Abrahm Lustgarten

Fracking Cracks the Public Consciousness in 2011

Dec. 29, 2011, 9:37 a.m.

The year brings a bumper crop of studies, intensifying health concerns, and a landmark development when environmental regulators conclude hydraulic fracturing likely caused groundwater contamination for the first time. 

Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time

Dec. 8, 2011, 8:18 p.m.

The EPA’s investigation into water pollution near Pavillion, Wyo., produces landmark findings that could erode arguments used to defend safety of the gas drilling process.

Company Backs out of $45 Million Deal to Buy Troubled Wyoming Gas Field

Nov. 29, 2011, 11:14 a.m.

Legacy Resources reverses its plan to acquire gas assets near Pavillion, Wyom., shortly after the EPA unveiled test results showing water pollution nearby.

EPA Finds Compound Used in Fracking in Wyoming Aquifer

Nov. 10, 2011, 1:10 p.m.

After years of complaints from residents about foul water and health concerns, government investigators have found chemical compounds consistent with those used in natural gas fracking.

Science Lags as Health Problems Emerge Near Gas Fields

Sept. 16, 2011, 4:35 p.m.

People who live close to natural gas drilling in four states complain of similar health symptoms, ranging from respiratory infections to lesions and neurological problems, but there is little science or study to get at the cause of their ailments.

N.Y. Enviro Commissioner Expects Little From EPA Fracking Study

Aug. 9, 2011, 12:49 p.m.

In an interview, the commissioner of New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation says he is confident underground contamination from hydraulic fracturing is not a risk, and that the Environmental Protection Agency’s study of fracking won’t yield new information.

Does an Old EPA Fracking Study Provide Proof of Contamination?

Aug. 4, 2011, 11:43 a.m.

A 24-year-old EPA report uncovered this week adds to a list of examples of how water supplies are polluted in natural gas drilling areas and provides the strongest articulation yet by federal officials that fracking has caused the contamination.

Corrected: BP’s Broken Alaska Pipeline Not the Same as Corroded Line Identified Last Year

July 18, 2011, 8:31 p.m.

Latest BP Spill in Alaska Was Foreshadowed in Risk Assessment Last Year

July 18, 2011, 3:55 p.m.

A section of the BP pipeline that leaked thousands of gallons of methanol and oily wastewater into the Alaskan tundra on Saturday was flagged by the company more than a year ago as so corroded it presented an imminent threat of rupture.

EPA Fracking Study to Focus on Five States—But Not Wyoming

June 24, 2011, 1:07 p.m.

The Environmental Protection Agency has picked seven sites in five states that it will focus on for its national study of the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water. The sites do not include two counties in Wyoming, where the EPA has already been collecting data for three years.

Gas Drilling Companies Hold Data Needed by Researchers to Assess Risk to Water Quality

May 17, 2011, 12:14 p.m.

Drilling companies complain that a recent study that linked methane in water wells to gas drilling lacked critical data. Now it turns out that the industry has been collecting that type of data for years but hasn’t made it public.

Scientific Study Links Flammable Drinking Water to Fracking

May 9, 2011, 2 p.m.

For the first time, a peer-reviewed scientific study has linked natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing with a pattern of drinking water contamination so severe that some faucets can be lit on fire.

Natural Gas Drilling Is at a Crucial Turning Point

April 21, 2011, 1:33 p.m.

The natural gas industry must develop regulations that scale up drilling safely and learn from the mistakes made in the United States.

More Reasons to Question Whether Gas Is Cleaner Than Coal

April 12, 2011, 12:39 p.m.

Evidence continues to mount saying that natural gas is not be as clean as we like to think.

Pa.’s New Jobs Czar Fought Enviro Regs for Years

April 10, 2011, 11:01 p.m.

Pennsylvania’s governor has asked C. Alan Walker to promote job growth by helping companies get the permits that they need. But Walker’s personal business history raises a crucial question: How might an anti-regulation coal mogul affect the state’s environmental regulations for the Marcellus Shale?

Pennsylvania Limits Authority of Oil and Gas Inspectors

March 30, 2011, 5:46 p.m.

A leaked memo says oil and gas inspectors can no longer issue violations to drilling companies in the Marcellus Shale without first getting the approval of top officials.

Even In Worst Case, Japan’s Nuclear Disaster Will Have Limited Reach

March 18, 2011, 7:30 p.m.

The long-term health and environmental impacts of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis should be largely contained to the area around the plant and a limited population.

PA Governor Gives Energy Executive Supreme Authority Over Environmental Permitting

March 9, 2011, 10:50 p.m.

Pennsylvania’s governor has appointed an energy industry executive to oversee the state’s job creation effort and wants to give him unusual authority to streamline state permits, including for gas drilling.

Former Bush EPA Official Says Fracking Exemption Went Too Far; Congress Should Revisit

March 9, 2011, 12:21 p.m.

Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency in the George W. Bush administration, ponders criticism leveled at a 2004 study on hydraulic fracturing and suggests that it’s now time for Congress and the EPA to take another look at the practice.