Senator Casey Introduces Natural Gas Bills to Protect Pennsylvanians and Create Jobs

[blue neen]

"WASHINGTON, DC— U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC), today reintroduced three bills designed to protect Pennsylvanians and create Pennsylvania jobs. The bills would increase disclosure and regulation of chemicals that could enter Pennsylvania’s drinking water supply, improve safety for workers and emergency response procedures at drilling sites and promote job training to help give Pennsylvania workers the skills needed to get jobs in the natural gas industry so that workers are not shipped in from out-of-state."

<snip>

"The FRAC Act -- Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act -- amends the Safe Drinking Water Act. The legislation would repeal a Bush administration exemption provided for the oil and gas industry and would require them to disclose the chemicals they use in their hydraulic fracturing processes. Specifically, the bill would require disclosure of chemical additives added to water used in fracking to State agencies, which will then be made public on a website. It further requires oil and gas companies to disclose proprietary information about those additives to medical professionals if that information is needed for medical treatment. This information would have to be disclosed prior to and after fracking."

<snip>

"As the number of Marcellus Shale well-sites continues to increase, we need to ensure the jobs are going to Pennsylvanians. That is why Senator Casey is reintroducing the Marcellus Shale On-the-Job Training Act of 2010 to authorize grants to strengthen the On-the-Job Training programs to help ensure natural gas drilling jobs go to Pennsylvanians and not workers from out-of-state. Senator Casey supported a $4.9 million grant awarded to Westmoreland County Community College announced in June 2010 for community-based job training in the natural gas drilling and production industry. The funding was available through the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration’s Community-Based Job Training Grant program."


read more at:
http://casey.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=95cfe842-d580-4a68-8b11-98172e34d68c

[blue neen]

1. I'm glad that Senator Casey is looking out for us because Governor Gasshole sure as heck isn't!

If you have a chance, read the whole release. It's quite good, and Casey has some terrific co-sponsors.

:patriot:

[blue neen]

2. The Post Gazette reported it this way yesterday:

Bill regulating fracking draws mixed reaction
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
By Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Legislation introduced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., to regulate aspects of natural gas drilling provoked mixed reactions from environmental groups and the industry."

"The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals -- or FRAC -- Act "would increase disclosure and regulation of chemicals that could enter Pennsylvania's drinking water supply," according to a statement from the senator."

"We think the FRAC Act is a great first step," said Jessica Ennis, legislative associate for Earthjustice, an environmental law firm. "I think it would put more accountability into the drilling process."

"Drillers, meanwhile, oppose the attempt to bring hydraulic fracturing -- also known as fracking -- under federal regulation."

"This is really a Washington solution in search of a problem," said Travis Windle, spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition. "This is something the states ably, aggressively and effectively regulate every day."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11075/1132238-113.stm#ixzz1GucUxMCo

HOW IRONIC, MR. WINDLE, that just today Robert Shipman was arrested for dumping Marcellus Shale wastewater all over western Pennsylvania.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11076/1132703-455.stm#ixzz1GtEFjKfV

How DO they sleep at night?

[Glassunion]

3. Hellburton will pay to have the bill fail.

[old mark]

4. We should email Senator Casey and support his efforts...He might be the best hope we have left...

Here is a link to his site: http://casey.senate.gov/

He has a lot going on right now, and is involved in many things that don't get reported here in GOPland north.

mark