Release Date: October 25, 2010

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Scientific and political disputes over drilling Marcellus shale for natural gas have focused primarily on the environmental effects of pumping millions of gallons of water and chemicals deep underground to blast through rocks to release the natural gas.

But University at Buffalo researchers have now found that that process — called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”– also causes uranium that is naturally trapped inside Marcellus shale to be released, raising additional environmental concerns.
The research will be presented at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver on Nov. 2. Marcellus shale is a massive rock formation that stretches from New York through Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, and which is often described as the nation’s largest source of natural gas.

“Marcellus shale naturally traps metals such as uranium and at levels higher than usually found naturally, but lower than manmade contamination levels,” says Tracy Bank, PhD, assistant professor of geology in UB’s College of Arts and Sciences and lead researcher. “My question was, if they start drilling and pumping millions of gallons of water into these underground rocks, will that force the uranium into the soluble phase and mobilize it? Will uranium then show up in groundwater?”

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PRESS RELEASE

Butler County Democratic Committee

Create Jobs and Keep Social Security Strong

Resolution adopted September 29th by the Butler County Democratic Committee of Pennsylvania: To Create Jobs, Reduce the Deficit and Keep Social Security Strong:

1)   We agree with President Obama that tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans should be retired. Value: $50 billion per annum.(a) The top one percent of Americans earn 23.5% of the total national income with salaries for some on Wall Street being as high as 1 Billion Dollars a year.(b) In 1970 that same top 1% earned 9% of the national income.

2)   We agree with President Obama that Middle Class tax cuts and educational tax credits should be maintained.

3)   We call for the elimination of the,”Cap,” on contributions to Social Security. Value $130 billion per annum.(c) Most Americans contribute to FICA from every dollar they ever earn. Americans with higher incomes stop contributing once their income reaches $106,800. Obama spoke of eliminating this cap during the campaign.

We are on a cusp! Four weeks from now will be the most important mid-term election of our lifetimes. Unemployment stands at 9.5% and 60 million Americans are on Medicaid. Eligibility requirements for Medicaid differ from state to state but, basically Medicaid starts when a family has nothing left. Sixty million Americans, half of them being children, have nothing. We are at once a nation of billion dollar incomes and working families living in homeless shelters or automobiles.

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