Fracking and the Environment: Exploration licenses granted to search for shale gas in Lough Allen area

[New Vision]

There's only a brief press release of the Committee's meeting => Communications Committee hosts wide-ranging discussion on fracking

I saw the wholr hearing on a live player. The recording should be soon available at the Archives of Webcasts of Committee Meetings.

More from the press here:

=> Oireachtas committee to visit potential frack zone

=> State geologist questions fracking firm's data (The IT is not even getting their own numbers right => Leitrim has $55bn gas reserves, Tamboran claims)

[PaddyJoe]

Looks like fracking in Ireland is going to get kicked into the long grass for another two years

NO DECISION will be made about commercial shale gas exploration or “fracking” until 2014 at the earliest. Minister of State for Natural Resources Fergus O’Dowd told the Dáil it would be 2014 before further research on the issue was ready for publication.

He said the research, consultation with relevant parties and consideration of international studies could take more than 12 months, leading to a “potential publication date in 2014”. Until there was time to consider the research “I confirm the use of hydraulic fracturing in exploration drilling will not be authorised”.

The Minister was responding to Sinn Féin Sligo-North Leitrim TD Michael Colreavy in whose constituency exploration company Tamboran Resources conducted research, which it said showed the existence of a substantial natural gas field. The controversial exploration method involves drilling rock and injecting water, sand and chemicals to release gas inside.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...325187693.html

[New Vision]

Looks like fracking in Ireland is going to get kicked into the long grass for another two years

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...325187693.html

Yep. Also => Dail told no commercial Irish fracking until 2014

You can send a letter to the Dáil calling for a ban of fracking quite easily on this website => Dear Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communication: We call for a TOTAL BAN on Shale Gas Extraction (#Fracking)

[New Vision]

Tamboran promised the Irish people to work close with the local communities. We have been seeing such "close work" already in Rossport. Now we can read that it's common policy of the shale gas industry to spy and interrogate communities, and even more...

=> Shale Gas Industry Brings PSYOPs and Spy Ops to Poland

[New Vision]

Harkin calls for Wider Debate on Fracking

Independent MEP Marian Harkin has called for a ‘deeper and wider rational debate’ on shale gas extraction while participating in an Irish-made documentary on the subject.

Harkin invited Roscommon-based independent film-maker Catherine Boyle to the European Parliament to interview participants at a workshop on ‘fracking’. Boyle's documentary will focus on the impact of the shale gas industry on two villages in Bulgaria.

The Ireland North & West MEP noted that "this workshop was yet another milestone in the ever-deepening and ever-widening debate on shale gas extraction, and what role, if any, it should play in the future energy mix of Ireland and Europe".

She added that "the workshop very much confirmed the emerging consensus on this extraction method, namely that without drastically improved regulation, the potential environmental and socio-economic risks associated with fracking currently outweigh the potential benefits".

The Independent MEP argued that "more and more evidence is becoming available and this needs to be brought to public attention. My office has produced a report on fracking in Pennsylvania with cooperation from scientists in Cornell University. Their research and our observations show that water quality and animal health have been adversely affected by fracking".

Harkin concluded that "while the film is still in the preparatory phase, I hope the end result proves to be a balanced and useful contribution to the bigger debate on fracking. I commend citizens like Catherine who shine a light on some questionable aspects of the extraction industry".

[New Vision]

Let's Get Serious: Fracking Jobs Cost Twice as Much as Green Jobs

The lesson is that creating jobs and protecting the environment can go hand-in-hand.

...

[New Vision]

Call for prohibition of hydraulic fracturing (15/10/2012)

A clear message was given to an Oireachtas Committee on last Wednesday, October 10th, that the Government must make a clear commitment that further licences will not be issued for on-shore shale gas exploration or development in Ireland and Government must adopt as policy that high-volume hydraulic fracturing will be prohibited in Ireland.

...

[DCon]

Call for prohibition of hydraulic fracturing (15/10/2012)

A clear message was given to an Oireachtas Committee on last Wednesday, October 10th, that the Government must make a clear commitment that further licences will not be issued for on-shore shale gas exploration or development in Ireland and Government must adopt as policy that high-volume hydraulic fracturing will be prohibited in Ireland.

...

Hopefully they listen.

Although with bribes from Property Developers not being the salary boost they once may have been, our governing elite may be compromised

[New Vision]

[New Vision]

Oireachtas Communications Committee hosts wide-ranging discussion on fracking

More reports above...

[New Vision]

There we are.

Fracking Poisoning Families at Alarming Rate: Report (19 October 2012)

Residents living near gas fracking sites suffer an increasingly high rate of health problems now linked to pollutants used in the gas extraction process, according to a new report released Thursday.

The study, conducted by Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project, pulled from a survey of 108 Pennsylvania residents in 14 counties, and a series of air and water tests. The results showed close to 70 percent of participants reported an increase in throat irritation and roughly 80 percent suffered from sinus problems after natural gas extraction companies moved to their areas. The symptoms intensify the closer the residents are to the fracking sites.

"We use water for nothing other than flushing the commode," said Janet McIntyre referring to the now toxic levels of water on her land, which neighbors a fracking site. McIntyre said her entire family, including their pets, suffered from a wide array of health problems including projectile vomiting and skin rashes, indicative of other families' symptoms in the areas surveyed. Other symptoms include sinus, respiratory, fatigue, and mood problems.

"Twenty-two households reported that pets and livestock began to have symptoms (such as seizures or losing hair) or suddenly fell ill and died after gas development began nearby,” the report finds.

After taking water and air samples, Earthworks detected chemicals that have been linked to oil and gas operations and also directly connected to many of the symptoms reported in the survey on the resident's properties. This study showed a higher concentration of ethylbenzene and xylene, volatile compounds found in petroleum hydrocarbons, at the households as compared to control sites.

[New Vision]

There we are.

Fracking Poisoning Families at Alarming Rate: Report (19 October 2012)

Residents living near gas fracking sites suffer an increasingly high rate of health problems now linked to pollutants used in the gas extraction process, according to a new report released Thursday.

The study, conducted by Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project, pulled from a survey of 108 Pennsylvania residents in 14 counties, and a series of air and water tests. The results showed close to 70 percent of participants reported an increase in throat irritation and roughly 80 percent suffered from sinus problems after natural gas extraction companies moved to their areas. The symptoms intensify the closer the residents are to the fracking sites.

"We use water for nothing other than flushing the commode," said Janet McIntyre referring to the now toxic levels of water on her land, which neighbors a fracking site. McIntyre said her entire family, including their pets, suffered from a wide array of health problems including projectile vomiting and skin rashes, indicative of other families' symptoms in the areas surveyed. Other symptoms include sinus, respiratory, fatigue, and mood problems.

"Twenty-two households reported that pets and livestock began to have symptoms (such as seizures or losing hair) or suddenly fell ill and died after gas development began nearby,” the report finds.

After taking water and air samples, Earthworks detected chemicals that have been linked to oil and gas operations and also directly connected to many of the symptoms reported in the survey on the resident's properties. This study showed a higher concentration of ethylbenzene and xylene, volatile compounds found in petroleum hydrocarbons, at the households as compared to control sites.

This article includes the link to the original study => Shale Gas Extraction Brings Local Health Impacts (IPS News)

[barrym]

I was and still am I supporter of the arguments in the fracking thing. However I do get slightly tired of the 'rant' element. I happen to live a lot of my life in France and am happy that the new government has enhanced the opposition to fracking - until there is better information available, after all the French Gov is a shareholder in Total, one of the companies that is tryingto explore.

So, in order to progress the discusson I read around the subject and came across this - In the Chemical and Engineeering News issue of 15 October there is a very comprehensive article on water treatment vis a vis fracking. Unfortunately, access to the journal requires membership but there are some very useful sources of information such as the analysis of waste water from fracking, which shows that the amount of different materials varys from site to site.

Worth a look if you can manage it. I have a paper edition and would be happy to send a photocopy if you pm me.

B

[fluffybiscuits]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20025807

BBC Reporting on the use of bore holding drilling and the link to an earthquake in Spain

Scientists studying the fault beneath the Spanish city of Lorca say that groundwater removal may be implicated in a deadly 2011 earthquake there.

Detailed surface maps from satellite studies allowed them to infer which parts of the ground moved where.

They report in Nature Geoscience that those shifts correlate with locations where water has been drained for years.

The study highlights how human activity such as drainage or borehole drilling can have far-reaching seismic effects.

[Count Bobulescu]

I was and still am I supporter of the arguments in the fracking thing. However I do get slightly tired of the 'rant' element. I happen to live a lot of my life in France and am happy that the new government has enhanced the opposition to fracking - until there is better information available, after all the French Gov is a shareholder in Total, one of the companies that is tryingto explore.

So, in order to progress the discusson I read around the subject and came across this - In the Chemical and Engineeering News issue of 15 October there is a very comprehensive article on water treatment vis a vis fracking. Unfortunately, access to the journal requires membership but there are some very useful sources of information such as the analysis of waste water from fracking, which shows that the amount of different materials varys from site to site.

Worth a look if you can manage it. I have a paper edition and would be happy to send a photocopy if you pm me.

B

Here’s a short piece, about the piece you’re referring to, I think. I too am tired of the rant. Fracking, whatever the final outcome of all the studies is never going to be as big a deal in Europe as in the US simply because the geology is different. I’m coming round to the view that fracking in the US will ultimately prevail, in part because of techno advances such as the various water treatments, and also in part because the US govt, has invested, and continues to invest billions in related R & D.

http://greenbuildingelements.com/201...ineering-news/