While New York regulators have spent four years mulling the environmental impacts of shale gas development, the potential human health impacts have been given short shrift, according to health advocates.
Whether gas drilling affects health has led to heated debates. Environmentalists and people living near drilling sites say the risks include contaminated water wells and air pollution. The industry says those fears are exaggerated and that the process been used safely on tens of thousands of wells.
Medical Society of the State of New York calls for fracking moratorium
Tests raise questions for EPA about possible fracking leaks
Federal tests of water in Dimock, Penn., found elevated levels of methane consistent with leakage from gas drilling nearby, according to scientists who reviewed the data.
Results from the first 11 wells tested by the EPA found one with a methane level of 52 parts per million, which could be explosive, and at least three others above the state standard of 7 milligrams per liter, Bishop said.
FDA admits in court case that vaccines still contain mercury
It is a common myth today that the vaccines administered to children no longer contain the toxic additive thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative linked to causing permanent neurological damage. But a recent federal case involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revealed that, contrary to this widely-held belief, thimerosal is actually still present in many batch vaccines, including in the annual influenza vaccine that is now administered to children as young as six months old.
Poles talk about CIA prison, breaking silence
For years, the notion that Poland could allow the CIA to operate a secret prison in a remote lake region was treated as a crackpot idea by the country's politicians, journalists and the public.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Thursday that Poland has become the "political victim" of leaks from U.S. officials that brought to light aspects of the secret rendition program. In his most forthcoming comments on the matter to date, Tusk said an ongoing investigation into the case is proof of Poland's democratic credentials and that Poland cannot be counted on in the future in such clandestine enterprises.
Outrage as energy boss pockets £10m pay package while families struggle with their bills
The boss of British Gas owner Centrica scooped a £10million package last year despite plunging millions of families into misery with inflation-busting hikes in bills.
Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, received a windfall large enough to pay the average family’s energy bill for the next 7,500 years.
During 2011, Mr Laidlaw received heating discounts worth almost £700 from Centrica – more than half the average family bill.
He's Batman, a real superhero
Batman really is a superhero, as it turns out.
It began very oddly, as police in Montgomery, Maryland, pulled over a fully-costumed, caped crusader -- spike-earred, face-covering cowl and all -- driving along in a Batmobile, a black Lamborghini sporting Bat-plates.
FDA: Tobacco companies must report only 20 out of 93 harmful ingredients
Tobacco companies will be required to report the levels of dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes, chew and other products under the latest rules designed to tighten regulation of the tobacco industry.
The preliminary guidance issued Friday by the Food and Drug Administration marks the first time tobacco makers will be required to report quantities of 20 chemicals associated with cancer, lung disease and other health problems. The FDA will require companies to display the information in a consumer-friendly format by next April.
EARTHQUAKES: 'Remarkable' spate of man-made quakes linked to drilling, USGS team says
A rash of earthquakes in the middle of the country appears to be related to oil and gas drilling, according to a group of researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey.
"A remarkable increase in the rate of [magnitude-3.0] and greater earthquakes is currently in progress," the scientists state in the abstract for their study. "A naturally-occurring rate change of this magnitude is unprecedented outside of volcanic settings or in the absence of a main shock."
As Fukushima Worsens, US Approves New Nukes
Despite reports this week that the Fukushima nuclear situation may be even worse than previously thought, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has given approval today for two combined licenses for two nuclear reactors in South Carolina, only the second time in the last three decades that new nuclear plants have been approved in the nation.
The NRC's decision to approve the license passed by a 4-1 vote, with the lone dissent vote coming from NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko due to safety measures raised by the Fukushima disaster. Jaczko wrote in his dissent, "I continue to believe that we should require that all Fukushima-related safety enhancements are implemented before these new reactors begin operating.”
Page 484 of 1154