PA admits Oil & gas operations damaged water supplies

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection admits that oil and gas operations damaged water supplies 209 times since end of 2007. This picture is worth a thousand words, but you can read the entire  article in Post Gazette.

Wetterling Well- short lived & leaky

photo provided - Wetterling well, Owego

Back in October, Owego residents living near McHenry Road were surprised to see a well rig in their neighborhood. The well was drilled, the rig and truck traffic disappeared, and that was the end of it - or so people thought.


By late October, Carrizo had their exploratory data and were preparing to plug the well. That's when they noticed some bubbling. Gas was leaking between two of the casings.

This new information comes from a pair of DEC inspection reports obtained through a Freedom of Information request submitted by an Owego resident. It makes for interesting reading.

On Oct 25 the DEC inspector notes that gas was leaking at a rate of 15-20 cubic feet a day. The well operator, Carrizo was  concerned about Hurricane Sandy and proposed monitoring the gas leak. A couple weeks later, on November 13, Al Owings of Carrizo calls DEC and asks whether they can abandon the well with a vent pipe.

Notes from DEC investigator: "I told him that I did not know and that NY has no specific regulatory guidelines about the matter."

Now there's a rig back on the pad, and it appears that Carrizo is going to plug the well - the first real "Marcellus" well in Tioga County. Granted, it was a vertical well and drilled primarily to extract data, not gas. Vertical wells, while allowed under current permits, are not the most efficient way to exploit shale gas - but they serve well for exploring the new formations.

The Wetterling well was drilled to 4745 feet, not as deep as some of the wells around the area (some go deep into the Trenton Black River formation around 10,000 or so feet below the surface). There was no horizontal drilling, no hydrofracking. And yet it still sprung a leak.

Methane leaks are not unusual for shale gas wells in Pennsylvania. In fact, citizen reporter Vera Scroggins recently compiled a stack of "Letters of Determination" from PA's Department of Environmental Protection advising homeowners that they have methane - and other contaminants - in their water wells, and that gas drilling activities in the area may have affected their water supply. This is not the kind of letter anyone living near a well wants to receive - whether they live in Bradford County, PA or Owego, NY.

Tom Wilber has posted more about this on his excellent blog, Shale Gas Review.

PA to Study Oil & Gas Development Radiation

Yesterday the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it will undertake a study to look at naturally occurring levels of radioactivity (NORM) in by-products associated with oil and natural gas development. The study, expected to take 12 to 14 months, will  sample and analyze NORM levels in flowback waters, treatment solids and drill cuttings, as well as associated matters such as the transportation, storage and disposal of drilling wastes.

SEP Secretary Mike Krancer told the press that, “This administration is undertaking what will be the most comprehensive study of its kind anywhere," characterizing the planned study as thorough and rigorous. “DEP’s current regulations and monitoring networks are designed to protect the public from exposure to unsafe levels of radiation, and our regulations in this field have led the nation for years,” he said.

DEP will collect samples of flowback water, rock cuttings, treatment solids and sediments at well pads and wastewater treatment and waste disposal facilities. The study will also analyze the radioactivity levels in pipes and well casings, storage tanks, treatment systems and trucks.

Throughout the study, DEP has promised to provide progress reports to its water, waste, radiation and citizens’ advisory councils.

The agency will consult with independent members of academia to peer review the project’s detailed study plan. Once the peer review is complete, DEP will publish the study plan on its website, where the agency’s proposal for the study is currently viewable.

PA Auditor General to Look at Marcellus Impact on Water Resources

On January 15, the day he was sworn into office, PA's new auditor general Eugene DePasquale notified the state's Department of Environmental Protection that his office will audit the impact Marcellus Shale gas exploration has had on the state's water supply. The letter, addressed to DEP Secretary Michael Krancer, explains that the performance audit will cover the period from 2009 through the end of 2012.

 DePasquale's preliminary objectives are to:

• Determine the adequacy and effectiveness of DEP's water quality monitoring, including systems and procedures for testing, screening, reporting and response to adverse impacts; and
• Determine the adequacy and effectiveness of DEP's monitoring of the handling, treatment and disposal of drilling waste, including tracking, treating, recycling, reuse, and response to contamination.

In comments released to the press, DePasquale said that "while natural gas drilling has brought new opportunities to small towns and rural communities throughout the state, that same drilling poses challenges to environmental regulators, local communities, and natural resources." He added, "we must strive to grow our economy and protect our environment and public health at the same time."

Farmer Jailed for Trying to Stop Illegal Dumping

Last Friday a Pennsylvania farmer was tossed in jail for telling pipeline workers to cease illegally dumping sulfur water on his fields.

Yup, you heard that right.

When 73-year-old Joe Bezjak, of Nicolson Township in Fayette County, PA discovered contractors with Laurel Mountain Midstream pumping sulfur water onto his property, he did what any right-thinking farmer would do: he asked them to stop. And that landed him in the pokey over the weekend.

The irony: the gas pipeline employees were working on Bezjak’s farm against the court’s direction. They, however, got a “get out of jail free” card.

From interviews with the press, it seems that last spring Bezjak signed a contract with Laurel Mountain Midstream of Williams Companies LLC to allow them a right-of-way for a 16-inch gas pipeline through his 700-acre cattle farm. Bezjak raises Black Angus – about 200 head. At the time, the pipeline company agreed to work with him to ensure that the construction work did not interfere with his farming. A promise unfulfilled…

Bezjak and his neighbor discovered cut and broken fences, stray cattle and dead calves. They also discovered a Bentonite spill in a local creek, and reported the violation to the PA Department of Environmental Protection.

A county judge ordered Laurel Mountain to replace fencing. But because Bezjak and his neighbor had tried to run the pipeline folk off their fields, he ordered the landowners to remain at least 50 feet away from the company’s right-of-way until the project is finished.

At the same time, PA state environmental inspectors halted the project indefinitely, due to the contamination from the bentonite spill.

So, when Bezjak saw pipeline workers – who weren’t supposed to be on his land by DEP order – dumping pollution illegally, he did what any right-thinking person would do. He told them to stop. He told them to leave. And he was the one tossed in jail.

“I couldn’t stop myself,” he told the press. “I am not against drilling but I do believe in being a good steward of the land.”

Read today's article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Environmental Groups Demand Reform for PA DEP

Twenty-five organizations are asking PA Governor Tom Corbett to take immediate action to reform the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s well water testing and notification policies. According to a letter sent today, the DEP’s policies are outdated, lack transparency, and do not adequately protect residents and drinking water from pollution caused by gas drilling

The organizations request three things:

(1) That DEP report all data from households where well water was sampled due to suspected pollution from gas and oil operations. A court deposition of the technical director of DEP's Bureau of Laboratories indicated that DEP routinely omits data on 16 of 24 heavy metals for which it conducts water analyses from the final reports provided to well owners. Some of the omitted metals have serious health impacts and have been found in drilling flowback and produced water. DEP should revise its testing protocol to include all potential contaminants so the agency can accurately evaluate drinking water impacts and affected residents can make informed decisions about their water supplies.

(2) That DEP revoke the new policy requiring administrators in Harrisburg to approve any positive notices of water contamination before public notification is made. In response to previously made requests in this regard, Secretary Krancer claimed DEP was fully transparent. In light of the revelations of Kiskadden vs. PADEP, the groups reasoned that the data used by DEP and provided to the public is neither complete nor accurate, and should not be the basis of determining whether pollution has occurred. Notification of contaminated water should be made without delay and bureaucratic red tape eliminated due to the potential harmful health impacts on residents waiting for testing results.

(3) That the missing results from all well water tests ordered by the DEP should be provided immediately to well owners. This includes all tests using special reporting codes that omit from reports data that is necessary for accurate determinations by DEP of whether pollution occurred and whether residents’ health and water supplies are being harmed. Determinations by DEP based on partial data must be questioned.  

“One the biggest fears for people living near drilling is the possibility of having your drinking water supply impacted,” says Steve Hvozdovich, Marcellus Shale Policy Associate with Clean Water Action.  People trust the DEP to safeguard the public, but DEP’s policies and actions have eroded that trust.

 Residents living in gas drilling areas turn to DEP to help them find answers, says Nadia Steinzor, with Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project – “not limit the very information on which those answers depend.”

Many people feel that the regulatory agency has held back critical information from those who need it. “Pennsylvania residents in fracked communities have complained for years that DEP has protected the industry instead of protecting their water, air, land and health,” says Iris Marie Bloom, director of Protecting Our Waters. “Withholding information from impacted homeowners endangers public health and is inexcusable.”  

You can read a copy of their letter here. Read more about the problems with DEP’s water quality testing here.

Drilling near Nuclear Reactors gives new meaning to "Energy Boom"

Chesapeake Energy has a permit for hydraulic fracking just one mile from the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport, PA. That’s about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

The big question is whether blasting away at Marcellus shale might cause a different sort of energy boom at the power station.

The PA Department of Environmental Protection told the press that there are no “required setbacks” specifically related to drilling distances from nuclear facilities. On the other hand, they know of no other well located near a nuclear facility. And the Nuclear Regulatory Commission doesn’t seem to have any guidelines about this matter, either.

One concern is the potential for seismic activity related to injection wells used to store Marcellus drilling wastes. Not a concern now, say the drillers – because this is a gas well, not an injection well. But just three years ago Chesapeake was looking to turn an old gas well in Pulteney, NY into an injection well.

Ever since the earthquake that hit Japan, and the ensuing damage to the Fukushima reactor, seismic activity has been high on the list of “things we oughta be concerned about” for the nuclear facilities managers. As for the folks near Shippingport, PA, a 2010 NRC report found that the Beaver Valley Power Station was ranked the in the top five “most vulnerable” to earthquake damage in the US. Read more here.

DEP to Study Air Quality in Marcellus Drilling Region

It took a while - but finally the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will be conducting a long term air quality study of Marcellus Shale development. The study will be in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The data from the study will allow DEP to assess any potential long-term impact of air emissions from unconventional natural gas operations to nearby communities, and it will help DEP address the cumulative impact of the operations in the Marcellus Shale region.

The primary site of the long-term study will be downwind of the Houston gas processing plant in Chartiers Township, Washington County, where DEP will monitor for ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide and methane. The ambient air will also be tested for more than 60 volatile organic compounds, including hazardous air pollutants, and meteorological data will be collected continuously.

DEP will also monitor for volatile organic compounds and collect meteorological data at three additional sites in Chartiers Township and Hickory Township. One of the Chartiers Township sites is upwind of the Houston gas processing plant and the other is downwind of the Brigich compressor station. The site in Hickory Township will be located downwind of the Stewart compressor stations.

You can read the complete press release here.

You can read the study’s sampling protocol here.

Explosion Doesn't Slow Compressor Station Plans for Susquehanna County

Smoke billowing from Lathrop compressor station. (by Frank Finan) 

On Tuesday, April 17 the PA Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting and hearing to discuss air quality plan approval applications from Laser Northeast Gathering, a subsidiary of Williams Partners. The company plans to construct three separate natural gas compressor stations in Liberty, Middletown and Forest Lake townships in Susquehanna County, PA.

This hearing comes less than 3 weeks from an explosion and fire at the Williams Partners’ Lathrop compressor station in Springville Twp, also in Susquehanna County. On the morning of March 29 neighbors were surprised with a bang and shaking ground, followed by thick, black smoke spewing from the Lathrop compressor.

The facility, which houses seven compressor engines, has only been on-line just under two years – they started operations in June of 2010. The compressor station is linked to at least 10 wells and, according to a Cabot Oil & Gas spokesperson, moves approximately 365 million cubic feet of gas every day.

Media reports place blame for the explosion on a small gas leak. Fortunately, the leak triggered an evacuation alarm and automatic shut-down procedure.

On-scene investigators speculated that it might take months for the station to resume operations, and DEP told Williams not to restart the compressor without the agency’s permission. But within a couple days the company had the compressor up and running again. Everything worked properly, claims the company. As for state agencies, they don’t seem to have any regulatory authority. The PA state Public Utility Commission halted its investigation after determining the station was “outside its regulatory reach”.

As for the new compressor stations Williams has planned for Susquehanna County – well, maybe the public will have something to say about those.

The April 17 Public Hearing is scheduled for 6 pm at Montrose High School, 75 Meteor Way.
Rescheduled for Thursday April 26 at 6 pm in Elk Lake High School, 2380 Elk Lake School Road in Springville.  DEP will explain the review process. The hearing portion opens at 7:30 pm and people will be allowed to present up to 5 minutes of testimony. DEP is accepting written comment submitted by May 17; mail comments to: DEP Air Quality Program Manager, 2 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18703. For more information, visit www.dep.state.pa.us or call 570-826-2511.

Still Waiting for Water in Dimock

The Sautner's & their neighbors still awaiting clean water

How many days months years does it take for a gas company to make good on its promise to provide a permanent supply of clean, fresh drinking water to homeowners affected by bad drilling practices? Well, if you’re Cabot, two years, nine months, fifteen days and counting.

That’s how long 17 homes in Dimock, PA have been without their well water. Water fouled by methane that escaped from what PA’s Department of Environmental Protection has characterized as cementing deficiencies in Cabot’s wells. Despite fines (by DEP) and promises to provide a permanent water supply (by Cabot) people still rely on water trucked in each week.

Nearly three years later, they’re getting tired of it. They would like to be able to turn on their faucets and know that the water streaming out is safe to cook with, safe to bathe in … safe to drink. But recent testing show that gas continues to contaminate Dimock’s groundwater.

Last year Cabot balked at orders to put in a pipeline that would bring fresh water from Montrose to Dimock. Instead, they made a deal with DEP that the company would buy out homeowners or install treatment systems that would remove the methane. Treatment systems that, despite their $30,000 price tag, don’t seem to be working.

Despite the lack of water, some residents worry that state regulators will sign off on Cabot’s efforts and allow drilling to resume. Read more here.