Between The Lines: Cindy Rank on regulating natural gas wells and controversial drilling 'fracking' (Week Ending 12/31/10)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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W. Va. Activists Campaign for Better Regulation of Natural Gas Wells Drilled by Controversial "Fracking" Method

Real Audio MP3

Interview with Cindy Rank, activist with the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

$fracking$ Activists have been battling mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia for many years, and some now have turned their attention to fighting the ravages of natural gas drilling. West Virginia ranks third among states, behind Texas and Pennsylvania, in the number of gas wells, now totaling 48,000. More recently, horizontal gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation has created even more severe scars on the land and the resulting pollution has threatened drinking water in several states. New York's Gov. David Paterson recently imposed a six-month moratorium on certain kinds of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale, which extends mostly across parts of New York and Pennsylvania and almost all of West Virginia.

Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking" is controversial gas drilling method in which millions of gallons of water, a secret mix of toxic chemicals and sand are injected into wells to break apart shale and release trapped gas. The drilling method has polluted ground water, created contaminated industrial sites in some rural areas and caused illnesses according to people who live near fracking operations.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Cindy Rank, a leader of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, who has been active in opposing mountaintop removal mining around her home in northern West Virginia, which is now where the bulk of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale is taking place. Here, she talks about the two issues, and recent efforts to better regulate the growing number of natural gas wells.

CINDY RANK: Many people talk about mountaintop removal being strip mining on steroids, and this new gas drilling is just that. It's gas drilling on steroids, as far as I'm concerned. So that all of the problems that we encountered throughout the early '80s throughout our area -- in addition to the mining we were fighting -- was a lot of the conventional gas drilling. Most of it was less than 6,000 feet deep -- more like 4,000 feet or whatever. But the footprint and the truck traffic and the impact of pipelines and compressor stations -- all of that has just increased a hundred- fold when you get to these Marcellus (Shale) sites.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And what makes them bigger?

CINDY RANK: Well, the need for 4.5 million gallons of water to be pumped down into the mine sites. You have to have a place either to store that water -- which means you have football field-size freshwater impoundments, plus football field-size wastewater impoundments. That takes up a whole lot of area. Or, if you don't have those, if you're using a closed cycle that Chesapeake in our area has attempted to go to, you have to have space for a bazillion trucks on site -- water trucks that hold that much water. The equipment's that's needed, the truck traffic that's needed -- it's closer to five acres or more than it used to be like two acres, on a conventional vertical well that's drilled. The impact on the communities and on the earth and on the roads and even the air -- although that's gotten less attention to this point, although I think it's going to be increasing as people look at all the different aspects of the drilling. You know, it's must a larger impact all around whether you're talking about the air or the actual on-the-ground footprint.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Is the main distinction in drilling in the Marcellus Shale that it's horizontal drilling, or does that go on in other kinds of gas drilling as well?

CINDY RANK: Well, one, you can do vertical drilling in Marcellus, as well as horizontal. I don't think it's as effective or efficient, because the fracking that's done on a straight line doesn't reach out far enough so it doesn't withdraw efficiently enough the gas that's down there, so that when you go down vertical and send out your lateral or your horizontal leg, which you frack out 3,000 feet, you're getting that much more gas coming up through the well site. So vertical drilling is done into the Marcellus, but it seems to be more efficient to do horizontal drilling.

BETWEEN THE LINES: A lot of people in industry and even environmentalists point out that natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and coal is the dirtiest, so natural gas must be the bridge fuel to get us off fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy, so hallelujah...

CINDY RANK: I can't do hallelujah for this gas. One of the problems with coal is the whole life cycle of whatever it is you're talking about is what's important. Visually, there's nothing to compare to MTR (mountaintop removal). It's horrendous and wipes out communities -- whole communities. Visually, you're not going to get the same effect, I don't think, from all of this gas drilling, but the individuals, like in Dimock, Penn., and all of those other places, where, strangely enough, their water is impacted -- whether or not it's a directly a factor of the fracturing or whether the fracturing triggers something else that's already cracked or not the greatest, and allows methane to get up into their (water) wells. You know, I really do believe there's going to be a very large impact on water; maybe not the same kind as the selenium and everything else we're getting out of the mountaintop removal sites, but I think some of the groundwater resources that many of us depend on for wells and springs, etc., may well be impacted by this new gas drilling, with the footprint and the disturbance in the communities. That has to be taken into account. Plus, there are studies coming out now that the emissions from these things, in terms of greenhouse gas and methane, are not as friendly as people would hope they were.

I guess it's a problem if you're talking about degree of acceptance of fossil fuels, you're already talking about devilish choices. Why fossil fuels in the first place? Because when you're talking about fossil fuels you're talking about finite resources that are really not friendly to extract and to burn. We're finding out that the gas burning isn't nearly as friendly as we'd hoped. Now, whether or not that makes it a viable bridge option, whether or not it's worth the risk to all of the water resources throughout these areas in the future, I don't know. It's just one of those things that we're unprepared for.

For more information on both mountaintop removal mining and gas drilling in West Virginia, visit the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy's website at WVHighlands.org