« Gov't. - No press credentials, State of Kentucky tells bloggers | Main | Ind. Courts - Columnist writes Lake County has too many courts »

Saturday, December 31, 2005

Environment - Porter County birds; a different look at mountain-top mining; own your own natural gas well

Porter County Birds. This story by Diane Krieger Spivakwas was published by the Gary Post-Tribune Dec. 20th (see ILB entry here). Today the Indianapolis Star picked it up and published an edited version here. It is worth another look.

Mountaintop Mining. The most recent ILB entry on mountaintop mining was Dec. 19th, where a "New Hampshire native watched a [Kentucky] mountain disappear bit by bit at the hands of miners using explosives and giant earth-moving machines." Earlier this week the Louisville Courier Journal had a lengthy AP story by Roger Alford that began:

PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- The towering mountains that frame this Appalachian town have been a hindrance to growth, forcing homes and businesses to crowd side by side on precious little flat land.

That could change under a plan by Pikeville leaders who have recruited a coal company to flatten two mountaintops to expand with new homes, businesses, athletic fields and factories in the town of 6,300.

City Manager Donovan Blackburn said towns like Pikeville that have exhausted all usable land have no choice but to look to the mountaintops.

"If you look at the amount of land that is developable right now, there is virtually none," Blackburn said. "This will be a tremendous benefit."

However, mountaintop coal mining has come under heavy attack from environmentalists who say the practice takes a large toll on nature.

Gas and Oil Wells. "Hoosiers seek backyard black gold: Natural gas wells are also in demand" was the headline to another AP story published in the LCJ this week. It begins:
MUNCIE, Ind. -- High energy prices are apparently prompting efforts by some property owners to tap into the oil and natural-gas field that once fueled factories throughout eastern Indiana.

Geologists estimate that the Trenton limestone formation under the Muncie, Anderson and Marion area contained a billion barrels of oil when drilling began more than 100 years ago. But the field also was known for the flaming torches of natural gas that could be seen for miles.

The lure of that gas and oil still has about 10 noncommercial wells being drilled each year for use by the homeowner, farmer or business owning the site.

"Right now, the big thing is oil. We've drilled three oil wells back to back to back, and I'm starting a new one north of Selma," Jack Racer of R&S Drilling in Selma told The Star Press. "When energy prices get high, it kind of goes crazy."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 31, 2005 12:27 PM
Posted to Environment