Local zoning is perhaps best control over Marcellus play, planner says
Local zoning is perhaps best control over Marcellus play, planner says
With Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale-gas epoch still in its infancy, some experts doubt we have seen one-tenth of what is yet to come and recommend that municipalities brace themselves for rapid change. “People who are not in the Marcellus areas have no clue how big this is going to be,” said Kurt Hausammann Jr., planning director for Lycoming County. “This has the possibility to change our whole way of life.”
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/47431/nw69
Download This Story Here
Local zoning is perhaps best control over Marcellus play, planner says
Marcellus Shale Regulations Regarding Drinking Water in PA
Bryan Swistock, Penn State Water Quality Extension Specialist, discusses the Marcellus shale regulations regarding drinking water in PA.
Safe Drinking Water workshop
http://www.americantowns.com/pa/hawley/events/safe-drinking-water-workshop
Safe Drinking Water workshop
Penn State Cooperative Extension will present a Safe Drinking Water workshop on July 13, 7:00 – 9:00 PM, Pike County Conservation District office, 556 Route 402, Blooming Grove. The cost is $7.00 per person or couple. Pre-registration, including payment, is required by July 9.
If you depend on your own well or spring for your drinking water, it is your responsibility to have your water tested periodically at a certified water testing lab. Water testing will be available for participants at a discounted fee through Prosser Labs.
For a printable flyer go to http://tinyurl.com/yycbns3
For more information contact Penn State Cooperative Extension in Pike County by phone at 570-296-3400, by fax at 570-296-3406, or send an e-mail message to PikeExt@psu.edu. Please be sure to include your full name and surface mail address.
Marcellus shale well accident reinforces need to guard water quality
http://live.psu.edu/story/47244/nw69
Monday, June 21, 2010
University Park, Pa. — The recent eruption of a Marcellus shale gas well in Clearfield County, Pa., has triggered investigations by state agencies. A Penn State Cooperative Extension water specialist said it also should remind Pennsylvanians that drilling can impact surrounding water resources, and well owners near any drill sites should take steps to monitor their drinking water.
The contaminated water spewed by the natural-gas well for more than 15 hours may have entered a local aquifer. Bryan Swistock, senior extension associate in the School of Forest Resources, said the state Department of Environmental Protection will probably check local streams for contamination, but it may be prudent for water-well owners living near the spill to have an independent laboratory test their well water. He said the tests for various contaminants have a range of costs and implications.
“Things like methane, chloride, total dissolved solids and barium are very good indicators and are relatively inexpensive to test for — most labs can do them,” Swistock explained. “When you move down into the organic chemicals that might be used in fracturing, the cost to test for them goes way up. The risk is much less for those, typically, so it’s not quite as important, but again, if you can afford to do that testing, that’s great.”
The Department of Environmental Protection ordered a contractor hired by the gas-well owner to stop some of its work in the state, hand over equipment records and provide access to employees as DEP investigates the equipment used by the company.
“They haven’t determined how the blow-out happened, but it appears that it allowed a lot of gas and hydrofracturing fluid to escape on the ground into nearby streams,” Swistock said. “That reinforces how important it is for people who live near natural-gas drilling to document their water quality before the drilling, so that if any incidents do occur, you can prove they happened. And that includes testing of wells, streams, ponds and any water resources that you’re concerned about before the drilling occurs.
“It’s hard to document anything if you don’t have any pre-existing data,” he added. “It’s important that homeowners have an unbiased expert from a state-certified lab conduct the tests, in case the sample results are needed for legal action.”
Water forced into subterranean pockets as part of the drilling process dissolves many chemicals out of the rock, Swistock said, and may gather large amounts of iron, calcium, magnesium, strontium and barium, and small amounts of arsenic and lead. There also are enormous amounts of sodium and chloride as water dissolves chemicals left behind by ancient sea water.
Swistock said balancing frequency of testing with the proximity of the drilling activity is an individual decision for each well owner.
“Fracking is a very intensive industrial activity, and these kinds of incidents are going to happen,” he said. “They don’t happen very often if we look at the history of the industry, but people have to decide on their own how concerned they are and how much testing they want to go through. Certainly, water supplies within 1,000 feet of the drilling are considered at higher risk. Beyond that, it’s up to the homeowner to decide. If some people 5,000 feet away are concerned and want to get testing done, that’s really their choice.”
About 3.5 million Pennsylvanians get their water from private wells and springs, according to Swistock. He said residents who want more information on Marcellus shale gas exploration can find it online at Penn State Cooperative Extension’s Natural Gas website at http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/.
Webinar to discuss shale-gas drilling in urban areas
Friday, May 14, 2010
The acronym NIMBY — “Not in My Back Yard” — is a battle cry commonly hurled by neighbors at any nearby controversy. But when the controversy murmurs simultaneously across multiple neighborhoods in the same city, the expanding chorus of affected neighbors can create an industrial-strength din.
Such was the case in Fort Worth, Texas, where prior to 2000, there were no gas wells in town. Ten years later, there are 1,675 shale-gas wells within city limits, according to Sarah Fullenwider, senior assistant city attorney for the City of Fort Worth.
She said some Fort Worth citizens who have signed gas leases are frustrated with the local process and controls.
“Many have signed leases and want the financial benefits of extracting the minerals, so they want drilling to take place,” she said. “But they don’t want the impacts of a well near their homes. They are frustrated with the ability of cities to implement local controls considering Texas laws regarding the dominant mineral estate.”
Fullenwider will be the featured speaker during a free Web-based seminar titled, “Lessons from Gas Drilling in an Urban Environment,” which will air Thursday, May 20, at 1 p.m. Sponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension, the “webinar” will provide an overview of Fort Worth’s experience as shale-gas companies in Texas began setting up drilling operations within city limits. Read more
Gas drilling information session set for Thursday
http://citizensvoice.com/news/gas-drilling-information-session-set-for-thursday-1.776328
Gas drilling information session set for Thursday
Published: May 10, 2010
An informational meeting on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale will be offered Thursday in Lehman Township.
The meeting will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Lake-Lehman High School on Old Route 115.
Representatives from DEP, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and natural gas experts from Penn State will give presentations.
Drinking water clinic highlights drilled wells, cisterns and springs
http://live.psu.edu/story/46304/nw69
Friday, April 23, 2010
University Park, Pa. — Ben Franklin wrote, “when the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” But even when the well is pumping steadily, it’s still worthwhile to regularly test private water supplies.
Public water systems are required by law to protect customers and regularly test for impurities. But in Pennsylvania, 3.5 million residents are served by private water systems, such as wells, springs and cisterns, and they have no such legal oversight.
“If you own your own private supply, it’s all your own responsibility to provide clean water to yourself, the people in your family and the people who come to visit,” said Peter Wulfhorst, educator with Penn State Cooperative Extension in Pike County.
Wulfhorst will be the featured speaker in the next Penn State Extension Water Webinar, titled “Safe Drinking Water Clinic,” which will air at noon and again at 7 p.m. on April 28.
He said two types of water standards concern homeowners: primary standards pertaining to health, and secondary standards that pertain to the water’s aesthetics — its taste or smell, its appearance, or whether it stains plumbing fixtures or laundry. He said the webinar will cover both of these subjects, as well as how to protect a water supply from contaminants, which contaminants to test for and what treatments to use if contaminants are present. Read more
Webinar contrasts regional differences for shale-gas drilling
http://live.psu.edu/story/46121/nw69
Friday, April 16, 2010
Webinar contrasts regional differences for shale-gas drilling
University Park, Pa. — The grass sometimes looks greener on the other side of the fence — or in the other corner of the state — not necessarily because it actually is greener, but because a disturbance in one’s own backyard makes the local situation lose its luster.
That’s the case with some property owners in southwestern Pennsylvania as they compare their situations to landowners in the northeastern counties as the shale-gas boom continues to reverberate around the commonwealth, according to Gary Sheppard, Penn State Cooperative Extension educator from Westmoreland County. Read more
Home Water Well Testing in the Gas Well Era
June 15, 2010
2:00 — 4:00 pm
Damascus School
Damascus, PA
or
7:00 — 9:00 pm
Park Street Complex
648 Park St
Honesdale, PA
AGENDA
- How gas wells can impact groundwater wells.
- Regulations to protect private wells.
- Potential water pollutants.
- Testing strategies – including test packages through Penn State and third party water testing.
- How to collect water samples.
- Interpretation of water test results.
Webinar to address economic impact of shale gas drilling on March 18
Sometimes research can provide clarity to a question, and sometimes it can cloud the waters even further. That may be the case with some economic-impact studies of shale-gas drilling in Pennsylvania. At 1 p.m. on March 18, Tim Kelsey, professor of agricultural economics in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, will deliver a free Web-based seminar designed to provide an overview of some of the research used by decision-makers to assess factors of economic development in their communities.
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/45180/nw69