Sea Trial Leaves Shell's Arctic Oil-Spill Gear "Crushed Like A Beer Can"

Shell Oil and federal regulators have been tight-lipped about a failed test of the energy giant's Arctic oil-spill equipment in Washington state. But a freedom-of-information request by KUOW reveals what happened beneath the surface of Puget Sound.

Chesapeake Energy has become the principal player in the largest land boom in America since the 1850s California Gold Rush, amassing acreage positions that rival those of any U.S. energy company. Its strategy is clearly spelled out in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: “We believed that the winner of these land grabs would enjoy competitive advantages for decades to come.” Chesapeake isn’t nearly as transparent about its methods, however. Reuters reviewed hundreds of internal Chesapeake emails, thousands of pages of documents and dozens of lawsuits in seven states, and interviewed contractors who cut deals for the company. What emerged were tough tactics in acquiring land that some analysts say push ethical and legal limits -- and that even some of the company’s own contractors considered dubious. Features detailed examples from Texas, Ohio and Michigan.

Lisa Song, an InsideClimate News reporter, has analyzed a decade worth of federal data that shows that the general public has detected far more oil pipeline spills than leak detection technology." 

"An investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity found federal regulators and the mining industry are failing to protect miners from the excessive toxic coal mine dust that causes black lung. The disease is now being diagnosed in younger miners and evolving more quickly to complicated stages."

"The report also reveals widespread and persistent gaming of the system that's designed to measure and control the coal mine dust that causes the deadly disease."

"A Reuters investigation has found that under the direction of CEO Aubrey McClendon, Chesapeake Energy Corp. plotted with its top competitor to suppress land prices in one of America's most promising oil and gas plays."

"In emails between Chesapeake and Encana Corp, Canada's largest natural gas company, the rivals repeatedly discussed how to avoid bidding against each other in a public land auction in Michigan two years ago and in at least nine prospective deals with private land owners.

Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Time, reports that "energy companies across California are injecting a mysterious mix of chemicals into the ground to tap oil deposits while frustrating attempts to regulate the controversial process, known as hydraulic fracturing."

"So far, nine states require energy companies to disclose what they put into the ground but the Brown administration, which has been trying to ease regulation of the energy industry, has yet to draw up any rules on the extraction method."

"An investigation by KCRA in Sacramento revealed that Pacific Gas and Electric had surveyed homeowners’ gas meters over the last three years and marked thousands of leaks across Northern California." 

"However, a company whistleblower says PG&E never told homeowners and two years later many homes continue to leak. PG&E insists there is no danger because the leaks are small. In response, lawmakers and watchdog groups say the leaks should be fixed immediately."

"If the Keystone XL oil pipeline were approved today, residents in the six states along its route would not receive equal treatment from TransCanada, the company that wants to build the project."

"In Kansas, for example, lawmakers gave TransCanada a 10-year tax exemption, which means the state won't receive any property tax revenue from the pipeline. Meanwhile, each of the other five states—Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas—would earn between $14 million and $63 million a year, according to U.S. State Department estimates."

"In Pennsylvania's shale fields, where the giant Marcellus strike has unleashed a furious surge of development, many natural gas pipelines today get less safety regulation than in any other state in America, a Philidelphia Inquirer review shows.

Hundreds of miles of high-pressure pipelines already have been installed in the shale fields with no government safety checks - no construction standards, no inspections, and no monitoring."

"The Pinellas County Resource Recovery Facility is one of the nation’s largest waste-to-energy trash incinerators. The plant’s boilers consume 3,000 tons of garbage every day, creating saleable energy that allows the county facility to turn a $20 million annual profit."

However, in an investigation done by the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, partnered with the Center for Public Integrity, discovered that the "facility was one of seven sites included within the last two months on the EPA Facility Watch List, which names “high-priority violators” of the Clean Air Act whose violations have gone unresolved for more than 270 days."