Mid-week comic relief

Comment Period Open on that Fracking Infrastructure

We may not have any fracking – well, at least not horizontal hydraulic fracturing – going on in New York, but there’s plenty of infrastructure being built to transport, liquefy, and store fracked gas. And to ship it overseas – which will only drive those winter gas heating prices higher. Not only do these fracking infrastructure projects “pave the way” for future industrialized “fracked” drilling, but it reinforces our already entrenched dependency on fossil fuels. They also vent methane into our air – a climate-changing emission much more potent than carbon dioxide – and threaten public health and safety.

During this month, people in NY have an opportunity to comment on three projects:

• The DEC draft rules for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which would permit LNG facilities of any size throughout the state, promote massive industrialization, and endanger communities. If adopted, the rules would lift a prohibition on new LNG facilities in New York State  - a prohibition put in place in 1973 after an explosion on Staten Island killed 40 people.
• The FERC review of the Natural Gas Storage expansion plan, which would bury natural gas in underground salt caverns and turn the Finger Lakes region into a major storage and transportation hub for gas. The project on Seneca Lake threatens the drinking water for 100,000 people.
• The Port Ambrose Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) port, near the entrance of New York Harbor. This proposed floating "port" would connect ships to onshore gas infrastructure and allow for the import and export of LNG.  It would also discharge toxic chemicals into a fishing area and wildlife migration route.  The scoping comment period for this mega-project ended in August, but Governors Cuomo and Christie can still veto it.

To help us learn more about the science and regulations for these projects, Sandra Steingraber has once again created a “30 Days of  Comments” website. Today's science lesson is about methane. The regulations don't mention anything about venting methane into the atmosphere, or about recapturing it. Why not, asks Steingraber. Why not indeed?

Oil Spill, Pipeline Break in Flood-Ravaged Colorado

Update: as of Sept 20, Colorado reports 22,000-plus gallons of oil spilled.

Oil and gas crews are out and about in Colorado after the flood, and at least 5,250 gallons of oil have spilled from tanks into the South Platte River. Nearly 1900 oil and gas wells have been shut down and hundreds of industry crews are assessing damage. In addition to the tank spill there is one pipeline rupture and other pipelines that have been compromised by the flooding. Read more from yesterday's  Denver Post article.

Meanwhile, some members of Frack Free Colorado went out with their video cams to collect footage of damage to wells and storage sites in their area in Weld County. They note that while getting the footage they developed headaches, burning skin, eyes and throat. The air smelled strongly of chemicals.

Colorado Floods Break Pipeline and Engulf Gas Wells

photo by Andy Cross/ the Denver Post

The rain pummeling Colorado this past week caused epic flooding. Photos show miles of devastation: homes lost, crops underwater, surviving livestock on flooded pastures, people in shelters.

In addition to rescuing stranded people, emergency crews have also had to contend with broken oil and gas pipelines - and those that haven't broken yet are exposed due to eroded ground.

According to reports from the Denver Post, "Oil drums, tanks and other industrial debris mixed into the swollen river flowing northeast. County officials did not give locations of where the pipeline broke and where other pipelines were compromised." 

Weld County is home to about 20,000 oil and gas wells, and companies have been drilling on the flood plains. Once the gas and oil companies were notified of the threats, they began shutting down drilling operations and transmission pipelines. Even so, that still leaves wells, tanks, gathering lines and transmission lines in the path of raging waters.

In a statement to the press Gary Wockner, of Clean Water Action, said "Fracking and operating oil and gas facilities in floodplains is extremely risky. Flood waters can topple facilities and spread oil, gas, and cancer-causing fracking chemicals across vast landscapes making contamination and clean-up efforts exponentially worse and more complicated."

What does a flooded gas well look like? Here's a video that was posted to Facebook Friday evening.

 video link: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=303218053153761

No one expected this type of flooding: it's a one-in-500-year type of event, aided in part by hillsides denuded of trees resulting from wildfires over the past couple years. Even so, the results illustrate the risks of drilling in flood plains. Even when the company shuts off the drilling or shuts down a pipeline, there is little they can do to prevent flood waters from ripping tanks from their moorings or washing frack pit waste downstream.

update: check Texas Sharon's excellent blog, Blue Daze for updates on this issue.
http://www.texassharon.com/2013/09/15/is-there-a-media-blackout-on-the-fracking-flood-disaster-in-colorado/

More Photos of gas and oil infrastructure in the floodlands: (from the Boulder area):

More photos at
weldairandwater.org

Chesapeake Settles Over Royalty Dispute

Yesterday Chesapeake settled a class action lawsuit challenging the company for improperly deducting post-production and transport fees from gas royalties. According to the Daily Review, Chesapeake has agreed to fork over $7.5 million.

The lawsuit, filed electronically earlier in the day, named 14 plaintiffs from Pennsylvania and New York as representatives of the “class”. The plaintiffs claim that post-production fees were deducted from their royalty payments despite terms in their leases that precluded Chesapeake from deducting those costs, and that the fees were in excess of the actual costs. They also claim

that Chesapeake "breached its duty" by basing royalties on the market value of the gas prior to refining – at “below market” price.

However, the leaseholders won’t end up with all the royalties they’d hoped for. They’re still going to have to pay about 72 percent of post-production costs, and cover 100 percent of the costs related to transporting gas through the pipelines.

The settlement proposal still has to be reviewed by a federal judge before final approval.

Read more about this here and here.