Dimock, PA Lawsuit Trial-Bound as Study Links Fracking to Water Contamination in Neighboring County – Steve Horn

A recent peer-reviewed study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed what many fracking critics have argued for years: drilling operations associated with hydraulic fracturing (“fracking) for oil and gas can contaminate groundwater. For the study, researchers examined groundwater contamination incidents at three homes in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale basin in Bradford County. As The New York Times explained, the water samples showed …

Wal-Mart Bottled Water Comes From Sacramento Municipal Supply

Wal-Mart is facing questions tonight after CBS13 learns the company draws its bottled water from a Sacramento water district during California’s drought. According to the label, the water comes from the Sacramento Municipal Water Supply. This comes on the heels of Starbucks opting to move sourcing and production of its Ethos bottled water from California to Pennsylvania. While the label reads Great Value, the …

UM study: Oil and gas development transforms landscapes

MISSOULA – Improved drilling technologies and energy demand have resulted in the large-scale expansion of oil and gas development, with 50,000 new wells drilled per year recently in central North America. Locations such as the Bakken, Eagle Ford and the Marcellus Shale are now commonplace, and drilling activity frequently makes news. But what are the ecological consequences of this accelerated …

Fracking Boom Accompanied by Rise of Silent, Deadly Carcinogen in Homes: Study

Researchers in Pennsylvania have discovered that the prevalence of radon, a radioactive and carcinogenic gas, in people’s homes and commercial buildings that are nearer to fracking sites has increased dramatically in the state since the unconventional and controversial gas drilling practice began in the state just over a decade ago. “By drilling 7,000 holes in the ground, the fracking industry …

Can Self-Compassion Improve Well-Being in Teens?

Teenagers today face many challenges, often including intense expectations and pressures from their parents, teachers, and friends. Sometimes, however, their harshest critics are not any of these other people, but themselves. Could self-compassion help? In the first study, published this year in The Journal of Positive Psychology, Karen Bluth and Priscilla Blanton surveyed students in middle and high school about their levels of positive …

Insufficient Data and Loose Regulations Worsen Fracking’s Impact, Studies Find

A slew of studies released this week, each examining different aspects of the fossil fuel extraction method known as ‘fracking,’ provide new evidence of problems with the practice. The first, an investigation by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the FracTracker Alliance into oil and gas company violations, found that information about such transgressions is only publicly accessible in three …

States Fail to Properly Manage Fracking Waste, Says Groundbreaking Report

It might seem illogical, but in 1988 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put a loophole in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which regulates hazardous and solid waste, exempting the waste from oil and gas exploration, development and production (E &P) from oversight. While it conceded that such wastes might indeed be hazardous, it said that state regulations were …

Big Pharma Giant Guilty of Selling Tainted Children’s Tylenol – Knowingly

How far does the fraud and contamination of our country’s products go? The list is seemingly endless. Recently adding on to the list, mega-company Johnson and Johnson was recently found out to be knowingly selling adulterated bottles of Tylenol that contain metal particles. The makers of this children’s Tylenol seemed to think it was OK to pollute our nation’s children  – even …

Is the Intense Pressure to Succeed Sabotaging Our Children?

Last week in Pennsylvania, a 13-year-old named Cayman Haib(link is external) killed himself after receiving an email from his private school that he was behind in his homework. Obviously, every suicide has deep and complex causes. It would be conjecture to assume that the pressure to succeed at school was the prime driving force behind Cayman’s decision to take his own life. That said, hopefully his death will …