water

Cabot Oil and Gas Faces Lawsuit in Marcellus Shale Drilling

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:36:16 -0500

by Adam Federman

Of all the towns that have been subjected to drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania since the opening up of the Marcellus Shale, none have suffered more than Dimock. In just over a year several drinking water wells have been contaminated (one of which exploded on New Years Day, ripping through an 8 foot slab of concrete), numerous spills have dumped highly toxic wastewater, diesel fuel, and fracking fluid into local streams and rivers, and residents have been exposed to dangerously high levels of methane gas and heavy metals.

Report Says Nuclear Plants Are Poisoning Our Water

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:15:19 -0500

by Mike De Souza

Nuclear facilities and power plants are contaminating local Canadian food and water with radioactive waste that increases risks of cancer and birth defects, says a new report to be released today.

Privatizing Water System Could Be a Risky Move for Chicago

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:33:11 -0500

by Michael Hawthorne

Mayor Richard Daley says any part of city government is up for grabs if the price is right.

But if he is tempted to dangle Chicago's vast water system as his next lease deal, he might want to first consult Atlanta, which is still smarting from a botched experiment with privatizing a big-city water supply.

Or the mayor could look someplace closer to home, like Bolingbrook, one of dozens of suburbs and downstate communities furious about steep rate increases imposed by a private water operator.

Will South Carolina Become the Nation's New Yucca Mountain?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:53:03 -0500

by Sue Sturgis

Earlier this year President Obama canceled the federal government's plans to store high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and weapons facilities at the controversial Yucca Mountain site in Nevada -- but now there are concerns that South Carolina could become a permanent dumping ground for the dangerous waste.

Trading the Watershed to Trash the Catskills

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:24:23 -0500

by Adam Federman

Aerial photographs of land surrounding the millennium pipeline north of Sullivan County, NY show sweeping tracts of largely unspoiled forest. They are ecologically important for several species including neo-tropical migrant birds that travel from South America to breeding habitats in the northern latitudes, bald eagles, and the endangered timber rattlesnake.

Chromium 6 Still Threatens California's Drinking Water

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:10:17 -0400

by Erin Brockovich

Polluters who contaminate drinking water and make people sick shouldn't get off easy. That has been the focus of my work for two decades, and I'm not planning to stop now.

My work focused the attention of the world on a carcinogen called hexavalent chromium (hex chrome). In 1996, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. - a multibillion-dollar corporation - paid $333 million in damages to the people of Hinkley for contaminating their drinking water and covering up the problem for decades while people got sick and died. This victory was immortalized in film. But the story doesn't end there.

On World Food Day: Crunching the Numbers

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:41:26 -0400

by Roger Doiron

Tomorrow is World Food Day and since I can't invite you all over for dinner, I thought I'd serve up a smorgasbord of facts and figures about the way the US and the world eat or don't eat, as the case may be.

It’s About Time: EPA to Probe Atrazine Again

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:03:34 -0400

by Margaret Krome

If Iowa hadn't exercised good judgment and supported Barack Obama in the caucuses nearly two years ago, I wouldn't have awakened in my Des Moines hotel last week and felt as grateful as I did.

For on the front page of the Des Moines Register last Thursday was the announcement that should have been made years ago. The Obama administration's Environmental Protection Agency is taking a U-turn and plans a yearlong investigation into the safety of the second most commonly used herbicide in the nation: atrazine.

Cleansing the Air at the Expense of Waterways

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:14:47 -0400

by Charles Duhigg

MASONTOWN, Pa. - For years, residents here complained about the yellow smoke pouring from the tall chimneys of the nearby coal-fired power plant, which left a film on their cars and pebbles of coal waste in their yards.

Will Gas Drilling Destroy NYC’s Drinking Water?

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:47:17 -0400

by Laura Flanders

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's long awaited plan for drilling in the Marcellus Shale was just released. The Shale, which stretches from Ohio to New York is believed to be the country's largest remaining reservoir of natural gas. Drilling has begun in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and there have already been reports of contaminated wells.