Let the Countdown Begin: 30 Days of Fracking Regs

There are eight days of Hanukkah, twelve days of Christmas, and 30 days for sending comments to NY Department of Environmental Conservation regarding the new fracking regulations (unless the world really does come to an end on the 21st, which NASA and the US government promise won’t happen).

So Sandra Steingraber came up with a nifty idea: 30 comments in 30 days. And she has a website to go with it. It’s kind of like an advent calendar, but without the candy. Each day you click on the date and open the door to see … a regulation, with some explanation about what it means. The deal is: she provides the info; we provide the comments.

Today’s focus is Section 560 560.4 Setbacks. Sandra explains, in clear English, what the regulation states, and puts those setback distances into perspective. At the bottom of the page there’s a button to click to email your comment, and one to get the snail-mail address.

Will it take time? Yes, but it’s worth it to learn more about what these new regulations offer to oil and gas drillers. And it will take some time to write comments, too. But again, it’s always worth sending your 2-cents to the folks who (you hope) will ensure that your water stays drinkable and your air breatheable.

Will it cost money? Most assuredly – at most $13.20 in postage ($9.60 if you send postcards; less than $4 if the world ends next Friday). But, seriously, $13 doesn’t even qualify as Hanukkah gelt!

What happens if I miss a day? Unlike some medications, there are no serious side effects if you open two (or more) days at a time and write more than one comment in a letter. The important thing is that you let your state environmental agency know your concerns and/or approval of the regulations they have devised.

You may mail your comments to:

Attn: Draft HVHF Regulations Comments

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

625 Broadway

Albany, NY 12233-6510

Frack Sand Blowin' in the Wind

Sand from a frack job in Sheshequin Township, Bradford County PA blows towards
  a home where children live, only 1,000 ft away. (photo from Carol French)

It takes a lot of sand to frack a gas well – about 4 million pounds of sand to prop open the newly created fractures in the rock to allow gas trapped in the shale to escape. The problem is, that sand is very fine… crystals of silica that, if inhaled, can contribute to a range of health problems. And you don’t have to be working the frack trucks to pay the price, some people are finding.

Some residents who live near the frack sand mines in Wisconsin have started suffering from asthma and other respiratory conditions. Other problems, such as silicosis and cancer, won’t show up for years or even decades. Federal safety standards protect workers, but not the general public who may be exposed to the sand unwittingly. While workers know they’re being exposed and have access to protective gear, children and other people don’t. And, as one environmental health expert discovered, in some cases the public is exposed to levels that exceed federal occupational health standards. Read more here.

Fracking's Cracking House Foundations

A homeowner in Portage County, Ohio, blames fracking at a well 1,000 feet away for damage to her house. The damage started in September, soon after the well went online. There are cracks in her walls and ceiling and through the masonry of her fireplace. Water has been leaking through the chimney and into her house – and her homeowners insurance isn’t going to cover the damage.

Two separate structural engineers have examined the cracks and confirm that they are caused by vibrations. Even though the well is 1,000 feet away, the vibrations sound like a helicopter outside her window.

Homeowners in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles are also complaining about cracks in their homes. These aren’t from recent quakes, they say. They attribute the cracks in their foundations and walls to vibrations from fracking in the oil field next door.

And one homeowner in Arkansas is taking the drilling company to court over damage to her home: cracks and foundation shifts due to vibrations from fracking.

Just how far does a house need to be from a well to be safe from frack cracks and other damage? The recently proposed Fracking regulations for New York establish a setback of 500 feet for homes and schools. But if these reports are any measure, even 1,000 feet may not be far enough.

Video Field Trip to Well at night

Intrepid video-journalist Vera Scroggins headed out with her camera to record what it sounds like when a well is drilled close to a road. The well she photographed is on Bush Road, in Bridgewater Township, just down the road apiece from Montrose (Susquehanna County, PA). The operator is Carrizo, the very same outfit that started exploratory drilling in Owego, NY (Tioga County).

Now, the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has put out some new regulations for high volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing - but the new rules do not upgrade or replace the old rules.
The new regs. specify that there will be no drilling:

• within 500 feet of a residential water well, domestic supply spring or water well or spring used to supply water for livestock or crops;
• within 500 feet of an inhabited dwelling or place of assembly;
• within a primary aquifer and a 500-foot buffer from the boundary of a primary aquifer;
• within a 100-year floodplain;
• and within 2,000 feet of any public water supply including reservoir, natural lake or mane-made impoundment (except those constructed for fresh water storage associated with fracking).

The new regulations don't address distance from roads (they remain 75 feet) nor do they address setbacks from barns, fields or pastures.

So if you live near a well, this is what you'll likely hear all day and all night for at least a few weeks.

DEC releases Draft Fracking Regs

Last week the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) filed for a 90-day extension to allow time for the health review that is part of the SGEIS. At the same time, they posted a draft of the new high volume horizontal hydraulic fracking regulations. DEC will accept public comments on the draft regulations from December 12, 2012 through 5:00 PM on January 11, 2013.

The proposed regs include a newly adopted “Part 560” which outlines “Operations Associated with High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing”. That’s where you’ll find setbacks (500 feet from inhabited buildings and water wells), requirements for disclosure of fracking chemicals – after completing the well – and water testing.

That section alone runs more than 10,000 words, and it seems a Grinch-like thing to do when most folks are trying to bake cookies for the troops serving overseas and otherwise attending to family holiday preparations. It’s unfortunate that DEC released the draft regulations before the health study is complete, but a deadline’s a deadline.

The comment period starts next week, Dec. 12 and runs for 30 days. You can read the draft regulations here. And check out Tom Wilbur's assessment of the regulatory process here.