Rep. White calls on state, federal authorities to investigate DEP
Breaking: PA Rep. Jesse White Challenges DEP Over Deceptive Marcellus Shale Water Testing Practices
by Iris Marie Bloom
November 2, 2012
protectingourwaters.wordpress.com/2012/11/02/breaking-pa-rep-jesse-white-challenges-dep-over-deceptive-marcellus-shale-water-testing-practices/
An explosive press release issued yesterday by Pennsylvania State Representative Jesse White alleges formally, based on a deposition by a high-ranking PA DEP official, what many residents of “shale country” in Pennsylvania have been saying for years: that PA DEP water testing data is manipulated in order to avoid disclosing shale gas drilling water impacts to those affected.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the story 20 minutes ago, “Lawmaker Challenges PA DEP’s Reporting of Gas Well Water Safety.” Read Post-Gazette reporter Don Hopeys’ article here. [ http://pipeline.post-gazette.com/news/archives/24893-lawmaker-challenges-pa-dep-s-reporting-of-gas-well-water-safety ]
Due to the riveting importance of this call for investigation of PA DEP’s integrity, and due to the severe health impacts experienced by some of those whose water has been fouled by shale gas drilling processes in Pennsylvania, we are publishing Rep. Jesse White’s press release in full: [ http://pahouse.com/PR/046110112.asp ]
White calls on state, federal authorities for investigation of DEP over deceptive Marcellus Shale water-quality testing practices
Testimony by DEP lab chief reveals possibility of intentionally undisclosed public health risks from Marcellus Shale gas drilling
HARRISBURG, Nov. 1 – State Rep. Jesse White, D-Allegheny/Beaver/Washington, today called for state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for alleged misconduct and fraud revealed by sworn testimony given by a high-ranking DEP official.
White said he received a letter and corresponding documents highlighting the sworn testimony of DEP Bureau of Laboratories Technical Director Taru Upadhyay, who was deposed in a lawsuit alleging nearby natural gas drilling operations contaminated drinking water supplies in Washington County, causing serious health issues. In the deposition, Upadhyay said that the DEP was clearly aware of water impacts from Marcellus Shale drilling, but no notices of violation were filed – a violation of the state’s Oil & Gas Act.
Of more critical concern to Pennsylvania residents, according to White, was that the deposition revealed that the DEP developed a specialized computer-code system to manipulate the test results for residents whose water was tested by the DEP over concerns of adverse effects from gas drilling operations.
According to the transcripts, which have been filed as exhibits in a related lawsuit in Washington County Court of Common Pleas (Haney et al. v. Range Resources et al., Case No. 2012-3534), the DEP lab would conduct water tests using an EPA-approved standard, but the DEP employee who requested the testing would use a specially designed ‘Suite Code’ which limits the information coming back from the DEP lab to the DEP field office, and ultimately to the property owner.
The code in question, Suite Code 942, was used to test for water contamination associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities, yet specifically screens out results for substances known to be hazardous and associated with Marcellus Shale drilling. Similar codes, Suite Code 943 and 946, are also used by the DEP in similar circumstances; both of these codes omit the presence or levels of drilling-related compounds.
As a result, if Suite Code 942 is applied, the report generated for the homeowner by DEP only includes eight of the 24 metals actually tested for: Barium, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Magnesium, Manganese, Sodium and Strontium. The homeowner would not be given results for: Silver, Aluminum, Beryllium, Cadium, Cobalt, Chromium, Copper, Nickel, Silicon, Lithium, Molybdenum, Tin, Titanium, Vandium, Zinc and Boron.
“This is beyond outrageous. Anyone who relied on the DEP for the truth about whether their water has been impacted by drilling activities has apparently been intentionally deprived of critical health and safety information by their own government,” White said. “There is no excuse whatsoever to justify the DEP conducting the water tests and only releasing partial information to residents, especially when the information withheld could easily be the source of the problem. This goes beyond incompetence; this is unlawful and reprehensible activity by the DEP. If these allegations are true, there needs to be a thorough and objective investigation to determine if someone belongs in a jail cell.”
White continued: “I am not releasing this information to hurt Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania, but to help ensure the reality matches the rhetoric. The Marcellus boom was built on the assumption that the DEP was competent and capable of balancing the positive impacts of the industry with its job of keeping residents safe and secure, but we now know that simply isn’t the case. Like most of us, I want the Marcellus Shale industry to succeed by doing things the right way, so it is crucial to find out what exactly the DEP was up to. If the system is indeed rigged, we must do everything in our power to root out corruption and restore public confidence in our ability to have an honest conversation with one another about developing a responsible energy policy for Pennsylvania.”
Due to the strong possibility of unlawful conduct, White is calling on the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Environmental Protection Agency, state Attorney General Linda Kelly and any other appropriate law enforcement agency to pursue an investigation of the DEP to discover the scope and depth of this scheme to withhold important information from Pennsylvanians. White is also sending a letter to the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NJ-NELAP), to investigate whether the DEP’s conduct and practices violated the accreditation standards for the DEP laboratories. If accreditation standards were violated, White is requesting the DEP’s accreditation be stripped, rendering the agency unable to conduct and certify its own tests.
White said he is sending a letter to DEP Secretary Michael Krancer seeking a summary of how many constituents in his legislative district, which includes communities with high levels of Marcellus Shale drilling activity, had DEP tests done using Suite Codes 942, 943 or 946. White also intends to make a blanket request on behalf of his constituents that DEP release the full testing data directly to the individual property owners in question.
Any Pennsylvania resident who received water quality test results from the DEP should look for the number 942, 943 or 946 as a ‘Suite Code’ or ‘Standard Analysis’. White encouraged anyone with questions to contact his district office at 724-746-3677 for more information and noted that the property owner should be entitled to the complete testing results from DEP.
“This isn’t a technicality, and it isn’t something which can be ignored,” White said. “We are talking about people’s health, safety and welfare. The sworn testimony from inside the DEP about a scheme to withhold vital information about potential water contamination is truly alarming. An investigation is necessary to answer these serious allegations.”
The letter sent to Rep. White alerting him of these issues can be found at:http://www.scribd.com/doc/111821139
The deposition of TaruUpadhyay, technical director of PA DEP Laboratory can be found at:http://www.scribd.com/doc/111821978
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Take Action: Speak Up
Beyond absorbing this important news, this is the time to write your letters to the editor and otherwise speak in public, including direct confrontation at public meetings, to demand an immediate halt on on high-volume hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania. Residents and workers’ health is being hurt, yet the industry is keeping toxic secrets, with help from far too many friends in high places.
Not to be forgotten in our outrage over PA public officials’ betrayal of public health: the big picture. Fracking accelerates climate change. Even as we post this, over 1.6 million people are without power from mega-storm Sandy; the death toll continues to rise. Extreme weather events are occurring, and will occur, more frequently and with greater severity due to climate change. Climate change is the greatest single threat to all of our health. Whether you drink water from a well that could be impacted — and you now know you are not protected by either our state or federal authorities — or whether you breathe air already impacted by the hundreds of thousands of diesel-powered truck trips, flowback waste emissions, compressor station emissions and pipeline leaks inherent in fracking; or whether you want our people to stop escalating the ravages of global warming, now is the time to speak up and demand change.
Fracking risks reduce value of properties
New economic study: Fracking risks reduce value of properties dependent on groundwater
switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/amall/new_economic_study_fracking_ri.html
November 1, 2012
Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.
There is a new National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)* working paper, from researchers at Resources for the Future and Duke University, on the effect that proximity to a shale gas well can have on property values. The researchers looked at more than 19,000 properties sold over a five year period in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and controlled for neighborhood amenities and other factors. Among the findings:
- Concerns about groundwater risks associated with drilling “lead to a large and significant reduction in property values” and “These reductions offset any gains to the owners of groundwater-dependent properties from lease payments or improved local economic conditions, and may even lead to a net drop in prices.”
- Well drilling seems to have impacts on properties up to 2000 meters from a well –more than a mile.
- Properties dependent upon groundwater for their drinking water are more likely to experience negative changes in property values than properties that get their water from a piped-in municipal water supply.
- Local economic development and lease payments associated with shale development can boost the housing market substantially, but only if the property has access to a public water supply.
- The researchers estimate that properties that get their water from public drinking water supplies saw increases in value of 10.7 percent, and speculate that this increase is most likely due to lease payments.
- The researchers estimate that these positive gains from lease payments were fully offset for properties that depend on private drinking water wells. This is due to the perceived risk to groundwater, which is estimated to decrease property values by 23.6 percent if there is a wellpad within 2000 meters.
- Net negative impacts on property values could lead to “an increase in the likelihood of foreclosure in areas experiencing rapid growth of hydraulic fracturing.”
We’ve blogged before about individuals who live near natural gas wells and want to move away, but whose property values have dropped too much, or who have not been able to sell their property at any price, or whose buyers have problems getting a mortgage. Families with contaminated drinking water are truly stuck unless they can find a new source of drinking water. Research such as this is very important to accompany these real life stories with data, and underscores the need for much stronger rules to protect drinking water sources from the risks of fracking.
*Despite its official sounding name, NBER is a private, non-profit entity, not a government program. The paper is also available for free on the website of Resources for the Future.
Emerging water topics focus of upcoming webinar series
Webinar topics will include water testing, septic systems, groundwater quality, water education, West Nile virus and managing ponds and lakes
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA — The effects of Marcellus Shale natural-gas drilling and other emerging water-resources issues will be covered during monthly Web-based seminars produced by Penn State Extension starting this fall.
Topics over the next 12 months will include water testing, septic systems, groundwater quality, water education, West Nile virus and managing ponds and lakes.
The first webinar, “Tradeoffs for Municipal Officials in Leasing Watershed Lands for Marcellus Drilling,” will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and can be viewed at https://meeting.psu.edu/water1.
Charles Abdalla, professor of agricultural and environmental economics in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, will be the presenter in the initial webinar, discussing the effects of shale-gas development on water resources. He will concentrate on the effects of gas-drilling activity on watershed lands used for public water supplies.
“Such activity has the potential to influence the quality and adequacy of drinking water for a large number of people and businesses,” Abdalla said. “This webinar will examine issues related to leasing municipally owned watershed lands for Marcellus Shale gas exploration by reviewing the findings of a recent study of eight Pennsylvania municipalities.”
Abdalla stressed that there are many aspects that must be considered when municipal watersheds are leased for drilling.
“Those factors include officials’ motivations to lease subsurface gas rights, officials’ knowledge of expected revenues and potential risks to their water supply, how benefits and risks were considered and weighed, and how customers and the public were involved in decisions,” he said.
Pre-registration is encouraged but not required for these webinars. Recorded versions of each webinar also are posted on the website for those who cannot log on for the live version.
To register or learn more about future or recorded webinars, visit http://water.cas.psu.edu/webinars.htm.
For more information, contact Bryan Swistock at 814-863-0194 or by email at brs@psu.edu.
live.psu.edu/story/62243#nw69
Thursday, October 25, 2012
New Well Owners Booklet Answers Many Questions
New Well Owners Booklet Answers Many Questions
When should you test your water? And what should you test it for?
WILKES-BARRE, PA—October 1, 2012—Brian Oram, a professional geologist and soil scientist and founder of B.F. Environmental Consultants, announced today that his firm is making available “The Pennsylvania Guide for Groundwater for Private Well Owners: What Do the Numbers Mean?” through the Water Research Center / Know Your H20 Portal.
“The goal of this booklet is to help educate and inform citizens on issues related to water conservation, ensuring that private water supply systems produce safe drinking water for your family, protecting the long-term quality of our streams and drinking water sources, and helping you to understand the potential sources of pollution to our water resources,” Oram said.
The booklet provides general information explaining certified water testing, chain-of-custody, and drinking water regulations and standards. It provides information related to the health (primary standards) or aesthetic (secondary standards) concerns for each parameter and provides information on water quality parameters that do not specifically have a drinking water limit.
“This reference is a guide to understanding water quality that works by providing guidance on selecting water quality testing parameters for baseline testing from a citizen’s perspective and by serving as a tool to help interpret water quality data,” Oram added.
In some cases, the document provides guidance on what actions a homeowner may want to consider in light of test results.
The booklet is part of the effort to support the Citizens Groundwater and Surface Water Database, a grassroots effort to track change in groundwater quality in Pennsylvania. To learn more about the Citizen Groundwater/ Surface Water Database and other Grassroots Efforts or to schedule an outreach event.
About B.F. Environmental Consultants, Inc.
B.F. Environmental Consultants, based in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Poconos, has been providing professional geological, soils, hydrogeological, and environmental consulting services since 1985. The company specializes in the following areas: hydrogeological and wastewater evaluations for siting land-based wastewater disposal systems; soils consulting (soil scientists), environmental monitoring, overseeing the siting, exploration, and development of community/ commercial water supply sources; baseline water testing, conducting “certified baseline samplers training programs”, environmental training/ professional training courses, and other environmental services. For more information about B.F. Environmental Consultants, visit www.bfenvironmental.com and www.water-research.net.
Announcement
B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc is now offering affordable distance learning courses on alternative energy systems, natural gas development, petrochemical training, environmental science, soil science, health and safety OSHA, industrial training, and engineering management. This includes continuing education and PDH. In addition, our new online store offers access to information and products related to water harvesting, rain barrels, composting, water conservation, water quality monitoring, soil management, and much more.
Visit – our Website Today !
http://www.bfenvironmental.com
2024 – New Drinking Water Educational Booklet for Private Well Owners and City Water Customers
Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS [ http://agsci.psu.edu/pawaterabstract ]
Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium
May 8, 2013
Penn State University, University Park, PA
Abstract Deadline is December 3, 2012
Abstracts can be submitted at: http://agsci.psu.edu/pawaterabstract
In celebration of National Drinking Water Week, Penn State Extension’s Master Well Owner Network and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection along with numerous other sponsors invite you to submit abstracts for the 2013 Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium at Penn State University in University Park, PA. The Symposium theme: Emerging Issues in a Changing Landscape will provide a forum for researchers, students, professionals and educators working in the groundwater field to exchange information and promote protection of groundwater resources throughout the state.
Abstracts will be accepted through December 3, 2012 for short presentations or posters on a wide variety of groundwater topics including:
• Groundwater processes
• Wellhead protection
• Water well studies
• Emerging contaminants
• Data availability
• Groundwater monitoring
• Aquifer studies
• Groundwater/surface water interactions
• Issues related to energy extraction
• Education and outreach
The conference planning committee will review all abstracts and notify authors of acceptance via email by December 14, 2012. The conference registration site and agenda will be available by February 1, 2013. Thanks to generous support from sponsors, we currently expect a nominal registration fee of approximately $25 to $30 for this symposium. We hope you can join us for this event showcasing Pennsylvania’s valuable groundwater resource!
Cabot’s Methodology Links Tainted Water Wells to Gas Fracking
www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-02/cabot-s-methodology-links-tainted-water-wells-to-gas-fracking
By Mark Drajem and Jim Efstathiou Jr. on October 02, 2012
Methane in two Pennsylvania water wells has a chemical fingerprint that links it to natural gas produced by hydraulic fracturing, evidence that such drilling can pollute drinking water.
The data, collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are significant because the composition of the gas –its isotopic signature — falls into a range Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) had identified as that of the Marcellus Shale, which it tapped through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
“The EPA data falls squarely in the Marcellus space” established by Cabot’s scientists, said Rob Jackson, an environmental scientist at Duke University. That evidence backs up his findings linking gas drilling and water problems in the town of Dimock, applying the very methodology that Cabot established to try to debunk it, he said. Read more
Blood disease: No answer
www.tnonline.com/2012/sep/21/blood-disease-no-answer
Friday, September 21, 2012
By DONALD R. SERFASS dserfass@tnonline.com
DONALD R. SERFASS/TIMES NEWS A portion of the crowd at the Tamaqua Public Library on Thursday listens to an update on the status of a rare blood disease found in the local area in 2004.
A government agency provided a status update Thursday on research into a rare blood disease found in our area.
But the update left locals frustrated.
Joe Murphy, Hometown, voiced exasperation due to the slow pace of progress. Murphy represents the Citizens Advisory Committee and said he and his group would like to see improved flow of information and a more open approach.
“After six years, all I can say is where’s the beef,” said Murphy at the conclusion of an informal update provided by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
The session drew over 50 concerned residents to the Tamaqua Public Library, where Lora Siegmann Werner and Dr. Elizabeth Irvin-Barnwell, both of the ATSDR, were on hand to respond to public questions. Also available were officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Department of Environmental Protection and several project partners.
The update included progress reports on 18 projects funded through $7.9M in government grants aimed at getting to the bottom of the cause of clusters of a disease that makes too many blood cells. The condition, polycythemia vera (PV), has been found at an alarming rate in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties.
Among the new information provided by Irvin-Barnwell:
- 77 participants have been enrolled in an epidemiologic study through the University of Pittsburgh. The study compares the pattern of PV occurrences in the commonwealth.
- More accurate physician reporting of PV cases. This step is complete and the cases are undergoing internal quality control and data analysis.
- Physician education has been completed with regard to diagnosis, reporting and treating of PV cases.
- The Tri-County area case study is under way and 55 people with one of a number of slow-moving blood cancers have been recruited along with 473 people without the condition. Medical records are being examined for accuracy.
- A genetic study is under way with a review of blood samples from 39 volunteers to see if patients in the cluster area are genetically prone to develop PV. Gene profiling also is under way.
- Other studies under way include detection of a JAK2 mutation, recruitment for a tissue bank, and toxicology assay to evaluate whether 18 environmental contaminants can cause DNA damage.
- An air and water sampling plan has been finalized and samples are being collected. Air modeling is complete.
- Creation of a database for federal, state and other data relating to possible human exposures to contaminants from hazardous waste sites, industries, or businesses that release toxic substances has been completed. The data warehouse contains 100,000 samples and 2.5 million records for 2,700 substances.
- Environmental testing near the McAdoo Superfund site, three waste coal burning plants, and residential sampling have been collected and analyzed. The ATSDR is evaluating results.
- Murphy expressed concern that funding for the Citizens Advisory Committee was curtailed in January, 2010, and the ATSDR’s chief investigator, Dr. Vince Seaman, left for Nigeria in 2010 on a separate endeavor and is not due back until next year.
“Citizens have had a role in this … but we haven’t had a lot of money,” Joe Murphy, Hometown, addressing the public forum on polycythemia vera held at the Tamaqua Public Library. Funding for the citizens advisory group was cut in 2010.
Those setbacks, among others, have dealt a blow to local initiatives, said Murphy.
He is hoping the Betty Kester Alliance for a Healthy Future can step in to pick up the slack.
“Our goal is to continue to explore,” said Murphy.
“We’ll continue to have more of these updates,” says Dr. Irvin-Barnwell.
Kester and her husband, Lester, were Still Creek residents. Both developed PV. They are now deceased.
There have been 2,099 cases of PV reported in Pennsylvania. Of those, 227, or 10.8 percent, are found in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties.
Research looks at hydrology, soil constraints to shale-gas development
live.psu.edu/story/61270#nw69
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Most soils on the Allegheny Plateau, where shale-gas development is concentrated, are acidic, rocky, shallow and of poor fertility, the study points out.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Across the Appalachian Plateau in Pennsylvania, 50 to 70 percent of shale-gas pads are being developed on slopes that could be prone to erosion and sedimentation problems, according to researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
The potential for erosion problems is substantial because of the extensive scale of the shale-gas play, said Patrick Drohan, assistant professor of pedology, who was the principle investigator in a recently concluded 12-month study of the hydrologic implications of gas-well development and its effect on the plateau’s landscapes and soils.
“Even though between 50 and 70 percent of the pads are being constructed on soils and slopes at risk for excess water movement and erosion, that doesn’t mean all sites are having problems,” he said. “It just means that we have identified a large number of sites that have to be watched because there could be trouble if state Department of Environmental Protection best-management practices to limit erosion and sedimentation are not implemented quickly or effectively.”
About 10 percent of locations where pads are built occur in high-risk locations for surface erosion and resulting sedimentation due to slopes greater than 8 percent, the study found. Drohan worries about such areas every time there is an intense rain event. Read more
Marcellus Shale natural gas webinar series to start Sept. 13
live.psu.edu/story/61125#nw69
Friday, September 7, 2012
In the webinar a Penn State expert will present an analysis of shale-gas development, covering trends in rigs, production, pipelines and compliance.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new series of monthly, Web-based seminars covering issues related to Marcellus Shale natural-gas production will kick off Sept. 13.
Offered by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the first webinar will focus on trends in shale-gas development and will include updates on the Marcellus gas play. Tom Murphy, extension educator and co-director of the Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research, will be the presenter, with extension educator Dave Messersmith moderating the Sept. 13 session.
Murphy will present an analysis of shale-gas development, covering trends in rigs, production, pipelines and compliance. This broad overview is aimed at providing a good foundation for understanding what the future may hold in the development of this energy source.
Presented by Penn State Extension’s Marcellus Education Team, all of the monthly webinars will be offered from 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursdays, with time for questions and answers. Planned topics include the following:
— Sept. 13: Overview and Analysis of Trends in Shale-Gas Development
— Oct. 18: Reading Royalty Checks
— Nov. 15: Natural Gas Utilization
— Dec. 20: What All the Water Studies Mean: Putting Them Into Perspective
— Jan. 17, 2013: Ethane Cracker Plant Impacts in a Community
— Feb. 21, 2013: Environmental Organizations’ Perspectives on Natural Gas Impacts on Forestry and Wildlife
Registration for the webinars is not necessary, and all are welcome to participate by logging in. For more information, contact Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or by email at cal24@psu.edu.
Previous webinars, publications and information also are available on the Penn State Extension natural-gas website,covering topics such as Act 13, seismic testing, air pollution from gas development, water use and quality, zoning, gas-leasing considerations for landowners, gas pipelines and right-of-way issues, legal issues surrounding gas development, and the impact of Marcellus gas development on forestland.
Penn State Master Well Owner Network
Attached is the Fall 2012 Master Well Owner Network newsletter. This issue includes articles on:
Water Supply Education Continues at Ag Progress Days
Opportunities for New Volunteer Training
Managing Private Water Wells During Drought
Updated Marcellus/Water Fact Sheets Available
It’s Time For Volunteer Reporting!
Next DEP@Home Webinar to Focus on Water Wellness
Upcoming Private Water Supply Workshops
2013 Groundwater Symposium
Upcoming Water Webinars
A Sampling of Upcoming Events
Please share with anyone that might be interested. Thanks!