Fracking Archives - Inside Climate News

Oil or Water? Midland Says Disposal Wells Could Threaten Water Supply

By Martha Pskowski — Sun, 12 Nov 2023 10:00:00 +0000

As oil and gas companies struggle to dispose of their wastewater in the Permian Basin, the city of Midland is challenging applications for disposal wells near one of its drinking water sources.

By Martha Pskowski

Attorneys for the city of Midland, the oil capital of Texas, made an unusual request to regulators this year: Could they please be allowed to challenge drilling permits?

Planned Fossil Fuel Production Vastly Exceeds the World’s Climate Goals, ‘Throwing Humanity’s Future Into Question’

By Nicholas Kusnetz — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 05:01:00 +0000

Among the 20 top fossil fuel-producing countries, the U.S., Brazil and Saudi Arabia foresee significant increases in domestic oil production, while Russia, India and Indonesia all project substantial increases in coal.

By Nicholas Kusnetz

The world’s top fossil-fuel producing nations are still planning to increase their output of oil, gas and coal far beyond what the world’s climate targets would allow, according to a new United Nations report.

Oil and Gas Companies Spill Millions of Gallons of Wastewater in Texas

By Martha Pskowski, and Peter Aldhous — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

An exclusive Inside Climate News analysis found companies have spilled nearly 150 million gallons of toxic, highly saline wastewater in Texas over the last decade.

By Martha Pskowski, and Peter Aldhous

State of Denial: Fourth in a series about how Texas’ environmental regulators enable Big Oil and other polluters.

An Alabama Coal Plant Once Again Nabs the Dubious Title of the Nation’s Worst Greenhouse Gas Polluter

By Lee Hedgepeth — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

A single Jefferson County power plant pollutes more than some entire countries.

By Lee Hedgepeth

In West Jefferson, everything happens in the shadow of Alabama Power.

Should Toxic Wastewater From Gas Drilling Be Spread on Pennsylvania Roads as a Dust and Snow Suppressant?

By Jake Bolster — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 09:30:00 +0000

Members of a gas industry advisory council would like the Department of Environmental Protection to consider the practice. The DEP has yet to be convinced.

By Jake Bolster

A gas industry advisory council to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection opened its meeting earlier this month by discussing the possibility of legalizing the spreading of toxic wastewater from conventional gas drilling on roads as a dust and snow treatment, despite studies showing the practice is potentially harmful to human health and the environment.

Research by Public Health Experts Shows ‘Damning’ Evidence on the Harms of Fracking

By Jon Hurdle — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 09:30:00 +0000

The natural gas industry answers with its own reviews of research, finding a lack of evidence to establish a clear link between fracking and negative health outcomes.

By Jon Hurdle

Hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas is linked to an array of health harms, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma and birth defects, according to the latest compilation of studies on the impact of fracking on human health.

Texas Continues to Issue Thousands of Flaring Permits

By Martha Pskowski — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 09:55:00 +0000

State regulators raise doubts about natural gas flaring permits but rarely reject them. Advocates for reform say the permit process is a “rubber stamp” and that companies shouldn’t get a free pass to keep flaring indefinitely.

By Martha Pskowski

At a Railroad Commission meeting last month, Commissioner Jim Wright chastised Callon Petroleum for flaring natural gas at a drilling site, saying it should “find a better solution.”

The Biden Administration Has Begun Regulating 400,000 Miles of Gas ‘Gathering Lines.’ The Industry Isn’t Happy

By Craig R. McCoy — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 13:25:00 +0000

Many of those lines, laid since the fracking boom began 15 years ago, are bigger than earlier pipes, and since new reporting requirements have gone into effect, thousands of miles of line haven’t been accounted for.

By Craig R. McCoy

After decades of industry resistance, federal safety officials are finally starting to regulate a huge part of the nation’s pipeline system.

Answers About Old Gas Sites Repurposed as Injection Wells for Fracking’s Toxic Wastewater May Never Be Fully Unearthed

By Jake Bolster — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 09:33:00 +0000

Residents in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania, are fighting to stop a proposed injection well recently approved by the EPA, citing possible water contamination. One Geologist called the proposal “state of the art,” but said questions remain.

By Jake Bolster

A little over a month after Penneco Environmental Solutions received approval in May 2021 from the Environmental Protection Agency to dispose of an additional 2.16 million gallons of highly toxic fracking wastewater in its disposal well in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania, a pressure valve tripped and shut down the well.

A Rural Pennsylvania Community Goes to Commonwealth Court, Trying to Stop a New Disposal Well for Toxic Fracking Wastewater

By Jake Bolster — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 22:51:51 +0000

The facility, in Plum Borough outside Pittsburgh, would be the state’s 15th “injection” well. Pennsylvania’s gas industry has never had a comprehensive plan for disposing of vast quantities of highly polluting produced water.

By Jake Bolster

Attorneys representing Plum Borough and an environmental group opposed to fracking said in arguments on Tuesday before Commonwealth Court in Pittsburgh that a proposed second “injection” well for disposing of toxic fracking wastewater would violate the borough’s zoning code.