"A Colossal Fracking Mess"

VANITY FAIR 

A Colossal Fracking Mess

The dirty truth behind the new natural gas. Related: A V.F. video look at a town transformed by fracking.

By Christopher Bateman•

Photographs by Jacques del Conte

WEB EXCLUSIVE June 21, 2010

Is our PA Marcellus Shale gas going to China?

Gas is sold on the international market to the highest bidder. The stuff coming from Gov. Corbett about Marcellus Shale being for PA residents is more than just a little smelly.

“Once deemed too costly to extract, shale gas has turned around U.S. dependence on foreign gas imports. Just a few years ago, the United States was building scores of expensive facilities to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), looking at booming long-term demand forecasts and wondering which countries would supply the huge volume of imports it needed.

Instead, the United States is turning import facilities into export terminals, because its shale gas reserves are estimated to be big enough to meet domestic demand for 30 years. This is an American dream that China wants to emulate.”

FROM:

REUTERS:

Special Report: China set to unearth shale power

WILL THE MARCELLUS SHALE EXTRACTION COMPANIES BECOME CHINESE COMPANIES?

“In June, China Investment Corp, Korea Investment Corp and Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] were among investors in Chesapeake's preferred offering.

‘We recognize that the center of the financial world is gravitating more and more to Asia and we think it's prudent to begin to develop relationships with investors in Asia,’ Mobley said”

FROM:

REUTERS

Chesapeake may attract Asian investors to assets

Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:22pm EDT

Natural gas prices set to jump with exports

By Lou Kilzer, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, June 12, 2011

What would a terrorist attack on a Liquid Natural Gas Facility or LNG Tanker near a residential area look like?

“In Sector 8, the attack scenario could produce the following consequences:

• Approximately 3,000 deaths and 10,000 injuries from severe burns in the first few minutes of the pool fire with numbers escalating due to sympathetic fires and untreated burns. Deaths will be concentrated among residents of Providence. 

• Approximately 3,000 homes destroyed among the 10,085 contained in the Orange Ring, with hundreds of others damaged. Homes in Providence, East Providence and Cranston will be affected. 

• Possible sympathetic detonations of chlorine tanks, liquid propane gas tanks, kerosene tanks and oil stored on ships and piers. A chlorine leak or explosion could add significantly to death and injury. These risks merit further analysis. 

• Destruction of the tanker and KeySpan facility, piers and port facilities, the Narragansett Bay Commission, the Allens Avenue Fire Station and local businesses. 

• Damage and/or blockage of I-95 and Allens Avenue, which could impede evacuation and first responder access to victims. 

• Eleven schools at risk. 

• Telecommunications equipment, power infrastructure, parks and hospitals (including Rhode Island Hospital, the local trauma center) at risk. 

• In the long run, tourism, home values and the state economy could suffer from a terrorist incident. 

No amount of resources can mitigate much of the death, damage and injury expected within the Red and Orange Rings. 

Consequence Management resources can only be optimized and improved to triage structures that can be saved, evacuate the population and treat the wounded. “

FROM:
LNG FACILITIES IN RESIDENTAL AREAS
A Security Risk Management Analysis for

ATTORNEY GENERAL PATRICK LYNCH

RHODE ISLAND
by Principal Investigator

Richard A. Clarke

Focus on Floods

It looks like we’ll have flooding from the coming storm. It’s good to keep in mind that a flood can happen in any low lying area. Flooding in the railroad underpasses near and in Coatesville occurs when the storm drains are overwhelmed by the volume of stormwater. Sgt. Martin Brice was honored for "going above and beyond the call of duty" when he “jumped into floodwaters to rescue an older man who was trapped in his van.”

Don’t drive on a road covered by water. Water looks benign, that is unless you have experienced the weight of moving water on your body.
Two very good websites for floods in the Delaware Valley are:
Focus on Floods
And
The National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service

"Aqua Pa. using student ideas for landscaping project (video)"

Aqua Pa. using student ideas for landscaping project (video)
Utility recruited students from Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades
Saturday, January 22, 2011
By GRETCHEN METZ
Staff Writer
"SCHUYLKILL — Students from Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades have completed their assignment to produce plans to redo the landscaping around Aqua Pennsylvania's Pickering facility.


The water utility recruited Williamson students about two months ago to design the landscaping for a section of the treatment plant. The request, however, came with a twist: the plantings used must get their watering from nature, not Aqua."
MORE HERE:

Aqua Pa. using student ideas for landscaping project (video)

“Plastisoil- Temple University Engineering Professor Turns Plastic into Pervious Pavement

“A Temple University researcher has developed a cement-like substance that could help with stormwater management while potentially keeping millions of plastic bottles out of landfills.”

Cement-like creation could help the environment

Applause for Pittsburg City Council ban of natural gas drilling by unanimous vote

Pro Publica Journalism in the public interest

Pittsburgh Bans Natural Gas Drilling

by Marie C. Baca 
ProPublica, Nov. 16, 2010, 5:49 p.m.

Wall Street Journal

NOVEMBER 16, 2010, 3:02 P.M. ET

Pittsburgh first Pa. city to ban gas drilling