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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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US - South
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Energy
Environment
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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.

Country / Region Tags: 
United States
US - Gulf Coast
US - South
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Climate
Energy
Environment
Health
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Situation Report

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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United States
US - South
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Energy
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Situation Report

Fracking is Depleting Water Supplies in America's Driest Areas, Report Shows

Mon, 2014-02-10 18:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Source: Ceres

From Texas to California, drilling for oil and gas is using billions of gallons of water in the country's most drought-prone areas

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH REPORT - Hydraulic Fracturing & Water Stress: Water Demand by the Numbers
(85 page .PDF report)

theguardian.com - by Suzanne Goldenberg - February 5, 2014

America's oil and gas rush is depleting water supplies in the driest and most drought-prone areas of the country, from Texas to California, new research has found.

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United States
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Drought
Energy
Scarcity
Vulnerability
Water
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Situation Report

Hospitals Brace for National Saline Shortage

Mon, 2014-02-10 00:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

     

At Houston Methodist Hospital, Celest Powell, 20, receives an IV saline solution that helps keep patients hydrated.

houstonchronicle.com - by Lora Hines - February 6, 2014

A severe flu season may have contributed to tightened supplies of intravenous saline solution, those ubiquitous bags that hospitals use by the thousands every day to keep patients hydrated and IVs flowing smoothly. . .

Late last year, three manufacturers of intravenous saline solutions, particularly sodium chloride, began alerting hospitals nationwide about shortages. At least one blamed the flu, which can leave patients dangerously dehydrated and in need of hospital care.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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United States
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Health
Scarcity
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How the U.S. Exports Global Warming

Tue, 2014-02-04 22:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Illustration by Victor Juhasz

While Obama talks of putting America on the path to a clean, green future, we're flooding world markets with cheap, high carbon fuels

rollingstone.com - by Tim Dickinson - February 3, 2014

. . . America's oil and coal corporations are racing to position the country as the planet's dirty-energy dealer – supplying the developing world with cut-rate, high-polluting, climate-damaging fuels. Much like tobacco companies did in the 1990s – when new taxes, regulations and rising consumer awareness undercut domestic demand – Big Carbon is turning to lucrative new markets in booming Asian economies where regulations are looser. Worse, the White House has quietly championed this dirty-energy trade.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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United States
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Climate
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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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US - South
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Earthquake
Energy
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EPA Report on Fracking in Texas Raises New Concerns

Tue, 2013-12-24 18:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

An inspector general's report says the EPA was justified in investigating claims of water contamination near a fracking site in Texas.

latimes.com - By Neela Banjeree - December 24, 2013

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency was justified in intervening to examine possible risks of gas drilling to Texas drinking water, the agency's internal watchdog reported Tuesday.

But environmentalists say the report raises fresh concerns about the EPA's 2012 decision to halt its investigation into possible well-water contamination in Parker County, Texas.

The EPA inspector general's report is the latest analysis to spotlight the regulator's handling of high-profile cases of alleged drinking-water contamination near natural gas drilling sites.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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United States
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Energy
Pollution
Water
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Situation Report

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.

Country / Region Tags: 
US - South
US - SouthWest
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Contagion
Health
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Situation Report

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)

Country / Region Tags: 
US - South
US - SouthWest
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Contagion
Health
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