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Oil & Gas

Dominion CEO Worried About Grassroots Social Media Organizing

June 30, 2015 Glen Boshart, www.wearecovepoint.org , ,
By Glen Boshart in We Are Cove Point - Farrell experienced firsthand the power of social media when Dominion’s Cove Point LNG export project came under heavy fire by activists, who also protested the project in person at FERC by repeatedly disrupting that agency’s meetings. The executive acknowledged that the power industry has not always been “on the cutting edge” with respect to using social media tools, but added, “we’re going to have to learn how to do it and we’re going to have to learn how to respond.” Farrell said that ability to respond has become even more important with the emergence of a new coalition of opponents. He noted that opponents of new projects in the past tended to be mostly people who did not want a project to involve the use of their property. This new coalition, however, includes these people teaming up with environmental groups that want no fossil fuel use at all, as well as Tea Party conservatives who oppose government intrusion on principle, Farrell said.

Shale Story Of Michele Beegle: PA Farmer, Nurse, Grandmother

June 27, 2015 Michele Beegle, www.shalefieldstories.com , , ,
By Michele Beegle in Shalefield Stories - Gas drilling started in our area around 2002. Pennsylvania General Energy Corp (PGE) drilled five production wells, 2002 being the first well. We were lied too from the start. We were told these wells would last for 10 to 15 years. The one they drilled on our land, SR 6, only lasted 2 ½ years. We were lied to from the start. Then PGE sold to this company Steckman Ridge, a spin-off of Duke Energy. Steckman Ridge has become a real life nightmare. This company has plans to put in 23 wells, for storage of gas, and built The Spectra Energy facility – known as Steckman Ridge – is a 12-billion cubic feet underground natural gas storage reservoir with a 5,000 horse power compressor station, 13 injection/withdrawal wells and related pipeline infrastructure in Monroe Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

Oil & Water: How Oil Companies Are Ruining Our Water Sources

June 27, 2015 Christopher Judges, www.vcreporter.com , , ,
By Christopher Judges in Ventura Country Reporter - California farmers are desperate for water. Every year, Chevron sells back billions of gallons of recycled oil extraction wastewater to them. This water contains acetone, oil and methylene chloride, a known carcinogen, in nearly four times the amount found in a contaminated Arkansas River after the 2013 ExxonMobil tar sands pipeline failure. Our farmers assume the water is passing health standards, but the government authorities and local water boards charged with overseeing this practice are relying on decades-old monitoring, which does not test for carcinogens or the chemicals used in modern-day oil production. Big oil companies like Chevron, Shell, BP and the Koch Bothers, etc., are aware of their environmental destruction, their disgusting pollution and their “en masse” spreading of cancer-causing agents worldwide.

Peru’s Indigenous People Protest Against Relicensing Of Oil Concession

June 25, 2015 Davi Hill, www.theguardian.com , , ,
By Davi Hill in The Guardian - Hundreds of indigenous people deep in the Peruvian Amazon are blocking a major Amazon tributary following what they say is the government’s failure to address a social and environmental crisis stemming from oil operations. Kichwa men, women and children from numerous communities have been protesting along the River Tigre for almost a month, barring the river with cables and stopping oil company boats from passing. Oil companies have operated in the region for over 40 years, and have been linked by local people to pollution that has led the government to declare “environmental emergencies” in the Tigre and other river basins. “The Tigre is the most contaminated, but the government has done nothing serious,” says Jose Fachin, a Kichwa leader.

Massachusetts Selectman Arrested Protesting Pipeline Construction

June 22, 2015 Chris Sweeney, www.bostonmagazine.com , ,
By Chris Sweeney in Boston Magazine - Mike Butler plans to get arrested on Thursday morning. The 61-year-old Dedham Selectman says he has run out of options for stopping Spectra Energy from laying down the controversial high-pressured West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline, so he’s heading to a construction site near the corner of Elm Street and Route 1 for a peaceful protest that he hopes lands him in handcuffs. “As a selectman, I must defend and reflect the concerns of my constituents,” he tells Boston. “I’d like to demonstrate my deep concern over the fact that this is a high-pressure gas line that will be going underneath a soccer field and up the middle of a very congested residential street.”

I’m Standing Between Shell & The Arctic—Join Me

June 19, 2015 Mehreen Khan, www.telegraph.co.uk , , , ,
By Audrey Siegl in GreenPeace - This morning off the coast of British Columbia, I went face to face with Shell’s Arctic drilling rig, the Polar Pioneer. It was terrifying. But there are moments in life when—despite your fear—you must act. Standing in my tiny inflatable boat, feeling small and vulnerable as Shell’s rig approached, I had to steady myself physically, emotionally and spiritually. Feeling the waves and cold wind being out there on the open waters, I was reminded of exactly what I am protecting. I chose to stand there and use my voice to express my opposition to the devastating work Shell’s rig is on its way to do in the Arctic. I am scared that our future is being sacrificed for oil companies that would seal our fate away with catastrophic climate change to pad their own profits.

Greenpeace Puts Boats & Bodies Between Shell & Arctic

June 18, 2015 Nadia Prupis, www.commondreams.org , , ,
By Nadia Prupis in Common Dreams - By boat, by raft, or by swimming through frigid northern waters, the people will not back down against drilling in the Arctic. That was the message Wednesday morning as about 30 environmental campaigners on Greenpeace vessels—including Musqueam First Nation activist Audrey Siegl, featured in a video on Tuesday preparing for the action—chased down oil giant Shell's Arctic drilling rig, the Polar Pioneer, as it moved past Vancouver Island toward its final destination in Alaskan waters. Under the banner of People vs. Oil, several protesters jumped from a raft into the choppy ocean waves to block the path of the Polar Pioneer. Shell plans to drill for oil in the Arctic's Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, which are home to numerous Indigenous communities and marine species. As of Wednesday morning, the Polar Pioneer had barreled down on the swimmers, forcing them to move out of the way, but two smaller boats of activists are still facing off with the vessel.

Open Letter In Support Of First Nation’s Challenge To Embridge

June 18, 2015 Various, www.rabble.ca , , ,
By Various in Rabble - We stand in solidarity with Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in their legal challenge against Enbridge's Line 9 pipeline project. Last April, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation (COTTFN) filed with the Federal Court of Appeal to challenge the National Energy Board (NEB) approval of Line 9, saying that the federal Crown provided no consultation with COTTFN on the project, as is their right. Line 9 crosses through Chippewas of the Thames' traditional and treaty territory, including the Thames River which provides a source of drinking water to the First Nation. Line 9 crosses every major tributary that flows into Lake Ontario. A spill from Line 9 could threaten the drinking water of over 10 million people and devastate rivers with bitumen that cannot be cleaned up.

Mobilization To Support First Nations Battle Against Enbridge Pipeline

June 17, 2015 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org , , ,
By Lauren McCauley in Common Dreams - In what has been described as an unprecedented grassroots mobilization, activists, environmental groups, and others concerned about the future of the Pacific coast this week are rallying to support a First Nations court battle to block the construction of the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline. "First Nations are poised to stop this in its tracks," said Caitlyn Vernon, campaigns director for Sierra Club British Columbia, in a statement Tuesday. The campaign Pull Together was launched to "show these nations are not standing alone" as they confront the infinite resources of the fossil fuel industry. The week of fundraising events, dubbed the Week to End Enbridge, is being held June 13-21 to mark one year since the Canadian government approved the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline. Not coincidentally, the weeklong events conclude on June 21, National Aboriginal Day in Canada.

24 Activists Detained As Arctic Oil Rig Heads Out Of Seattle

June 16, 2015 Phuong Le, www.komonews.com , ,
By Phuong Le in KomoNews - The U.S. Coast Guard detained two dozen protesters who formed a blockade with kayaks and other vessels Monday to try to stop Royal Dutch Shell's drill rig as it left Seattle on its way to explore for oil in the Arctic Ocean. The protesters were scooped up from the water because they were violating the safety zone around the Polar Pioneer, which departed around 6 a.m., Coast Guard Lt. Dana Warr said. They would be released after receiving violation notices that carry a $500 penalty, he said. About a dozen "kayaktivists" paddled out around 4 a.m. to try to prevent the 400-foot-long rig from leaving, said Cassady Sharp, a Greenpeace spokeswoman. Several dozen supporters in kayaks and canoes lined up behind them, she said.

China: Don’t Drill The Amazon!

June 13, 2015 Jennifer Baker, www.revolution-news.com , , ,
By Jennifer Baker in Revolution News - Support the Sápara and protect the Amazon. Recently indigenous leaders from the Ecuadorian Amazon urged Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to cancel plans for Chinese state oil company Andes Petroleum to drill for oil in their territory. Li has promised to use an “iron fist” to punish companies that destroy the environment. Ask him to live up to his promise and to cancel China’s plans to drill the Amazon. Controversial Chinese investment in Ecuador and oil-backed loans are creating an unprecedented new oil boom in the country’s Amazon region. The region is home to ten different indigenous nationalities and some of the world’s most pristine and biodiverse forest. Chinese state-owned oil company Andes Petroleum is hoping to operate in the rainforest homes of the Sápara and the Kichwa of Sarayaku.

100 Canadian, U.S. Scientists Call For Halt To Oilsands Projects

June 13, 2015 Bob Weber, www.huffingtonpost.com , ,
By Bob Weber in The Canadian Press - A group of 100 leading Canadian and U.S. scientists has issued an urgent call for a moratorium on new oilsands development and listed 10 reasons why no more projects should be permitted. "I believe we have a duty to speak up,'' said Mark Jaccard, an energy economist at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University who spent more than a year drafting a letter to make sure it was scientifically sound. Jaccard was a co-author of a 2014 essay in a scientific journal that made a similar argument. But the current letter, released Wednesday, represents a much wider cross-section. Economists, biologists, climatologists and political scientists have all signed the text, which has been sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and all members of Parliament. The signatories include 12 fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, 22 members of the US National Academy and a Nobel Prize winner.

Peru’s Tia Maria Mining Conflict: Another Mega Imposition

June 12, 2015 Lynda Sullivan, www.upsidedownworld.org , , , ,
By Lynda Sullivan in Upside Down World - Peru has been rocked once again by a social conflict which pits the government, looking out for the economic interests of a multinational corporation, against its people. The Tia Maria Mine, an open-pit project of Southern Copper Corporation, controlled by Grupo Mexico, is the latest attempted imposition of a destructive mega-project by big business on rural communities in the interior of the country. To date, the conflict has claimed eight lives: four in 2011 and four more since April of this year. The affected communities have been on an indefinite strike since March 23rd and, as a response, President Ollanta Humala has called a state of emergency, permitting the Armed Forces and the National Police to violate the constitutional rights of the local population in the hope that repression will breed consent.

Lubicon Lake Nation Wins Early Victory In Anti-Fracking Case

June 12, 2015 Alberta Native News, www.albertanativenews.com , , , ,
By Alberta Native News - On June 5, 2015, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta released Justice Simpson’s decision rejecting in part the Application to Strike brought by the defendant, oil giant PennWest Petroleum Ltd.(NYSE: PWE, TSE:PWT), who is being sued by the Lubicon Lake Nation, as represented by Chief Bernard Ominayak and the Lubicon Council in Ominayak v Penn West Petroleum Ltd. In March 2015, the parties had appeared before Justice Simpson in Peace River, AB, where PennWest argued that the entire action should be struck because it amounted to an abuse of process, pleading that the action was duplicative of a proceeding brought against Alberta and Canada and that the action constituted a collateral attack on the oil company’s authorizations.

Residents ‘Terrified’: Williams Transco Natural Gas Pipeline Rupture

June 12, 2015 Emerson Urry, www.environews.tv , , ,
By Emerson Urry in EnviroNews — A group by the name of Beyond Extreme Energy sent in a fresh-on-the-wire press release to EnviroNews USA on June 11, 2015. The subject: Ongoing outrage and fear, near the Pennsylvania community of Unityville, over a Williams Companies, Inc., natural gas spill on the Transco pipeline two days ago. Local media reported the incident occurred on tuesday night at around 9:40 P.M. and that residents up to a mile away were rocked by an explosion followed by a prolonged “jet engine” type sound and the smell of gas. In turn, the incident resulted in a fearful disorientation throughout the surrounding communities. As many as 130 nearby residents were evacuated from their homes for “several hours,” according to the Lancaster Online.
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