Landowners turn against leasing for 'fracking'

The Independent-- "Nearly half of the landowners who have leased their ground to shale gas developers in the north-east of America regret doing it, despite the money, according to a new report by Deloitte.

In findings that will intensify opposition to the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, some 47 per cent of respondents in the 'new shale' states of Pennsylvania and New York, who have rented out their land, said they wouldn't repeat the experience."

Read the remainder of the article...

Philly Inquirer runs in-depth series on fracking

If you haven't yet seen the Philadelphia Inquirer's recent investigative series on fracking in PA, be sure to check it out.  The newspaper has also collated all make and manner of resources, graphs, timelines, maps and an archive of previous stories about all aspects of drilling the Marcellus Shale.  Click HERE to read the series and access the links to all other resources.

PA's Dept. of Health keeps no database of health complaints.

So when I saw the following article by Michael Rubinkam of the AP, I shouldn't have been surprised.  The Pennsylvania Department of Health has no centralized database...no central location...where they're tracking health complaints related to gas drilling.  Why?  Because there's no proven link between health problems and gas drilling.  Really?  Well....I guess it will stay that way, won't it?  Since the Department of Health is a government agency and the current administration was bought and paid for by the oil/gas companies (see Marcellus Money), it really makes perfect sense if one thinks about it.


ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Health said Friday that it does not formally keep track of citizens' health complaints about gas drilling and has not, as a result, linked drilling to any health consequences.

"We have not made a conclusive link between an individual's health and natural gas drilling," agency spokeswoman Brandi Hunter-Davenport said in response to an Associated Press inquiry. "The Department will continue to monitor any citizen complaints which come to our attention."

The AP asked the health department for data on the number of drilling-related complaints it has received from citizens - and whether the agency has ever made a finding that drilling impacted human health - in the wake of claims by a northern Pennsylvania hairdresser who says that a gas well near her home made her sick.

Though gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale has boomed since 2009, with more than 3,200 wells drilled to date, Hunter-Davenport was unable to say this week how many health complaints the agency has received and investigated.

"Currently, we do not have a centralized database but are working with the Marcellus Shale (Advisory) Commission and anticipate that in moving forward we will be more systematically engaged in addressing the health aspects," she said via email Friday.

To read the remainder of the original article, please click HERE.

Compressor station sickens residents

There's an article appearing in today's online Denton Record-Chronicle (Texas).  While the story takes place in TX, the repercussions in PA are pretty self-evident.  If you or your loved ones live near a compressor station, take note.  I remain confounded why PA lawmakers--and even many residents--hear about things like this and are willing to disregard it.  Even the Mayor of Dish, TX has resigned and moved his family away!

Atmosphere of concern:  
Residents of Dish feel change in air
By Elizabeth Smith / For the Denton Record-Chronicle

EXCERPT:
"...Each day, Dish officials estimate, about 1 billion cubic feet of gas travels through three metering stations, more than 20 major gas gathering pipelines and 11 compression plants that have been shoehorned into the town’s two square miles by energy companies.

The Sheffields are among many residents who have lodged complaints with local, state and federal officials about the noise and odors coming from facilities so loosely regulated that toxic emissions, whether the release is intentional or accidental, go unreported and uncounted.

When the wind blows from the compressor stations to the southeast and emissions are high — leaving a strangely sweet odor hanging in the air — those are the days Rebekah Sheffield and her family feel the worst. Her husband, Warren, frequently checks the readings of a new state air ambient monitor online. When the wind is blowing from the southeast, he often finds that the ambient air levels of the 46 toxic compounds being monitored are higher than normal.

“We know that we just can’t stay — for our health,” Warren Sheffield says. “Every day here we feel worse. Every day we’re a little bit sicker. We’re going to have to do something.”

But with their house in disrepair and the prospect of finding a buyer unlikely, the Sheffields say they feel trapped.

*
Rebekah and Warren Sheffield moved to Dish in 1996 after buying a century-old farmhouse. The couple says they dreamed of restoring it by hand and raising their children. It was a place where she could breathe in the fresh air — until the gas wells were drilled across the street.

Rebekah Sheffield first noticed changes in her body the following year when she reacted to fragrances, particularly perfumes and detergents, she says. A whiff of someone’s perfume sent her stumbling to the floor. She fainted at ballgames, in the grocery store, even while sitting in the pew at church.

Her physician, Dr. Tod Heldridge, prescribed a battery of allergy medications, though they did little to lessen her symptoms. When her condition worsened in 2003, she consulted a neurologist, but tests found no brain lesions or tumors. In 2004, she sought out an allergist, but no combination of pills or nasal sprays substantially quelled her symptoms. The next year, she saw another specialist to treat her constant state of vertigo, but tests were inconclusive. Rebekah Sheffield’s instability was very real to her husband, who grew frustrated that he could not catch his wife when she fell. Finally, in her early 30s, she purchased a wheelchair.

Rebekah Sheffield learned the hard way that soaps and detergents will give her chemical burns up to her elbows. In place of shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream and deodorant, she must create her own toiletries using a combination of natural products including cornstarch, baking soda, lemon juice and sugar.

Unable to determine either the specific cause or an effective treatment for her condition, Heldridge diagnosed her with multiple chemical sensitivity. The medical community does not accept the diagnosis as a legitimate medical condition, with debate both over its existence and if symptoms are triggered from exposure to chemicals...."

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

PA gas drilling the focus of NPR's Diane Rehm Show

From the show's site:  "The state of Pennsylvania is in the forefront of the current rush to extract natural gas, and it also seems to be in the middle of an increasingly contentious debate over related environmental risks. The process of extracting natural gas involves forcing millions of gallons of water deep into the earth to break up rock and release the gas. Environmentalists say that in some states, including Pennsylvania, this waste water which is often laden with heavy salts and naturally occurring radioactive materials is being improperly discharged into rivers and streams...."

Guests included Ian Urbina, author of the recent NY Times series which started on February 27, 2011; John Quigley, former Secretary of PA's Department of Conservation & Natural Resources; Dr. Tony Ingraffea, Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering & Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow at Cornell University; Kathryn Klaber, President of the Marcellus Shale Coalition; Amy Mall, policy analyst for the National Resources Defense Council; and John Hanger, former Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

To hear the entire hour's broadcast, click HERE.

NYT responds to yesterday's DEP press release contradicting story

Journalist Ian Urbina authored a response to DEP's press release (see previous blog post) which appears in today's New York Times.  In its press release, the DEP stated that their own testing in various sites proved that the water was potable and that any levels of radium/radioactivity were all below safe levels.  Here is an excerpt illustrating yet another example of ineptitude when it comes to state oversight:

"The Times found that samples taken by the state in the Monongahela River — a source of drinking water for parts of Pittsburgh — came from a point upstream from the two sewage treatment plants on that river. The state has said those plants are still accepting significant quantities of drilling waste.

Because that sampling site is upstream, the discharges from those two plants are not captured by the state’s monitoring plans.

Asked on Monday if the state planned to correct the problem, Katy Gresh, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said it was still considering where to take samples in the future and whether to require testing at drinking-water intake plants."

To read the original article in its entirety, click HERE.

Top House Democrat outraged over admissions in today's NYTimes.

The front page story in today's New York Times caught the eye--and the ire--of Massachusetts Representative Ed Markey who promptly fired off a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson demanding immediate action.  As referenced in our previous post, the NYTimes investigative report discloses information from internal reports and studies by not only the EPA, but the drilling industry itself.  Read all about it--including portions of Markey's letter, by clicking HERE.  To read the previous post from this blog--which includes the link to the New York Times article--click HERE.

NYT uncovers confidential gas industry, EPA reports.

The New York Times published a lengthy story online yesterday (appearing on the front page of today's newspaper) detailing just how inadequate the existing regulations are when it comes to fracking for natural gas.  Of particular note: the revelation in a gas industry report that "treated" fracking water released back into our streams and rivers still contains amounts of radioactivity that cannot be diluted.  Seems like a no-brainer to me but it's the first time I've heard an industry insider admit it.  Of course the admission takes place in a confidential report that is only now seeing the light of day.  Furthermore, EPA scientists express concern in their own study--also never made public--that water treatment plants are incapable of removing certain contaminants and are in all likelihood violating the law.

Here's an excerpt:

"...While the existence of the toxic wastes has been reported, thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.

The documents reveal that the wastewater, which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle.

The Times also found never-reported studies by the E.P.A. and a confidential study by the drilling industry that all concluded that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways...."

To read the entire article in full, click HERE.

Right-to-know request reveals hundreds of spills at PA drilling sites by nearly 100 different companies

Hazards posed by natural gas drilling not always underground

By Laura Legere, Times Shamrock Writer

Published: June 21, 2010

Fear about environmental damage from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling is often trained on what could happen deep underground, but some of the gravest hazards posed by the process are driven in trucks, stored in tanks, carried through hoses and left in pits on the surface of natural gas well sites.  Concentrated chemicals, as well as wastewater containing toxic levels of salts and metals, are stored, produced or transported in large quantities at each well site, creating the potential for tainting drinking water or seeping into local ponds and streams.  While recent incidents at Marcellus Shale wells involving explosions, blowouts and methane contaminated drinking water have drawn attention to the dangerous potential of the activity, information about the industry-wide frequency and impact of spills and leaks has not been reported publicly.

Department of Environmental Protection files made available to The Times-Tribune through a Right-to-Know Request reveal hundreds of examples of spills at natural gas drilling sites in the state during the last five years, recorded by at least 92 different drilling companies.  The documents show that many of the largest operators in the Marcellus Shale have been issued violations for spills that reached waterways, leaking pits that harmed drinking water, or failed pipes that drained into farmers' fields, killing shrubs and trees.  The frequency of violations have kept the state's gas inspectors on the run.

After a Marcellus Shale hearing last week, DEP produced a list for state legislators of 421 violations found by inspectors at Marcellus Shale wells this year through June 4.  At least 50 of the violations - recorded by 15 different Marcellus operators - involved a spill to soil or water. Generic descriptions used by the department to characterize the violations make it impossible to determine the exact number of spills.  "It goes from an accident to negligence," DEP Secretary John Hanger said at the hearing, and attributed the problems to "poor management" and "not proper oversight" by the companies.  "This industry's got to look in the mirror," he said.

Kathryn Klaber, the director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a Pennsylvania industry group, said shale drilling is an industrial activity, like many others.  "Any spill is a problem," she said. "For PR (public relations) reasons, for fines, for reputation, stock price - there's no good reason to have one."  But, she added, "I think if we were looking across multiple industries ... the question I'd like to pose is, is it worse or better than others?"

The following list highlights examples of spills, seeps and accidents as described in DEP documents that have been committed by an array of Marcellus Shale operators.  It illustrates that none of the companies currently pulling gas from the shale has been able to avoid potentially harmful accidents and errors.

Spills and leaks near a state forest

An accident at a Marcellus Shale well in early June caused a geyser of gas and wastewater to erupt for 16 hours on property owned by a private hunting club in the middle of a state forest frequented by campers and anglers.  The well is one of 44 permitted or pending Marcellus Shale wells operated by Houston-based EOG Resources on the hunting club land in Clearfield County, and the nearly catastrophic rupture was a dramatic demonstration of the hazards of natural gas drilling.  But months before that incident, a seemingly invisible plume of contamination affected water sources around the same EOG lease, prompting months of investigation by DEP.

Beginning in late August 2009, inspectors found evidence that Marcellus Shale waste fluids had impacted Alex Branch, a wild trout stream and high-quality fishery, and damaged the drinking water at a nearby hunting camp, where water tests found barium that was four times above the state and federal drinking water limits - an amount that can cause vomiting, diarrhea and muscle weakness after drinking it for even a short period of time.  DEP inspectors had not noticed any evidence of a spill from the nearest EOG well site and could see nothing wrong with the earthen pit where the company stored the well's waste, but it was determined that undetected seeps from one pit, and maybe several, most likely caused the wastewater to contaminate the stream.

An accident in early August may also have contributed to the damage when a small hole in a hose carrying wastewater from the well sprayed a fine mist for several days that landed on nearby plants and a small wetland. A heavy rain swamped the pad, likely washing the fluids downhill to the hunting camp and stream.

In response to the leaks, EOG excavated the suspected faulty pit and another nearby pit, backfilled other unused pits on the lease and transitioned to a system in which drilling fluids and waste drawn from a well are piped to closed tanks rather than pits, which helps to minimize the risk of seeps and overflows. In an e-mail to DEP, the EOG environmental safety administrator said the company would transition to the safer systems, which are not required by Pennsylvania law, because "we don't want to risk anything."

In a separate incident, on Oct. 12, 2009, a leak in a tank used to store a fluid mixture of water and hydraulic fracturing chemicals spilled about 7,980 gallons, most of which was absorbed into the ground.  It caused a nearby tributary to Alex Branch to turn cloudy and suds when agitated.  An EOG spokeswoman said the company "regrets these incidents occurred and took immediate steps to address the issues," including adopting new operating procedures and hiring outside contractors to perform water sampling after both events.

Acid leaks and unlabeled tanks

Twice in two months, hydrochloric acid spilled at two wells sites operated by Chesapeake Appalachia in Bradford County - including once when the company used a tank that was not meant to store the acid.

Alarmed notes from an inspector's telephone conversation with the tank's manufacturer at the time of the first spill, at the Chancellor well site in Asylum Twp. in February 2009, showed the tank was not designed or lined to hold 36 percent hydrochloric acid, and that even less concentrated acid should only have been held for a day and a half.  "Somebody messed up big time to put 14,000 gall. 36% HCL in a frac tank for 30 days!!" the note stated.

DEP records also show the same inspector pursuing concerns about the proper labeling of the tank, which was one among between 25 and 50 identical 500-barrel, corrugated wall storage tanks on site without placards to differentiate it.  "It's bad enough dealing with unlabeled 55 gallon drums in our line of work," he wrote in an internal e-mail, "but having to contend with unlabeled 21,000 gallon acid 'frac' tanks in the boondocks, on properties that have unrestricted access, is a bit much."

The second acid spill, at the Vannoy well site in Granville Twp., may have contributed to the contamination of a private pond and a 30-foot swath of dead or stressed vegetation, including several evergreen trees.  The 420-gallon acid spill was one of several accidents at the site DEP thought might have caused the damage, including a spill of several thousand gallons of water on March 3, 2009, that was never tested for metals and salts, the hallmark constituents of Marcellus Shale wastewater.

The acid spill, on March 20, also flowed into the pond. Chesapeake neutralized the acid and removed the contaminated soil, but a cleanup plan commissioned by the company in December said some of the acid likely percolated through the pad and may have remained perched on the shallow bedrock causing additional contamination.  In July, DEP inspectors found stained areas at the base of a waste pit where the company left rock cuttings and drilling fluids in direct contact with the ground, and said the stain was a sign that drilling fluid "either has or is seeping from the pit."

DEP fined Chesapeake $27,271.93 and its hydraulic fracturing contractor BJ Services $8,598.46 for the second hydrochloric acid spill in February 2010, a fine the agency never announced publicly.  Brian Grove, Chesapeake's director of corporate development, said the company "responded proactively to both situations" and "learned very valuable lessons from the incidents." It turned those lessons into new operating practices, including requiring secondary containment for all materials brought to a pad, he said.

Hydrochloric acid on public roads

A worker for Fortuna Energy (now called Talisman Energy USA) drove a tanker leaking hydrochloric acid about 2½ miles over public roads between two of the company's well sites in Troy Twp., Bradford County, on June 30, 2009.  At the second site, the driver, wearing an acid-resistant suit and a respirator, tried to put a catch pan under the leak, passed out from inhaling the fumes and was taken by helicopter to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre. The tanker lost between 100 and 200 gallons of acid and contaminated soil was later removed from both sites.  Talisman did not report the spill to DEP until late the next day, a delay DEP officials called "unacceptable."

A February 2010 press release from DEP announced a $3,500 fine for some incidents at one of the pads involved with the acid spill, but it did not address that spill. It also did not address three drilling wastewater spills in July and August 2009 on the same two well pads.  Efforts to reach a Talisman spokesman were unsuccessful. In the company's written response to DEP after the acid spill, the operations manager said it "takes the issue very seriously" and he visited each well site to emphasize to workers "the importance of our zero spill approach."

Mud eruption in a wetland

Crews for Chief Gathering - the pipeline subsidiary of driller Chief Oil and Gas - were boring a path for a pipeline 13 feet under a stream, wetland and road in Penn Twp., Lycoming County, on December 12, 2009, when the muds used to drill the hole erupted to the surface, spilling between 3,000 and 6,000 gallons into the wetland.  Initial reports from the company estimated the spill to be only about 100 gallons and to have stopped at least 10 feet away from the stream, but the DEP inspector who was called two days later found sandbags and a silt sock right at the water's edge and the barrier did not prevent some of the mud from reaching the stream.

Efforts to clean up the spill were slowed, first because the muds clogged the suction hoses the company used to try to remove it from the wetland, and later because the fluids froze solid.  While he was on site, the inspector also saw evidence of muds in a roadside ditch and was told that there had been another, unreported spill on December 10 of about 110 gallons.  The inspector noted that chemical safety sheets provided by the company for the mud, "Hydraul-EZ," listed the ingredients bentonite, a kind of clay, and a "bentonite extender," but the manufacturer "claims that any further details about these substances is proprietary" making it "difficult" to determine the potential of the mud to cause pollution.

Kristi Gittins, a Chief spokeswoman, said that the spilled mud is "not hazardous. It's dirt."  "There were no chemicals, and the DEP knows that," she said.  The remedy for such a spill is to "let it settle," she said, which is what the company was told to do.

Overflowing waste pit 1

More than 30,000 gallons of diluted wastewater overflowed a waste pit, rushed over a barrier and soaked a pasture on June 3, 2009, when workers transferring the fluid to the site owned by East Resources in Tioga County accidentally dumped too much into the pit.

The spill was first noticed by DEP inspectors, who happened to stop by the well pad.  The fluid was diluted enough, and cleaned up quickly enough, not to kill or stress vegetation, and the fluid did not appear to reach a stream.

The pit was among four at East Resources well sites in Tioga and Potter counties that discharged the wastewater they were holding. The three other pits all leaked and at least one was concentrated enough to kill or stress nearby vegetation.  East is finalizing a consent order with DEP that covers those and about 30 other violations at its sites, according to a violation notice posted on a DEP database that indicates the company will pay a $29,000 fine.

Stephen Rhoads, East's director of external affairs, said the spill was an "unfortunate accident" with no long-term impact.  "Working with DEP, we took care of it immediately," he said.

Overflowing waste pit 2

A 750,000-gallon pit holding a mixture of fresh water and wastewater overflowed off a well pad run by Atlas Resources in Washington County, through a drain and into a small tributary in a high quality watershed on December 5 and 6, 2009.

The spill was reported to DEP by the property owner, who noticed the spill before Atlas saw or reported it. It apparently was caused by a pump that turned on automatically but had no mechanism for turning off automatically when the pit was full.

The spill, for which the company has not been fined, is one of several violations the company has recorded in southwestern Pennsylvania. In January, DEP fined Atlas $85,000 for violations at 13 well sites between December 2008 and July 2009, including improper erosion controls and site remediation, and spills of diesel fuel and wastewater.

In late March, on the same Hopewell Twp. farm as the pit overflow, liquid hydrocarbons called condensate on the surface of a 400,000-gallon wastewater pit caught fire, engulfing the pit and burning its plastic liner, causing a plume of black smoke that was visible for miles.  Atlas, a Pennsylvania company, also drills non-Marcellus Shale natural gas wells, including one near Kushequa, McKean County which DEP found to have caused explosive levels of methane and ethane to seep into residential water supplies and triggered a small explosion in the village's public well in late 2007.

Efforts to reach an Atlas spokesman were unsuccessful.

Hydraulic oil leak

An oil leak from a hydraulic line in March 2008 spilled onto a field and into natural springs surrounding a Range Resources - Appalachia well in Washington County. The oil mixed with water and flowed 100 yards downhill, contaminating soil and killing vegetation.

Range excavated the contaminated soil and paid a $21,200 fine in June 2009 for the spills at that site and for 16 other violations, an enforcement action that was never publicized by DEP.  DEP also investigated whether a Marcellus Shale well drilled by Range on the same property affected an old abandoned well, causing gas to contaminate private water supplies and bubble up through the soil.

Matt Pitzarella, a Range spokesman, said the gas migration was a preexisting issue that was only discovered once Range's activities started on the site. The company capped and remediated the old well, he said.  The oil leak he called a mechanical error, and said the other violations included many that were administrative.

"Fortunately it was an incident that had minimal if any environmental impact, but you have to take care of every little detail," he said.  "Since that time we've increased efforts to keep spills on location."

Two months, two diesel spills

Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. had two 800-gallon diesel spills in five weeks in 2008 at some of its earliest Marcellus Shale sites in Dimock Twp.

On June 3, off-road diesel spilled from a break in a fuel line to a drilling rig, ran down a hill and into a roadside swale and pooled in a flooded wetland near Meshoppen Creek.

On July 11, a dump truck driver working to build an access road to a well backed into a 1,000-gallon tank of off-road diesel, panicked and dragged the tank about 30 feet before it tipped over and spilled onto the ground. Crews dug pits and vacuumed up about 170 gallons of the visible diesel, then removed contaminated soil and stone from the site. When two of nine soil tests showed continued contamination, contractors dug a foot deeper and excavated more soil. A total of 272 tons of contaminated soil was taken from the site.

The company was fined $4,915.30 for the first spill after the site was cleaned up.  According to DEP records, Cabot was never fined for the second spill.  Cabot spokesman George Stark said the company "works hard to ensure that we have a plan in place to control and maintain any accidental release."

Click here to access the original article.

Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com

Comparisons drawn to causes of Clearfield County, Gulf explosions

Gas eruption fallout
Blowout preventer fails after fracking

By Fritz Mayer

CLEARFIELD COUNTY, PA — A geyser of gas and fracking fluid that erupted out of control for 16 hours on June 3 and 4, at times shooting up to 75 feet in the air at a Marcellus Shale drilling operation in Clearfield County, has lead to inevitable comparisons with the continuing hemorrhaging of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

In both cases, failure of the blowout preventer—a series of valves that allow operators to control pressure at the top of the well—was part of the picture, if not the entire story.

In the case of the Clearfield County incident, which occurred about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Moshannon State Forest, Neal Weaver, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), wrote in an email, “It is clear that the blowout preventer failed, but our investigation will not be limited to just that issue, but the drilling, fracking and post-fracking operations as a whole.”

The company that owns the well, EOG resources, formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company, called the incident a “control issue” and noted that no injuries resulted from it and no houses were damaged. Critics counter that there are no homes within a mile of the well, and that campers in the area had to be evacuated, and emergency management officials declared a no-fly zone over the area.

The DEP called the incident serious. “The event at the well site could have been a catastrophic incident that endangered life and property,” said DEP secretary John Hanger. “This was not a minor accident, but a serious incident that will be fully investigated by this agency with the appropriate and necessary actions taken quickly.”

Governor Ed Rendell ordered work on all EOG wells temporarily halted, and said that the state would not be relying only on its own experts to determine exactly what caused the explosion, but would also engage outside experts to “get to the bottom of what happened.”

The incident will likely be discussed by lawmakers in Harrisburg as they debate the merits of implementing a natural gas severance tax in the state, and consider whether to pass a moratorium on the leasing of public lands for gas drilling.

Senator Bob Casey, who in 2009 introduced the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act, which would require drilling companies to disclose the contents of fracking fluid, said this was a situation that could have been much worse.

Casey said, “Natural gas drilling offers Pennsylvania a great economic opportunity; however, incidents like this blowout are a reminder that there are dangers and that precautions must be taken to protect the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians.”

Other explosions

In an unrelated incident, a Marcellus Shale gas well being drilled in Moundsville, WV, some 50 miles south of Pittsburgh, erupted in flames on June 7, and seven workers who suffered burns were sent to a local hospital and reported to be in fair condition.

The drilling company had been drilling through an abandoned coal mine when a gas pocket suddenly ignited, sending flames up to 70 feet into the air.

The fire was expected to remain burning for several days or more as emergency workers attempted to cap the wells. According to various officials, the fire posed no further threat to buildings or individuals.

In a third incident involving natural gas, a pipeline explosion on June 7 in north Texas killed one worker and sent several others to local hospitals.

The blast was reportedly triggered when a crew installing utility poles accidentally struck the gas pipeline, and sent flames shooting 40 feet into the air.

Click here to view original report, River Reporter 6.10.2010

PA well explosion shoots gas, drilling fluid 75 ft into the air. DEP not notified until hours later, FAA restricts flights within 3 miles of site.

The authors mention that blowout preventers (like the one that failed in Louisiana)  are typically used in situations like this so that workers can control the pressure inside.  After reading this article, I'm still not clear on whether or not a blowout preventer was used.  So did the contractors forget to install one or if they did...did it, too, fail?  

Marcellus gas well blows out in Pennsylvania; gas, drilling fluid shoot 75 feet into air*
By Marc Levy and Jennifer C. Yates, AP

PENFIELD, Pa. -- An out-of-control natural gas well in a remote area of Pennsylvania shot explosive gas and polluted water as high as 75 feet into the air Friday before crews were able to tame it about 16 hours later.

The gas never caught fire and no injuries were reported, but state officials worried about an explosion before the well could be controlled. The well was brought under control just after noon after it started spewing gas and brine, said Elizabeth Ivers, a spokeswoman for driller EOG Resources Inc.

Houston-based EOG, formerly part of Enron Corp., was drilling into the Marcellus Shale reserve, a hotly pursued gas formation primarily under Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia and Ohio that some geologists believe could become the nation's most productive natural gas field.

There are more than 1,000 Marcellus Shale wells in Pennsylvania alone, some of them within view of homes, farmhouses and public roads.

There were no homes within a mile of the well that blew out.

The accident happened just after the crew finished a process called hydraulic fracturing -- in which millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are blasted underground to shatter tightly compacted shale and release trapped natural gas. They were clearing out debris from the well when gas shot out of it, said Dan Spadoni, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection.

Workers evacuated the site and contacted county authorities, said John Sobel, a Clearfield County commissioner. The DEP said it wasn't notified until 1:30 a.m. -- more than five hours after the blowout.

The polluted water flowing out of the well and into the woods was stopped by a trench and a pump installed by a contractor, Spadoni said. Companies that specialize in securing out-of-control wells were called in, he said.

The blowout could test the ability of state regulators, who promised an aggressive investigation into the accident.

"The event at the well site could have been a catastrophic incident that endangered life and property," Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said in a statement. "This was not a minor accident, but a serious incident that will be fully investigated by this agency with the appropriate and necessary actions taken quickly."

If the agency finds that mistakes were made, it will take steps to prevent similar errors from repeating, he said. He said it was too early to tell the extent of any environmental damage.

Details about the accident were still sketchy, but the agency was told that unexpectedly high gas pressure in the new well prevented the crew from containing it, Spadoni said.

Ivers said she could not immediately respond to questions about how the accident happened. Public safety and protection of the environment are of the utmost importance, the company said in a statement.

David Rensink, the incoming president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, said gas well blowouts are very rare and can be very dangerous to control, since a spark can set off an explosion.

Typically, a blowout preventer -- a series of valves that sit atop a well -- allows workers to control the pressure inside, he said.

Just such a device figured into the massive oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. The oil rig's blowout preventer was supposed to shut off the flow of oil in the event of a catastrophic failure, but it didn't work.

The Pennsylvania well is on the grounds of a hunting club in a heavily forested section of Clearfield County, near Interstate 80 -- about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

On Friday afternoon, a worker blocked a dirt road to the site, while trucks hauling water tanks streamed past him. He said he was not allowed to talk about what had happened.

As a precaution, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a flight restriction Friday morning, saying no planes below 1,000 feet should go within three miles of the site. The restriction was lifted it shortly after the well was capped.

*This article appeared in Pressconnect.com of Greater Binghamton on 6.4.2010

Oil giant Shell acquires company with Northern tier gas leases

BY DAVID FALCHEK (STAFF WRITER)
Published: May 29, 2010

Royal Dutch Shell PLC is the latest petroleum giant to acquire a company with substantial holdings in the Marcellus Shale, buying the Warrendale, Pa.-based East Resources Inc. for $4.7 billion.

A small company, but one of the biggest players in the Marcellus region, East Resources has control over 1.25 million acres from West Virginia to New York. Most of its holdings are in Pennsylvania, including large tracts in Tioga and Bradford counties.

The entree of global giants could alter the pace and character of the development of the Marcellus Shale in the state. At the same time, some observers say having larger companies involved could offer a layer of security for property owners who leased mineral rights to a smaller company that have since become acquired by multibillion-dollar companies.

ExxonMobil, with annual revenues in excess of $300 billion, is putting the final touches on its $31 billion acquisition of XTO Energy, another independent oil and gas producer. As recently as 2008, global petroleum giants showed little interest in unconventional sources of natural gas such as shale.

"The scale of this has surprised Big Oil," said Kenny DuBose of www.MineralWeb.com, an online resource for mineral rights owners.

Mineral leases convey to the acquiring company, so a corporate takeover should be seamless to the property owner, said Steven Saunders, a Scranton-based environmental and oil and gas attorney. Most agree the only visible difference may be the source of the royalty checks.

New York-based Hess Corp., which has more than $30 billion in annual revenue, has partnered with Newfield Exploration Co. to invest about $100 million so far on roughly 126,000 acres of leaseholds in north- ern Wayne County.

Acquisitions, buyouts and other types of partnerships are not unusual in the energy development industry, analysts said.

"Leases are traded all the time, and the only thing that should change is the source of your check," said landowner consultant Earle Robbins of R & R Energy Consulting. "A good lease will require that the company notifies you when that happens."

A large corporation has greater resources to honor lease obligations, particularly if something goes wrong. They also have greater ability to drill and start paying royalty checks.

"With a small company you worry if they can indemnify you, but that's less of a concern with a behemoth corporation," Mr. Saunders said. "You don't want things going the other way, where your lease ends up with a guy working at the 7-11 and drilling on nights and weekends."

The initial leasing and development of Marcellus Shale has been pioneered by smaller companies specializing in unconventional sources of natural gas. Increasingly, these companies have found themselves needing financing.

Having laid out so much money in leasing, exploration and initial drilling, they still have little opportunity to sell gas without pipeline systems. Many have had to turn to outside investors for the funds needed to develop wells before the expiration of the first wave of leases.

Last year, East Resources turned to a private-equity firm for $350 million.

Mr. Robbins said one subtle change may be the way the new company interacts with landowners.

"East has been a good company to work with and they are responsive," said Mr. Robbins, who has a lease with East Resources. "One thing that may change is the relationship and how a bigger company will handle things."

In Tioga County, the number of companies with leases consolidated from 25 to 30 to about five or six as companies swapped and traded leases, Mr. Robbins said. He expects continued consolidation and petroleum giants in the Marcellus region which will hasten drilling and development.

In 2007, East Resources was one of the first companies to up the ante on lease prices, offering $80 and $100 per acre lease at a time when most were accustomed to $2 to $5 an acre, Mr. Robbins said. Recent leases have been signed for $5,700 per acre.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com
Published: TheTimesTribune.com
http://tinyurl.com/32pmhc7

Pine Creek contaminated with mysterious substance

Gas industry treatment behind discharge on hillside

Patrick Donlin 3.17.2010

WATERVILLE - A substance used in the natural gas drilling process is discoloring and distorting the texture of spring water running off a Cummings Township sidehill.  Cheryl Sinclair, a geologist for the state Department of Environmental Protection, was collecting suspicious water samples mid-day Tuesday along Route 44, one mile south of Waterville.  The mysterious substance was seen flowing down the slope, under the road and into Pine Creek, said Daniel T. Spadoni, spokesman for DEP's northcentral region office. Officials from another state agency alerted DEP.  "We were notified (Monday) morning by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources," Spadoni said. "There was a white foamy material discharging from a spring down the hill.  

To read the remainder of the story, please click here:
 Williamsport Sun Gazette.

Gas company creates endowment for local 4-H

Yes, it's a great thing there's now an endowment for 4-H students but am I the only one who smells something rotten here?  Maybe future 4-H'ers can use it to study how to get our landscape, waterways and wells back after the gas companies have used 'em up, spit 'em out, pulled up stakes and left town.  Not to be snarky or anything.

Source: Wellsboro Gazette  3.3.2010
East Resources, Inc. today signed an agreement with Penn State’s Cooperative Extension Service to create a new 4-H endowment fund for Tioga County. East created the endowment with an initial principal investment of $50,000. The fund will be used to supplement financial support for the Tioga County 4-H program and may include educational awards for 4-H members.

“East Resources has a major stake in Tioga County’s future through its oil and gas interests, and our contribution to this endowment reflects East’s commitment to help sustain that future,” says Bob Long, the company’s executive vice president. “Tioga County’s young men and women are the key to the long-term health of our communities, and we appreciate the significant role that the county 4-H program plays in helping them grow into productive, self-directed citizens.”

“4-H, an outreach program of Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, is a major youth mentoring program that teaches life skills and leadership using science based programs,” noted Dennis Calvin, interim director of Penn State Cooperative Extension. “This generous financial gift for the Tioga County 4-H endowment made by East Resources will help assure that generations of youth will have access to 4-H programs. It will also provide assurance that these youth grow into future local, state, national, and international leaders.”

“Those of us involved with the Tioga County 4-H Program, including the staff here at Tioga County Cooperative Extension, the many dedicated volunteer leaders and 4-H members are very appreciative of East Resources’ generosity,” Robert S. Hansen, D.F., the Tioga County Extension director, said. “Their donation to the Tioga County 4-H Endowment will make it possible for Tioga County 4-H youth to participate in state and national events that otherwise they may not be able to attend.”

East Resources, Inc. is an independent oil and gas producer in the Appalachian and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. East is one of the most active oil and gas explorers in the Appalachian region and is making significant investments in the responsible development of natural gas from the Marcellus shale. The company holds approximately 900,000 gross acres of Marcellus shale rights in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York, and it employs more than 355 office and field personnel with approximately 60 employees in Tioga County.

EPA Official: State regulators doing fine on hydrofracturing

Seriously?  

Another shocker detailed below:  the EPA is *not* currently investigating any possible links between fracking & water contamination.  Why not?  How many wells have to be contaminated immediately following fracking operations before they launch a formal investigation?  At least they're asking for money in next year's budget to study the environmental effects of fracking;  Unfortunately, measures should have been put in place *before* the drilling started.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, 2.15.2010

By Ian Talley
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--State regulators are doing a good job overseeing a key natural gas production technique called hydrofracking and there is no evidence the process causes water contamination, a senior federal environment official said Monday.

Environmentalists and some lawmakers are pressing to give the Environmental Protection Agency federal oversight of the process, concerned that the drilling technique is contaminating water supplies.

State regulators and the natural gas industry have been fighting against federal regulation, saying it could prevent or delay development of trillions of cubic feet of new resources.

The process, which injects water, sand and a small amount of chemicals into natural gas reservoirs under high pressure, has opened new deposits to development, dramatically expanding estimates for domestic production.

"I have no information that states aren’t doing a good job already," Steve Heare, director of EPA’s Drinking Water Protection Division said on the sidelines of a state regulators conference here. He also said despite claims by environmental organizations, he hadn’t seen any documented cases that the hydro-fracking process was contaminating water supplies.

In its 2011 budget, the EPA is seeking to spend $4 million to study the environmental impacts of the process.

Bill Kappel, a U.S. Geological Survey official, said contamination of water supplies is more likely to happen as companies process the waste water from hydrofracking. In some instances, municipal water systems that treat the water have reported higher levels of heavy metals and radioactivity.  "Treatment of the [waste] water hasn’t caught up with the hydro-fracking technology," Kappel said.

But both re-injection of that waste water and water treatment at the surface is already regulated by the federal government under the Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water Acts.

Although legislation in the House and Senate to bring greater federal oversight of the hydro-fracking process has gained momentum, Heare said even if such proposals are approved, it wouldn’t likely have a dramatic affect on regulation. States would still have the right under the Safe Drinking Water Act to use their own regulatory standards.  The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has pushed to maintain state primacy in oversight of oil and gas activities.

Contrary to some press reports, Heare also noted that the EPA wasn’t conducting any current investigations linking hydrofracking to water contaminations.

Companies such as Range Resources Corp. (RRC), EOG Resources Inc. (EOG), Devon Energy Corp. (DVN), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) say the process is multiplying their reserves. For example, the Marcellus deposit that lies under Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio and New York is estimated to hold more than 500 trillion cubic feet, compared to total conventional natural-gas resource estimates in the U.S. of around 378 trillion cubic feet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

EPA unveils toll free hotline to report suspicious oil & gas well activity

"Concerned about the environmental effects of well drilling and pipeline construction in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and West Virginia, EPA has announced the start of its "Eyes on Drilling" line at 1-877-919-4372 (toll free), and an e-mail address eyesondrilling@epa.gov where citizens can report non-emergency well development actions that appear to be illegal. These may include the drawing of water from water courses, the illegal disposal of well wastewater or other questionable activity."  According to EPA spokesperson David Sternberg, the EPA has "definitely received reports of improper disposal of drilling wastes." 

For emergencies related to a well drilling operation, the EPA advises individuals to call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802. Individuals may leave anonymously tips.


If possible, reports should include the location, time and date of the suspicious activity, as well as the materials, equipment and vehicles involved and any observable environmental impacts.


The information gathered from the tipline may be shared with the state agencies that regulate drilling - in Pennsylvania, it is the Department of Environmental Protection - and may be used by the EPA in investigating the practices of the industry, he said.  

For full article, click HERE.

PA farmland coated in 1,629 lbs of oil

Excerpt:

Spectra Energy's Steckman Ridge Natural Gas Compressor Station sprayed up to 1,629 pounds of used lubricating oil onto fertile farmland and residential property in rural Pennsylvania; crops had to be burned to prevent toxic contamination of consumers. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has misinformed residents for the past six months that the oil residents found coating their blueberries, tomatoes, hay fields is non-toxic....

Citizens Pick Up the Pieces 
The emergency shut-down in August was one of four equipment malfunctions that have occurred since the natural gas compressor station became operational last summer. Residents near other compressor stations which process raw gas frequently complain about the chronic and extremely loud "jet like noises" which industry officials admit are a normal part of plant operations. Chronic loud noise can cause birth defects, psychological problems and marked behavioral changes in young children as well as cardiovascular disease and vertigo in adults.


The DEP cited Spectra Energy as violating the federal Air Pollution Control Act and the Clean Streams Law, yet according to facility information provided by the DEP's e-facts website the agency still has not taken enforcement action or given penalties for these violations. Spectra Energy also received a Notice of Violation for not reporting the incident by telephone to the DEP within two hours and not submitting a written report within three days, as required by law. The equipment malfunction was reported to the DEP by terrified residents.


Read the full article by clicking here:  Natural gas compressor station coats PA farmland in used gear oil

So...there was no explosion...but someone was thrown 30 feet in the air? How does that work?

Chesapeake denies its well exploded

By Ron Hosie

The incident involving a Chesapeake energy natural gas well this morning in Tuscarora Township was not an explosion, a company spokesman said early this afternoon.  Brian Grove, Chesapeake's director of  corporate development in Towanda, in a prepared statement, described what happened as "a brief but forceful uplift of tubing."  He specifically denied that the phenomenon was an explosion.  Three employees of a contract company were transported to a hospital, he said, but none had critical injuries.  "There was no release of any materials that could be harmful to the environment and the situation presents no danger to the public. This is all the information that is available at this time," Grove said in the statement.

According to transmissions over Wyoming County 911 communications at the time of the incident, an explosion  took place at the Mowry well site of Chesapeake Energy on Clapper Hill in Tuscarora Township.  One person was thrown in the air 30 feet, and suffered back pain and injuries to his wrist and another individual sustained back pain, according to preliminary reports.  

Emergency crews were called out, according to the scanner transmission, but there was no visible fire. Laceyville Fire Chief Scott Fisher refused to comment at mid-morning, saying he would need to finish his report first.  Jim Vajda. Bradford County's Emergency Management Agency director was reported on the scene and unavailable for immediate comment.

Source: The Daily Review

1.28.2010

Gas drilling in PA state forests of great concern for conservation chief

Published December 13, 2009 in the Scranton Times Tribune.
Written by Robert Smith
HARRISBURG - As Pennsylvania prepares for what could be a 50-year period of drilling for deep natural gas pockets in its state forests, the long-term health of these previously damaged forests is on the mind of the state's top conservation official.  John Quigley, the acting secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, is preparing to receive bids next month from drilling companies for 32,000 acres of state forest land in the Marcellus Shale formation.  

Much of the acreage in Northcentral Pennsylvania targeted for drilling was owned in the 19th century by timber companies, which clear-cut trees and left millions of acres of denuded and vulnerable to erosion.  The state purchased that land 100 years ago for the public benefit, and professional foresters nurtured the second-growth hardwood forests that exist today.  "The forest you see there is 100 years old," said Mr. Quigley in an office interview last week. "It recovered from the denuded landscape. We have to make sure we don't go back to that."
To read the entire article, click HERE.

Interview with president of Ithaca NY's Toxics Targeting

This videoclip is Amy Goodman's interview with the president of Toxics Targeting, an upstate NY based organization that has created an interactive map database documenting hazardous environmental conditions and accidents in New York State.  TT utilizes local, state & federal public records--some of which are no longer available for research due to homeland security regulations--and continuously updates a database that currently documents nearly 300,000 such sites.  While the interview is based on the particulars of the current natural gas drilling phenomenon occurring in NY, the information is largely transferable to those of us across the border in PA.  Take a moment and either view the clip or read the transcript.  By following this link, you will also find recent, related articles about the environmental issues upstate NY is currently facing due to hydraulic fracturing.