Marcellus Drillers Amass 952 Violations Likely To Harm The Environment

ConserveLand.org
August 2, 2010

Harrisburg, PA (8/2) The Pennsylvania Land Trust Association has reviewed environmental violations accrued by Marcellus Shale drillers working in Pennsylvania between January 2008 and June 25, 2010. The records were obtained via a Right to Know Request made to the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

DEP records show a total of 1435 violations of state Oil and Gas Laws due to gas drilling or other earth disturbance activities related to natural gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale in this 2.5-year period. The Association identified 952 violations as having or likely to have an impact on the environment. 483 were identified as likely being an administrative or safety violation and not likely to have the potential to negatively impact the environment.

The report breaks the violations down by type. For example, of the 952 violations:

• 268 involve improper construction of waste water impoundments
• 10 involve improper well casing
• 154 involve discharge of industrial waste
• 16 involve improper blowout prevention

The report lists the 25 companies with the most violations as well as the 25 companies with the highest average number of violations per well driller.

Download the report HERE.

LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Tragic Gas Well Explosion TODAY Kills Two People

Kate Sinding's Blog
SWITCHBOARD
Natural Resources Defense Coucil
July 23, 2010

Tragically, two people were killed on Friday when a gas well exploded in Indiana Township, Pennsylvania. Black smoke belched from the well for hours, and firefighters are still at the scene trying to salvage the area. The well is situated in a rural, wooded area-albeit only 15 miles northeast of Pittsburgh-keeping the human toll of this tragic accident thankfully low.

But this explosion is not an anomaly. Rather, it is the third explosion of the summer in the Marcellus Shale, and only one incident in a long list of accidents, spills, leaks, and unexplained health complaints. On June 3, a gas well in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, erupted into a 75-foot geyser of gas, wastewater, and sludge. It could not be controlled until after the well had spewed 35,000 gallons of waste, over the course of 16 hours. The company didn't install an appropriate pressure-control system-a basic safety requirement. Four days later, a Marcellus gas well in West Virginia, just southwest of Pittsburgh, exploded and severely burned seven people.

The gas industry is expanding voraciously in Pennsylvania, drilling more and more wells every day. Well pads, condensate tanks, waste pits, pipelines, and access roads are often placed only a few hundred feet from residential homes. A single well pad can contain 16 wells, spaced as little as 10 feet apart - shale gas drilling has industrialized countless acres of rural landscape and is already starting to encroach upon neighborhoods and schools. Reports of air pollution, water contamination, fish kills, livestock deaths, and health problems are piling up in Wyoming, Ohio, Colorado, West Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, and right (here) in Pennsylvania.

... The BP Gulf disaster serves as a potent reminder of the risks associated with unchecked, unregulated fossil fuel extraction. When drillers screw up, tragedies ensue.

CLICK HERE to read more.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

2 NEW REPORTS

PEC Releases Report on Marcellus Shale Development

Recommendations and Findings on Environmental Policy Needs for Pennsylvania

July 13, 2010- The Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) released a report calling for swift action on new regulations and greater oversight of drilling and extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation, a major gas field that lies deep beneath much of Pennsylvania.

Called "Developing the Marcellus Shale," the report challenges state government and the natural gas industry to adopt more stringent standards for drilling and extraction to prevent the kind of environmental impacts that have occurred throughout Pennsylvania's industrial past.

The report also includes a number of specific legislative and regulatory changes that PEC believes should be made to minimize the risk of accidents, environmental damage, and public health hazards stemming from drilling operations.

DOWNLOAD Developing the Marcellus Shale

LINK

Beneath the Surface: A Survey of Environmental Risks from Shale Gas Development | Worldwatch Institute

7/16/2010
Washington, D.C.- Improved drilling techniques have unlocked vast new reserves of shale gas, a resource that could be large enough to displace significant amounts of coal, and an energy source that emits less than half the carbon dioxide. But growing shale gas development has raised both environmental questions and public controversy. A new independent assessment by the Worldwatch Institute concludes that improved adherence to drilling best practice and better regulatory oversight are essential to assure environmental and public protection as shale gas production continues to expand.

The report, Addressing Environmental Risks from Shale Gas Development, details what happens beneath the surface during horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in deep shale formations, evaluating the risks to local water quality and the environment, as well as the technologies and policies needed to overcome them.

"Microseismic data have shown us that a properly designed hydraulic fracture job stimulates gas production only within the shale formations, which are typically hundreds of feet thick and thousands of feet deeper than drinking water supplies," says Mark Zoback, a geophysicist at Stanford University and a report co-author. "For this reason, the risk of fractures propagating from deep shale formations to underground sources of drinking water, which has been the subject of much debate, appears to be extremely low."

The report concludes that faulty well construction, in particular poorly cemented steel casings needed to isolate the gas from shallow formations, as well as above-ground contamination due to leaks and spills of fracturing fluids and waste water, pose more significant risks to the environment. In addition, continued study and improved communication of the environmental risks associated with both individual wells and large scale shale gas development are essential for society to make well-informed decisions about its energy future.

"Although the technologies, best practices, and regulations that can help minimize these risks exist, they have not yet been universally adopted," says Worldwatch Fellow and co-author Saya Kitasei. "Experiences in Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and New York demonstrate that strong public pressure exists for stricter oversight."

The report, authored by Mark Zoback of Stanford University, Saya Kitasei of the Worldwatch Institute, and Bradford Copithorne of Environmental Defense Fund, is the second in a series of briefing papers from Worldwatch's Natural Gas and Sustainable Energy Initiative, which examines critical environmental and policy issues surrounding natural gas.

Download Addressing Environmental Risks from Shale Gas Development by Mark Zoback, Saya Kitasei, and Bradford Copithorne.

LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Marcellus drillers want "forced pooling" to accompany severance tax

by laura legere (staff writer)
thetimes-tribune.com
Published: June 29, 2010

Gas tax law could OK 'forced pooling'

Firms would drill from nearby site

The Marcellus Shale natural gas industry wants to see legislation attached to any severance tax adopted by the state that would force property owners who refuse leases to allow drillers to gather the gas beneath their land, an industry coalition leader said Monday.

Calling it the most economical and conservative land-use approach to drilling for gas, David Spigelmyer, Chesapeake Energy's regional vice president for government relations, said in a Times-Tribune editorial board meeting that "forced pooling" is a key element of any legislation the state's Marcellus drillers could support and is actively being discussed during budget negotiations in the capital.

Mr. Spigelmyer said he does not expect forced pooling to be adopted in the coming days as part of budget talks, but he said "an agreement" likely will emerge with the budget "to talk about (the severance tax) holistically" with other industry-supported legislation on forced pooling.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an organization of the state's Marcellus drillers, "has not said, 'Hell no' " to a severance tax, said Mr. Spigelmyer, the group's vice chairman. "We've said there needs to be a broader discussion."

A forced pooling statute would require landowners without gas leases to allow a company to drill under their land from a nearby leased property, and it would define the amount of royalties those holdout landowners are owed for their gas.

Eminent domain

Such a statute would help avoid an unnecessary proliferation of wells, Mr. Spigelmyer said, but critics say it is a form of eminent domain.

In May, State Rep. Camille "Bud" George, D-74, Houtzdale, Clearfield County, called it a "controversial, ugly provision" through which "an intrusive government would be depriving an individual's property rights to benefit private companies."

Limit zoning laws

As part of severance tax discussions, the industry also wants to limit municipal ordinances that attempt to regulate where gas drilling can occur - a development spurred by a state Supreme Court decision last year that opened the door for municipalities to have some control over where gas wells are located through zoning.

"We're willing to work with municipalities, but we're seeing ... an extraordinary number of ordinances that are coming into play that basically zone out development completely," Mr. Spigelmyer said. "We want to make sure we don't have ordinances in place that basically remove your rights."

Negotiations over a severance tax are at the center of ongoing state budget decisions, and Mr. Spigelmyer said Monday a Pennsylvania tax needs to look like those in other, competing shale-gas producing states.

Pennsylvania has benefitted from increased drilling without a severance tax, he said, but an unfair tax and recently introduced legislation to halt drilling in the state will deter development.

"I've already seen where companies have walked away from joint venture opportunities to invest in Pennsylvania because of the mere inference of a moratorium," he said.

"It has the potential to, and I think it already has, limited capital investment in the commonwealth."

LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

According to an APNewsBreak: Strong chemicals used in Pa. drilling

This week state environmental officials will publish, online, the first complete list of chemicals being used to hydraulically fracture natural gas wells in Pennsylvania.

The list was compiled using information drilling companies are required to provide.

Compounds associated with neurological problems or other serious health effects are on the list.

Environmentalists are concerned the chemicals are poisoning underground drinking water sources, while industry officials say the chemicals pose no threat because they are handled safely.

LINK to Marc Levy's AP article.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Re: Major drilling accident in NW PA.: Media banned from site. Threats of shooting, arrest

A Personal Testimony
by Michael Morrill
reported on Daily Kos
Mon Jun 07, 2010

An explosion at a natural gas well in northwest Pennsylvania resulted in a spill of at least a million gallons of oil and chemicals mixed with water. According to the AP report, there was a shower of gas and chemical-laden water shooting 75 feet into the air. The leak continued for at least 16 hours. The accident was so severe that the area was evacuated and the Federal Aviation Administration prohibited flights in the area.

When I heard of the accident on Friday afternoon, I immediately left the meeting I was attending in Washington, DC and headed for the site with my trusty Flip Camera in hand.

So where are the photos and video showing the extent of the pollution?

They don’t exist, because EOG Resources, the owner of the wells, won’t allow anyone on the site, especially with a camera. When I tried to shoot some video, they not only wouldn’t let me on the site, they told me I might be shot for being on their property and then sent thugs to chase me and threaten me.

Link to Michael Morrill's Daily Kos diary

I arrived around 7:30 PM and drove around the area trying to find the site. I asked a number of locals if they knew the site of the explosion. No one knew what I was talking about, so it wasn’t until about 9:00 that I finally stumbled upon the site. It’s about 5 ½ miles from the entrance to S.B. Elliott State Park in Clearfield County.

As I approached the site a man got out of a pickup truck and told me I would have to leave. I told him I just wanted to get some video of the cleanup. He said he couldn’t allow me on the grounds and I didn’t leave right away I would be arrested for trespassing.

In the morning I tried again and got the same answer from another man in a pickup truck.

I could see through the forest that there was work going on in the distance, but my little flip Camera couldn’t get anything but trees. I decided that maybe a hike through the woods was in order, so I drove a few miles to a point on the other side of the spill site. I chose an entrance point that was not marked as private property and hiked toward the site.

Along the way I saw still and flowing water with oily residue. Some of it may be from the spill, but most of it was uphill from the accident site. That means the water in this area is likely contaminated from the numerous gas wells being drilled.

I found a road on a ridge that appeared to head close to the accident site and walked about a half mile on that road when I was stopped by two men in a Gator. They asked me what I was doing out there and I said I was just taking a hike. They told me that I was on property owned by the Punxsutawney Hunt Club and the members didn’t appreciate trespassers. They told me, in a veiled threat, that I should leave now and as long as I was heading out I would probably not get shot.

I’m not one to back down easily, but I wasn’t ready to take a bullet for a grainy video of the spill site. I wished them a good day and turned back to my car, a couple of miles and bridgeless brook away. As I crossed the brook barefoot I noticed another pickup truck parking on the opposite hill, blocking the path. When I approached the truck two men got out. The older man got in front of me and said “Show me some ID.”

I asked him who he was and he grabbed my arm and told me I was on private property. I shook his hand off and continued walking. Without looking back, I told him there was nothing posted that indicated the land I was on was private property. He yelled to me, “We know where your car is. We called the police. You’ll be arrested when you get back to your car.” He then added, “We know you’re taking water samples.”

The truth is, I had filled up some drinking water bottles with samples of water from various sites along my hike. I’m not sure what use they will be, but I thought it was important to at least get something that could be independently tested.

When I got a few hundred yards from my car I could hear the last two men who confronted me. As I approached my car the older man took out an old disposable film camera and took my picture. I tried to get my Flip Camera to take some video of them, but the battery was dead and I only got a few seconds.

They tried to get me to stay and wait for the police to come, but I wasn’t about to test the fairness of the local criminal justice system. I told them to back off or be charged with assault, and susprisingly they complied.

As a parting shot the younger one said,” Don’t come back.” I replied, childishly, “I’ll do what I want.” He said, “If you come back you won’t leave.”

I got in my car and started to leave the way I came in. They passed me and I drove a safe distance behind them. Then I realized that I may be driving into a trap. When they turned a corner toward the spill site, I stopped and turned around. I drove a few miles in the wrong direction, but eventually found a connection to Route 153. And then home.

I have some video that I’ll be posting later today and tomorrow. It’s not very expository, but it’s all I could get. I’ll also be trying to find an independent lab that can identify the chemicals and oily residue in the water samples I took. I’ll post the results of those tests as I get them.

In the meantime, it’s important for the public to know what’s really going on at the spill site.

There has been very little news coverage of this major accident and part of the reason is the lack of access to the site. It’s hard to report when you have no information. It’s harder when the perpetrators are in full control of what little information has been released. “Nothing to see here,” EOG Resources assures us. “It was only a million gallons and we took care of it.”

If that’s the truth, it’s a huge accident that threatens local waterways that flow into the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay. But what if it’s worse than that? We don’t know because there are no independent eyes and ears on the site. Haven’t we learned yet that we should never rely on the word of the people who caused the problem?

I’m calling on Governor Ed Rendell and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger to use their offices to grant access to the spill site to the media, environmental organizations and the local population. It’s probably too late to see anything damning, but it will at least give us a picture of where the accident occurred so we can begin to ask the right questions and make sure any investigations are accurate and complete.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Sestak Calls on EPA to Step Up Oversight of Marcellus Drilling

Gant Team
gantdaily.com
June 7, 2010

MEDIA – Following a blowout at a Pennsylvania natural gas well, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Congressman Joe Sestak called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today to increase its oversight of Marcellus Shale development.

The blowout at the natural gas well in Clearfield County last week, apparently caused by a failed blowout preventer, spewed polluted drilling water and natural gas 75 feet in the air and on the ground before being capped 16 hours later. The drilling liquid from the well’s hydraulic fracturing activities, whereby the liquids are shot underground at high pressure to break up shale and release its natural gas, flowed off the site and toward tributaries to Little Laurel Run.

While the situation was eventually contained, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said the accident could have resulted in a “catastrophic incident that endangered life and property.”

The circumstances of the accident are similar to those that led to the BP oil rig explosion in April at the Deepwater Horizon Rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Joe wrote a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson to ask that the Marcellus Shale development be monitored by the EPA to ensure that drilling does not harm Pennsylvania’s water resources.

“This accident highlights the significant dangers of these drilling operations, which are expanding in Pennsylvania at an unprecedented rate and scale,” wrote Sestak, noting that American Rivers has declared the Upper Delaware River the most endangered in the country due to Marcellus Shale development. “Proper regulations are not in place to manage them and protect the public.”

Sestak asked Jackson to increase EPA’s authority “to the maximum extent possible” to oversee the development of the Marcellus Shale as he and Sen. Bob Casey work on efforts to protect Pennsylvania’s natural resources. For example, Pennsylvania must have proper investigation and testing of groundwater and air contamination and the EPA has the technical expertise to help put the safest possible procedures in place.

Sestak has co-sponsored the FRAC Act, a companion to a Casey-sponsored Senate bill, that would repeal the “Halliburton Loophole,” a Bush-era special-interest deal that allows drillers to skirt the Safe Drinking Water Act.

“It is critical that the EPA play a role in assessing and minimizing industrial risk so that our citizens do not sacrifice their health, safety, livelihoods, and environment to irresponsible development of our nation’s vast natural wealth,” Sestak said. “Development of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale can be a boon for ailing local economies, but we must be vigilant in taking all necessary steps to protect our commonwealth’s precious natural resources.”

Here is the full text of the letter:

The Honorable Lisa Jackson
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Ariel RiosBuilding
1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC20460-0001

Dear Administrator Jackson,

Last week, Pennsylvania experienced a serious accident in a natural gas drilling operation in the Marcellus Shale. A ruptured mine spewed explosive gas and contaminated wastewater into the environment for 16 hours before being brought under control. The accident appears to have been caused by a failed blowout preventer — an alarming similarity to the tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon rig. According to Secretary John Hanger of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, this accident could have been even worse, and could have resulted in a “catastrophic incident that endangered life and property.”

This accident highlights the significant dangers of these drilling operations, which are expanding in Pennsylvania at an unprecedented rate and scale. Proper regulations are not in place to manage them and protect the public. American Rivers has declared the Upper Delaware River the most endangered in the country due to natural gas extraction activities in the Marcellus Shale, and the state DEP has recently had its budget cut by more than 25 percent.

In April, my colleague Senator Bob Casey wrote to you requesting greater EPA involvement in Pennsylvania to protect its citizens from the detrimental effects of hydraulic fracturing. This accident underscores the need, and urgency, for the EPA to take action.

Recent events, from the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the fraudulent activity that contributed to the collapse on Wall Street, have reminded us all that we cannot depend on industry to police itself when our quality of life, present and future, is at stake. It is critical that the EPA play a role in assessing and minimizing industrial risk so that our citizens do not sacrifice their health, safety, livelihoods, and environment to irresponsible development of our nation’s vast natural wealth.

I will continue to work with Senator Casey to provide even greater authority to the EPA in oversight of hydraulic fracturing operations through passage of the FRAC Act. As that legislation moves through the legislative process, I request that the EPA use its current authority to the maximum extent possible to protect the health, safety, and environment of Pennsylvania and our neighboring states.

Sincerely,
Joe Sestak
Member of Congress

LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

DEP Orders EOG Resources to Halt All Natural Gas Drilling Activities in PA

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

06/7/2010

CONTACT:

Neil Weaver, Department of Environmental Protection

717-787-1323

HARRISBURG -- The Department of Environmental Protection today ordered EOG Resources Inc. to suspend its natural gas well drilling activities in Pennsylvania after a June 3 blowout at one of the company’s Clearfield County wells sent natural gas and at least 35,000 gallons of drilling wastewater into the sky and over the ground for 16 hours.

DEP Secretary John Hanger said that while the order bans all drilling and hydrofracturing, or fracking, operations for specified periods of time, the suspension will remain in effect until DEP has completed a comprehensive investigation into the leak and the company has implemented any needed changes.

“DEP staff, along with an independent expert, will conduct a detailed investigation of not just the incident that occurred last week in Clearfield County, but of EOG Resources’ drilling operations, as a whole, here in Pennsylvania,” said Hanger. “The Clearfield County incident presented a serious threat to life and property. We are working with the company to review its Pennsylvania drilling operations fully from beginning to end to ensure an incident of this nature does not happen again.”

The order prohibits EOG Resources from drilling activities up to seven days; from engaging in fracking operations up to 14 days; and from completing or initiating post-fracking operations for 30 days in any wells throughout the state. These actions and operations cannot resume until the department agrees that the investigation has been fully completed.

The results of the investigation will also help determine whether DEP should take additional enforcement action against the company, such as fines or penalties.

Hanger added that EOG Resources has been fully cooperative and in agreement with the department’s ongoing investigation and order.

The leak began at approximately 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 3, when the well’s operators lost control of it while preparing to extract gas after fracking the shale. As a result, natural gas and flowback frack fluid was released uncontrollably onto the ground and 75 feet into the air. The well was capped at around noon on June 4.
The EOG well pad is located in a rural area near the Penfield/Route 153 exit of Interstate 80 in northwestern Clearfield County, near Moshannon State Forest.

The department’s Emergency Response and Oil and Gas programs responded to the incident, along with the Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, and local fire and police departments.

PEMA elevated its activation level to coordinate resources among multiple state agencies and worked with PennDOT and the Federal Aviation Administration to institute a temporary airspace restriction above the well. The restriction was lifted at approximately 1:45 p.m. on June 4.

“Fortunately, the well did not ignite and explode, and there were no injuries to the well crew or emergency responders,” said Hanger. “Our preliminary assessment is that the environmental damage was modest as the frack fluid was contained and did not appear to reach any streams, but DEP is continuing its monitoring efforts because sometimes the impacts of a spill like this are delayed. We have noted that a spring in the area has shown a spike in conductivity and that discharge is being collected by EOG for proper disposal.”

The secretary noted that the company expects to have a more accurate estimate of the amount of fracking water that was leaked after it finishes draining the pits and waterboxes it deployed to collect the fluids. As of June 7, initial estimates totaled 35,000 gallons, although more was certainly released and the company believes this accounts for a majority of the leaked water.

DEP’s preliminary investigation has determined that a blowout preventer on the well failed, but the agency does not yet know if that failure was the main cause of the incident. The blowout preventer has been secured and will be one piece of the investigation.

EOG Resources, formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Co., operates approximately 265 active wells in Pennsylvania, 117 of which are in the Marcellus Shale formation.

For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Oil and gas drilling threatens fish and aquatic habitat onshore

Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst

Boulder, Colorado

Switchboard.NRDC.org
April 30, 2010

A recent article reported that the Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection has stated that "water discharges from Marcellus shale drilling operations have already harmed aquatic life in the state...." Because of this, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is seeking the help of anglers to identify and survey 45,000 unmanaged Pennsylvania streams in search of native trout. These streams have to be identified in order to be protected from industrial development.

Pennsylvania is not the only place where fish are being harmed or are at risk from oil and gas production. ...

According to Trout Unlimited, the ecological effects of gas and oil development are extensive: "If not done responsibly, this development can contaminate ground and surface water supplies, reduce water quantity and degrade fish habitat."

Back in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has found that natural gas production activities can impair important trout fisheries. The Corps has stated that these activities pose a "genuine and extreme threat to regional water quality."

Many win-win solutions exist that can protect our wildest lands and streams--our most vital wildlife habitat. Our federal and state agencies should preserve the most vulnerable areas while requiring the highest possible protection where drilling does occur.

LINK to complete post on Amy Mall's blog.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

DEP head wants tougher laws on shale gas drilling

Monday, May 03, 2010

By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pennsylvania needs tougher regulations for Marcellus shale gas drilling, aggressive, independent enforcement and a severance tax on the gas extracted, according to state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger.

And yesterday would not be soon enough to get all of that done and "done right" to protect the state's water resources, said Mr. Hanger in a forceful keynote speech opening the Marcellus Shale Policy Conference at Duquesne University today.

Citing environmental damage done by Pennsylvania's early history of unregulated coal mining, the oil well disaster and widening slick in the Gulf of Mexico and the 29 dead miners at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia, Mr. Hanger challenged state legislators, regulators and the natural gas industry not to make those kinds of mistakes again.

"Let me be clear: Self regulation doesn't work. That's not contestable," Mr. Hanger said to the audience of about 250, including a significant number of gas industry representatives. "We've made mistakes before. We have to get this right or the costs will overwhelm the benefits."

Mr. Hanger said Pennsylvania needs stronger regulations to protect its rivers and creeks from well waste water pollution, tougher and more comprehensive well construction standards, rules limiting toxic air pollution from wells and compressor pumping stations and bigger bonds to cover capping of wells when they stop producing.

"The bonding regulations are pitiful -- $2,500 a well or $25,000 for all the wells a company drills in the state," Mr. Hanger said, provoking a couple of chuckles from the audience. "Well the joke will be on us when the first company leaves Pennsylvania. Right now clearly the rational economic decision would be forfeit the bond and walk away."

Read more HERE.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Help Save PA's Wild Forests

By David Masur, PennEnvironment Director

NorthcentralPA.com

April 26, 2010

From Pennsylvania's Sproul State Forest to Tioga State Forest (home to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon), our state forests are well-known destinations for hiking, fishing, camping and other outdoor activities.

Most Pennsylvanians would be shocked to hear that they're often sold off to the highest bidder for destructive practices that will do irreparable harm to our forests. It's sad but true -- dangerous gas drilling is placing hundreds of thousands of acres of Pennsylvania forestland at risk.

This week the Legislature is deciding whether to protect our remaining state forestlands from gas drilling. Click here to help make sure our state representatives make the right choice for our state forests today.

Already, state officials have opened up 700,000 acres of our state forests for gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region -- that's more than 40 percent of our forests over the Marcellus Shale.

More drilling means more roads, pipelines, wells and trucks in our state forests, destroying habitat and polluting our streams.

Luckily, there is a proposal to halt further gas drilling leases in our state forests. If passed, House Bill 2235 will implement a 5-year moratorium on further drilling leases in our state forests.

HB 2235 is expected to be voted on this week. Without your support for this bill, the trend of selling off our state forests to the highest bidder may continue. Let's make sure that we keep our forests protected now and for future generations of Pennsylvanians. Click the link below to e-mail your state representative today -- and help protect Pennsylvania's state forests. http://www.pennenvironment.org/action/our-natural-heritage/moratorium?id4=ES

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Franciscan Sisters Focus on Hydraulic Fracturing

from Franciscan Life
Sr. Nora Nash, Director
Office of Corporate Social Responsibilty
Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

...
In the children’s book, The Arm of The Starfish, Madeline L’Engle wrote: “If we are going to care about the fall of the swallow, then we cannot pick and choose among the birds. We must stand for all of them.” The same is true for Corporate Social Responsibility. We must care about all the issues as we seek a more just and sustainable global community—whether it’s here in Pennsylvania or thousands of miles away in the Amazon.

Over the past several months, the issue of hydraulic fracturing has become a very serious one for residents of several states, especially Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia. The landscape is changing before our very eyes and as citizens we have an opportunity and a responsibility to challenge our legislators as well as oil and gas companies before there is a seismic crisis. Multi-national gas drillers from around the world are coming to Pennsylvania to extract one of our most valuable natural resources—the natural gas that exists in the vast Marcellus shale formation found under most of the commonwealth, especially the Western area of the state. The trade off is deeply troubling because the scars on the land and the contamination of our drinking water are inevitable.

What is hydraulic fracturing, (hydro fracking or frac’ing)? It is a process used to extract oil and natural gas from tight rock formations. Under high pressure, a mixture of water, chemicals, and sand is injected into the ground to create fractures through which oil or gas can then flow to be collected. Every time a well is fractured, it requires pumping massive volumes of water from our streams and watersheds—one to five million gallons per well. Hydraulic fracturing fluids are laced with chemicals known to include those that are toxic and carcinogenic. The process of frac’ing also generates millions of gallons of polluted wastewater and has the potential to contaminate enormous quantities of groundwater. While required to dispose of the waste, gas drilling companies are not required to release the components of drilling fluids. Disposal of wastewater has raised several new concerns, even for those not living in the areas being explored and fractured. Our local wastewater plant in Delaware County was a candidate for this waste until local citizens protested.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 hasn’t helped. It essentially deprives the U.S. EPA of its right to monitor hydraulic fracturing under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act. According to the Washington Analysis Energy Update of October 2009, the EPA will begin a new study on the relationship between hydraulic fracturing and safe drinking water. However, according to Abrahm Lustgarten (Pro Publica, December 27, 2009), “The government faces stiff pressure from the energy industry to maintain the status quo—in which gas drilling is regulated state by state—as companies race to exploit the nation’s vast shale deposits and meet the growing demand for cleaner fuel. Just this month, Exxon announced it would spend some $31 billion to buy XTO Energy, a company that controls substantial gas reserves in the Marcellus—but only on the condition that congress doesn’t enact laws on fracturing that make drilling “commercially impracticable.”

As of January 2010, we know that 2.1 million acres of state forest in Pennsylvania sit on top of the Marcellus shale and 660,000 acres have been leased to drilling companies. The impact on homeowners, roads, forests, and watesheds is not yet fully known but deserves our urgent attention. We urge you to please write to your governors, state legislators, senators, congress, and President Obama to encourage more scientific-based study on the damages of this industry. Our office and other Investor Environmental Health Network members are pressuring the major oil and gas companies for greater accountability and transparency, especially related to the chemicals being used.

Daniel Ruben (Philadelphia Inquirer, (9/25/09) quoted Andy Losa, executive director of PA Landtrust, saying “Companies are going to come, they’re going to take gas, make a fortune and Pennsylvania will be left to clean up the mess for many decades and prehaps centuries to come. These woods belong to all Pennsylvanians.”

As Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, if we’re going to care about “these woods” and the misuse of our precious resources, then we need to make this issue known in all our local communities and beyond Penn’s woods.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!