Carney to investigate BP oil spill

Congressman Chris Carney visited the gulf last week and said upon his return
“The scene is as frustrating as it is horrific and my thoughts continue to be with the families who feel the immediate impact of this disaster...I will be holding hearings to investigate the actions taken by the federal government and BP in the days following the explosion at the oil rig. Who knew what when and what did they do to ensure the severity of this disaster was understood? Why wasn’t faster action taken? All of that is unclear,” Carney said.

Yesterday he let us know he will be holding hearings in New Orleans.


WASHINGTON – Congressman Chris Carney (PA-10), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Management, Investigations and Oversight, has scheduled a field hearing in New Orleans on July 12 to examine the immediate response to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill. The hearing, entitled “The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Chain of Command: An Examination of Information Sharing Practices During a Spill of National Significance,” will include testimony from the Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security, BP and state and local officials. The time and location of the hearing have yet to be determined.

Congressman Carney, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and six other committee members visited the spill site and surrounding area June 21.

The response to the spill has left many unanswered questions, including how information was shared in the days immediately after the April 20 explosion.

“We must find out what was done to ensure the severity of this disaster was understood and how that information was shared,” said Congressman Carney. “This hearing will hopefully shed some light on the current chain of command, the roles and responsibilities of the participants, what the government and BP could have done better in response to this crisis and lessons that should be put to use in the future.”

I'm sure his subcommittee has jurisdiction on this but I think there are about a dozen Congressional Committees already investigating the spill.

There is an environmental disaster in the making in Pennsylvania that Carney hasn't said much about that has already seen his neighbors in Dimock living with water buffaloes because there wells have been poisoned.


Human illness, animal deaths tied to shale gas drilling in PA

At least 15 Dimock, PA families have been unable to use their formerly pristine well water for 16 months since Houston-based Cabot Oil and Gas began drilling for natural gas there. The extraction process uses hydraulic fracturing in combination with horizontal drilling, in which each fracturing, or "frack," requires 2 to 9 million gallons of water mixed with toxic chemicals to release the gas. The primary ingredient in natural gas is methane.


The PA DEP fined Cabot $240,000 for that one. I'm sure that the company considers the fine as just the cost of doing business.

The BP well in the Gulf of Mexico blew up creating the oil spill but what about the gas well that blew up in Clearfield County that spewed poisoned water 75 feet into the air for 16 hours with methane rising into the atmosphere that prompted the FAA to close the air space above the sight to prevent an airliner from being taken down? Fortunately that well wasn't near a water supply unlike the proposed drilling next to the Huntsville Dam.

It is getting worse, even the cows won't drink the frack water. Cows are smarter than they look.


Spring Lake Water Woes: Chesapeake, Landowners Disagree - by Wes Skillings - 6/24/2010

Because of concerns about what appeared to be a sudden deterioration in the quality of the water, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was called in. They sent representatives to the Spring Lake property about a week later, with representatives of Chesapeake also responding to the scene.

“The DEP representative told us separately that we should not expect much from the gas company because to ‘do anything’ would imply culpability,” Mrs. Bohlander reported. There were reportedly methane readings of varying levels, and some quite high, in the water supply.

Kayak Dude reports that Bowman's Creek is being sucked dry by the drillers.

Looking through Carney's website and press releases he has not been forthcoming on this issue putting out bland statements.


STATEMENT BY CONGRESSMAN CARNEY IN RESPONSE TO DEP ACTION AGAINST CABOT

CARNEY STATEMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S PLANS TO STUDY FRACKING PROCESS


He has yet to take a position on the Frac Act that closes the Haliburton loophole.


Last week I asked Carney's office for a statement on his position on drilling and have yet to receive a reply. I also asked his Republican opponent Tom Marino about his position and I have not heard from him either.