Posts Tagged ‘water’

All sorts of issues related to the gas drilling rig industry are heating up in Pennsylvania and New York.  State and Federal officials continue to debate the extent and nature of gas drilling to be allowed in the Delaware River Basis which supplies drinking water to millions of people including New York City.  Meanwhile, Pennsylvania officials with the Fish and Game Commission announced plans to lease land and water supplies to the gas industry for gas drilling and water outtake.  Officials believe they have no choice in light of private leases surrounding state game lands.  The twelve lawyers at DLP continue to monitor all issues involving the gas drilling industry while representing people involved in tractor trailer/truck accidents, gas drilling rig accidents and other major injury claims.

June 17th, Gov. Tom Corbett’s top health adviser said that he wants to make Pennsylvania the first state to create a registry to track illnesses in communities near heavy drilling in the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation. The registry could determine if fracking imposes a public health risk.

Shale drilling requires blending huge volumes of water with chemical additives and injecting it under high pressure into the ground to help shatter the thick rock, a process called hydraulic fracturing or fracking. In addition to the gas, some of that water returns to the surface tainted with metals like barium and strontium.

Health Secretary Eli Avila told Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission that creating such a registry is the timeliest and most important step the Department of Health (DOH) could take, and that his agency is not aware of anything like it in other drilling states. “We’re really at the frontiers of this and we can make a speedy example for all the other states,” Avila told the commission at its fourth meeting.

Collecting information on drilling-related health complaints, investigating them, centralizing the information in one database and then comparing illnesses in drilling communities with non-drilling communities could help refute or verify claims that drilling has an impact on public health, he said. The aggregation of data and information also would allow the DOH to make its findings public, in contrast to the privacy that surrounds its investigation into individual health complaints and the findings that may result.

The Marcellus Shale formation is considered to be the nation’s largest-known natural gas reservoir. Pennsylvania is the center of activity, with more than 3,000 wells drilled in the past three years and thousands more planned in the coming years. The rapid growth of deep shale drilling and its involvement of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, chemicals, and toxic wastewater are prompting health concerns in Pennsylvania.

“As drilling increases, I anticipate, at least in the short term, a proportionate increase in concerns and complaints which the department must be prepared to address,” Avila said. In the past year or so, the Department of Health has received several dozen or so health complaints, he said.

Such health registries are common, and in the past have been created to track measles and influenza, Avila said. To set up a drilling-related registry and fully investigate drilling-related health complaints would require another $2 million a year for the department and possibly require the help of the state’s schools of public health, Avila said.
Posted At: Examiner.com

Canonsburg, Pa. – This evening, a U.S. Department of Energy panel focused on hydraulic fracturing – a tightly regulated 60-year-old energy stimulation technology – will hold a public comment forum on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College. Here are five quotes about fracturing that everyone attending should know:

1. Lisa Jackson, President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency Administrator: “I’m not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water.” (U.S. House testimony, 5/24/11)
2. John Hanger, Founder & CEO of PennFuture and Fmr. PADEP Secretary: “It’s our experience in Pennsylvania that we have not had one case in which the fluids used to break off the gas from 5,000 to 8,000 feet underground have returned to contaminate ground water.” (Reuters, 10/4/10)
3. Taury Smith, NY State’s Top Geologist: “[Smith] said he has been examining the science of hydrofracturing the shale for three years and has found no cases in which the process has led to groundwater contamination.” (Albany Times Union, 3/14/11)
4. Peter Silva and Cynthia Giles, Top Obama Administration EPA Officials: “No Documented Cases of Hydraulic Fracturing Contamination.” When asked, “Do any one of you know of one case of ground water contamination that has resulted from hydraulic fracturing?”, Mr. Silva said: “Not that I’m aware of, no.” (U.S. Senate hearing, 12/8/09)
5. Scott Anderson, Environmental Defense Fund’s Senior Policy Advisor: “If wells are constructed right and operated right, hydraulic fracturing will not cause a problem. … Our natural gas supplies would plummet precipitously without hydraulic fracturing.” (E&E TV,10/27/10)

Posted At: Marcellus Shale Coalition.org

Reports today note the Department of Environmental Protection is pushing for tougher regulations on gas drilling companies and drilling rig sites.  Environmental concerns with water and air quality are driving the proposed regulations.  In the meantime talks continue in Harrisburg regarding some type of taxation on the gas drilling rig companies.  Safety issues regarding truck accidents in Pennsylvania due to increased truck traffic volume and highway damage also continue to be discussed.

New York State, concerned with water quality in the Delaware Water Basin, recently filed a claim requesting the Federal Government to oversee gas drilling in the watershed area.  Noting that New York City and surrounding areas receive significant amounts of drinking water from the Delaware River, New York officials want a closer eye kept on gas drill rigging activities near the river.  Presently New York has a moratorium on gas drilling statewide while formulating regulations for the industry.  The twelve lawyers at DLP continue to handle Pennsylvania gas drilling accident cases especially in Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna, Sullivan and Wyoming Counties and other counties in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.

The DEP recently announced that drilling companies have voluntarily agree to stop discharging wastewater into the river systems in Pennsylvania.  Environmental advocates had raised serious concerns with water pollution over the past several months.  Wastewater will be shipped off site and disposed of by state of the art methods.

        A gas drilling well emergency has occurred in Bradford County. The Scranton Times has reported that the Atgas 2H well operated by Chesapeake Energy in Leroy Twp. blew out at around 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19, 2011. Several families have been evacuated from the area as a precautionary measure. Emergency crews from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Bradford County EMA and Chesapeake Energy are on the scene. It has been reported that the gas well in question apparently blew near the surface, spilling thousands of gallons of frack fluid over containment walls. DEP is sampling ground water and stream water to ascertain the degree and extent of the damage.

Canonsburg, PA – The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) is actively working to reduce the amount of water taken to surface discharge facilities and is crafting solutions to address the issue of bromides entering waterways. When present with organic matter and chlorine – commonly used to at drinking water plants – brominated species of trihalomethanes (THMs) can form. Bromide, however, is not a public health concern, unless it reacts with other elements to form THMs above safe drinking water standards over an extended period of time. There are many known bromide contributors in our waterways. Marcellus operators are recycling significant and growing amounts of water; these figures continue to increase as technologies advance.

Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the MSC, issued the following statement:

“Research by Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority experts suggests that the natural gas industry is a contributing factor to elevated levels of bromide in the Allegheny and Beaver Rivers. We are committed to leading efforts, and working alongside DEP and other stakeholders, to address these issues quickly and straightforwardly, and support the appropriate action taken by DEP today. As emphasized in our Guiding Principles, our industry will continue to implement state-of-the-art environmental protection across our operations and operate in a transparent and responsible manner.”

Gov. Tom Ridge, an MSC strategic advisor, added this:

“The Marcellus Shale Coalition remains committed to developing this great natural resource in a responsible manner. When sound research is brought to our attention, we will take swift action to address issues directly, as laid out in our Guiding Principles. We support DEP’s efforts, and will continue to work aggressively and collaboratively to craft solutions aimed to protecting our waterways and our environment.”

Copyright: Marcellus Shale Coalition

By Jeremy Boren, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, April 17, 2011

Rolling hills and wide-open meadows attracted JoAnne Wagner to Mt. Pleasant, a Washington County community about 25 miles from Pittsburgh. That was in 2005.

Today, the Marcellus shale gas boom has swept in more than 100 wells, pipelines, waste water ponds, trucks and bitter debates between those who profit from drilling leases and those who don’t.

The 35-square-mile township founded in 1788 is a study in the growing debate over whether state officials should empower municipalities to impose an “impact fee” on energy companies to compensate for tax money spent on attorney fees, police salaries, road work, inspections and other costs associated with hosting the drillers.

“There are so many impacts, and it’s so far-reaching,” said Wagner, 45, who does not oppose natural gas drilling.

“What’s going on and the way industry is behaving here is pitting neighbor against neighbor,” she said. “This community used to be tight-knit and not willing to grow. For years people didn’t have public water because people didn’t want development to come in.”

A car dealership, volunteer fire company, tavern and a few small shops break up the line of two-story homes along much of Route 50 in Hickory, Mt. Pleasant’s main drag. On a tree-lined drive near Fort Cherry School District’s campus, Wagner said her biggest concern is that natural gas extraction operations near the school that her two children attend could pollute the air. She said the township can’t afford air-monitoring equipment.

State law gives most municipalities two options to tax natural gas drilling companies as well as other businesses: property taxes if the firm owns the land, and earned-income taxes from workers if they live where they work.

Calculating the direct costs is difficult, said Timothy Kelsey, a professor of agricultural economics at Penn State University, who has studied shale-related costs and the industry’s tax revenue impact.

“In the long run, costs will become clear, but before that, how do you set (a fee) fairly?” Kelsey said.

The question could ultimately affect a municipality’s financial stability, say bond industry watchers.

It would be harmful if they can’t “keep up with needed infrastructure repairs or upgrades or cannot adequately fund other public services,” said Tom Kozlik, an analyst with financial services firm Janney Montgomery Scott of Philadelphia.

Many rural roads weren’t intended to accommodate heavy truck use, Kozlik noted in a March report.

Mt. Pleasant Police Chief Lou McQuillan said he received training to inspect and cite overweight trucks but there isn’t room in the township’s budget of roughly $1 million to buy a $10,000 scale.

He leaves the truck monitoring to state police. Three state officers spent nine-hour shifts Wednesday to Friday patrolling I-70 East and I-79 South in Washington County for overweight trucks. Police said the “predominant” source of inspections on I-79 were trucks from drilling sites.

During a crackdown March 14-15 known as “Operation FracNET,” state police focused on trucks carrying waste water from natural gas drilling sites.

In Allegheny, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, state police conducted 194 truck inspections, placed 26 vehicles and one driver out of service and issued 72 traffic citations.

Statewide, police inspected 731 commercial trucks, took 131 of them out of service for violations and issued 421 citations. Faulty brakes and improper exterior lighting were the most common violations.

There are other concerns, McQuillan said. When fire erupted at 5:15 a.m. March 1 from a tank at a MarkWest Liberty Midstream Resources compressor station, McQuillan spent eight hours on scene.

He was the only one of the township’s three officers on duty.

“I can see what a burden this is, and we’re just one municipality,” Wagner said. “Now multiply that by all the municipalities in the state (with drilling).”

Newly elected Republican Gov. Tom Corbett said he recognizes the higher costs and is seeking a way to address them, though he has provided no specifics. He doesn’t want an “impact fee” to be routed through the Legislature where “it goes from one fund to the other,” he said.

Corbett opposes a statewide severance tax on gas extraction, but his openness to an impact fee prompted Democrats to criticize him for flip-flopping on a campaign promise not to raise taxes. Corbett’s staff has said the fee wouldn’t violate the governor’s pledge because municipalities, not the state, would impose the fee.

It could pay for more than just road repair, Corbett said.

“The impact can be schools — schools that are growing in that area. The impact can be to the social services network,” he said.

There are signs Marcellus shale drilling is benefiting portions of Pennsylvania’s economy.

Sales tax collections in Pennsylvania counties with 150 or more gas wells increased 11 percent from July 2007 to July 2010, according to the report from Kelsey, the professor. Counties with fewer than 150 wells saw a 3.1 percent decline; those with none had a 6.5 percent drop. The state average was a 3.7 percent decrease.

Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for Range Resources in Cecil, said that’s an example of the “unprecedented economic impacts of shale gas development” in the state.

He noted an uptick this year in weekly wages in Washington County and an almost 50 percent increase in the number of Pennsylvania mining and logging industry jobs from 2007 to 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, has warned that if a tax or fee is too high, it could drive energy companies away and hurt job growth. It’s open to the concept of compensating municipalities.

“If there are incurred costs of local governments from the development of this industry, we certainly want to make those municipalities whole that are hosting this industry,” said Kathryn Klaber, president of the coalition.

Mary Dalbo, 87, of Cecil said she was eager to lease 370 acres in Cecil, Chartiers and Findlay to Range Resources. Her profits will pay for her four great-grandchildren to attend college.

“(Range) put better roads in than the ones that they destroyed,” said Dalbo, who opposes an impact fee and rules that limit landowners’ rights.

Donald Gennuso, manager of Cecil, said municipalities that host drilling operations bring some costs on themselves when they go beyond what the state requires to satisfy nervous residents who want more scrutiny of gas extraction plans.

Since 2009, Cecil has spent $60,000 on lawyer fees related to oil and gas issues.

“Lawyers are making all the trouble,” Dalbo said. “… Why can’t the township supervisors think for themselves?”

Dencil Backus, 64, of Mt. Pleasant keeps close watch on a drilling site 200 feet from the edge of his rolling fields. A wild-game camera he set up in 2009 snaps photos every hour; he has saved thousands.

If a severance tax isn’t possible, a local fee on drillers might suffice, he said. He’s mainly concerned that shale fracturing will contaminate a spring that supplies water to the home he shares with his wife, Patricia.

“It doesn’t matter how it gets there, if it gets into the aquifer and the water, we’re dead,” he said.

Read more: Drilling economics divides struggling communities – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_732702.html#ixzz1OSrEvEgL

Read more: Drilling economics divides struggling communities – Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviewhttp://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_732702.html#ixzz1OSrC2mw2