R. Bauer and the Illinois Prairie Research Institute are busy selling fracking to business organizations in Illinois--but who is funding all of this?

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The Fracking Process and its Effects

• What: Robert Bauer, an engineering geologist at the Illinois State Geological Survey, will speak about oil/gas well construction, providing a brief history of horizontal wells and the hydraulic fracturing process, seismicity, results on contamination studies in the United States and where shale oil/gas resources may lie in Illinois.
• Who: Chicago chapter of the Appraisal Institute
• Where: Park Regency Hote , 1413 Leslie Drive, Bloomington
• When: March 12, 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Cost: $50

Source: Crain's chicagobusiness.com Accessed 3-12-14

Robert Bauer is a busy guy. Shilling for the oil and gas industry is his assigned task. Today he brought the pro-fracking message to Bloomington, Illinois. The problem with these appearances stems from the organization that sponsors Bauer's pro-fracking message: the Illinois Prairie Research Institute. Though the organization's name suggests it conducts research that should be unbiased and scientific, an examination of the Institute's funding sources suggests the think tank has more ties to coal, oil, gas and nuclear energy than it does to groups who look critically at such energy sources.

Bauer Is Hosted and Quoted:

Last fall Bauer was the lead speaker at a fracking conference hosted by Rend Lake College in southern Illinois. Anti-fracking activists who attended his presentation described Bauer's talk as replete with misinformation and pro-fracking interpretations of the industry that attempted to dismiss all concerns with the process. Bauer's technique is to claim industry expertise, use enough jargon to sound convincing, and ignore any and all data from other states that document environmental and human or animal health risks connected to fracking. To examine Bauer's fracking presentation, watch a video-taped version here: 

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Bauer has stated that studies of eastern fracking sites reveal no ill effects to water supplies. "The best studies are the studies where folks go in before drilling and do sampling of the water supplies and groundwater wells in the area, and then after hydraulic fracturing and drilling has taken place, do additional sampling afterwards," he said. "Those type of studies have shown no contamination from these drilling operations, and that is what's required for their permits (in the new act.)"  Eleanor Black, "Fracking Makes Its Debut in Illinois Under the Strictest Regulatory Laws in the U.S.," Daily Illini, October 24, 2013, http://www.dailyillini.com/news/local/article_ccff98ce-3c55-11e3-8440-001a4bcf6878.html. Accessed 3-12-14. Critics of Bauer's position note that the timing of the post-fracking water sampling carefully avoids those times when the most radioactive and chemically laden liquids will flow back onto the fracking site.

Bauer also acknowledges that ISGIS had a hand in drafting Senate Bill 1715, the  Illinois Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act, "(We) had a seat at the table of the multitude of folks who worked on this legislation," he stated. http://www.dailyillini.com/news/local/article_ccff98ce-3c55-11e3-8440-001a4bcf6878.html .   In the fall of 2013 when he gave his interview, over thirty thousand Illinois citizens submitted written comments protesting weak regulations drafted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to implement the new fracking law.

Bauer Works for the Illinois Prairie Research Institute and ISGS, but Who Does IPRI Work For?

IPRI represents itself as an organization that brings unbiased data to the public. Its mission statement reads, in part, "To provide objective, integrated scientific research and service, in cooperation with other academic and research units of the University of Illinois and elsewhere that allow citizens and decision-makers to make choices that ensure . . . enduring environmental quality." IPRI Annual Report, 2012.

An examination of IPRI's donors reveals that the institute does indeed receive, as its executive director William Shilts acknowledges, a significant amount of government funding, "Last year, our $15.8 million core state funding leveraged nearly $85 million in other funding, about half of which came from federal sources. . . A significant amount of our funding originates in State of Illinois agencies. "From the Executive Director," IPRI Annual Report, 2012. Such state and federal funding would suggest that IPRI was charged with conducting studies that examined all data, as well as contending theories, to arrive at conclusions that both sides of a question would be forced to accept as at least possible interpretations of a study topic.

Unfortunately, a review of IPRI's non-governmental funding sources suggests that the institute has become a favorite home for coal, oil, gas and nuclear donation streams, as well as the engineering and research companies employed by such energy companies.

IPRI's 2012 annual report lists over 30 funding sources directly tied to coal, oil, gas and nuclear. Some of these include:

Compressed Energy Systems, "Located in the Shawnee National Forest, . . . working with Abandoned Mine Methane." http://www.compressedenergysystems.net/index.html.

Frontier Geosciences, which "offers comprehensive geophysical consulting and survey services to the mineral exploration, civil engineering, . . .on a worldwide basis. http://www.frontiergeo.com.

FutureGen Industrial Alliance, which focuses on "near-zero emissions coal technology."

http://futuregenalliance.org/the-alliance/#sthash.MtAnEGM2.dpuf.

Gas Technology Institute, conducting "research, development and training" for the "natural gas industry." http://www.gastechnology.org/About/Pages/default.aspx.

Illinois American Water, which includes a "wastewater service," in addition to selling water to communities. http://www.amwater.com/ilaw/About-Us/.

Illinois Clean Coal Institute, which is "dedicated to the development and use of Illinois' extensive coal resources as a fuel source for the 21^st century."  http://www.icci.org/mission.php.

Integrys/Peoples Gas Light & Coke Company, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. This company manages to avoid paying income taxes. Portero, Ashley. "30 Major U.S. Corporations Paid More to Lobby Congress Than Income Taxes, 2008-2010". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2011.

Jacques Whitford AXYS Ltd., headquartered in Canada, claims, "Our energy sector clients, including upstream, midstream and downstream oil and gas clients . . . have been a core focus of the firm since our founding." http://www.primaryprofile.com/Jacques-Whitford-AXYS-Ltd.

MACTEC, which is/was "among the largest engineering design companies in the United States. It has been merged with LAW Engineering and has its headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MACTEC.

Pegasus Technical Services, Inc., an engineering company that has a multi-page website that succeeds in providing few details about what it does. I guess if you have to ask . . . http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2011/sc/c0sc00338g/unauth#!divAbstract.

URS Group, Inc., which describes itself as, "a leading provider of engineering, construction and technical services," connected to oil and gas projects, among others.

http://www.urs.com.

UT-Battelle, LLC, which manages and operates the Oak Ridge National [nuclear] Laboratory. http://www.ut-battelle.org/about.shtml.

Shea, Rogal and Associates, a law firm that has made "platinum" level donations to the 2012 Naturally Illinois Expo and Institute Lecture Series. http://www.sprlobby.com/whoweare/Gerald_Shea.html.

Illinois Oil and Gas Association, designed to "protect, preserve and advance" the common interests of its members. http://www.ioga.com.

Deep Rock Energy Corporation, which specializes in rude petroleum/natural gas production. Its president also has interests connected to Webster and Associates, Land Surveyors PC, Inc. http://www.corporationwiki.com/Illinois/Salem/deep-rock-energy-corporation/54994861.aspx.

Podolsky Oil Company, whose recently deceased founder served as president of the Illinois Oil and Gas Association ('66-'68) and was presented with the Association's lifetime achievement award in 1989. http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/mar/05/no-headline---illinois_oilman_dies/.

Raimonde Drilling Corporation, which claims, "an unparalleled reputation as the leading corporation in the innovative [read hydraulic fracturing] drilling industry." Their work includes, "angle drilling." http://www.raimonde-drilling.com .

Schlumberger Carbon Services, which maps, measures and models underground rock formations, "to explore, characterize, and produce hydrocarbon resources." http://www.slb.com/services/additional/carbon.aspx.

The Edmund B. Thornton Foundation, a non-profit whose mission statement and activities are not readily available, nor is contact information available on the web. It is located in Ottawa, Illinois where fracking sand companies are attempting to expand operations. EIN: 36-3538959. See: http://www.guidestar.org/organizations/36-3538959/edmund-b-thornton-foundation.aspx.

And the list could continue: Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd., Illinois Association of Aggregate Producers, Illinois Coal Association, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Group, Waste Management of Illinois, Dee Drilling Company, Farnsworth Group, Inc., KWR Consulting, Paragon Oil Company, Sydney Cameron and James B. Whitfield, Roger and Susan Whitaker, and several Anonymous donors.

A handful of environmental groups donate to IPRI, but not enough to counter the influence of the above energy and engineering industry donors.

Whether considering the misrepresentations of Bauer's fracking presentations or the sources that fund his appearances, citizens are forced to question the reliability of any information provided by the Illinois Prairie Research Institute. Regardless, IPRI and its spokesperson are hard at work attempting to convince various business groups in Illinois that they have nothing to fear from fracking.

Keep that unbiased research coming, IPRI.

Sandra Lindberg

3-12-14

Authors Bio:

Sandra holds a B.S. in theatre, and an M.A. in theatre criticism from Illinois State University. Her M.F.A. is from the Professional Actor Training Program at the Old Globe Theatre--University of San Diego. She also recently completed a Paralegal Certificate with Illinois Central College. She has worked as an actor, director, and writer. While Assistant Professor of theatre at the University of North Dakota, she ran a touring theatre company called Suitcase Shakespeare which brought productions to high school students in North and South Dakota as well as western Minnesota. At UND, she supervised the B.F.A. acting curriculum there. Later, as an Associate Professor of Theatre at Illinois Wesleyan University for fifteen years, Sandra oversaw the professional acting curriculum there, directed plays, and taught Shakespeare studies, acting, and voice/speech for the actor. She is an Associate Editor with the dialect web site, IDEA.

Her work on sustainability and environmental issues accompanied her years in the university system until she chose to take early retirement from IWU in order to devote more time to this work. While at IWU, she founded No New Nukes, a central Illinois environmental group that, in coalition with other state and national environmental groups, successfully opposed the siting of a second reactor in Clinton, IL and chaired for several years the campus environmental committee, The GreenNetwork.

Currently, Sandra works part-time as the RSVP Smart Sprouts Coordinator at the local YWCA, finding and mentoring tutors for grade-school children in McLean County. She is a member of the Transition mulling group in Bloomington, Vision 2020, which is currently attempting to bring accurate information to Illinois citizens about environmental dangers the county faces, and to foster sustainable lifestyles in the community. She is a founding member of Green Top Grocery, a local food cooperative initiative. She serves as Chair of the Worship/Music Committee at the Bloomington/Normal Unitarian Universalist Church where she encourages congregants and community members to share their passions and expertise through lay-led services.

Sandra is mom to an amazing son Isaac who continually challenges and delights her--and teaches her more and more about IT and all things contemporary. She is supported in life by her loving husband, Dr. Samuel Galewsky, Associate Professor of Biology at Millikin University.

An avid gardener, seamstress, crafter and cook, Sandra engages in these life-affirming activities because she loves them and because these actions effectively disempower a corporate culture that would render citizens incapable of caring for themselves or each other. She is also a regular reader and an occasional contributor to OpEd News and to the blog she and her husband created, "Work the Problem," babyclockmeetsglobalwarming.blogspot.com.