Eco-news in brief 5-8
By CG News Editor April Jaynes
Athens deep-shale drilling to be tested with reduced lease
Cunningham Energy of Charleston is proposing a less profitable lease to Athens County landowners for test wells. This will include 5 test wells for deep-shale drilling throughout the county. If the test wells show no potential, oil and gas development will not take place in Athens County. The production wells are to be drilled into the Utica shale formation within the county by the end of January 2014.
Brazil’s dam production affecting living conditions, inciting revolts
Last month Brazilian laborers set fire to the construction site of the Jirau Dam along the banks of the Amazon’s largest tributary because of poor living conditions and wages. Brazil authorities said they expect approximately 20 hydroelectric projects to be built in Brazil within the next 10 years. Environmental groups are concerned that the displacement of indigenous peoples and the potential release of large amounts of methane gas will outweigh the dams’ projected benefit of meeting increasing electricity demands. Labor strikes are also occurring at other sites such as the Santo Antonio Dam and Belo Monte.
Hurricane season to be “normal” this year
Last Thursday AccuWeather.com forecasted a “near normal” hurricane season, meaning approximately 12 named tropical storms, fived named hurricanes and two major hurricanes will occur this year. This would be an improvement from the previous hurricane season. The development of major storms like this are predicted to be less favorable due to a variety of climate conditions that are beginning to change. The first storm of the season will be named Alberto.
