TOPGuess Who's Coming to Dinner?
October 12, 2015

There's a special dinner in the works, and YOU are invited! See the invitation below for more details. 

Our second news item brings you the latest information about the recent water contamination caused by gas drilling activities in Potter County. While the industry continues their disingenuous statements about "fracking" never causing water contamination, their activities have been definitively linked to the contamination of over 240 private water supplies by PA DEP. This latest release of chemicals, used illegally during the drilling phase of operations, has caused contamination of a public water supply for the first time. Public Herald investigates.

Josh Fox's new short film GASWORK is currently available online. The big "job promise" of the industry is not all it's fracked up to be. Click on the video below to check it out.

RDA's Keep it Wild hikes are ramping up again & our first will be an adventure along the Sand Spring Trail. See the announcement below for more detail. 

Perhaps you noticed the petition in our last newsletter to oppose the state's proposal to use acid mine drainage for fracking operations. Sadly, the bill was passed and signed into law by Governor Wolf this month. Dory Hippauf elaborates in her latest article, "Fracksylvania's New Brew." Click here for the full article featured on Frackorporation, including the history of acid mine drainage and the origins of Act 47.

Methane gas is invisible and odorless to humans and birds alike. Unfortunately, birds that fly through plumes of methane can suffer dire consequences. The Medina Raptor Center, located in Ohio, just sent out a newsletter detailing the plight of several birds that had an encounter with a methane plume but were fortunate enough to be found and rehabilitated. Click here to read more from the Medina Raptor Center.

The "Other News" items focus on the energy economy, and there are a few petitions available for you to take part in.

Thank you for caring and staying informed,

Brooke Woodside
RDA Member, Managing Editor
 
Visit our website at:  www.rdapa.org
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Hopefully, YOU!
 
RDA gratefully invites you to join us for a celebration of community on Thursday, October 29th at the Herdic House Restaurant, 407 West 4th Street in Williamsport. A happy hour with cash bar will get underway at 6 pm. Owner Liz Miele will create an exotic vegetarian entree for us using locally harvested winter squash, garbanzo beans, veggies, basmati rice and aromatic spices. The meal will be served at 7 pm and RDA will pick up the tab for your dinner. Drinks and dessert (if desired) are on you. Dress is "anything goes" - from blue jeans to Halloween costumes. Come as you wish!

We're calling the event our Keep It Wild Community Dinner. It's RDA's way of saying thank you for your support, updating you on the work we do and sharing our plans for the future.

Reservations are required, limited seating will be held on a first-come basis, and the final deadline is Friday, October 23rd. To reserve your seat for this evening of food, spirits and camaraderie - send your name, phone number, and number in your group to: KeepItWildDin[email protected]

Reserve today so we can save you a seat. 

See you on October 29th!

RDA Board of Directors
Jim, Jenni, Robbie, Barb, Mark, Roscoe, Dianne
Oil and Gas Drilling Impacts Public Drinking Water Supplies in Potter County
by Melissa Troutman, Executive Director, Public Herald

This Public Herald story is part of an ongoing report and will be updated frequently on their website.

Two public drinking water systems were impacted and at least seven private water supplies contaminated due to pollution caused by the natural gas operation of JKLM in Sweden Township, Potter County, PA.

This is the first time that public water supplies have been impacted to the point of being shut down due to potential groundwater contamination from unconvenional oil and gas operations. The chemical injected underground by JKLM has been detected in an aquifer said to be within the recharge zone for the public drinking water supplies as outlined in the Triple Divide Watershed Coalition's Source Water Protection Plans.

One week after DEP received notice of this incident, there had still been no official public notification issued by Coudersport Borough Water System or DEP. However, this is because DEP is only required to notify the public once contamination has been detected. Without a precautionary principle in place for future problems by either local officials or the state, the public is left to find out about an incident only after DEP confirms they've detected pollution, but not at the point of the Department being notified of the chemical injection by the operator.

JKLM Reese Hollow 144 Well Pad - Photo credit: Josh Pribanic, Public Herald

Public Herald confirmed from local officials on the morning of September 24th that Coudersport Boro Water System had taken its "east" drinking water source offline in order to "keep the public safe" after chemicals typically used for drilling and fracking infiltrated shallow and subsurface groundwater aquifers used for the public water supply.

On September 30th, DEP published an official press release for North Hollow: "The Notice of Violation includes: Failure to prevent pollution of fresh groundwater; Drilling through fresh groundwater with a substance other than air, freshwater or freshwater based drilling fluids; and Violations of Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law."

GASWORK - now showing online
A new short film by Josh Fox

GASWORK: The Fight for CJ's Law is a powerful new short by filmmaker Josh Fox that investigates the dangerous working conditions in the oil and gas fields.

When we hear politicians and gas companies extol the virtues of fracking, an abundance of industry jobs is usually high on their list of talking points. But the jobs created by fracking are not the kind of quality jobs American workers deserve. They are extremely dangerous, exposing workers to chemicals whose long-term impacts on health are yet unknown. In fact, the fatality rate of oil field jobs is seven times greater than the national average.

In GASWORK: The Fight for C.J.'s Law, Josh Fox conducts an investigation into worker safety and chemical risk and interviews workers who have been asked to clean drill sites, transport radioactive and carcinogenic chemicals, steam-clean the inside of condensate tanks containing harmful VOC's, PAH's and other chemicals. In large part, these workers have been made to do their jobs without adequate protection or safety equipment.  

The film is now available online. Click the image below to watch this 45-minute feature.

TRAILER FOR GASWORK THE FIGHT FOR CJ's Law   A NEW SHORT FILM BY JOSH FOX
GASWORK: The Fight for CJ's Law - Full Feature
Keep It Wild! Hike Announcement EPA
Our Keep it Wild hikes are stepping off again! 

The Sand Spring Trail exemplifies our Special Places. This natural area supplies the beautiful cold waters of Rock Run and contains some unique wildlife and flora.

Mark your calendars, and come join us on Saturday, November 7 at 11 am.

It is an easy 2.96 mile loop, but may be wet with some stream crossings. Bring proper footwear and consider a dry pair of shoes/socks to leave in your car. 

Directions and more information will follow in our next newsletter. Please consider joining us and carpooling with a friend or two!


In This Issue
Events/
Action Points
In Other News InOtherNews
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Oil Industry Gaining in Push for Repeal of US Ban on Petroleum Exports 

After watching the price of oil and the size of their profits plunge, a dozen top executives from some of the nation's largest oil exploration companies flew to Washington late last winter on an urgent mission: push Congress and the White House to allow unlimited exports of American crude oil.

Now, their long-shot lobbying effort to repeal the 40-year-old export ban has gathered considerable momentum. Approval by the House is expected in the coming weeks, and two Senate committees have already endorsed the idea.

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Enemies of the Sun

Does anyone remember the Cheney energy task force? Early in the George W. Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney released a report that was widely derided as a document written by and for Big Energy - because it was. The administration fought tooth and nail to keep the process by which the report was produced secret, but the list of people the task force met was eventually leaked, and it was exactly what you'd expect: a who's who of energy industry executives, with environmental groups getting a chance to make their case only after the work was essentially done. 

But here's the thing: by the standards of today's Republican Party, the Cheney report was enlightened, even left-leaning. One whole chapter was devoted to conservation, another to renewable energy. By contrast, recent speeches by Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio - still the most likely Republican presidential nominees - barely address either topic. When it comes to energy policy, the G.O.P. has become fossilized. That is, it's fossil fuels, and only fossil fuels, all the way.


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The Fracking Bubble Enters Terminal Decline

The worst oil price rout since 1986 is beginning to claim victims in the shale oil patch, and now its every man for himself.

Investors in $158.2 million of Goodrich Petroleum Corp.'s debt agreed to take 47 cents on the dollar in exchange for stock warrants for some note holders and a lien on Goodrich's oil acreage, according to a company statement ...

"In the industry it's called 'getting primed," said Spencer Cutter, a credit analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. "It's every man for himself. They're trying to get in and get exchanged, and if you can't you're getting left out in the cold."

Investors aren't the only ones writing off huge losses.


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Well Count

New/renewed permits were issued in Lycoming County for the following Townships. Click on the blue titles below the company name for more detail on each well:

Cogan House Township:
SWN Production Co, LLC

Gamble Township:
Atlas Resources

Hepburn Township:
Seneca Resources Corp

Upper Fairfield Township:
Inflection Energy (PA), LLC

Lycoming County:
Total wells permitted 1453
Wells drilled/being developed - 944
Total gallons of wastewater - 454,791,169

The time has come to stop treating big polluters as legitimate "stakeholders" and to remove them from climate policymaking.

Today, we are facing the prospect of the destruction of life as we know it and irreversible damage to our planet due to climate change. Scientists are telling us with ever more urgency that we must act quickly to stop extracting fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the world's largest polluters have prevented progress on bold climate action for far too long.

A decade ago, the international community took on another behemoth industry - Big Tobacco - and created a precedent-setting treaty mechanism that removed the tobacco industry from public health policy. This can happen again here.


Sign this pledge to divest from fossil fuels and invest in clean energy! 


The Senate's Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 is anything but modern.

Any effort to modernize energy in the US should decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and increase our use of truly clean renewables like wind and solar.

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It costs nothing to sign up for our e-newsletter, but tax-free donations are accepted & greatly appreciated.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, RDA relies on donations for the important work we do. In order for RDA to continue its valuable education and advocacy outreach in 2015, please consider a tax-free contribution to our efforts.

You can send a donation to the address listed at the bottom of this email, click here to donate via PayPal or click here to download our current membership form to fill out and send in along with your donation.
 
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RDA Newsletter

Brooke Woodside, RDA Working Group, Managing Editor
Barb Jarmoska, Treasurer - RDA Board of Directors, Editor
Ralph Kisberg, RDA Working Group, Contributing Editor
Ted Stroter, RDA Working Group, Chemical Advisor & Contributing Editor
Jim Slotterback, President - RDA Board of Directors
Robbie Cross, Vice President - RDA Board of Directors
Jenni Slotterback, Secretary - RDA Board of Directors
Mark Szybist - RDA Board of Directors
Roscoe McCloskey - RDA Board of Directors 
Dianne Peeling - RDA Board of Directors

This biweekly e-newsletter is written and designed by the RDA consultants and Board of Directors and sent to RDA members/subscribers. Every effort is made to assure complete accuracy in each issue. This publication and the information contained herein is copyrighted by RDA and may not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved. Readers are invited to forward this newsletter in its entirety to broaden the scope of its outreach. There is a forward link below. Readers are also invited to submit articles to be considered for publication in a future issue.    

Please note: The RDA newsletter includes reporting on a variety of events and activities, which do not necessarily reflect the philosophy of the organization. RDA practices only non-violent action in voicing the organization's beliefs and concerns.

Responsible Drilling Alliance | [email protected]
Phone:  888.332.1244 (toll free)

Please mail donations to:
RDA, PO Box 502, Williamsport, PA 17703