Landfill accepts gas drilling waste
DUNMORE – Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore has accepted tons of gas drilling waste that can contain radioactive material and heavy metals, according to documents obtained by Times-Shamrock newspapers.
Environmentalists raised red flags about the practice, but industry and state officials said it posed no public health risk.
At least four natural gas companies have received approval from the landfill to dump “drill cuttings” – deep underground rock and soil removed during the drilling process along with chemical additives. Cabot Oil and Gas, Chesapeake Energy, Chief Oil and Gas, and Stone Energy are identified in the documents, obtained through a Right-To-Know request to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The documents were submitted by Keystone Sanitary Landfill manager Joe Dexter in a report to DEP last summer. Multiple efforts to contact Dexter, including a visit to the site by a reporter Friday, were unsuccessful.
The landfill accepted at least 17,710 tons of the material over a six-month period last year from July through December 2010, mostly from Cabot Oil and Gas, according to DEP records.
The documents show Chesapeake Energy was approved to dump drill cuttings at Keystone as early as November 2009, including from multiple Marcellus Shale wells in Auburn Township, Susquehanna County.
The drill cuttings, which gas company officials say are benign and environmentalists claim contain a stew of chemical additives, is an economic boon for Keystone, which had an average daily volume of 4,000 tons of waste accepted in 2010.
The landfill is owned by Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples. Keystone also accepts sludge from municipal wastewater plants, asbestos and other products containing PCBs, and a medley of residential and commercial waste.
The new trash stream has come from Marcellus Shale wells as close as Susquehanna County, where horizontal drilling and gas production has kicked into high gear. One completed Stone Energy natural gas well in Rush Township produced 630 tons of drill cuttings that made its way to Keystone Sanitary Landfill last year.
One Marcellus Shale well can produce as much as 1,000 tons of drill cuttings, Cabot spokesman George Stark said, as drill bits bore more than a mile vertically and horizontally beneath the ground through several geologic layers to reach the gas.
Keystone is among a growing number of landfills throughout the state that are taking the cuttings as gas companies move away from on-site burial, which is allowed under state law as long as drill cutting pits are lined and covered in plastic.
“We’re hoping to develop that side of the business,” said John Hambrose, spokesman for Alliance Sanitary Landfill in Ransom and Taylor. “It happens that we haven’t received any yet. We’re always looking to increase our volume.”
Mark Carmon, a DEP spokesman, said landfills are allowed to take the drill cuttings under their general municipal waste permit, but must abide by special regulations for the material. Regulators also examine its chemical composition on a “well pad by well pad basis” to determine if it is safe for disposal, Carmon said.
Keystone also has radiation monitors in place that would detect if drill cuttings contained unsafe levels.
“We are sensitive to the concern. That’s why there are a lot of controls on these facilities,” Carmon said. “We are not seeing any problems at all. If we did, they wouldn’t be able to accept it.”
He added there has been no indication of any issues at Keystone with the material.
Landfills cannot accept wastewater from gas drilling, the toxic mixture of fracking fluids and underground substances produced after a well is hydraulically fractured. Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” involves blasting millions of gallons of chemically treated water thousands of feet into the ground to open cracks in the shale and release the gas. Besides the chemical additives, the water comes back with substances from the depths, including naturally-occurring radioactive material and a high concentration of salt.
“Wastewater would have to be either recycled or go to a (wastewater) treatment facility,” Carmon said.
Gas industry officials say the move to deposit drill cuttings in landfills is part of a “closed loop” approach that attempts to mitigate environmental impact and reuse some materials.
“Chesapeake utilizes a closed-loop drilling process that eliminates the need for drilling (disposal) pits throughout the Marcellus,” Brian Grove, a company executive based in Towanda, wrote in an e-mail. “This process separates drill cuttings into steel bins that are taken off-site for disposal in approved regional landfills.”
Grove said the process reduces the footprint of a well site since a disposal location is not needed and works better with sites that have multiple gas wells that produce thousands of tons of drill cuttings.
Stark, of Cabot, and Chief spokeswoman Kristi Gittins said all of their companies’ drill cuttings are now being disposed of in landfills, including Keystone. The companies are drilling extensively in Susquehanna County.
The drill cuttings are considered residual waste, a category removed from household waste, Carmon said. DEP chemists decide whether a toxic substance can be safely deposited in a municipal landfill, testing its reactivity to other substances, among other procedures.
“This is not an issue,” Carmon said. “We’re talking about rocks. If there was going to be a consistent problem setting off these (radiation) monitors, it wouldn’t be worth it for the landfills.”
Not everyone agrees.
Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of Delaware Riverkeeper, an environmental advocacy group, said drill cuttings contain a host of “dangerous chemicals,” other substances found deep underground including arsenic and mercury, and naturally occurring radioactive materials that may present environmental and public health risks, even in a landfill.
“Everything that is in that (underground geologic) formation is going to be in those cuttings,” Carluccio said. “We may be seeing the buildup of radioactive and other hazardous materials in landfills.”
Glenn C. Miller, Ph.D., an environmental chemist at the University of Nevada, said judging the potential environmental harm of drill cuttings is difficult in part because gas companies refuse to disclose the additives used during drilling, claiming the information is proprietary.
Miller said it is also less understood how harmful the naturally occurring radioactive material in the Marcellus Shale rock can be, considering that its intensity can greatly differ depending on the location of a well.
“Exactly what the risks are, I think they are still evolving,” he said. “It’s not well-defined.”
By Steve McConnell
smcconnell@timesshamrock.com
Published: February 20, 2011
http://citizensvoice.com/news/landfill-accepts-gas-drilling-waste-by-steve-mcconnell-1.1107634#axzz1EJyoubc5
Harveys Lake to hold hearing on drilling ban
HARVEYS LAKE – After months of pressure by residents, council gave in Tuesday and voted for an official hearing on a proposed ordinance to ban natural gas drilling in the borough.
Council members Diane Dwyer, Larry Radel and Carole Samson voted to advertise and hold a hearing to adopt the “Harveys Lake Community Water Rights and Local Self-Government Ordinance” drawn up by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. Councilman Ryan Doughton and President Fran Kopko voted no, and Councilman Boyd Barber abstained.
“Hallelujah,” said resident Neil Turner, a main proponent of the ordinance.
About 70 people attended, many of whom favored the ordinance, which would prohibit water from any source in the borough being used in natural gas drilling, hold neighboring municipalities liable for harm to water sources and make it “unlawful for any corporation to engage in the extraction of natural gas” in the borough.
Critics of the ordinance say the self-governance aspect and potential conflict with the state Oil & Gas Act could get the borough sued or else lose its state funding.
“It’s plain and simple: this ordinance violates state law,” Doughton said. “There’s not one logical, reasonable explanation that makes sense to pass this.”
Those in favor say there’s no conflict and point to other communities, such as Pittsburgh, that passed similar ones. Although council asked a consultant to look into ways the borough can be protected via the zoning ordinance, Turner said they are “two totally different approaches.”
The state Oil & Gas Act could override a zoning ordinance but not the CELDF ordinance, resident Carol Culver said, adding that if the borough does get sued, CELDF will help defend its ordinance in court.
By Elizabeth Skrapits, Staff Writer
Published: February 17, 2011
eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072
http://citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/harveys-lake-to-hold-hearing-on-drilling-ban-1.1106145#axzz1EJyoubc5
Local epicenter of shale drilling likely site for EPA fracking study
Susquehanna and Bradford counties have been selected as one among five areas across the country that might be chosen by the Environmental Protection Agency for case studies of oil and gas drilling’s impact on drinking water.
The case study finalists are all places where oil or gas wells have been hydraulically fractured and where drinking water contamination has been reported.
The finalists were included in the draft study plan the EPA released last week for its multiyear investigation of the possible link between groundwater contamination and hydraulic fracturing or fracking, the process of injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into underground rock formations to crack the rock and release the oil or gas trapped there.
The EPA plans to investigate the full life cycle of the hydraulic fracturing process, from the moment water for fracking is withdrawn from waterways through the mixing of chemicals and the fracturing of wells to the disposal of the wastewater that returns to the surface.
The agency selected five areas – two in Pennsylvania and one each in Colorado, Texas and North Dakota – as case study finalists. It may choose three to five of them as retrospective case studies, or studies of areas already reporting impacts from drilling. Other areas, including Greene County, Pa., are proposed as prospective case studies where the agency will seek to measure any impact from fracking as it happens.
Marcellus Shale drilling areas in Bradford and Susquehanna were chosen as case study finalists so the agency can investigate contamination in groundwater and drinking water wells, as well as suspected surface-water contamination from a fracturing fluid spill and methane contamination in water wells, according to the draft study plan. The agency will use both existing data and information gathered through its own testing and modeling to determine if any contamination is linked to fracking activities.
A panel of scientists will review the draft study plan on March 7 and 8. The EPA will begin the study as soon as it incorporates the panel’s recommendations. The agency plans to release initial research results by the end of 2012 and may issue an additional report in 2014 after further research.
By Laura Legere (TIMES-SHAMROCK WRITER)
Published: February 15, 2011
http://thedailyreview.com/news/local-epicenter-of-shale-drilling-likely-site-for-epa-fracking-study-1.1104963
Gas drill firm paid for top state senator to go to Super Bowl, report says
Consol Energy Inc. took care of plane ride, ticket and hotel for top-ranked Sen. Scarnati.
PHILADELPHIA — An energy company drilling in Pennsylvania’s gas-rich Marcellus Shale paid for a prominent state senator’s trip to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl in Texas, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, had his ticket, plane ride and hotel bill paid for by Consol Energy Inc., one of Scarnati’s top aides told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The free trip is permitted under the state’s ethics rules, Drew Crompton, Scarnati’s legal counsel and chief of staff, told the newspaper. Scarnati might reimburse Consol for some of the costs, Crompton said.
According to state records, Consol executives and lobbyists have contributed more than $15,000 to Scarnati’s campaigns since 2006. The Inquirer reported that it’s not known whether Consol paid for any other legislators to attend last Sunday’s game in Arlington, Texas.
In a statement, Canonsburg, Pa.-based Consol said it “had several guests join us at the Super Bowl,” and noted the expenses would be reported on its next lobbying disclosure report. The company did not identify the other guests.
Under Pennsylvania law, legislators are allowed to accept such tickets and travel as long as they report everything above a $650 annual threshold.
“There’s nothing illegal about it, but it does show the undue influence industry has over elected officials,” said Jan Jarrett, president of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, an environmental advocacy organization that has pushed for taxes and tighter regulations on natural gas drilling.
“It really creates an uneven playing field between those who’ve got the resources to buy that kind of influence and those who don’t,” she said.
Other state legislators, including Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, went to the Super Bowl as guests of the Steelers.
Asked by The Inquirer if the trip would affect Scarnati’s decisions on natural-gas policy, Crompton said it would not.
“Sen. Scarnati has taken positions that are adverse to shale companies, and nothing in his mind has changed,” he said. “He does not toe the line of these companies. His independence speaks for itself.”
Consol Energy expanded its Marcellus presence last year with the $3.5 billion acquisition of the natural-gas operations of Dominion Resources Inc., including 1.46 million acres of gas leases and 9,000 operating wells.
Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, said legislators in some other states aren’t allowed to accept free travel or gifts, and that his group has been pushing for such rules in the Keystone State.
“Under no circumstances should he be allowing someone to pay for his trip if they’re lobbying the Legislature,” Kauffman said. “It just doesn’t look good.”
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Gas_drill_firm_paid_for_top_state_senator_to_go_to_Super_Bowl__report_says_02-13-2011.html
Posted: February 14, 2011
Go slow on shale drilling
baltimoresun.com Opinion: As Pennsylvania has learned, it’s better to ask questions first before allowing energy companies to use hydraulic fracturing to exploit a massive natural gas deposit.
The Marcellus shale natural gas deposit could prove a vital resource for this nation’s energy future. Scientists have estimated that the Appalachians may yield hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, at a value of $1 trillion.
Maryland could have a piece of that action. The Marcellus runs under the western part of the state, perhaps a mile below the surface. It can potentially be extracted by a controversial technique known as hydraulic fracturing, where water is used to break up rock and allow the gas to be released.
It is tempting to want to see domestic natural gas production flourish, not only because of the money and jobs it might bring to the state but because gas can potentially help make this country less dependent on other more problematic fossil fuels. Nevertheless, some caution is in order.
That was the message heard last week from John Quigley, the former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. He is no opponent of natural gas, but he sees “complex and daunting” environmental consequences to Marcellus extraction.
Appearing before the House of Delegates’ Environmental Matters Committee, Mr. Quigley said his state’s experience with the industry so far should sound a cautionary tale to others. Already, Pennsylvania has seen drinking water wells contaminated, leaks of wastewater pits, well blowouts, explosions and fires. Altogether, there have been thousands of recorded violations of environmental regulations, he told the committee.
Clearly, natural gas is not the only precious resource at stake in this debate. Clean water is, too. The industry claims that the potential for the water and chemicals used in fracturing to be released into the groundwater is small and the technique has been in use for decades, but the risk posed to the environment is too great to be treated lightly.
Nor is groundwater contamination the only problem that has surfaced in Pennsylvania. Questions have also arisen as to whether the state had appropriate regulations in place to protect local communities from other problems associated with gas development, ranging from heavy truck traffic to the influx of out-of-state workers.
That’s why legislation pending in Annapolis that would slow down new natural gas production in Maryland is a sensible step. The measure would require the Maryland Department of the Environment to consider many of the environmental issues raised in Pennsylvania and involve local governments in the decision-making process before any permits could be granted.
Why not learn from the mistakes made in Pennsylvania and elsewhere? The nation will need natural gas years into the future as much as it does today — or next month or next year. Better to do it right than to allow big energy companies to exploit Maryland’s natural resources first and have questions asked later.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-shale-gas-20110214,0,7717194.story
baltimoresun.com
February 14, 2011
Harveys Lake citizens hear about drilling ordinance
Law would protect rights to fresh drinking water and preserve eco-systems from gas drilling.
HARVEYS LAKE – Residents of Harveys Lake borough, adjacent to the largest natural lake in Pennsylvania of the same name, met Saturday to hear about a possible self-governing ordinance which would protect the municipality from possible problems caused by natural gas drilling.
The ordinance, written by the Community Environment Legal Defense Fund was given to the borough council in late summer with the request for a public meeting to be held for an open discussion of the ordinance.
Last month, the request was left dangling with a tie vote and a mayor who did not offer to break the tie. Residents, visibly upset, arranged for their own meeting to get the information out and ask residents to help put pressure on the council to schedule and hold a special public meeting.
Ben Price, program director of the CELDF, came in to help answer questions from a packed audience.
“What can communities do, to use their local government to achieve the ends they want?” Price said. “To protect the community and to be sure they can preserve it and they can create the kind of community they want to live in and pass on to their children and grandchildren.”
With grim faces, residents listened when Price explained the gas industry has many exemptions in its favor including the Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, the Superfund Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. These exemptions seem to override any laws local municipalities could enact to prohibit the gas industry, Price said.
The 1984 Gas Act basically said local municipalities have no control over what the corporations do, said Neil Turner, Harveys Lake resident and co-organizer of the meeting.
Price said the best municipalities can do is regulate gas drilling through zoning laws. He said zoning laws can limit certain activities in certain areas of a municipality, on the surface. But he said nothing regulates the horizontal drilling that gas companies are now performing.
“You are never allowed to say no, in the zoning laws, to a legal permitted use of land,” Price said. “How do you know it is legal? Because they issue permits. A permit is a license to engage in an activity. What activity? Hydrofracking. An activity which has been exempt from the protection of federal and state laws.”
The Harveys Lake community is in a good position, Turner said, as a nearby Noxen Township well came up dry and EnCana Oil and Gas U.S.A. pulled out of Luzerne County after exploration results at two wells did not yield large amounts of natural gas.
The ordinance Price presented would establish a Bill of Rights for borough residents banning “commercial extraction of Marcellus Shale natural gas with Harveys Lake borough because that extraction cannot be achieved without violating the rights of residents and communities or endangering their health, safety and welfare.”
The ordinance also nullifies state laws, permits, and other authorizations which interfere with the rights secured by the ordinance.
The four-page ordinance claims residents have inalienable and fundamental rights to access, consume and preserve water drawn from the natural water sources within the borough and protect the natural ecosystems of the community.
Harveys Lake is a large watershed area which feeds into the Ceasetown and Huntsville reservoirs, which provide drinking water to about 100,000 Wyoming Valley residents. Concern over contaminated water from upstream flowing into the lake was also addressed.
The ordinance states “corporations and persons using corporations to engage in natural gas extraction in a neighboring municipality, county, or state, shall be strictly liable for all harms caused to natural water sources, ecosystems, and natural communities within the borough.”
The ordinance also has an enforcement section, which states any person or corporation found in violation of the provisions of the ordinance will pay the maximum fine allowable under state law.
Price said the ordinance is designed to give residents their inalienable rights afforded under the First and Fifth Amendment of the Constitution. He told residents it is not an easy fight.
The ordinance is similar to the one recently passed in Pittsburgh and Licking Township, Turner said.
Price then opened the floor for questions. Residents had several concerns over the possibility of being sued by a gas company over the ordinance. Price responded people can sue each other over anything.
Price said his agency will offer free legal services in terms of drafting and explaining the ordinance, and arguments. More than 120 similar ordinances have been adopted and only about five lawsuits have occurred, he said.
EILEEN GODIN Times Leader Correspondent
Posted: February 13, 2011
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Harveys_Lake_citizens_hear_about_drilling_ordinance_02-13-2011.html
House Democrats push for severance tax
HARRISBURG – Facing an uphill political climb, a group of House Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday that a state government facing a $4 billion deficit can’t afford not to levy a state severance tax on natural gas production.
They gathered at a press conference to revive legislation that at one point appeared close to passage last year, but whose prospects have faded greatly with a Republican-controlled statehouse.
The measure sponsored by Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166, Havertown, would levy a tax at 5 percent of the value of each 1,000 cubic feet of gas produced, plus 4.6 cents per thousand cubic fee extracted. An estimated $245 million in first-year revenue would be distributed in one-third chunks to environmental programs, local governments and the state general fund.
The bill is supported by Reps. Sid Michaels Kavulich, D-114, Taylor, and Eddie Day Pashinski, D-121, Wilkes-Barre.
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is opposed to a severance tax, while Senate GOP leaders have floated the idea of giving local governments authority to levy impact fees on natural gas firms to offset the cost of drilling activities on public infrastructure and the environment.
However, Rep. Dan Frankel, D-23, Pittsburgh, said it makes no sense given the deficit not to consider tapping revenue from a severance tax.
Kavulich said the revenue also could help alleviate some of the state budget cuts that are expected to be proposed by Corbett.
He criticized impact fees for creating new problems for local governments and a fragmented approach to dealing with drilling activities.
The natural gas industry has had two years to establish itself in Pennsylvania and now must pay its fair share, Pashinski said.
Senate Republican leader Joseph Scarnati, R-25, Jefferson County, is willing to support an impact fee as part of a package addressing a number of Marcellus Shale drilling issues, said Scarnati aide Drew Crompton.
While not commenting directly on the severance tax issue, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry trade group, said it wants policies that encourage capital investment in the natural gas industry and create jobs.
By robert swift (Harrisburg Bureau Chief)
Published: February 12, 2011
http://standardspeaker.com/news/house-democrats-push-for-severance-tax-1.1103702
Gas co. may be liable for water quality
Federal judge rules in favor of Lenox Twp. families whose well pad was contaminated.
SCRANTON – For the time being, at least, a natural gas drilling company may be held strictly liable for drinking water contamination near one of its well sites, a federal district judge ruled Wednesday.
Lawyers for Southwestern Energy Production Co., Houston, Texas, moved to dismiss a count of strict liability in the civil lawsuit filed against the company by 13 Susquehanna County families in federal court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
The families filed a federal class-action lawsuit in September against the drilling company, saying that hydraulic fracturing at a Lenox Township well pad has contaminated drinking water and damaged the health and quality of life of area residents.
Southwestern maintains the alleged water contamination has no factual basis.
Judge A. Richard Caputo ruled Feb. 3 that though strict liability has not been found in analogous cases, the court will wait until after evidence has been presented in the trial’s discovery phase to determine Southwestern Energy’s liability.
Parties may be held to strict liability for damages caused to other persons, land or property when their activities are determined to be abnormally dangerous.
All but two of the plaintiffs live along state Route 92 in the township between 700 and 1,700 feet from the Price No. 1 Well Pad, which is operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwestern Energy Production Co., Houston, Texas. Two other families do not live in the area but state in the suit that they regularly drank contaminated water at the residences of two other families listed as plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs claim their drinking water supplies were contaminated by improper or insufficient cement casings around the Price No. 1 well pad, which allowed industrial waste, including hydraulic fracturing fluid, to enter drinking water wells.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, fluid is the mixture of water, sediment and chemicals injected into the ground to create fissures and release the natural gas being extracted from Marcellus Shale.
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Gas_co__may_be_liable_for_water_quality_02-11-2011.html
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
Posted: February 12, 2011
Testimony given on frack water treatment plant
A standing-room-only crowd of 60 people attended a meeting Thursday of the Wyalusing Township supervisors, which was held to hear testimony on an application for a conditional use permit to construct three plants on a 26-acre site in the Browntown section of the township, including a plant to process the waste water from hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells, a plant to manufacture asphalt for paving, and a plant to manufacture synthetic drilling mud.
The supervisors had their first meeting on the matter on Dec. 1, and they continued to take testimony related to the application at Thursday’s meeting.
The site would be served by the Lehigh Railway line, which runs along the Susquehanna River, but the applicants said there would be no discharge from any of their operations to the river.
Carl Bankert, an engineer with Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc., which would build the asphalt plant, said that for all three operations at the site combined, it is estimated that a total of 163 trucks would come to the site each day.
Ground/Water Treatment & Technology of Rockway, N.J., is proposing a plant for the site that would be able to treat 400,000 gallons per day of waste water from hydraulic fracturing, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Bob Kunzel, the executive vice-president for Ground/Water Treatment & Technology, said the treatment of the frack water would take place inside a building using a system of tanks.
Lime would be added to the waste water from hydraulic fracturing to precipitate out calcium, magnesium, barium and strontium as a sludge, Kunzel said.
The sludge would be de-watered before it was taken to the White Pine Landfill in the Wilkes-Barre area, he said.
After the frack water is treated at the plant, it would be returned to gas well sites for further hydraulic fracturing, he said.
The cycle of bringing waste water to the site, reinjecting the treated water into well bores for further hydraulic fracturing, and bringing the flow-back water from hydraulic fracturing to the plant, could be repeated indefinitely, Kunzel said.
There are no current plans to bring waste water from hydraulic fracturing to the site by rail, Kunzel said.
However, the other two operations at the site would use the rail line, the applicants said.
During the first 1 1/4 hours of the meeting, which began at 7 p.m., the supervisors asked questions of the applicants.
As of 8:15 p.m., the supervisors were continuing to ask questions of the applicants.
At the beginning of the meeting, 22 people said they wanted to speak at the meeting, but by 8:15 p.m. none of them had had a chance to speak yet.
At the meeting, Catherine Sherman represented Fluids Management, which is the company that is seeking to construct the facility for manufacturing synthetic drilling mud.
BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN (STAFF WRITER)
Published: February 11, 2011James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
http://thedailyreview.com/news/testimony-given-on-frack-water-treatment-plant-plans-for-the-26-acre-site-also-include-plants-to-manufacture-asphalt-and-drilling-mud-1.1103328
Md. lawmakers warned of natural gas drilling woes in Pa.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/green/bs-gr-marcellus-20110209,0,6104108.story
Md. lawmakers warned of natural gas drilling woes in Pa.
Former Pa state official cites spills, well contamination, urges caution
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun
8:17 p.m. EST, February 9, 2011
A former top Pennsylvania official warned Maryland lawmakers to go slow in allowing drilling for natural gas in Marcellus shale deposits underlying the state’s western mountains or risk the environmental and social problems his state is now experiencing from a poorly regulated wave of energy exploration.
John Quigley, who until two months ago was secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, urged members of the House Environmental Matters Committee to “take a deep breath” and require more study of the immediate and long-term consequences of opening Western Maryland to drilling for natural gas using a controversial technique known as hydraulic fracturing. The method, also known as “fracking,” involves injecting water and lubricating chemicals thousands of feet underground to fracture rock layers and release gas trapped there.
“We have much to learn about the technique and ample reason for caution,” Quigley said during a briefing for lawmakers on Marcellus shale gas exploration in Western Maryland.
At least two bills dealing with hydraulic fracturing have been introduced in the General Assembly. One submitted by Western Maryland legislators would require the Maryland Department of the Environment to adopt new regulations by the end of the year governing fracking, to guard against spills and groundwater contamination. The other measure, offered by Montgomery County lawmakers, would bar such drilling until further study is done and new regulations adopted.
Available now — get the new Baltimore Sun Android app!
Samson Resources of Tulsa, Okla., and Chief Oil & Gas of Dallas are seeking permits to drill a total of three wells in Western Maryland. But the two companies have signed leases granting them the rights to any gas found under 89,000 acres in Garrett and western Allegany counties, according to Robert M. Summers, Maryland’s acting secretary of the environment.
Officials from both companies say they intend to take every precaution in drilling in Maryland.
Summers told committee members that regulators are still reviewing the companies’ drilling requests and have no timeline for deciding whether to grant them and under what conditions. He said officials are considering requiring safeguards not currently mandated under state drilling regulations.
“If you have time to do additional studies up front, I would recommend it,” said Quigley, now a senior fellow with a Pennsylvania environmental group. The former manager of Pennsylvania’s state forests said his state has experienced major problems with contamination of drinking water wells, mainly from improperly drilled gas wells.
In one instance, Quigley said, a poorly drilled well caused natural gas to seep a mile underground and bubble up in the middle of the Susquehanna River. There also have been spills of diesel fuel and of the fluid used in fracking, he said.
While much of the fluid remains underground, some is pumped back out and must be treated because it is very salty and contains minerals and other contaminants from the shale, including radioactive substances.
Well blowouts, explosions and fires also have occurred, and groundwater has been tainted, Quigley said. The contamination stemmed from poor well construction and operations, he said, rather than directly from fracking. Quigley said experts haven’t been able to assure him that Pennsylvania’s groundwater will remain safe years from now, given the scale of drilling and the fluids being injected into the ground.
Quigley, who served under Democratic Gov. Edward G. Rendell, noted that his administration moved to hire more inspectors and adopted tough new regulations to address the problems. The new administration of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is reviewing those rules, but Quigley said there are still gaps in Pennsylvania’s oversight, including a failure to levy a severance tax on natural gas extraction to help pay for its regulation and for remedying environmental problems it has caused.
Del. Maggie L. McIntosh, the Baltimore Democrat who chairs the Environmental Matters Committee, said lawmakers see great economic potential in exploitation of the Marcellus shale deposits, which some believe might hold the largest natural gas reserves in the country. The shale deposits cover 95,000 square miles, from New York through Pennsylvania and Western Maryland to West Virginia and Ohio.
But while the gas might be cleaner-burning than coal and may yield income to landowners who lease mineral rights, McIntosh said lawmakers want to be sure Maryland does not experience problems like those in Pennsylvania.
“If we’re going to do it,” she said, “we want to do it right.”
tim.wheeler@baltsun.com