Category:

Montana oil spill no threat to North Dakota

Responders work to clear oil spilled in mid January into Yellowstone River. (Photo: Poplar pipeline unified command) WILLISTON, N.D., Jan. 26 (UPI) — North Dakota health officials said drinking water is safe to use following an oil spill in the Montana waters of the Yellowstone River. The North Dakota Department of Health and the city of Williston in a joint statement said they were still monitoring water levels, though the most recent test data show pollution levels are well below the threat level. "The tests revealed low levels of hydrocarbon contaminants within the system, but the level of contaminants is decreasing over time, which suggests that the contaminants are now leaving the system," Saturday’s statement read. The Poplar pipeline, operated by Bridger Pipeline, spilled oil into the Yellowstone River in mid January. A unified command responding to the spill said oil recovery continues, with the estimated spill volume reduced […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Hopes for Drought’s End Fade as California Rains Vanish

California will reach the halfway point in its rainy season this weekend. Hopes that the three-year drought will be washed away are probably already in the past. While December brought heavy rains that put the state on pace for a normal season, there hasn’t been much precipitation since then. Since Jan. 1, Sacramento and Fresno have received too little to measure. “We’ve had four weeks of a very minimal amount of rain in the northern part of the state, which is where our key reservoirs lie,” said Pete Fickenscher, senior hydrologist at the California Nevada River Forecast Center in Sacramento. Now the forecast calls for a high pressure ridge to form along the West Coast, bringing sun, mild temperatures and an extended dry spell. “They certainly have a dry forecast with that ridge,” said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland . “That […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Why water is not the new oil

“Water is the new oil.”Nowhere is this platitude more recited than here in Texas, where homegrown oil-and-gas money — and now even global capital — is flowing into the next resource boom: groundwater. T. Boone Pickens’ Mesa Water, which was the first to acquire groundwater rights from landowners for export to thirsty communities, is just the best-known name in the state’s burgeoning groundwater market. It also includes BlueWater Systems, the Val Verde Water Co., Heritage Commodity and Forestar. In October, Abengoa and BlueWater won approval for a $3.4 billion project to pipe groundwater 140 miles from Burleson and Milam counties to San Antonio. We Texans are by no means alone in commoditizing water. The share price of Cadiz, the sponsor of a project that aims to mine and bank groundwater beneath the Mojave Desert and sell it to parts of drought-stricken California, has more than doubled in the past […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China imposes record fines on corporate polluters

Environmental groups fighting pollution in China got a big boost when a court imposed the country’s biggest environmental fine from public interest litigation against a corporate polluter. On Tuesday Jiangsu provincial high court ordered six unnamed companies to pay a total of Rmb160m ($26m) for emitting waste chemicals into rivers, according to the state news agency. Xinhua reported that the Taizhou City Environmental Protection Association, a public interest group, had brought the suit against the chemical and pharmaceutical companies. The court ordered the polluters to pay the money into an environmental protection fund within 30 days. Several officials of the companies had been sentenced to prison in a criminal ruling in August. Ma Tianjie, Greenpeace East Asia’s programme director for mainland China, said: “This case sets important precedents for environmental governance in China.” “First, “polluters pay’ is no longer just a principle written on paper, and second, that NGOs […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

EPA Releases New Standards For Coal Ash

ENLARGE A coal ash pond at Duke Energy’s Sutton plant in Wilmington, N.C. Associated Press Electric utilities will probably have to shut down some pools containing waste ash from coal-fired power plants under new rules released by federal regulators Friday. The rules, developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, require power companies to close ponds containing ash slurry if they are structurally unsound or have contaminated groundwater and aren’t lined with materials that prevent leaks. Utilities will have to check for leaks at all ash ponds and clean them up. “This rule is a pragmatic step forward to protect public health, while providing the utility industry the time it needs to implement these new requirements,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said during a conference call with reporters. The first-ever federal coal-ash standards cover about 735 ponds and 310 landfills that contain ash in more than 40 states. Companies found to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

New York bans fracking after health report

ALBANY, NY/NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York state will ban hydraulic fracturing after a long-awaited report concluded that the oil and gas extraction method poses health risks, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration said on Wednesday. New York Environmental Commissioner Joseph Martens said at a cabinet meeting he will issue an order early next year banning fracking, which has been under a moratorium since 2008. Once that happens, New York will join Vermont as the only states to completely prohibit fracking. The decision ends what has been a fierce debate in New York over the benefits and pitfalls of fracking, a process that involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into a well to extract oil or gas. Many in the state saw gas drilling as a key economic resource while others argued it was too dangerous. The state’s health commissioner, Howard Zucker, said there is not enough scientific information to conclude […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

New York fracking ban reverberates nationally

NEW YORK — The news took even the most seasoned environmental activists by surprise: after years of review,  Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday  that New York State would ban hydraulic fracturing. “I can barely contain myself,” said Nadia Steinzor, the eastern coordinator for national non-profit Earthworks. “Even though Cuomo recently said he was going to make a clear decision, we were not expecting something as exciting and straightforward as this.” New York State’s decision comes two years after the state’s Department of Health initiated a review of the possible health impacts of hydraulic fracturing, a process in which thousands of gallons of water is mixed with chemicals and sand and pumped deep into the earth to break up gas-rich shale rock formations. The process has been approved in dozens of states across the U.S. and has often been touted by supporters as an economic boon to struggling regions, including next […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Bush School Student Study: Hydraulic Fracking In Texas Could Intensify Water Shortages

A new economic and policy analysis concludes that the hydraulic fracturing (HF) or “fracking” being done in Texas is adding to the state’s overuse of its water resources, but is only part of the state’s water problem. Related Links COLLEGE STATION – A new economic and policy analysis concludes that the hydraulic fracturing (HF) or “fracking” being done in Texas is adding to the state’s overuse of its water resources, but is only part of the state’s water problem. A recent study conducted by students at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University has been summarized in “The Takeaway,” published by the school’s Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy. HF is a drilling process which uses a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to create small fractures which creates paths that allow oil and gas to be produced from reservoir formations at […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Obama Blocks Oil and Natural Gas Drilling in Alaska’s Bristol Bay

ENLARGE Sockeye salmon are seen in Alaska’s Bristol Bay—which provides 40% of the nation’s wild-caught seafood—in an undated handout picture from the EPA. Reuters WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama announced Tuesday he is indefinitely blocking oil and natural gas drilling in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, a move that drew cheers from wildlife groups and muted reaction from oil and gas proponents. In a video message posted online , Mr. Obama cited the environmental and economic benefits of Bristol Bay’s natural habitat, including how it provides 40% of the nation’s wild-caught seafood, as reasons why drilling shouldn’t be allowed. “It’s something that’s too precious for us just to be putting out to the highest bidder,” Mr. Obama said. The announcement comes just weeks before the administration intends to release its draft plan for what federal waters it proposes to open up to energy development. Tuesday’s announcement is relatively noncontroversial. There is no oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Yemen’s Looming Water Crisis

Summary Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of an occasional series on water scarcity issues around the world that Stratfor will be building upon periodically. For all that is said about water scarcity, the term is somewhat misused. Oftentimes, water becomes more difficult to access or becomes more expensive; on a countrywide scale, it remains available in most cases. But some countries are actually running out of water. Yemen is one such country. A strong central government can find solutions and adapt to slow the decline of resources. But because Yemen’s weak central government cannot ensure domestic instability, the country shows little potential of being able to resolve or even mitigate its water scarcity problems in the near term, leading hydrologists to predict that it could run out of water within the decade. While there are several countries that withdraw more water than is available, their situations are […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple