EC August 2013

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FW: WV Coal Association Chairman Files for Chapter 11 for Coal Company and Longview Power Plant
by Frank Young 31 Aug '13

31 Aug '13

_____ From: The Power Line [mailto:comment-reply@wordpress.com] Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 12:05 PM To: fyoung(a)mountain.net Subject: [New post] WV Coal Association Chairman Files for Chapter 11 for Coal Company and Longview Power Plant Bill posted: "I don't usually post about the WV coal industry, unless there is a connection to electricity issues. In the past week, just such a story dropped into my lap. WV Coal Association Chairman James Laurita, Morgantown coal baron, filed for Chapter 11 reorgan" Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on The Power Line <http://s.wordpress.com/i/emails/blavatar-default.png> <http://calhounpowerline.com/author/ourlinksblog/> <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/> WV Coal Association Chairman Files for Chapter 11 for Coal Company and Longview Power Plant by <http://calhounpowerline.com/author/ourlinksblog/> Bill I don't usually post about the WV coal industry, unless there is a connection to electricity issues. In the past week, just such a story dropped into my lap. WV Coal Association Chairman James Laurita, Morgantown coal baron, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in federal bankruptcy court. <http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file- for-bankruptcy/> Here is a link to Ken Ward's post about the situation, including some very interesting links to the bankruptcy filing, in particular <https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/782015/keffer-affid avit.pdf> an affidavit filed by Longview CEO Jeffery Keffer. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about the situation after you read Mr. Keffer's affidavit. To me, the whole Longview project looks like one big charlie foxtrot from start to finish. Laurita is the current scion of the family that has owned MEPCo, a coal company that operates in the Morgantown area. It appears that MEPCo had no experience with operating a coal-fired power plant, but that is just what they contracted for in the 2000s. Remember that the 2000s were the go-go years of deregulated electricity. Suckers were pulled into the market by hucksters like Enron's Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. It appears that the Laurita family took the bait and ventured into a quagmire. They contracted with Siemans and Foster Wheeler, to international power plant giants, to build them a $2 billion plant with a rated capacity of only 695 megawatts. Those number alone indicate how crazy the scheme must have been. Laurita, of course, blames the contractors for all his problems. But that is just like a coal industry executive. And now everyone is suing everyone else. Throughout the bankruptcy filing, Laurita continues to claim that if the plant were working perfectly, his companies would be making money. Meanwhile, here in the real world, things are different. Here's how Mr. Keffer explains the current situation: 31. The Debtors' ability to manage through the challenges arising from the Contractors' Failures have also been affected by the current economic environment. Wholesale electricity prices have fallen significantly since construction on the Power Facility began in 2007 as a result of, among other things, the broader recession that commenced around that time, resulting in reduced electricity demand and substantial reductions in natural gas prices. Lower natural gas prices have been caused, at least in part, by the rapid expansion of natural gas production and natural gas inventories arising from the discovery of new shale deposits and the development of new extraction techniques. The presence of low-price natural gas reduces the variable costs of natural-gas fired power facilities and reduces the wholesale market price for all generators. Year-to-date, the average price per megawatt for electricity sold into the PJM on a day-ahead basis was approximately $33 per megawatt-hour-approximately 52 percent of the average power price forecasted for 2013 when construction began on the Power Facility in 2007. 32. Wholesale coal prices have also continued to fall as global markets face oversupply and as U.S. power generators have continued to shift away from coal fired technologies. The Debtors believe this shift results from, among other things, increased costs associated with environmental and regulatory compliance and pressures resulting from fierce industry competition with natural gas-fired power facilities. The coal industry as a whole has idled mines and reduced production in order to compete. 33. Moreover, the power generation and coal production industries are highly competitive on both a regional and national level. For example, Mepco does not compete solely with other regional mines, but also competes against national and international competitors that transport coal into the region. Similarly, Longview Power competes to deliver electricity to PJM against other coal-fired power generation stations as well as natural gas-fired power, nuclear power, and renewable energy, among other sources. This competitive environment has added anadditional layer of complexity to the Debtors' existing challenges. Translation: "We drank the kool-aid in the early 2000s and thought that Cheney would kill renewable power forever and that the Cheney administration would create the perfect environment for coal-fired generation." Instead of taking responsibility for making a $2 billion mistake, Keffer starts the next paragraph this way: 34. The Debtors, however, believe they can compete effectively once they are no longer hamstrung by the Contractors' Failures. As noted above, the Power Facility uses designs, equipment, processes, and technology that have made it one of the most efficient coal-fired power plants in the country-when the Power Facility can operate at full capacity. Note that "when" in the last sentence. That should be an "if." And we know that "if" is fantasy. The drop in demand is not the result of "the recession," but a long term trend, something acknowledged by everyone in the electricity business (except Mr. Laurita and Mr. Keffer). Early in his affidavit, Mr. Keffer states: "the Power Facility has only had a capacity factor of 68 percent since Longview Power took possession [in December 2011]." Hey, compared with other coal fired merchant plants in PJM, that 68% capacity factor looks pretty good. The current capacity factor for "steam" generators, almost entirely coal fired plants, in the most recent quarterly report by the PJM market monitor is 48.5%. The market monitor lists the Jan-June 2012 capacity factor for PJM steam generators at 41.4%. If Longview can't make money with a capacity factor significantly higher than other coal fired generators, their prospects for the future look grim, contractor problems or not. <http://calhounpowerline.com/author/ourlinksblog/> Bill | August 31, 2013 at 12:05 pm | Tags: <http://calhounpowerline.com/?tag=falling-demand> Falling Demand | Categories: <http://calhounpowerline.com/?cat=1> Uncategorized | URL: <http://wp.me/piwFb-1Tj> http://wp.me/piwFb-1Tj <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/#respond> Comment <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/#comments> See all comments Unsubscribe or change your email settings at <https://subscribe.wordpress.com/?key=973223b16743effc39ef5047389b30e8&email =fyoung%40mountain.net> Manage Subscriptions. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: <http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-f or-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/> http://calhounpowerline.com/2013/08/31/wv-coal-association-chairman-files-fo r-chapter-11-for-coal-company-and-longview-power-plant/ <http://wordpress.com> Thanks for flying with WordPress.com <http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=calhounpowerline.wordpress.com&blog=4 415465&post=7273&subd=calhounpowerline&ref=&email=1&email_o=wpcom>

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Fwd: Longview tumbling
by James Kotcon 30 Aug '13

30 Aug '13

FYI. JBK Begin forwarded message: From: Bill Bishop <bbish(a)austin.rr.com> Date: August 30, 2013, 9:32:27 AM CDT To: Oliver Bernstein <oliver.bernstein(a)gmail.com> Subject: tumbling Longview Power, MEPCO file for bankruptcyAugust 30, 2013 by Ken Ward Jr. ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/files/2013/08/longview.jpg ) Here’s today’s news from Longview Power and MEPCO: Longview Power, LLC today announced that it and certain of its affiliates, including Mepco Holdings, LLC and its affiliates, commenced Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Both Longview and Mepco intend to operate their businesses as they continue to negotiate a chapter 11 plan with their lenders to de-risk their balance sheet. Longview ( http://www.longviewpower.com/ ), of course, operates a fairly new coal-fired power plant outside of Morgantown. And MEPCO’s CEO is James Laurita Jr., the chairman of the West Virginia Coal Association. There’s more background here ( http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/19/idUSWNA950020120619 ). Here’s the rest of their press release: When able to operate at full capacity, Longview’s 700 megawatt supercritical coal fired power generation facility is one of the most efficient coal-fired power plants in the country and has one of the lowest air emissions profiles of any such power plant. Construction failures and defects have prevented the power plant from operating reliably at its designed capacity. Longview’s Mepco affiliate and its predecessors have engaged in coal mining and processing operations in and around West Virginia for more than 50 years. Currently, Mepco owns or operates three active underground coal mines and one active surface mine located in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. “After careful consideration of available alternatives, the Company determined that filing for Chapter 11 was a necessary and prudent step that allows us to strengthen and operate our businesses without interruption while continuing to restructure the Company’s balance sheet,” said Jeffery Keffer, CEO of Longview Power. “The Company has been in consensual negotiations with our senior lenders toward a Chapter 11 plan to maximize value; those negotiations remain ongoing. We remain confident that the Company and our lenders will reach an agreement on the terms of a Chapter 11 plan in the near term.” “I want to make clear that we will continue to conduct business as usual and our operations and employees will not be affected by the Chapter 11 filing,” Jim Laurita, Jr., CEO of Mepco added. “We will continue to provide our customers with the level of service they have come to expect from this great company and its employees. This is the best option the Company has to negotiate its balance sheet with the Company’s lenders.” The Company has filed customary, so-called “first day” motions to ensure the Company obtains the benefits of the Chapter 11 filing and continues to operate its business in the ordinary course and without interruption. The Company expects that these motions will be heard by the Court immediately after Labor Day and will continue to operate in the ordinary course in the meantime. Employees should expect that all payroll and benefits will continue as they have without interruption. The Company has engaged Lazard as its investment banker and Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC as its restructuring advisor. The Company is represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, as primary restructuring counsel, and Dentons US LLP for all issues related to Longview’s pending arbitration proceedings. More Sharing ServicesShare ( http://addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=300&username=xa-4d2b47597ad291fb )|Share on print ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… )Share on facebook ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… )Share on twitter ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… )Share on email ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ) This entry was posted on Friday, August 30, 2013 at 9:19 am and is filed under Business ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/category/business/ ), Uncategorized ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/category/uncategorized/ ). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ) feed. You can leave a response ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ), or trackback ( http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2013/08/30/longview-power-mepco-file-… ) from your own site Bill Bishop 1415 Alameda Dr. Austin, TX 78704 512.428.9067 ( tel:512.428.9067 ) 512.636.9057 ( tel:512.636.9057 ) mobile www.dailyyonder.com -- Eitan Bencuya National Communications Strategist Sierra Club 202-495-3047 ( tel:202-495-3047 ) o 415-255-5521 ( tel:415-255-5521 ) m eitan.bencuya(a)sierraclub.org -- Kim Teplitzky Deputy Press Secretary, Northeast & Mid-Atlantic Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign Pittsburgh, Pa 412-802-6161 (o) 267-307-4707 (c) skype: kim.teplitzky @kim_t

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Fwd: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Background: How Solar and EVs Will Kill the Last of the Industry Dinosaurs
by James Kotcon 29 Aug '13

29 Aug '13

I have been saying this for a year, now it looks like experts are saying it too. JBK ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Edward Mainland <emainland(a)comcast.net> Date: Sat, Aug 24, 2013 at 6:27 PM Subject: [GW-ACT-LEADERS] Background: How Solar and EVs Will Kill the Last of the Industry Dinosaurs To: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS(a)lists.sierraclub.org How solar and EVs will kill the last of the industry dinosaurs ( http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/how-solar-and-evs-will-kill-last-of-industr… ) By Giles Parkinson August 23, 2013 >From ReNewEconomy Several years ago, Tony Seba, an energy expert from Stanford University, published a book called Solar Trillions, predicting how solar technologies would redefine the world’s energy markets and create an investment opportunity worth tens of trillions of dollars. Most people looked at him, he says, as if he had three heads. That was possibly because the book was written before the recent plunge in the cost of solar modules had taken effect, and before most incumbent utilities had woken up to the fact that solar – even with minor penetration levels – was turning their business models upside down. Seba is now working on a new book, with even more dramatic forecasts than his first. His new prediction is that by 2030, solar will make the fossil fuel industry more or less redundant. Even more striking is his forecast that electric vehicles will do the same thing to the oil industry by around the same date. The predictions are made on the basis that the cost of solar and EV batteries will continue to fall, while the cost to consumers of sourcing energy from fossil fuels through the grid or liquid fuels will continue to rise. Before the decade is out, Seba says, both technologies will pass a tipping point that will eventually sweep the incumbents aside, just as technology and cost developments have done in the computer, internet, media, photographic and telecommunications industries. “I am incredibly optimistic that by 2030, nuclear, coal, gas, big hydro, and oil will be all but obsolete,” Seba told RenewEconomy in an interview in San Francisco last month. “The world will be mostly powered by solar and wind, and most new vehicles will be electric. The architecture of energy markets is going from centralized to distributed – in liquids and the electric market.” The working title for the book is “Disrupting energy – how Silicon Valley is making coal, nuclear, oil and gas obsolete.” It is pinned on the theme that decentralised generation and storage will replace the centralised, hub and spoke model that has prevailed for the last century. The impact of decentralised generation is already being felt. The striking part of Seba’s prediction is the speed with which it will happen. First, on the technology cost issue. For EVs, Seba says the success of Tesla – in sales and in reputation – has changed the conversation around EVs, particularly after it won the 2013 Car of the Year award. “Basically, EVs were supposed to be expensive and underpowered and weak and 50 years away. Tesla showed all that was wrong. The EV will do to oil what solar will do to coal, nuclear and gas. EVs are a disruptive technology, there is no doubt about that. “The propaganda says that it is too expensive and has little range. But if you look at the cost curve of batteries, even Detroit is saying that by 2020 lithium-ion batteries will be at $US200/kWh. “The tipping point for the mass market to move from internal combustion engines to EVs is between $US250 and $US300/kWh. Once it gets to $US100/kWh, it is all over. I think we will get to $US250/kWh by 2020. By 2030, when batteries are at $100/kWh, gasoline vehicles will be obsolete. Not on their way out, obsolete.” Seba thinks that mass migration will start around 2018 to 2020. On solar it is a similar story. “When I wrote my first book, a lot of people looked at me like I had three heads,” Seba says. “They thought I was way too optimistic because the conversation then was about grid parity for solar in 2060, or 2070. “And what you hear is the same thing we heard 20 years ago, that this is not going to happen, that it is difficult, that power needs specialised scale, that it can only be done like this. When in fact, over the last few years, a country like Germany has pioneered the move from a few dozen central power plants to more than a million producers. “Australia has done the same thing. Bangladesh has a million solar installations. So the poorest people in one of the poorest countries are adopting solar unsubsidised. Solar is already cheaper than grid – what people are paying for electricity – in dozens of countries already. And that is despite huge fossil fuel subsidies. “The sun is more democratic than any other source of energy. Coal is in pockets, gas is in pockets, oil is in pockets. The sun shines a little bit more in some places than others, but everyone gets sunshine. And the thing about solar, is that it can be built on a distributed basis.” Can solar really be built on a scale that would meet the bulk of the world’s electricity needs? Seba points to the computer industry, where he worked in the 1990s, and to the internet and telecommunications. All three were dominated by huge, centralised technologies. All three industries have been turned upside down by new “distributed”, or hand-held devices. He says the same thing will happen in electricity. “This is not in the future. We are going from big centralised power plants to decentralised generation, to decentralised storage, and to decentralised distribution. “It is just a matter of policy makers understanding this and making regulations appropriately. In India, about $30-40 billion goes to subsidise diesel. The grid there is already obsolete. It went down and 500 million people didn’t notice, because they are not on the grid. “If they stop subsidising diesel and put it into solar, they could bring 100 million people a year into solar. If all you do is stop subsidising diesel, you can, in five years, bring solar electricity to 500 million people who are not on the grid today. The biggest threat from all this radical change is to the traditional utility model, Seba says. “Utilities as we know them are over. They are the land line telephone companies of 20, 30 years ago. We will start using them as back-up, as world goes distributed and every house has solar, and factories do the same, and they are stuck with these stranded investments. “What they will try to do is to keep jacking up prices – which makes solar even more affordable. It will be this death spiral. You will see bankruptcies. Finally, it will not make sense. He says markets will be redesigned, and there will be huge opportunities for new companies – he dubs them the Ebays of the electricity world – that can aggregate and trade distributed production, and that can manage the process. “You will need a market, but instead of assuming 10 or 100 producers, you will need market that assumes million or tens of millions of power producers. So you will need some companies that can do that. Markets will get interesting – storing, trading etc. there will be huge opportunities for innovative companies. “And then you need to know how to manage energy without thinking about it. Most of us don’t know enough. We don’t know enough about cars. Why ask same of consumers for electricity. “So companies will do that – they will do that better than utilities do. The Nests, the Apples, Googles, Sungevity, and Suncity, are getting into the home, and getting trust of consumer. “Most consumers don’t trust utilities, but utilities don’t understand this, because they treat consumers like ratepayers. When you buy a car, or a shirt you are treated well. But in the electricity industry, you are not. “The big conversation is about solar panels, and storage and EVs, but that is just beginning of the conversation. We have so many other technologies that will change the way electricity is traded, used, stored. Utilities have no idea about that.” So, what could possibly go wrong? Well, policy will be critical, and right now the conservative right is lined up against renewable and disruptive technologies, and firmly on the side of the incumbents. Seba doesn’t understand why. “In ideological terms, there is no more libertarian energy source than solar. Why do libertarians, at least in the US, align themselves with conservative parties? “Why are they supporting coal and big refineries and power generation? Ideologically it makes no sense. Part of what is going on is an information war. $8 trillion can buy you a lot of information, and can help you spread a lot of misinformation. “ __._,_.___ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS list, send any message to: CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-CHAIRS-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp

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Check this out
by Beth Little 29 Aug '13

29 Aug '13

This is an old ad from when Exxon was Humble Oil (which became Standard Oil in the interim) - actually BRAGGING about melting glaciers. http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/what-would-the-humble-oil -ad-look-like-today.html

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Fwd: [fom] FW:] MANCHIN TO CHAIR CONGRESSIONAL FIELD HEARING ON THE FUTURE OF THE COAL INDUSTRY
by James Kotcon 28 Aug '13

28 Aug '13

Is anyone interested in organizing something? I'm available! JBK >>> Bill Price <bill.price(a)sierraclub.org> 8/28/2013 3:00 PM >>> Jim, See below. Maybe some activists can show up. Bill Price, Organizing Representative >>>>> >From Senator Manchin’s office: August 27, 2013 Contact: Jonathan Kott 202-228-1810 ( tel:202-228-1810 ) MANCHIN TO CHAIR CONGRESSIONAL FIELD HEARING ON THE FUTURE OF THE COAL INDUSTRY Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) will host a Congressional field hearing in Morgantown, WV to examine the current state of coal-generated electricity in U.S. power markets and the challenges and opportunities the coal industry faces in the future. Senator Manchin serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. A list of witnesses will be available later in the week. Senator Manchin will be available before the hearing to speak with members of the media. WEDNESDAY, September 4 Participate in Press Opportunity before the Energy Field Hearing When: 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Where: West Virginia University’s Erickson Alumni Center, Kennedy Club Room (Room 102), One Alumni Drive, Morgantown. What: Senator Manchin will deliver remarks and take questions from the media regarding energy policy during this press opportunity. PLEASE NOTE: Members of the media who wish to cover this event, must RSVP to Deputy State Director Sara Payne Scarbro at sara_payne(a)manchin.senate.gov. Email Subject Line: FIELD HEARING. Will Host ENR Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Public Field Hearing _______________________________________________ CCC.justice mailing list CCC.justice(a)lists.citizenscoalcouncil.org http://lists.citizenscoalcouncil.org/listinfo.cgi/ccc.justice-citizenscoalc… -- Debbie Jarrell Co-Director Coal River Mountain Watch The outcome is the action as well as inaction of us all. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SLu4FyUQjsQ

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from High Country News: New tech to trace fracking fluid could mean more accountability
by Paul Wilson 27 Aug '13

27 Aug '13

New tech to trace fracking fluid could mean more accountability Document Actions - Share this: - Like<http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-…> - Tweet<http://twitter.com/home?source=highcountrynews&status=New+tech+to+trace+fra…> - Tip Jar<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-technology-oil-and-gas-drilling-regu…> - Email<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-technology-oil-and-gas-drilling-regu…> - Print this - Comments (4)<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/fracking-technology-oil-and-gas-drilling-regu…> Tay Wiles<http://www.hcn.org/@@search?portal_type%3Alist=Blog+Post&Creator=taywiles@h…> | Aug 22, 2013 02:55 PM <http://www.hcn.org/@@search?portal_type%3Alist=Blog+Post&Creator=taywiles@h…> As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency comes under fire for abandoning studies that linked contaminated water to hydraulic fracturing, and oil and gas companies consider how to fix their public image around<http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/can-the-oil-and-gas-industry-fix-its-public-i…> the issue, states<http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovHickenlooper/CBON/1251611065764> are trying to figure out how much transparency to demand from the industry. Meanwhile, researchers are racing to find the most effective tracer to mix with fracking fluid that could dramatically change how the industry works. This fall, a company founded by scientists from Rice University in Houston will conduct a field test of a tracer made with what chemistry and materials science professor Andrew Barron believes is the key ingredient to success: nano rust. Barron and other researchers hope this tracer will settle once and for all whether oil and gas companies are damaging drinking water, and, in the event of contamination, allow communities to determine who – or what – is at fault. [image: pavilion.jpg] <http://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/images-2/pavilion.jpg>A hydraulic fracturing site near Platteville, Colorado. “People (with contaminated wells) usually say (I know it was fracking) ‘because I’ve got methane in my water,’” Barron said. “(But) it’s difficult to discern whether it’s from one source or another.” With new tracer technology to help narrow it down, “It may turn out it was Halliburton that contaminated your water, and in another case, it may turn out it’s the municipal dump that’s dumping into a stream that has ground water close to it.” For their field test, Barron’s company will mix nano rust particles into at least two million gallons of fracking fluid before pumping it into the ground for hydraulic fracturing <http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing> (a process that uses pressurized water, sand and chemicals<http://democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Hyd…> to break up rock and release gas underground). Texas-based Southwestern Energy will host the testing at one of their wells and has also funded some of Barron’s tracer research. When asked if that’s a conflict of interest, Barron asks where else he might be able to test his technology in the field. “It’s not going to be the EPA (to fund us). And I haven’t noticed Matt Damon giving me a research check recently,” he jests, referring to the actor-screenwriter whose so-so 2012 film*Promised Land* made Damon a target<http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/matt-damon-called-liar-by-pro-frackin…> for industry criticism. Barron, and FracEnsure, anticipate they may publish results from the field test in a Society of Petroleum Engineers<http://www.spe.org/unitedstates/> journal. Tracers that can already be used in fracking fluid today usually either dilute too quickly or rely on radioactive material, which isn’t a great way to test for contaminated water without contaminating it in the process. Barron says his nano rust solution is harmless, detectable at low concentrations and also lasts at least several weeks, and possibly more, making it easier to detect a slow-moving problem. Depending on the results, Barron hopes to have the nano rust tracer on the market within a year. He and his colleagues launched a company in 2011, FracEnsure, to use the nano rust product to provide a service for companies, state governments or individuals, in which they test water for contamination upon request. As far as costs go, that will depend on the market. “It’s not the dollar amount; it’s what percentage of the total cost of the well it is. We’re aiming that (the price for our tracer) should be far less than 10 percent of (the cost of) the chemicals" that the drilling company is already using. A second tracer company, BaceTrace, which popped up last year, is FracEnsure’s biggest competition so far. BaceTrace began as a research project out of Duke University, with grant money from the school, and also hopes to complete a field test before the end of the year. When CEO Justine Chow combined her biology undergraduate work with her curiosity to find a fracking fluid tracer during her graduate work, she came up with what she says may be the perfect solution: artificial deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. Just a thimbleful amount is needed for 7 million gallons, or 11 Olympic-sized swimming pools, of fracking fluid. BaceTrace Chief Technology Officer Jake Rudulph holds a small amount of DNA tracer. Photo by Jake Rudulph. Each tracer is a unique sequence, and each well will be assigned its own tracer, which allows a precise accounting of where the contamination came from. If a tracer assigned to well A shows up in an aquifer, that’s evidence that that well or a fracture in the rock linked to it is connected to that aquifer. If multiple DNA-based tracers come up in one sample of flowback water, or one aquifer, that means there’s an underground connection in the fractures between the wells in which the injection fluid for each gets mixed. “It would be interesting for the company to know that,” Chow says. “They’d probably be more productive if they didn’t spread fractures out so far.” The Duke team has already had several oil and gas companies express interest in the DNA tracer when it’s available. This interest raises the question: If these tracers have the potential to show that a project is contaminating a community’s drinking water, then why are these companies chomping at the bit to try it out? “This technology is another way for our industry to add a level of transparency to what we do and gain the public’s trust,” Christina Fowler, a spokesperson for Southwestern Energy writes in an email. Where lawsuits arise over contamination, the tracers will help plaintiffs support claims that their water has in fact been contaminated by local oil and gas development as opposed to other causes, and on the flip side, would help defendants – which Southwestern has been in the past<http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/new-lawsuit-filed-in-fracking-cou…> on this issue – prove they’re not the source of the pollution, Fowler says. In line with improving public trust, the new technology could help regulators sidestep trying to require companies togive away the specific ingredients<http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2013/03/21/legislation-would-have-fracking…> in their fracking fluid, which the industry often regards as proprietary information. There’s a chance company leaders may be more willing to let an outside party trace their fluid than they are to give away their specific formula for fracking fluid. Yet whether these new technologies will ultimately be useful in holding the oil and gas industry to a higher standard of accountability hinges on whether tracer tests have adequate safeguards to ensure companies do not manipulate results. Both FracEnsure and BaceTrace are working out the kinks and considering applications outside the oil and gas industry. It takes a couple of days to test water samples in a lab to determine whether they contain a tracer, Chow says; she’s hoping to develop the technology to be instantaneously detectable in the field. And water management and the agriculture industry might also benefit from a reliable tracer technology, in order to better understand how various water sources interact underground. “If the general public and the states have the information, then you can make a decision,” about whether to continue or begin drilling in certain locations, Barron said. “Irrespective of which direction you come from, the information is important.” *Tay Wiles is the online editor of *High Country News. *Follow her on Twitter @taywiles. Platteville, Colorado photo from Mark Udall Flickr.* -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Fwd: more on frack win
by Paul Wilson 26 Aug '13

26 Aug '13

not sure how this might relate to WV fracking..... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Edward M Dobson <edobson(a)iglide.net> Date: Fri, Aug 23, 2013 at 9:09 PM Subject: more on frack win To: CONS-AWL-RESILIENT-HABITATS(a)lists.sierraclub.org *Excerpt: * * * *“[Winning bidder company] **currently holds no legal interest in the properties.” * ** *Interesting setback for industry. Tim DeChristopher must be talking to his publisher.* ** * - Ed* - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-AWL-RESILIENT-HABITATS list, send any message to: CONS-AWL-RESILIENT-HABITATS-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Fwd: Lead Debate vs. Fracking Debate
by Paul Wilson 22 Aug '13

22 Aug '13

fyi, looks like it might be helpful for the Fracking folks and should be linked on the WV-fracking website. best, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 8:13 AM Subject: Fwd: Lead Debate vs. Fracking Debate Remember when the oil industry was forced to phase out leaded gasoline? Until that time in the early-1970s, oil companies spent decades denying that lead was harmful and attacked the researcher who probed it to be a harmful neurotoxin. Sound familiar? See this terrific piece in The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/19/fracking-debate-lead-pet… - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM list, send any message to: CONS-WPST-COASTOCEAN-FORUM-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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from ScienceDAily e-newsletter: How shale fracking led to an Ohio town's first 100 earthquakes
by Paul Wilson 20 Aug '13

20 Aug '13

How shale fracking led to an Ohio town's first 100 earthquakes<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/WDM…> Posted: 19 Aug 2013 07:27 AM PDT Since records began in 1776, the people of Youngstown, Ohio had never experienced an earthquake. However, from January 2011, 109 tremors were recorded and new research reveals how this may be the result of shale fracking. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Colbert on Gag Oder
by James Kotcon 19 Aug '13

19 Aug '13

----- Original Message ----- From: dsborowiec(a)aol.com To: dsborowiec(a)aol.com Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 12:58 PM Subject: Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert Report: Hallowich family story about fracking makes national news If you have not seen this, it is worth a look. If you have, pass it on. JBK ----- Original Message ----- From: dsborowiec(a)aol.com To: dsborowiec(a)aol.com Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 12:58 PM Subject: Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert Report: Hallowich family story about fracking makes national news Hyperlink below is a wonderful and hilarious blasting of Range Resources, and support for the Hallowich family ordeal, on the Colbert Report. If you have not seen this, prepare to laugh as Stephen Colbert makes fun of fracking and Range Resources. Using humor to show what a bully Range Resources is to local residents who oppose them. http://m.comedycentral.com/colbertnation_video.rbml?id=the-word---gag-gift&… ----- Original Message ----- From: dsborowiec(a)aol.com To: dsborowiec(a)aol.com Sent: Sunday, August 18, 2013 1:29 PM Subject: use THIS link for the Colbert Report on the fracking "Gag Gift" - Hallowich gag order settlement sorry, the other link isn't working properly today.. this one loads correctly.... http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/428642/august-15-201…

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