Frack Water Safety Debated
Bill to require drillers to disclose chemicals goes before Congress
WHEELING – Federal legislators Robert Casey and Diana DeGette believe hydraulic fracturing may contaminate drinking water during the natural gas drilling process.
But Marcellus Shale Coalition President Kathryn Klaber said Congress has no business regulating drilling via the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act.
The bill, commonly known as the FRAC Act, was introduced by U.S. Sen. Casey, D-Pa., and Congresswoman DeGette, D-Colo., in each chamber this week. The legislation is similar to a bill of the same name that died last year.
“Pennsylvanians have a right to know the chemicals used in fracking that could make their way into drinking water and other water sources,” said Casey.
“The FRAC Act takes necessary but reasonable steps to ensure our nation’s drinking water is protected, and that as fracking operations continue to expand, communities can be assured that the economic benefits of natural gas are not coming at the expense of the health of their families,” added DeGette.
The bill’s sponsors say the FRAC Act would:
• Require disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking, but not the proprietary chemical formula. This would be similar to how a soft drink producer must reveal the ingredients of their product, but not the specific formula;
• Repeal a provision added to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempting the industry from complying with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Some anti-fracking advocates have commonly referred to this 2005 provision as the “Halliburton Loophole.”
The act would also provide power to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to require drillers to have an employee, knowledgeable in responding to emergency situations, present at the well at all times during the exploration or drilling phase.
Klaber, though, said state officials are best equipped to regulate fracking and drilling. However, the West Virginia Legislature did not adopt proposed regulations for natural gas drilling – including chemical disclosures for fracking – in the recently concluded regular session.
“Because of tight regulations and laws in place, coupled with the commitment from industry to protect the environment, there’s never been a single case of groundwater contamination associated with fracturing …,” Klaber said.
Lee Fuller, executive director of Energy In Depth, went further than Klaber, saying the FRAC Act is “based on fundamentally incorrect information,” noting the Safe Drinking Water Act was never used to regulate fracking.
“Its backers say it’s about forcing companies to disclose the composition of the … solution that’s not water and sand, even though just about every state regulatory agency in the country will attest that such information is already available,” Fuller added.
Officials with Chesapeake Energy said about 99.5 percent of the 5.6 million gallons of fluid used to frack a typical well consists of water and sand.
However, if 0.5 percent of the 5.6 million gallons used for a normal well consists of materials other than water and sand, that means 28,000 gallons of chemicals found in products such as antifreeze, laundry detergent and deodorant are pumped deep into the ground at high pressure for each fracking job the company performs.
According to Chesapeake, the company’s most common fracking solution contains 0.5 percent worth of chemicals. These include:
• hydrochloric acid – found in swimming pool cleaner, and used to help crack the rock;
• ethylene glycol – found in antifreeze, and used to prevent scale deposits in the pipe;
• isopropanol – found in deodorant, and used to reduce surface tension;
• glutaraldehyde – found in disinfectant, and used to eliminate bacteria;
• petroleum distillate – found in cosmetics, and used to minimize friction;
• guar gum – found in common household products, and used to suspend the sand;
• ammonium persulfate – found in hair coloring, and used to delay the breakdown of guar gum;
• formamide – found in pharmaceuticals, and used to prevent corrosion of the well casing;
• borate salts – found in laundry detergent, and used to maintain fluid viscosity under high temperatures;
• citric acid – found in soft drinks, and used to prevent precipitation of metal;
• potassium chloride – found in medicine and salt substitutes, and used to prevent fluid from interacting with soil;
• sodium or potassium carbonate – found in laundry detergent, and used to balance acidic substances.
March 17, 2011 – By CASEY JUNKINS
http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/553099/Frack-Water-Safety-Debated.html?nav=515
Bill regulating fracking draws mixed reaction
Legislation introduced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., to regulate aspects of natural gas drilling provoked mixed reactions from environmental groups and the industry.
The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals — or FRAC — Act “would increase disclosure and regulation of chemicals that could enter Pennsylvania’s drinking water supply,” according to a statement from the senator.
“We think the FRAC Act is a great first step,” said Jessica Ennis, legislative associate for Earthjustice, an environmental law firm. “I think it would put more accountability into the drilling process.”
Drillers, meanwhile, oppose the attempt to bring hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — under federal regulation.
“This is really a Washington solution in search of a problem,” said Travis Windle, spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition. “This is something the states ably, aggressively and effectively regulate every day.”
Fracking, a fundamental step in Marcellus Shale drilling, involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the ground under high pressure to break apart rock and aid in releasing trapped natural gas.
Congress exempted fracking from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005.
The bill was one of three Mr. Casey introduced Tuesday pertaining to natural gas drilling. A companion bill to the FRAC Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.
March 16, 2011
By Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Jonathan D. Silver: jsilver@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1962
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11075/1132238-113.stm
U.S. Rep. Mark Critz of Johnstown helps form Marcellus caucus
The boom in Marcellus Shale gas drilling has created an abundance of economic opportunities.
But it also has spurred questions about technology, regulation and environmental impact.
Now, several members of Congress are banding together in a new Marcellus Shale Caucus. Co-founded by Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Critz of Johnstown, the caucus will serve as a “bipartisan educational forum” that also could provoke discussion about potential federal regulation.
“Our goal is to have a conversation so we can discuss and learn about the effects that developing the Marcellus Shale will have on each of our congressional districts,” Critz and U.S. Rep. Tom Reed wrote in a letter to House members.
Critz said he and Reed, a New York Republican, first discussed the idea in January. They issued their joint letter last month.
So far, nine other representatives have signed up. The caucus’ membership now includes eight Republicans and three Democrats from four states – Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and West Virginia.
Critz stressed the educational aspect of the caucus, saying members want to hear from the drilling industry, environmental groups and governmental representatives.
Field hearings could be held in some congressional districts, though no such sessions have been scheduled at this point.
“We’re going to try to move it along quickly,” Critz said.
The congressman, who is serving his first full term, has talked often about gas drilling’s economic potential. During his campaign last year, Critz said coal mining and Marcellus Shale drilling could help make western Pennsylvania the “energy capital of the world.”
But in a Monday interview, Critz also noted the need for “balance between industry and the environment.” And he said members of the new caucus could talk about regulating the drilling industry.
“What is the best way forward?” Critz said. “When do we need to regulate?
“When do we need to not regulate?”
The letter from Critz and Reed notes that “concerns do exist regarding the development of the Marcellus Shale, particularly over groundwater contamination.”
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Marcellus Shale Caucus:
Jason Altmire, D-Pa.
Lou Barletta, R-Pa.
Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
Mark Critz, D-Pa.
Richard Hanna, R-N.Y.
Bill Johnson, R-Ohio
David McKinley, R-W.Va.
Tom Reed, R-N.Y.
Tim Ryan, D-Ohio
Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
Steve Stivers, R-Ohio
March 15, 2011
Mike Faher
mfaher@tribdem.com
http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x977550329/Critz-helps-form-Marcellus-caucus
Don’t turn Pennsylvania into Texas
Introducing his first budget last week, Gov. Tom Corbett proposed gutting state funding for education while sparing natural gas drillers from the type of production tax imposed by all other major gas-producing states. Corbett argued that a gas industry unencumbered by a production tax would turn Pennsylvania into “the Texas of the natural gas boom.”
Well, there already is a “Texas of the natural gas boom.”
It’s called Texas.
And despite a longstanding, but loophole-ridden, 7.5 percent production tax on the nation’s most productive gas wells, Texas, like most states, is faced with a huge budget deficit.
In fact, a recent report by the nonpartisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that Texas’ projected budget gap for fiscal year 2012 is the largest in the nation when measured against its current budget, at 31.5 percent.
Unlike his fellow Republican budget-cutters in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where projected budget shortfalls stand at 16.4 and 12.8 percent respectively, Texas Gov. Rick Perry can’t blame greedy state employee unions or out-of-control social spending for his money woes.
State employees in Texas have long been barred from collective bargaining and the state is notoriously stingy when it comes to spending on schools and social programs.
A 2009 study by the National Education Association found Texas ranked near the bottom for per-capita spending for public welfare programs and per-student expenditures in public schools. Nearly one-quarter of Texans lack health coverage, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, compared to about 10 percent in Pennsylvania and 15 percent nationwide.
That still hasn’t helped Texas escape the downturn in tax revenues ravaging all states, due largely to a weakened economy that seems to just now be on the road to recovery.
In fact the very refusal by uber-conservatives like Perry – who has proposed that his state opt out of the Social Security system and maybe the Union itself – to even consider reasonable and fair tax increases over the years is what has driven Texas closer to the brink than any other state.
That’s the road Tom Corbett is proposing we follow in his proposed budget.
He would rather take money and services away from public-school students, the poor and elderly than impose a fair tax on the gas industry, which, by the way, contributed nearly $1 million to his campaign.
Corbett’s proposed budget is unfair, unconscionable and unethical.
And it is likely to land us in the same mess as Texas.
http://citizensvoice.com/news/don-t-turn-pennsylvania-into-texas-1.1117896#axzz1GJB7bAaK
March 13, 2011
Bromide: A concern in drilling wastewater
The high waters of the Allegheny River flow along the 10th Street Bypass last week. Public water suppliers in Pittsburgh and elsewhere in the region are concerned about higher levels of bromide in rivers and streams as natural gas drilling increases.
Ballooning bromide concentrations in the region’s rivers, occurring as Marcellus Shale wastewater discharges increase, is a much bigger worry than the risk of high radiation levels, public water suppliers say.
Unlike radiation, which so far has shown up at scary levels only in Marcellus Shale hydraulic fracturing wastewater sampling done at wellheads, the spike in salty bromides in Western Pennsylvania’s rivers and creeks has already put some public water suppliers into violation of federal safe drinking water standards.
Others, like the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, haven’t exceeded those limits but have been pushed up against them. Some have had to change the way they treat water.
Bromide is a salty substance commonly found in seawater. It was once used in sedatives and headache remedies like Bromo-Seltzer until it was withdrawn because of concerns about toxicity. When it shows up at elevated levels in freshwater, it is due to human activities. The problem isn’t so much the bromide in the river but what happens when that river water is treated to become drinking water.
Bromide facilitates formation of brominated trihalomethanes, also known as THMs, when it is exposed to disinfectant processes in water treatment plants. THMs are volatile organic liquid compounds.
Studies show a link between ingestion of and exposure to THMs and several types of cancer and birth defects.
Marcellus Shale wastewater- current discharges
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11072/1131660-113.stm
March 13, 2011
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983
Hearing on Dallas Twp. natural gas metering station moved to April
The date and location have changed for Dallas Township’s zoning hearing on a natural gas metering station on Hildebrandt Road one-third of a mile from Dallas schools.
Chief Gathering LLC was supposed to present plans to the zoning hearing board Monday in the township building. Instead, the hearing will be held at 7 p.m. April 4 in the Dallas Middle School auditorium, Dallas Township zoning officer Leonard Kozick said.
Chief already had a hearing Feb. 9 on its original plan to build a natural gas compressor station at 49 Hildebrandt Road. That hearing also had to be moved to the middle school due to the hundreds of opponents who attended. Many residents and parents were concerned about the potential for safety hazards including explosions, as well as possible pollution.
The hearing was continued but not resumed because, within two weeks, the company promised to relocate the compressor station to another site in Dallas Township. On Feb. 24, Chief submitted a revised application for two metering station buildings, two gas flow control buildings, a 100-foot communications tower and an 8,000-gallon underground odorant tank.
Chief has not disclosed which other locations are under consideration for the compressor station, which takes liquids out of natural gas and pressurizes it before it goes into a transmission pipeline to market.
Chief waived the rule obligating the zoning board to make a decision within 45 days of the original hearing, Kozick said. He said March 23 would have been the due date.
Metering stations measure the quantity and quality of gas entering the transmission lines – in this case, the Transco interstate pipeline, which runs through Dallas Township. Williams, which owns the Transco, also plans to tap into the pipeline on a property behind the one Chief chose for its own metering station.
Although Williams hasn’t submitted plans, Kozick said he did get a registered letter Wednesday from the company asking for a preliminary opinion on whether a metering station would be an appropriate special exception use in an agricultural area. The township’s zoning ordinance does not specifically allow metering stations.
Williams would have to schedule its own zoning hearing, since Kozick said he can’t answer the question.
“That’s up to the zoning board. It’s not up to me,” he said.
Williams spokeswoman Helen Humphreys anticipates an application will be sent to Dallas Township in the coming weeks.
“We want to be sure that what we submit conforms with all the regulations and ordinances that are applicable,” she said. “That’s very important.”
Published: March 11, 2011
By Elizabeth Skrapits (Staff Writer)
eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072
http://citizensvoice.com/news/hearing-on-dallas-twp-natural-gas-metering-station-moved-to-april-1.1117229#axzz1GJB7bAaK
Pa.’s attempts to track gas drilling waste flawed
Liquid that comes out of the wells — first in a gush, and then gradually for the years and decades it is in operation — is ultra-salty and contaminated with substances like barium, strontium, radium, and other things that can be damaging to the environment.
The natural gas industry’s claim that it is making great strides in reducing how much polluted wastewater it discharges to Pennsylvania rivers is proving difficult to assess because of inconsistent reporting by energy companies — and at least one big data entry error in the state’s system for tracking the contaminated fluids.
Last month, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection released data that appeared to show that drillers had found a way to recycle nearly 6.9 million barrels of the toxic brine produced by natural gas wells — fluid that in past years would have been sent to wastewater plants for partial treatment, and then discharged into rivers that also serve as drinking water supplies.
But those figures were revealed Thursday to have been wildly inflated, due to a mistake by Seneca Resources Corp., a subsidiary of Houston-based National Fuel Gas Co. The company said a worker gave some data to the state in the wrong unit of measure, meaning that about 125,000 barrels of recycled wastewater was misreported as more than 5.2 million barrels.
The error left the false impression that, as an industry, gas companies had created about 10.6 million barrels of wastewater in the last six months of 2010, and then recycled at least 65 percent of that total.
“They did put in gallons where they should have put in barrels,” Seneca spokeswoman Nancy Taylor explained after the error was reported Thursday by the Philadelphia Inquirer. There are 42 gallons in every barrel. Taylor said the company was working to correct its information.
So how much waste did the industry actually recycle? It may be impossible to say with certainty.
Not counting Seneca’s bad numbers — and assuming that the rest of the state’s data is accurate — drillers reported that they generated about 5.4 million barrels of wastewater in the second half of 2010. Of that, DEP lists about 2.8 million barrels going to treatment plants that discharge into rivers and streams, about 460,000 barrels being sent to underground disposal wells, and about 2 million barrels being recycled or treated at plants with no river discharge.
That would suggest a recycling rate of around 38 percent, a number that stands in stark contrast to the 90 percent recycling rate claimed by some industry representatives. But Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, stood by the 90 percent figure this week after it was questioned by The Associated Press, The New York Times and other news organizations.
“I am definitely holding to the 90 percent,” she said, adding that her figure was based on internal industry data. “It is definitely high and going higher.”
As for the wastewater management reports filed annually with the state and reported to the public, she and other people in the industry said they aren’t fully representative of the industry’s practices.
At least one company, Range Resources of Fort Worth, Texas, said it hadn’t been reporting much of its recycled wastewater at all, because it believed the DEP’s tracking system only covered water that the company sent out for treatment or disposal, not fluids it reused on the spot.
Another company that had boasted of a near 100 percent recycling rate, Cabot Oil & Gas, also Houston-based, told The AP that the figure only included fluids that gush from a well once it is opened for production by a process known as hydraulic fracturing. Company spokesman George Stark said it didn’t include different types of wastewater unrelated to fracturing, like groundwater or rainwater contaminated during the drilling process by chemically tainted drilling muds.
DEP officials did not immediately respond to inquiries about the problems with the state’s data.
The AP reported in January that previous attempts by the state to track where wastewater was going were also flawed. Some companies reported that wells had generated wastewater, but failed to say where it went. The state was unable to account for the disposal method for nearly 1.3 million barrels of wastewater, or about a fifth of the total reported in the 12 month period that ended June 30. At least some went to a facility that had not received permission from regulators.
Among large gas-producing states, Pennsylvania is the only one that allows substantial amounts of wastewater produced by gas drilling to be discharged into rivers. Other states don’t allow the practice because of environmental concerns. The preferred disposal method in most other places is to inject the well water into rock formations far underground, where it can’t contaminate surface water.
Liquid that comes out of the wells — first in a gush, and then gradually for the years and decades it is in operation — is ultra-salty and contaminated with substances like barium, strontium, radium, and other things that can be damaging to the environment.
Pennsylvania’s strategy for protecting the health of its rivers is based partly on knowing which waterways are getting the waste, and how much they are receiving.
Regulators monitor which rivers are being used as discharge points for treated well wastewater, and use reports filed by Seneca and other companies to help decide which waterways should be watched for signs that the rivers aren’t assimilating the waste stream. Even if Seneca’s data error had gone unnoticed — unlikely given the size of the blunder — it probably would not have had an effect on that effort, because it involved waste not sent to treatment plants for river disposal.
MARCH 10, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP846de77b9e4c41dbb94ddb76dca74dd6.html
Scientists: Delaware River faces threats
PHILADELPHIA — Threats ranging from global warming to natural gas drilling could threaten the water quality in the Delaware River, scientists and environmental advocates said Thursday.
The state of the river got in-depth attention Thursday at a forum held by the federal Environmental Protection Agency with meetings at six locations in all four states along the river.
Many of the presentations focused on the dangers of climate change, which could cause the salt line to shift upriver and threaten drinking water supplies in Philadelphia or bring additional water-borne diseases to the region.
Delaware River Basin Commission executive director Carol Collier called drilling for natural gas “the huge gorilla” among things that could harm the river. The concern is that chemicals used to extract gas from deep underground in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” could contaminate the drinking water supply.
A massive underground rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which stretches from Tennessee to New York and contains natural gas, is under about one-third of the land in the Delaware basin. It’s also under all the headwaters of the most pristine parts of the river. There, the commission, which monitors water quality in area around the river, is trying to maintain current water quality.
Collier’s agency is considering rules on how to regulate drilling in areas near the Delaware. Collier said Thursday that September is the earliest commissioners would vote on proposed regulations.
Drilling companies say their process is safe. They and many northeast Pennsylvania landowners also say the proposed regulations would be stifling for business in an area that could use a boost.
Environmental groups worry the regulations would be too permissive.
The public can comment on the proposed regulations until April 15.
Environmentalists have been pushing the DRBC to wait until there’s a full EPA study on the impacts of fracking in the region before issuing rules.
Collier said that decision will be made by her commission, which includes the governors of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware and a federal representative. But, she said, the final EPA report isn’t expected to be released for another three years.
MARCH 10, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/AP2383bce525c34f6a88282883079545d8.html
Expert to discuss health impacts of natural gas compressors
Dr. Conrad D. Volz of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Healthy Environments and Communities will talk about “Public Health Impacts of Natural Gas Compressor Stations” at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Insalaco Hall, Rooms 216-217, Misericordia University, 301 Lake St., Dallas.
Volz, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, is focused on researching how industrial and municipal contaminants move through air, water and soil and can affect humans.
Samantha Malone, a University of Pittsburgh Center for Healthy Environments and Communities Communications specialist and the founder and webmaster of FracTracker.org, an online mapping system, will also give a presentation.
The program is the second installment of the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition’s “Educational Series for an Informed Citizenry.” It is free and open to the public. For information, visit GDACoalition.org.
Published: March 5, 2011
http://citizensvoice.com/news/expert-to-discuss-health-impacts-of-compressors-1.1114261#axzz1FY5MNqYe
Radiation-fracking link sparks swift reactions
Reports this week of high radiation levels in Marcellus Shale waste fracking fluids and weak regulation of the industry have turned on a spigot of action by federal and state officials.
U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Lisa Jackson visited the agency’s Region III office in Philadelphia Friday to ascertain the radiation issue will be addressed in an ongoing national study on the drinking water impacts of hydraulic fracturing, an industrial process used in shale gas development.
The EPA will seek data from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the drilling industry on radioactivity in the fracking fluid “flowback” water.
In a statement released following Ms. Jackson’s meeting, the EPA said that while the national study progresses, it “will not hesitate to take any steps under the law to protect Americans whose health may be at risk,” including enforcement actions to ensure that drinking water supplies are protected.
After a well is drilled, millions of gallons of water, sand and chemical additives are pumped deep underground under high pressure to crack the shale formation and release the gas it contains. As much as 20 percent of that fracking fluid waste returns to the surface with the gas and contains a variety of radioactive minerals from the shale.
The New York Times reported that hydraulic fracturing wastewater at 116 of 179 deep gas wells in the state contained high levels of radiation and its effect on public drinking water supplies is unknown because water suppliers are required to conduct tests of radiation only sporadically.
A number of public water suppliers, including the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and Pennsylvania American Water Co. said this week that they would voluntarily test for radiation.
State Rep. Camille Bud George, D-Clearfield, announced he will introduce legislation calling for mandatory and independent radiation testing of all public water supplies that could potentially be affected by Marcellus Shale drilling wastewater discharges, and requiring the drilling and gas companies to pay for the testing.
State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, renewed his call for a moratorium on drilling and said he will introduce legislation to toughen state Oil and Gas Act regulations on well siting around residences and streams, and impose a severance tax on Marcellus Shale gas production. Gov. Tom Corbett opposes such a tax.
“A moratorium is the most reasonable approach, especially in light of recent revelations about serious threats to our drinking water supply,” Mr. Ferlo said. “This bill provides a framework for updating and improving regulations, as well as retaining the economic benefits of Marcellus Shale development.”
In a statement issued Thursday, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, one of the most mainstream of the state’s environmental organizations, called on Mr. Corbett to drop plans to open more of the state’s forests and parks to Marcellus gas drilling.
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11064/1129908-113.stm