Budget show: cheap chills

Editorial

The New Mexican
Posted: Friday, October 30, 2009 - 10/3

"By comparison, the cuts being considered by Secretary Joanna Prukop of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department sound benign — but they're not:

The highly professional Prukop went, service by service, through her domain, figuring out which job vacancies she could least afford to hold open. Many were in law-enforcement at our state parks — a chilling prospect, which might include closed parks.

Besides considering furloughs for scores of employees, she's taking a hard look at 11 job vacancies in the environmentally crucial oil-conservation office. That could mean a two-thirds reduction in field inspections; intervals during which lots of groundwater lies at risk.

Felizmente, Prukop has listed other budget-cutting possibilities that are at least a little less dire.

It's the same scene around state government — which, for all the criticism it gets, performs vast amounts of service" More>>>>

Secretary Prukop Plans for State Park Closures, Reduce Services Due to Budget Cuts

See newsflash at Common Ground United>>>> for complete news release.

Excerpts:

'“A 7.6 percent budget decrease on top of the 5 percent decrease the Legislature already imposed on our department forces a reduction in services across the board for all divisions,” stated Secretary Prukop. “The cuts will have a dramatic impact on this agency’s ability to serve the citizens of New Mexico and to ensure the protection of the environment.”'...

..."The Oil Conservation Division currently has 11 vacancies, out of 68 total positions statewide and may have to furlough employees one day each pay period. Among other impacts, this will cause a 66 percent reduction in the number of field inspections at oil and gas facilities, which places the environment and groundwater at risk."....

..."Oil Conservation

11 job vacancies

All employees furloughed one day per pay period

Delays in processing all new applications to drill for oil and gas

Forced well shut-ins until paperwork is processed

Reduced operator assistance for research or reporting issues

66 percent reduction in routine field inspections, placing environment and groundwater at risk

Reduced inspections for Water Quality Control Discharge permitted facilities

Potential loss of federal grant that protects underground drinking water due to lack of matching funds."...More>>>>

Plan to Drill on Colorado Plateau Meets Resistance

The New York Times

Sean Patrick Farrell/The New York Times

"A drilling rig stands amid the foothills of the Roan Plateau. Opponents of gas drilling say enough of the area has already been exploited."

Published: October 29, 2009

"RIFLE, Colo. — Standing in a canyon in hilly terrain, Ken Neubecker cast his fly into a cold stream. Minutes later he had a bite. Thrashing at the end of his line was a speckled green fish, a scarce Colorado cutthroat trout.

Ken Neubecker, president of the Colorado chapter of Trout Unlimited, hopes to preserve the dwindling number of wild spaces.

Mr. Neubecker was fishing on the Roan Plateau, a high stretch of terrain beloved by hunters, anglers and hikers for its clear streams, herds of deer and elk, and rugged beauty.

“There just aren’t many places like this in the West,” Mr. Neubecker said. “It’s a real gem.”

Energy companies are looking at the Roan Plateau, too — through entirely different eyes. Vast deposits of natural gas are believed to lie beneath the stretch on which Mr. Neubecker was fishing, and the companies want to drill.

“What is really special about the Roan Plateau, these lands in particular, is the incredible energy density beneath it,” said Duane Zavadil, vice president of the Bill Barrett Corporation, a Denver energy company that holds drilling rights to the Roan.

The company’s plans are at the center of a battle over the future of the plateau, one that could influence the fate of thousands of acres in the high country known as the intermountain West.

A last-minute leasing push by the Bush administration put extensive federal lands in Utah and Colorado into the hands of oil and gas companies, including 36,000 acres of the Roan Plateau. The Obama administration has inherited the touchy question of what to do with those leases.

As one of his first decisions, Ken Salazar, the Coloradan who is President Obama’s interior secretary, scrapped a series of disputed leases in Utah. Last week, he announced that he would seek an investigation into other leases that granted favorable terms and low royalty rates for experimental projects to extract oil from shale." More (with video)>>>>

See New York fight:

Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

Fight Over Shale Gas Drilling Not Over

The New York Times

October 30, 2009, 8:03 am

By Jad Mouawad

"Two days ago, my colleague Clifford Krauss and I wrote about Chesapeake Energy’s decision not to drill in the New York watershed — the environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.

The announcement was greeted with a sigh of relief from local politicians and environmental groups, who feared the impact of industrial drilling on New York’s drinking water.

“It has become increasingly clear to us over the past few months that the concern for drilling in the watershed has become a needless distraction,” Chesapeake said in a statement after our story ran.

The fight, however, is not over.

Many groups quickly pointed out that the company’s pledge does not lift the risk of future drilling in the watershed. Some groups suggested that Chesapeake should transfer its leases to the City of New York and are calling for the state to issue an outright ban to drilling in the watershed.

“That way, we can make sure this protection is permanent,” Deborah Goldberg, from Earthjustice, said in a statement. “Otherwise, these leases could be sold to other drilling companies that won’t keep the promise.”

The debate has also shifted to the state’s proposed new regulations for the development of natural gas from a geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which runs from New York to Tennessee. The New York watershed only covers 4 percent of the state. That leaves plenty of room for drilling elsewhere.

Last month, the state’s environmental agency issued its proposed guidelines for the new technology used to extract gas from the shale rock, called hydraulic fracturing." More>>>>

See related post:

Gas Company Won’t Drill in New York City’s Watershed

Tap Water Burning

Who says water can't burn? Check out the below referenced video by Josh Fox, "LIFE IN THE RED ZONE: Flammable Water in Fort Lupton, Colorado."

"Viral vids done right marry deeper meaning to spectacles like this."

By Allison Martell, Yesterday, TheTyee.ca

"Partway through this clip, a Colorado man lights his tap water on fire. The source of his water's unusual behaviour is apparently a natural gas leak, which has contaminated the local aquifer.

These days, a spectacle invites viral video. The Internet has an insatiable appetite for the shiny, rare or surprising, and fire rates pretty high on all three scales. Flammable water, then, is a ready-made viral video hit. If this clip hasn't spread like wildfire yet, it may be because burning water has gone viral before. Last March, a story about flammable water in Colorado hit Boing Boing, though without accompanying video.

But when the web is at its best, it marries spectacle with meaning. In this case, the burning water will be part of a documentary about the impact of natural gas drilling on drinking water, Water Under Attack. It's a great example of the ways that viral video and conventional documentary filmmaking can complement each other.

Filmmaker Josh Fox has been posting regular dispatches on Vimeo for a year, but started collecting them on the documentary's website last April. He actually posted a shorter version of the flaming water video five months ago, but this newer clip provides much more context." More>>>>

Apocalypse Soon

Santa Fe Reporter

Today’s environmental horrors could lead to a scary Sci-Fi future

By: Laura Paskus 10/28/2009

..."3. Oil is thicker than water

Dystopia: Scrambling to shore up traditional industries during an economic panic, regulators delay or overturn environmental protections meant to protect water supplies. In the future, inhabitants of the area find they are unable to find clean sources of water for drinking or agricultural uses.

Remember how surprised those astronauts in Planet of the Apes were to find the Statue of Liberty on the shores of that unknown planet? Just imagine how upset and confused future migrants through New Mexico are going to be when they find drill rig after drill rig—and as they walk for days from water source to water source, seeking water that sickens even the stoutest of men.

Reality: In the past, oil and gas developers were allowed to leave or bury wastewater—brackish water brought from deep beneath the surface that was also contaminated with chemicals or oil and gas residues—on-site, according to Bruce Frederick, an attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center.

Between the mid-1980s and 2003, the New Mexico Environment Department recorded nearly 7,000 cases of waste pits causing soil and water contamination and, in 2005, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division documented almost 400 incidents of groundwater contamination from oil and gas pits.

Then last May, after weeks of hearings and expert testimony, New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Commission signed a new rule changing the way developers handle waste water from oil and gas wells.

In a victory for landowners and environmentalists, the state had decided, Frederick says, the practice should end unless the waste met some pretty stringent standards, including that the waste’s chloride load not exceed 250 milligrams per liter.

Industry protested having to haul pit waste to disposal areas where it would be regulated and monitored, preferring instead to bury it on-site.

After meeting with oil and gas industry representatives, Richardson directed the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to work with them and modify provisions of the rule.

At that point, the chloride standard was relaxed from 250 to 3,000 milligrams per liter—that’s 12 times what the state had previously determined safe.

Frederick also points out that while the state will require drillers to line waste pits, that doesn’t guarantee protections.

“We know all liners leak after a time, and the model predicts that given certain optimal conditions, we won’t have groundwater contamination for 2,000 years,” he says. “That assumes perfect installation in these hundreds of pits, but there is no inspection and no monitoring.”' More>>>>

Gas Company Won’t Drill in New York City’s Watershed

You just have to love New York:

The New York Times

By JAD MOUAWAD and CLIFFORD KRAUSS Published: October 27, 2009

"Bowing to intense public pressure, the Chesapeake Energy Corporation says it will not drill for natural gas within the upstate New York watershed, an environmentally sensitive region that supplies unfiltered water to nine million people.

The reversal seems to signal a more conciliatory tone from the gas industry, which is facing mounting opposition in New York to its drilling practices. The decision also increases the pressure on state regulators to reverse their decision to allow drilling within the watershed.

“We are not going to develop those leases, and we are not taking any more leases, and I don’t think anybody else in the industry would dare to acquire leases in the New York City watershed,” Aubrey K. McClendon, the chief executive officer at Chesapeake Energy, said in an interview on Monday in Fort Worth. “Why go through the brain damage of that, when we have so many other opportunities?”' More>>>>

Santa Fe (Oil and Gas) Opera Pork to be Frozen?

While the New Mexico legislature found it fit to cut budgets disproportionately (7.6% from the Oil Conservation Division), it appears that the Santa Fe Opera will find its pork barrel project frozen:

"One local project on the list that definitely won't be funded is a proposed open-air rehearsal hall for the Santa Fe Opera. In recent years, the Legislature appropriated more than $1.2 million for that project. But in January, when the state began dealing with its budget crunch, a measure that would have authorized a land transfer between the opera and the state failed to pass the Legislature. The House, in a close vote, passed the legislation, but it died in the Senate — and the state still has the money allocated.

"We're not going to build a state-funded rehearsal hall," said opera spokeswoman Joyce Idema on Monday " -- Santa Fe New Mexican.

The $1.2 Million dollar question still remains: How will the Santa Fe Opera deal with its mineral lease for wildcat oil and gas exploration in the Las Vegas Basin of Mora and San Miguel Counties?

For more information, see related posts:

The Oil Conservation Division (OCD) on the Chopping Block for 7.6% Budget Cut

Fuzzy Math? Fact-Checking One Budget Proposal

Senators want winter drilling in Carson forest

Possible drilling enrages some

For more articles about the Santa Fe Opera oil and gas lease, type in "Santa Fe Opera" in the search tab in the top left hand corner of the Drilling Santa Fe blog (with magnifying glass icon).

Also, see the below post at the Roundhouse Roundup blog:

A Farewell to Pork?

The Gathering Line

Gathering Line - a special pipeline that transports gas from the field to the main pipeline.

The Gathering Line is a round-up of oil & gas drilling news brought to you by National Alliance for Drilling Reform (NA4DR), a broad alliance of grassroots activists from states across the nation that are affected with drilling development.

WWJD on Carter Avenue? TXsharon wants to know if Chesapeake Energy or anyone in Fort Worth government has stopped to consider the answer to that question. Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Some upstate NY landowners are wondering whether they can sell their property if it has a gas lease. Check out the Marcellus Effect for a short review and a link to interviews with realtors.

NEWS FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Laceyville, PA, Getting Nearly $100,000 in Gas Revenues: Is This Good News? Peacegirl at Gas Wells Are Not Our Friends combs the newspapers of Bradford and Susquehanna Counties in Pennsylvania and talks with local people from these areas to find out what is really happening. This week the focus is on Laceyville, Wyoming County, PA. Will the people of Laceyville survive the invasion of the gas industry?

How Many Natural Gas Explosions Does It Take?!! One Too Many! Read it at Cheap Tricks and Costly Truths.

For the first time in decades, New Mexico Senators sacrificed migrating big game with their vote to allow drilling during the winter in the Jicarilla Ranger District of the Carson National Forest. Drilling Santa Fe asks if we have forgotten the high price of deregulation and offers something for consideration.

The Oil Conservation Division (OCD) on the Chopping Block for 7.6% Budget Cut

The OCD could loose 7.6% of its budget after the latest legislative session. Want to let the Governor know what you think? Then, see press release below:

~~~

For Immediate Release Contact: Caitlin Kelleher

October 26, 2009 505-476-2299

Governor Bill Richardson to Hold Office Hours on Tuesday

The Governor is Seeking Public Input on Legislative Budget Cuts

SANTA FE - Governor Bill Richardson will hold office hours on, Tuesday, October 26, 2009
to hear from New Mexico residents about the budget bills that were passed last week by the Legislature. The Governor has until November 12 to sign, veto or partially veto the budget bills.

While the Legislature made minimal cuts to education, legislators targeted state agencies under the control of the Governor for the most drastic cuts. That means critical services will be cut.

The Governor will grant five minute meetings to New Mexicans who would like to discuss the budget cuts. Meetings will be held on a first-come, first-served basis from 2:00pm to 5:00pm
in the Governor’s Office at the State Capitol in Santa Fe.

Those seeking time with Governor Richardson must present a valid New Mexico driver’s license. If an organization wants time with the Governor, he will meet with a representative or a group of representatives at one time.

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it New Mexicans that cannot make the scheduled office hours on Tuesday may also contact the Governor’s Office with their thoughts about the budget bills by email: Special.session@state.nm.us or by phone: 505-476-2210.

See related posts:

Fuzzy Math? Fact-Checking One Budget Proposal

Senators want winter drilling in Carson forest

Fuzzy Math? Fact-Checking One Budget Proposal

SFReeper.com

By Alexa on October 23rd, 2009

"This just in from the Capitol: Sen. Rod Adair’s proposal to amend the House budget adjustment bill by slashing last year’s “pit rules,” which strengthened requirements for waste disposal by oil and gas producers, failed. Adair claims the amendment would’ve brought an extra $140 million into state coffers. From the press release:

“We are down 14% in natural gas production alone because of these pit rules….It is not the price or the economy. We are driving [oil and gas producers] out of business."...

...“He’s making it up,” Frederick told SFR on Friday. “I’d love to have a real hearing where people present real evidence and there’s an opportunity to cross-examine them and submit rebuttal evidence, but we didn’t get to do that in the amendment hearing.”' More>>>>

See related post:

Senators want winter drilling in Carson forest

Is Deregulation the Holy Grail for Capitalism?

{Frontline photo: Alan Greenspan, Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin}

Do you think that deregulation is the Holy Grail for capitalism? Do you think that deregulation equates to "free markets"? Have you noticed that an industry advocate will promote "free markets" and "deregulation" while supporting industry subsidies and tax breaks? Have you thought of deregulation as a defacto subsidy?

Whatever your opinon about deregulation, whether it be about the financial or oil and gas or other industries, you might want to consider the PBS piece by Frontline, "The Warning":

"In the midst of the 1990s bull market, one lone regulator warned about derivatives' dangers -- and overnight became the enemy of some of the most powerful people in Washington..."

The messenger was Booksley Born.

Link to "The Warning>>>>"

Exxon Executive Stomped in Dispute Over $15 Billion Gas Project

By Joe Carroll

"Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- An Exxon Mobil Corp. executive overseeing the company’s $15 billion liquefied-natural-gas project in Papua New Guinea was beaten and stomped by a mob of 50 people in a dispute over landowner contracts." More>>>>

And Tecton thought the citizens of Santa Fe County were difficult...

Senators want winter drilling in Carson forest

The New Mexican
Friday, October 23, 2009 -

"New Mexico senators want the Carson National Forest to let natural gas and oil drilling continue through the winter on the Jicarilla Ranger District, something that hasn't occurred for decades.

The Jicarilla Ranger District is closed to drilling in the winter to protect migrating big game, according to the Forest Service.

The New Mexico Senate on Wednesday night passed a memorial, voting 27-11 in favor of asking the Forest Service to allow drilling through the winter. Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, sponsored the bill, saying continued drilling would help an industry hit hard by the recession and low gas prices." More>>>>

Maybe the New Mexico Senate would instead pass a memorial for "Hug your local driller day"?

After the failure of Lehman Brothers signaled the looming economic crisis, which we are in the midst of and fostered by deregulation, the solution is more deregulation?

And what about the price of gas at the pump? Oil closed the week around $80 a barrel. Look for higher prices at the pump soon. Then industry will call for more deregulation due to higher prices.
-

Pennsylvania fines Cabot over drilling spills

Reuter's

Thu Oct 22, 2009 5:54pm EDT

By Jon Hurdle

"PHILADELPHIA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Pennsylvania has fined Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG.N) for three spills of a fluid used in natural gas drilling, amid concern about groundwater contamination, state regulators said on Thursday.

Cabot spilled about 8,000 gallons of LGC-35, a lubricant, in the rural community of Dimock, Susquehanna County, on Sept. 16 and 22. Natural gas drillers use the chemical in a technique called hydraulic fracturing to obtain gas trapped in rock formations.

The state's Department of Environmental Protection fined Cabot $56,650 and ordered the company to stop fracturing until it cleaned the spills and submitted an updated pollution control plan. The ban was lifted on Oct. 16.

Anti-drilling activists criticized the fine as too small.

Some residents of Pennsylvania and other U.S. gas-drilling areas oppose hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", claiming chemicals used in the process contaminate ground water, causing sickness and rashes, and forcing users to drink bottled water." More>>>>

Question for Kathy Hall: If fracking fluid is so safe, then why did Cabot get fined?

To put the question in context, please see the following Drilling Santa Fe posts:

Did COGA’s Kathy Hall call it quits over ‘fracking fluid in my mouth’ comment?

Kathy Hall, Colorado Oil And Gas Chief, Resigns Amid Brazen Comments About Fracking Fluid

Greene: Colorado gas industry shill's claim of swigging fracking fluid hard to swallow

Santa Fe County: New Members Needed for Development Review Committee

Email Alert:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Members Needed for Development Review Committee

CDRC Members Make Land Development Recommendations to Board of County Commissioners

Santa Fe – October 22, 2009 – The Santa Fe County Growth Management Department (Planning and Development Services Division) is currently seeking interested members of the public to serve on the County Development Review Committee. Committee Members are responsible for attending monthly public hearings to hear County staff recommendations, project application presentations and testimony from the public, and subsequently make land development-related decisions and recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. Projects heard by these committees range from variance requests to master plans for large subdivisions.

Interested individuals should submit a letter of interest and resume to Jack Kolkmeyer, Land Use Administrator, at 102 Grant Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-0276 or jkolkmey@santafecounty.org on or before December 15, 2009.

# # #

Contact:

Stephen Ulibarri

Public Information Officer

505.986.6353

sulibarri@co.santa-fe.nm.us

KSFR: Film "Split Estate" by Santa Fean hits the tube (Podcast)

Santa Fe (KSFR)

"It's been just about two years since the spectre of oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin area of Santa Fe County galvanized residents into action. In the end, they wound up with a strict new development code designed to regulate oil and gas drilling along with other types of development. And the exploration company that had wanted to drill decided to abandon its claims.

Partially as an outgrowth of that furor, a Santa Fe filmmaker got the idea to make a new film about the question Santa Feans didn't understand at the time, but now are all too familiar with. It's the split estate - the split in ownership in many cases of the surface rights to property and the very probable different ownership of the mineral rights beneath the surface.

In fact, that's the name of Debra Anderson's film which got its premiere a few days ago on the Planet Green cable channel. It will also be shown at the Santa Fe Film Festival. Debra Anderson joins us on the line." Link>>>>

Did COGA’s Kathy Hall call it quits over ‘fracking fluid in my mouth’ comment?

The Colorado Independent
By David O. Williams 10/20/09 11:28 AM

"Kathy Hall, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association Western Slope representative infamously caught on film saying natural-gas drilling chemicals are so benign she’s had them in her mouth, resigned from COGA last week, according to the Denver Post.

In today’s Post, columnist Susan Greene confirmed what the rumor mill has been churning out for the last couple of days – that Hall, a former Republican Mesa County commissioner and chair of the Western Slope lobbying group Club 20, has stepped down from COGA.

In the award-winning documentary “Split Estate” that aired on Discovery Channel’s Planet Green over the weekend, Hall tells filmmakers, “I’ve had fracking fluid taken right out of a truck. I’ve had it in my mouth, I’ve tasted it, and I’m just fine.”

Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, which is the process of injecting water, sand and undisclosed chemicals deep into natural-gas wells to fracture tight rock and sand formations and free up more gas. Conservationists and some politicians want the process regulated by the federal government because they fear chemicals are contaminating groundwater supplies.

Citizen groups in Garfield County aired “Split Estate” for the county commissioners last week in an attempt to get them to sign a resolution supporting the FRAC Act, which would remove a Safe Drinking Water Act exemption granted hydraulic fracturing during the Bush administration in 2005." More>>>>

Related Drilling Santa Fe posts:

Kathy Hall, Colorado Oil And Gas Chief, Resigns Amid Brazen Comments About Fracking Fluid

Greene: Colorado gas industry shill's claim of swigging fracking fluid hard to swallow

Kathy Hall, Colorado Oil And Gas Chief, Resigns Amid Brazen Comments About Fracking Fluid

The Huffington Post

First Posted: 10-20-09 01:43 PM | Updated: 10-20-09 02:50 PM

"A representative of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, Kathy Hall, resigned from the organization last week, reports the Denver Post's Susan Greene. The resignation comes after Hall made some brazen statements in a documentary called "Split Estate" about the environmental impacts of the controversial fracking technique used by oil and gas companies.

In the documentary, Hall claimed to have "had fracking fluid taken right our of a fracking truck.. I've had it in my mouth. I've tasted it, and I'm just fine."

Hall was attempting to disprove allegations that Fracking fluid is highly toxic.

Greene quotes Hall as first denying she had ever said anything regarding having tasted Fracking fluid, then admitting she "may have mentioned 'something about my mouth.'"

"Split Estate" explores the legal situation, prevalent in Colorado, which land-owners do not own the mineral rights to their land.

Congresswoman Diana DeGette Is sponsoring legislation, popularly called the FRAC-act, that would eliminate the exemptions for fracking in the 2005 Safe Drinking Water Act."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/20/colorado-oil-and-gas-chie_n_327476.html

See "Split Estate" trailer at the following post:

Greene: Colorado gas industry shill's claim of swigging fracking fluid hard to swallow

Greene: Colorado gas industry shill's claim of swigging fracking fluid hard to swallow

By Susan Greene
Denver Post Columnist

Posted: 10/20/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

Updated: 10/20/2009 01:07:00 AM MDT

"The gas industry has taken drinking the Kool-Aid to an absurd new level.

A lobbyist with the Colorado Oil and Gas Association appears in a new film defending the safety of the compounds blasted underground to free up wells, a process known as "fracking."

"I have fracking fluid taken right out of a fracking truck. I've had it in my mouth. I've tasted it. And I'm just fine," says Kathy Hall in "Split Estate," a documentary that premiered over the weekend.

Let me start by noting this is Hall's stunt — no one asked if she'd taken a swig — not mine. (I must admit, though, I've spent a good bit of time wondering how much COGA paid for her mouthful of highly toxic industrial fluids.)

"It's nothing you'd want to put in your mouth. That's as foolish as drinking raw sewage — and probably far more dangerous," says Dr. Theo Colborn of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange, a Paonia-based group studying the health effects of drilling.

Most wells in Colorado are injected with fracking fluids. The compounds are known to contain a host of chemicals that can leach into groundwater and interfere with neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory and immune systems, Colborn and others say.

Drilling companies have tightly concealed their ingredients, saying that having to disclose them would force them to reveal trade secrets.

"It is much like asking Coca-Cola to disclose the formula of Coke," one Halliburton executive testified.

Dick Cheney's infamous 2005 Energy Policy Act exempted fracking juices from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the law protecting water supplies. That exemption is known as the "Halliburton Loophole," after the fracking giant the former vice president once headed." More>>>>

See and hear the trailer for the infamous comments (about the two minute mark):

Obama wants safe ways to tap U.S. oil, gas

Reuter's

Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:39pm EDT

"NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he is in favor of finding environmentally safe ways to tap U.S. oil and natural gas reserves and would like to see increased use of nuclear-generated electricity.

"What I think we need to do is increase our domestic energy production," Obama said at a public meeting in New Orleans. "I'm in favor of finding environmentally sound ways to tap our oil and our natural gas."

Obama also spoke about the need to rely more heavily on nuclear energy as the United States looks for ways to reduce greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

"There's no reason why technologically we can't employ nuclear energy in a safe and effective way. Japan does it and France doesn't and it doesn't have greenhouse gas emissions, so it would be stupid for us not to do that in a much more effective way," he said.

Obama said it is essential to develop new sources of clean energy and increase energy efficiency. He vowed to pursue energy legislation once the debate over a U.S. healthcare overhaul is resolved.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by David Alexander)" Link>>>>

Something to keep an eye on...

"Split Estate," Premiering October 17th, planet green

"Split Estate " Premiering Saturday, October 17, 2009

On PLANET GREEN a network of DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

It will repeat the following Thursday, October 22, 2009.

October 17th: 8PM EDT, 7PM CDT, 6PM MDT and 5PM PDT

October 22nd: 11PM EDT, 10PM CDT, 9PM MDT, 8PM PDT

Flyer>>>>

NEW PUBLIC MEETING ADDED TO DISCUSS (SANTA FE) COUNTY LOCATION OF BACK-UP WELLS FOR BUCKMAN PROJECT

From Santa Fe County Email Alert:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW PUBLIC MEETING ADDED TO DISCUSS COUNTY LOCATION OF BACK-UP WELLS FOR BUCKMAN PROJECT

Santa Fe – October 13, 2009 – The Santa Fe County Water and Wastewater Operations Department has added an additional public meeting to facilitate public input on proposed well locations to serve as a back-up water supply to the Buckman Direct Diversion Project - Wednesday October 14 at 6:00 p.m. at the La Cienega Community Center (located at 50-A San Jose, La Cienega).

For more information, call 992.9871.

# # #

Contact:

Stephen Ulibarri

Public Information Officer

505.986.6353

sulibarri@co.santa-fe.nm.us

United Communities of Santa Fe County launches blog

The United Communities of Santa Fe County has begun a blog: http://ucsfc.blogspot.com/

From the UCSFC blog:

"United Communities of Santa Fe County needs YOU!

We are a new organization formed in December 2008 composed of traditional villages, neighborhood associations, homeowner associations, environmental organizations, and acequia and water rights associations that are concerned with quality of life issues within Santa Fe County.

Our Mission Statement is:
“The United Communities of Santa Fe County shall serve as a united voice for the interests and needs of communities and residents in Santa Fe County and be an effective guide and adviser to government agencies to achieve the coordinated and combined goals of our communities.”'

Want to learn more about the Santa Fe County Sustainable Land Use Plan (SLUP), then go to United Communities of Santa Fe County blog>>>>.

UCSFC initial comments on the SLUP>>>>

Art: Santa Fe Opera Criticized For Oil Drilling

"Drilling foes worry that oil and gas wells will pollute water and air, harm wildlife and ruin the quality of life in the agricultural area. They are outraged that an internationally recognized institution like the Santa Fe Opera could potentially profit from oil and gas drilling."…Link>>>>

read full article

Opera Chic: Santa Fe Opera Drill for Young Singers

"Santa Fe Opera joins OPEC:

The Santa Fe Opera had given permission to drill on nearly 27,000 acres in Mora and neighboring San Miguel counties.

Turns out the opera company had been given the mineral rights in 2002 as part of a bequest from a longtime donor. She specified that it be used to support an apprentice program for young singers." Link>>>>

Possible drilling enrages some

Photo by Optic file photo
Bison graze on the rolling hills of the Wind River Ranch near Watrous. The 5,000-acre conservation ranch is in the Las Vegas Basin, the area affected by the Santa Fe Opera's lease.

Las Vegas Optic

By Lee Einer

..."Brian Miller, lead biologist for the Wind River Ranch, which is about five miles north of Lake Isabella, issued an open letter to MacKay, in which he expressed concern about the impact of the lease and the ensuing development on the water and the wildlife of the area.

“Your drilling poses a threat to the mission of the Wind River Ranch Foundation,” Miller wrote. “In my opinion, you acted in an irresponsible manner toward the people and wildlife of San Miguel and Mora County. It is not too late to renegotiate your lease in a manner that would provide as much protection here as you would expect from exploration near to where you live.”

The water is an issue of particular importance. Much of the extraction of natural gas from shale is done by a process of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” for short. The structure of shale is typically one of thin overlying sheets, like pages in a book, with the gas trapped between them.

To release that gas, drilling companies pump a large amount of water combined with sand and chemicals into the gas-bearing layer of rock under extremely high pressure. The pressure fractures the rock, the sand tends to hold the fractures open, and the chemicals aid in releasing the gas from the host rock.

The process, under a provision of the 2005 Energy Policy Act referred to by some as the “Haliburton loophole,” (Vice President Dick Cheney’s company pioneered modern fracking techniques) exempts the process of fracking from EPA supervision under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

One consequence of this is that drilling companies don’t have to disclose what chemicals they are pumping into the ground. But the mixtures used frequently contain highly toxic and cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene, toluene, ethelbenzine and methanol.

Drillers often pump a million gallons or more of the water-sand-chemical slurry into a given site." Article>>>>

See previous post:

Letters to the Santa Fe Opera from Mora and Santa Fe County Residents Regarding the Opera Oil and Gas Lease

Some great citizens letters sent to the Santa Fe Opera (link>>>>)

Dallas revising zoning to regulate gas drilling

Law will restrict gas wells to specifica areas

timesleader.com

By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

"There’s no natural-gas drilling in Dallas (PA), but that’s not stopping the borough from deciding where it will allow drilling.

Read more Natural Gas Leases - Marcellus Shale articles

As part of the revision of its zoning ordinance, Dallas is adding provisions that would restrict sitting gas wells to areas zoned industrial, highway or business. It would also designate distance setbacks from residences, waterways, streets and wetlands.

The proactive stance is putting Dallas at the forefront of what could become a major issue as drilling in the Marcellus Shale increases.

“You’re talking about a very fundamental conflict between the municipal regulation of land use and the ability of landowner to access land rights,” said Stephen Rhoads, the president of the Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association. “You could think of this in terms of taking.”

“Taking” is illegally blocking someone’s access to the point of essentially denying their rights. Eventually, it will find its way to court, Rhoads said, though he wouldn’t speculate on who would win.

At its meeting on Thursday, the borough’s planning commission recommended the borough council vote on the revisions.

“The main point is that we were already going through a revision … so we thought it would be proactive to include something that reflects what’s going on in the Back Mountain these days,” Borough Manager Tracey Carr said.

The ordinance would also require drillers to identify roads they plan to use, pay for an engineer to document the roads’ conditions and be responsible for maintenance and repair.

With a flurry of lease signings lately, gas drilling has become a hot topic in the county. Drillers are flocking to the area to tap the Marcellus Shale, a layer of gas-laden rock about a mile underground that stretches from New York to Virginia. Its huge size – and economic potential – has been known for years, but technology only recently caught up to access it." More>>>>

Poll: Majority troubled by water-rights settlement

Even with survey results, lawmakers unlikely to tweak details of Aamodt legislation

Phaedra Haywood | The New Mexican

10/10/2009 - 10/10/09

"Even though 59 percent of the residents in the Pojoaque Valley have negative feelings about the proposed Aamodt water-rights settlement, according to a Research and Polling survey, policymakers say that probably won't result in any changes to the agreement, which is pending approval by Congress.

"The county believes they can win people over by a greater education process," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman's spokeswoman, Jude McCartin. "Until that is proven otherwise, there is no reason to change course." McCartin said the parties to the settlement agreement — which would resolve a decades-long water dispute between pueblo and nonpueblo residents in the Pojoaque Valley — had already agreed to the terms when the bill arrived on Bingaman's desk.

"He has to rely on the parties to come to an agreed upon settlement," McCartin said. "If they chose to change it, that decision will be made by them."

Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya said he feels the poll reveals that the community needs more information.

"It tells me there has not been a very good education process in explaining the details of the settlement," Montoya said.

But according to the poll, "those who have heard more about the Aamodt settlement tend to have a more negative opinion of it and of the proposed water system."' More>>>>

Drilling lease gets Santa Fe Opera in hot water

By DEBORAH BAKER (AP)

"SANTA FE, N.M. — Residents of pastoral Mora County have been watching records in the county clerk's office ever since the oil and gas industry began eyeing a big swath of land in the area.

What they found on file recently was a stunner: The Santa Fe Opera had given permission to drill on nearly 27,000 acres in Mora and neighboring San Miguel counties.

Turns out the opera company had been given the mineral rights in 2002 as part of a bequest from a longtime donor. She specified that it be used to support an apprentice program for young singers.

Drilling foes worry that oil and gas wells will pollute water and air, harm wildlife and ruin the quality of life in the agricultural area. They are outraged that an internationally recognized institution like the Santa Fe Opera could potentially profit from oil and gas drilling." More>>>>

Also as the story, "Critics make Santa Fe Opera rethink drilling lease."

Apparent Santa Fe Opera Standard Email Response

The same Santa Fe Opera email response is beginning to surface in multiple places regarding the Santa Fe Opera oil and gas lease:

"This message is sent in response to your recent email voicing concern regarding The Santa Fe Opera's lease agreement for mineral rights in Mora and San Miguel counties. We appreciate your comments and recognize the importance of the points you raised. We are taking a careful look at the entire situation in order to better understand the options available to us. I assure you that we will take the opinions of the public very seriously.

Sincerely,
Charles MacKay
General Director"

CONGRESSMAN LUJAN HOLDS OFFICE HOURS IN SANTA FE ON OCT. 12

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONGRESSMAN LUJAN HOLDS OFFICE HOURS IN SANTA FE ON OCT. 12

Santa Fe – October 8, 2009 – On Monday, October 12, Rep. Ben Ray Luján will hold a Congress on Your Corner in Santa Fe to meet with constituents, discuss important issues before Congress, and listen to their concerns. Each Congress on Your Corner has a limited number of time slots. Please contact the appropriate office to schedule a time.

What: Open Office Hours (Contact: Santa Fe District Office, (505) 984-8950
When: Monday, October 12, 2009, 9:00-11:30 am
Where: 811 St. Michael's Dr. Suite 104, Santa Fe, NM 87505

# # #

Contact:

Stephen Ulibarri

Public Information Officer

505.986.6353

sulibarri@co.santa-fe.nm.us