Toxins Leak into North Carolina River [Again]

UPDATED on February 20, 2014

CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
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Dan River water samples show elevated levels of arsenic

Groundwater is showing elevated levels of arsenic reportedly leaking from a Duke Energy coal ash dump in Eden, North Carolina into the Dan River, which was already contaminated following a massive spill on February 2.

The discharge from a large stormwater pipe under a coal ash dump was the second so far this month at the Eden plant.

“The duration and volume of the discharge are not known.” Duke Energy said. [More likely, they are unwilling to disclose the extent of damage. Editor]

DUKE-ENERGY is preventing FIRE-EARTH moderators in FIVE locations from accessing its website.

When tried to access their website using a different system we received the following WARNING:

The first [known] spill at Dan River Steam Station, a Duke Energy retired power plant in Eden, NC, occurred on February 2, 2014, when another broken stormwater pipe located under a 27-acre ash pond released about 27 million gallons of ash basin water, according to the company.

Close up of excavation and pipe work inside the Dan River ash basin. Source: Duke Energy

Earlier this month FIRE-EARTH commented:

Other than for obvious reasons, there were no immediate comments from Duke Energy as to why the ash pond was built over a stormwater pipe and so close to Dan River, nor any reason why the largest electricity provider in the U.S. failed to remove the toxic ash nearly two years after the plant was retired.

Source: Duke Energy

Aerial view of the retired Dan River Steam Station and ash basins in North Carolina. Source: Duke Energy [This photo taken on February 5, 2014 shows the primary basin almost completely drained into Dan River.]

On January 12, 2014 FIRE-EARTH said [but was censored by Google, WordPress and others]

If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate…[IT WILL]

Estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites across the U.S. can potentially explode, leak, contaminate the environment—FIRE-EARTH

United States is dotted with an estimated 100,000 HAZMAT storage sites containing one or more of deadly substances including radioactive, biohazardous, toxic, explosive, flammable, asphyxiating, corrosive, oxidizing, pathogenic, or allergenic materials, as well as herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers that don’t fall into those categories.

Some of the substances (hazchems), which include more than 200 types of dioxins, are so lethal that even a small leak into the water supply could kill or permanently harm millions of people, before they are detected.

Related Links

• Up to 27 Million Gallons of Coal Ash Spill into Dan River, NC February 7, 201

• If Anything Can Explode, Leak, Contaminate… January 12, 2014
• UPDATE: Hundreds are Sick after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014
• 737 People Reported Sickness after West Virgina Water Pollution January 11, 2014

• UPDATED: State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
• State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia due to Chemical Spill January 10, 2014
• State of Emergency Declared in West Virginia after Chemical Spill  January 10, 2014

Tap Water Catches Fire in North Dakota

FRACKED IN NORTH DAKOTA
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N.D. resident sets tap water on fire

Jacob Haughney, who works in North Dakota oil fields, has made a video in which he sets his tap water on fire with a lighter.

There’s “nothing like a refreshing glass of fire…  First time I did it, it was a huge fireball [and] took up the entire sink—so that’s why I’m a little jumpy doing it. I don’t want to blow up the bathroom here,” he explains, laughing during the demonstration.

How to set tap water on fire in two steps, as shown by the N.D. resident Jacob Haughney.

High concentration of methane in the water may be responsible  for the flammable water, according to the experts.

North Dakota has experienced a fracking boom over the past few years. It’s currently the second largest oil-producing state in the US, with about 912,000 barrels of shale gas per day.

Gasland 2010

In the 2010 award winning documentary “Gasland 2010,”  filmmaker Josh Fox travel across 32 states meeting other rural residents on the front lines of fracking. “He discovers toxic streams, ruined aquifers, dying livestock, brutal illnesses, and kitchen sinks that burst into flame.”

GASLAND Trailer 2010

Never Mind the Frigging Environment, Fracking Must GO ON!

Don’t “short-circuit America’s absolute explosion in energy opportunity” —USCC President Donohue

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study on fracking, due to be released in 2014, could be used to justify clamping down on the environmentally disastrous technique, which has caused a surge in U.S. oil and natural gas production, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC) President Thomas Donohue.

“This could short-circuit America’s absolute explosion in energy opportunity that is creating millions of jobs,” he told business leaders, warning the rules were hurting the economy and “undermining freedom.”

The counter argument offered by critics of fracking, including numerous environmentalists, is that a major shift to alternative energy sources would create at least twice as many permanent jobs as the fickle fracking industry could ever offer.

Water Contamination from Shale Gas Drilling. Source. Image may be subject to copyright. “The major concern with shale gas drilling is the chemicals used in the process. Because the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted hydraulic fracturing from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, shale gas drillers don’t have to disclose what chemicals they use.”  Gas drilling companies maintain that the gas drilling technique they use, called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is safe. However, based on observation of the drinking water in numerous drilling areas, and the fate of many people who live near the drilling rigs, who are afflicted with serious health conditions, we know that fracking contaminates groundwater with dangerous chemicals.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a messy technique that involves forcing large volumes of pressurized chemical fluids and sand deep underground to crack rocks and free trapped oil and natural gas.

“Many believe it will be the rationalization of new federal fracking regulations before the end of this administration,” said Donohue, reported Reuters.

Thomas J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, talks to [retired] Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the kickoff of the Military Spouse Employment Partnership at the chamber in Washington, D.C., June 29, 2011. Public Domain Photo.

The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest business lobbying group in the U.S., and a major force in the national politics.

Related Links

• Texas is Fracked! August 19, 2013
• Two More Quakes Strike North Texas Posted on November 29, 2013
• Significant Radioactivity, Salts, Metals Detected at Pennsylvania Fracking Site Posted on October 3, 2013
• Fracking Fluid Likely Killed Threatened Kentucky Fish: USGS Posted on August 30, 2013
• Fracking Pollutes Drinking Water Posted on May 10, 2011
• Ozone Hole, Fracking and Other Issues Posted on April 22, 2011
• Philadelphia: Public Health Prevails Over Private Wealth Posted on March 26, 2010
• Big Oil Hires Top Environmental Assassins March 26, 2010

[Search blog contents, where it hasn’t been fracked (hacked), for other links on fracking.]