Oldies 101.5 – WXHC.com – Local News
October 8, 2013
Effect of drilling and other fossil fuel activities on insurance and mortgages
September 25, 2013
www.fleased.org
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fleasedny@gmail.com
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607-539-7133
- P.O. Box 27, Slaterville Springs, NY 14881
- Hi everyone,
- We’d like to share with you some updates about how a gas lease may be affecting homeowners insurance and loan and mortgage requests.
- Updates About Insurance
- Fleased has recently learned that individuals in Madison County, NY could not get homeowner’s insurance due to the presence of a traditional vertical gas well on their property. As insurance companies learn more about the effects of gas drilling, multiple underwriters are not covering homes or properties with wells or gas leases A large insurance company we spoke with that covers an area from the Southern Tier north to Watertown said they have NO insurance underwriter who will write a homeowner’s policy for any property that has an existing well or even a gas lease.
- Mortgage lenders require homeowner’s insurance so the inability to obtain such insurance would make it impossible to get a loan.
- Remember, that even if you have homeowner’s insurance, this type of insurance does not cover (and never has covered) potential damages related to gas drilling. Read more at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/166771976/Insurers-Fracking-related-damages-not-covered-by-standard-policies
- It would be wise not to let your current homeowner’s insurance lapse, but to renew if possible and be sure to check the fine print on your homeowners insurance if you’ve got a gas lease.
- Landowner Denied Loan in Pennsylvania for Well Across the Street
- Insurance is not the only issue lessors are noticing. Banks are beginning to question landowners about fracked wells and impoundment lakes on (and even near) properties when owners seek to obtain a mortgage or home equity loan. A property owner in Pennsylvania was recently denied a mortgage. In an email, Quicken Loans told the property owners, “Unfortunately, we are unable to move forward with this loan. It is located across the street from a gas drilling site.” Two other national lenders also declined to make the loan.
- Learn more at:
http://grist.org/climate-energy/fracking-boom-could-lead-to-housing-bust/
- Sovereign Bank’s New Mortgage Provision
- As more is learned about high volume hydraulic fracturing, banks and federal agencies are revisiting their lending policies to protect themselves and account for potential impacts on property values. Sovereign Bank, a major national lender, has added a rider to their mortgages that states that “the mortgage will be automatically recalled if the property owner transfers any oil or gas rights or allows any surface drilling activity.” It also says owners must “take affirmative steps to prevent the renewal or expansion” of any current lease.
- Thanks,
- Ren and Ellen
The Social Costs of Fracking | Food & Water Watch
September 24, 2013
The Social Costs of Fracking | Food & Water Watch.
September 24th, 2013
The Social Costs of Fracking
Pennsylvania’s natural gas boom has brought thousands of new gas wells, a number of transient workers and a host of social problems. Food & Water Watch found that traffic accidents, civic disturbances and public health problems in rural Pennsylvania counties have increased since the shale rush began in 2005, diminishing the quality of life for residents of once-bucolic communities.
Economic downturns like the Great Recession are often associated with negative outcomes, but these social and public health costs increased more in rural counties with the new shale gas wells than in rural counties without shale gas drilling. These negative social impacts were especially pronounced in the counties with the highest density of shale gas wells.
The oil and gas industry has surged over the past decade by employing new techniques and technologies that combine horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking”) to extract gas from shale and other underground rock formations. Fracking injects large quantities of water, sand and toxic chemicals under high pressure to release gas tightly held in rock layers. Fracking has expanded rapidly in areas across the country, but Pennsylvania has been at the epicenter of the nation’s fracking boom, with nearly 5,000 shale gas wells drilled between 2005 and 2011.
The fracking boom has brought heavy trucks crowding rural roads and out-of-state workers flooding small towns, often overwhelming local housing, police and public health capacities. The influx of transient workers with disposable income and little to do in their off hours is a recipe for trouble in small-town America, where alcohol-related crimes, traffic accidents, emergency room visits and sexually transmitted infection have all been on the rise.
Much of the national discussion about fracking has focused on the obvious environmental risks, while the social costs of fracking have been largely ignored. This study is the first detailed, long-term analysis of the social costs of fracking borne by rural Pennsylvania communities.
Fractured Communities | Albany Law School: A New York Law School
September 20, 2013
Fractured Communities | Albany Law School: A New York Law School.
We will also have the webcast and a transcription archived on our website following the event.
Thank you,
Michael White
Executive Editor for Symposium, Volume 77
Albany Law Review | www.albanylawreview.org
80 New Scotland Avenue | Albany, NY 12208
phone: (315) 842-0907 | e-mail: mwhite@albanylaw.edu
Executive Editor for Symposium, Volume 77
Albany Law Review | www.albanylawreview.org
80 New Scotland Avenue | Albany, NY 12208
phone: (315) 842-0907 | e-mail: mwhite@albanylaw.edu
EARTHWORKS | Reckless Endangerment While Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale| Reckless Endangerment in the Eagle Ford Shale
September 19, 2013
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Reckless Endangerment While Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale
Government fails, public health suffers and industry profits from the shale oil boom
Published: September 19, 2013
By: Sharon Wilson, Lisa Sumi, Wilma Subra
From the report SUMMARY (7 pages)
In an unprecedented investigation of oil and gas operations and government oversight in Texas’s Eagle Ford Shale, Earthworks reports a toxic mix of irresponsible industry operators and negligent regulators, and the families who suffer the consequences. Specifically, Reckless Endangerment while Fracking the Eagle Ford, reveals:
- Residents requested state regulators provide relief from oil and gas air pollution;
- Regulators discovered pollution so dangerous they evacuated themselves;
- Regulators took no subsequent action to warn or otherwise protect the residents at risk;
- Regulators took no subsequent action to penalize the responsible company;
- Residents continue to live with exposure to dangerous oil and gas air pollution.
Oil and gas operations in shale formations release chemicals to air, water, and soil that are hazardous to human health.
Government shares the blame for these releases because rules governing oil and gas development don’t protect the public. Adding insult to injury, state regulators don’t reliably enforce these rules. By failing to deter reckless operator behavior, regulators practically condone it, thereby increasing health risks for residents living near oil and gas development.
Report materials:
- Summary report (7 pages)
- Full report (47 pages)
- Press release
- Videos (interview with Cerny family, and infrared videos of invisible to naked eye pollution) – see below
- Pictures from the report
VIDEOS
NOTE: Apart from the Cerny’s interview, the following videos show emissions that are invisible to the naked eye. One otherwise wouldn’t suspect that the tanks and other infrastructure could be a threat to public health, but using a special FLIR GasFind infrared camera you can see the highly active volatile chemicals — like benzene — escaping into the air and crossing the fenceline. The camera does not quantify, nor does the camera speciate the compounds that are detected.
The Cernys tell their story
– See more at: http://www.earthworksaction.org/library/detail/reckless_endangerment_in_the_eagle_ford_shale#.UjtyLvmsim6
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