Press Release from Center for Biological Diversity on lawsuit filed by the Center and Sierra Club
Suit Filed to Protect California Watersheds From Dangerous Fracking Drilling Set to Begin Without Proper Environmental Review
SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit today challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s leasing of more than 2,500 acres of environmentally sensitive land in Monterey and Fresno counties for oil and gas development. The development would include “fracking” — a dangerous process where massive amounts of water, laced with undisclosed chemicals, are blasted into the ground — and would go ahead without a thorough examination of the effects this drilling will have on California’s landscapes, wildlife, watersheds and air quality.“Opening up these sensitive areas to fracking without even disclosing the risks is flat-out irresponsible,” said the Center’s Kassie Siegel. “Our public lands shouldn’t be sacrificed for more dirty fossil fuel development just when we need to shift as quickly as possible to a clean-energy future.”“We’ve seen out-of-control and reckless drilling across the country, and now the industry has set its sights on California’s sensitive areas,” said Gary Lasky, Sierra Club California conservation leader in Fresno. “By ignoring the need for an environmental review, the industry is once again putting its profits ahead of the safety of local residents and the protection of our watersheds.”Recent reports highlight the dangers of fracking, including over 1,000 instances of documented water contamination, either through the leaking of fracking fluids and methane into groundwater or via aboveground spills of contaminated wastewater. Despite these risks, the areas leased include designated watershed areas in Monterey County, and also habitat for endangered and threatened species like the San Joaquin kit fox and blunt-nosed leopard lizard.Oil and gas development also results in the release of significant amounts of methane, the primary constituent of natural gas. There are many cost-effective means to control methane leakage, and the BLM is required to ensure that oil and gas drillers do not waste methane, but the BLM has refused to consider any of these measures to avoid methane waste resulting from the proposed lease sale.After denying a formal protest filed by the Center, Sierra Club and Los Padres Forest Watch, the BLM offered 2,703 acres of land in Monterey and Fresno counties for lease, of which 2,583 were leased for a total of $257,051.
Natural History Wanderings 
[…] Suit Filed to Protect California Watersheds From Fracking (naturalhistorywanderings.com) […]
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By: Center for Biological Diversity Response to State of the Union Address « Mother Earths Moments on January 25, 2012
at 12:05 AM
If you pressurizing the fractured rock bowl surrounding an ancient impact structure, you will tend to get earthquakes. If you think that you don’t have any impact structures near you, think again.
Jeanne d’Arc Crater Approx. 101 miles in diameter 35.250N,-100.800 It is mostly in Texas and a bit in Oklahoma.
Proof that it is an impact structure can be found oil industry maps.
Download Granite Wash Play Texas And Oklahoma
Texas Data : like The Granite Wash Map Showing Jeanne d’Arc Crater outlined by oil and gas wells.
http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/analysis_publications/maps/maps.htm
Under the Category UNITED STATES TIGHT GAS MAPS Click on Granite Wash Play, Texas and Oklahoma
Each crater data paragraph has to copied in its entirety to the address line of your browser to show the craters. Press the Reload it will then show (or not).
Jeanne d’Arc Crater Approx. 101 miles in diameter 35.250N,-100.800
http://www.geocommunicator.gov/blmMap/MapLSIS.jsp?MAP=LSIS&EXTENT=36.246371,-102.088671,34.20566,-99.523363&BASEMAP=Topography&VISIBLELAYERS=Reference:states&Points=-100.8,35.25&LABEL=Jeanne d Arc Crater&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-99.907,35.25&LABEL=0&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-100.027,35.615&LABEL=30&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-100.354,35.883&LABEL=60&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-100.8,35.981&LABEL=90&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-101.246,35.883&LABEL=120&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-101.693,35.25&LABEL=180&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-101.573,34.885&LABEL=210&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-101.246,34.617&LABEL=240&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-100.8,34.519&LABEL=270&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-100.354,34.617&LABEL=300&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-100.027,34.885&LABEL=330&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point&Points=-101.573,35.615&LABEL=150&DESCRIPTION=Lat/Long Point
This is one of 3 Asteroid Impact Structures that I found in Oklahoma.
Jeanne d’Arc Crater Approx. 101 miles in diameter 35.250N,-100.800
Choctaw Crater Approx 66.0+ miles in diameter 36.060N, -97.315W
Meeker Crater Approx. 13.5 miles in diameter. 35.557N, -96.871W
So instead of continuous geological strata you got this Bundt cake or bowl shaped structure with weak pulverized rock surrounding it. The rock infill and impact melt around the edges of the crater is much easier to force up then a normal rock strata. This structure is weakly integrated with the surrounding rock so it is particularly susceptible to fracking (hydraulic) separation.
A problem that has the potential to be worse than the fracking, are the waste disposal wells. These are usually dry, or used up production wells, currently be used to dispose of waste and salt water. The rock around an impact site is highly fractured, with the cracks connecting multiple rock strata. When you drill the crater edge you tend to encounter multiple layers of water bearing sand. Literally all of the different layers are connected.
How could massive structures like this hide from the public. Because the Oil and gas Companies had help from the government. This kind of help is called corruption.
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By: Louis Quinn on December 18, 2011
at 4:40 PM
There seems to be a TON of FRACKING going on in the Delta farmland on Andrus and Brannan Islands, right across the Sacramento River from Rio Vista, Ca. The EPA and the local papers have been contacted with the simple question: “Have these Frackers passed their environmental review and received the necessary permits?” Their silence has been deafening.
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By: K. Gort on December 18, 2011
at 10:55 AM