Drilling fee legislation near?
www.timesleader.com/news/Scarnati__Drilling_fee_legislation_near_01-31-2012.html
January 31, 2012
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking state senator said Monday he thinks an agreement on a sweeping bill to impose a fee on the booming natural gas drilling industry can be finished in a week, right before Gov. Tom Corbett unveils his budget plan.
Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati said negotiators from the House, Senate and governor’s office are trying to agree on the size of the fee and the distribution of the money.
He said negotiators are working toward a “hybrid” solution to iron out differences over whether the state or the county that hosts the drilling should enforce the fee.
Scarnati said Senate negotiators are trying to make a final bill more appealing to advocates of allowing municipalities to regulate drilling activity than earlier proposals that passed the Senate.
New databases improve access to state gas drilling records
republicanherald.com/news/new-databases-improve-access-to-state-gas-drilling-records-1.1263776
By laura Legere (Staff Writer llegere@timesshamrock.com)
Published: January 28, 2012
A redesigned website for the state’s Office of Oil and Gas Management features new data tools that simplify the public’s access to permit records, drilling dates, inspections and enforcement actions for the state’s multiplying natural gas wells.
The site debuted two weeks ago for the Department of Environmental Protection’s high-profile office, which has come under recent criticism for inconsistency in its public data about Marcellus Shale gas wells.
At the heart of the new site are several data tools that will be updated automatically and nearly immediately rather than manually by a DEP staff member every month or so. For the first time, visitors to the new compliance database will find details for every inspection, not just those that uncover a violation at a well site.
The compliance database, which takes the place of what DEP spokesman Kevin Sunday called a “cumbersome” but “workable Marcellus Shale Excel spreadsheet,” also presents years of enforcement information in one place.
“You can check out an operator and get a look at how they’ve performed over the last few years, how much they’ve paid in penalties, what the violations were,” he said. “This is one standard format that definitely improves our transparency and our communication.”
Sunday was unsparing in his assessment of the old website, which has been replaced with a cleaner, better organized design complete with a logo pairing a green leaf with a blue gas flame.
“It was a hodgepodge of links,” he said. “Once you knew where everything was you kind of ignored the mess, but there was a lot of mess there.”
The new site, in comparison, is “very neat, very orderly and organized with specific audiences in mind.”
The agency has admittedly struggled with the massive amount of data generated by the gas industry to comply with state reporting rules, but Sunday said the problem had more to do with the consistent presentation of data across several online reports rather than missing or omitted information.
“It’s not that we’re lacking the data,” he said. “It’s that the public reports weren’t quite communicating well with our internal databases.”
The new site should help that. Now more automated, the public databases will show when a new well is drilled or a site is inspected as soon as it is entered into the department’s internal database, limiting the opportunity for error.
As new industry-reported data comes online – as a huge amount of it will in February when six-month oil and gas waste and production reports are posted – the goal is to “tether” the databases together to present more uniform, accurate information, he said.
Matt Kelso, data manager for FracTracker.org, a natural gas drilling database and mapping tool, draws heavily from the state’s data to analyze industry trends.
He said the new Office of Oil and Gas Management site is better organized and easier to navigate, especially across years of records, although he found the data to be largely the same.
“It’s an improvement,” he said. “I think it’s an overdue improvement, but I’m happy that they made those changes.”
www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?tbb=dep and oil and gas
pa.gov/portal/server.pt/community/oil_and_gas/6003
EPA Responds to Cabot Oil
www.wnep.com/wnep-susq-epa-responds-to-cabot-oil-20120127,0,6032822.story
January 27, 2012
There is now a response to a response.
Two days ago Cabot Oil and Gas criticized the federal government’s deliveries of fresh water and its testing of several wells in Susquehanna County.
Now the EPA responds to Cabot.
One week ago the Environmental Protection Agency started delivering the water to a handful of homes suspected of having their wells contaminated by Cabot’s natural gas drilling in the Dimock area.
Cabot called the move a “political agenda hostile to shale gas development.”
Friday the EPA responded by saying, “It is sampling and providing water as a direct result of requests from Dimock residents. Our priority is the health of the people there, and our actions are guided entirely by science and the law.”
In Dimock, EPA testing draws mixed reaction
citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/in-dimock-epa-testing-draws-mixed-reaction-1.1263801#axzz1klDNn16y
By Laura Legere
Staff Writer
Published: January 28, 2012
DIMOCK TWP. – Two teams of scientists sampling well water from four homes a day are producing a picture of the aquifer under this Susquehanna County town that will help define the impact of natural gas drilling on drinking water.
The water captured in vials and packed in coolers by scientists and contractors for the Environmental Protection Agency since Jan. 23 is the heart of an investigation spurred by concerns that Cabot Oil and Gas Corp.’s Marcellus Shale drilling and hydraulic fracturing tainted water wells.
In a divided village where gas drilling is as earnestly embraced as it is criticized, the controversy over the EPA’s fieldwork started before the sampling did. Test results are at least five weeks away.
The study has provoked strong criticism from the industry and its local supporters who accuse the EPA of meddling in what they consider a settled matter or a spectacle conjured by lawyers.
At the same time, the study has earned the grateful support of families, many of whom are suing Cabot, who have used their water warily or not at all since methane tied to drilling first intruded in 2008.
State officials determined faulty Cabot gas wells allowed methane to seep into 18 Dimock water supplies in 2009, but Cabot water tests from last fall raised federal regulators’ concern about the potential health threats posed by other contaminants in the water.
The contaminants – some of which are naturally occurring but all of which are associated with natural gas drilling, the EPA said – include arsenic, barium, the plasticizer commonly called DEHP, glycol compounds, manganese, phenol and sodium.
“If we see an immediate threat to public health, we will not hesitate to take steps under the law to protect Americans whose health may be at risk,” EPA spokeswoman Terri White said.
Residents who support Cabot’s operations sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson this week calling for her to “rein in” the “rogue regional office” in Philadelphia that is leading the investigation based on what they said were “baseless claims” and “hyped-up allegations” of pollutants that occur naturally in the region.
The group, Enough is Enough, created a campaign called “Dimock Proud” with yard signs, a petition drive and a logo: “Where the water IS clean and the people are friendly.”
The petition to Jackson was bundled with an earlier petition signed by more than 400 Susquehanna County residents and sent to the state to ask for Cabot to be able to resume drilling in a 9-square-mile section of Dimock – where EPA is now testing – that has been off limits to the driller since 2010. The moratorium has continued because the state has not determined that the company’s wells have stopped leaking methane.
“The Philadelphia Regional Office’s action in enabling this litigation threatens our livelihoods and is destroying our community reputation,” the residents wrote to Jackson. “These actions are an assault on our property rights and basic freedoms.”
Cabot CEO Dan Dinges cited President Barack Obama’s support for domestic natural gas in his State of the Union address when he also wrote to Jackson this week. Her agency’s actions in Dimock “appear to undercut the President’s stated commitment to this important resource,” Dinges wrote.
In another statement released this week, the company said it “is concerned that this recent action may be more of an attempt to advance a political agenda hostile to shale gas development rather than a principled effort to address environmental concerns in the area.”
The industry group Energy in Depth posted historical state and federal data on its website showing some of the pollutants that triggered the EPA investigation – manganese and arsenic – occur in the geological formation that is used for groundwater in Dimock. It cited a 2006 U.S. Geological Survey study that found arsenic in 18 of 143 domestic water wells it sampled in Northeast Pennsylvania, although none of the samples taken in Susquehanna or Wyoming counties detected the compound.
The arsenic level that triggered the EPA to truck water to one home in Dimock was nearly four times the federal standard.
The EPA rebuffed Cabot’s criticism this week, saying its actions “are guided entirely by science and the law.”
“We are providing water to a handful of households because data developed by Cabot itself provides evidence that they are being exposed to hazardous substances at levels of health concern,” the agency said. “We are conducting monitoring as a prudent step to investigate these concerns and develop a sound scientific basis for assessing the need for further action.”
While Obama’s address made clear his support for domestic natural gas extraction, the agency added, “he also affirmed our commitment to ‘developing this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.'”
Despite some residents’ skepticism of the EPA’s actions, the agency has received permission from 55 of the 66 Dimock homes it approached to conduct sampling, spokesman Roy Seneca said Friday. The EPA has not received a final response from 11 of the 66 homes. It’s initial goal was to take samples from about 61 homes.
“I’m thrilled the EPA is here,” resident Victoria Switzer said Friday as five scientists wearing blue gloves huddled on a mound of melting snow in her backyard where her well water trickled from a spigot.
If the test comes back clear, she said, “I’ll be very relieved that our water is safe to use and we can go on living in our home.”
The water sampling will also provide key data for the future, she said.
“I’m considering it baseline testing for the next wave when Cabot roars back in here.”
llegere@timesshamrock.com
DEP Weighs using mine water for fracking
republicanherald.com/news/dep-weighs-using-mine-water-for-fracking-1.1262321
BY ROBERT SWIFT (HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF rswift@timesshamrock.com)
Published: January 25, 2012
HARRISBURG – State environmental officials want to give Marcellus Shale drillers an incentive to use mine water in drilling operations by offering a quick response to proposals within 15 days.
The policy outlined at a public meeting Tuesday would couple the natural gas industry’s need for massive amounts of water in hydrofracking and the longstanding problem of cleaning up 5,000 miles of waterway in Pennsylvania impaired by acid mine drainage.
“This is a really good opportunity for the industry to get the water they need and address historic mine drainage problems,” said John Stefanko, a deputy secretary in the state Department of Environmental Protection.
He said a three-member mine water use review team would provide quick feedback on the types of permits needed and other issues to any water-use proposal submitted by a gas driller.
DEP is delving into a number of issues raised by the prospect of diverting a portion of an estimated 300 million gallons of acid mine drainage that flows each day from abandoned mines and flooded pits into rivers and streams for industry use.
This goal was endorsed by the Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission last summer. DEP plans to issue a position paper on the topic next month after getting more public comment.
The paper will outline what policies and regulations should be adopted for treatment of mine water if needed, transport of water by truck or pipeline to drilling sites and storage before used in fracking operations.
The paper will also tackle environmental liability issues and whether DEP can play a role pairing drilling companies seeking water with companies selling minewater and local watershed groups working on stream restoration projects.
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission plans to consider a policy encouraging mine water use when it meets next month, said executive director Paul Swartz.
Chesapeake to lower gas production
www.timesleader.com/news/Chesapeake_to_lower_gas_production_01-24-2012.html
Posted: January 24, 2012
By Ron Bartizek rbartizek@timesleader.com
Business & Consumer / City Editor
Company to cut by 30 percent the number of drill rigs active in NEPA Marcellus Shale area.
Faced with decade-low natural gas prices that have made some drilling operations unprofitable, Chesapeake Energy is reducing its commitment to natural gas production, and will cut back by 30 percent the number of drilling rigs active in the Marcellus Shale area in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Chesapeake, the nation’s second-largest natural gas producer, said Monday it plans to cut its current daily production by 8 percent.
Over a year, that means the company would produce the same or slightly less natural gas in 2012 than it did in 2011. Chesapeake produces about 9 percent of the nation’s natural gas.
The company said it would reduce its drilling activity in so-called “dry gas” areas where few other products are extracted. That includes Northeastern Pennsylvania, where the company plans to have 12 operating drill rigs by the second quarter of 2012, down from 17 now, said Brian Grove, Chesapeake’s senior director-corporate development.
In a release announcing the cutbacks, Chesapeake said it would defer completion of some dry gas wells that have been drilled but not completed. Grove said that will not be the case here, and the company expects to drill about 140 wells this year in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The company has 194 producing wells in the region.
Employment will not be reduced, Grove said.
“We have more than 1,500 employees in Pennsylvania and more than a dozen facilities. While some employees will be redirected in their activities (e.g. drilling crews), no layoffs are planned.”
Other activities will be adjusted to match the slower pace of drilling, Grove said, “but projects under way will continue as normal.”
Leasing will slow as well.
“While we are not actively seeking large amounts of new acreage, a limited amount of leasing activity will continue in many areas to complete planned drilling units,” Grove said.
While Northeastern Pennsylvania wells produce dry gas, those in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia yield other hydrocarbons, such as propane, ethane and butane, Grove said.
Other dry gas regions will see larger cutbacks. Overall, Chesapeake will reduce the number of rigs working in dry gas regions by half, with fields in Arkansas and Texas losing 60 percent of their active rigs.
The company’s plan also calls for a cut of 500 million cubic feet of gas per day, about 8 percent of its current production, in two drilling regions in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.
The move is designed to reduce the glut of natural gas in the country, and therefore increase prices. But analysts caution that drillers historically have reneged on plans to cut output in times of low prices, bowing to pressure from investors to increase production.
Extreme weather for two winters and two summers kept natural gas prices high by boosting demand for home heating and power generation. But this season’s mild winter weather, especially in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, has crimped demand and led to a glut.
Natural gas futures slipped to $2.32 per 1,000 cubic feet last week, their lowest levels since 2002.
Also, even as drillers avoid dry-gas regions, they are aggressively increasing drilling in regions rich in oil and other liquids. Those regions also produce large amounts of natural gas, which will help keep total natural gas production high and will likely keep prices relatively low.
EPA serves public interest
citizensvoice.com/news/epa-serves-public-interest-1.1261500#axzz1kIQ5EBAW
Published: January 24, 2012
The Corbett administration’s recent characterization of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as naive interlopers evaporated like so much gas last week.
Federal investigators began testing water supplies for 61 homes in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, and delivering clean water to four homes where independent testing has found health threats in contaminated water.
In December, the state Department of Environmental Protection ignored the state constitutional guarantee of clean water for Pennsylvanians, and allowed Cabot Oil & Gas Co. to stop delivering clean water to the affected homes in Dimock, on grounds that the company had fulfilled terms of an agreement.
That agreement between the DEP and the company required Cabot to create escrow accounts for the twice the value of affected properties and to offer water filtration systems.
The issue isn’t fulfilling agreements but determining whether drilling and hydraulic fracturing adversely affect the water supply. Yet when the Environmental Protection Agency continued its investigation, Michael Krancer, secretary of the state environmental agency, claimed that the federal agency had only a “rudimentary” understanding of the situation.
In water samples from eight Dimock properties, an EPA toxicologist had found “noteworthy concentrations” of chemicals that do not occur naturally in the local water.
To ensure that its understanding of the situation is not “rudimentary,” the EPA comprehensively will test water samples from a 9-square-mile area and fill in gaps it has found in the data complied by other parties, including Krancer’s agency.
Beyond the local water quality issue, the EPA’s investigation is nationally significant. It follows another EPA inquiry in Wyoming that, for the first time, indicates a link between hydraulic fracturing – the process used to extract gas from deep shale deposits – and contaminated ground water.
Given the abundance of shale gas and its growing role in the nation’s energy portfolio, it’s crucial to gain a comprehensive understanding of the environmental consequences of its extraction. In seeking those answers, the EPA serves the public interest.
Pa. needs state standards for natural gas wells
www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120119/OPINION01/120119610/-1/opinion/pa-needs-state-standards-for-natural-gas-wells-&pager=full_story
Opinion: Posted: 01/19/12
The Pennsylvania natural gas frenzy began years ago, but still the state remains one of two in the nation with no statewide standards for private water well construction.
According to the state Department of Environmental protection, 3 million Pennsylvanians rely on water from 1 million wells. Some 13,000 to 15,000 new wells are drilled every year.
Furthermore, researchers have shown that 40 percent of 700 wells sampled since 2006 were
compromised in terms of safe drinking water standards, according to Capitolwire.com.
The most frequent health-affecting pollutant, Coliform bacteria, showed up in one-third of the tested wells. E.coli bacteria, which originates from either human or animal waste, was found in 14 percent of the wells tested.
That’s not much of a surprise in a state known for its intensive animal farming operations. But it argues powerfully for some kind of construction standard. Researchers said poor well construction was a factor.Right now all one has to do to dig a well is sign a form and obtain a drilling rig.
That’s pretty astounding, even if all we had to worry about was biological waste. But wait, there’s more.
One of the recommendations made by Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission last year was establishment of construction standards on new private water wells, according to Rep. Ron Miller, R-York. Natural gas drillers, by the way, denied all responsibility for that part of the report.
In any event, Miller has sponsored legislation to authorize the Environmental Quality Board to establish statewide water well construction regulations based on National Groundwater Association standards.
The Legislature should enact that bill as soon as possible.
Once again, we have another instance of Pennsylvania public health standards struggling to catch up with intensive industrial activity, in this case by agriculture and natural gas fracking.
But, hey, better late than never, right?
Special to The Mercury, Chambersburg Public Opinion
EPA News Release: EPA to Begin Sampling Water at Some Residences in Dimock, Pa.
Contact: white.terri-a@epa.gov 215-814-5523
PHILADELPHIA (Jan. 19, 2012) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it plans to perform water sampling at approximately 60 homes in the Carter Road/Meshoppen Creek Road area of Dimock, Pa. to further assess whether any residents are being exposed to hazardous substances that cause health concerns. EPA’s decision to conduct sampling is based on EPA’s review of data provided by residents, Cabot Oil and Gas, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
“EPA is working diligently to understand the situation in Dimock and address residents’ concerns,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “We believe that the information provided to us by the residents deserves further review, and conducting our own sampling will help us fill information gaps. Our actions will be based on the science and the law and we will work to help get a more complete picture of water quality for these homes in Dimock.”
The sampling will begin in a matter of days and the agency estimates that it will take at least three weeks to sample all the homes. All sampling is contingent on access granted to the property. EPA expects validated results from quality-tested lab to be available in about five weeks after samples are taken.
In addition, EPA is taking action to ensure delivery of temporary water supplies to four homes where data reviewed by EPA indicates that residents’ well water contains levels of contaminants that pose a health concern. EPA will reevaluate this decision when it completes sampling of the wells at these four homes. Current information on other wells does not support the need for alternative water at this time. However, the information does support the need for further sampling.
Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future and the Obama Administration is committed to ensuring that the development of this vital resource occurs safely and responsibly. At the direction of Congress, and separate from this limited sampling, EPA has begun a national study on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources.
For additional information regarding this site please visit the website at: http://www.epaosc.org/dimock_residential_groundwater