Photos: Explosion at a Colorado home on 1 May 2017 (photo 9News); Phosphate mining in Western Sahara (photo AFP); Sharing economy infographics

On 17th April, a home in Colorado was blasted to the ground, killing two people. The home was 178 feet (54 metres) from a recently restarted old gas well operated by Anadarko. The cause of the explosion: gas leak from a cut flow line off the gas well.

Such a loss is both terrible and preventable.  Many questions need to be answered: Why would a gas well be allowed to be drilled so close to a home, or why would a house be allowed to be built so close to a gas well, be it abandoned or active?  Who allowed Anadarko to activate the gas well, knowing how close it is to houses?

Here in New Zealand, Taranaki Energy Watch (TEW) is fighting hard to get the…