Author Archives: davidjkatz

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.

A personal story: Helen Slottje, Ithaca, NY (with video)

Posted on May 6, 2014 by davidjkatz

“She changed the paradigm of human interaction with the oil and gas industry. As citizens we have the right to say no.” Telling personal storiesThe oil and gas boom has been underway for a number of years in many locations … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal stories | Tagged Finger Lakes, grassroots, Helen Slottje, home rule, Ithaca, moratorium, New York, personal stories | 5 Comments

Update: NPR on the personal story of Bob and Lisa Parr (audio)

Posted on May 5, 2014 by davidjkatz

Today we have an update from NPR on last week’s personal story of Bob and Lisa Parr, who last week were awarded a judgment of $2.9 million against Aruba Petroleum for creating a nuisance on their property. If you are receiving … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal stories, Shared Letters and Posts | Tagged Aruba Petroleum, Bob and Lisa Parr, Lawsuit | Leave a comment

If you’re reading this blog, you probably follow environmental issues and see a lot of articles, videos and information every day: emails from friends, links on social media sites, alerts from various news sources. I always find it interesting to … Continue reading →

Posted on May 1, 2014 by davidjkatz | 8 Comments

An open letter from Lou Allstadt to Rex Tillerson

Posted on April 30, 2014 by davidjkatz

From time to time this blog reposts articles and letters that are relevant to our topic. Rex Tillerson: an icon of hypocrisy Today we have a powerful open letter from Louis Allstadt to Preserve the Beartooth Front icon Rex Tillerson. … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Letters and Posts | Tagged Exxon, Fracking, global warming, greenhouse gas effects, local zoning, Louis Allstadt, methane, Mobil, Rex Tillerson, water contamination | 2 Comments

A personal story: Bob and Lisa Parr, Wise County, Texas

Posted on April 29, 2014 by davidjkatz

Telling personal stories The oil and gas boom has been underway for a number of years in many locations across North America, and there are now a lot of stories about individuals and families whose lives have been personally affected. … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal stories | Tagged Aruba Petroleum, Bob and Lisa Parr, ECA, Lawsuit, neurotoxins, personal stories, private nuisance, property value, TCEQ, Texas, violations, Wise County | 15 Comments

When we look at the impacts of the oil boom on environment and health, it is important to note that the rise of fracking technology is a relatively recent phenomenon. The Bakken boom that so dominates the news today was … Continue reading →

Posted on April 28, 2014 by davidjkatz | 4 Comments

Billings Gazette Guest Opinion: Mary E Fitzpatrick

Posted on April 27, 2014 by davidjkatz

Good neighbor agreements take 2 sides Reprinted from the April 27, 2014 edition of the Billings Gazette by Mary E Fitzpatrick Thanks, Gazette editorial board (Getting along with Beartooth neighbors, April 3), for highlighting a solution that could resolve community … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Letters and Posts | Tagged Beartooth Front, Cottonwood Resource Council, ECA, Energy Corporation of America, Good Neighbor Agreement, Mary E Fitzpatrick, Northern Plains Resource Council, Stillwater Mine, Stillwater Protective Assocation | 1 Comment

Billings Gazette Letter to the Editor: Pete Dronkers

Posted on April 25, 2014 by davidjkatz

The following letter to the editor appeared in the Billings Gazette on April 18. As the letter makes clear, ECA is just another company out to exploit oil reserves without concern for the impact they have on the local community. … Continue reading →

Posted in Shared Letters and Posts | Tagged baseline testing, Belfry, Billings Gazette, ECA, ECA safety record, Letter to the Editor, Pennsylvania, Pete Dronkers, violations, water contamination, West Virginia | Leave a comment

Involuntary pooling: another way oil and gas companies take away your property rights

Posted on April 24, 2014 by davidjkatz

One of the consistent themes on this blog has been the ways in which uncontrolled oil and gas drilling takes away the rights of property owners. It threatens water supplies, creates noise, traffic and dust for which owners receive no compensation; … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History | Tagged Austin Knudsen, compulsory utilization, Dave Galt, forced pooling, involuntary pooling, Mineral rights, Montana Board of Oil and Gas, Montana Code 82-11-202, Montana Petroleum Association, non-consenting owner, O'Toole Law Firm, pooling order, spacing unit, surface rights | 3 Comments

Guest post: Lessons learned from oil and gas drilling in Pennsylvania

Posted on April 23, 2014 by davidjkatz

One of the great things about writing this blog has been the opportunity to meet people from all over the US and beyond who are engaged in the same battle to preserve a way of life from uncontrolled oil and … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History, Shared Letters and Posts | Tagged Lessons learned, Marcellus Shale, Pennsylvania, Ralph Kisberg, Responsible Drilling Alliance | 4 Comments