Fracking - where is it headed ?

[Lamplighter]

Glatt, I'm not sure your examples are analogous, but I agree that there are levels of "violations",
particularly when the comparison is between management of a single business operation
and an industry made up of many different "operators".

But maybe I would say that preventing a violation is much more important
than trying to or having to remedy a violation that has already happened.
There may be no remediation of a contaminated aquifer, especially one used for drinking water.
For example, the aquifer feeding into the Columbia River from the Hanford Reservation
(atomic bomb era) is almost certainly beyond remedy.

P.S. Not having a DNR in the patient's file may well lead to a very nasty situation...
that may not have a good solution.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

P.S. Not having a DNR in the patient's file may well lead to a very nasty situation...

True, I forgot to add that the DNR was instead at the nurse's station in the hall. But I agree it's still a violation and could, under certain circumstances, be a problem.

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Glatt, I'm not sure your examples are analogous

My analogies are not perfect, and my made-up example of a truck invoice may not be how minor some of the infractions are. I don't trust the oil industry at all, but that doesn't mean I completely trust that map either. I'm sure it's mapping something, but I don't know what.

[Lamplighter]

Operators (businesses/corporations/etc) seem to disappear
when significant problems arise. The federal government
has the EPA and the SuperFund to fall back on in severe cases,
but even there the number of such sites is small.

Maybe California and New York have the resources, but I doubt
many other states have such excess state taxes just lying about.

So when it comes to managing risks to public health, paying
heed to the "broken window" model of enforcement may be
the only/most effective path available to State governments.

[Undertoad]

violations like not having a DNR form in a holder on the back of a patient's room door

Not having a DNR in the patient's file may well lead to a very nasty situation

If you can't win an argument, just change it to something winnable.

If you post maps and don't know what they say, just talk about all the worst things that can happen. Holy shit, look at all the yellow dots! Every watershed in the entire state is in danger!

Not just "Inspected industry found violations!"

That's sort of what you hope would happen, that 1% of inspections would find something, that would be corrected, and the result is a safe, inspected industry. If that were what the maps showed, then mission accomplished. WaPo correct.

I read the local restaurant inspection reports, and 100% of them find something. Are we all in danger of being horribly poisoned?

~

So I went and looked into what the maps actually say.

Very good news: In Pennsylvania the state puts all the inspections on file online so you can search for them and figure out what they say.

The worst one I found, an operator accidentally ignited fumes in a holding tank by checking it with a cell phone instead of an ignition-free flashlight, which resulted in the loss of about half a backyard pool's worth of backflow water. (This resulted in 7 different violations and a fine.)

In the least worst, an operator plugged a well and sold it but failed to mark it with an embossed metal tag within 90 days. (This is the, "form was at the nurses' station instead of on the door" kind of violation.)

Many violations are the result of spillage of diesel fuel or brine on the well pad itself. Sometimes there was equipment failure. Sometimes someone put a hole in a few 55 gallon drums by accident.

So now we know what the maps mean. Inspected industry found violations. Awesome, it's good news. If they found nothing I would assume the inspection system is badly broken. It would mean our asses are swimming in benzene, if they found nothing. They found small incidents that could not threaten aquifers and it resulted in thorough reports and non-trivial fines. That's what I would hope to find out.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

So now we know what the maps mean. Inspected industry found violations.

Last I read, the state only has six inspectors. These are clearly overrun by inspecting so many sites - having to report so much small stuff. We know there should be at least 1% who are grossly violating the laws with permanent damage to the aquifier. Where are they? Hard to find with so many sites to inspect by only six inspectors. More reasons for Corbett's campaign fund raisers to get so much money from fracking companies. Money that did him no good.

BTW, today's gasoline price inceases another 10 cents - another Corbett's tax increase because he gave fracking gas away for free.