New study determines states offer inadequate coal ash protection
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/aug/25/new-study-determines-states-offer-inadequate-coal-ash-protection
Thursday, August 25, 2011
A new study finds that state regulations regarding coal ash disposal are inadequate to protect public health and drinking water supplies for nearby communities. The information comes as federal regulations – the first of their kind – are under attack by a hostile Congress bent on derailing any effort to ensure strong, federally enforceable safeguards for coal ash, America’s second largest industrial waste stream.
Earthjustice and Appalachian Mountain Advocates (formerly the Appalachian Center for the Economy and the Environment) released “State of Failure: How states fail to protect our health and drinking water from toxic coal ash,” a review of state regulations in 37 states, which together comprise over 98 percent of all coal ash generated nationally. The study highlights the lack of state-based regulations for coal ash disposal and points to the 12 worst states when it comes to coal ash dumping: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina and Virginia.
There are currently nearly 700 coal ash ponds and hundreds of coal ash landfills in the U.S., most of which operate without adequate liners and water quality monitoring, and have been operating as such for decades. Most states do not require coal ash dumps to employ the most basic safeguards required at landfills for household garbage.
State of Failure includes detailed information on basic disposal safeguards, such as groundwater monitoring, liners, isolation of ash from the water table, and financial assurance requirements in 37 states where coal ash is currently generated and disposed.
Coal ash is the toxic remains of coal-fired power plants; enough is generated each year to fill train cars stretching from the North Pole to the South Pole. The ash contains toxic metals, including arsenic, hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury, and selenium. Coal ash is commonly dumped into unlined and unmonitored ponds and landfills. There are well over a hundred documented sites where coal ash has contaminated drinking water or surface water.
The EPA is currently considering a federal proposal to regulate coal ash that includes two options: the first option would classify coal ash as hazardous waste, requiring water quality monitoring, liners and the phase out of dangerous “wet” storage of coal ash, such as the pond that collapsed in Kingston, Tennessee in 2008. The second option would continue to allow states to inadequately regulate coal ash by establishing only guidelines that states are free to ignore. Within the industry, coal ash generators support the weaker option. The EPA, under pressure from industry, has postponed finalizing the coal ash standard until 2012.
But coal ash allies in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are not content with delay. Two bills currently moving through the House seek to undermine any efforts by the EPA to set federal enforceable safeguards for coal ash disposal. Both bills require EPA to let the states – and the states alone – decide how to regulate ash, with little federal oversight.
“This report proves unequivocally that state programs, without federal mandates or oversight, are a recipe for disaster when it comes to protecting our health and our environment,” said Lisa Evans, senior legislative counsel at Earthjustice and a co-author of the study. “Strong, federally enforceable safeguards are needed to guarantee that our drinking water remains free of arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxic metals found in coal ash. The myth that states are doing a good job protecting Americans from coal ash is busted.”
“The problem with relying on state regulations is that they are not designed for the unique problems of coal ash generally and coal ash impoundments particularly,” said Mike Becher, the Equal Justice Works Fellow at Appalachian Mountain Advocates. “While many coal ash impoundments are regulated by state dam safety programs, these programs were developed to deal with dams holding back water, not toxic substances. State solid waste programs, on the other hand, are not used to dealing with large impoundments and the threat of a catastrophic dam failure like the one seen in Tennessee in 2008.”
Severance tax compromise bill introduced
http://citizensvoice.com/news/severance-tax-compromise-bill-introduced-1.1193680#axzz1W8W33D4G
Published: August 26, 2011
State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, has introduced a bill he believes is a compromise on a Marcellus Shale natural gas severance tax.
Pashinski’s House Bill 1804, which has been referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, calls for a competitive severance tax on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale.
The tax revenue would be kept in a restricted account until state lawmakers agree on a formula for distribution.
Pashinski said the issue is a matter of fairness because Pennsylvania is the only major natural-gas-producing state without a severance tax.
“The time for action has come,” Pashinski said. “This is a commonsense approach that is fair to the drillers and the public. The taxpayers would stop losing hundreds of millions of dollars as the debate over how to use the money is resolved.”
Pashinski stated that the public and drillers support a severance tax. A recent poll found seven in 10 people want a drilling tax, and an executive with Chief Oil and Gas, a leading driller in the state, said at a House Democratic policy hearing Pashinski hosted that the company has no problem with a reasonable tax.
“Other businesses pay their taxes and residents are facing property tax hikes and higher costs for food, necessities and even college tuition,” Pashinski stated. “At the same time, companies drilling for natural gas are enjoying tremendous profits without paying their fair share.”
Webinars will focus on business opportunities related to Marcellus gas
http://live.psu.edu/story/54563#nw69
The Marcellus Shale formation deep underground -- and the natural gas it holds -- represents a huge economic engine for Pennsylvania.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A series of Web-based seminars aimed at helping local businesses prosper from natural-gas drilling and development will be offered this fall by Penn State Extension’s Marcellus Educational Consortium.
“Your Business and Marcellus Shale: Moving Forward 2011” is a five-part program intended to help local businesses understand and take advantage of the opportunities arising from development of the Marcellus Shale.
“Participants will expand their knowledge of the opportunities that exist in the market and learn how to make connections and plan for doing business in this growing industry,” said Jonathan Laughner, extension educator in Beaver County who is moderating the sessions, one of which will be held every other week. Each webinar will feature speakers who are experts in the field.
“Our webinar speakers will include natural-gas industry representatives, local business people successfully responding to opportunities, financial specialists and business-development representatives,” Laughner said. “Anyone interested in learning more about this aspect of the industry is welcome to attend.”
Each session will last approximately 75 minutes, from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Following is the webinar schedule:
–Sept 13, “Local Business View: Experience in the Northeast”
–Sept. 26, “Industry View: What Does Industry Look For?”
–Oct. 11, “Local Business View: Experience in the Southwest”
–Oct. 24, “The Process: How Do You Sell Into Industry?”
–Nov. 8, “The Work Plan: Financial and Planning Suggestions”
This webinar series is for educational purposes only, Laughner cautioned. No part of the presentations is to be considered legal advice. “Please consult with your attorney before signing any legal document,” he said. “Where trade and/or company names appear, no discrimination is intended, and no endorsement by Penn State Cooperative Extension is implied.”
The website for the webinars is https://meeting.psu.edu/marcellusbiz. Webinar access requires a free Friends of Penn State account, which can be obtained at https://fps.psu.edu.
For more information, contact Carol Loveland, Penn State Extension energy development and special projects coordinator, at 570-433-3040 or by e-mail at cal24@psu.edu.
Rare blood disease mix-up?
http://www.tnonline.com/2011/aug/19/rare-blood-disease-mix
Friday, August 19, 2011
By DONALD R. SERFASS dserfass@tnonline.com
DONALD R. SERFASS/TIMES NEWS "Do the hemochromatosis people really have polycythemia vera," asks Robert Gadinski at Thursday's public forum on a rare blood disease in our area. The session took place at the Carbon County Emergency Management Center, Nesquehoning.
Is it possible that some folks diagnosed with a blood disease involving a build-up of iron might actually be suffering from a rarer blood disease found in unusual clusters in Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties?
The condition of iron build up in the blood is called hemochromatosis and it can look like polycythemia vera, the disease currently being investigated in the local area.
At a public forum held Thursday at the Carbon County Emergency Management Center, 1264 Emergency Lane, Nesquehoning, a member of the Tri-County Polycythemia Vera Community Action Committee (CAC) pointed out that symptoms of the two blood diseases are very similar. Robert Gadinski, Ashland, a Schuylkill County hydrogeologist and former employee of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the issue needs to be studied, especially in looking for the prevalence of a JAK2 genetic mutation found in those with polycythemia vera.
“Do the hemochromatosis people really have polycythemia vera,” asked Gadinski. “Should the JAK2 testing be extended to people diagnosed with hemochromatosis? There are similarities in the symptoms and in the illness itself.”
Hemochromatosis is an inherited disease in which too much iron builds up in the body. It is one of the most common genetic diseases in the United States. The rarer polycythemia vera is not inherited, but is acquired, although the cause is not known.
Representatives of the study panel agreed to look into Gadinski’s concerns.
Last night’s forum, led by CAC Chairman Joe Murphy, Hometown, included a presentation by a team from the University of Pittsburgh coordinated by Jeanine Buchanich. The forum came on the heels of several days of local research by the university team. The session was quickly organized and had limited advance publicity or media notification by the university.
The university is working with the Pa. Department of Health to do an expansion of the original PV study, using data from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. Buchanich wants to see as many as possible take part.
“We’re looking to identify cases that haven’t been sent to the Cancer Registry,” said Buchanich. Before the wrap-up session in Nesquehoning, her team had spent several days in the Wilkes-Barre, Pottsville and Hazleton areas interviewing residents and meeting with health professionals.
“We talked to people in the area and obtained ‘consents’ from local PV patients,” she said, calling the trip a success. She emphasized, however, that additional cooperation is still needed.
“We need people to consent (to take part in the study) and to sign their medical records information release,” said Buchanich, adding that a target study completion date is September, 2012.
The study is examining incidences of three blood disorders plus a form of leukemia, and represents just one portion of a multipronged effort aimed at investigating reports of cancer clusters in the three-county region.
About $8.8M is being spent in research and investigations coordinated by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the CAC.
According to Murphy, some 130 cases of PV had been reported to the Registry between 2006-09 including 67 cases in 2007, but the total working number today is actually down to 33 cases.
“Some have died, some couldn’t be located and some chose not to participate,” explained Murphy.
The forum included a conference call with Dr. Henry Cole, Maryland, and Elizabeth Irvin-Barnwell, leader of the PV project at the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta.
Before the session, one participant noted that reported cancer cases appear to suggest the presence of similar PV clusters in the Shamokin-Mt. Carmel area of Northumberland County and in the Danville area of Montour County.
Research into the cause of the cancers has been under way for several years. Currently, scientists are gathering data and interviewing residents to determine whether there is a continuing cluster of the rare blood disorder, which can lead to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes.
The Pa. Department of Environmental Protection has been sampling drinking water, and taking dust and soil at the homes of study participants.
In addition, workers have tested water and sediment samples at the McAdoo Superfund site and cogeneration plants in the area.
A team from Drexel University is trying to identify risk factors for the disease.
In other PV-related news, Murphy is organizing the Betty Kester Alliance for a Healthy Future, a 501(c) 3 named for the woman who led the early charge in the fight against PV. She and her husband, residents of Ben Titus Road in Still Creek, both passed away from the illness.
The alliance will pick up where the CAC group ends, aided by grants. Funding for the CAC group stopped almost one year ago. Murphy has been personally financing efforts to create the alliance in order to sustain the work of the CAC group and its scientific advisory team.
Offers of assistance, either in manpower or monetary, can be directed to the alliance. More information is available at (570) 668-9099.
Panel recommends statewide statewide standards for new private water wells
http://republicanherald.com/news/panel-recommends-statewide-statewide-standards-for-new-private-water-wells-1.1188749
BY ROBERT SWIFT (HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF rswift@timesshamrock.com)
Published: August 15, 2011
HARRISBURG – A special state commission recommends setting statewide construction standards for new private water wells, resurrecting an issue that has been debated for the past two decades.
The Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission included the recommendation in last month’s report to guide the development of the deep pockets of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation. The commission also recommended doubling the distance separating a gas well from a water well from 250 feet to 500 feet.
Sen. Gene Yaw, R-23, Williamsport, is considering introducing legislation to set standards for new water wells.
More than three million Pennsylvania residents rely on about one million private wells for drinking water. Methane contamination of drinking water such as occurred last year in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, is one of the most volatile issues surrounding the hydrofracking operations used in the deep Marcellus wells in Northeast Pennsylvania. Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. agreed to pay $4.1 million to Dimock residents affected by methane contamination attributed to faulty natural gas wells.
Some 20,000 new water wells are drilled each year in the state, yet for all this reliance on well water, Pennsylvania is one of the few states without private well regulations.
The commission kept its water well standards recommendation general in scope, while referring to a 2009 study by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, a legislative research agency, that concluded that 40 percent of private water wells have failed to meet at least one health-related drinking water standard. The commission noted pointedly that poorly constructed water wells can be pathways for bacteria and contaminants such as naturally occurring shallow methane gas to migrate into water supplies.
Groundwater aquifers can be polluted by failing septic systems, fertilizer runoff and mining, the center study found, while individual wells can be contaminated by exposed well casings, or having a loose fitting well cap or no cap at all, allowing surface water to enter a well.
The study recommended passing state laws requiring testing of new water wells by a certified lab and standards for new well construction and education programs for homeowners.
The Marcellus Shale drilling has led people to call for protection of water supplies, Yaw said. The senator said there have been a few problems, but they have to be viewed in the context of hundreds of gas wells drilled in recent years.
He said setting water well standards is one way to allay public concerns.
“If there’s a concern people have, let’s do something about it,” Yaw said.
In a related vein, the federal Department of Energy’s Shale Gas Production Subcommittee recommended last week that requirements be set to do testing for background levels of existing methane in nearby water wells prior to gas drilling.
The Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors is opposed to a statewide well construction standard and prefers letting municipalities handle the issue through local ordinances.
Supervisors in some regions are concerned it will lead to state regulations on how property owners use their well water or even metering of wells, said Elam Herr, the association’s deputy director.
The last major push for regulation of private water wells came in 2001-02 when drought conditions led to enactment of a state water resources planning law. The House approved a water-well bill, but it didn’t become law.
Marcellus waste increase attributable to new rules, errors
http://citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/marcellus-waste-increase-attributable-to-new-rules-errors-1.1190648#axzz1Vf1dbwq2
By Laura Legere (Staff Writer)
Published: August 19, 2011
Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers in Pennsylvania reportedly produced vastly more fluid and solid waste in the first half of 2011 than the previous six-month period, but changes in reporting requirements and mistakes in data entry account for some of the surge.
More than 34 million barrels of salt- and metals-laden wastewater flowed from the state’s Marcellus wells in the first six months of 2011, according to industry-reported data published by the state Department of Environmental Protection. That is more than eight times the amount reported in the last six months of 2010, despite the fact that drilling did not markedly increase between the two periods.
• Database: Marcellus Shale production (January to June 2011)
http://thetimes-tribune.com/data-center/database-marcellus-shale-production-jan-to-june-2011-1.1190149#axzz1VR8Lf1y7
• Database: Marcellus Shale waste (January to June 2011)
http://thetimes-tribune.com/data-center/database-marcellus-shale-waste-jan-to-june-2011-1.1190150#axzz1VR8Ufhx6
Chesapeake Energy reported the vast majority of the wastewater – 24.5 million barrels – a pronounced spike from the second half of 2010 when the company reported producing only 60,704 barrels of the fluid.
The company attributed the spike to changes in state reporting requirements as well as an increase in production from its wells.
In a change from past practice, the state now requires operators to include all of the wastewater they reuse or recycle not just the waste that is disposed of in the six-month reports, said Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for Range Resources.
“We believe the current advances are more transparent and make more sense,” he said.
Recycling and reuse has become common practice since the state restricted the amount of salty drilling wastewater that can be discharged into rivers from treatment plants that cannot remove all of the contaminants.
In the first half of 2011, operators reused or recycled 29 million barrels of the wastewater that flows back from the wells or about 86 percent of the waste.
About 3 million barrels of the waste was taken to 15 treatments plants that Marcellus drillers have largely stopped using since mid-May at the request of DEP Secretary Michael Krancer.
Another 800,000 barrels of the wastewater was injected into deep disposal wells, mostly in Ohio, according to the state data.
The amount of rock and lubricant waste, called drill cuttings, that is displaced as operators bore to and through the shale also apparently surged in the first half of 2011. The reported cuttings increased by 254 times to 50.4 million tons between the last six months of 2010 and the first six months of 2011.
But 50 million of the 50.4 million tons of drill cuttings were mistakenly reported by EOG Resources, which made an error when it entered the data, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
“EOG inadvertently submitted its original data in pounds rather than tons,” spokeswoman K Leonard said. “EOG should have reported 25,000 tons of cuttings for the first half of 2011.”
The company is submitting a revised report to state regulators, she said.
The actual amount of cuttings produced by all operators was closer to 405,000 tons, compared with 198,000 tons produced in the last half of 2010.
That increase also reflects changes in reporting requirements, Pitzarella said.
The industry did not previously have to include in its six-month reports the cuttings that were encapsulated and buried at well sites. As operators move away from using lined pits at well sites, very few cuttings are being encapsulated and more of it is being reported.
“Most is now going to approved landfills,” he said.
llegere@timesshamrock.com
Researchers hone cancer studies
http://standardspeaker.com/news/researchers-hone-cancer-studies-1.1190694#axzz1VTpgZtzW
By SAM GALSKI (Staff Writer)
Published: August 19, 2011
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health are inviting residents from parts of Luzerne, Schuylkill and Carbon counties who have been diagnosed with polycythemia vera or related blood disorders to participate in confidential interviews that will be conducted today at Hazleton General Hospital.
The team has interviewed about 50 people in Hazleton and at state health centers in Wilkes-Barre and Pottsville on Tuesday and Wednesday. It plans to conduct a final round of interviews today from 9 a.m. to noon at Hazleton General Hospital, according to Jeanine M. Buchanich, a Ph.D and research assistant professor from the university’s Department of Biostatistics.
Information from the interviews will help researchers confirm roughly 300 PV cases identified in the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry – and possibly bring undocumented cases to light, Buchanich said.
The findings will be included in a study that will determine whether there is a continuing cluster of a rare blood disorder in the tri-county area that leads to blood clots, heart attacks and strokes and has no known cause.
The study will be completed by September 2012 and will serve as an extension to a study that was completed in 2008 and accounted for cases that were diagnosed up to 2005, she said.
“This study will be from 2009 through now,” she said. “The original study stopped in 2005. We’ve also added other conditions related to PV.”
Chronic myelogenous leukemia, chronic idiopathic myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythemia are among blood disorders that researchers hope to document.
Buchanich reported on progress of the study at Thursday’s Community Action Committee (CAC) meeting at the Carbon County Communications Center in Nesquehoning.
She and other university researchers are working with the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry to contact and get permission to have people with documented PV and other blood disorders included in the study.
“There are over 300 cases identified so far and only 30 have sent in consent forms,” she said. “It’s been a struggle.”
A larger number of participants translates to a more accurate study, she said.
CAC organizer Joe Murphy urged residents to take part in the interviews. Information will be kept confidential and interviews will be conducted in a private office area at Hazleton General, Buchanich noted.
Those who participated in this week’s interviews weren’t all diagnosed with PV, but Buchanich said the group was successful in securing information that could be used in the study.
Researchers originally proposed conducting additional interviews next month, but a representative from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry who participated in the meeting via speakerphone said they hope to have much of the information-gathering completed by the first quarter of 2012 so officials can review information and have a final report available later in the year.
Dr. Henry Cole, who also took part in the CAC meeting via speaker phone, urged ATSDR officials to be as transparent as possible as they prepare and release final versions of the study.
Cole called on the federal agency to release a preliminary findings report – so the public can digest that information and compare any changes or agency comments to a final version.
CAC members brought Thursday’s meeting to a close discussing ways various state and federal environmental officials can develop a correlation between environmental conditions and PV and cases involving blood disorders. Cole suggested monitoring fly ash sites, installing deep monitoring wells at the McAdoo Superfund site and evaluating sediment and sampling water at the Still Creek Reservoir. CAC member Robert Gadinski said a water sample taken at the reservoir yielded high lead readings at 75 parts per billion and that the water during a recent period of heavy rain turned orange, which could indicate acid mine drainage issues.
Gadinski also noted that a water hole drilled in Kline Township that was originally planned as a source for public consumption had been taken off line because of high arsenic levels.
sgalski@standardspeaker.com
Researchers: Marcellus gas not hurting or helping municipal finances
http://live.psu.edu/story/54506#nw69
Monday, August 15, 2011
Michael Jacobson
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — While being credited by many as a major new economic engine for Pennsylvania, Marcellus shale gas-development so far may not be having much of an effect on the finances of local municipalities, according to a study by two researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
Michael Jacobson, associate professor of forest resources, and Tim Kelsey, professor of agricultural economics, examined how gas drilling and production activities are affecting municipal government and services in two rural counties where they are occurring.
They examined a decade of revenue and expenditure data from more than three dozen townships in Washington and Susquehanna counties, all of which are experiencing significant Marcellus Shale activity.
“Surprisingly, we found no significant differences in spending or revenue collection before and after Marcellus activity in those townships,” said Jacobson, who specializes in forest economics, finance and policy. “The statistical analysis of the audit information showed no clear relationships between Marcellus Shale activity and municipal finances.”
The researchers cautioned, however, that as the scale of Marcellus development increases, municipalities may need to provide new services they do not currently support. Municipalities also may discover they need to expand existing services such as planning and management.
“We had only two solid years of fiscal data as gas development is relatively new,” Jacobson said. “I think as the gas play expands, our conclusions will change — a lot will depend on the rate of scaling up development and accompanying fiscal impacts.”
The researchers noted that in the townships studied, gas companies were mostly proactive in repairing and upgrading roads damaged by gas-related traffic, and that helped municipal budgets as road maintenance and repair account for a large share of municipal spending.
But some municipalities reported having to hire new staff to deal with Marcellus issues — an unanticipated cost — or having to shift responsibilities of existing staff.
“Municipalities identified a range of impacts their local governments were experiencing as a result of Marcellus Shale development, but they stated that so far, most have been either nonmonetary or they have internally shifted resources to cover them, so the impacts do not appear in the municipal budget,” Jacobson said.
“Even with significant gas development, some officials said they have not ‘spent a nickel’ on gas-related issues.”
In addition to examining local government audit data for each year from 2001 to 2009, the researchers conducted focus group interviews with municipal officials in both counties.
“There may be unforeseen costs that crop up — environmental and infrastructure-related come to mind,” Jacobson said. “On the positive side, the play already has brought new jobs, industry and development that will provide added revenues to help offset the cost of these services.”
A Marcellus Education Fact Sheet detailing the findings of the research is available at http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/PDFS/EE0006.pdf online.
This research was supported by the Marcellus Seed Grant Research Program, an initiative of the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research with funding from the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment and the Penn State Social Science Research Institute. For more information, visit http://www.marcellus.psu.edu/ online.
Information about the Marcellus Seed Grant Research Program can be found at http://marcellus.psu.edu/research/seedGrant.php online.
To learn about other research supported by the center, visit http://marcellus.psu.edu/resources/publications.php online.
For more information, contact the Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research at 814-865-1587 or at marcellus@psu.edu.
Aug. 25 webinar to examine effect of Marcellus gas activity on habitat
http://live.psu.edu/story/54504#nw69
Thursday, August 11, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the Marcellus natural-gas boom has reverberated around Pennsylvania, residents and scientists alike have expressed concern about the impact extensive drilling and associated infrastructure development is having on wildlife habitat.
Wildlife managers and protectors are worried about forest fragmentation, the advance of invasive plant species and the effect the Marcellus play is having on activities such as hunting, fishing, bird watching and wildlife viewing.
There have been more than 2,350 wells drilled into the deep Marcellus formation under Pennsylvania in the last few years, primarily in the southwest, northeast and northcentral regions.
A Web-based seminar presented by Penn State Extension will offer a look at the latest information on the subject. Titled, “A Research Update on the Effects of Marcellus Shale Drilling on Wildlife Habitat,” the one-hour session will take place at 1 p.m. on Aug. 25.
Margaret Brittingham, professor of wildlife resources in the College of Agricultural Sciences
“The webinar will cover landscape and habitat changes associated with Marcellus Shale exploration and development, and how that may affect Pennsylvania wildlife and wildlife-associated recreation,” said presenter Margaret Brittingham, professor of wildlife resources in the College of Agricultural Sciences.
“I will discuss research we recently have completed on shallow wells and give an overview of our current research project, which is looking at the effects of Marcellus Shale gas exploration and development on wildlife habitat in general and forest songbirds in particular.”
Pennsylvania contains internationally important breeding habitat for a number of neotropical migrant songbirds that — if degraded — would affect world populations, Brittingham noted. And much of the extensive gas development is occurring in the state’s northern tier, where some of the densest forests in North America provide ecologically vital bird habitat.
However, that new research is in its early phase, Brittingham explained. “We currently are collecting baseline data and determining whether there are any detectable changes at this stage of development,” she said.
“I will conclude the webinar by discussing habitat-restoration needs, guidelines and opportunities, both for minimizing potential problems and enhancing habitat quality.”
The webinar is part of a series of online workshops addressing opportunities and challenges related to the state’s Marcellus Shale gas boom. Information about how to register for the session is available on the webinar page of Penn State Extension’s natural-gas website at http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/webinars.
A webinar at 1 p.m. on Sept. 15 will focus on current legal issues in shale-gas development.
Previous webinars, publications and information on topics such as air pollution from gas development; the gas boom’s effect on landfills; water use and quality; zoning; gas-leasing considerations for landowners; implications for local communities; and gas pipelines and right-of-way issues also are available on the Penn State Extension natural-gas website (http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas).
For more information about the webinar, contact John Turack, extension educator in Westmoreland County, at 724-837-1402 or by email at jdt15@psu.edu.
Spread the natural gas drilling wealth
http://citizensvoice.com/news/senators-spread-the-natural-gas-drilling-wealth-1.1187598#axzz1UojFUOX3
By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
Published: August 12, 2011
WILKES-BARRE – With the Susquehanna River as a backdrop, state and local officials made a pitch for environmentally responsible Marcellus Shale development that will create jobs throughout Pennsylvania and a tax on natural gas extraction that will generate revenue for the entire state.
At a press conference at the River Commons on Wednesday, two state senators – Energy Committee Minority Chairman John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, and Democratic Leader Jay Costa, D-Homestead – stressed the importance of environmental protection and employment opportunities.
Costa’s constituency is in Allegheny County, which has natural gas drilling. Yudichak’s Luzerne County district most likely will not, after exploratory wells came up dry.
But the senators would like to spread the wealth, not only in terms of revenue from a severance tax, but also as far as job creation.
“We’re a commonwealth, and we need to share all of our resources,” Costa said.
The senators believe part of the severance tax revenue should go into a statewide pool of money for environmental grants. Yudichak pointed out how Northeastern Pennsylvania has benefited from similar programs, such as the Growing Greener program.
Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority Director Jim Brozena wants cut state funding restored for programs to help communities damaged in “unforeseen weather events,” like the July 3 flash flooding in Plymouth Township and Plymouth Borough.
Michael Kwashnik, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 163, brought up the need for safety while on the job.
There is no specific program through the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to regulate safety at natural gas job sites, Kwashnik said.
He said local IBEW members often work on compressor stations – if a company doesn’t bring in out-of-state or undocumented workers or unlicensed subcontractors.
It’s up to each individual gas company to have its own safety program implemented, Kwashnik said. Many of them have safe work sites and hire skilled, trained professionals, but there are a few “wildcat” companies only looking to make a quick buck, he said.
“Some of them are very safe. Others throw safety to the wind,” he said.
In one case, IBEW members were called in to fix a compressor station near Elmira, N.Y. that blew up two days after it was completed, Kwashnik said. He said it turned out the gas company had hired 22 undocumented workers.
The drilling industry needs millions of gallons of water for hydraulic fracturing, which involves blasting the chemical-treated water thousands of feet underground to break up the shale and release the gas. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission regulates water withdrawals from all sources in the river’s watershed.
Paul Swartz said in his 20 years with the commission, potential effects of natural gas drilling on the river have caused more concern than any other issue.
Swartz said the commission’s position on natural gas drilling is “you can have your cake and eat it too.” But only if proper regulations and laws are in place and agencies like the Susquehanna River Basin Commission have the ability to enforce them, he said.
Swartz said he does not want to see the same type of issues as with coal mining and timbering.
Yudichak also brought up the legacy of environmental degradation left by the coal barons for the taxpayers to clean up.
That’s what Shavertown resident Audrey Simpson, who held a sign stating, “Gas drilling boom-bust economy is not the answer,” fears.
“When the gas companies are done with Pennsylvania, what economy are we going to have left?” she said. “There will be no tourism, no state parks, no state forests. What kind of future is that?”
Jim Straub of Kingston wanted to know whether the state and local municipalities would get royalties for drilling underneath roads. He doesn’t oppose drilling.
“This is not going to stop,” he said. “We’ve just got to make sure we get enough compensation in the meantime.”
Costa said compensation might not come in the form of royalties, but municipalities would receive money for infrastructure with a severance tax or impact fee.
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