oil and gas industry
August 30, 2012 -
The chemical industry is promoting a type of petrochemical plant known as an "ethane cracker" as a job creator for North Carolina once it begins fracking for natural gas in a couple of years. But such plants produce high levels of toxic pollution that take their toll on the health of nearby residents.
August 22, 2012 -
Tests find low levels of health-damaging pollutants including radioactive elements in and around the Texas Brine sinkhole in Bayou Corne, La. -- but environmental advocates say the potential cumulative health impacts justify continued monitoring.
August 14, 2012 -
After coming under fire for releasing what it touted as an independent study of fracking's environmental risks that was in fact led by a director of a fracking company, the school appoints a panel to investigate -- and it's chaired by a former director of a gas giant whose fracking operations have been blamed for contaminating groundwater.
August 14, 2012 -
Local officials in Assumption Parish, La. are upset that they weren't warned by state and corporate officials that a salt mine where a massive sinkhole recently appeared was used for the disposal of radioactive waste from oil and gas drilling.
August 9, 2012 -
Bayou Corne in Assumption Parish has been evacuated after a massive sinkhole opened up last week following months of mysterious bubbling, rumblings and a strong diesel smell. The community sits atop an old salt mine where companies including Chevron and Dow Chemical store gas products, and the structure may be failing.
August 6, 2012 -
The number of workplaces with egregiously bad safety records has doubled in the past year. OSHA's effort to focus on these employers is laudable -- but is it enough?
August 1, 2012 -
The University of Texas promoted research by a faculty member as an independent study of fracking's environmental hazards -- but it turns out the scientist holds a big financial stake in a fracking company and sits on its board, which he failed to fully disclose. Meanwhile, another conflict-of-interest controversy over fracking arises in North Carolina.
