Does PA have air quality issues caused by gas drilling?

Back in February the mayor from tiny Dish, Texas visited a number of Upstate NY venues to talk about air quality problems associated with gas drilling.  Emissions from the high number of compressors in town have made some people sick.

Now it looks like PA may have a similar problem. This afternoon the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent out a notice to the press that the agency is responding to odor complaints in two counties and will be analyzing air quality.

The DEP is gathering samples this week from areas near natural gas operations in Washington and Greene counties. The agency will conduct their study in four phases with each phase lasting one week. They hope to isolate the source of odors that have prompted complaints from residents.

"DEP has received complaints about odors that residents believe are emanating from gas well drilling facilities,” said DEP Southwest Regional Director George Jugovic Jr. Under the Air Pollution Control Act, any entity operating a source of odors may be fined up to $25,000. In the natural gas industry, compressor stations, which are located along natural gas transmission lines and pressurize gas so that it can be piped across great distances, operate under a general permit that limits pollutants by incorporating best available technologies.

During the first phase of the DEP study, their Mobile Analytic Unit will collect and compare air samples from a site in Washington County removed from active drilling as well as active drilling sites in Greene and Washington counties. DEP will also analyze air samples collected over a 24-hour period using 12 canisters, some of which will be placed on the properties of residents who have complained of odors.

Then they will take samples within 3-miles downwind of sites related to gas well drilling in the Marcellus Shale: active drill sites, compressor stations, drip tanks, well heads, gas well flares and wastewater impoundments. They plan to complete sampling by June. 

Samples will be analyzed for volatile organic compounds, ozone, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide. Read more here.

Senator Casey Asks EPA to investigate Drilling in PA

According to an AP release, US Senator Sen. Bob Casey wants the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate reports of groundwater contamination and other potential consequences of natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania.Casey has requested a meeting with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to discuss greater federal oversight of drilling operations. 

At a press conference today Casey said he is concerned about hydraulic fracturing, a drilling technique in which large volumes of water, along with sand and chemicals, are injected deep underground. Read more here. 

EWG Investigation shows that Hydro-fracking Threatens Drinking Water

Last week Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel for Washington DC-based Environmental Working Group, spoke to citizens, scientists and elected representatives in communities across Upstate NY. His message: hydraulic fracturing shouldn't be done in places where people get their drinking water.

The practice, Horwitt said, is threatening drinking water supplies from Pennsylvania and New York to Wyoming. One of the problems is the use of petroleum distillates in the fracking fluid.

Gas drillers have switched from injecting diesel (used as a friction reducer in drilling) to other petroleum distillates. That's largely due to the regulation of diesel. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, EPA requires a permit for injecting diesel because of its high benzene content. Ironically, EPA does not regulate other benzene-containing petroleum distillates.

In late January Horwitt released “Drilling Around the Law”, an investigation into the petroleum-based fracking chemicals used by companies drilling for natural gas. Because of exemptions allowed for fracking, drilling companies are allowed to inject kerosene, mineral spirits and a number of other petroleum distillates into wells. 

The problem, Horwitt said, is that these distillates often contain levels of benzene much higher than the EPA "safe" level of 5 parts per billion (ppb). That’s equivalent to five drops of benzene in 500 barrels of water.

“Ironically, these other petroleum distillates – chemicals that drillers are allowed inject without permits – can contain up to 93 times more benzene than diesel,” Horwitt said. For exanple, Kerosene contains 5,000 parts per million (ppm) benzene - five times as much as diesel. Petroleum naphtha wins the prize with 93,000 ppm benzene - a level that exceeds EPA standards by 18.6 million.

Citing the DEC’s Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS), Horwitt noted that horizontal wells in Marcellus and other shales will require from one to 8 million gallons of water and fracking chemicals. “These are massive operations,” Horwitt said, “pumping fluids into wells at pressures of 12,000 pounds per square inch (psi).” Even before fracking occurs, there are opportunities for spills.

Now the companies will tell you there is no problem, Horwitt said. These are the same petroleum distillates used in cosmetics. “But these very same chemicals are banned from cosmetics in the European Union,” he clarified.

Drilling companies also insist that they only add small amounts into the frack fluid, Horwitt said. “Point zero eight (.08) percent. It sounds like a miniscule amount, but do the math.” Horwitt’s calculations show that even at that very low level, anywhere from 800 – 6400 gallons of petroleum distillates could be injected for a single frack job.

"That's enough to contaminate more than 100 billion gallons of water," Horwitt exclaimed. "More than ten times the amount the state of New York uses in a single day!" Horwitt recommends eliminating the federal exemptions for oil and gas drilling; drilling companies should obtain a permit for any chemical they inject. "Why require a permit for only one type of petroleum chemical?" 

Furthermore, when Horwitt asked NY Department of Environmental Conservation officials - and officials from agencies in other states - whether they checked to see what chemicals companies are injecting, the response was an overwhelming "No".

They [drillers] could easily be injecting diesel,” Horwitt said. Indeed, Halliburton, Schlumberger and other companies admitted, during a Congressional inquiry, that they have continued to inject diesel in some states.

DEC to Give Some Watersheds Separate Environmental Review Process Before Drilling

updated 4/24 
Not all drinking water in New York is created equal. As of today, some watersheds will be excluded from the pending generic environmental review process for high volume- horizontal drilling in the Marcellus and other shale formations.

This afternoon,  NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced that "due to the unique issues related to the protection of New York City and Syracuse drinking water supplies" applications to drill in those watersheds will require a case-by-case environmental review process to "establish whether appropriate measures to mitigate potential impacts can be developed".

At this time there are 58 pending applications for horizontal drilling in the Marcellus shale, but none of those are located in  the New York City or the Skaneateles Lake watershed where Syracuse gets its water.

At issue: the Big Apple and the Big Orange both use unfiltered drinking water from surface-water sources. These watersheds are subject to Filtration Avoidance Determinations (FADs). The FADs acknowledge land disturbance and usage issues unique to those watersheds and independent of DEC’s ongoing review of the environmental safety of the high-volume hydraulic fracturing process.

The federal Safe Drinking Water Act requires that drinking water taken from surface water sources must be filtered to reduce the risk of waterborne disease. If a water supplier is able to demonstrate that they meet strict water quality criteria without filtration, they may request a FAD. In addition, the supplier must prove that it effectively implements a comprehensive watershed management plan.

FADs are rarely granted, but both New York City and the city of Syracuse have been issued FADs for their drinking water systems.

"The environmental safety protocols included in the SGEIS must fully protect drinking water supplies and mitigate significant environmental risks wherever drilling might occur," DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said in comments released to the press. "Even with those protections in place, in order to better assure the continued use of an unfiltered surface water supply, there must be an additional review process which may result in associated regulatory and other controls on drilling. DEC will be vigilant in ensuring environmental safeguards," he promised.

The NY State Department of Health has the primary jurisdiction over the FADs. State Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines noted that watershed protection is critical for an unfiltered, FAD system. "The New York City watershed and the Skaneateles watershed are unique in the level of management required to ensure continued compliance with strict water quality standards," Daines said.

As a result of  today’s decision, applicants for natural gas drilling permits using high-volume horizontal drilling in the FAD watersheds will not be able to utilize the SGEIS. Instead, they will need to meet special requirements relating to the unfiltered surface water supply. That means they will need to conduct individual environmental reviews to address the continuation of the FAD.

The DEC will work closely with the state Department of Health, the local watershed communities, and with the cities benefiting from the FADs to develop the additional drilling requirements that may be applicable in the FAD watersheds.

Which leaves the rest of us in the region wondering: an' ain't we a Watershed too?

This announcement generated a lot of comments from NY legislators. Senator Thomas Duane (29th district) said : "I fear it is a cynical move that will pit New Yorkers against each other ...  residents in Manhattan and Syracuse, for example, will benefit from this decision while those living in Ithaca and Jamestown will not."

Company Fined for Transferring Frack Water without a Permit

New Yorkers in a rush to see gas drilling in their back yard may want to pay closer attention to what's happening south of the border. Last week DEP fined Cabot, shut down their drilling rigs and won't give even a cursory look at their permit applications.

Today the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined Stallion Oilfield Services $6,500 for illegally transferring fracking water. The Houston, Texas company was caught operating a transfer station without a permit last year at its facility in Old Lycoming Township, Lycoming County.

This is not the first time DEP has slapped Stallion's corporate wrist; DEP previously issued a notice of violation to the company in June 2009. They found 21 frack water tanks at the site divided into two staging areas. The tanks were used to store fracking flowback water from natural gas wells.

DEP inspectors also found a 450-square foot area where frack water had spilled onto the ground. Soil samples showed high levels of chlorides and barium, common constituents of frack water. Stallion subsequently excavated and properly disposed of about seven cubic yards of soil.

DEP followed up with an inspection in August 2009 to confirm that the company had indeed halted the illegal transfer station activity. The agency's North-central Regional Director Robert Yowell told the press that businesses that support the natural gas exploration industry must improve their compliance with Pennsylvania’s waste management regulations. 

"DEP will continue to look aggressively for these illegal transfer stations and will take appropriate enforcement action whenever we find them,” Yowell said.

The problem in NY is that our Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is woefully understaffed. With 19 inspectors they can't even keep tabs on the 14,000 or so wells already in production. How will they ever oversee casing cementing, frack trucks, water withdrawals and brine leaks coming down the pike once Marcellus drilling takes off?

Read the full DEP press release here.