Riverkeeper Blogs

In May of this year, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the establishment of the Energy Advisory Board Natural Gas Subcommittee on Fracking Issues to make recommendations on improving the “safety and environmental performance” of hydraulic fracturing in shale formations. Unfortunately, the committee is […] More

Here is another sneak peek from the upcoming 2011 version of Fractured Communities A leaked New York State Department of Transportation (“DOT”) report suggests that New York is not ready for the 1.5 million additional heavy truck trips each year that could result from shale […] More

Range Resources (“Range”) has filed a countersuit against a family that sued Range for alleged methane contamination of their water, claiming that the family “conspired to produce misleading test results to get the EPA involved in the case.”[1] Parker County, Texas, residents Steven and Shlya […] More

DEC’s Revised Draft Environmental Review Shows Improvement, But Serious Gaps On July 8, 2011, Governor Cuomo’s Department of Environmental Conservation (“DEC”) released its preliminary revised draft environmental review on proposed new hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) (the “Preliminary Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement” or “revised […] More

Last Sunday, 60 Minutes aired a segment by Leslie Stahl discussing the potential economic positives and the environmental perils of fracking.  The piece features contrasting interviews of Aubrey McClendon, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy, the largest independent gas producer in the country, and Michael Brune, […] More

Here is another sneak peek from the upcoming 2011 version of Fractured Communities: Geologists have postulated that there may be a connection between hydrofracking and seismic events, such as earthquakes. On May 27, 2011, England’s sole hydrofracking project was halted after two earthquakes occurred less […] More

On June 30, France became the first country to institute a national ban on natural gas extraction through hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”).  The bill passed France’s lowest legislative chamber, the National Assembly, on June 21 and on June 30, the Senate followed suit. The Senate vote […] More

Industry is challenging the constitutionality of a West Virginia town’s hydrofracking ban on Marcellus Shale drilling. Last week, Morgantown, West Virginia passed an ordinance banning natural gas drillers from using hydrofracking techniques in the city, or within a mile of the city’s limits. Northeast Natural […] More

This August, Riverkeeper will release an updated version of Fractured Communities, available here. Fractured Communities describes hundreds of case studies demonstrating that industrial gas drilling, including horizontal drilling using high-volume hydraulic fracturing, results in significant adverse environmental impacts. We will be posting sneak peeks of […] More