Drought warning
http://www.tnonline.com/node/135919
Reported on Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Drought warning
Shortage of rain must be taken seriously
Last week, the Pa. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a drought warning for our newspaper’s entire coverage area – Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Schuylkill Counties.
The combination of lower rain than usual with the excessive summer heat has resulted in stream levels being well below normal.
One only has to see the receding shore line at Mauch Chunk Lake Park to understand how critical the water level has become.
The National Weather Service says rainfall is four inches below normal for the past 90 days in the Lehigh Valley. Carbon County has a 4.5 inch deficit for 90 days while in Monroe County, there is a 5.2 inch rainfall shortage for the three-month period.
The DEP is asking people to conserve water. One of the most common sources of waste water is a leak within your residence, such as a toilet. DEP says a leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water per day. Although many households are strapped for cash right now, fixing such a leak should be a priority since it can also reduce your monthly water bill.
DEP encourages residents to conserve water by taking showers instead of baths.
Also, keep water in the refrigerator to avoid running water from a faucet until it is cold.
Run your dishwasher only when it is full.
Water is a precious resource and we can’t ignore the fact that levels at our storage facilities are being reduced by the lack of rain. Generally, the water lines aren’t fully restored until spring when a good snow pack melts. A dry winter will make things very critical, so it’s best to start conserving now.
This is especially true if you rely on wells rather than city water.
The DEP could do more to help the situation by making its Web site more user friendly with drought advice, suggestions, and information. Very little is stated on the DEP site about the drought conditions.
After all, it is the DEP which issues drought warnings.
We agree that there is a drought. We have to think ahead, though, to assure that if the drought continues, we’ll still have enough water to meet our every day needs.
By Ron Gower
rgower@tnonline.com
Dimock Municipal Water
http://www.newschannel34.com/news/local/story/Dimock-Municipal-Water/nQ3hhSe3YkOkC1NQvgqwgw.cspx
Dimock Municipal Water
Last Update: 9/17/2010 10:15 pm
Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator is proposing that residents in Dimock, PA who have had their drinking water wells contaminated by nearby hydro-fracking, be connected to municipal water supplies six miles away.
John Hanger says the best and only solution is to connect residents to the water system in Montrose at a cost of more than $10 million. The state DEP determined that the residential wells were contaminated with methane as a result of nearby natural gas drilling by Houston-based Cabot Oil & Gas. Cabot has been supplying the homes with bottled water and the residents have launched a lawsuit against the company. Hanger says that if Cabot balks at paying the tab, the state will pay for the work itself, then go after Cabot for the money.
Researchers Concerned About Chemical In The Monongahela River
http://kdka.com/local/chemical.monongahela.river.2.1919015.html
Sep 17, 2010 8:02 pm US/Eastern
Researchers Concerned About Chemical In Mon River
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―The Monongahela River is the source for 13 different water companies.
The drinking water comes out of taps in homes and businesses in the better part of southwestern Pennsylvania.
Now researchers at Carnegie Mellon University are raising concerns about the level of bromide in the Mon River – something they detected in July and August.
“Bromide itself is not a concern,” says Dr. Jeanne VanBriesen, director of CMU’s Water Quality In Urban Environmental Systems Center. “We’re concerned that when the bromide gets into the drinking water plants there’s a reaction that takes place.”
And that reaction comes when the river water is disinfected with chlorine and forms byproducts. The byproducts are always present in our water at different levels, but continuous high levels are linked to health problems, says Dr. VanBriesen.
“Particularly cancer and reproductive outcomes,” she said.
There is not a lot that water companies can do. The bromide contamination has to be stopped at its source. They must find out how it’s getting into the river.
“We initially started researching it because the Marcellus Shale produced-water does have a significant amount of bromide,” Dr. VanBriesen said.
But the bromide levels only spiked this summer and a lot of other industries are capable to producing bromide.
“It’s crucial for people to understand that we’re concerned about this, but the water is safe to drink,” Dr. VanBriesen said.
It’s the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s job to monitor contaminants in the rivers.
“Going back and using our data to look at all the dozens of facilities along the Mon that discharge into the river,” is what the watchdog department is doing says spokesperson Katy Gresh.
DEP detectives will be looking at three categories of potential bromide polluters.
“Deep mining, oil and gas as you mentioned and other heavy industry like power plants and steel plants,” Gresh said.
Finding a source may take six months to a year to sample bromide levels, but for now the DEP agrees that our water meets all federal standards.
The increased bromide levels have nothing to do with the musty taste and smell that some water company customers were experiencing last month due to stressed algae in the rivers.
24 counties on state’s drought warning list
http://www.tnonline.com/node/134746
Reported on Friday, September 17, 2010
24 counties on state’s drought warning list
Pennsylvania environmental officials have put 24 counties including Carbon, Schuylkill, Northampton and Monroe under a drought warning and the rest of the state under a drought watch.
Meager rainfall and high temperatures prompted the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue the warnings Thursday. DEP Secretary John Hanger says a hot, dry summer has led to steadily declining ground and surface water levels.
A drought warning asks residents to voluntarily reduce water use by 10-15 percent.
DEP said rainfall deficits over the past 90 days are currently as great as 5.6 inches below normal in Somerset County and 5.5 inches in Bucks County.
Other counties under a drought warning include Philadelphia, Allegheny, Lehigh, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bucks, Montgomery and Washington.
A drought watch is the lowest of three advisory levels and a drought warning is the second-most severe condition. No counties in the state are under a drought emergency.
DEP is sending letters to all water suppliers statewide, notifying them of the need to monitor their supplies and update their drought contingency plans as necessary. It monitors a statewide network of groundwater wells and stream gauges that provide comprehensive data to the state drought coordinator.
DEP offers the following tips for conserving water around the home:
Ÿ Install low-flow plumbing fixtures and aerators on faucets
Ÿ Check for household leaks a leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day
Ÿ Take short showers instead of baths. Kitchen/laundry areas
Ÿ Replace older appliances with high efficiency, front-loading models that use about 30 percent less water and 40-50 percent less energy
Ÿ Run dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads
Ÿ Keep water in the refrigerator to avoid running water from a faucet until it is cold.
The department also offers water conservation recommendations for commercial and industrial users, such as food processors, hotels and motels, schools and colleges, as well as water audit procedures for large water customers. Water conservation tips and drought information can be found online at www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: drought.
DEP Investigating Source of Stray Methane Gas in Bradford County
DEP Investigating Source of Stray Methane Gas in Bradford County
DEP to Require Complete Remediation
HARRISBURG — The Department of Environmental Protection is continuing to investigate the source of stray methane gas detected in the Susquehanna River and at six private water wells in Wilmont Township, Bradford County, late last week.
“Chesapeake Energy has been working at the direction of DEP to determine the source or sources of the stray gas,” said Hanger. “Gas migration is a serious, potentially dangerous problem. Chesapeake must stop the gas from migrating.”
Chesapeake has six Marcellus Shale gas wells located on the Welles well pads one three and four, located two to three miles northwest of the Susquehanna River. These wells are believed to be the source of stray gas that was detected on Aug. 4 at a residence located on Paradise Road in Terry Township. DEP issued a notice of violation to Chesapeake and required it to provide and implement a plan to remediate. Progress has been made, but, to date, this violation has not yet been fully resolved.
While neither DEP nor Chesapeake have been able to conclusively show that the Welles wells are the source, DEP believes that they are the most likely source.
The wells were drilled between Dec. 2009 and March of this year; however the wells have not been fractured or “fracked” and are not producing Marcellus gas. For that reason, DEP believes that any stray gas migrating from these wells is not from the Marcellus Shale formation, but from a more shallow rock formation.
Chesapeake has screened 26 residences within a one-half mile radius of the river and found six water wells to have elevated levels of methane. Chesapeake monitored each of the houses served by an impacted water well and found no indication of methane gas in the homes.
On Sept. 3, high levels of methane were detected in the crawl space under a seasonal residence. Emergency responders were contacted to ventilate below the home and gas and electric utilities were shut off to eliminate any potential for ignition.
Chesapeake has equipped water wells with high levels of methane with ventilation systems and installed five methane monitors in the homes associated with the im-pacted wells. Additionally, Chesapeake has provided potable water to the effected residents.
No residents have been evacuated from their homes.
DEP first received information about water bubbles in the Susquehanna River late on Sept. 2, with additional reports received the next morning of bubbling in two private drinking water wells nearby. In response, DEP sent two teams of inspectors to investigate the source of stray methane gas on Sept. 3.
One team of DEP inspectors went to the Susquehanna River near to Sugar Run where bubbling had been reported. DEP collected samples of the gas for isotopic analysis which is used to identify the source. Analysis of the lab results will be complete within 2 weeks.
Biogenic methane gas is formed at shallow depths from the natural organic decomposition of waste, such as one would find in swamp gas. Thermogenic methane gas is produced in deeper geologic formations and is the gas typically developed for economic purposes.
Both DEP and Chesapeake have taken gas samples from the water well heads and the natural gas wells. The results will help to determine if the source of the stray gas detected at the river and in the water wells is the Welles wells.
Anyone who notices unusual bubbling in surface or well water should notify DEP immediately by calling 570-327-3636.
####
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=14034&typeid=1
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
09/7/2010
CONTACT:
Helen Humphreys, Department of Environmental Protection
717-787-1323
Meters required for all wells
http://www.tnonline.com/node/128288
Meters required for all wells in Nesquehoning, PA
Reported on Thursday, August 26, 2010
By CAROL ZICKLER TN Correspondent tneditor@tnonline.com
“Tom Merman asked David Hawk, who serves as the borough’s Water Authority chairman, about putting meters on all of the wells in town that don’t have meters on them. Hawk answered that it is up to council as to whether they want to enforce the ordinance. There is an ordinance that all wells have meters attached. Later in the meeting it was discussed that each homeowner who does not have a meter must get one and have it installed. They will have 30 days from time of accepting the meter to have it installed.”
DEP Fines Atlas Resources for Drilling Wastewater Spill in Washington County
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=13595&typeid=1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
08/17/2010
CONTACT:
Katy Gresh, Department of Environmental Protection Southwest Regional Office
412-442-4203
DEP Fines Atlas Resources for Drilling Wastewater Spill in Washington County
PITTSBURGH — The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Atlas Resources LLC $97,350 for allowing used hydraulic fracturing fluids to overfill a wastewater pit and contaminate a high-quality watershed in Hopewell Township, Washington County.
The violations were discovered on Dec. 5 and 6, 2009, at the Cowden 17 gas well on Old Trail Road off Route 844. Once the unknown quantity of fluid overflowed the impoundment’s banks, it ran over the ground and into a tributary of Dunkle Run.
“It is unacceptable for drilling companies in Pennsylvania to threaten public safety or harm the environment through careless acts, such as this,” DEP Southwest Regional Director George Jugovic Jr. said. “The Marcellus Shale offers significant economic opportunities for Pennsylvania, but these companies must adopt operating standards that prevent these sorts of accidents and they must make protecting our water resources a top priority.”
This spill violated Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Act and Solid Waste Management Act, as well as the state’s Clean Streams Law. Atlas corrected the problem once it was discovered, but failed to report it to DEP.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process during which liquid is pumped under high pressure down a well and into a rock formation. This causes the formation to crack open and form passages through which natural gas can flow into the borehole.
Properly cased and cemented wells prevent the fluid from entering ground water supplies. Diluted frack fluids are classified as residual waste under Pennsylvania’s Solid Waste Management Act and industrial waste under the state Clean Streams Law.
For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 412-442-4000.
DEP hires emergency response agency
http://citizensvoice.com/news/dep-hires-emergency-response-agency-1.931353
Published: August 8, 2010
DEP hires emergency response agency
By Elizabeth Skrapits
Staff Writer
When a natural gas well blew out in Clearfield County on June 3, it spewed gas and chemical-laden wastewater for 16 hours until experts could be brought in from Texas to cap it.
In an attempt to prevent a repeat of that scenario as drilling in the Marcellus Shale expands, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said DEP has made arrangements with a Houston, Texas-based well control company that is opening an emergency response and natural gas support services facility in Bradford County.
“Hopefully that will help people be assured there is expertise and equipment here,” Hanger said. “These are not local fire units. These are expert individuals with expert equipment, who are trained in the oil and gas business.”
Cudd Energy Services, the parent company of Cudd Well Control, is starting a branch in a 55,000-square-foot building at 2897 Route 414 in Canton. Hanger said 16 specially-trained well control responders will be employed there.
“There will always be one senior well control specialist in the state at any given time, and there will be a number of what we call first responders,” said Troy White, Director of Business Development for Cudd Well Control. “It’s a very small fraternity of specialists, and that’s why it’s difficult to be everywhere.”
Cudd will also be hiring local people. According to the Towanda Daily Review, the company is bringing around 100 jobs to the area, including safety personnel, mechanics, field engineers, lab technicians and warehouse and administrative employees.
Hanger said DEP’s decision to make arrangements with Cudd was prompted by the incident in Clearfield County and the July 23 accident in Allegheny County, when a traditional natural gas well exploded while undergoing maintenance, killing two workers.
Local fire response was excellent in both cases, but dealing with an out-of-control natural gas well requires specialized training, Hanger said. He said it is not reasonable to expect volunteer fire companies to have the experience or equipment to shut the wells down.
“The whole point is not to be relying on just calling Texas. We agree that can’t continue,” Hanger said. “The resources and expertise would supplement any local fire units.”
Cudd, which has been around since 1978, specializes in well blowouts, firefighting and deep wells. The company fought oil well fires in Kuwait in 1991, White said. The firm plans to work with local emergency personnel, as well as the gas companies and their contractors.
“We would prefer, rather than having to respond to emergencies ⦠an equal and even more important part of our business is the prevention side,” White said.
Cudd Energy Services can help natural gas drilling companies with preventing accidents, drilling inspections and blowout contingency planning, White said. Another service Cudd can provide is minimizing the chances of methane migration into drinking water supplies by helping gas companies get a good casing program and a drilling plan in place, White said.
Each natural gas driller contracts with well control companies to be called in case of an emergency. Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc., which is drilling Luzerne County’s first exploratory wells in Fairmount and Lake townships, has Wild Well Control Inc. and Boots & Coots Well Control listed in their DEP-required emergency response plan, along with Cudd.
In fact, Encana has just moved Cudd to first responder, White said, noting, “We work for Encana all over.”
He called the company “very safe and sensitive to the environment.”
White said that, generally speaking, the chances of something catastrophic happening are lower with shale than with porous rock like limestone or sandstone.
He said when well problems do occur, they are usually during the completion process, when the shale has been hydraulically fractured and its pores are opened and connected, leaving a clear path for the gas to come into the well bore.
“If something should come up, we’ll be there ready to respond,” White said.
eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072
Marcellus Shale drillers record 1,500 violations since start of 2008
http://republicanherald.com/news/report-marcellus-shale-drillers-record-1-500-violations-since-start-of-2008-1.918141
Report: Marcellus Shale drillers record 1,500 violations since start of 2008
BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER LLEGERE@TIMESSHAMROCK.COM)
Published: August 3, 2010
Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers have been cited nearly 1,500 times in the last two-and-a-half years for violating the state’s oil and gas laws, according to a report released Monday by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association.
Two-thirds of the 1,435 violations were identified by the report’s authors as likely to harm or pose a threat to the environment, while the other third were identified as administrative or safety violations.
The violations were issued by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the agency that regulates gas drilling in Pennsylvania, which released the records to the association in response to a Right to Know Law request.
Elana Richman, projects coordinator for the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, said the organization sought the records to measure the gas extraction industry’s environmental record as Marcellus Shale drilling expands in the state.
“We had the feeling that there was a lot out there that we weren’t seeing,” she said.
The association found that of the 952 violations with environmental implications, 277 were for improper erosion and sedimentation plans or controls, 268 were for faulty wastewater pits, 100 were violations of the state’s Clean Streams Law, and 154 were spills of brine, oil, drill cuttings or other waste to the ground or streams.
DEP released the details of one such spill Monday, when it announced that it had fined Talisman Energy USA $15,506 for a spill of gas drilling wastewater at a Bradford County well site in November.
The spill of between 4,200 to 6,300 gallons polluted a small, unnamed tributary to Webier Creek, DEP said. The company has since completed the state’s cleanup requirements.
Violations associated with recent high-profile environmental accidents, like well blowouts and gas contamination of water supplies, occurred in smaller numbers during the report’s study period, between January 1, 2008, and June 25, 2010.
There were 10 violations for improper construction of the cement and steel casings used to isolate drinking water aquifers from Marcellus Shale wells, a problem that DEP found was to blame for gas contamination of 14 drinking water supplies in Dimock Township. DEP issued 16 violations for improper blowout-prevention measures, lapses like those that led to the blowout of an EOG Resources well in Clearfield County on June 3, when wastewater and gas erupted uncontrollably for 17 hours.
The report also lists the 25 Marcellus Shale drillers with the most violations, beginning with East Resources Inc., a Warrendale, Pa.-based company that was recently bought by Royal Dutch Shell, which recorded 138 violations. Chesapeake Appalachia, Chief Oil and Gas, Cabot Oil and Gas, and Talisman Energy USA were also in the top five.
Stephen Rhoads, director of external affairs for East Resources, said the company is “painfully aware” of the violations and has changed its practices to address and avoid them, including no longer using earthen pits to handle well wastes.
“Obviously we need to do some work, and we are,” he said, noting that the company is close to the bottom of the report’s list of 25 drillers with the highest average number of violations per well drilled.
Proponents and critics of Marcellus Shale drilling interpreted the report differently on Monday as evidence of either strict or insufficient regulatory oversight.
“Clearly our industry is tightly regulated, and arguably under more scrutiny than any other operating in the commonwealth,” said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a cooperative of the state’s Marcellus drillers.
Environmental groups used the report to call for more drilling regulations and enforcement.
“DEP inspectors do not visit these sites frequently enough,” said Jeff Schmidt, director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter. “With the thousands of permits issued, DEP does not make necessary inspections to protect the public from environmental harm.”
DEP released a fact sheet about its oversight of Marcellus Shale drilling on Monday that countered Mr. Schmidt’s criticism.
“No other state has added more staff, done a more comprehensive strengthening of its rules or more aggressively enforced its rules than Pennsylvania has,” it said.
DEP Secretary John Hanger said the report proves the industry is actively regulated, that companies “can do a better job of operating their drill sites,” and that the drillers should pay a severance tax on the gas they produce.
“Even with strong oversight there are going to be impacts,” he said. “This industry must pay a tax in order to compensate the state, the local community and the environment for some of the costs associated with drilling.”
Chemicals Used by Hydraulic Fracturing Companies in Pennsylvania
Chemicals Used by Hydraulic Fracturing Companies in Pennsylvania
For Surface and Hydraulic Fracturing Activities
Prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection
Bureau of Oil and Gas Management
Compiled from Material Safety Data Sheets obtained from Industry
