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PROJECT GREEN

A Toxic Spew?

Officials worry about impact of 'fracking' of oil and gas.

By Jim Moscou | Newsweek Web Exclusive
Aug 20, 2008 | Updated: 5:26  p.m. ET Aug 20, 2008

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  • Posted By: OBWan @ 09/05/2008 11:23:25 PM

    Comment: mccainsupporter -TSA airport screeners and medical staff work daily around x-ray equipment, fluoroscopes, and CT machines and do not experience adverse health consequences as a result of their work exposure.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    That's why those little radiation detection badges. I know people you have required isotope treatment because of exposure.

    As far as the rant on nuclear - that would be the American public after Three Mile Island, not just Democrats. There are some good plants in the US - How long do you think a takes to build a plant? (10-20 years?)

    As for your Obama comments:

    Safe and Secure Nuclear Energy. Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our noncarbon
    generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we
    eliminate nuclear power as an option. However, before an expansion of nuclear power is
    considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste
    storage, and proliferation. Barack Obama introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate to establish
    guidelines for tracking, controlling and accounting for spent fuel at nuclear power plants. To
    prevent international nuclear material from falling into terrorist hands abroad, Obama worked
    closely with Sen. Dick Lugar (R???IN) to strengthen international efforts to identify and stop the
    smuggling of weapons of mass destruction. As president, Obama will make safeguarding nuclear
    material both abroad and in the U.S. a top anti???terrorism priority. In terms of waste storage,
    Obama does not believe that Yucca Mountain is a suitable site. He will lead federal efforts to look
    for safe, long???term disposal solutions based on objective, scientific analysis. In the meantime,
    Obama will develop requirements to ensure that the waste stored at current reactor sites is
    contained using the most advanced dry???cask storage technology available.

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 08/26/2008 8:44:33 PM

    Comment: Does the Democratic leadership under Barack Obama expect current electric power plants to provide all the huge electricity requirements to recharge and power all the new hybrid and electric cars will be coming on line. There will have to be new power plants built and these must be nuclear plants. If Democrats think that wind or solar will recharge all of these new cars, they have to be joking because the wind does not blow all the time. The new sources of additional electricity to charge up all these cars will have to come from nuclear energy.
    Why is there such an ingrained irrational paranoia about nuclear energy and waste disposal among some Americans especially the Democratic leadership under the direction of Barack Obama. Importantly also why is it somehow okay for hundreds of thousands of Navy sailors to have served for nearly thirty-five years aboard nuclear power American aircraft carriers and nuclear powered submarines and air force personnel to handle nuclear bombs but Democratic leadership under Barack Obama will not consider to even remotely assume any risks involved with nuclear power. Is it okay for our servicemen to be exposed to alleged risks but not the Democratic leadership who oppose nuclear power. This paranoia is particular evident with the Democrats acceptance of risks that are associated with other aspects of modern American living. Forty thousand people die every year in the United States in auto accidents but there is no outcry to ban all automobiles in the United States. Bridges have collapsed recently in Minnesota and tunnels ceilings in Boston have fallen but there is no consensus on eliminating bridges or tunnels. There have been airplane crashes that have also involved injuries on the ground but there is no outcry to ban air travel. There have been repeated rail and ship accidents but no outcry to ban railroads or ship travel. The irrational fear involving nuclear power and waste disposal has no justification. American people undergo multiple medical and dental xrays and CT scans yearly and have no fear. TSA airport screeners and medical staff work daily around xray equipment, fluoroscopes, and CT machines and do not experience adverse health consequences as a result of their work exposure. There were no documented adverse health events associated with the Three Mile Island release of minor radiation in the 1970s and no payments for health losses were ever made involving lawsuits related to that accident. The containment vessel held at Three Mile Island. In light of most Americans acceptance of risks associated with automobiles, trains, planes, and ships, the fear on the part of the Democratic leadership of nuclear power can not be viewed as rational. John McCain's proposals to build 45 new nuclear power plants along with his other energy proposals on conservation and renewable energy will help America achieve relative energy independence in the near term and long term.

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 08/26/2008 8:43:53 PM

    Comment: While camping and attending a bluegrass music festival, I took a tour of Comanche Peak Power Plant,the last nuclear power plant built in the United States. The plant is unobtrusive and is at perfect harmony with its environment. It is located near Glen Rose Texas a beautiful area that has bluegrass band festivals in the summer. It is a wonderful scenic country area and home to Dinosaur World and a state park. There are dinosaur tracks from 100 million years ago along the riverbed that can be seen some say are heading in the direction of New York City. The Brazos river flows through and the place is an environmental heaven. There is old green Sinclair Oil Company dinasour statue that stands at the park. Ironically most of the stations and assets of Sinclair Oil Company was bought by Arco Oil Company. Arco Oil Company was a jewell of an American oil company that explored and developed the Alaskan North Slope and at one time owned eighty percent of our Alaskan oil reserves. Arco Oil Company was subsequently bought out later by foreign owned British Petroleum during the second administration of Bill Clinton. The point of this comment is twofold. Democratic hostility toward United States owned energy companies has led to the sale of United States oil companies to foreign interests and that nuclear power plants can even be located next to wonderful wildlife and park areas and make good unobtrusive neighbors. Nuclear power is a friend of the environment and does not emit green house gases.

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 08/26/2008 8:43:23 PM

    Comment: ??? If you think about it John McCain plan for forty-five new nuclear power plants is reasonable, needed and attainable. Our current 108 nuclear power plants supply twenty (20) percent of our electricity requirements. This is amazing considering that it has been thirty years since there has been new construction on new nuclear power plants anywhere in the United States. Construction on new nuclear power plants has occurred throughout the world but not in the United States thanks to Democratic leadership. In France, nuclear power supplies 80 percent of their electricity needs. Because 108 nuclear power plants are generating twenty percent of our needs, an additional 45 nuclear power plants will only increase the percentage of nuclear power to roughly 28 percent of our needs well short of French eighty percent nuclear power generation of electricity. John McCain proposals are reasonable and will help lead us to energy independence. Democrats under the leadership of Barack Obama want to study the issue for another 30 years. By that time the only remaining United States builder of nuclear power plants General Electric will have gone the way of Westinghouse and sold its nuclear construction division to a foreign owned company Toshiba Corporation of Japan. Given the Democratic led hostile business environment for nuclear power in the United States, we will have no United States owned companies capable of building nuclear power plants.

    The reality is that a few nuclear power plants will have a greater contribution to our energy independence than all the contributions of solar, wind, and thermal energy. Only the proposals of John McCain on nuclear power, offshore drilling, wind, and solar energy will make the idea of United States energy independence a reality.

  • Posted By: mccainsupporter @ 08/26/2008 8:42:33 PM

    Comment: John McCain realizes that the Democrats under the leadership of Barack Obama want to effectively give away in trust our offshore exclusive economic zone by standing in the way of any current offshore development. Under the 1982 United Nations Law of the Seas Convention the US has an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles and mineral seabed rights up to 350 nautical miles extending along the Continental shelf. A nautical mile is 6080 feet so our exclusive economic zone extends about 240 miles and mineral seabed rights extend 420 miles. The US has the world's largest offshore exclusive economic zone totaling 4.4 million square miles. In comparison, the total land area of the United States is only 3.4 million square miles.
    On the East coast alone, if you drive from Key West Florida to Bangor Maine it is 2000 miles. Multiply the 2000 miles by mineral seabed rights extending out 420 miles results in a total of 840,000 square miles of ocean acreage. Because we have the world's largest offshore coastline which is twenty-five percent greater than our land area, it only makes common sense that we exploit our offshore resources to achieve our energy independence.

    ??? John McCain understands that under the theory of plate tectonics and continental drift, 300 million years ago when oil was formed all of the continents were one supercontinent called Pangea. The continents then drifted apart. The Africa coast was right up against North Carolina 300 million years ago. Today half of the oil production of Nigeria is now offshore and the odds of large offshore deposits off our east coast are very strong. There are also huge oil deposits off of east coast of Brazil. Brazil has tied up almost all of the world ocean drilling ships in the hopes of developing those deposits. Given there is confirmed oil off of Brazil, likely oil off the Southern US east coast and there is confirmed large deposits south of Newfoundland then it is likely there is oil all up and down the entire United States east coast. The United States has the largest coastline in the world and it is simple common sense to make use of those offshore resources to achieve our energy independence. John McCain energy proposals will bring about this development that we so desperately need.

  • Posted By: aftercancer @ 08/25/2008 10:25:49 AM

    Comment: The fact that we as a nation allow a chemical company the right to use these toxins around us and they get to argue proprietary interest is disgusting. We need a new administration in this country!
    www.aftercancernowwhat.wordpress.com

  • Posted By: peichelberger @ 08/22/2008 11:38:18 AM

    Comment: Having been in the well stimulation business for 30+ years I am concerned that this article does not portray fracturing fluids correctly. The fluids are usually water based and very carefully controlled mixtures of common carbohydrates such as guar bean extracts (seen in salad dressings and other foods) or a small amount of water soluble polymers. The polymers used are often of the same class of chemistry as polymers used for drinking water clarification and are denoted as NSF approved (National Sanitation Foundation) for these applications. The use rate of these polymers is very low, often 1/4 of a gallon added to 1,000 gallons of water to make the fracturing fluid. Contrary to what some may think the EPA is very vigilant and very informed about what is going into these fluids. The ecological and toxicological testing to gain acceptance for any fluid or fluid additive is rigorous and involves mammallian, invertibrate, marine freshwater and saltwater toxicology testing, biodegradation studies, biological partition studies, breakdown by product studies among others.
    I am concerned that the way in which this article is written makes it sound like the well stimulation companies are pumping toxic waste or other trash down these wells and that is incorrect. The govermental agencies know what is used in these products in detail. Small unique bits of the chemistry are used to help place sand in the fracture and to help break the fluid viscosity at the comclusion of the job so these may be patented chemistry but this is not some evil game of subtrefuge. We have families and kids and grandkids that we want to have enjoy a world like the one our parents left us. Maybe a better world if we can do it. In my carreer I have worked on drilling fluids made of sorbitol ( a Sugar) and glycerin ( also used in baby shampoo) as well as cornstarch additives for frac fluids and soy bean oil esters for drilling. Every major lab in this industry weather you are in the service provider end of the business as Weatherford or work for one of the chemical suppliers requires that we work with the lowest environmental risk .

  • Posted By: swcooil @ 08/22/2008 10:28:36 AM

    Comment: I've been around hundreds ot frac jobs. Never I have heard or seen anything like this. No one at the job wears chemically protective clothing. There are some "sour" ( H2S ) formations outside DRO that are drilled. Maybe that is the source of the problem. America has to decide - back to the dark ages of no travel and limited power ( like many other countries in the world ), compromise your national security by depending on other countries, or develop your own energy resources. I am all for solar and wind - even nuc's - but oil and gas are the only short term solutions to our needs. Pick then from the list - dark ages, compromised security, or homeland development. Vote your conviction!

  • Posted By: jath123 @ 08/22/2008 7:50:57 AM

    Comment: This Marshall guy seems like a real piece of work. First he rushes to the hospital because he was exposed to hazardouse chemicals during a spill (heaven forbid anything happen to him). Then when interviewed later, claims that there is no way the nurse could have been exposed to any chemicals because of him. Someone needs to check this guy's bank account to see if there have been any large deposits recently.

  • Posted By: tomowens2 @ 08/22/2008 3:18:59 AM

    Comment: It seems to me that hospitals should be prepared to handle chemical spills from these materials if they're in common use. The proprietary interests of well owners and drillers and their suppliers are over-ridden when their tools have the potential to kill or physically damage nurses, doctors, or patients in health care institutions. They should have to disclose the exact ingredients in detail to the public as a health and safety issue.

  • Posted By: vinbeazel @ 08/22/2008 12:57:45 AM

    Comment: After spending three years on well drilling and completion projects in Calif central valley, I was injured by a crushed hand and got out of the oil/gas drilling business, returning to the windpower education and training field. Why am I not surprised that Congress allowed the oil service companies a free pass on the very dangerous chemicals that they dump in the ground? Companies such as Haliburton, who are able to dump any thing into underground wells Can you all smell the cyanide and uranium? What else can we dump in the ground undetected? Wake up america!! this stuff is being dumped with no thought for where it goes underground. We are not powerless to hold these polluters accountable, whether elected or appointed to their offices for life!! Someone should open up the class action and grand jury investigations while there is a trail of suspects to round up...

    If the Attorneys General could prosecute Big Tobacco, they can do the same to Big Oil!! If we do not act our grandchildren will wake up in slavery, because there will be no safe water to draw from the aquifers. Great Story! Visit http://AlternativeEnergy.com and join our live radio and discussion groups.

  • Posted By: God Bless America Demodave @ 08/21/2008 11:16:30 PM

    Comment: thanks oil companies for the good paying jobs, thanks Democrats for nothing but selling out the working man. To China and everyone else. I don't work to pay for your welfare votes Democrat vote is a traitor vote. God Bless our troops and America. Salute the flag or leave Obama.

  • Posted By: sllwakandZ @ 08/21/2008 9:35:20 PM

    Comment: Oil companys for years have done and will do whatever they want to do with little oversight by anyone. I grew up on a small piece of land in colorado with my family untill about 1984 when I moved on. I seen them threw out the early 70's threw the 80's tear up, distroy, contaminate,and abuse so much of the land and people it was sickening. My family still ownes 6 acres with a Gas well on it, We would love to sell it but the land is so contaminated it's useless. We have full mineral rights and have only seen small pitifull checks for the years sense it was drilled. We were given promises by the initial oil drilling company that when they were done that it would seam that theyed never been there. Leaving tons of oil waste and old equipment and unuseable land is their idea of "Never been there". Then when you try to track them down to nail them on the problems they only give you the run around that "Oh were sorry we sold that well to a mexico oil company years ago.There is no Beverly Hill Billy stories for the common man it's just all smoke and mirrors done by oil companys to rob people of what is rightfully theres.

    • Posted By: God Bless America Demodave @ 08/21/2008 11:31:00 PM

      Comment: give you $1000 for the land smells like money to me. Colorada lot of nuts from there lately, Altitude or what did you salute the flag today, oh you're a democrat obama salute the flag you know Old Glory
      God Bless America


  • Posted By: sllwakandZ @ 08/21/2008 9:32:31 PM

    Comment: Oil companys for years have done and will do whatever they want to do with little oversight by anyone. I grew up on a small piece of land in colorado with my family untill about 1984 when I moved on. I seen them threw out the early 70's threw the 80's tear up, distroy, contaminate,and abuse so much of the land and people it was sickening. My family still ownes 6 acres with a Gas well on it, We would love to sell it but the land is so contaminated it's useless. We have full mineral rights and have only seen small pitifull checks for the years sense it was drilled. We were given promises by the initial oil drilling company that when they were done that it would seam that theyed never been there. Leaving tons of oil waste and old equipment and unuseable land is their idea of "Never been there". Then when you try to track them down to nail them on the problems they only give you the run around that "Oh were sorry we sold that well to a mexico oil company years ago.There is no Beverly Hill Billy stories for the common man it's just all smoke and mirrors done by oil companys to rob people of what is rightfully theres.

    • Posted By: God Bless America Demodave @ 08/21/2008 11:13:25 PM

      Comment: thanks oil companies for good paying jobs, i lived thru $20 a barrel years on pennies. bet you guys where using gas like it was going out of style. Al Gore you hipocrit. thanks Democrats for nothing but selling out the working man and America to China and everyone else. God Bless America and or Armed forces you're doing a ftne job. Deomcrat vote is a traitor vote. Salute the flag or America obama and take your unhappy
      wife with you. I work hard for my money, quit trading for welfare votes democrats that was leave America
      obama if old Glory isn't your flag . son of an World War II vet, and proud of it. We believe in America and thank God they fought and won the war. You maybe ashamed obama but i don't think your American anyway.

  • Posted By: sieg6529 @ 08/21/2008 9:34:06 AM

    Comment: The sad truth is that, as long as we have fossil fuels, people are going to get at them. There's too much money in it. The sooner we use the crap up, the sooner we can move on to better energy sources.

  • Posted By: Out4coffee @ 08/21/2008 5:25:18 AM

    Comment: My local newspaper will not print a word of this - our beautiful Ozark region of north central Arkansas is being overrun with these gas wells. Right now within 1200 feet of my back door a new well has been started within the past two weeks - the noise is unrelenting 24 hours a day, the smell as yet not constant is never lhe less out there, some of it smells like WD-40 is as close as I can describe it - I live upwind and uphill thru the woods and up a small creek where they have built a hugh pond that has stopped the flow of the creek and the wildlife has been invaded. This spring's turkey hatch that I see here in my woods yearly did not happen this year, the turkey have all left, the deer and fawns have no peace here, the foxes come right up to the back door - I have to keep my cats indoors now even though I have 25 acres of woods bought just for the privacy and peace and quite and style of life I looked for at retirement. Any day now I expect to be forced to allow a gas pipeline thru my place. It is not an option if the gas people want to do it, they will do it. I have a water well by choice, who knows what is going to happen to my drinking water, who cares? This is not Alaska, this is Arkansas.

  • Posted By: Rocky in NJ @ 08/21/2008 2:31:47 AM

    Comment: Thank you for bringing this to light. It is detestable, but unfortunately, all too predictable. It is symptomatic of the blatant, coldhearted corruption of George W. Bush and the noxious neo-conservatives that have infested all levels of our government. The EPA, OSHA, BLM, HHS, and virtually all other federal agencies, directed to ensure the safety and welfare of the American public, have blatantly disregarded their charter. Worse yet, they have chosen to shelter the oil and gas companies and suppress even minimal levels of scrutiny and oversight that is necessary for the well-being of our people and our resources.

    But why should we be surprised. This administration and their henchmen have done this so many times before with the same disastrous damage to our country: stifling and manipulating intelligence to legitimize the invasion of Iraq, then watching tens, if not hundreds of billions of dollars disappear on the ground, enabling financial institutions to create the multi-trillion dollar credit mess, repressing scientific research and findings on global warming, permitting drug companies to release a slew of dubious and harmful drugs to the marketplace.

    The success of this great country has always depended on individuals and organizations given the freedom to produce, innovate and prosper, with a proper level of guidance and oversight. In the past, we???ve always seemed to be able to find the right mix to keep our country moving forward. Because of their self-righteousness, the Bush Administration seems to feel no compunction for balance: they have all the answers which causes them on one hand to overreach their power by imposing their sadly juvenile ideologies on America and the world, while at the same time turn a blind eye to individuals, corporations and despots who operate unfettered towards their selfish and destructive gains.

    The past eight years may well go down as the darkest moments in our history, because we regressed so badly, destroyed so much and left so little for the future. Recent polls show Americans subconsciously recognize this. Hopefully, Americans consciously will have the character and courage to reverse this devastation. There is no better time to start than in November.

    • Posted By: Naver @ 08/22/2008 10:40:22 AM

      Comment: Bla bla bla Bush's fault bla bla bla. Get real. The oil companies were doing this before Bush was in office and they will be doing it after as well. The problem with this country is Do Nothing, Whine About Everything jerks like you. I bett you drive around in a big SUV. You probably got forclosed on for spending beyond your means as well.

  • Posted By: titanide @ 08/21/2008 1:37:19 AM

    Comment: Since this is the "21st" century we should be looking at all of the alternatives out there. Economics has finally caught up with the car industry. After years of pushing mega vehicles, the consumer is finally forcing manufactures to look at more energy effective means of transportation. I think high fuel prices are having a beneficial effect on the global economy. That is one reason i am against more drilling leases. We are killing our planet.! Maybe The Americian economic system is finally showing it's flaws.

  • Posted By: titanide @ 08/21/2008 1:18:06 AM

    Comment: Since this is the "21st" century we should be looking at all of the alternatives out there. Economics has finally caught up with the car industry. After years of pushing mega vehicles, the consumer is finally forcing manufactures to look at more energy effective means of transportation. I think high fuel prices are having a beneficial effect on the global economy. That is one reason i am against more drilling leases. We are killing our planet.! Maybe The Americian economic system is finally showing it's flaws.

    • Posted By: God Bless America Demodave @ 08/22/2008 6:11:46 PM

      Comment: we been using the same technolgy for 100 years, car industry is to blame. You can make a car get better gas milage than this. But til then drill baby drill . if you guys want to use different fuels for everything, than let's use up the oil in the ground and get on with life. Use nuclear or somethiong you tree huggers need to decide what you want and quit your crying be American I love America and she needs to stay strong. Support your troops the flag the nation we all love. Plenty of places you can move too. Take obama and his mad wife too. obama you should be ashamed Salute the flag or is re3ally your flag?????

  • Posted By: cubeman4 @ 08/21/2008 1:12:17 AM

    Comment: Actually I work out of my home as well.

    Are you inferring that because I'm an American I don't have a conscience? If you met me you'd probably find I'm one of the nicest guys you've ever met. You may think gas is evil, but I see it as fueling our prosperity. I see CAPSLOCK as evil, but you won't see me imposing my will on you or telling you that I know best.

  • Posted By: rbrant @ 08/21/2008 1:11:56 AM

    Comment: If it weren???t for diseases??? there would be no need for penicillin ???drillingoillover?????? with that being said I agree with ragtopdodge, it???s time to grow up and move from nuclear and oil/gas fuels and close this page in the history books, we have destroyed enough natural resources in the name of energy, this country has the opportunity to set the standard and be the world leader in new energy resources and not be held hostage economically and productivity over oil/gas availability.

  • Posted By: cubeman4 @ 08/21/2008 12:59:27 AM

    Comment: So you're saying people should try not to come into contact with chemicals that can BREAK ROCK? Thanks for the update Newsweek.

    "oil/gas is so 20th century"

    Well then you should stop using oil and gas. I hope you don't go anywhere more than a few miles from your house or use plastic. Have fun living in the 19th Century.

    Saying drilling is not the answer to high oil prices is like saying planting more crops is not the answer to a famine. I know most environmentalists are economic socialists, but you still have to recognize the reality of supply and demand.

    • Posted By: valadezaj @ 08/21/2008 1:38:10 AM

      Comment: That's just it it! It's not a problem of supply - entirely. It's the fact the oil companies artificially keep the price up higher then it needs to be. And any oil they do get from drilling isn't going specifically to us anyway. It will be put on the global market and sold to the highest bidder. The real issue is the oil companies themselves and their record profits.

  • Posted By: cruxoftheissue @ 08/21/2008 12:52:46 AM

    Comment: I feel physically sick, reading this article. The things Corporations (who in the end, are just PEOPLE) do! The ARROGANCE of it all! And the corruption and/or apathy of our leaders who ALLOW all this this. It's like the world is run by some underground evil economy. Axis of Evil? Look to our boardrooms!
    How it ever became OK for some company to pump millions of gallons of chemicals into the planet without any oversight to speak of (or at ALL, to any thinking person) is beyond me. Just because you own a peice of property does not mean (or SHOULD not mean) that you have the right to pump chemicals underneath it. I love the comment of the Oil-villian that said legislating disclosure of the chemicals used is like asking Coke for it's cola receipe. Does he even believe that himself? Do these guys ever do ANYTHING other than exploit and lie?
    We can not trust our Energy providers, they are slowing killing us and making a fortune doing it. We can not trust our leadership that panders to them at the public's expense. The only way to kill this infection is to STOP buying their product. They won't stop until we are all living in a cesspool and have sprouted a third eye.
    I'm riding my bike from now on. I can not take this crap any longer.

  • Posted By: ragtopdodge @ 08/21/2008 12:27:24 AM

    Comment: Such stupid ignorant comments here. Why not just keep using whale blubber and oil? Sheet folks, it's the 21st century; why can't we look at alternatives intead of just hunting for whales? Oil/gas is so 20th century.

  • Posted By: drillingoillover @ 08/20/2008 11:58:54 PM

    Comment: obama has absolutely nothing to do with what is right or wrong. If you want to get rid of oil you need to come up with a product that can replace 30 million barrels of oil daily in the manufacture of everything you eat to the pills you take to the plastic bottle you drink your water out of. Wake up America no one can replace this substance overnight or in a decade

    • Posted By: valadezaj @ 08/21/2008 12:14:29 AM

      Comment: Yes I understand that but opening up more land for drilling is not the answer. The way you hear people talk about it's the answer to all of our problems. Aside from the environmental problems it isn't going to help anyways. What this whole thing really amounts to is a giant gimmick by the oil companies to divert attention from the real issues and get more land while they're at it. So now we're being told that instead of blaming the oil companies we're supposed to blame all those who stand in the way of drilling. Pretty clever trick eh?

  • Posted By: valadezaj @ 08/20/2008 11:44:28 PM

    Comment: This highlights even more Obama's failure to stand up for what's right about drilling for oil. He chided Hillary for her gas tax pandering then turns right around and does the same. Shame on Obama. I am so disappointed he and the democrat party as a whole is wavering on this issue.

  • Posted By: drillingoillover @ 08/20/2008 11:44:27 PM

    Comment: it is actually called fracing. The frac fluid is pumped into wells that are typically nine thousand to twenty five thousand feet deep which is way beyond any water wells. The ground water is also isolated behind steel pipe with a cement slurry to help isolate the ground water. Fracing fluid has been in use for decades, I wonder if these same people having problems with it are the same sort of people that would sign Penn and Tellers petition to ban the chemical make up of water. The best advice is to if you don't want oil and gas in your back yard is to quit using anything that involves the use of oil. Of course that would only be the air you breathe and water out of a creek or lake and we all know what that means girardia

  • Posted By: Sickrat @ 08/20/2008 11:27:27 PM

    Comment: This is small change compared to the ubiquitous lead contamination, all because the Big Oil had got a free pass to produce leaded gas for decades, just to make that extra fistful of dollars.

  • Posted By: Silentmajority @ 08/20/2008 11:18:09 PM

    Comment: Another fear-mongering article without any evidence. Ah, how NEWSWEEK it is!

  • Posted By: bgeeor @ 08/20/2008 11:16:23 PM

    Comment: If are goverment had not killed all the programs back in the 70's with the mad oil shaft. We wouldn't be in the same sinking boat again.
    But no the big oil company that run are country with the lackiees we have no brain an put then back in office time and time again . Were just f--king are selves time and time again. If I could only read what I'm typing would help.

    This country is screwed but haven't felt the shaft yet.

  • Posted By: bgeeor @ 08/20/2008 11:09:43 PM

    Comment: If owr goverment had not killed all the programs after the oil madness in the 70's we wouldn't be in this BLACK HOLE were in now... Now will the again screw us and let big oil give us the shaft all over agai. U BET.

    They want the big $$$$ to libe their kid collage and to HELL with us. The Take all the vacations ect on our backs. So vote them back into office and bend over spread you cheeks you'll get the un crease shafe again STUPID.

  • Posted By: JoeSixPack @ 08/20/2008 10:54:59 PM

    Comment: We as citizens of this finest country on earth need to ask ourselves just how much are we willing to sacrifice for cheap fuel??? So it's okay to dump 100,000's of gallons of pollutants into the earth just because they are below the drinking water tables?? How insane is that?? Wake up America - these companies are going to continue to do this as long as you demand cheap sources of fuel and are willing to sacrifice your children's and grandchildren's future for it.................................................

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/20/2008 10:48:29 PM

    Comment: Chevron Headquarters6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
    San Ramon, CA 94583, USA
    Tel. +1 925-842-1000

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/20/2008 10:40:51 PM

    Comment: Chevron has destroyed 2.5 millions of the amazon forests in Ecuador! Toxic waters have reached Peru. Shoot those criminals!

    • Posted By: cubeman4 @ 08/21/2008 1:03:10 AM

      Comment: So you want to murder people for drilling for oil, which I'm guessing you use almost every day. That begs the question: doesn't that mean you should kill yourself?

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/20/2008 10:38:51 PM

    Comment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MBJnnk6bBo
    CHEVRON: THE BLACK PLAGUE OF THE ECUADORIAN AMAZON.
    Please, watch the video and denounce them.

  • Posted By: CJ66 @ 08/20/2008 9:50:23 PM

    Comment: I drive a toyota and it gets pretty good mileage, but I drive a whole lot less these days. Yes, we are all responsible! And we could force them out of business by turning out the lights, and doing a lot of things differently! Gas consumption is already down. Way down! Oil prices did drop. We could cut them off at the pump, by simply staying at the house when we didn't have to drive. Most of what they are drilling for is gas, right now, for power plants. We should just turn out the lights in the cities at night and it would make it so unprofitable to drill(it is very expensive) that they would just go out of business. We could save the planet, people, just by being TRULY CONSERVATIVE. We don't need all this crap we think we have to have. It's just a bunch of junk.

  • Posted By: OBWan @ 08/20/2008 9:33:13 PM

    Comment: Drill Here and Drill Now - John (I don't give a damn about the environment) McCain.

    So what if we kill a few billion people - they are not Republicans anyway.

    • Posted By: anon51 @ 08/21/2008 3:06:52 AM

      Comment: where you find a billion people to kill? US have only 300 million people, okay 330 million if you include the Canadian.

      • Posted By: OBWan @ 08/22/2008 9:50:42 PM

        Comment: Anon51 - This is a parody - can't you tell - of course the are not a billion people in the US, but there are what 7Billion in the world.

    • Posted By: cubeman4 @ 08/21/2008 1:04:50 AM

      Comment: Name one person ever killed by oil.

      This rantic about killing billions of people makes you sound like a lunatic.

      • Posted By: OBWan @ 08/22/2008 9:52:49 PM

        Comment: cubeman4 - from seattlepi.com - the numbers are from the oil industry itself.

        BP refinery deaths top industry in U.S.
        Fatalities 10 times those of Exxon Mobil

        By LISE OLSEN
        THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE

        BP leads the U.S. refining industry in deaths over the past decade, with 22 fatalities since 1995 -- more than a quarter of those killed in refineries nationwide, an analysis of industry statistics, news accounts and accident reports shows.

    • Posted By: Braes @ 08/20/2008 9:34:32 PM

      Comment: He is a sick crazed old man. I could never vote for a Republican ever again after Bush.

      • Posted By: drillingoillover @ 08/21/2008 12:12:23 AM

        Comment: if it weren't for oil and gas you wouldn't be able to post your stupid comments on the internet

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/20/2008 9:27:35 PM

    Comment: Anyone driving a gas guzzler is responsible as much as these greedy oil companies for the environmental and human destruction, imposed in those 3rd world countries.
    Support the indegenous indians of Peru and ecuador as well as the nigerian people.

  • Posted By: CJ66 @ 08/20/2008 9:18:03 PM

    Comment: Greedy people don't care about others' lives. It has taken me a year to get somewhat normal after all the exposure to the chemicals. Besides that, there is the obvious damage to the environment. No one can be taken seriously if they think that climate change is not a threat. What is really the clincher is that we will end up paying billions, maybe trillions to fix the problems(environment and roads) after the gas and oil are gone, gone, gone. If we are still alive to do it.

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/20/2008 9:14:55 PM

    Comment: Rivers in the amazon are all polluted, fish dying by the millions!! the amazon are the lungs of this planet. IT HAS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COST!

    • Posted By: LIKEITIS @ 08/23/2008 10:59:24 AM

      Comment: IF THE AMAZON IS THE LUNGS OF THE PLANET, WILDLIFEUSA MUST BE THE BUNG HOLE OF THE PLANET!

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/20/2008 9:13:39 PM

    Comment: Chevron head quarter: Tel. +1 925-842-1000
    Also call the ambassy of Peru and ask them not to sell their amazon forests to oil companies.
    NO DRILLING IN THE AMAZON!!!! GET OUT OF NIGERIA OR CLEAN UP YOUR MESS!!!
    NIGERIA IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER!!
    SUPPORT THE REBELS WHICH ARE THE OWNER OF THE LAND!

  • Posted By: CJ66 @ 08/20/2008 9:07:46 PM

    Comment: This is the most dangerous job in the country, and people do die. Maybe the chemicals make them so stupid they don't complain or maybe they just get a new crop of dummies to replace the ones that say "no more". No doubt they are well-paid to keep quiet. Get real about this. It is a serious problem. The chemicals do come up in the water, as they have here, and lawsuits have been filed.

  • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/20/2008 9:05:13 PM

    Comment: http://www.newsweek.com/id/154394/page/2

    This is the link all american should see. Companies like Chevron have no regard for life or the environment. They have polluted and poisoned millions of acres in the amazon, in countries like Ecuador and Nigeria in Africa, not only that, they will kill anyone opposing them from drilling! Now they are buying land in the peruvian amazon to do the same thing. They bribe government of poor countries, poison and kill their indigenous people who are the true owners of these lands and forests, get all their can and leave without cleaning their toxic wastes. The cleaning of their mess in the amazon is estimated at 6 billion dollars!!
    These oil companies needs to be denouced and their CEO's and other executives need to be jailed for life. They are the biggest criminals on earth. Please watch videos above. Thanks.

    • Posted By: drillingoillover @ 08/21/2008 12:07:58 AM

      Comment: Actually I worked for Chevron in Papua New Guinea and none of this took place. But you probably got to continue to drive to work and I would bet that your car or public transportation or bicycle was run or made or both using oil. What exactly have you done to ween yourself off oil?

      • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/21/2008 1:10:33 AM

        Comment: And I will tell you, as one of my good friend, french born in ivory coast and now working for Total in negeria, he said the pollution in nigeria by oil companies is horrible.!!
        Pollution by Chevron and companies is a fact. Watch the videos I posted and tell me it is a lie.

      • Posted By: wildlifeusa @ 08/21/2008 1:04:49 AM

        Comment: I will tell you what i do. I WORK OUT OF MY HOME!! And I drive my honda as little as possible, when only necessary. Also as a european, I have a conscience!

        • Posted By: Naver @ 08/22/2008 12:40:26 PM

          Comment: wwildlifeusa...odd name for someon who is french born....anyway....yes getting and refining oil causes polution. And I am happy that you want to stop it. However if you stop all oil drilling and refining you can say goodbye to...modern houses, cars, airplanes, plastics, rubber, your solar panels, wind generators, modern windows, almost all safety gear, sunglasses, a lot of your cloths, most medicines...oh you would also get rid of around a billion jobs... so good luck with that.

        • Posted By: God Bless America Demodave @ 08/21/2008 10:50:26 PM

          Comment: thanks oil companies for good paying jobs, thanks democrats for nothing, but selling out the working man.
          to china and everybody else. thank you armed forces of America for doing a good job protecting us. Vote democrat vote traitor. America God Bless You.

        • Posted By: LIKEITIS @ 08/21/2008 2:36:57 PM

          Comment: GIVE ME A BREAK!

  • Posted By: CJ66 @ 08/20/2008 9:02:48 PM

    Comment: The other day the chemical plant where they make these chemicals burned, and if anyone could have heard the fireman at the scene, as I did, they would know it is time to shut these operations down. This is disaster in the making. --- Across the road from me is a well that went in last year, and the chemicals rolled up the hill and into my house. They don't give a damn about anyone. They are just plain greedy.


    • Posted By: drillingoillover @ 08/21/2008 12:02:59 AM

      Comment: rolled up the hill? you better get a patent on that

  • Posted By: Bernhard Meck @ 08/20/2008 9:00:24 PM

    Comment: Well here we see the limits of what is possible when all domestic ressources are tapped and maxed out. Maybe those environmentalists, 'damn liberals' and democrats are not such bad guys after all. Regulation is not a bad thing when you see what the other side of no or little regulation... let's face it: conservation and getting off the SUV-guzzling addiction may not hurt after all. It may actually buy some time and preserve reserves for later generations who may possibly extract it cost-effectively and safe! Maybe they would like to have some oil too, just enough to make medicines and plastics with!?

  • Posted By: drjtoday @ 08/20/2008 8:55:01 PM

    Comment: By reacting without suffcient information, articles like these keep alive the myth that oil and gas companies have no regard for safety or the environment. It would seem that since thousands of operations such as the ones mentioned in this article take place around the world everyday., if people were getting sick or dying as a result you would be very hard pressed to find anyone to perform the job. Probably the same reason people wear seat belts when they drive or cook their food before eating. Making gradiose statements in regard the the energy business only hurts...everyone.

    • Posted By: maxbear @ 08/22/2008 1:19:50 AM

      Comment: Your all crazy as hell! Always blameing someone else for your problems ,Look in the God Dam Mirror ,You want to blame Bush for everything ,Your so stuppid you wouldn't see the truth if it was sitting on your noze! Wake up and take responcablitiety for your own actions,You can sit around and cry and feel sorry for your self or take your life in to your hands and do something about it!!! ,Like stop buying the gasoline ,start protesting ,But for God! sake don't vote for a do nothing Demacrat ,ha ha ha!! There part of the problem ,There lyers and cheats ,Your getting the Goverment you Deserve!

 
 
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