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Some Orange County Residents Evacuated Due to Gas Leak

Thu, 2014-06-26 14:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

12newsnow.com - KBMT - June 25, 2014

. . . Around 8:45 a.m. Wednesday the Sheriff’s Office received a call from an oil well company representative in reference to a natural gas leak at a well site at the end of Gulf Road off FM 408 in the Orangefield area of Orange County.

. . . As the leak continued for several hours, the gas was not dissipating rapidly due to the weather conditions.  The oil well company could not control the leak and it was necessary for a special response team from Houston, Texas to be contacted.  Once the team arrived, it was recommended that homes in the vicinity of the well site be evacuated.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE AND VIEW NEWS VIDEO)

CLICK HERE - KBMT-12 - video and audio of gas leak

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$3 Million Verdict in Texas Fracking Case

Wed, 2014-04-23 22:46 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Margery Schab     

         

Bob and Lisa Parr of Decatur confer with attorneys (from left) Brad Gilde and Richard Capshaw during a break in the lawsuit trial Thursday. The Parrs are suing Aruba Petroleum over alleged toxic emissions from gas wells surrounding their home in rural Wise County. Messenger photo by Bob Buckel

dmlawfirm.com - April 22, 2014

DALLAS — Plaintiffs Bob and Lisa Parr won a $3 million jury award in the first fracking verdict in Texas April 22. The Parrs sued Aruba Petroleum in 2011 for fracking operations which fouled the family’s 40-acre ranch property, their home and quality of life, sickened them and their pets and livestock. (See the Parr – 11th Amended Petition.)

The verdict included $275,000 for the Parr’s property loss of market value and $2 million for past physical pain and suffering by Bob and Lisa Parr and their daughter,  $250,000 for future physical pain and suffering, $400,000 for past mental anguish.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Texas Chemical Plant Agrees to Cut Harmful Air Pollution in Overburdened Community

Fri, 2014-03-21 20:32 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                                            

justice.gov - epa.gov - March 20, 2014

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Flint Hills Resources of Port Arthur has agreed to implement innovative technologies to control harmful air pollution from industrial flares and leaking equipment at the company’s chemical plant in Port Arthur, Texas.  This settlement is part of EPA’s national effort to advance environmental justice by protecting communities such as Port Arthur that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution.  The company is also required to pay a $350,000 penalty for Clean Air Act violations.

Once fully implemented, EPA estimates that the settlement will reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including benzene and other hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), by an estimated 1,880 tons per year, and will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by approximately 69,000 tons per year.

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Clean Up Ongoing at Port Neches Huntsman Facility After Oil Spill

Fri, 2014-03-07 21:41 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Photo: KFDM - Facebook

beaumontenterprise.com - by Amy Moore - March 7, 2014

A spill from a Shell pipeline running through Port Neches' Huntsman facility left 364 barrels of crude oil to be cleaned up Thursday.

Anne Knisely, a spokesperson for Huntsman, said Shell is managing the response and clean up with assistance from Huntsman crews.

The state railroad commission has primary jurisdiction over the spill investigation and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has already received a preliminary report that states there was no off site impact from the spill, according to Andrea Morrow, a TCEQ spokesperson.

Knisely said there were no injuries reported, but added that some community members have contacted her about the smell in the area from the spill.

She said the Port Neches Fire Department is releasing a community message to inform people about that issue.

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Senator Boxer's Statement: The Keystone Pipeline and the Threat to Human Health

Mon, 2014-03-03 21:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                  

epw.senate.gov

Senator Barbara Boxer
Keystone Pipeline and the Threat to Human Health
February 26, 2014
(As prepared for delivery)

We are here today to share dramatic new information that will shine a spotlight on the health impacts of tar sands oil - health impacts that are already being felt in communities exposed to one of the filthiest kinds of oil on our planet.

The Keystone XL pipeline will allow 830,000 barrels of tar sands oil every day to flow through our nation - an initial increase of 45 percent compared to what is being imported today - and this project could just be the beginning. In the long term, it is projected that Canada would produce almost 300 percent more tar sands oil by 2030.

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Fracking Boom Leaves Texans Under a Toxic Cloud

Thu, 2014-02-27 22:46 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Natural gas is flared at a Pioneer Natural Resources well, in Karnes County, Texas in 2010. 
Photographer: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg

bloomberg.com - by Lisa Song, Jim Morris and David Hasemyer - February 20, 2014

. . . For the past eight months, the Center for Public Integrity, InsideClimate News and The Weather Channel have examined what Texas, the nation's biggest oil producer, has done to protect people in the Eagle Ford from the industry's pollutants. What's happening in the Eagle Ford is important not only for Texas, but also for Pennsylvania, Colorado, North Dakota and other states where horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, have made it profitable to extract oil and gas from deeply buried shale.

Our investigation and records obtained from Texas regulatory agencies reveal a system that does more to protect the industry than the public. . .

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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After Latest Texas Earthquake Swarm, State Lawmakers Vow to Investigate

Tue, 2014-01-21 15:32 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Azle Mayor Alan Brundrett has been disappointed by the Railroad Commission's refusal to provide answers or acknowledge that disposal wells have caused earthquakes elsewhere.

stateimpact.npr.org - by Terrence Henry - January 16, 2014

After dozens of quakes have rattled a small community outside of Fort Worth over the last few months, the Texas Legislature is creating a committee to look into the issue and allegations that the quakes are linked to oil and gas drilling activity.

State Representative Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, chairman of the House Energy Resources Committee, announced today the creation of a ‘Subcommittee on Seismic Activity.’ The subcommittee will be chaired by state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, and also include Representatives Phil King (R-Weatherford ), Terry Canales (D-Edinburg), and Chris Paddie (R-Marshall).

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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INTERVIEW: Montgomery County Health Director on Mystery Illness, H1N1

Wed, 2013-12-18 23:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

khou.com - December 18, 2013

HOUSTON – At least one of the eight patients being treated for a mysterious illness at Conroe Regional Medical Center has tested positive for H1N1, according to Montgomery County health officials.

It's the same strain of H1N1 that caused a pandemic in 2009. Doctors have been seeing hundreds of new cases recently in Texas and nationwide.

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Mystery Illness Claims Four Lives in Montgomery County

Wed, 2013-12-18 23:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

         

kfdm.com

MONTGOMERY COUNTY - by Drew Karedes/KHOU 11 News and www.khou.com

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- Officials with the Montgomery County Health Department are on a mission to find out more about a mystery flu-like illness.

So far, half of the people who have come down with it have died.

According to the health department, all of the patients have had flu-like and/or pneumonia like symptoms.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Researchers Link Earthquakes In Texas To Fracking Process

Fri, 2013-12-06 17:07 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

CREDIT: SHUTTERSTOCK

thinkprogress.org - By Katie Valentine - December 6, 2013

Researchers at Southern Methodist University have linked a string of 2009 and 2010 earthquakes in Texas to the injection of fracking wastewater into the ground, according to a new study.

The researchers examined the group of more than 50 earthquakes that hit the area of Cleburne, Texas in 2009 and 2010, and found that they could have happened because of wastewater injection wells associated with fracking operations. Before 2008, the Fort Worth Basin of Texas had never experienced an earthquake.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

STUDY - Analysis of the Cleburne, Texas, Earthquake Sequence from June 2009 to June 2010

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