EARTHblog

Sharon Wilson, Texas OGAP Organizer was flown to EPA headquarters in North Carolina to present four case studies of health impacts caused by natural gas extraction in the Barnett Shale. She met with the top rule makers in the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards who are working on new rules for the oil and gas industry.

For six years, Sharon has been documenting impacts in the Barnett Shale. The following (after the jump) are four case studies out of hundreds:

A great victory for Indigenous Rights and the environment emerged in Canada this week when the government declined to authorize the Prosperity open-pit gold mine.

Widely criticized for its plan to fill Fish Lake (Teztan Biny) with toxic tailings, the Prosperity Mine has become a symbol of conflict between Canada's free-entry system for mining companies and its commitment to negotiate in good faith with First Nations.

Congratulations to the Tsilhqot'in Nation, whose release is after the jump:

LONDON, Nov. 2 Fifty of the world s leading jewellers, with more than $5.75 billion in annual sales, say they won t use gold from Anglo American PLC s proposed Pebble Mine, which threatens the world s most important fishing grounds for wild sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

At a news conference today in Bond Street, heart of London's luxury jewelry trade, Nunamta Aulukestai (Caretakers of our Land), an association of nine Alaska Native village corporations in Bristol Bay, and Earthworks announced the latest jewelers to pledge not to use gold from Pebble Mine. The latest signatories include Fraser Hart, a leading UK independent jewellery retailer; Boucheron, a supplier of jewels to the British royal family; and Ingle & Rhode, a custom jeweler specializing in ethically sourced materials. They join Tiffany & Co, Goldsmiths, Mappin and Webb, Beaverbrooks and other leading retailers and designers representing thousands of stores in the UK and worldwide opposed to the project.

In some areas, mining of precious metals presents too great a risk to communities and the environment. Bristol Bay is such an area, said Noel Coyle, CEO of Fraser Hart. We support protection of Bristol Bay from large-scale mining, and will not source gold that comes at the expense of the communities and salmon fisheries of Bristol Bay.

Today Newmont, the largest U.S. based gold mining company and second largest in the world, announced record third quarter results: $2.6 billion in revenue and $534 million in net income.

Amount Newmont has ever paid U.S. taxpayers for mining public minerals from publicly owned lands: ZERO.