Land Grab Roundup will Wipe Out Nevada’s Wild Horses to Make Way for Mining and Liquid Natural Gas Fracking

BLM plans on conducting a wild horse roundup in eastern Nevada
ELY, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will begin a wild horse roundup near Ely, Nevada on or about July 8, 2019. The purpose of this roundup is to use taxpayer dollars to appease Cattlemen as well as the mining and Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) fracking industry, etc. There is no evidence of overpopulation it’s just a big fat greedy lie.

Wild horses torn from their family bands and homes on public land, will be made available for adoption or sale as a means of “disposal” through the BLM’s Adoption and Sale Program. In the past, the BLM has sold thousands of wild horses to alleged kill buyers such as their buddy who purchased at least 1,700 native wild horses to “use in the Mexican film industry.”

The BLM is claiming the population of wild horses in the proposed roundup area, known as the Triple B Complex, was estimated at 3,381 as of March 1, 2019 – more than ten times above the target population of 474-889 wild horses. Advocates who crunch numbers such as Marybeth Devlin find this impossible because wild horses don’t have litters.

After years of land degradation from overgrazing cattle and most especially sheep, the BLM and their P.R. division spin lies and fake news once again. They claim, “… By balancing herd size with what the land can support, the BLM aims to protect habitat for other wildlife species such as sage grouse, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and elk. Removing excess animals would also enable significant progress toward achieving the Standards for Rangeland Health identified by the Northeastern Great Basin Resource Advisory Council (NGBRAC).” Know that the NGBRAC is made up of opportunists who want to cash in on the land, water, resources or government funding for the wild horse “problem”.

Of course, former Secretary of Interior, Ryan Zinke, has joined the board of U.S. Gold Corp., who is involved with mining and exploration of liquid natural gas, etc. Even the Elko Daily reports:

“The rapid transition from the highest levels of the executive branch to the corporate boardroom is raising questions about possible conflicts of interest.

It comes fewer than four months after Zinke left a cabinet position overseeing the country’s oil and gas, coal and other natural resources and those companies that profit off their extraction.”

Read more about Zinke’s alleged conflicts of interest here: https://elkodaily.com/mining/zinke-joins-board-of-elko-based-u-s-gold-corp/article_83ccde9d-edf5-5bde-a9c2-265d69c58a76.html

Keep in mind that Zinke, while in office, allegedly made deals to remove America’s wild horses from public land–to free it up for mining, fracking, water grabs, etc. Just #FollowTheMoney because now it’s so obvious as the public watches it play out.

Now here’s the funny part–the BLM has not proved to the American public or elected officials that there are “excess” wild horses on 1,682,998 acres of public land in what’s known as the Triple B Complex near Ely and Elko. After allegedly being seduced by big dollars, Zinke said there were too many wild horses while in office and therefore it supposedly is so.

Who suffers as a result of all this greed? The innocent wild horses do of course.

Roundups are cruel, period. Injuries and deaths are commonplace. Native wild horses suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after being chased by helicopters, stampeded into traps, then ripped from their families and their native land. Because the BLM views American wild horses are soul-less animals and pests, they don’t care and they lie to claim they do. The BLM strives to hide the cruelty from the public to avoid outrage that travels like wildfire–thanks to the social media.

The Triple B Complex is located in the BLM’s Elko and Ely districts on public lands administered by the Wells and Bristlecone field offices. The roundup may also take place in areas outside the Complex where wild horses have moved in search of food and water after being fenced out of their rightful access to food and water on public land. The BLM claims they will leave 2,581 wild horses in the Complex once the roundup is completed. The truth is the BLM inflates the population estimate to justify removing a high percentage in order to wipe out the majority of wild horses in the resource-rich Complex. The roundup is expected to last approximately 20-25 days at huge expense to the American taxpayer. Are you aware of how much money roundup contractors rake in?

The BLM states that members of the public are welcome to view the daily roundup operations, provided that it does not jeopardize the safety of the animals, staff or observers and that it does not disrupt gather operations. The BLM will escort the public to gather observation sites located on public lands. The BLM anticipates that viewing opportunities will begin on or about July 9, 2019, weather and logistics permitting. Those wanting to view roundup operations are asked to notify Public Affairs Specialist Chris Hanefeld at (775) 289-1800 prior to the desired viewing date to be added to the attendee list and to receive specific instructions on meeting locations and times.

Some high-tech behind the scenes horse advocates, who aren’t asking for donations, believe the BLM’s contractor “pre-gathers” and therefore stampedes wild horses much further than they would let the public know. Of course, the BLM and everyone in on the roundup game won’t tell you the truth.

The BLM is conducting the roundup under the DOI-BLM-NV-E030-2017-0010-EA Antelope and Triple B Complexes Gather Plan Environmental Assessment decision signed on December 21, 2017, when Ryan Zinke was the Secretary of Interior overseeing the BLM. Access the Decision Record and determination of the National Environmental Policy Act adequacy at https://go.usa.gov/xyYxj.

Once the roundup is underway, the BLM will post roundup reports and wild horse death reports as well as additional information on its website at https://go.usa.gov/xy2R7. For technical information, contact Wild Horse and Burro Specialist Ben Noyes at (775) 289-1836 or bnoyes@blm.gov.

Roundups for fracking?

Is the BLM wiping out wild horses in Nevada because of the upcoming fracking boom for oil and natural gas? Of course they don’t want a bunch of dead wild horses pointing to the fracked poisoned water. People might notice they are poisoning the environment just like they did in Josh Fox’s Oscar nominated documentary GASLAND. (www.GASLANDthemovie.com) GASLAND 2 mentioned that wild horses are being rounded up where they are going to frack the land. Sadly many wild horses ended up sold to slaughter.

Are you aware of the infrastructure they are building in Nevada to store and ship Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to Asia?

Please read this http://protectmustangs.org/?p=10428 and send your comments into BLM. They were hoping you wouldn’t notice.

For the Wild Ones,
Anne Novak

Volunteer Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org
Dedicated to protecting and preserving native and wild horses.

Is BLM rounding up wild horses to frack for oil and gas?

From a  Bureau of Land Management press release:

BLM Seeks Public Comment on Public Lands Nominated for Oil and Gas Leasing

ELY, Nev.–The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ely District is asking the public to review and provide comment on parcels of public land nominated for potential oil and gas exploration and development. The public comment period concludes Monday, Sept. 18, 2017. America’s free markets will help determine if energy development on public lands is feasible.

The BLM received requests to lease 208 nominated parcels of public land, totaling 388,960 acres. Leasing would occur in areas where oil and gas development is allowed under the 2008 Ely District Resource Management Plan. The decision to offer parcels for lease does not authorize any drilling or development. Impacts of leasing the parcels are analyzed in the preliminary environmental assessment (EA), in accordance with the Oil & Gas Leasing Reform mandated in 2010. Lease stipulations identified in the Ely Resource Management Plan (2008) are attached to some parcels to help protect certain resources. The preliminary EA is available for public review at http://bit.ly/2vH21Ix.

Interested individuals should address all written comments to the BLM Caliente Field Office, PO Box 237, Caliente, NV 89008, Attn: Dec. 2017 O&G Lease Sale or fax them to the Caliente Office at (775) 726-8111. Comments may also be submitted electronically with the subject, “ATTN: 2017 Oil & Gas Lease Sale” to blm_nv_ely_oil_and_gas2017@blm.gov.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

A Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale is scheduled on December 12, 2017. Additional information about the sale including the sale notice and parcel list will be posted to https://on.doi.gov/2nntQCJ as it becomes available.

For more information, contact the BLM Caliente Field Office at (775) 726-8100.

Protect Mustangs is keeping the public informed

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Expose BLM’s backdoor to slaughter!

How many are left?

When I first heard about wild horses in the Pryor Mountains being brutally rounded up in 2009, Nevada was home to 80% of America’s federally protected wild horses. Wyoming was the next state who had the most wild horses and California only had a few herds left.

Today Nevada has only about 50% of America’s wild horses and I believe California now has the second largest population. In Wyoming, the feds are proposing to remove another 1,029 wild horses. One of their former congresswomen even wanted to kill them!

The Department of Interior is giving away grants for university students in Wyoming to cruelly collar mares from the Adobe Town herd. They want to find out where they hide in the desert. Then the agency in charge of protecting them can find them and wipe out the ancient Adobe Town mustangs too.

Invasive cruelty against America’s wild horses must stop. The law states they are to be left alone and not be abused. How dare they collar wild horses! This harassment will cause deaths and these deaths will be hidden. . . Hidden like the others.

The deception continues. People who once spoke out against mustang cruelty back in 2009 are now mute because they are playing a political game to get what they want. I’m disgusted and will never sell out. Never.

In 8 years of roundups, experiments, removals, pesticides for “birth control”, 3-Strikes to sell truckloads for slaughter and taxpayer-funded propaganda campaigns, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has decimated America’s wild herds on public land. Now wild horses are in danger of dying out because they lack genetic diversity, population and strength. Natural selection is being ruined by the “one foal” on the range breeding programs run by Pesticide PZP darters in partnership with BLM. Remember Pesticide PZP sterilizes wild horses after multiple use. Yes sterilizes. The public is fooled by those trusted to manage the last American wild horses and their nonprofit partners peddling for donations to “help” them.

Overpopulation is a lie. Population control is based on a false premise that wild horses are “pests”. Follow the money behind population control experiments and the donation cash cow for the nonprofit who claims they solved the wild horse “problem”.

Know the truth: Wild horses are native wildlife, period. Cattle and sheep are not.

Right now we are witnessing a wild horse and burro underpopulation crisis in the West. This is our last chance to help America’s wild horses and burros survive the ugly greed wiping out our herds. It’s time to expose the overpopulation lies. It’s time to expose all the trucks sneaking wild stallions to slaughter over the borders. . . expose the lies that there are “too many” wild horses on public land. Count them.

The truth must be exposed by your elected officials now before it’s too late.

I urge you to sign and share the petition to investigate the wild horse and burro count in captivity and freedom: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom Join us to double the numbers on the petition in the next 7 days!

America won’t be the same without our iconic wild symbols of liberty running freely on public land . . . The wild herds are to be protected by the law–but because of the greed for resources (oil, gas, livestock grazing, etc.) the law is being twisted, lies are spread in the media and spoon-fed to your elected officials acting on your behalf.

It’s time to know how many wild horses and burros are really left so we can all stand up to protect them.

Prayers and miracles are needed right now. Please contact me if you can help with a lawsuit to save America’s last wild horses and burros.

For the Wild Ones,
Anne Novak
Volunteer Executive Director
Protect Mustangs

Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Utah elected officials want to kill and slaughter wild horses

With no head counts and only biased estimate from the Bureau of Land Management, a deadly bill is proposed in the state of Utah

Read the bill itself here: http://le.utah.gov/~2017/bills/static/HCR022.html

Rather than fighting for American wild horses and burros to have their rights upheld on public land, the Pesticide PZP pushing groups are lobbying hard to have their “vaccine” used for pest control. Pest control you ask? Yes, a pesticide is used for pest control. In the EPA Pesticide Fact sheet, it states that the registrant of Pesticide PZP, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), called them “pests”.

This is the first time America’s native wild horses and burros have been labeled “pests”. Do you agree that indigenous wild horses are pests? How can an animal with origins in America be a “pest”?

Pests are invasive species. Wild horses are native.

Curiously many required forms required on the pesticide application received waivers and that only bring many questions to light. How did the registrant get environmental waivers and such? Was an expensive consulting firm brought in to push the Pesticide PZP application through or did HSUS pull strings inside the EPA?


The Pesticide PZP pushing groups, under the hand of HSUS, keep shouting they want “fertility control” for a fake problem. A fake problem you ask? Yes, fake. The National Academy of Sciences stated there is “no evidence of overpopulation” in their 2013 report. Despite this fact, those looking to rape the public land of her resources push the overpopulation myth.

Rather than fight to protect the last American wild horses and burros in the West–PZP Advocates lobby with bad-science booklets in hand–to have the wild equids darted with a “vaccine” made out of slaughterhouse pig ovaries for population control.

The truth is simple–When the public is informed about the dangers of Pesticide PZP they are horrified.

Fact: Drugging up wild horses with a dangerous pesticide sterilizes after multiple uses. The pesticide also ruins natural selection and wrecks havoc with native wild horses’ immune systems putting them at risk of massive die-offs. You can read the science showing some of the many dangers here: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=6922

Exploiters–vying to make billions on public land occupied by wild horses and burros–have jumped on the twisted notion of “fertility control” without a head count erupting out of the Pesticide PZP pusher’s expensive PR campaign. They push for quick population control. They hail pesticide-vaccines for sterilization, grotesque sterilization experiments on pregnant wild horses and lobby to send America’s icons of freedom off to slaughter to be eaten as a delicacy abroad.

Fear mongering the public that it’s either PZP or Slaughter will no longer be tolerated. Pesticide PZP Advocates need to stop trying to manipulate people’s emotions to support their pesticide for birth control and leave our wild ones alone. We demand protection for America’s last wild horses and burros now!

It’s time to stand up and demand a head count of the last will horses left in America. Are truckloads of stallions being taken off the range and shipped over the border to slaughter? We need a freeze on cruel roundups, forced drugging with Pesticide PZP, transport to slaughter, etc. so they can be counted now!

It’s time to expose the overpopulation myth as the wicked lie.


Tell Utah politicians they need to stop trying to kill and slaughter wild horses and burros that belong to the American people from coast to coast. Hands off! Let them live free.

Take Action: Sign and share the petition demanding a head count and Congressional investigation: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom Take it with you to meetings with your elected officials to ask for help. Bring the petition to defund the roundup and slaughter of America’s wild horses and burros (https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups) with you too and the #NoKILLmustangs petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/907/592/301/demand-nokill-45000-wild-horses-burros-in-holding/ These tools will help you stay on topic when you ask your elected officials to protect them.

Stand up for the last American wild horses and burros! Become a Mustang Protector. Together we can turn this around.

For the Wild Ones,

Anne Novak

 

Volunteer Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Mustang holding facility open for rare public tour in Fallon October 28th

pm-blm-fallon-screen-shot-2016-10-20-at-11-06-12-am

Failed adoptions result in America’s wild horses and burros becoming at-risk of ending up at slaughter

RENO, Nev. —The Bureau of Land Management (BoLM) will host two free public tours of the Indian Lakes Off-Range Wild Horse and Burro Corral in Fallon, Nevada, on Friday, October 28. The private corral is one of three in Nevada that fattens up wild horses and burros removed from the range so they are attractive to kill buyers in the end. Tour attendees will have the opportunity to view native wild horses recently rounded up from public lands in central and eastern Nevada when the federal agency could have brought them water on the range to save taxpayer dollars. Instead they rounded them up, will offer them for adoption 3 times for $125 in order to “strike them out”. Then to dispose of them, the federal agency sells them off for $25 to horse traders who eventually flip them to kill buyers for slaughter.

“The Bureau claims they don’t sell wild horses to slaughter but they don’t seem do any post sales checks to make sure the mustangs aren’t sent to Mexico or Canada to be butchered for human consumption abroad,” explains Anne Novak, executive director or Protect Mustangs. “What about all the wild horses that aren’t accurately accounted for that aren’t sold yet? What happened to them?”

The rare public tours are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and each will last about two hours. Each tour will accommodate up to 20 people. The public can sign up to attend and get driving directions to the facility by calling the BoLM at (775) 475-2222.

About a 90-minute drive east of Reno, the Indian Lakes Off-Range Corral is located at 5676 Indian Lakes Road, Fallon, and is privately owned and operated with a big money contract. Tour attendees will have limited access to the captives. They will be taken around the facility as a group on a wagon to learn about the facility, the wild horses and burros available for adoption, and BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program. These tours should be happening every weekend at least to encourage adoptions out of the Fallon facility.

The Indian Lakes corral can provide care for up to 3,200 wild horses or burros. The facility encompasses 320 acres containing 43 large holding pens, each pen measuring 70,000 square feet that will safely hold about 100 wild horses or burros. The wild horses receive a lot of feed to fatten them up, along with a constant supply of fresh water through automatic watering troughs. Free choice mineral block supplements are also provided to the wild horses and burros in each pen. A veterinarian routinely inspects the wild horses and burros and the BoLM claims they provide necessary veterinary care as needed.

The Bureau of Land Management is failing at adoptions because of lack of marketing and poor customer service.

“If the U.S. Congress only realized how hard it is to adopt wild horses and give them homes they might make the bureau change their ways,” says Novak.

For example the wild horses at the Indian Lakes facility with limited access to the public are almost impossible to adopt despite looking like they are available for adoption or sale at off-site adoption events and through BLM’s Internet Adoption program. Too many 3-Strikers are coming out of the Fallon facility so it’s proof their system is failing.

pm-investigate-count-fallon-list-meme-sept-2016-001

Sign and share the petition to investigate the head count of wild horses and burros: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom

Keep in mind that the BoLM’s main focus is making money off public land the wild horses and burros are supposed to have for principle but not exclusive use. The BoLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BoLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year 2015, the BoLM generated $4.1 billion in receipts from activities occurring on public lands. They fail at environmental stewardship and are irresponsible towards all the wild horses and burros they removed to make billions in profit. In 20 years the BoLM will make more than 200 billion dollars as long as their planned #fracking boom moves forward.

Contact Protect Mustangs (Contact@ProtectMustangs.org) if you want to adopt a pair of wild horses and save their lives. We help adopters navigate the Bureau of Land Management’s red tape to get to success.

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org




Meet the new Bureau of Land Management propaganda mouthpiece who just voted to kill 45,000 American wild horses and burros in holding

pm-ben-masters-headshot

Ben Masters claims, in his PRO-KILL statement on 9/10/16, that there are 3,160 wild horses in the area he visited on the BLM tour last week. He visited Dolly Varden Spring in Antelope Valley, Nevada. One of our members was there too.

A well established local journalist, Larry Hyslop wrote about the wild horses at Dolly Varden Spring on 8/20/16. According to Hyslop there are 1,100 wild horses. Ben Masters, a new Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board member, claimed there were three times as many in his PRO-KILL statement on 9/10/16.

So who is telling the truth? 

 

How many wild horses are out there? Where is the evidence?

 

 

Ben Masters only holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences from Texas A&M University. He produced and played himself in the film, UNBRANDED, a Bureau of Land Management propaganda film with all those talking heads forced into the story of an epic journey.

Sign and Share the Petition to Demand #NoKill 45,000 Wild Horses & Burros in Holding: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/907/592/301/demand-nokill-45000-wild-horses-burros-in-holding/

Sign and Share the Petition to Defund to Stop the Wild Horse and Burro Roundups and Slaughter https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

Sign and Share the Petition to Investigate the Wild Horse & Burro Count in Captivity and in Freedom https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom

Ben Master on far left

Help fight the killing!

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




What will be different this time? #Fracking and wastewater in Elko

Photo credit Jim Bleche. Nobel Energy Fracking rig in Colorado

  • Larry Hyslop/Elko Free Press Correspondent

Part 2 Cross-posted from the Elko Free Press for educational purposes

This column is the second in a series looking for answers to the question: what is going to be different this time around? What will prevent Elko County from facing the many problems faced by so many other states where hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is being used for oil and natural gas exploration and production? What combination of natural conditions, Noble Energy (Noble) and state/ federal oversight is going to make fracking a good experience for Elko County residents? These columns are not an endorsement of fracking and they focus on Noble although other oil companies may come into the county.

The liquid used in fracking a well is 98 to 99 percent water and sand. About a dozen chemicals are typically added to that, some of which are toxic, to ensure fracture stimulation. Each well uses a slightly different chemical mix but they all usually include acids, clay controls, friction reducers, scale inhibitors, iron controls, biocides and gellants.

Anyone can view the list of chemicals used in each fracking job at fracfocus.org. Under the new state regulations, Noble lists the chemicals within 60 days of each well completion. Go to fracfocus.org, click on Find a Well, select Nevada and Elko County. Wells are listed by an API number, but the correct well can be found using the provided well’s latitude and longitude along with a map.

After fracking, fluids flow back up the pipe. This “flowback” must then be disposed of, treated, recycled or re-used. During oil well production, water from the rock formation also comes up with the oil, called produced water. This and the oil itself must be dealt with safely. Chandler Newhall is Noble’s Rockies business unit asset manager. He said Noble will always contain produced water and flowback in steel tanks or pipes, they will not use lined pits.

For the first two wells, this flowback and produced water was shipped to a licensed facility in Eastern Utah for treatment. If Noble enters a production phase, they will develop a water management program to include treatment, recycling and reuse. In a grouping of future oil wells, produced water could be piped to a central location to be treated and piped back out to be used in fracking other wells. Noble will not use evaporation ponds for disposal. “When the company has to dispose of any water, we will obtain the appropriate regulatory permits and use only state-approved commercial disposal facilities or permitted underground injection,” explained Chandler. The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection would issue a permit for any proposed re-injection well.

Re-injection of wastewater has been a problem in other areas, where this process has caused a series of small earthquakes. Many re-injection wells have not caused these problems. It appears this concern can be reduced through control of the amount of water injected per day and the pumping pressure. NDEP regulations do not address any potential seismic issues.

In some areas, radioactive minerals have returned in the produced water. This has not been seen in Nevada. If it does happen, a special permit must be obtained and the radioactive sludge disposed of properly. Very little, if any, natural gas is expected so flaring is unlikely. In North Dakota, such flares light the night skies. Actually, Noble hopes to find a little natural gas to use for powering well site generators.

Spills of produced water and oil are always concerns. Chandler says Noble has strict guidelines for the companies they hire. Emergency response plans will be in place for spills, along with spill prevention programs. If spilled, produced water could seep into the ground, and further actions will be taken to remove the contaminated water and even the contaminated soil. NDEP would become involved in any spills.

This is so early in the exploration process, it is hard to know the future of oil production in Elko County. Only the first well is producing oil in a long-term production test to understand the potential production. Noble’s success scenario would be to produce 50,000 barrels of oil per day at peak production. Chandler says this will be different from the Bakken Oil Field in North Dakota where they produce 900,000 barrels of oil per day. Nevada is currently producing 900 barrels per day.

The initial wells will be vertical wells, to study the subsurface geology and test various zones for oil production. Noble may use horizontal wells in the future, which will use more water and create much more wastewater.

“Horizontal wells minimize the surface impact while recovering more of the resource potential. This would enable us to replace many vertical wells with one horizontal well,” said Chandler.

 # # #

How will #fracking affect Elko County?

  • Larry Hyslop/Correspondent Elko Daily Free Press

cross-posted for educational purposes

Let me start by saying I have no answer to the above question. If Noble Energy does indeed develop wells using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, what will that mean to Elko County residents?

Noble Energy has held informative meetings and told us everything will be fine, that fracking will be good for the county. They said there is not a single proven case of fracking chemicals contaminating drinking water aquifers, and other problems either will not occur here or have been overblown.

However, it is difficult to accept these facts with so many other states having problems. What worries me most is we will not know the problems we face until operations are well underway and it is too late to change things.

A quick Internet search using “fracking problems” followed by various state names brought up long lists of articles, including these below.

• NBC News reported fracking wastewater appears to be linked to earthquakes in an Ohio town that has not seen past quakes. The state has ordered an indefinite moratorium on fracking within three miles of the earthquake epicenters. Not only am I alarmed at the thought of fracking causing seismic activity, but Elko lies in an area of high seismic activity. In 2008, if fracking operations had been in place near Wells, what would have happened because of that earthquake?

• The Washington Post reported Pennsylvania drilling for natural gas caused “significant damage” to drinking-water aquifers. The Texas Tribune reported that due to the recent drought, oil and gas companies may run short of needed water for operations in South Texas.

• Time magazine reported the House Energy and Commerce Committee found that 14 of the country’s most active hydraulic fracturing companies used 866 million gallons of fracking chemicals between 2005 and 2009. This does not include water, which makes up 99 percent of the fluid injected into wells.

• The Herald-Standard newspaper reported Williston, N.D. has a large methamphetamine drug problem brought in by a gang selling drugs among the oil workers.

• Governing the States and Localities website reports North Dakota roads, designed for farm-to-market travel, are not holding up under the big trucks accessing rigs and wells. On the Jiggs Highway, what effect will heavy truck traffic have on this small highway?

So help me out. Help me find an answer by telling me what you think. Will fracking be good or bad for Elko County? Are the possible problems overblown? If you believe fracking will cause problems, which ones do you worry about the most? Email me at hyslop.nv@gmail.com and put “fracking” in the subject line.

In two weeks I will report the results. I will not be able to quote your complete comments, but will report the consensus of responses.

# # #

(6) comments

freewillie

The USGS says all industrial uses of water, including mining, use about 20 billion gallons per day. According to Mr. Hyslop the top 14 (IOW most all) companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing operations use (derived from the quoted 866 million gallons per 5 years x 100 to one water ratio) about 50 million gallons of water per day – 1/400 of industrial usage. When the same math is done for the 270 billion per day for all water usage in the US it’s 2/10,000. I’m not real worried.

freewillie

Before someone points out the obvious, Mr. Hyslop did not make this assertion, the article he quoted did.

Bland

Search the Net for anything + problems and you will get thousands of hits leading to articles that, unsurprisingly, detail problems. Which of these are worth consideration then becomes the issue. Since the level of bizarre claims by people looking for and, again unsurprisingly, finding “problems” seems to runs around a 100% it’s naive to give most the time of day. Try Googling “obama birth certificate” or “truth 911” for a taste of what I mean. The examples you site aren’t much better.

Bland

As an example of how misleading a search for problems can be, a full reading of The Washington Post story referenced shows one guy at the USEPA issued a report about methane in water in Penn. – a report that not only contradicts the final report that settled this matter by his own EPA but one that details gas in water that occurs naturally in that area anyway, is completely non-toxic in water anyway and has also long ago been ruled inconsequential by the Penn. State EPA.

powwowgirl

You need to do the research yourself
What is the Halliburton loop hole
What is horizontal drilling
What is in fracking fluid
How much water does it take to drill a well
Why is regulations on private land wells different than public land
How far back from the well is the water tested
How long do fracking jobs last
finally why did a family in Aruba Texas recently awarded 3 million dollars in a fracking poisoning case

powwowgirl

A family in Aruba Texas just was awarded 3 million for poisoning them. Headwated for the Humbolt river is the Mary’s River Valley. Ground water always follows surface water. Good luck with that North Texas!

Biased press reports ignore public comment against roundups, PZP, GonaCon®, sterilization, livestock damage and killing

Cross-posted from the Elko Free Press for educational purposes

Advisory board suggests recommendations to the BLM

by FALLON GODWIN-BUTLER FGodwin-Butler@elkodaily.com


Fallon Godwin-Butler, Elko Daily Free Press
Ben Masters, left, Dr. Robert Copeland and Dr. Julie Weikel discuss working group recommendations Friday at Stockmen’s Hotel & Casino.
ELKO — As the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting rounded out its last day in Elko, some of the working group recommendations given aligned with public comment and were focused on alleviating the population issue and restoring viable rangelands.

While the first recommendation — to destroy horses deemed unadoptable or sell them without limitation — was recognized as being the least socially palatable, Dr. Robert Cope said it was necessary to look at all options.

During its time in Nevada, the board was given a first-hand experience of the rangeland and horses in the form of a field trip, “where it became so obvious there’s an incredible crisis situation out there affecting the resource,” he said.

The rangeland was described as the bedrock the burros, wild horses, wildlife and rural communities depend on, said Dr. Julie Weikel.

Cope said it has become apparent the time for discussion was over, instead it is now at a point where “something has got to be done.”

This working group recommended the Bureau of Land Management follow the stipulations of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act “by offering all suitable animals in long and short term holding deemed unadoptable for sale without limitation or humane euthanasia. Those animals deemed unsuitable for sale should then be destroyed in the most humane manner possible.”

The initial recommendation was approved by all present board members save Ginger Kathrens.

It was asked if more horses could be removed from the wild to put less pressure on the land.

“I would like to see them put some more pressure to get more funds to do more gathers,” said June Sewing.

When asked about his feelings on the measure, member Ben Masters said, citing his age of 27, he was angered about inheriting and having been given messes.

He said his ultimate goal is to have a target population controlled by birth control. Masters didn’t think that could be accomplished through adoption and he would like to pass down a better rangeland to future generations.

“It’s a way of taking the public and Congress … on that field trip,” said Weikel.

The second recommendation — which also found approval, with Kathrens abstaining — focused on the prioritization of sage grouse habitat, when removing excess animals.

Kathrens did so based on a lack of information concerning the amount acres and herds impacted by this decision.

Additionally, it was proposed that the degree of degradation on the range was to be used as a criterion when prioritizing and removing excess animals.
The later caveat includes considering rangelands, which can be “restored and maintained in a healthy status.”

“It’s already past time for some of these places,” said Weikel, explaining this is an attempt to ask the BLM what can be saved.

That recommendation was not meant to “usurp” the priorities of the bureau.

Cope brought up the subject of genetic variability, which was touched upon by Dr. Boyd Spratling Thursday during public comment.

This form of variability or diversity potentially allows for a realistic chance of avoiding the problems associated with inbreeding.

Cope researched how high the numbers of horses would have to be to ensure this from within.

“According to what I heard yesterday, that magic number isn’t 150 it’s closer to 5,000,” he said.

Spratling said this is easily solved by placing studs in smaller herds, for example less than 150.

The conversation soon turned to economic viability by developing relationships with other agencies and departments to “conduct an analysis of socioeconomic and environmental effects on communities.”

Encouragement was given to state agencies and BLM redevelopment advisory councils to submit plans for range rehabilitation and herd management, which would be created to serve various areas based on local expertise and understanding.

The working group recommendations looked toward a theme from Thursday’s public comment to help the resource by dealing with the population and create unification to work with Congress and the Secretary of the Interior. One member of the public asked for the BLM’s hands to be untied.

The issue was called a breakdown of scientific management.

A representative of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign said the BLM is not using the contraceptive porcine zona pellucida in a way that is managing the population. Sterilization was also called invasive and barbaric and the board was asked to abandon it in favor of funding acceptable forms of contraception.

It was commonly asked for to remove the horses for appropriate management levels and begin conservation efforts.

Cross-posted from the Elko Free Press for educational purposes

Ben Masters starred in UNBRANDED now on Netflix. Masters voted to kill all the wild horses claimed to be unadoptable after receiving-3-Strikes from failed BLM adoptions due to BLM’s poor marketing and rotten customer service.

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.