Replies to post #206256 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[arizona1]

Sea Water Contamination Feared At Fukushima Plant



TOKYO -- Japan's nuclear watchdog says the crippled Fukushima plant is likely leaking contaminated water into sea, a problem long suspected by experts.

Watchdog commissioners instructed operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Wednesday to find where the water may be leaking from.

The plant was ravaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and has since struggled with leaks of water used to cool the reactors, hampering decommissioning efforts.

TEPCO has since May reported spikes in cesium levels in underground water collected from a coastal observation pit, a sign of contamination near the sea. But it has denied contaminated water reached the sea.

Watchdog officials said Wednesday that they have looked at the same data and suspect the water had over time reached the ocean.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/sea-water-contamination-fukushima_n_3572278.html

[StephanieVanbryce]

We (California) have the loosest laws in the country as far as I can figure out about fracking ... they've been fracking here for a long time unregulated .. and really nobody knows what the heck has happened ... I'm talking about at the 'fracking' sites ... as there has been no legislation for regulation of it, .. to inspect them or anything! ..Further Gerry Brown has $$$ signs in his eyes now as he peruses the Bakken project. He sees the economic development there and the increase in revenue brought in by the oil crooks AND he see the employment situation in N.D... .and he dreams ... he wants Ca. to be the power house it once was and he's wondering IF .. .just IF .. Fracking is the way of the future .. What makes it so bad is, that He KNOWS BETTER! . . just like Obama... there is either a global warming crises or there isn't! ... Which is it? .... I guess it's up to them to push us off the map faster then we are going on our own right now as it is.... Check this out__The Lack of Oversight in California

Despite the grave dangers associated with fracking, there is very little regulation of fracking and other oil and gas extraction methods in California. In fact, California lags behind almost every other state where fracking occurs in protecting local communities. As one of the largest oil and gas producing states, with approximately 60,000 oil and gas wells, California’s lack of regulation puts local communities at serious risk. In California,

The Division of Oil and Gas Resources (DOGGR) does not require a permit to frack a well, only an initial permit to drill or to rework the well. Drillers are not required to disclose that fracking will take place;

DOGGR does not know the location of fracked wells;

DOGGR does not record well casing failures that can lead to spills and contamination of local groundwater supplies;

DOGGR does not require drillers to disclose where contaminated wastewater from drilling operations is being disposed and does not adequately regulate underground injection of fracking wastewater despite having a legal mandate to do so.

DOGGR does not require frackers to disclose the identity and volume of chemicals--which are often toxic and known health hazards, and volume or source of water used in the fracking process.

As recently as 2011, DOGGR claimed that no fracking was happening in CA in a letter to State Senator Pavley [ https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/367272/col-frack-doggr-to-pavley.pdf ] At a series of public workshops held in June 2012, however, DOGGR now states that approximately 700 wells per year are fracked in California and DOGGR reports that underground injection well failures range from 4-10%.

As a result of DOGGR’s failure to regulate adequately the oil and gas industry, neither the state nor the public knows where fracking is taking place, how much water is used, and what chemicals are used, and the agency does not ensure that the disposal of toxic fracking wastewater is safe. California must implement measures to protect its communities from harm from fracking and other drilling operations. Until there is adequate regulation in place, the state must put fracking operations on hold.

I'm not going to post the entire thing, this was in the middle, next topic heading is Governor Brown Supporting Big Oil then it goes on to show us hows he is doing this ... sheesh! ____I didn't know about this until last year and I thought it was only going on somewhere up by Monterey, which was BAD ENOUGH!... now I find out it's all over the Central Valley, L. A. has been mentioned, but I can't find it ... finally now, The farmers are getting worried ... I think some things are going to change ... many are working on this now ....The Bill A.B. 1301," which would place a moratorium on fracking and mandate a review of the controversial practice’s health and environmental dangers." [ http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/55617/ ]

http://www.cleanwateraction.org/programinitiative/fracking-california#lackofoversight