Gas drilling information session set for Thursday
http://citizensvoice.com/news/gas-drilling-information-session-set-for-thursday-1.776328
Gas drilling information session set for Thursday
Published: May 10, 2010
An informational meeting on natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale will be offered Thursday in Lehman Township.
The meeting will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Lake-Lehman High School on Old Route 115.
Representatives from DEP, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and natural gas experts from Penn State will give presentations.
Drinking water clinic highlights drilled wells, cisterns and springs
http://live.psu.edu/story/46304/nw69
Friday, April 23, 2010
University Park, Pa. — Ben Franklin wrote, “when the well is dry, we know the worth of water.” But even when the well is pumping steadily, it’s still worthwhile to regularly test private water supplies.
Public water systems are required by law to protect customers and regularly test for impurities. But in Pennsylvania, 3.5 million residents are served by private water systems, such as wells, springs and cisterns, and they have no such legal oversight.
“If you own your own private supply, it’s all your own responsibility to provide clean water to yourself, the people in your family and the people who come to visit,” said Peter Wulfhorst, educator with Penn State Cooperative Extension in Pike County.
Wulfhorst will be the featured speaker in the next Penn State Extension Water Webinar, titled “Safe Drinking Water Clinic,” which will air at noon and again at 7 p.m. on April 28.
He said two types of water standards concern homeowners: primary standards pertaining to health, and secondary standards that pertain to the water’s aesthetics — its taste or smell, its appearance, or whether it stains plumbing fixtures or laundry. He said the webinar will cover both of these subjects, as well as how to protect a water supply from contaminants, which contaminants to test for and what treatments to use if contaminants are present. Read more
Webinar contrasts regional differences for shale-gas drilling
http://live.psu.edu/story/46121/nw69
Friday, April 16, 2010
Webinar contrasts regional differences for shale-gas drilling
University Park, Pa. — The grass sometimes looks greener on the other side of the fence — or in the other corner of the state — not necessarily because it actually is greener, but because a disturbance in one’s own backyard makes the local situation lose its luster.
That’s the case with some property owners in southwestern Pennsylvania as they compare their situations to landowners in the northeastern counties as the shale-gas boom continues to reverberate around the commonwealth, according to Gary Sheppard, Penn State Cooperative Extension educator from Westmoreland County. Read more
Home Water Well Testing in the Gas Well Era
June 15, 2010
2:00 — 4:00 pm
Damascus School
Damascus, PA
or
7:00 — 9:00 pm
Park Street Complex
648 Park St
Honesdale, PA
AGENDA
- How gas wells can impact groundwater wells.
- Regulations to protect private wells.
- Potential water pollutants.
- Testing strategies – including test packages through Penn State and third party water testing.
- How to collect water samples.
- Interpretation of water test results.
Webinar to address economic impact of shale gas drilling on March 18
Sometimes research can provide clarity to a question, and sometimes it can cloud the waters even further. That may be the case with some economic-impact studies of shale-gas drilling in Pennsylvania. At 1 p.m. on March 18, Tim Kelsey, professor of agricultural economics in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, will deliver a free Web-based seminar designed to provide an overview of some of the research used by decision-makers to assess factors of economic development in their communities.
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/45180/nw69
Webinar to address recycling wastewater from gas drilling
The calls to “reduce, reuse and recycle” have long been the watchwords of resource conservation, and when it comes to disposing of wastewater from shale-gas operations, those refrains still run deep, sometimes thousands of feet beneath groundwater sources.
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/44473/nw69
Previous webinars — which covered topics such as water use and quality, legal questions surrounding natural gas exploration, and gas-leasing considerations for landowners and implications for local communities — can be viewed at http://naturalgas.extension.psu.edu/webinars.htm online.
Safe water, ponds and septic systems in 2010 water-quality webinars
Safe water, ponds and septic systems in 2010 water-quality webinars
Water quality and water conservation will be the focus of five Web-based
seminars produced by Penn State Cooperative Extension this spring. Topics will
include water testing, septic systems, managing ponds and lakes, and safe
drinking water. The first webinar will cover strategies to monitor water
wells, springs and streams that are near gas-drilling sites. That presentation
will air at noon and again at 7 p.m. on Jan. 27.
Read the full story on Live: Webinar
PENN STATE LAUNCHES WATER-TESTING PROGRAM FOR PA. RESIDENTS
Carbon County Groundwater Guardian Water Testing and Education Program started in 2000. We also started conducting well owner workshops in 1999 and were part of the Master Well Owner Program.
Penn State Ag Sciences News 7/24/2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — To help ensure an abundant supply of safe
water for people, crops and livestock, Penn State’s College of
Agricultural Sciences has launched a water-testing program, which will
be administered by the college’s Agricultural Analytical Services
Laboratory.
“About 3.5 million rural Pennsylvanians rely on more than one
million private wells for their drinking water, and about 20,000 new
wells are drilled each year,” says Bryan Swistock, water resources
senior extension associate. “We hope by encouraging people to get their
water tested, we can help them to improve their water quality and to
safeguard their health.”
Swistock points out that private water supplies in Pennsylvania are
not regulated by the state or federal government, and well owners are
responsible for maintaining the quality of their own water. “However,
about half of the state’s wells that have been tested fail to meet at
least one drinking-water standard,” he says.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established primary
and secondary drinking-water standards. Primary standards apply to
contaminants — such as coliform bacteria, nitrate and lead — that
cause health problems. Secondary standards address iron, manganese,
chloride and other pollutants that cause aesthetic problems, such as
stains, odors or off-tastes. Penn State’s program will provide well
owners with reports detailing how their water-test results compare to
these EPA standards.
Similar testing will be done for water used for livestock
consumption. “When dairy and livestock producers are trying to diagnose
performance problems with their animals, water is one nutrient that
often is overlooked,” says Virginia Ishler, nutrient-management
specialist in dairy and animal science.
“It’s not uncommon for aesthetic problems, such as odors and
tastes, to cause water intake in cattle to drop, which in turn can
reduce milk production,” Ishler says. “Less frequently, bacterial
contamination can adversely affect animal health. Offering this testing
program will give us a chance to help producers diagnose and correct
problems that might be limiting productivity and profitability.”
Two testing programs for irrigation water — for
greenhouses/nurseries and for turf — will be offered. The
greenhouse/nursery testing protocols will focus primarily on nutrient
content, according to Rob Berghage, associate professor of horticulture.
“Water quality and fertility are critical to greenhouse and nursery
operators,” he says. “Managing nutrient content is especially important
for growers using recirculating systems. Too much or too little
nutrients can harm plant health.”
Berghage explains that contamination issues also can be a concern,
particularly in “beneficial re-use” systems where water is being
recycled from sewage or industrial plants. In addition, he says, knowing
what’s in irrigation water can help growers manage nutrients and
chemicals in run-off, minimizing their environmental impact and helping
to enhance water quality in streams, rivers and the Chesapeake Bay.
To submit a water sample for testing, customers first must obtain a
free water-test kit from Penn State’s Ag Analytical Services Lab or from
a participating county office of Penn State Cooperative Extension. The
kit includes shipping materials, instructions on how to take a sample
and a submission form. Residents will choose from a range of testing
options available for each water type (drinking, irrigation or
livestock) and will send the kit, with the appropriate fee, to the lab.
Test results and relevant fact sheets or recommendations typically will
be returned in two to three weeks.
For more information, contact your county Penn State Cooperative
Extension office (find it on the Web at
http://www.extension.psu.edu/extmap.html) or the Ag Analytical Services
Lab (814-863-0841, aaslab@psu.edu), or visit the lab’s Web site at
http://www.aasl.psu.edu.
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