"WASHINGTON – Oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a top scientist's video and slides that she says demonstrate the oil isn't degrading as hoped and has decimated life on parts of the sea floor.
That report is at odds with a recent report by the BP spill compensation czar that said nearly all will be well by 2012." More>>>>
From OGAP:
"Last December 10, Judge Vigil heard industry's appeal of the Pit Rule but ran out of time to hear OGAP’s appeal of Richardson's 2009 Pit Rule rollbacks (specifically his repeal of the chloride standard that allows companies to leave and bury highly toxic drilling and fracking wastes on well sites). That hearing is now scheduled for this Wednesday. The judge may also rule on industry’s appeal on Wednesday.
If you are planning to be in Santa Fe this week, please join us at the courthouse!
WHEN:
Wednesday
January [CORRECTION: FEBRUARY] 23, 2011
1:30 p.m.
WHERE:
First Judicial District Court
Catron Street
Santa Fe, NM 87501
http://www.firstdistrictcourt.com/"
Related posts:
"An amendment to the House's continuing resolution approved last night would impose a six-month freeze on payments to individuals and groups that bring successful lawsuits against the federal government." More>>>>
"The House passed its short-term government funding measure in the last hours before sunrise today, 235-189, after a final lap of debate that saw lawmakers cross party lines to add extra restrictions on high-profile White House energy and environmental policies.
The House's continuing resolution (CR) is now likely to stall on the other side of the Capitol as Senate Democrats assemble a plan of their own to fund the government beyond March 4, when the existing funding measure expires. House Republicans' indefatigable drive to constrain much of the Obama administration's agenda has ratcheted up the prospects of a government shutdown if leaders in both chambers cannot reach even a short-term agreement on funding." More>>>>
"Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, will announce his decision not to pursue a sixth term later Friday, a Democratic aide said.
His decision puts another seat in play for Democrats as the party clings to its slim, six-seat majority in the Senate. Mr. Bingaman, 67 years old, will become the fourth senator aligned with Democrats to not seek re-election, following announcements already this year by Sens. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Jim Webb of Virginia and Joe Lieberman, the Connecticut independent who caucuses with Democrats.
Mr. Bingaman, the chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, was expected to cruise to re-election next year. Republicans quickly seized on reports of his departure as a sign that Democrats in swing states don't like their chances in 2012." More>>>>
"A court in Ecuador has fined US oil giant Chevron a reported $8bn (£5bn) for polluting a large part of the country's Amazon region.
The oil firm Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping billions of gallons of toxic materials into unlined pits and Amazon rivers.
Campaigners say crops were damaged and farm animals killed, and that local cancer rates increased.
Condemning the ruling as fraudulent, Chevron said it would appeal.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadoreans, in a case which dragged on for nearly two decades." More>>>>
"Democrats today continued their push against oil industry tax breaks as Republicans gear up to chop billions of dollars in federal spending.
A group of House Democrats, led by Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, floated a measure this afternoon that would eliminate a number of tax incentives for the oil and gas industry, saying such a move would save $40 billion over five years.
"The oil industry is one of the most profitable industries in the world and does not need help from the government," Blumenauer said in a statement. "With Congress already discussing painful budget cuts that will require American families to make sacrifices, it is only fair that we also stop the handouts to our richest oil companies."' More>>>>
News Release:
"State of New Mexico
Office of the Governor
Susana Martinez
Governor
Contact: Scott Darnell
(505) 819-1398
For Immediate Release
February 10, 2011
SEN. HARRISON SCHMITT WITHDRAWS NOMINATION TO LEAD STATE’S ENERGY, MINERALS AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
"ALLENTOWN, Pa. — One person was dead and five were missing after a massive natural gas explosion demolished and set fire to homes and sent flames hundreds of feet into the air in eastern Pennsylvania.
Allentown fire Chief Robert Scheirer said the victim lived in a two-story row house that exploded Wednesday night. An elderly couple in their 70s lived in the home, but Scheirer says the condition of the body prevented positive identification.
Five other people were still unaccounted for after the blast that leveled two houses. The cause of the explosion is unclear.
The fire that burned for hours has been put out, and 500 to 600 residents who were evacuated are returning to their homes.
Allentown fire Chief Robert Scheirer said early Thursday that the fire consumed an entire row of homes. He predicted eight will be lost and another 16 damaged." More>>>>
"The Common Council has voted to ban any form of natural gas extraction in Buffalo, including a controversial mining technique known as hydrofracking.
Ban supporters admit this afternoon's unanimous vote is largely symbolic, given the fact that no "fracking" projects have been proposed in Buffalo. But they insist the ban could be a catalyst in spurring similar actions in municipalities in New York, Pennsylvania and other states where gas-rich Marcellus Shale is located." More>>>>
"MONT BELVIEU, Texas — Explosions and fire ripped through a Houston-area natural-gas processing plant, leaving one person unaccounted for Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Explosions were heard about 12:15 p.m. at Enterprise Products on Sun Oil Road in Mont Belvieu, about 35 miles east of Houston, NBC station KPRC reported."...
..."Mont Belvieu is a major natural gas storage and processing hub sitting atop a salt dome formation. The natural gas industry stores more volatile hydrocarbons there than anywhere else in the world, NBC News said. The area is like an egg-shaped mound on the coastal prairie.
The nearby community of Barbers Hill, with population 200, was bought out by the industry during the 1990s after a series of explosions at Warren Petroleum.
NBC News cited geologists with the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas saying salt dome storage poses three risks: A pipeline or well may leak and cause an explosion; toxic chemicals stored in the domes could leak into local water supplies; or land and aquifers may be contaminated by salt water left from carving and refilling the caverns." More>>>>
The measure would have revived annual reports to the Colorado Legislature from the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission on the number of water-quality complaints it received. The measure also would have required state health authorities to report to lawmakers the results of a federal study due out this year on a gas extraction technique called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."' More>>>>
In the wake of a New Mexico Supreme Court decision last week, the state of New Mexico has reached an agreement with the Sierra Club to publish new building codes in the state registry. In return, the Sierra Club will drop a lawsuit it filed earlier this month to force the publication of the new codes." More>>>>
"The oil and gas industry doesn't want a golden Oscar statuette to grace the mantle of "Gasland" filmmaker Josh Fox.
An industry group sent a letter today to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, saying that a litany of errors in the anti-drilling film should render it ineligible for best documentary feature.
"The filmmaker alternates between misstating and outright ignoring basic and verifiable facts related to the impact of these activities on the health and welfare of humans, wildlife and the environment," said Lee Fuller, executive director of Energy In Depth (EID), in a letter today to the academy.
But Fox says his documentary is "backed up by facts 100 percent," and it is the industry that perpetuates falsehoods.
"Gasland exposes what they've been doing and they don't like it," Fox said in an interview today. "EID is a smear organization, a PR firm that has nothing to do with reality."
EID is an industry group formed to fight federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing, a process portrayed in the film as a central danger of oil and gas drilling. The group is closely affiliated with the Independent Petroleum Association of America, where Fuller is vice president of government affairs." More>>>>
"New federal regulations that require companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions have drawn several new lawsuits from electronics companies and the natural gas industry, which argue that there are flaws in the way U.S. EPA designed the program.
Trade groups such as the American Gas Association and the Semiconductor Industry Association, as well as the manufacturing giant 3M Co. and natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy Corp., want the agency to rethink various elements of the reporting rules that were finalized at the beginning of December. In total, seven groups filed petitions in federal court before yesterday's deadline for legal challenges.
The requirements, ordered by Congress to help policymakers and the public understand where the nation's greenhouse gas emissions originate, are separate from the controversial EPA regulations that are meant to curb greenhouse gases from cars, light-duty trucks and industrial facilities. But the newest spate of petitions, filed Friday and Monday, shows there are still some lingering disagreements about the best way to get a handle on the nation's emissions inventory.
Oil and gas groups are challenging the new requirements for drilling, production and processing facilities, while electronics groups want EPA to rethink the rules for users of fluorinated greenhouse gases.
Most other industries are required to submit their first reports to EPA in less than two months, but the rules for these two sectors were delayed for a year after the agency decided it needed more time to craft the requirements.
Oil and gas facilities and users of fluorinated greenhouse gases were required to begin keeping data on Jan. 1. Their first annual reports to EPA are due in March of next year (E&ENews PM, Nov. 9)." More>>>>
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