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
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
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.
Environmental protection takes a significant hit
citizensvoice.com/news/environmental-protection-takes-a-significant-hit-1.1359308
Published: August 16, 2012
State environmental regulators told The Associated Press last year that they spend as little as 35 minutes reviewing each of thousands of permit applications for natural gas wells, even though the environment surrounding each well is unique to that site.
Gov. Tom Corbett’s reaction? That’s not fast enough.
After cutting the DEP budget by more than $20 million during his first 18 months in office, the governor issued an executive order July 24 that will pressure DEP personnel to quickly complete their reviews, regardless of conditions on the ground. It requires the DEP to set specific deadlines for DEP decisions and makes compliance with those deadlines part of the employees’ performance evaluation standards.
DEP’s appropriate mission, of course, is environmental protection rather than mere speed. The governor would have the agency treat all complete permit applications alike even though each location has unique environmental features.
Even under existing procedures, DEP staffers told the AP, evaluators did not spend extra time on applications to drill near fragile waterways that have specific state and federal protections.
The order is curious in several ways.
It rescinds an executive order issued in 1995 by Gov. Tom Ridge, under which the DEP refunded permit fees to applicants if the agency did not review applications within a set time period. Since then, the DEP has refunded a tiny portion of application fees.
According to the governor, he acted because the complaint “I have received over and over again is the time it takes for businesses, nonprofit organizations and governments to work through the permitting process.”
What one hears, of course, is a function of to whom one listens. Corbett listens very intently to the gas industry, especially since his insistence on vast tax breaks for a gas-based Shell petrochemical refinery in Beaver County that will require an array of environmental clearances. His hearing relative to the environmental impact of drilling has been far more selective. Corbett’s executive order would be more appropriate for an economic development agency, but that is not the legitimate mission of the DEP. The order is a back-door means to diminish environmental protection.
Webinar to explore court decision on Marcellus gas development
The Corbett Administration has appealed the Commonwealth Court ruling on the Marcellus natural gas law, Act 13, to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Extension [ http://extension.psu.edu/ ] will host a Web-based seminar on Aug. 9 exploring the ramifications of the recent court decision that struck down part of the state’s recently passed law governing Marcellus Shale natural-gas development.
Titled “A Blow to Act 13?: The Impact of the Commonwealth Court’s Decision on Local Zoning and Natural Gas Development in Pennsylvania,” the one-hour webinar will begin at 1 p.m. Free and open to the public, the session will be of special interest to municipal officials and attorneys.
Attorney Steve Saunders with Saunders Law LLC in Scranton will provide an expert’s view of traditional zoning in Pennsylvania and oil and gas development before and after Act 13. He will cover the legal arguments presented to the Commonwealth Court and explain the court’s rationale for its decision.
Saunders also will examine possible outcomes resulting from the court ruling and advise how local governments might react, according to David Messersmith, extension educator based in Wayne County, who will moderate the online discussion.
“Our main goal for the webinar is to clear up any misconceptions that people have about the court decision and to help them understand what their future course of action might be regarding Marcellus gas development,” he said. “We want to clarify what the court decision really means.”
Because the Commonwealth Court ruling was appealed by Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration to the state Supreme Court in late July, municipal officials and others face considerable uncertainty about its immediate impact on natural-gas development, Messersmith said. He noted that Saunders will address possible outcomes from the appeal.
“There are a lot of people who are interested in natural-gas development, and the Marcellus play impacts such a wide segment of the population — from business owners to local government officials to citizen stakeholders — so we believe that this program will be of interest to many,” he said.
The webinar can be viewed at https://meeting.psu.edu/pscems/. No registration is necessary. For more information, contact Carol Loveland at 570-320-4429 or by email at cal24@psu.edu.
live.psu.edu/story/60597#nw69
Friday, August 3, 2012
EPA says Dimock water safe, but Cabot still can’t drill there
U.S. EPA yesterday ended the latest chapter in the turbulent drilling dispute in Dimock, Pa., finding that contaminant levels in its water show no health threat and no connection to hydraulic fracturing chemicals.
Because of that, the agency said, it will stop delivering water to four households in the small northeastern Pennsylvania community that was featured in the anti-drilling documentary “Gasland.”
“The sampling and an evaluation of the particular circumstances at each home did not indicate levels of contaminants that would give EPA reason to take further action,” said Philadelphia-based EPA Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin.
The action, however, does not change state officials’ case against Cabot Oil and Gas for contaminating water wells in the community with methane. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection still has not cleared Cabot to drill in areas of Dimock Township where it ordered wells shut down in 2009. That case focused on poor well construction, not problems with fracturing.
A Cabot spokesman said the company is “working closely with the state to restart our operations.”
EPA had looked for hazardous substances such as arsenic, barium or manganese (E&ENews PM, May 11). At five homes, EPA sampling found those substances, which are naturally occurring, at levels that “could present a health concern.” But all five of the homes have sufficient treatment systems, or will have them, to make the water quality acceptable coming out of the tap.
“The data released today once again confirms the EPA’s and DEP’s findings that levels of contaminants found do not possess a threat to human health and the environment,” a statement issued by the company said.
The statement said the company will “continue to cooperate with federal, state and local officials” and stressed the economic growth that drilling has brought to the area.
Industry praised EPA’s findings as “fact-based” and cast them as vindication of the safety of drilling.
“We are very pleased that EPA has arrived upon these fact-based findings and that we’re now able to close this chapter once and for all,” said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group.
What’s not closed is the action by Pennsylvania DEP, which shut down Cabot’s drilling in portions of Dimock Township in 2009. State officials said shoddy well construction on Cabot wells allowed methane gas to leak (or “migrate”) into the water wells of Dimock residents.
EPA testing has left many with the impression that the federal agency has exonerated and debunked all the allegations against Cabot in Dimock, said John Hanger, who headed Pennsylvania DEP during its Dimock investigation.
He says a drive by some environmental groups to shut down the industry in Pennsylvania has backfired. He said they pushed too far by trying to prove that hydraulic fracturing chemicals, not just methane, had contaminated the Dimock water.
“This is the problem with hyperbole, exaggeration and wild claims,” Hanger said. “There are real impacts from gas drilling, and we should focus on those, such as methane migration and methane leaks.”
DEP testing found “thermogenic” — as opposed to naturally occurring — gas at 18 properties. DEP fined the company and eventually negotiated a $4.1 million settlement in which all the affected homeowners got at least two times the value of their home and kept any mineral rights.
EPA tested for methane in its first round of sampling. Five wells had methane above the federal Office of Surface Mining’s screening level of 28 parts per million. Two of the homes were receiving alternate sources of drinking water from Cabot. EPA officials said all of the people affected were already aware that their water contained levels of methane.
“EPA’s investigation does not include an evaluation of the risk posed by elevated levels of methane — which continue to exist in some homes in Dimock — and which, at extreme levels and if unaddressed, can lead to explosions,” said Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney Kate Sinding.
www.eenews.net/public/energywire/2012/07/26/1
Mike Soraghan, E&E reporter
EnergyWire: Thursday, July 26, 2012
EPA Completes Drinking Water Sampling in Dimock, Pa.
EPA News Release
Contact: Terri White white.terri-a@epa.gov 215-814-5523
PHILADELPHIA (July 25, 2012) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has completed its sampling of private drinking water wells in Dimock, Pa. Data previously supplied to the agency by residents, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot Oil and Gas Exploration had indicated the potential for elevated levels of water contaminants in wells, and following requests by residents EPA took steps to sample water in the area to ensure there were not elevated levels of contaminants. Based on the outcome of that sampling, EPA has determined that there are not levels of contaminants present that would require additional action by the Agency.
“Our goal was to provide the Dimock community with complete and reliable information about the presence of contaminants in their drinking water and to determine whether further action was warranted to protect public health,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “The sampling and an evaluation of the particular circumstances at each home did not indicate levels of contaminants that would give EPA reason to take further action. Throughout EPA’s work in Dimock, the Agency has used the best available scientific data to provide clarity to Dimock residents and address their concerns about the safety of their drinking water.”
EPA visited Dimock, Pa. in late 2011, surveyed residents regarding their private wells and reviewed hundreds of pages of drinking water data supplied to the agency by Dimock residents, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot. Because data for some homes showed elevated contaminant levels and several residents expressed concern about their drinking water, EPA determined that well sampling was necessary to gather additional data and evaluate whether residents had access to safe drinking water.
Between January and June 2012, EPA sampled private drinking water wells serving 64 homes, including two rounds of sampling at four wells where EPA was delivering temporary water supplies as a precautionary step in response to prior data indicating the well water contained levels of contaminants that pose a health concern. At one of those wells EPA did find an elevated level of manganese in untreated well water. The two residences serviced by the well each have water treatment systems that can reduce manganese to levels that do not present a health concern.
As a result of the two rounds of sampling at these four wells, EPA has determined that it is no longer necessary to provide residents with alternative water. EPA is working with residents on the schedule to disconnect the alternate water sources provided by EPA.
Overall during the sampling in Dimock, EPA found hazardous substances, specifically arsenic, barium or manganese, all of which are also naturally occurring substances, in well water at five homes at levels that could present a health concern. In all cases the residents have now or will have their own treatment systems that can reduce concentrations of those hazardous substances to acceptable levels at the tap. EPA has provided the residents with all of their sampling results and has no further plans to conduct additional drinking water sampling in Dimock.
For more information on the results of sampling, visit: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/states/pa.html .
Talisman Energy to pay $62,000 penalty for violations at 52 natural gas facilities in Pa.
EPA News Release
Contact: Roy Seneca seneca.roy@epa.gov 215-814-5567
PHILADELPHIA (July 25, 2012) — Talisman Energy USA Inc. will pay a $62,457 penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous chemical reporting requirements at 52 hydraulic fracturing facilities throughout Pennsylvania that include natural gas well sites and compressor stations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. Talisman discovered the violations and self-disclosed them to the EPA.
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) requires companies that store specified amounts of hazardous chemicals to submit material safety data and lists of chemicals on site with state and local emergency response agencies and the local fire departments. The safety data describes health risks associated with the chemicals and safe handling instructions. The lists of chemicals set forth the types and quantities of chemicals present on site.
Compliance with these requirements is important for the health and safety of facility occupants and first responders in the event of discharge or accidental exposure to hazardous chemicals. The required information also provides valuable information to emergency planners.
The settlement reflects Talisman’s good faith cooperation with EPA, and its compliance efforts in self-disclosing and swiftly correcting the violations. As part of the settlement, the company neither admitted nor denied the alleged violations.
In a consent agreement with EPA, the company has agreed to pay the $62,457 penalty for failing to file required chemical information for one or more of the past three years at each of the facilities included in the settlement.
For more information on EPCRA and EPA’s toxic chemical reporting program, visit http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/epcra/index.htm .