Just How Ugly Could It Get? 17,000 WELLS BAD with CRIMINALS at The Helm

Shale Gas Executives and Landmen

For those wanting to sit on the sidelines, for those wanting to IGNORE the whole shale gas issue, for farmers and others that say THEY JUST DO NOT HAVE TIME TO BE BOTHERED...wake up to just how bad this problem could get.  In a March 10th article published in the Charleston Gazzette (West Virginia) a Norwegian company (Statoil ASA) partnering with known polluter Chesapeake Energy  says it could drill 17,000 Marcellus wells in the next 20 years...HELLO, THIS IS JUST ONE COMPANY!  The article goes on to say that the agreement between the two companies covers 1.8 million acres and more than 32,000 leases in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.

This is not the only player in the game people!  32,000 landowners have already sold out, bought into the lies and propaganda of the industry, or simply did not care about the harm shale gas drilling will bring to the community, cared only about personal wealth, even if getting it means poisoning their neighbors land, making their neighbors children sick.  Lets take a look at the vile, lying, cheating, unethical scums we are dealing with here...maybe in doing so, a few more people will wake up, will see truth, and will join the growing ranks of those opposed to shale gas drilling.

Statoil ASA

After three years of satisfying obligations under a deferred prosecution agreement, the charges against Statoil ASA for violating the anti-bribery and accounting provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act FCPA have been dismissed with prejudice. Statoil is an international oil company headquartered in Norway and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

“Three years of diligent efforts by Statoil to address past misconduct and serious compliance failures have led to the dismissal of foreign bribery charges against the company,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. “Bribing foreign government officials and then attempting to disguise the payments cannot be standard operating procedure. Companies that have robust compliance programs risk far less than companies that take their chances on possible FCPA violations.”

“This case shows that deferred prosecution agreements against corporations can work as an important middle ground between declining prosecution and obtaining the conviction of a corporation,” said U.S. Attorney Prett Bharara. “The deferred prosecution in this case helped restore the integrity of Statoils operations and preserve its financial viability while at the same time ensuring that it improved what was obviously a failed compliance and anti-corruption program.”

Lets not kid ourselves folks...these people got caught have shown themselves to be SCUM...even worse, the prosecutor admits THEY BRIBED OUR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS here in America.  Everyone CUT A DEAL...a deal that lets this unscrupulous company continue in business here in America, lets them KEEP THE THOUSANDS OF LEASES THEY HOLD that will in turn ALLOW THEM TO DRILL UP TO 17,000 wells in our rural lands. The above DEFERRED PROSECUTION is just one example of this company's corrupt business model.

 Chesapeake Energy

1.  State environmental regulators have halted work on a natural-gas well pad in northern Pennsylvania because of erosion that affected the water supply for hundreds of households.

The Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday it issued the order against Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Tuesday after it did not respond to notice of violations of the Clean Streams Law and Oil and Gas Act.

The DEP says the violations involved site-preparation work that occurs before any drilling. It says a significant amount of sediment and silt was discharged into a stream that feeds a water source for Galeton borough in Potter County, forcing the water authority to switch to another source. DEP spokeswoman Katy Gresh says more than 1,000 households were affected.

2.  Socially Responsible Investment Firm Divests Chesapeake Energy

By Dale Wannen | March 23rd, 2011 

In times when oil prices are on the brink of huge increases and radiation leaks from Japanese nuclear reactors seem out of control, natural gas is the latest panacea of energy companies looking for cheap, quick solutions. While energy providers are jumping on the natural gas bandwagon, impact investors are jumping off just as quickly due to environmental concerns like fracking.

Harrington Investments, Inc., an investment advisory firm specializing in socially responsible investing (and my employer), announced today that it is divesting its entire holding in Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK) due to the corporation’s poor environmental record and its lack of accountability to shareholders.

Recently, the Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Department cited over 40 natural gas well operators more than 900 times for “environmental health and safety” violations.   Leading this unworthy group with 109 citations was Chesapeake Energy.

We are told not to name call...but come on folks, these companies are scum!  They are sending in their slick Landmen in their fancy cars, and expensive suits to sell us a RED HERRING, making VERBAL PROMISES that oddly enough are not found in the contracts people are tricked into signing.  They bribe our elected officials, buy off opposition, and then once they have the secured contracts and acreage to begin drilling, THEY IGNORE THE LAWS meant to protect human health and the environment.  Meanwhile, the grassroots activists who are sacrificing their time, money, and in some cases their health to sound the alarm are NOT BEING HEARD, or worse being ignored.  

Do not take our word for it when we sound the alarm, claim the sky is about too fall...instead, use our modern day technology for FIVE MINUTES....that is all it took  to find these and other violations concerning these two vile companies that want to start drilling in our communities here in New York.