Following what goes on with oil and gas exploitation in and around Adrian, Michigan since 2013 - and how these events in our little city connect to the global environmental situation... - with the occasional sidetrack to other related environmental issues in Lenawee county, Michigan and how those relate to global issues.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Pope Francis just delivered a game-changer on climate change
Yossi Cadan - 350.org
This morning Pope Francis released an unprecedented call to action on climate change, in a letter to 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide.
That's right: one the world's most prominent moral voices just cast climate action as a moral imperative. Whether or not you're Catholic, this is huge news, and you can help make sure it sends ripples near and far:
The Vatican’s stance couldn’t be clearer: climate change impacts us all, especially the poor. To prevent its catastrophic consequences we need an ethical and economic shift, a revolution in hearts and minds. Pope Francis’s encyclical letter puts the link between climate change and human activity center stage at a crucial moment for the climate movement:
"Humanity is called to create awareness of the need to change styles of life, production and consumption, to combat this warming or, at least, the human causes that produce or accentuate it.”
First Page of the Pope's letter. Link to full text below.
Dan Misleh, Catholic Climate Covenant:
Early this morning, the Vatican released Pope Francis's encyclical letter on ecology, Laudato Si'. It is a beautiful document. It says all of the best and truest things that could be said about our place here on Earth, "our common home," in the words of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis calls us to understand our role among the deeply connected creatures of God's creation. He calls us to lead simpler lives that are more authentic and less driven by consumption. Most of all, he calls us to care for the Earth and its people.
As you know, we've been hard at work on activities to support this incredible moment.
- The full encyclical is here.
- A list of quotations from the encyclical arranged by subject is here.
- A live stream of a press conference with Cardinal Wuerl and Archbishop Kurtz is here. The press conference begins at 8:30 AM EST.
In peace,
Dan Misleh
Catholic Climate Covenant
Catholic Climate Covenant
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Savoy Energy seeks to place underground injection well in Raisin Twp.
Hello everybody,
I just send the below email to William Tong, U.S. EPA Water Division, UIC Branch (WU-16J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590 tong.william@epa.gov to state my objection against issuing of such a permit, and to request a public hearing in Adrian, Michigan before the permit is issued. Please support that the EPA organizes a hearing by quickly emailing Mr. Tong and asking for it. Deadline is 6/30.
Thanks, Tom
I just send the below email to William Tong, U.S. EPA Water Division, UIC Branch (WU-16J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590 tong.william@epa.gov to state my objection against issuing of such a permit, and to request a public hearing in Adrian, Michigan before the permit is issued. Please support that the EPA organizes a hearing by quickly emailing Mr. Tong and asking for it. Deadline is 6/30.
Thanks, Tom
William Tong
U.S. EPA Water Division, UIC Branch (WU-16J)
77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60604-3590
By Email to: tong.william@epa.gov
|
Date June 13, 2015
|
Concern: Permit
application for a a Class II injection well by Savoy Energy L.P. off of East
Valley Road and Breckel Highway in Raisin Township, Lenawee County, Michigan
Dear Mr. Tong,
I suggest that the EPA withholds the requested permit for a Class II
injection well due to the risk of aquifer contamination (Bloetscher und Gao 2014; Maliva et al. 2007), especially in
fractured geological strata and increased tectonic activity caused by multiple
injection wells (Frohlich 2012). The major risk factors are failures of well
casings, especially cement fatigue failures (Yuan et al. 2013). Such failures become more likely because current
regulations require that operators maintain and monitor wells just for 2 years
after plugging the wells. This is one of the reasons why the U.S. Government
Accountability Office (GAO) stated that the “EPA Program to Protect Underground
Sources from Injection of Fluids Associated with Oil and Gas Production Needs
Improvement” (U.S. Government Accountability Office 2014).
In addition, the applicant of the disputed permit application, Savoy
Energy L.P. has a track record of cutting corners and running its operations
not in accordance with best practices – as recently shown in their violations
of the Clean Air Act (EPA-5-15-MI-04). It is therefore doubtful that the
applicant will show more respect for the Clean Water Act.
I therefore request that the EPA should organize a public comment
session in Adrian before issuing the permit.
Thank you in advance!
Dr. Thomas Waßmer
References:
Bloetscher F, Gao J.
2014. Analyses of Physical Data to Evaluate the Potential to Identify Class I
Injection Well Fluid Migration Risk. Water Resources Management
28(15):5283-5296.
Frohlich C. 2012. Two-year survey comparing earthquake activity and
injection-well locations in the Barnett Shale, Texas. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
109(35):13934-13938.
Maliva RG, Guo W, Missimer T. 2007. Vertical migration of municipal
wastewater in deep injection well systems, South Florida, USA. Hydrogeology
Journal 15(7):1387-1396.
U.S. Government Accountability Office. 2014. DRINKING WATER: EPA
Program to Protect Underground Sources from Injection of Fluids Associated with
Oil and Gas Production Needs Improvement. Washington DC: U.S. Government
Accountability Office. p. 103.
Yuan Z, Gardoni P, Schubert J, Teodoriu C. 2013. Cement failure
probability analysis in water injection well. Journal of Petroleum Science and
Engineering 107:45-49.
Monday, June 8, 2015
After More Than 1 Year The EPA Finalizes Findings of Savoy's Violations of the Clean Air Act
The most important parts are on page 9 and 10:
65. Due to numerous odor complaints from citizens, the Savoy Adrian 25 Facility emissions of air contaminants have caused injurious effects to human health or safety, animal life, plant life of significant economic value, or property, or caused unreasonable interference with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property, in violation of Michigan Rule 336.1901 and the Michigan SIP.
66. Savoy’s above-referenced violations have caused, may and will cause excess hazardous air pollutant (HAP) and VOC emissions.
Unfortunately, the email to blogger function does not post attachments - and to post PDFs on blogger is unnecessarily complicated - therefore I post the document as PNG images.
65. Due to numerous odor complaints from citizens, the Savoy Adrian 25 Facility emissions of air contaminants have caused injurious effects to human health or safety, animal life, plant life of significant economic value, or property, or caused unreasonable interference with the comfortable enjoyment of life and property, in violation of Michigan Rule 336.1901 and the Michigan SIP.
66. Savoy’s above-referenced violations have caused, may and will cause excess hazardous air pollutant (HAP) and VOC emissions.
67. Excess HAP emissions
can cause serious health effects, such as birth defects and cancer, and harmful
environmental and ecological effects.
68. Excess VOC emissions
can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination,
nausea; damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous system. Some VOCs can
cause cancer in animals and some are suspected or known to cause cancer in
humans.
69. VOC emissions are a precursor to ground-level ozone. Breathing ozone
contributes to a variety of health problems including chest pain, coughing,
throat irritation, and congestion. It can worsen bronchitis, emphysema, and
asthma. Ground-level ozone also can reduce lung function and inflame lung
tissue. Repeated exposure may permanently scar lung tissue.Unfortunately, the email to blogger function does not post attachments - and to post PDFs on blogger is unnecessarily complicated - therefore I post the document as PNG images.
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