking, a separate government investigation into contamination in a [...]

The Benefit of Plastic Bags Enters Environmental Curriculum for California Schools

Although the curriculum includes the environmental hazards of plastic bags, the consultant also added a five-point question to a workbook asking students to list some advantages. According to the teachers’ edition, the correct answer is: “Plastic shopping bags are very convenient to use. They take less energy to manufacture than paper bags, cost less to transport, and can be reused.”

New Jersey Legislature Bans Hydraulic Fracturing for Natural Gas (Fracking)

“Today, New Jersey sent a strong message to surrounding states and to the nation that a ban on fracking is necessary to protect public health and preserve our natural resources,” said Senator Bob Gordon (D-Bergen). “Any benefits of gas production simply do not justify the many potential dangers associated with fracking such as pollution of our lakes, streams and drinking water supplies and the release of airborne pollutants. We should not wait until our natural resources are threatened or destroyed to act. The time to ban fracking in New Jersey is now.”