Author Archives: davidjkatz

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About davidjkatz

The Moses family has lived on the Stillwater River since 1974, when George and Lucile Moses retired and moved to the Beehive from the Twin Cities. They’re gone now, but their four daughters (pictured at left, on the Beehive) and their families continue to spend time there, and have grown to love the area. This blog started as an email chain to keep the family informed about the threat of increased fracking activity in the area, but the desire to inform and get involved led to the creation of this blog.

The state of Montana provides insufficient regulatory support for water testing. See for yourself.

Posted on July 8, 2014 by davidjkatz

We have discussed water testing at length on this blog. It is a critical component for communities in preparing for oil and gas drilling. Simply put, if you don’t do baseline testing — testing the state of your water before … Continue reading →

Posted in Fracking Information | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

An Independence Day dilemma: What would you do if a drilling company offered you $50,000 in cash right now?

Posted on July 4, 2014 by davidjkatz

It’s what the Founders demanded 238 years ago. It’s why they set up governments, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, not from the consent of the oil and gas companies. Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization | Leave a comment

A personal story: Terry Greenwood, Daisytown, Pennsylvania

Posted on July 3, 2014 by davidjkatz

My drinking water went bad in January 2008. It looked like iced tea. When I called the company, they said, “Don’t drink it.” Telling personal stories The oil and gas boom has been underway for a number of years in … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal stories | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

I get criticism on this blog from proponents of oil and gas drilling when I write about incidents of spills and health problems related to oil and gas drilling from five or ten years ago. They contend that new technology … Continue reading →

Posted on July 2, 2014 by davidjkatz | 1 Comment

For those of you who have been following this blog for awhile, we’ve got an important update to a story we’ve been following. We’ve told the personal story of Helen Slottje, the New York attorney who has dedicated her life … Continue reading →

Posted on July 1, 2014 by davidjkatz | 4 Comments

I’ve been occupied with working on the video this week, so haven’t been able to post. Here’s an update: Funding: We have exceeded our goal of $8,000, with $8,215 raised so far. There is still time to contribute — additional … Continue reading →

Posted on June 25, 2014 by davidjkatz | 5 Comments

Take a Walk on a Leaky Uintah Basin Oil Well With a Whistleblowing Oil and Gas CEO

Posted on June 23, 2014 by davidjkatz
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Update: New information on railway safety (with video)

Posted on June 20, 2014 by davidjkatz

Today we have an update from previous posts on railway safety issues associated with oil transport, and have a look at new information on trends in this area. On June 18 the web site Politico provided an analysis of federal … Continue reading →

Posted in Bakken, Fracking Information | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A new documentary glorifies a historic and endangered way of life in Stillwater County

Posted on June 19, 2014 by davidjkatz

A friend sent along something this week that really brought home to me how disturbing it is to imagine uncontrolled oil drilling along the Beartooth Front. Regular readers will recall discussions we’ve had about the lease of BLM minerals in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

A personal story: Peter von Tiesenhausen, Demmitt, Alberta

Posted on June 18, 2014 by davidjkatz

 “I’m not trying to get money for my land, I’m just trying to relate to these companies on their level. Once I started charging $500 an hour for oil companies to come talk to me, the meetings got shorter and … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal stories | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments