Pa DEP to Issue Technical Guidance on Wastewater Treatment Permitting
www.sacbee.com/2011/11/03/4028012/pennsylvania-dep-to-issue-technical.html
By Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Published: Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011 – 8:53 am
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 3, 2011 — /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Department of Environmental Protection will soon offer new technical guidance designed to ensure compliance with updated wastewater-treatment regulations.
The guidance explains revisions to Title 25 Chapter 95 of the Pennsylvania Code that require new or expanded sources of natural gas wastewater to treat the wastewater to the federal drinking water standard of less than 500 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids prior to discharge.
“This technical guidance is another step in this administration’s continuing efforts to protect Pennsylvania’s water resources,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “This document clearly communicates to any facility seeking to increase its discharge of treated wastewater or to any facility seeking to start accepting wastewater that they must meet certain obligations.”
Krancer also said the guidance will ensure consistency in the department’s decision-making process in issuing these permits.
In April 2011, Krancer called on the natural gas industry to stop sending unconventional gas production wastewater to facilities that were permitted prior to revisions to the Chapter 95 regulations, which took effect in August 2010. The industry quickly complied. To ensure the continued protection of state waterways, the department is now issuing this guidance to explain the regulations governing new and expanded sources of discharged wastewater.
The technical guidance document, to be published in the Nov. 12 Pennsylvania Bulletin, will assist DEP’s permitting staff in implementing the new total dissolved solids effluent standard for discharges of treated natural gas wastewater. The revised Chapter 95 regulations ensure that drinking water, waterways, and watersheds in the state are not impacted by high levels of total dissolved solids. The most common total dissolved solids in Pennsylvania are chlorides and sulfates.
The guidance also clarifies that all facilities that accept shale gas extraction wastewater that has not been fully pre-treated to meet the discharge requirements must develop and implement a radiation protection plan. Such facilities must also monitor for radium-226, radium-228, uranium and gross alpha radiation in their effluent.
The department will host web-based trainings in the coming weeks to explain the implementation of the guidance document to treatment plants and their customers.
DEP regulates the treatment and discharge of industrial wastewater in the state as part of its administration of the federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
For more information, visit www.dep.state.pa.us or call 717-783-4693.
Media contact: Kevin Sunday, 717-787-1323
SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Critic disputes Penn State findings and thinks potential well water contamination overlooked
www.timesleader.com/news/Study__Gas_drilling_not_polluting_water_11-04-2011.html
Posted: November 4
By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
Study: Gas drilling not polluting water
The natural gas industry is pointing to a Penn State University study to boost its mantra that gas drilling is not linked to pollution of water wells.
But a drilling critic says the study found increased levels of a harmful chemical in water wells after gas drilling occurred nearby. He thinks other aspects of the study overlooked potential well water contamination.
“The Impact of Marcellus Gas Drilling on Rural Drinking Water Supplies” was authored by Penn State water quality experts led by Elizabeth Boyer, associate professor of water resources, director of the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center and assistant director of the Penn State Institutes of Energy & Environment.
The research was sponsored by a grant from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a bipartisan legislative agency within the state General Assembly. The goal was a large-scale study of water quality in private water wells in rural Pennsylvania before and after nearby Marcellus Shale drilling.
For the study, the researchers evaluated water sampled from 233 water wells near gas wells in 2010 and 2011. The first phase focused on 48 private water wells located within 2,500 feet of a nearby shale well pad. The second phase focused on 185 private water wells located within 5,000 feet of a shale well pad.
During the first phase, researchers collected pre- and post-drilling water well samples and analyzed them for water quality. In the second phase, researchers or homeowners collected only post-drilling water well samples and analyzed them for water quality. The post-drilling analyses were compared with existing pre-drilling test records.
John Krohn, spokesman for Energy In Depth Northeast Marcellus Initiative, noted excerpts from the report that said analysis of the water tests “did not suggest major influences from gas well drilling (or hydraulic fracturing) on nearby water wells.”
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is the high-pressure injection of millions of gallons of water, sand and chemical additives deep underground to extract natural gas trapped in shale rock.
The study also found no clear link between methane migration and natural gas production, Krohn said.
Methane is a gas that some residents living near gas wells have lit on fire as it escaped from their kitchen faucets along with their well water.
Krohn also noted 40 percent of the water wells tested failed at least one safe drinking water standard, mostly for coliform bacteria, turbidity and manganese, before drilling occurred. This shows a need for uniform water well construction standards that don’t exist in Pennsylvania, as well as a need for education of water well owners.
Dr. Tom Jiunta, founder of the local Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, said study findings of increased levels of bromide and sediment/metal levels in wells after drilling/fracking were of particular concern to him.
“This finding alone shows that many wells near drilling sites are impacted by migration of underwater brines and possible drilling muds, both hazardous to drinking water supplies,” he said.
Bromide itself is not a health threat, but elevated levels “can create an indirect health issue as it may combine with other elements in water to cause carcinogenic compounds,” the report states.
Jiunta said nearly 80 percent of the water wells were not pre-tested for methane, bromide or oil/grease because well owners couldn’t afford the expensive tests. “This skews the data,” he said.
Jiunta also said the study considers only short-term changes in well water after nearby gas wells were drilled – less than three-month time periods. He said that time period is “inadequate for determining contamination,” citing a Temple University engineering professor who said most problems with underground water contamination would most likely take several years to be detected.
The Penn State study was released as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins a federal probe into whether hydraulic fracturing is spoiling and diminishing drinking water supplies.
The agency’s final study plan was released Thursday. The first results will be available in 2012.
County gas drilling impact fee gets boost in committee vote
citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/county-gas-drilling-impact-fee-gets-boost-in-committee-vote-1.1227029#axzz1ceXFIjeS
By Robert Swift (Harrisburg Bureau Chief)
Published: November 3, 2011
HARRISBURG – Legislation that could provide for state preemption of local gas drilling ordinances won approval from a House committee Wednesday on a party-line vote.
The measure approved 15 to 10 by the Finance Committee would amend the 1984 Oil and Gas Act to supercede local drilling ordinances in areas where the state has an “appropriate” regulation, according to a committee bill summary.
The bill contains Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan to give counties with Marcellus wells the option of adopting an impact fee on drillers with 75 percent of the fee revenue going for local uses ranging from road repair to affordable housing and court budgets.
Local governments would have difficulty keeping wells away from residential areas and schools with the bill’s preemption provision, said Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, the ranking Democrat on the panel.
“The bill strips from local governments what little power they have to locate wells,” she added.
The sponsor, Rep. Brian Ellis, R-Lyndora, said the bill would set state standards for the nearly 50 percent of municipalities that don’t have gas ordinances.
The bill provides that each well pay an impact fee up to $40,000 the first year of operation, $30,000 the second year, $20,000 the third year and $10,000 in the fourth through 10th years.
It would implement a number of recommendations concerning environmental protection made last summer by the governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission.
The county impact fee approach has drawn support from the House Republican leadership as an alternative to other legislation calling for state collection of impact fee revenue and distribution to eligible counties. The GOP bill differs from the governor’s proposal with a plan to dedicate a portion of royalties from gas drilling on state-owned land for statewide environmental programs, said House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Pittsburgh.
“This bill contains many of the provisions contained in our proposal, and I am pleased to see the Legislature working toward a final bill,” Corbett said.
On the committee, Reps. Mario Scavello, R-Mount Pocono, and Mike Peifer, R-Honesdale, voted for the bill. Mundy and Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich, D-Taylor, voted against the bill.
Committee members debated and voted on the bill in a small committee room jammed to overflow with dozens of observers.
Mundy said the impact fee would be the equivalent of a one percent tax – a rate very low compared to other drilling states. The bill would generate no revenue for Luzerne County despite the impact of compressor stations and pipelines planned for there, she added.
The bill wouldn’t generate enough revenue to meet local impact needs, Kavulich said.
Ellis touted it as a job-creation measure.
The Senate has postponed action on impact fee legislation being developed by both caucuses until the chamber returns Nov. 14 following an election recess.
EPA to probe gas drilling’s toll on drinking water
www.chron.com/news/article/EPA-to-probe-gas-drilling-s-toll-on-drinking-water-2250420.php
MICHAEL RUBINKAM
November 4, 2011
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released the outlines of its long-awaited probe into whether hydraulic fracturing — the unconventional drilling technique that’s led to a boom in domestic natural gas production — is contaminating drinking-water supplies.
Investigators will try to determine the impact of large-scale water withdrawals, aboveground spills of drilling fluids, and the fracturing process itself on water quality and quantity in states where tens of thousands of wells have been drilled in recent years.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves the high-pressure injection of millions of gallons of water, along with sand and chemical additives, deep underground to extract natural gas trapped in shale rock. Energy companies have greatly expanded their use of fracking as they tap previously unreachable shale deposits, including the lucrative Marcellus Shale formation in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.
The industry has long contended that fracking is safe, but environmentalists and some residents who live near drilling sites say it has poisoned groundwater. The EPA study, mandated by Congress last year, is the agency’s first look at the impact of fracking in shale deposits.
EPA will examine drilling sites in Pennsylvania, Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota and Texas. The earliest results will be available in 2012.
Industry groups said Thursday they are confident the study will vindicate their position that fracking does not harm the environment or human health.
“The industry has taken the lead in working with state regulators to constantly improve operations, industry practices and guidelines as well as improve communications with local communities,” said Stephanie Meadows, a senior policy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute.
The institute and five other industry groups recently complained to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that agency staff began collecting field data and water samples months before the study plan was finished. The industry groups, in an Oct. 20 letter to Jackson, also questioned the study design itself and said it could undermine the credibility of the findings.
The EPA said it began work over the summer so that it could finish the study by 2014.
The federal agency has studied fracking before, in 2004, looking at its use in coalbed methane deposits. It concluded then that the technology is safe, but its methodology was widely criticized as flawed.
The new EPA study will look at the entire water lifecycle of hydraulic fracturing in shale deposits, beginning with the industry’s withdrawal of huge volumes of water from rivers and streams and ending with the treatment and disposal of the tainted wastewater that comes back out of the wells after fracking. Researchers will also study well design and the impact of surface spills of fracking fluids on groundwater.
The EPA has taken steps recently to boost federal regulation of fracking, announcing it will develop national standards for the disposal of the briny, chemical-laced wastewater and proposing for the first time to control air pollution at oil and gas wells, particularly where fracking is used.
Drillers have resisted enhanced federal regulation, saying it should be left up to individual states.
Two Big Decisions Loom for 15 Million People Living Near the Marcellus Shale
www.alternet.org/environment/152934/two_big_decisions_loom_on_the_fate_of_drinking_water_for_15_million_people_living_near_the_marcellus_shale
November 1, 2011
Two Big Decisions Loom on the Fate of Drinking Water for 15 Million People Living Near the Marcellus Shale
Decisions about whether to allow fracking in NY, PA, NJ and DE may be decided in just a few weeks.
The fate of fracking in the Northeast may be determined soon.
On Nov. 21, the Delaware River Basin Commission, comprising representatives from four states (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) and the federal government, will vote on whether to allow the intensive method of natural-gas drilling in the river’s watershed. The watershed, which supplies drinking water for more than 15 million people, overlaps the eastern end of the Marcellus Shale, an underground geological formation touted as the “Saudi Arabia of natural gas.”
The commission’s rules, which will apply in the Delaware watershed, will overlap with state regulations. Pennsylvania already allows fracking. New York is in the process of developing regulations about where it might be allowed and under what conditions. The state Department of Environmental Conservation will hold public hearings in November, and says it will decide sometime next year. Many environmental activists believe Gov. Andrew Cuomo is fast-tracking the issue.
The Background
Read more
Free Pre-Drilling Private Drinking Water Testing Offered
paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2011/11/free-pre-drilling-private-drinking.html
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Free Pre-Drilling Private Drinking Water Testing Offered In 8 Northcentral Counties
The Headwaters Quality Drinking Water Project of the Headwaters Resource Conservation & Development Council is now providing low income families in Jefferson, Elk, Potter, Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton, Centre and McKean Counties with secure chain of custody water sample analyses of their private water supplies prior to Marcellus Shale Gas Well Drilling activities.
A $150,000 grant from the Colcom Foundation’s Marcellus Environmental Fund supports this project.
The Headwaters Project is also providing mandatory educational workshops and material explaining how to interpret the water quality results, when do things become toxic, and what the homeowner should do in case something does happen to their water supply.
RC&D will partner with various organizations and agencies including the Department of Environmental Protection, Penn State Extension and the local school districts and conservation districts.
Jefferson & Clearfield Counties
The first set of water samplings will take place in Jefferson and Clearfield Counties. Testing will be conducted from October 24 through December 2 with a mandatory educational workshop following.
For folks living in Jefferson County, the workshop will be held on December 15 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined. For Clearfield County, the workshop will be held on December 14 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined.
Elk & Centre Counties
The second set of water samplings will take place in Elk and Centre Counties. Testing will be conducted January 9 through February 17 with a mandatory educational workshop following.
For folks living in Elk County, the workshop will be held on March 8 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined. For Centre County, the workshop will be held on March 7 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined.
Cameron & Clinton Counties
The third set of water samplings will take place in Cameron and Clinton Counties. Testing will be conducted March 12 through April 20 with a mandatory educational workshop following.
For folks living in Cameron County, the workshop will be held on May 10 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined. For Clinton County, the workshop will be held on May 9 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined.
McKean & Potter Counties
The fourth set of water samplings will take place in McKean and Potter Counties. Testing will be conducted May 14 through June 22 with a mandatory educational workshop following.
For folks living in McKean County, the workshop will be held on July 11 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined. For Potter County, the workshop will be held on July 12 from 5-7 p.m., location to be determined.
Applications can be obtained at the Clearfield County Conservation District located at 511 Spruce Street Suite 6, Clearfield, PA 16830 and are available online.
For more information, contact Kelly Williams, Clearfield County Conservation District’s Watershed Conservationist at 814-765-2629 or send email to: kwilliamsccd@atlanticbbn.net.
The Headwaters Resource Conservation & Development Council is tasked with providing local leadership to improve the economic, environmental, and social well-being of the people of Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Jefferson, McKean, and Potter counties in northcentral Pennsylvania.
Posted by David E. Hess at 11:37 AM
Private well survey and database planned in PA
www.riverreporteronline.com/news/14/2011/10/26/private-well-survey-and-database-planned-pa
October 26, 2011
TRR photo by Sandy Long
Brian Oram, a licensed professional geologist, offered this advice at a presentation in Honesdale, PA: “If you want to protect the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, you need to protect where the water gets into the aquifer and that is in rural private wells.”
In preparation for natural gas extraction and its potential impacts and opportunities, a session on methane migration was hosted by the Wayne County Oil and Gas Task Force on October 18 in Honesdale.
During his presentation, licensed professional geologist Brian Oram announced that a private well owner and watershed survey would be conducted to obtain information on regional concerns related to development of the Marcellus Shale.
Oram is the owner of BF Environmental Consultants, Inc. of Dallas, PA and former director of the Center for Environmental Quality at Wilkes University, where he oversaw production of a free publication on private well water testing (www.bfenvironmental.com/pdfs/Waterbooklet070610.pdf).
Oram opened his presentation with a plea to move beyond the division created by supporters and opponents of gas drilling and to focus on “understanding the risks” and testing private wells now. “It’s the match of the century,” Oram said. “Which side are we on? That’s the mindset that’s causing us problems.”
The primary risk Oram points to is the fact that nearly half of the private wells tested in Pennsylvania don’t meet the drinking water standards established by the EPA. Typical problems include corrosion, copper, lead, iron, manganese and methane, according to Oram.
“For 23 years, I’ve been encouraging private owners to test their water,” he said. “Maybe five percent do. It took an industry to come to town to get people to think about the quality of their own drinking water and to get it tested.”
Oram also discussed the Citizen Groundwater Database established at Wilkes University
(www.wilkes.edu/pages/4197.asp).
The regional database provides a central location to store baseline pre-drilling and/or post-drilling water quality data in order to document quality by geological formation, identify existing regional issues or concerns and provide an unbiased community resource as well as a mechanism to track temporal,
spatial and other geospatial variations in water quality.
Data from 320 private wells in Luzerne County, secured with a full chain of custody and third party testing, is already stored. “Forty-nine percent of the wells tested in Luzerne County violated the drinking water standard for total coliform bacteria,” he said. “Twenty-five percent had elevated lead; 10% of the population is drinking water contaminated with e coli. Some private wells contain pthalates (plasticizers), which can cause gastrointestinal problems and are suspected endocrine disruptors and carcinogens.”
Oram is a passionate advocate for the establishment of well construction standards, and an active critic of “what PA has allowed to happen to the private well program” by not implementing such standards. Pennsylvania is one of two states without construction standards, according to Oram. The other is Alaska.
Wells with problems such as bacterial or viral contamination are conduits for contamination of aquifers, Oram added. “We need to fix those. These are the vulnerable points in our communities.” Water can also move along casings and contaminate the groundwater aquifer, he said.
Oram urged audience members to get baseline testing done now. “Spend what you can afford,” he said. “There’s a list of recommended DEP parameters which runs about $400.” If doing baseline testing, he recommends adding tests for methane, ethane and propane.
BF Environmental’s Private Well Owner Survey seeks information on regional concerns related to Marcellus Shale and other non-point sources of pollution. The survey also aims to gauge support for a construction standard for new private wells, and to find out if citizens would test their water once a year if it only cost about $50.
The company is also absorbing the costs for free radon testing for 200 private wells to explore “how a migration event could occur if it may be related to a Marcellus Shale activity.” The web-based survey (www.surveymonkey.com/s/NMG6RQ3can) can be filled out online or mailed in. The company also offers baseline testing related to Marcellus Shale development and has recommended testing packages that are region specific.
Oram urged local leadership to use the results of such testing to inform decision-making, support solutions that fix problematic private wells and develop a community support program where citizens can call and get answers.
The event also featured Burt Waite, senior geologist and program director for Moody and Associates, Inc. who spoke on “Understanding Stray Gas in Pennsylvania.” Wayne County commissioners Brian Smith and Wendell Kay offered concluding remarks.
“Understand the risks,” said Smith. “Make good decisions based on what the risks really are and do that by talking to the people who have the skill sets that can help address those risks and solve the problems. That’s what we’re doing by having these forums.”
Kay added, “The goal of this organization is to educate as many of us as possible to all the aspects. This commission is looking at a whole variety of issues, both positive and negative, that will come about as part of this economic opportunity that we all hope we will enjoy.”
For more information visit www.bfen vironmental.com, www.water-research.net, www.wilkes.edu/water or www.epa.gov/safewater.
EPA Launches New Mapping Tool of Enforcement Information
www.stormh2o.com/the-latest/epa-mapping-tool.aspx
EPA Launches New Mapping Tool to Improve Public Access to Enforcement Information
Mapping feature supports the White House Regulatory Compliance Transparency Initiative and improves public access to information
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the release of a new mapping feature in EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database. As part of EPA’s ongoing effort to improve transparency, the EPA and State Enforcement Actions Map will allow the public to access federal and state enforcement information in an interactive format and to compare enforcement action information by state. The map will be refreshed monthly to include up to date information about the enforcement actions taken to address violations of air, water, and waste laws.
“EPA is committed to providing the public with easy to use tools that display facility compliance information and the actions EPA and the states are taking to address pollution problems in communities across the nation,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA is proud to announce our latest effort under the President’s White House Regulatory Compliance Transparency Initiative and we will continue to take steps to make meaningful enforcement and compliance data available as part of an open, transparent government.”
Map users can choose the year, the media (air, water, waste, multiple), and whether they would like to display enforcement information for actions taken at the federal level, state level, or both. Users can then click on a state to view facility locations and click on a facility to list its name, the environmental statute the facility has an enforcement action under, and a link to a detailed facility compliance report.
ECHO provides integrated searches of EPA and state data about inspections, violations and enforcement actions for more than 800,000 regulated facilities. Now in its ninth year, ECHO recently received its 10 millionth data query and has completed a record year of more than 2 million queries. President Obama recognized ECHO in his January 2011 Presidential Memorandum on regulatory compliance, as a model for transparency for other federal agencies to follow.
Enforcement and Compliance History Online: http://www.epa-echo.gov
Presidential Memorandum – Regulatory Compliance: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/18/presidential-memoranda-regulatory-compliance
Source: US EPA
Study looks at water quality in private wells near Marcellus drilling
live.psu.edu/story/55987#nw69
October 25, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A study of more than 200 drinking-water wells near Marcellus Shale natural-gas
Bryan Swistock, extension water resource specialist, led the first 'unbiased and large-scale study of water quality in private water wells .. both before and after the drilling of Marcellus gas wells nearby.'
wells in 20 counties did not find statistically significant evidence of contamination from hydraulic fracturing — a process used by gas drillers to release natural gas using a high-pressure mixture of water, sand and chemical additives.
The study was conducted by researchers and extension educators in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. The research was funded by the state General Assembly’s Center for Rural Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center at Penn State. A free online seminar focusing on the study results will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Information about how to register for the live webinar can be found at http://extension.psu.edu/water/webinar-series/schedule online. A recorded version will be available for those who cannot log in for the live offering.
“This is the first project to provide an unbiased and large-scale study of water quality in private water wells used to supply drinking water to rural homes and farms both before and after the drilling of Marcellus gas wells nearby,” said project leader Bryan Swistock, water resources extension specialist.
Conducted from February 2010 to July 2011, the study found methane in about a quarter of the water wells before any drilling occurred, but the concentrations were generally below advisory levels for treatment, Swistock said. The presence of methane can be naturally occurring or related to drilling activity.
“We really didn’t see any significant changes in methane levels after drilling or hydraulic fracturing,” he added.
There is no federal drinking water standard for methane as it can be ingested without harm, but high levels can cause an explosion hazard as the dissolved methane escapes from water.
Elevated levels of dissolved bromide were measured in some water wells and appeared to be a result of the gas-well drilling process and not hydraulic fracturing.
“Bromide was not detected in any of the water wells before drilling, but it did show up in several wells after drilling, which needs to be investigated further,” Swistock said.
The study’s modest number of samples for methane and bromide and the relatively short length of the study speak to the need for additional data collection and analysis, Swistock pointed out.
“Future research should look at a broader number of water contaminants over a longer period of time,” Swistock said. “More detailed and longer-term studies are critical to ensuring that Pennsylvanians’ private water supplies are protected.”
Wells in the study were not randomly selected. Project publicity solicited participation from well owners who knew gas drilling was going to occur near them, and many responded by contacting Swistock or other project investigators working for Penn State Extension.
“Our network of Penn State Extension educators throughout the state was absolutely critical to the efficient completion of this project,” Swistock said.
The first phase of the study included 48 private water wells located within about 2,500 feet of a Marcellus well pad. These wells were tested by Penn State researchers both before and after gas-well drilling. Twenty-six of the 48 were near Marcellus wells that were drilled and fracked, 16 sites had drilling but no fracking, and six sites were controls where no drilling or fracking occurred.
These wells were tested for 18 common water-quality parameters that could occur from gas-drilling activity, including chloride, barium, sodium, iron, manganese, methane, ethane, bromide, and oil and grease.
The second phase was comprised of 185 additional private water wells located within about 5,000 feet of a Marcellus well pad. Homeowners provided water test results collected by independent, state-accredited laboratories prior to Marcellus gas-well drilling. These tests then were compared with samples collected by Penn State personnel or by homeowners trained by Penn State personnel after gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing occurred.
Phase two included 173 sites near hydraulically fractured gas wells and 12 control sites where no drilling had occurred with five miles. These wells were tested for 14 common water quality parameters — methane, ethane, bromide and oil and grease were not included due to funding and sample-collection constraints.
Separate statistical analyses of results from each phase of the project produced similar results, according to Swistock.
In addition to the increased bromide concentrations in some water wells, a small number of water wells examined in the study also appeared to be affected by disturbance due to drilling, as evidenced by sediment and/or increased levels of iron and manganese that were noticeable to the water-supply owner and confirmed by water-testing results.
“While most water wells, even within 3,000 feet of a Marcellus well, did not have changes in water quality after drilling or hydraulic fracturing, that was the distance where we did sporadically measure increased bromide, sediment or metals. This seems to be the distance that we need to focus on for future testing and research,” Swistock said.
In addition to future research directions, the study also identified critical education needs for owners of private water wells. Most water-well owners had difficulty interpreting detailed water-test reports that they received as part of pre-drilling surveys, according to the researchers.
“As a result, most homeowners with pre-drilling water-quality problems were unable to identify them even after receiving extensive water-testing reports,” Swistock said. “There is a clear need to help homeowners understand pre-drilling problems, their risks and how to solve them.”
Other investigators on this project were Elizabeth Boyer, associate professor of water resources and director of the Pennsylvania Water Resources Research Center in the School of Forest Resources; James Clark, extension educator based in McKean County; Mark Madden, extension educator based in Sullivan County; and Dana Rizzo, extension educator based in Westmoreland County.
The full initial report and executive summary of this study are available on the Center for Rural Pennsylvania’s website at http://www.rural.palegislature.us/. The investigators currently are preparing this work to submit for publication in the peer-reviewed literature.
Penn State scientists part of new stink bug research project
live.psu.edu/story/56032#nw69
October 27, 2011
Stink-bug damage such as this cost the mid-Atlantic apple industry an estimated $37 million in 2010. (Credit: Penn State Department of Entomology)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences are part of a new, multi-state project to study the brown marmorated stink bug.
The research is funded by a recently announced $5.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture through its Specialty Crops Research Initiative.
The three-year project is aimed at developing economically and environmentally sustainable pest-management practices for the brown marmorated stink bug, which has caused millions of dollars worth of crop damage and become a major homeowner nuisance since it first was found in the United States, near Allentown, in the late 1990s.
Penn State will receive nearly $900,000 of the grant to study stink bug biology and behavior, develop monitoring and management tools and practices, and provide extension education programs to disseminate new knowledge to crop producers.
“It’s too early to put a dollar value on crop damage this year, but the apple industry alone estimated losses of about $37 million as the result of stink bug infestations in the mid-Atlantic region in 2010,” said Greg Krawczyk, extension tree-fruit entomologist at Penn State’s Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville.
Krawczyk, who leads the Penn State portion of the project, noted that crop damage this year appears to be lower than last year, though it varies from region to region. “Growers who experienced big losses last year managed this pest better during this season, but some individual growers still suffered losses of up to 60 percent,” he said.
Because the brown marmorated stink bug is native to Asia, it has few natural enemies in North America, allowing populations to grow largely unchecked. The pest is known to feed on as many as 300 host plants and migrates readily, further complicating control.
Krawczyk said one of the goals of the research is to develop control tactics that rely on the principles of IPM, or integrated pest management. IPM utilizes a variety of methods — including biological controls, pheromones for mating disruption and other techniques — that help minimize pesticide use.
He explained that some broad-spectrum pesticides that are effective against stink bugs also kill the beneficial insects tree-fruit growers rely on as part of IPM programs. “That upsets the balance in the orchard ecosystem — allowing other pests to become more of a problem — and could reverse much of the progress we’ve made in IPM, which has helped Pennsylvania growers to reduce pesticide use by as much as 75 percent in recent decades.”
Penn State scientists will study stink bugs as they relate to the production of tree fruits, vegetables and grapes. Researchers will explore biological control options, stink-bug chemical ecology (chemically mediated interactions among plants and insects), and monitoring strategies. The project also will assess the pest’s economic impact and the economic feasibility of new management methods.
Krawczyk said although the research will focus mostly on specialty crops and will not directly address infestations in homes or in major agronomic crops such as corn and soybean, knowledge gained should aid in the development of recommendations that could be useful for habitat-scale management.
Other Penn State personnel taking part in the project include David Biddinger, senior research associate in entomology at the Fruit Research and Extension Center; Gary Felton, professor and head of entomology; Shelby Fleischer, professor of entomology; Jayson Harper, professor of agricultural economics; Steven Jacobs, senior extension associate in entomology; Michael Saunders, professor of entomology; and John Tooker, assistant professor of entomology.
The project is led by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, along with a core group of land-grant universities: Penn State, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and the universities of Maryland and Delaware. Also participating are researchers from Cornell, Oregon State University, North Carolina State University, Washington State University and the Northeast IPM Center.
More information about the brown marmorated stink bug is available online at http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/brown-marmorated-stink-bug.