Wellsboro family struggles with well contamination

"One morning the salamanders in their pond, where the water was 'pristine' according to tests done prior to drilling, began to die...."

The following article by Cheryl Clarke appeared in the Sun Chronicle on July 2, 2011:

A Charleston Township family's experience with natural gas drilling has become the latest story of contaminated well water associated with nearby drilling, in the ongoing Marcellus Shale saga, according to family member Jeremiah Gee.  Gee and his parents, Denise and Jerry, live next door to land that has been leased to Shell Appalachia for drilling, and last winter, a gas drilling site appeared about 100 yards from a pond on their property.  It now is known as the "Vandegrift 290" well site.

Gee, a doctorate candidate at Penn State University, said shortly thereafter the family noticed a change in its well water.  "We noticed that early on our faucets were sputtering, and the water was milky looking," Gee said.  The reason it looked like milk, he said, is "because there were a billion tiny gas bubbles in it, and if you set it on the counter, it clears up."  The gas bubbles also can be heard and seen in the Gee's water well, he said.  "If you open the casing you can see the gas bubbling in the well," he added.  Though there are no other contaminates in the well water-yet "we are not drinking the well water at this time," Gee said. "If you took a match out and dropped it in the well casing right now you would get a boom."

Gee said six natural gas wells have been drilled from the one pad, and "we noticed this after the completion activities began.  They call the whole process of completion activities a cycle," he said he was told by Shell officials. "They go to the end of a horizontal hole, perforate it, frack it, plug it and then move back and repeat the process a dozen or more times so," he added.  Shell had just started perforating two of the bores when the Gees noticed a difference in their water.  "Gas started bubbling in the 'cellars,' a deep culvert put around each well head to prevent gravel from collapsing the hole," Gee said. "It is not supposed to do that; the gas is supposed to be in the casing," he added.

DEP informed
Gee said Shell did not stop operations on the wells until the fact that his family could light their tapwater on fire was brought to the attention of the state Department of Environmental Protection.  Shell began taking steps to "mitigate" the problem last week.  Gee said the family has spoken to everyone involved with Shell from "the average Joe on up to the operations manager," with less than satisfactory results.

To read the remainder of the article in its entirety, please click HERE.

Dept of Agriculture quarantines cattle at Wellsboro farm due to containment leak

Cattle From Tioga County Farm Quarantined After Coming in Contact with Natural Gas Drilling Wastewater

HARRISBURG, Pa., July 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Agriculture announced today that it has quarantined cattle from a Tioga County farm after a number of cows came into contact with drilling wastewater from a nearby natural gas operation.

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said uncertainty over the quantity of wastewater the cattle may have consumed warranted the quarantine in order to protect the public from eating potentially contaminated beef.  "Cattle are drawn to the taste of salty water," said Redding. "Drilling wastewater has high salinity levels, but it also contains dangerous chemicals and metals.  We took this precaution in order to protect the public from consuming any of this potentially contaminated product should it be marketed for human consumption."

Redding said 28 head of cattle were included in the quarantine, including 16 cows, four heifers and eight calves. Those cattle were out to pasture in late April and early May when a drilling wastewater holding pond on the farm of Don and Carol Johnson leaked, sending the contaminated water into an adjacent field where it created a pool. The Johnsons had noticed some seepage from the pond for as long as two months prior to the leak.

The holding pond was collecting flowback water from the hydraulic fracturing process on a well being drilled by East Resources Inc.  Grass was killed in a roughly 30- x 40-foot area where the wastewater had pooled. Although no cows were seen drinking the wastewater, tracks were found throughout the pool. The wet area extended about 200-300 feet into the pasture.

The cattle had potential access to the pool for a minimum of three days until the gas company placed a snow fence around the pool to restrict access.  Subsequent tests of the wastewater found that it contained chloride, iron, sulfate, barium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, sodium, strontium and calcium.  Redding said the main element of concern is the heavy metal strontium, which can be toxic to humans, especially in growing children. The metal takes a long time to pass through an animal's system because it is preferentially deposited in bone and released in the body at varying rates, dependent on age, growth status and other factors. Live animal testing was not possible because tissue sampling is required.

The secretary also added that the quarantine will follow the recommended guidelines from the Food Animal Residue Avoidance and Depletion Program, as follows:

Adult animals: hold from food chain for 6 months.
Calves exposed in utero: hold from food chain for 8 months.
Growing calves: hold from food chain for 2 years.

In response to the leak, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation to East Resources Inc. and required further sampling and site remediation. DEP is evaluating the final cleanup report and is continuing its investigation of operations at the drilling site, as well as the circumstances surrounding the leaking holding pond.

Issued: Thu Jul 1, 2:39 pm
Media contact: Justin Fleming, 717-787-5085
SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Why ask why?

In a recent edition of the Wellsboro Gazette, there appeared a letter to the editor which gave me pause.  John Kesich of Millerton wrote of a recent presentation he attended given by Scott Blauvelt of East Resources.  During the presentation, Mr. Kesich asked questions many of us are no doubt thinking, but for whatever reason have kept to ourselves.  Some don't like public speaking; some fear asking a 'dumb' question (note: there are no dumb questions); perhaps some don't want to hear the answers.  Many of us no doubt think there's not much we can do when faced with big corporations who can throw money at an issue and make it go away.  Some of my own family and friends fall into this category.  So why should we bother worrying about or questioning the inevitable?  It's all a done deal....right?  Wrong.


Mr. Kesich asked his questions and not to my surprise, the responses left much to be desired.  But the point is that he asked.  When the drilling began just across the border in New York, one person dared to ask questions.  That person made it a little easier for the next concerned citizens to come forward.  There's now an incredibly active group of concerned residents asking a whole lot of questions; their group goes by the name of Shaleshock.  (Their website is a treasure trove of information; if you haven't seen it yet, check it out.  You can also find them on Facebook under the great name of No Fracking Way!).


And guess what?  Things are changing.  There are no done deals.  Chesapeake Energy, the only leaseholder in that region and one of the largest natural gas producers in the entire country, has said it will not drill there now because of the huge amount of opposition they have received.  (You can read all about it here.)  It started when one concerned citizen dared to ask questions. 

So thank you Mr. Kesich--and to all of the others out there like him (I know you're out there).  While the answers you received were less than satisfactory, one hopes it won't be the last time these companies and their representatives hear them.  As Albert Einstein famously said, "the important thing is not to stop questioning."  Please keep voicing your opinion as loudly as you can--at meetings, in the newspapers, and in letters to our legislators.  If enough people speak up, they won't be able to ignore us.  

Thanks for letting me wax a bit philosophical on this first post of the new year.  Over and out-

Gas leases in Wellsboro, PA filed illegally

WELLSBORO -- A WENY-TV News investigation shows that there could be a large number of natural gas leases in Pennsylvania that were filed illegally.  The legality of the leases is linked to the process taken by natural gas companies when the leases are signed.  


See video and full story on WENY's site.

Meeting in Mansfield, December 16, of Tioga County Natural Gas Task Force

Wednesday, December 16th @ 7:30pm, there will be a meeting of the Tioga County Natural Gas Task Force.  The meeting will take place at Main Street Yoga Studio in Mansfield, PA.  If you are from Wellsboro and are planning on attending, there's at least one person with a need to hitch a ride.  Save gas and do a good deed!  For custom directions, click here.


For more info on the carpool need--and a great blog besides--see this post from  How do we do the mountain.

Reminder: training to be held tomorrow (Tue) evening in Wellsboro

Please note that the location has been changed to the Deane Center in Wellsboro.  You can view the original blog post with all the details here.  For directions to the Deane Center, you can enter your home address and obtain directions via this googlemaps link.  If you are so inclined, please share any important information you might obtain either here or on our Facebook page.  Many thanks!

Training to be held at Wellsboro's Penn Tech College, December 8

The Pine Creek Headwaters Protection Group is holding its second training workshop for Waterdogs to help document and record possible environmental violations at Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations in the Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga county area.  The training session will be held on December 8 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Pennsylvania College of Technology, North Campus on Route 6 east of Wellsboro.        
                                                                       
While the Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for permitting and inspecting these Marcellus Shale drilling sites, DEP personnel cannot maintain a watch on the activity of all the people, rigs and trucks contracted and subcontracted to produce the gas. Many contractors and companies brought in from outside the state are not yet familiar with our regulations regarding water usae, erosion and sedimentation, and waste disposal. The region is too large and the resources of the regulators too limited to effectively keep track of the exponential growth inactivity taking place.

This training will show participants how to document and record important observation information and who to call in the event of envirnmental harm or public safety issues. Those completing the training program will be provided with a bumper sticker, registration card and logbook for recording observations. There is a $10 registration fee to cover cost of materials. There is a limited of 35 Waterdog trainees for this class. Call 724‐1801x118 to register.

This Thursday: Info session on what drilling means for Tioga County

Thurs., DEC. 3, 2009 
7:00 PM
Hubbard Auditorium
56 Main Street, Owego, NY

"Marcellus Gas Drilling--What it means to Tioga County"

Chris Burger will present a slide show and talk about what changes we may see in Tioga County when gas drilling begins in the Marcellus Shale. It is especially timely in view of the DEC public hearings on the supplemental DEIS. As president of the Carantouan Greenway I have seen presentations in schools, businesses and churches. Chris's presentation highlights how the impacts of gas spacing, road and pipeline construction affects you - me - us, and is a presentation you do not want to miss.

Chris Burger is chair of the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition, served on Cornell University's Eco-Justice Project, a former Broome County Legislator and chaired the Soil and Conservation District and the Sourthern Tier East Regional Planning and Development Board.

This program is sponsored by the Carantouan Greenway.


Thanks to http://splashdownpa.blogspot.com/ for the program info!  Be sure to check out this blog based out of Bradford County, PA.

Area newspaper coverage

If you live in the Tioga County area, you can read all of the stories and editorials written on natural gas drilling by clicking here for info appearing in the Wellsboro Gazette. Read the coverage in the Elmira Star Gazette here. The Williamsport Gazette has a special page on their website devoted to natural gas drilling information.

Better yet: submit your own Letters to the Editor of these or other area newspapers.  

Click here to submit your own Letter to the Editor of the Elmira Star Gazette.

Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor of the Wellsboro Gazette.

Letters to the Williamsport Gazette can be submitted here.