WATER,
PROPERTY RIGHTS,
AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN IDAHO
Development’s Risks vs. Rewards
C.A.I.A. IS A NON-PARTISAN IDAHO NON-PROFIT DEDICATED TO REPRESENTING AND EDUCATING THE PUBLIC AND PARTICIPATING IN PUBLIC PROCESSES TO PROMOTE THE PRESERVATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS, PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY AND CRITICAL RESOURCES
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1 week 1 day ago
"The grand jury concluded the DEP’s responses to such problems amounted to sending the message: 'Leave fracking alone.' “Sadly, too many DEP employees listened,” [A.G.] Shapiro said. And the agency’s leadership, he said, is 'too cozy' with the industry. ...The grand jury report also criticized the Department of Health as being 'unable to meet the challenge' of understanding how the chemical-intensive process of fracking could affect human health [and] ...outlines political pressure at the agency to allow gas drilling to proceed." stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2020/06/25/pa-grand-jury-report-on-fracking-dep-failed-to-protect-peoples-health/
Pa. grand jury report on fracking: DEP failed to protect public health | StateImpact Pennsylvania
“Regulators were supposed to prevent abuse by big corporations, and level the playing field,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “But they didn’t.”
3 weeks 5 days ago
"...From 1998 to 2011, the results show that women who lived near wells in the first and second trimesters were 8-14% more likely to experience a spontaneous preterm birth - one that would otherwise be unexplained - at 20-31 weeks. Spontaneous preterm birth, in which a pregnancy ends before 37 weeks of gestation, is the leading cause of infant death in the U.S." -- NOTE no differentiation between fracked or conventional wells, just in active stages ("most wells in California are drilled using conventional methods"). www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200609161940.htm
Living near oil and gas wells may increase preterm birth risk
New research shows living near oil and gas development in California is a risk factor for preterm birth, the leading cause of infant death in the United States. About 2.1 million Californians live within one mile of an active oil or gas well.
1 month 2 weeks ago
"As it headed toward bankruptcy, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. took advantage of a little-noticed provision in the stimulus bill Congress passed in March to get a $9.7 million tax refund. Then, it asked a bankruptcy judge to authorize the same amount as BONUSES TO 9 EXECUTIVES. ...Dozens of oil companies & contractors [are] now claiming hundreds of millions of $$ in tax rebates... employing a provision of the $2.2 trillion stimulus law, called the CARES act, that gives them more latitude to deduct recent losses." www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-15/-stealth-bailout-shovels-millions-of-dollars-to-oil-companies?sref=mrm8kJge
‘Stealth Bailout’ Shovels Millions of Dollars to Oil Companies
As it headed toward bankruptcy, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. took advantage of a little-noticed provision in the stimulus bill Congress passed in March to get a $9.7 million tax refund. Then, it asked a bankruptcy judge to authorize the same amount as bonuses to nine executives.
4 2 3
“This is a stealth bailout for the oil and gas industry,” said Jesse Coleman, a senior researcher with Documented, a watchdog group tracking the tax claims. It’s geared to companies 'that have been losing money over the last few years -- and now they get that money back as a check from the taxpayers. That’s exactly what the oil industry has been doing.'”
1 month 2 weeks ago
2 months 3 days ago
Getting real in the courts, at least in this case: "BLM had issued a 'finding of no significant impact' prior to issuing the leases, but judge Morris said the BLM ignored WildEarth’s claims that the hydraulic fracking would affect groundwater. "Judge Morris said the BLM did a poor job of explaining how cumulative effects of all of the oil and gas leases in the package would affect the environment – something that the Ninth Circuit consistently requires." www.courthousenews.com/judge-reverses-sale-of-montana-oil-and-gas-leases-on-public-lands/
Judge Reverses Sale of Montana Oil and Gas Leases on Public Lands
A federal judge in Montana ruled Friday that the Bureau of Land Management failed to fulfill its National Environmental Policy Act requirements when it issued 287 oil and gas leases in eastern Montana.
2 months 1 week ago
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3 months 1 week ago
From Farmers Union Canal Stakeholders: Antibiotic resistance spread through treated sewage effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants: it can be a real problem: "Antibiotics are released into sewage systems via human excretions. Since most of them are recalcitrant to conventional biological treatment in urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), there is an increased possibility of transmission to the receiving environment and crops irrigated with treated wastewater, either in the form of the parent compounds or transformation products. WWTPs are hubs for the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and transmission of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and other mobile genetic elements. However, their potential uptake by treated wastewater-irrigated crops is still largely unexplored. ... "Our work led to various interesting findings including the fact that exogenous bacteria thriving in wastewater can reside in soil for a long time,” emphasises project coordinator Despo Fatta-Kassinos of the University of Cyprus. “Specific mobile ARGs are strongly…
3 months 3 weeks ago
"Most shale oil wells drilled in the United States are unprofitable at current oil prices, Rystad Energy has warned. The Norwegian consultancy said... that drilling new wells would be loss-making for more than 100 companies. ...The nature of shale oil wells: ...they are... quick to run out of oil, so drillers need to keep drilling new ones to maintain production. ...'This could turn out to be one of the greatest shocks ever faced by the oil industry, as coronavirus containment measures will add to the headache of producers fighting for market share.'" oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Only-5-Shale-Drillers-Are-Still-Profitable-At-31-Oil.html
Only 5 Shale Drillers Are Still Profitable At $31 Oil | OilPrice.com
Most shale oil wells drilled in the United States are unprofitable at current oil prices, and only five shale operators can still drill at $31 WTI
2 - 1 week 1 day ago