Sides of gas drilling debate split on fracturing study

http://standardspeaker.com/news/sides-of-gas-drilling-debate-split-on-fracturing-study-1.1022577

Sides of gas drilling debate split on fracturing study

By LAURA LEGERE (Staff Writer)
Published: September 21, 2010

Binghamton, N.Y. – Hundreds of people gathered in this Southern Tier city on last week to advise the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on how to conduct a multiyear study of hydraulic fracturing and the impact it may have on drinking water.

Despite the New York setting, many of the speakers at the first sessions of a two-day hearing about the gas drilling technology turned their attention south of the state border to describe evidence of the promise, or peril, of Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania.

The meeting is the last of four being held in the United States this year to gather public input about  the scope and shape of the study, especially where to find appropriate places for case studies of the interaction – or lack thereof – of hydraulic fracturing and drinking water supplies.

Dimock Township in Susquehanna County was offered repeatedly as a perfect place to examine: It is an epicenter of Marcellus Shale gas activity in Pennsylvania, and state regulators have determined that water wells there were contaminated by methane associated with the drilling.

Victoria Switzer, a Dimock resident, testified that water from her household well was recently found by an independent lab to contain ethylene glycol, propylene glycol and toluene – all chemicals frequently used in the hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” process.

“EPA, do your job,” she said. “Please demand accountability. I offer you a case study: myself, Dimock.”

The commonwealth was also invoked as an example of the benefits of natural gas drilling by New Yorkers who support the development of the industry in their state, which has a moratorium on Marcellus Shale exploration while it develops rules for regulating it.

“Drilling is safe and will bring prosperity to New York,” said Lorin Cooper, a member of the Steuben County Landowners Coalition. “The evidence is in Pennsylvania, Wyoming and everywhere else drilling has been allowed to proceed.”

The sides of the drilling debate were split at the hearing in their advice to federal environmental regulators.

Those in favor of drilling tended to ask for a narrow study – one that looks at the specific moments when a gas-bearing formation is fractured by high volumes of water mixed with sand and chemical additives. The industry and state regulators say there has not been a single documented case of groundwater contamination in the United States that can be attributed to that process.

“All that we ask is that this study be focused and not take forever to complete,” said Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala, who supports drilling and hydraulic fracturing. “I hope the EPA is not going to study the entire natural gas drilling cycle.”

Those opposed to the drilling asked for an expansive study – one that covers everything from how water for fracturing is withdrawn from rivers to the disposal of the salt- and metals-laden wastewater that returns from the wells. Some also encouraged the agency to cover other associated  impacts, including air pollution.

“The EPA study must look cradle to grave,” said Barbara Arrindell of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, a Wayne County-based anti-drilling group.

Prior to the afternoon session, pro- and anti-drilling groups gathered on opposite ends of Washington Street shouting competing slogans of “Pass the gas” and “No fracking way.”

At the anti-drilling rally, where the props included a large plywood derrick, a Mother Earth puppet and a person dressed as “Frackin’stein,” the prop presented by Dimock resident Craig Sautner – a milk jug of brown water drawn from his well after intensive gas drilling occurred nearby – garnered the most response.

“I can’t say this is going to happen to your well. I’m not sure,” he said. “But do you want to take that chance?”

Down the road, Jim Riley, a landowner from Conklin, N.Y., said he does not have a gas lease, but would like one.

“First thing I’d do, I’d fix my house up,” he said. “I’d spend my money right here in the community.”

“I’m not afraid of the drilling,” he said.

The EPA meeting continues today, with two sessions from noon to 4 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. The agency is also accepting written comments on the study at hydraulic.fracturing@epa .gov through Sept. 28.

llegere@timesshamrock.com