Marcellus Shale drillers record 1,500 violations since start of 2008
http://republicanherald.com/news/report-marcellus-shale-drillers-record-1-500-violations-since-start-of-2008-1.918141
Report: Marcellus Shale drillers record 1,500 violations since start of 2008
BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER LLEGERE@TIMESSHAMROCK.COM)
Published: August 3, 2010
Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers have been cited nearly 1,500 times in the last two-and-a-half years for violating the state’s oil and gas laws, according to a report released Monday by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association.
Two-thirds of the 1,435 violations were identified by the report’s authors as likely to harm or pose a threat to the environment, while the other third were identified as administrative or safety violations.
The violations were issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the agency that regulates gas drilling in Pennsylvania, which released the records to the association in response to a Right to Know Law request.
Elana Richman, projects coordinator for the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, said the organization sought the records to measure the gas extraction industry’s environmental record as Marcellus Shale drilling expands in the state.
“We had the feeling that there was a lot out there that we weren’t seeing,” she said.
The association found that of the 952 violations with environmental implications, 277 were for improper erosion and sedimentation plans or controls, 268 were for faulty wastewater pits, 100 were violations of the state’s Clean Streams Law, and 154 were spills of brine, oil, drill cuttings or other waste to the ground or streams.
DEP released the details of one such spill Monday, when it announced that it had fined Talisman Energy USA $15,506 for a spill of gas drilling wastewater at a Bradford County well site in November.
The spill of between 4,200 to 6,300 gallons polluted a small, unnamed tributary to Webier Creek, DEP said. The company has since completed the state’s cleanup requirements.
Violations associated with recent high-profile environmental accidents, like well blowouts and gas contamination of water supplies, occurred in smaller numbers during the report’s study period, between January 1, 2008, and June 25, 2010.
There were 10 violations for improper construction of the cement and steel casings used to isolate drinking water aquifers from Marcellus Shale wells, a problem that DEP found was to blame for gas contamination of 14 drinking water supplies in Dimock Township. DEP issued 16 violations for improper blowout-prevention measures, lapses like those that led to the blowout of an EOG Resources well in Clearfield County on June 3, when wastewater and gas erupted uncontrollably for 17 hours.
The report also lists the 25 Marcellus Shale drillers with the most violations, beginning with East Resources Inc., a Warrendale, Pa.-based company that was recently bought by Royal Dutch Shell, which recorded 138 violations. Chesapeake Appalachia, Chief Oil and Gas, Cabot Oil and Gas, and Talisman Energy USA were also in the top five.
Stephen Rhoads, director of external affairs for East Resources, said the company is “painfully aware” of the violations and has changed its practices to address and avoid them, including no longer using earthen pits to handle well wastes.
“Obviously we need to do some work, and we are,” he said, noting that the company is close to the bottom of the report’s list of 25 drillers with the highest average number of violations per well drilled.
Proponents and critics of Marcellus Shale drilling interpreted the report differently on Monday as evidence of either strict or insufficient regulatory oversight.
“Clearly our industry is tightly regulated, and arguably under more scrutiny than any other operating in the commonwealth,” said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a cooperative of the state’s Marcellus drillers.
Environmental groups used the report to call for more drilling regulations and enforcement.
“DEP inspectors do not visit these sites frequently enough,” said Jeff Schmidt, director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter. “With the thousands of permits issued, DEP does not make necessary inspections to protect the public from environmental harm.”
DEP released a fact sheet about its oversight of Marcellus Shale drilling on Monday that countered Mr. Schmidt’s criticism.
“No other state has added more staff, done a more comprehensive strengthening of its rules or more aggressively enforced its rules than Pennsylvania has,” it said.
DEP Secretary John Hanger said the report proves the industry is actively regulated, that companies “can do a better job of operating their drill sites,” and that the drillers should pay a severance tax on the gas they produce.
“Even with strong oversight there are going to be impacts,” he said. “This industry must pay a tax in order to compensate the state, the local community and the environment for some of the costs associated with drilling.”