Category Archives: Fracking Information

One myth about oil and gas drilling is that it creates riches in a community in the form of increased property values. “With all the new jobs,” the industry says, “buyers will be falling all over themselves to buy your … Continue reading →

Posted on April 2, 2014 by davidjkatz | 13 Comments

A personal story: Christine Pepper, Bradford County, Pennsylvania (with Daily Show clip)

Posted on April 1, 2014 by davidjkatz

“If they took care of the landowners and the local people you’d be so much further ahead, but they won’t. And that’s what pissed me off.” -Cory Pepper, Bradford Township, Pennsylvania Telling personal stories Today we have a slightly different … Continue reading →

Posted in Fracking Information, Personal stories | Tagged Bradford County Pennsylvania, Christine Pepper, gas migration, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, personal stories, The Daily Show, Triple Divide, water contamination, well blowout | 3 Comments

What does Australia know that Montana doesn’t?

Posted on March 31, 2014 by davidjkatz

Sometimes it’s useful to look at business practices in other countries to see clear examples of how oil and gas policies in the US disempower property owners.. In Montana and throughout most of the West, most estates are split: surface rights … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History, Fracking Information | Tagged Australia, insurace, loans, Mineral rights, Montana, oil and gas drilling, property value, split estate, surface use agreements | 2 Comments

The four ways hydraulic fracturing contaminates water

Posted on March 27, 2014 by davidjkatz

For over a decade, oil and gas executives and the policy makers who support them have repeated a single bold claim: there has never been a single documented case where fracking contaminated groundwater. Well, if you repeat a lie often enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Fracking Information | Tagged aquifers, Fracking, hydraulic fracturing, methane, shale gas drilling, wastewater, water contamination | 4 Comments

Announcing the first Rex Tillerson Fracking Hypocrite Award

Posted on March 14, 2014 by davidjkatz

The Rex Tillerson Fracking Hypocrite Award We here at Preserve the Beartooth Front are pleased to announce the first recipient of the Rex Tillerson Fracking Hypocrite Award. The Award is a 160-foot water tower, engraved with Rex Tillerson’s photo, delivered … Continue reading →

Posted in Fracking Information | Tagged Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake Oil, gouging, Mineral rights, monopoly, oil pipelines, Pennsylvania, Rex Tillerson Fracking Hypocrite Award, royalties, surface use agreement | 6 Comments

Pavillion, Wyoming: politics trumps science, citizens suffer

Posted on March 13, 2014 by davidjkatz

The town of Pavillion, Wyoming is in many ways unremarkable. It sits southeast of Yellowstone Park, just 200 miles due south of Red Lodge. The 2010 census puts its population at 231 in 95 households. But Pavillion sits at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History, Fracking Information | Tagged Environmental Protection Agency, John Fenton, Pavillion, water contamination, Wyoming | 12 Comments

More on federal loopholes: how the Clean Air Act enables polluters in Wyoming (audio)

Posted on March 12, 2014 by davidjkatz

On Monday we looked at how successful the oil and gas industry has been in obtaining exemptions from major federal environmental legislation. This has real consequences for local communities, and from time to time we’re going to look at specific … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History, Fracking Information | Tagged audio, Clean Air Act, Deb Thomas, federal law, John Fenton, oil and gas exemption, Pavillion, Wyoming, Wyoming Public Radio | 3 Comments

Oil and Gas Industry exempted from most major environmental legislation

Posted on March 10, 2014 by davidjkatz

From the 1960s to the 1990s the United States had a national conversation about how, as we expanded in population and industrialization, we would make sure that our natural resources were protected. This resulted in a series of landmark laws, … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History, Fracking Information | Tagged Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Compensation and Liability Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, Environmental legislation, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Superfund, Toxic Release Inventory | 16 Comments

Update: Railway safety

Posted on March 7, 2014 by davidjkatz

In previous posts we’ve looked at the tremendous increase in railway traffic involving crude oil over the last five years, the outmoded nature of tank car stock and the particular vulnerability of Columbus to increased railway traffic related to increased … Continue reading →

Posted in Bakken, Community Organization, Politics and History, Fracking Information | Tagged Association of American Railroads, Bakken, breaking systems, community relations, crude oil classification, Department of Transportation, Eagle Ford, emergency response training, increased track inspections, lower speeds, Marcellus, railway safety, safety technology, tank car standards | 3 Comments

ECA Pennsylvania violations just the tip of the iceberg

Posted on March 3, 2014 by davidjkatz

You’ve read about Energy Corporation of America well violations in Pennsylvania. An analysis of data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection shows that, since 2005, they’ve had 66 inspections with violations, 90 separate violations, and 55 enforcement actions, with fines … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Organization, Politics and History, Fracking Information | Tagged Earthworks Action, Energy Corporation of America, Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, violations, well inspections | 11 Comments