Irresponsible WV Drilling Plans; AFL-CIO Pro-Fracking; Carcinogenic Benzene Used to Frack

State of West Virginia Continues Irresponsible Drilling Plans. In court documents, Axiall lawyers say increased underground pressure from the fracking at Triad Hunter traveled under the river and somehow made contact with brine wells Axiall uses to obtain saltwater, one of the key materials used in its manufacturing process. Axiall says those pressures led to a blowout in which one of its brine wells at its plant “began spewing flammable natural gas.”

Building Trades Chief Lauds Fracking Boom, Shrugs Off Environmental Concerns. In its quest for jobs, the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO hasn’t shied away from taking on environmentalists and progressives over fracking, even though public tolerance is waning.

Fracking companies using benzene in drilling. Some oil and gas drillers are using benzene, which can cause cancer, in the mix of water and chemicals they shoot underground to free trapped hydrocarbons from shale rock, an environmental watchdog group said today. Benzene isn’t banned in hydraulic fracturing, although diesel is restricted.