Meanwhile, back on Paradise Road...

This 1,100-gallon tank was purchased for Jared and Heather McMicken and their children to supply them with fresh water to bathe and do laundry until a solution is found for their contaminated water. Chesapeake provided these tanks for two neighbors as well—the Mike Phillips and Scott Spencer families—who are currently experiencing the same water issues as the McMickens. Photo by Cain Chamberlin.

Chesapeake Responds to Paradise Road Water Woes

Cain Chamberlin
The Rocket-Courier, Wyalusing, PA
8/12/2010

A streak of bad luck seems to be lingering over Jared and Heather McMicken of Paradise Road in Terry Township.

It all started in early June, when the couple discovered a strange, brown discoloration in their tap water. They still do not know what exactly is causing the disturbance as they are awaiting water test results from DEP. However, the DEP testing done in mid-July did find rising levels of methane in the well, which has now led to something the McMickens never saw coming.

Both of their next-door neighbors, the Mike Phillips and the Scott Spencer families, have the same discoloration in their water wells, which started about a month after the McMickens made that discovery. They all believed that a nearby Chesapeake gas drilling site was responsible for the sudden dilemma. Even though Chesapeake denied the claims at first, they are now taking action in a joint effort with DEP to solve the residents’ water problems.

Because of the increasing levels of methane in the water of each home, DEP installed an alarm device in the basement of each home. These devices are specifically designed to detect high amounts of methane that could be hazardous.

“We were told that if the alarms ever went off, we should call 911 immediately,” said Heather McMicken.

Early last Wednesday morning, their alarm went off, and the McMickens were consequently evacuated from their home as a precautionary measure.

“We made the call, and in no time DEP and Chesapeake were here,” she said. Since then, the McMickens and their two children have stayed at a hotel and also at the home of her mother until they feel safe enough to move back. They do make occasional stops at their home to pick up more clothes and necessities.

Meanwhile, DEP and Chesapeake have been on the property nearly every day trying to find an answer to the current predicament.

“Both are still doing all kinds of testing for us, and we are willing to welcome a third party to do tests too,” Jared McMicken explained.

During a meeting held late last week between Chesapeake and the Paradise Road residents, the company offered to have replacement water wells drilled for each home and purchase them all a temporary water source that they could use for bathing and washing clothes.

Hoses from an enormous 1,100-gallon tank are run through the house, replacing the old existing water pipes.

“We are very happy that they are taking care of the water problem,” said McMicken, “We are just trying to take a breather and wait for the test results to come back.”

Next-door neighbors Mike and Jonna Phillips are waiting on paperwork to look over and sign for a new water well. Their water issues began on July 12, and they finally had the temporary tank hooked up on Saturday. Before that, Jonna, who is seven months pregnant, drove to a friend’s house every day to shower. She is thrilled that she can finally wash clothes and bathe in her own home and is anxiously awaiting a new well. “Chesapeake is certainly trying to accommodate us better than before,” she said.

At the meeting with Chesapeake spokespersons, residents were also informed that there is ongoing testing to determine where the gas is coming from, and it was noted that the affected wells appear to be fed by the same aquifer.

Geologists were present at the meeting in an attempt to help explain aquifers, the type of rock formations in the area and how it may all relate to the potential movement of gas beneath the earth.

The Rocket-Courier has been communicating over the past week with Chesapeake Energy officials on the Paradise Road situation, posing a number of questions.

As of press time, there has been no response or statement.
LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

RED ALERT! Trouble in Paradise Redux!

Residents evacuated yesterday (Aug. 4th) on Paradise Road.
CLICK HERE for related Paradise Road post.

5:30 p.m. Update: Paradise Road Family Still Out of Home
8/5/2010 Rocket-Courier Reports:

Paradise Road residents, Jared and Heather McMicken and family, were still reportedly out of their Terry Township home and staying with friends or neighbors Thursday.

The unconfirmed word is that they were advised by DEP or another agency monitoring the methane levels that it was potentially unsafe to stay there. They moved out of the residence sometime Wednesday, A neighbor reported this morning that they were still out of their house and had turned the electricity off. Look for a full story in next week's print edition and possible updates on our web page.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Drilling Accountability Bill Would Regulate Fracturing Too

by Abrahm Lustgarten
ProPublica
July 29,2010

Tucked inside the Senate bill aimed at cracking down on oil drillers after the Gulf spill is a long-sought measure to protect groundwater from natural gas drilling.

The bill, called The Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act, would require that drilling companies make public a complete list of chemicals injected underground in proprietary formulas to break up rock deep underground and extract natural gas, a process called hydraulic fracturing.

It would not, however, reverse the exemption that prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating the fracturing process like other forms of underground injection, another important regulatory change that was initially proposed in House and Senate bills last June along with the chemical disclosure.

That bill, called the Frac Act, was sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who pushed for its inclusion in the accountability bill now being considered.

(See flaming Splashdown sidebar at left. Write letters now!)

"Proper regulation is another essential element in protecting drinking water and public health. That is a battle that we still need to fight," Casey told ProPublica in an e-mail. But he emphasized that disclosing the chemical names "is an important step toward informing the public and building accountability for oil and gas companies."

A push for disclosure and stricter regulation of the fracturing process began in earnest last year after a series of articles by ProPublica reported more than a thousand cases of ground and surface water contamination in drilling areas where the process was being used. The articles examined drilling records in more than seven states, and found both a consistent pattern of water contamination in drilling areas, and a gap in scientific knowledge about the way hydraulic fracturing affects underground layers of rock and aquifers.

Problems were severe in Casey's home state, where fast-paced development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposit quickly led to dozens of reports of drinking water well contamination in places where hydraulic fracturing had been employed. Residents reported flammable tap water, and state investigations found that methane had seeped into water supplies underground as a result of the drilling activity.

Investigating the cause of such incidents has been difficult in part because the EPA does not have the jurisdiction to regulate fracturing the way it does other injection processes, and because the chemical makeup of the fracturing fluids has been guarded as a trade secret.

Several states, including New York, Colorado and Wyoming, have recently passed disclosure laws of their own, and industry representatives have begun to support the notion. But the language of the Senate bill is the most specific, and would apply to all of the states where oil and gas is produced.

The disclosure proposed today would still allow companies to withhold the exact recipes they use, meaning they wouldn't have to disclose the concentrations to the public. But they would -- in case of emergencies -- be required to share that information on a confidential basis with doctors and hospitals responding to an accident.

It's not clear how far the bill will get in the face of Republican opposition. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who added the disclosure component to the accountability bill, has said he hoped to bring the bill to a vote next week. Even if it passes, it will need to be reconciled with a House version that does not include the fracturing disclosure language.

LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

RED ALERT! Bad Water in Paradise!

Cain Chamberlin
Rocket-Courier
July 29, 2010

Mike Phillips holds the contaminated water that he discovered in his well on July 12 in his left hand, and in his right hand a sample of bottled water. Phillips is concerned that the disturbance in his well is due to gas drilling operations that have taken place near his home.
Photo by Cain Chamberlin

Bad Water in Paradise? Terry Twp. Residents Await Answers

Click here for video of gas igniting from bathroom sink faucet at Phillip's neighbor, Scott Spencer's home.

When Michael and Jonna Phillips woke up on Monday, July 12, they expected it to be like any other day…until they turned on their water.

They noticed that it was an odd, murky, brownish color. For obvious personal safety and health reasons, they decided against tasting it to figure out why.

Since the Phillips’s home, located along Paradise Road in Terry Township, was built in 2002, they have never had any trouble with their water. Their well is approximately 140 deep. They had their water tested in April of this year, and the results came back clear of any contamination, so the sudden change seemed extremely peculiar to them.

The Phillipses were aware that their next-door neighbors, Jared and Heather McMicken, had the same disturbance in their water, although the discoloration of their water started in early June when no one else had the problem, making them think it was just bad luck. The McMicken well is at approximately the same depth as that of the Phillips’s. Soon after the McMickens started having water trouble, Scott Spencer, another nearby resident, made a major discovery in his water as well; he could light it on fire.

“Spit and Sputter”
“All the faucets started to spit and sputter, so we were curious as to what was going on,” said Spencer.

A Chesapeake drilling site no further than a quarter-mile away from the three homes struck the curiosity of Phillips. Even though all three residents have signed on to lease their land to gas companies, none of their properties has been subject to any operations so far. It made Phillips wonder if the nearby drilling was the culprit.

Phillips finally reached Greg Garrison, an Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Field Specialist for Chesapeake Energy, after several attempts. Garrison brought a couple of cases of water to their home and looked at the problem for himself. Phillips said that after Garrison saw the disturbance with his own eyes, he told them that they should keep all their receipts dealing with any water purchases or testing and repairs to the well; if the DEP could prove that Chesapeake was at fault, they would be reimbursed.

“He told us that he or someone from Chesapeake would be back on a daily basis,” said Phillips. They have not seen nor heard from anyone at Chesapeake in over a week, while the McMicken family has only seen a Chesapeake representative twice since reporting their water problems.

A representative of the DEP ran a test in the water systems on both the Phillips and McMicken properties on July 15 and again on July 21. According to the DEP, the full results will not be available for about 40 days, but they immediately found rising levels of methane in the water. The reports show the Phillips’s water had minimal amounts of methane in the first test, but rose to three percent six days later. The McMickens’ level rose from three percent to four percent in the same time period.

DEP Offers Advice
DEP advised them, as well as Scott Spencer and his family, not to drink the water. Heather McMicken, who was diagnosed with Lyme disease, had been drinking close to 25 glasses of tap water per day since the spring until her family’s water problems began. Her children were drinking several glasses every day as well, which concerns her deeply.

“Our kids’ health is number one priority,” she said.

Phillips contacted Thomas Dunn, a local water well specialist, who almost immediately after removing the well cap on July 18 told them that there was gas in the water. Once again, they were advised not to drink the water and told that there was a definite disturbance. According to Mrs. Phillips, who is due to have their second child in October, Garrison told her that she could bathe in the water, although the family doctor advised her not to.

She now has to take her twice-daily showers at a friends’ house about two miles away. Mrs. Spencer, who is also pregnant with their second child, has been bathing in the water because she has no other option. The DEP told the Spencers that the water did contain some effervescence but appeared to be fine, although they shouldn’t drink it, just as a precaution. According to Spencer, the DEP claimed that they would be stopping by on a weekly basis to run water tests but have yet to come back.

“Chesapeake told us that it could be from something five or six years ago that we didn’t realize was happening,” said Spencer, “Basically that the problem was just natural causes.”

Alternate Sources

The Phillipses have purchased a water cooler system, while the Spencers and McMickens are buying bottled water on a regular basis. The children in each family are getting very impatient wondering when they will be able to drink their own water or swim in their plastic kiddie pools again during the current summer heat.

“We don’t know if it will end soon or not, we don’t know what to expect,” Spencer said.

Last week, Phillips wrote several letters in order to address the situation of his family and neighbors. He contacted Chesapeake’s Director of Corporate Development Brian Grove, Sen. Gene Yaw, State Rep. Tina Pickett and Congressman Chris Carney, as well as an environmental lawyer from Washington, DC. Phillips says that he is determined to find answers and to make sure that his drinking water is restored to its original condition.

“No one is immune to this and this is ruining our beautiful place to live,” said Phillips, “All we wanted was a nice, peaceful community. These are young families in new homes, and we just want this problem taken care of.”

(Editor’s Note: Brian Grove, Chesapeake Energy’s Director of Corporate Development, responds to concerns expressed in this article in a statement released on Wednesday, July 28. That statement is published in this issue of the Rocket-Courier.)

Click here for video of gas igniting from bathroom sink faucet at Phillip's neighbor, Scott Spencer's home.

LINK to article.
(BULLSHIT image for Splashdown post courtesy of Google.)

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Methane concerns felt in Terry Twp.

BY ERIC HRIN (STAFF WRITER)
thedailyreview.com
Published: June 25, 2010

Review Photo/ERIC HRIN Sisters Jacqueline Place, center, and Roslyn Bohlander, right, stand beside these water buffaloes provided by Chesapeake for drinking water for the cows on the family farm. Standing beside them is Frank Davenport.

Review Photo/ERIC HRIN Roslyn Bohlander shows a methane monitor in the home of her sister, Jacqueline Place, in Terry Township.

TERRY TWP. - Roslyn Bohlander of Terry Township said she knew something was wrong when her cows wouldn't drink water from her family's well this past March.

"I drew water in the barn, and the water came out muddy looking," she said. "I gave all the animals water, thinking that it was simply a mud issue, that something had stirred up the well for some reason."

She called her sister, Jacqueline Place, to tell her about the problem. Place's residence is located along North Street near Spring Lake in Terry Township. Her sister, Bohlander, lives next door and operates a 190-acre farm.

They share a water well, located on Place's property, and the women said they believe that their water problems are being caused by the John Barrett natural gas well, operated by Chesapeake. It's located across from their property on the other side of Spring Lake. Place said it's about a half-mile away.

"I called Jackie, and said, 'there's something wrong with the well because it's muddy,'' Bohlander said. "But my animals wouldn't drink the water, and animals are not particularly averse to drinking muddy water. They'll drink muddy water out of the stream, so that told us there's probably something more wrong with the water."

In addition, Place said the color of the water during the incident was red-orange, and it was so dense that you couldn't see through it. She also said globules of an oily-looking substance were clinging to the sides of her toilet bowl at that time.

Then, on April 1 of this year, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) collected samples from their water supply, which were submitted to the department's laboratory in Harrisburg to be analyzed. Place and Bohlander had called DEP the day they noticed the problems with their water, which was March 23, Place said.

In a June 8 letter to Place from DEP, Caleb Woolever, geologic specialist, oil and gas management, informed her of the results.

He wrote that the results showed two problems. In the letter, he stated that the turbidity in the water was being caused by elevated levels of iron. In addition, he said that the sample results show that methane gas was present in the well at that time at 19.2 milligrams per liter.

The DEP then collected a second sample on April 21, which showed that turbidity and iron decreased in concentration, Woolever said. Noting that turbidity and iron are typically temporary effects of disturbances in shallow aquifer systems, he wrote that presently the source of the turbidity in their well can't be determined.

That analysis also showed methane present at 5.0 milligrams per liter, he said. Place said this reading was done after a venting stack had been placed on her well.

Woolever also told Place that a water analysis that she had done on Dec. 11, 2008 had shown that methane was present at 0.010 milligrams per liter at that time. Place said she had done this analysis because she knew at that time that drilling was going to be taking place in her area in the future.

"While natural fluctuations in methane concentrations are expected, the significant increase in methane in your well warrants further investigation by the department," he wrote. "The department's investigation is ongoing into potential sources of methane in the area."

When asked for comment, Brian Grove, director of corporate development for Chesapeake, issued this statement, noting that "Chesapeake places the highest priority on health, safety, and environmental protection in our operations."

"When Ms. Place approached Chesapeake with concerns about water quality in her well, Chesapeake quickly took action to investigate the matter," Grove said in his statement. "Test results provided by a DEP-certified independent laboratory have shown no constituents that can be related to gas-drilling activities in Ms. Place's water, and furthermore, DEP has found the water to be of sufficient quality to recommend reconnecting the well to Ms. Place's home."

Grove also noted that Place's well is thousands of feet away from any drilling activity, and no other nearby landowners have raised concerns about water quality. But Place said other landowners she knows are concerned.

Place said she had been provided bottled water from Chesapeake through Chemung Spring Water Co. Inc. She said Chesapeake also provided two large tanks, or water buffaloes, to provide water to their cows and for household uses such as washing.

In addition, the pumping equipment had been disconnected from Place's well by Chesapeake. Place said she had given her permission for this. Also, methane monitors were set up in her home by Chesapeake, she said.

Chesapeake also installed the vent on her water well to abate the risk of methane build-up, according to Woolever's letter.

Chesapeake has since been seeking permission from Place to restore the well's connection to her home, Grove said. "While Chesapeake doesn't believe gas-drilling activity has had any effect on her water quality, we have been working proactively with DEP to bring resolution to this matter," Grove said.

When interviewed, Bohlander and Place also brought up concerns about a letter they said they received from Chesapeake on June 15 that their bottled water and the water in their water buffaloes would be taken away, if they didn't consent to their well being reconnected and redeveloped. According to Place, The letter, dated June 14, reads, "Specifically, if we don't have your consent by the stated time, Chesapeake will immediately remove all of its equipment from your water well and stop providing you water."

Bohlander said David Bohlander, her husband, called state Sen. Gene Yaw and the DEP because they were concerned that their cows would be without drinking water if the water buffaloes were removed.

On June 17, Place said, their bottled water had been taken away. She said that she learned about a week later from a representative of Chemung that Chesapeake had reinstated her bottled water later that afternoon on June 17, however.

Bohlander said she feels this happened only because Yaw intervened so that the water wouldn't be taken away. According to Place, she came home from errands on June 21 and found a temporary supply of bottled water on her porch, consisting of a cooler and two five-gallon bottles. She said she assumed it was from Chesapeake. And on June 24, Place said, a representative of Chemung came to her home and provided a regular supply of bottled water.

When asked for comment, Chesapeake provided this statement from Grove: "Chesapeake is continuing to supply water to Ms. Place until the situation is resolved. There should be no interruption in service. It's unclear why that would have occurred - even as briefly as she indicates - but if it did, it was a mistake. Chesapeake is pleased to know the oversight has been resolved and is glad Ms. Place continues to receive the water the company has been supplying as a courtesy."

Place said she has given Chesapeake permission to reconnect her well and test the water, with certain stipulations. This includes a provision that the water doesn't re-circulate into her home. She said she is concerned about the risks posed by methane.

In his letter, Woolever discussed the dangers of methane gas. He said, "there is a physical danger of fire or explosion due to the migration of natural gas into water wells or through soils into dwellings where it could be ignited by sources that are present in most homes/buildings."

Place said she is going to continue using bottled water to drink.

Place said she hopes that her water can get back to "the same standards before anyone drilled around here."

LINK

See also Splashdown's May 26th post,"Beyond Burlington".

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Shale-Gas Producers Apply Tougher Pennsylvania Water Standards

By John Lippert
Bloomberg/Business Week
May 13, 2010

Shale-gas producers told Pennsylvania regulators most of them are already complying with new regulations for protecting aquifers that aren’t scheduled to be adopted until October.

Thirty-five shale-gas producers, members of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, also agreed today to work with the state to develop better tests, record-keeping and drilling procedures to prevent methane gas from contaminating water wells.

“We want a world-class regulatory environment and a world- class industry environment in Pennsylvania, since we have a huge opportunity in front of us,” Ray Walker, chairman of the coalition and a senior vice president at Fort Worth, Texas-based Range Resources Corp., said today in an interview.

The state Environmental Protect Department called energy companies to Harrisburg today to make sure they understand proposed rules for cementing metal casings around their wells. The meeting came after the state last month ordered Houston- based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. to cap three wells with defective casings in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania.

“Cabot is an example of what can go wrong,” John Hanger, the state’s environmental secretary, said in an interview before today’s meeting. “Their drilling led to gas migrating from the drill sites to people’s water.”

Pennsylvania is home to much of the Marcellus Shale, a formation that may hold 262 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, making it the largest known deposit of the heating and power-plant fuel, according to a U.S. Energy Department estimate. Today’s meeting was intended in part to instruct companies accustomed to drilling in southern states like Texas on how Pennsylvania’s geology differs, Hanger said.

‘Zero-Impact Drilling’

“There’s no such thing as zero-impact drilling,” Hanger said. “We’re in the business of maximizing the benefits, which are considerable, and minimizing the costs.”

Cabot drilled 50 Pennsylvania wells in the Marcellus Shale last year and planned 81 wells this year, according to a March 22 investor presentation by the Houston-based company. The wells without proper casings, located in Dimock Township, caused gas to migrate into groundwater, Hanger said.

Drill bits descending toward gas-bearing shale are surrounded with three concentric rings of metal casings that are cemented in place to protect surrounding aquifers.

Under the new Pennsylvania rules, companies will have to use thicker pipes and stronger cement as they drill wells thousands of feet below ground, said Tom Rathbun, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department. Gas producers also will be required to rapidly notify state and local authorities when gas migration occurs, he said.

Cabot Order

The state also ordered Cabot to stop drilling in Dimock Township for a year, provide equipment for removing methane from groundwater at 14 homes near its wells and pay a $240,000 fine.

Cabot has made “significant” progress in complying with the state order, Chief Executive Officer Dan Dinges said in an April 27 statement. The company said it accepted the order without agreeing that it caused the gas migration.

“Cabot is committed to working with Secretary Hanger to ensure we have the best regulations for Pennsylvania,” company spokesman George Stark said after today’s meeting.

Water contamination at Dimock has drawn the attention of environmental groups opposed to drilling and the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract gas from shale formations. Drillers inject a mixture of water, sand and chemicals at high pressure to bust open shale and unlock gas deposits.

The new Pennsylvania rules will require companies to disclose the chemicals they use during fracturing, said Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.

Bubbling Water

Victoria Switzer, 63, a retired schoolteacher who lives within 1,300 feet of three Cabot wells in Dimock, said she had so much methane in her well that her water bubbled like Alka- Seltzer. Methane blew an eight-inch concrete slab off the top of neighbor Norma Fiorentino’s well on Dec. 31, 2008, she said.

Along with Fiorentino and other neighbors, Switzer is suing Cabot for negligence.

“We were unwilling participants in a grievously-gone-wrong experiment in rapid industrialization of a pristine natural area,” Switzer said.

“What we’ve done here is put up the drilling rigs before we had the regulations in place. It’s ridiculous.”

LINK.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Senator Casey asks federal agency to investigate drilling contamination

thetimes-tribune.com

BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER)
Published: April 26, 2010

Senator Bob Casey is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate cases of water contamination related to natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania after a gas company operating in Susquehanna County failed to stop methane from leaking into residents' drinking water.

In a letter Monday to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Mr. Casey said he wants greater EPA involvement in the state because contamination incidents, including methane migration in Dimock Twp., "raise the question of whether the necessary steps have been taken to protect Pennsylvania families and communities against the detrimental side effects of drilling."

The oil and gas industry is largely exempt from federal environmental oversight and is instead regulated by state agencies. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Environmental Protection regulates the industry.

But in a press conference Monday, Mr. Casey said several layers of government oversight may be necessary to ensure drilling is done safely. And he believes the federal environmental agency already has some power to regulate the industry in general - and to investigate the Dimock incident specifically - through the Superfund program and emergency powers outlined in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

He wants the EPA to determine its authority under those laws. If the agency finds that it does not have sufficient authority to protect against the hazards of drilling, it should ask Congress for more, he said.

"I have a concern that there isn't enough of a federal responsibility here," he said, "or even if there is the statutory authority, that the federal government hasn't done enough in terms of investigation or action in this area."

In a letter to the EPA, Senator Casey wrote: “Natural gas drilling can provide an economic boost to Pennsylvania but we must protect ground water,” said Senator Casey. “We will not allow an out-of-state company to come to Pennsylvania and contaminate the groundwater of our residents. Three million Pennsylvanians rely on wells for their drinking water. We must ensure adequate safeguards are in place to protect this most basic necessity for Pennsylvanians.”

“I urge EPA to examine its authority to determine whether it can take additional steps in Pennsylvania to investigate and respond to groundwater contamination and other potentially harmful consequences of drilling. I request a meeting with you and appropriate EPA officials to discuss natural gas drilling and whether EPA could launch an investigation into water and environmental contamination.”
LINK TO STATE HOUSE SOUND BITES

Last year, Mr. Casey introduced legislation, called the FRAC Act, that would require the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells to be regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. It would also require that drilling companies disclose the chemical composition of the fluids they mix with sand and water to break apart - or hydraulically fracture - the gas-bearing rock.

The gas industry maintains that hydraulic fracturing has never been the confirmed cause of drinking water contamination and argues that federal oversight would be an unnecessary burden.

Mr. Casey said Monday that it is possible for gas drilling to be done safely. "We don't have to choose between jobs and the environment, or choose between economic opportunity and protecting families' drinking water," he said.

This injection of unknown and potentially toxic chemicals often occurs near drinking water wells. Three million Pennsylvanians are dependent on private wells for water. Troubling incidents have occurred around the country where people became ill after fracking operations began in their communities. Some chemicals that are known to have been used in fracking include diesel fuel, benzene, industrial solvents and other carcinogens and endocrine disrupters.
LINK TO STATE HOUSE SOUND BITES

Victoria Switzer, a Dimock resident whose drinking water has been contaminated with methane, said she and 13 neighbors have had to live with that choice because oversight of the industry was not stringent enough to protect them.

"We've lost our drinking water; there's lots of gas there. That's not a choice people should have to make," she said.

LINK TO LAURA LEGERE ARTICLE

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

"Poisoning people’s drinking water is not something to be tolerated."

COMMENTARY
By George E Turner
Tunkhannock, PA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As a licensed professional geologist with more than twenty years of experience in groundwater work and environmental cleanups, and one who has done a great deal of research on the various chemicals commonly used in fracking, I started doing well testing for people who live near proposed gas wells.

The majority of the ground water that we have in this area is exceptionally good drinking water that is free of contamination. It is our most precious and underappreciated resource.

The Dimock residents filing the lawsuit may not have had adequate testing of their water after the blast to determine either the number, or the type of chemicals in their water. Methane may be the most noticeable contaminant as evidenced by the explosion, but in this type of contamination, it probably is not the only one, or the most dangerous one.

Traces of methane in drinking water are common, but the huge amount that is bubbling out of it now, is not. Full analysis of the water for all of the chemicals used in drilling and fracking the wells, and for any contaminants brought up from the Marcellus Formation, should be done periodically by an independent agency. The drilling companies should be required to pay for the testing. The idea that they don’t have to disclose what they pump into the ground is unbelievable.

Landowners need to know that DEP only requires the gas companies to do water tests on water wells that are within 1000 feet of the drilling site. Considering the fact that gas wells today can be drilled horizontally up to at least a mile in all directions from the well site, the DEP 1000 foot
> requirement is not enough. I suspect that the 1000 foot limit on the testing of nearby wells was enacted before horizontal drilling became commonplace.

It’s finally time that the drilling companies are being held responsible for all of the damages they have caused by Marcellus Shale drilling. At Dimock, Cabot initially maintained that the company was not responsible for the water contamination, simply because no one could prove that the contamination was not there before the gas wells were drilled.

People have no idea what they are up against. Protect yourself beforehand. By sampling your water now, what you are doing now is laying the groundwork for a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the oil companies for contaminating your groundwater. If your water turns up contaminated after a gas well is drilled, and you don’t have undisputable proof that it was not contaminated before the drilling, you’re out of luck.

To stand up in court, the sampling must be done by a professional with the proper geological and
groundwater contamination knowledge, who has no interest, either financial or otherwise, in the property. The samples need to be placed in special laboratory cleaned containers, and immediately placed on ice and kept there during transportation to the labs. Chain-of-custody forms must be maintained for all of the samples. They show that neither the landowner, nor anyone else, had access to them.

These are legal documents that show who took the samples, and who had access to them from the time they were taken, to the time they were delivered to the lab. The credibility of the test requires that the samples must be kept under lock and key. Analysis must be done by labs certified by both the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

If the drilling companies are put on notice that they will pay dearly for any mistakes that they make, then they will be more careful not to make them. I am not personally opposed to gas drilling, but I feel that the oil and gas companies need to be held accountable. Water is our number one natural resource, a precious commodity that no one can live without. Poisoning people’s drinking water is not something to be tolerated.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Mr. George E Turner, P.G.
Licensed Professional Geologist
1645 SR 29S
Tunkhannock, Pa. 18657
Phone: 570-836-1055

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Ignitable Drinking Water From a Well in Candor, NY, Located Above Marcellus Shale Formation

EUREKA!

Here's how the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York Figures it Can WHAT??? Placate? Assuage? Appease? ...oh, what's the word for it??? Reassure Us or Mitigate Our Outrage After TWO Toxic Spills in Dimock PA... EUREEEEKA!

This ought to do it!

Come On People!
Talk Back to this Fantasy!!!

(Editorializing in red by Splashdown)

IOGA of NY Press Statement on Spill at Gas-Drilling Site in Dimock, PA

LAKE VIEW, NY (09/18/2009)(readMedia)-- The following press statement was issued by Brad Gill, Executive Director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York (IOGA-NY) on September 18, 2009.

"On behalf of members the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York, we are deeply concerned with the incident that occurred, in Dimock, Pennsylvania yesterday (September 17, 2009). It is our understanding that the spill resulted from a decoupling of a water line, which contained "slick water". Slick water is comprised of 99.5 percent water and sand and is not considered a toxic substance.

ahem... This is from an Aug. 7th update on the death of 17 cows in a Louisiana pasture:

"No final toxicology report has been made public about what killed 17 cows in south Caddo after they ingested liquid spilled from a nearby Chesapeake Energy Corp. drilling site April 28.

...

During a routine fracturing operation by Schlumberger, some fluids composed of 99 percent freshwater leaked onto the well pad then onto the pasture after a rain, Chesapeake Energy, which owns the well site, says in a letter sent in June to DEQ. About 4 p.m. April 28, site workers noticed the dead cattle."

We've already seen how lethal 99% water can be...

EUREKA!

Care for a glass of that water Mr. Gill?

The Pennsylvania DEP has been on hand and is satisfied with the remediation being completed.

The incident in Dimock is indeed regrettable and unfortunate. It is important to note that this circumstance should not be viewed as representative of members' work and experience day-to-day. Such incidents as the spill in Dimock are quiet rare, ...we interrupt this sentence!

(rare: adj. 1. coming or occurring far apart in time; unusual; uncommon)

EUREKA!, Cabot Oil accused of being responsible for contaminating Dimock wells.

EUREKA! Methane contamination in Colorado water wells linked to drilling.

EUREKA! House explodes in Ohio.

EUREKA! Cows die in Louisiana pasture near Chesapeake spill.

EUREKA! ...drilling has already poisoned wells in western Pennsylvania, Colorado, Alabama, Arkansas, New Mexico, Kansas, Montana, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

EUREKA! Water leak from Washington County gas well kills fish.

EUREKA! Not long ago the first earthquake near gas drilling sites in Texas was thought, by some, to be an anomaly. Now, 17 earthquakes later, in the space of only a few months, we cannot claim pure coincidence, nor can we ignore the dangers these earthquakes present to gas pipelines and so, to safety.

EUREKA! Contaminated water in Bradford, PA ... Water problems from drilling more frequent than PA officials said.

EUREKA! Natural gas well leak in Lycoming Co. contaminates tributaries, spring and water wells in private homes.

EUREKA! Another natural gas well leak near Roaring Branch, PA and a string of more than 50 similar cases related to gas drilling in the state.

EUREKA! Pavillion, Wyoming: EPA Confirms Drinking Water Contamination by Toxics Used in Hydraulic Fracturing.

EUREKA! Birds die after exposure to hydrocarbons in open natural gas well pits and wastewater storage facilities at ExxonMobil sites in five states.

EUREKA! 2-BE and other chemical contaminants, used in drilling, linked to series of illnesses. Pollluted water near gas-drilling sites endangering the health of people who live close to drilling rigs.

EUREKA! ...and that's just a six month Splashdown sampling...
(See more on TXsharon's Bluedaze!)

and natural gas exploration has been conducted safely and in an environmentally sound manner for decades in New York.

(Has New York had horizontal hydrofractured wells for decades? Heh. What's stopping the industry from drilling another one tomorrow?)

Our companies have worked very, very hard to work in conscientious concern for the environment – due in large measure to very rigorous oversight by NYSDEC - and we will continue to do so. We live and work in New York too.

We stand steadfast in our conviction that natural gas exploration can be facilitated in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. In days to come, IOGA of NY is looking forward to the Department of Environmental Conservation's issuance of a generic environmental impact statement that will guide Marcellus development. And as we have done in the past, our companies will comply with all regulations and permit requirements."

Well, this just flies in the face of reality. We'll take a closer look at that next.

***

IOGA of NY is a trade association founded in 1980 to protect, foster and advance the common interests of oil and gas producers, professionals and related industries in the State of New York. For additional information on natural gas exploration, as well as an up-to-date listing of the association's public meeting schedule, please visit IOGA of NY's informational blog: https://www.marcellusfacts.com.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

More Gas Contamination Affects Pennsylvania Residents

By Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica
August 4, 2009

Pennsylvania environment officials are investigating another natural gas well leak, after residents near the town of Roaring Branch complained last month that rust-colored water was flowing from a spring and two small creeks were bubbling with methane gas. The incident is the latest in a string of more than 50 similar cases related to gas drilling in the state, and comes as ProPublica published an article last week reporting that such events were more frequent than officials said. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, at least four homes in the rural north-central part of Lycoming County are now being supplied with drinking water and 18 are having their water tested or their homes monitored for gas while the investigation continues. At least one woman was temporarily evacuated from her home last week as a precaution, according to Robert Yowell, north-central regional director for the DEP's oil and gas bureau.

Officials suspect that a well casing on one of three natural gas wells drilled by East Resources failed, allowing the gas to migrate into the ground and the streams, according to Yowell and a statement e-mailed to ProPublica from DEP headquarters. The wells were drilled into the Oriskany geologic formation, not the Marcellus shale, where much of the state's new development is targeted. The department is analyzing water and gas samples and has promised to post the results on the DEP Web site by the end of the week.

The well casing consists of several layers of steel pipe and concrete that surround a well structure and is intended to protect groundwater supplies from the gas and drilling fluids inside of the well. Unlike many other gas drilling states, Pennsylvania doesn't have regulations that require this concrete and casing be tested to confirm its strength.

East Resources referred questions to its general counsel who was not immediately available for comment.

According to Yowell, the company has temporarily shut down the suspected problem well by filling it with drilling mud, a slurry of the waste produced from the drilling of the well hole, and has been working to reduce pent-up pressure inside its wells that could be forcing stray gas out of cracks in the casing. To release that pressure, East Resources flared -- or burned off gas -- from two of the suspected wells.

"It looked like the sky was on fire," said Margaret Yaggie, a Roaring Branch resident who can sit on her porch and see the East Resources wells a few miles away. Yaggie said the flames stretched hundreds of feet and carried fumes and smoke. "It's above the trees, on the side of a mountain. It looks like hell."

It appears the measures have been effective in slowing the gas leak.

"One well that was suspect has been plugged and killed," Yowell said, adding that the plugging dramatically reduced pressure. "The readings (of methane) around the stream have gone down. We believe things are getting under control but (they're) certainly not abated yet."

Though Pennsylvania has more gas wells than any state other than Texas, Lycoming County hasn't seen such development until recently. According to Yowell, who only began to oversee oil and gas operations in April when the state established a regional headquarters to handle the rush to drill, the Roaring Branch contamination is the first of its kind in the area.

In a weekend article in the Wayne Independent, a local newspaper, East Resources spokesperson Douglas Mehan — who later referred ProPublica’s questions to the company’s attorney — was quoted as saying "the gut feeling of everybody is that this is very, very rare — a unique incident."

ProPublica has documented a series of cases in seven other Pennsylvania counties and across the nation in which methane has leaked from natural gas drilling operations. On Friday ProPublica published an article challenging Pennsylvania officials' claims that such cases were "an anomaly," noting that the state has hired a full-time inspector dedicated to stray gas problems and has recorded at least 52 cases similar to the one in Lycoming County. In several instances houses exploded as a result of the gas leaks. In one case, three people were killed.

Asked whether these cases constituted a pattern, the Department of Environmental Protection official who first described methane contamination as an anomaly, Craig Lobins, told ProPublica that the number of safely drilled wells in Pennsylvania far outweigh those that cause problems. "We are just dealing with a very small percentage," he said.

To link to this article and other ProPublica Energy & Environment stories, CLICK HERE.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

IN PENNSYLVANIA, THE ANOMALIES ARE EVERYWHERE!

Water Problems From Drilling Are More Frequent Than PA Officials Said
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica - July 31, 2009

A drill site is seen from the back of Dimock resident Ronald Carter's home. Carter was told the methane coming from his pipes shouldn't be a problem as long as he cracked a window while running the tap. (Abrahm Lustgarten/ProPublica)

When methane began bubbling out of kitchen taps near a gas drilling site in Pennsylvania last winter, a state regulator described the problem as "an anomaly." But at the time he made that statement to ProPublica, that same official was investigating a similar case affecting more than a dozen homes near gas wells halfway across the state.

In fact, methane related to the natural gas industry has contaminated water wells in at least seven Pennsylvania counties since 2004 and is common enough that the state hired a full-time inspector dedicated to the issue in 2006. In one case, methane was detected in water sampled over 15 square miles. In another, a methane leak led to an explosion that killed a couple and their 17-month-old grandson.

Methane is the largest component of natural gas. Since it evaporates out of drinking water, it is not considered toxic, but in the air it can lead to explosions. When methane is found in water supplies, it can also signal that deeply drilled gas wells are linked with drinking water systems.

In many cases the methane seepage comes from thousands of old abandoned gas wells that riddle Pennsylvania's geology, state inspectors say. But other cases, including several this year and the 2004 disaster that left three people dead, were linked to problems with newly drilled, active natural gas wells.

Dimock resident Norma Fiorentino's drinking water well exploded on New Year's morning. The blast was so strong it tossed aside a several-thousand-pound concrete slab.(Abrahm Lustgarten/ProPublica)

The issue came to the forefront in January when methane was found in the water at 16 homes in the small town of Dimock, in northeastern Pennsylvania. State officials cited Cabot Oil & Gas for several violations they say allowed the gas to seep out of the well structures and into water supplies there. The Department of Environmental Protection asked the company to encase its lower well pipes completely in concrete — a process known in the industry as "cementing" — and assured the public that the contamination in Dimock was rare.

But according to a department spokeswoman, there have been at least 52 separate cases of what the state calls "methane migration" in the past five years. In two of the 2009 cases, regulators responded to complaints from more than 32 households and asked gas companies to supply clean water to at least a dozen homes with contaminated wells.

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SPLASHDOWN EDITORIAL:

CONTACT: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.!

http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/contact.html

Point to these 52 cases of "methane migration", to the complaints from more than 32 households, to the dozen homes with contaminated wells, to the gas leak this week in Lycoming County, the toxic flaring, the contaminated creek, the contaminated spring, the 4 contaminated wells serving private homes. Remind him of the problems in Dimock.

Agree wholeheartedly with his comment, "Natural gas comes with its own set of environmental caveats. It is a carbon-based fuel and [its] extraction from shale, the most significant new source, if not managed carefully, can cause serious water, land use, and wildlife impacts, especially in the hands of irresponsible producers and lax regulators."

If he's going to advocate the use of natural gas instead of coal, tell him it's not good enough to simply say extraction needs to be managed carefully! Ask him to help insure the gas drilling industry is made more responsible. Ask him how he thinks these violatons of Life Itself can be prevented?

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An undated report from the Pittsburgh Geological Society posted to the DEP's Web site makes it clear that old wells and new drilling can lead to stray gas problems. "Although it rarely makes headlines," the report reads, "damage or threats caused by gas migration is a common problem in Western Pennsylvania."

Craig Lobins, the DEP regional oil and gas manager who initially described the Dimock case as an anomaly in interviews with ProPublica, said he still believes the frequency of contamination incidents is statistically insignificant.

Records show there are roughly 58,000 active gas wells in Pennsylvania. "We are just dealing with a very small percentage," he said in a follow-up interview.

The case Lobins was investigating at the same time as the Dimock case concerned a string of problems in Bradford, a rural town 200 miles west of Dimock along the state's northern border. Shortly after a contractor for Schreiner Oil and Gas drilled several dozen wells in the area last spring, residents began complaining of murky and foul-smelling tap water. When the DEP investigated, it found methane in three water wells and metals in six others. It asked Schreiner to supply water to eight homes, and the company has begun installing water treatment systems at each house. While no new gas wells have been drilled in the Bradford area, according to the DEP, the existing ones continue to operate.

Michael Schreiner, Schreiner's president, declined to comment for this article.

Lobins said the problems in Bradford — as in many of the contamination cases across the state — stem from a bad cementing job around the core of the well. In most gas drilling, the well pipe is encased in layers of concrete to keep it isolated from surrounding groundwater. The concrete also contains the enormous pressure exerted on the system during the process of hydraulic fracturing, which pumps water, sand and chemicals to the well bottom to break up rock.

In Bradford, Lobins said, concrete was poured into the space around the wells but never filled the space — a sign of a possible leak. Because Pennsylvania does not have regulations that require inspections or testing of the concrete casing, the state didn't notice the problem until methane began showing up in water wells. By then, the suspected concrete error had been repeated in as many as 27 different places, Lobins said.

In most gas drilling, the well pipe is encased in layers of concrete to keep it isolated from groundwater. This practice of encasing the well is seen as key to protecting water supplies. (Graphic by Al Granberg/ProPublica)

Controlling the quality of cementing and well casing is widely viewed as the most important factor in protecting water supplies and ensuring the integrity of a well. A recent federally funded study of state regulations across the country(PDF), published by the Ground Water Protection Council, a consortium of state oil and gas regulators, industry representatives, and some environmental consultants, said that proper concrete casing is critical to environmental protection. While 96 percent of states, including Pennsylvania, have standards specifying that concrete be used to protect aquifers, the report found that one in five, also including Pennsylvania, do not require testing to confirm that the concrete used is strong enough for the job. That means that until water problems arose as a result of the casing problems in Bradford, the state had little recourse.
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CONTACT: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.!

http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/contact.html

If he's going to advocate the use of natural gas instead of coal, tell him it's not good enough to simply say extraction needs to be managed carefully! Ask him to help insure the gas drilling industry is made more responsible. _________________________________________________________________

"What they are doing is not a violation until the gas is leaving the borehole," Lobins said. "We don't know that until it manifests itself somewhere else."

Lobins said the state is reviewing its regulations and that changes are planned to address both well casing and methane migration issues. But when asked what specific changes were being discussed, Lobins said he did not know. Similar questions went unanswered by Ron Gilius, the DEP's oil and gas director, after they were submitted by ProPublica both in interviews and in writing.

For their part, Bradford residents were surprised to learn that their problems were not unique.

"They didn't say that there were other problems similar to this," said Lori Trumbull, who complained about her water but later found that it was OK. "They said that the odds of having water contamination from drilling operations is very rare."

Fred Baldassare, the state's dedicated methane migration investigator, said he has investigated water contaminated with drilling-related methane in numerous places across the state in recent years. In Bridgeville, two homes exploded when a well casing failed and methane seeped into their basements, he said. In Dayton, he said, residents were evacuated after a well casing failed and methane migrated into an adjacent abandoned well, blowing out its casing and travelling a third of a mile underground.

In Vandergrift, drillers stumbled across an old gas well that no one knew was there. Baldassare said that when the new well was hydraulically fractured, the intense pressure forced gas into the adjacent wells. It then percolated up through water and mud until it surfaced just feet from homes in a heavily populated neighborhood.

The most tragic Pennsylvania methane case began on March 5, 2004, in Jefferson County, about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. According to Baldassare, gas seeped into the home of 64-year-old Charles Harper and his 53-year-old wife, Dorothy, from one of several adjacent wells being drilled by Snyder Brothers. The gas collected until it exploded and, according to court records and news reports at the time, reduced the home to "a pile of rubble." Debris was found across the road, and insulation hung from trees 30 feet in the air. The bodies of the Harpers and their grandson, Baelee, were found buried in the debris.

Executives from Snyder Brothers did not return calls for comment. The company was sued in state court in Jefferson County and reached an undisclosed settlement with the Harper family.

State officials traced the methane's geochemical fingerprint and determined it had come from one of three Snyder wells nearby. The investigation, however, remains open in part because Snyder has yet to comply with state orders to conduct pressure tests on the wells — orders delivered in 2005, according to Baldassare. But that doesn't mean state officials aren't sure about what happened.

According to Baldassare, the Snyder methane caused the explosion.

"In my view," he said, "there was no uncertainty."

For original publication site, CLICK HERE.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!