Here's an article from today's Richmond Register with some (not surprisingly) misleading statements and bald-faced lies from the oil and gas industry. And here's the text of a letter to the editor in response that was submitted (but not yet published):

When the Register reported Mike Smith, executive director of Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission as stating “If you take one thing away today from me and I will emphasize it as loud as I can. Hydraulic fracturing does not cause earthquakes, no way, no how,” the newspaper revealed just one of the many ways that oil and gas industry representatives are trained by public relations consultants to lie to the public and media. It's true that the chemically induced fracturing of bedrock (from which "fracking" gets its name) does not cause earthquakes. But the United States Geological Survey determined in 2015 that, without a doubt, the massive uptick in earthquakes in recent years is the result of injecting fracking waste into the ground. These quakes have damaged property and injured people in Mr. Smith's home state of Oklahoma, where quakes have increased nearly 600-fold over historic levels. These injection wells are an integral part of the fracking process in most areas, with each well producing millions of gallons of polluted wastewater that must be disposed of. Mr. Smith could just as easily have promised that jumping off a roof doesn't cause broken bones - it's that hitting ground part that's to blame. There is a clear and growing body of evidence showing us the risks and harms associated with fracking, including increased birth defects, respiratory illnesses, damaged roadways, well blowouts and explosions, to name just a few. Mr. Smith lied, plain and simple.



http://www.richmondregister.com/news/madison-not-a-large-contender-for-fracking-leases/article_0eec27a2-581f-11e5-abc1-6f05c652a791.html

Madison not a large contender for fracking leases

Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2015 8:50 pm

Machaela Ballard/ mballard@richmondregister.com

For the time being, Madison County is not a large contender for hydraulic fracturing from the Rogersville Shale, explained Andrew McNeill, executive director of the Kentucky Oil and Gas Administration, during a breakfast held for local administrative leaders and industry representatives Thursday.

Although 18 oil and gas leases were recorded in May by the Madison County Clerk's Office, more than 2,100 were submitted in Magoffin County, with Lawrence and Johnson counties following at more than 1,000 leases, McNeill said.


Nearly all of Madison County is within the Rogersville Shale, however, it is not within an area marked by the University of Kentucky Geological Survey as an “area of possible Rogersville production.”

Regardless, McNeill and keynote speaker of the breakfast, Mike Smith, executive director of Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), explained federal and state regulations that are in place for the protection of landowners.

Often oil and gas production is located in areas that have not previously produced oil and gas, Smith said.

“So of course Landowners and people that live in the cities have questions, and rightfully so. And those questions need to be answered. Our organization has worked with environmental groups and industry groups and legislatures to answer those questions,” Smith explained. “It's to look at the science and look at what is really going on and really give the landowners and folks who live in cities close by the answers they need. And give them factual data of what it is and what it isn't.”

All hydraulic fracturing sites are now required to post chemicals used during drilling on the websiteFracFocus.org, Smith explained.

Geologists in attendance of the breakfast asked Smith about seismic and earthquake activity.

“If you take one thing away today from me and I will emphasize it as loud as I can. Hydraulic fracturing does not cause earthquakes, no way, no how,” Smith said.

http://m.richmondregister.com/news/local_news/berea-adopts-anti-fracking-resolution/article_7441041e-de63-11e4-a347-9758f4f006a1.html?mode=jqm


The Berea City Council passed a resolution Tuesday expressing opposition to gas and oil extraction in the area by hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking.


The measure proclaims the city’s interest in preserving water resources in the area and urges property owners to carefully consider the impact of fracking on the county’s environment before leasing land to energy companies.

During a work session prior to the business meeting, council member Diane Kerby said the resolution affirms the city’s commitment to protecting local groundwater. The community’s water supply can be better ensured by discouraging fracking than by cleaning up pollution that results from fracking, she added.

The final text notes that “substantial amounts of freshwater” are employed in fracking, another reason the city officially opposes the practice, Kerby said.

Additionally, the resolution urges the state legislature to consider the long-term impacts of fracking on Kentucky’s environment, including adding a representative of the Kentucky Municipal Utilities Association to the General Assembly’s natural resources and environment committees.

The measure also calls on the Madison County Fiscal Court to review its land-use regulations and zoning policies as they may relate to fracking, because petroleum developers are inviting county residents to sign contracts to allow the practice on their property.

The resolution stands in stark contrast to an earlier draft the council considered in January. That version presented a sizable list of potential pollutants and their presumed hazards, as well as assertions that fracking could result in such natural disturbances as earthquakes.

The new version, drafted after discussions involving City Administrator Randy Stone, council members Vi Farmer, Steve Caudill, Diane Kerby and Mayor Steve Connelly, takes a narrower focus. It opposes fracking based on the objective of safeguarding water resources and preserving infrastructure such as roads, as well as maintaining property values and the city’s identity as a tourist destination.

The resolution passed 7-0. Council member Chester Powell did not vote, having left just before the business meeting when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning. The meeting was delayed for several minutes as council members and citizens waited in the basement of the Berea Police and Municipal Center until the warning expired.

In other business, the council unanimously adopted an ordinance annexing property along Blue Lick and Big Hill roads into the city. The land is owned by Berea College.

Officials said the land was annexed because it includes some of the city’s walking and bike paths near Indian Fort Theatre. With the adoption of the ordinance, the city can regulate activity on the path.

The city has proposed annexing more land from the college, including the parking lot of Indian Fort theater, a nearby house and space approaching the outdoor amphitheater. However, the college has not responded to that proposal, officials said.

During the meeting’s public comment period, restauranteur Ali Blair expressed concern about a proposal to form an economic development alliance between the city and the Berea Chamber of Commerce. The chamber’s executive director, David Rowlette, recently proposed a joint city/chamber partnership in which he would lead economic development efforts on the community’s behalf.

Blair said the city should focus its efforts on boosting locally owned businesses and worker cooperatives instead of chasing national retail and restaurant chains. She also questioned whether the city should enter into a partnership with the chamber, because it has not supported the city’s goal of forging a more tolerant community.

Specifically, Blair said chamber members, including council member Chad Hembree, opposed the passage of a ‘fairness ordinance’ to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

She also suggested the chamber engaged in religious discrimination when it prohibited the sale of “items of the occult” at the fall Spoonbread Festival.

When Mayor Connelly offered Rowlette the opportunity to rebut Blair’s complaints, he politely declined. During council members’ comments, Hembree did not address Blair’s grievances.

Concerning the issue of alcohol sales in the city, officials reported obtaining approximately 900 of the 1,158 signatures needed to request a ballot measure for drink sales in the city. At a March meeting, Stone told the council’s Economic Development Committee that the city hopes to collect the required number of signatures by April 15.

If the petition is successful and voters approve alcohol sales in a September referendum, restaurants seating at least 50 people and deriving at least 70 percent of their receipts from the sale of food will be allowed to sell alcohol by the drink. Bars and package stores would not be allowed under the proposed ordinance.

Local resident Tim Taylor told the council he disapproved of the use of taxpayer funds in the petition effort. Blair, meanwhile, expressed her support for drink sales.

Calls and emails needed immediately!

The lines close at 11pm and reopen at 7 am. Call tonight if you can! 

Fracking Moratorium - Urgent Alert!
Please call or email State Senators Julian Carroll and Jared Carpenter tonight!

The Kentucky House and Senate are voting this week on legislation addressing oil and gas development in the Commonwealth. Senator Julian Carroll has offered to introduce language calling for a moratorium on high volume horizontal and deep well hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Just getting this introduced is huge.

But the oil and gas industry is lobbying hard to stop this language from reaching the floor.

The state Senate will be hearing the bill at 11:00 am on Wednesday.

WE NEED YOU TO EMAIL OR CALL SENATORS CARROLL AND CARPENTER TONIGHT OR FIRST THING IN THE MORNING!

Ask them to please allow for introduction and a vote on the fracking moratorium amendment to SB 186.

The Senators can be called at 1-800-372-7181

Emails can be sent to:

Julian.Carroll@lrc.ky.gov
Jared.Carpenter@lrc.ky.gov

Whether or not the moratorium passes, just getting the moratorium introduced is very important as we work to protect our communities from the impacts of fracking. Please call or email now.

Than you.

Jim Scheff
Kentucky Heartwood

A community meeting hosted by Frack Free Foothills will be held Tuesday, January 27 from 6:30-8:30 at the Acton Folk Center in Berea. 

The Folk Center is located on 212 W Jefferson St. 

This meeting will include a presentation by Bill Hughes of Wetzel County, WV. Mr. Hughes has been documenting the problems of fracking in West Virginia, and his presentation will include information on the production stages of fracking and typical problems experienced by communities because of fracking. 

Also available to answer questions will be Tom Fitzgerald of the Kentucky Resources Council. He is an environmental attorney knowledgeable of Kentucky environmental regulations and what is happening with regard to fracking statewide.

The meeting will include time for people to speak and ask questions.