Daily Archives: June 9, 2013

Smoke Ranch Well Site 6-8-13

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(Alma Hasse photo)

(Alma Hasse photo)

The Idaho Department of Lands may permit Alta Mesa Services to directionally drill the Smoke Ranch gas well near (and under?) these Payette River Wildlife Management Area lands that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game also leased for drilling, while excluding less toxic and disruptive public recreation that could disturb breeding and nesting resident and migratory birds.
(Alma Hasse photo)

(Alma Hasse photo)

A leaking, liquid-bearing vehicle parks on the dirt road paralleling Highway 52 to the Smoke Ranch well pad that was recently covered with standing water before drilling and that could later mix drilling mud chemicals with the area’s surrounding wetlands, creeks, and rivers.
(Alma Hasse photo)

(Alma Hasse photo)

At the nearby wildlife management area, a Payette County Sheriff deputy said that this Smoke Ranch well pad was flooded during the Stop the Frack Attack, Idaho! week of protests.  Notice in the picture the generator next to a freshly dug hole, which appears to pump groundwater (and later toxic chemicals?) from under this pad in a floodplain.

Climate Justice Forum: Debra White Plume & Alma Hasse 6-10-13

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The Monday, June 10, Climate Justice Forum radio program hosted by Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) gratefully welcomes Debra White Plume, a courageous Lakota activist and director of Bring Back the Way.  Debra blockaded tar sands megaloads on a South Dakota highway through Lakota land in March 2012 and has been organizing opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline with training camps like the Moccasins on the Ground Tour of Resistance this weekend.  Alma Hasse of Idaho Residents Against Gas Extraction talks on the show about the Friday, June 7, anti-fracking protest in Boise and pending natural gas drilling permits, facilities, and new local rules in Payette County.  We may also air Roy Zimmerman’s recently premiered song about WIRT, commissioned by Tom Hansen, The Tide is Rising.  Broadcast on progressive, volunteer, community station KRFP Radio Free Moscow every Monday between 7:30 and 9:30 pm PDT live at 92.5 FM and online, the show covers continent-wide dirty energy developments and climate activism news, thanks to the generous, anonymous listener who adopted program host Helen Yost as his KRFP DJ.

‘Frack-tivists’ Protest Outside Boise IDL Office

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(Boise Weekly/Skylar Barsanti photo)

(Boise Weekly/Skylar Barsanti photo)

In opposition to what they call a dangerous path toward fracking in Idaho – the controversial method of injecting high-pressured solids and liquids into the earth to enhance gas drilling – members of Wild Idaho Rising Tide, [Idaho Residents Against Gas Extraction], and United Vision for Idaho, dubbing themselves “frack-tivists,” took to the streets of downtown Boise on June 7.

The demonstration targeted the Boise offices of the Idaho Department of Lands at Sixth and Bannock streets.  IDL is the agency ultimately responsible for oversight of the burgeoning gas exploration industry, focused primarily in and around Payette County.

“We are trying to bring attention to the fact that Idaho is about to be fracked,” demonstrator Alma Hasse told Boise Weekly.  “[Fracking is] a procedure to get gas to flow out of unconventional fields quickly and easily.  Toxic and carcinogenic chemicals are used underground to break up rock.”

Activists waved signs that read, “Idaho Says No to Dirty Energy” and “Expect Resistance: The Future is Unwritten.”  Other demonstrators expressed their displeasure in chalk-written notes on the sidewalks outside the IDL office.

Read More: ‘Frack-tivists’ Protest Outside Boise IDL Office

(By Skylar Barsanti, Boise Weekly)