North Carolina GOP Pushes Unprecedented Bill to Jail Anyone Who Discloses Fracking Chemicals
May 21st, 2014Via: Mother Jones:
As hydraulic fracturing ramps up around the country, so do concerns about its health impacts. These concerns have led 20 states to require the disclosure of industrial chemicals used in the fracking process.
North Carolina isn’t on that list of states yet—and it may be hurtling in the opposite direction.
On Thursday, three Republican state senators introduced a bill that would slap a felony charge on individuals who disclosed confidential information about fracking chemicals. The bill, whose sponsors include a member of Republican party leadership, establishes procedures for fire chiefs and health care providers to obtain chemical information during emergencies. But as the trade publication Energywire noted Friday, individuals who leak information outside of emergency settings could be penalized with fines and several months in prison.
“The felony provision is far stricter than most states’ provisions in terms of the penalty for violating trade secrets,” says Hannah Wiseman, a Florida State University assistant law professor who studies fracking regulations.
The bill also allows companies that own the chemical information to require emergency responders to sign a confidentiality agreement. And it’s not clear what the penalty would be for a health care worker or fire chief who spoke about their experiences with chemical accidents to colleagues.
“I think the only penalties to fire chiefs and doctors, if they talked about it at their annual conference, would be the penalties contained in the confidentiality agreement,” says Wiseman. “But [the bill] is so poorly worded, I cannot confirm that if an emergency responder or fire chief discloses that confidential information, they too would not be subject to a felony.” In some sections, she says, “That appears to be the case.”
Research Credit: alvinroast
DEPLETED URANIUM IS NOW USED IN FRACKING PERF GUNS!
Halliburton patent reveals use of Depleted Uranium in Fracking Perf Guns
Claims
1.3. The perforating gun assembly as recited in claim 1 wherein the secondary pressure generator is selected from the group consisting of zinc, aluminum, bismuth, tin, calcium, cerium, cesium, hafnium, iridium, lead, lithium, palladium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, titanium, zirconium, cobalt, chromium, iron, nickel, tantalum, depleted uranium and combination, alloys, carbides and hydrides of these materials.
24. The wellbore pressure control assembly as recited in claim 21 wherein the secondary pressure generator is selected from the group consisting of zinc, aluminum, bismuth, tin, calcium, cerium, cesium, hafnium, iridium, lead, lithium, palladium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, titanium, zirconium, cobalt, chromium, iron, nickel, tantalum, depleted uranium and combination, alloys, carbides and hydrides of these materials.
http://www.google.com/patents/US20110000669#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://williamahuston.blogspot.com/2013/03/finally-proof-of-use-depleted-uranium.html