Author Archive

This month’s Marcellus Educational Webinar program hosts Dana Aunkst and Eugene Pine from DEP discussing new regulations for natural gas drilling.

As the natural-gas drilling boom into the deep Marcellus Shale formation has unfolded, state regulators have become increasingly aware of pollution risks to ground and surface water, and they have scrambled to develop regulations to protect precious natural resources.

Two experts with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will offer a look at the current situation in a free web-based seminar presented by Penn State Cooperative Extension at 1 p.m. on Nov. 18, titled “Pa. DEP Regulatory Update.” Dana Aunkst, director of DEP’s bureau of water standards and facilities regulation, and Eugene Pine, professional geologist manager with the agency, will present details about the current regulatory environment.

“A properly cased and cemented oil and gas well is critical to protecting fresh groundwater, public health, safety and the environment,” explained Pine. “Many of the regulations governing well construction were promulgated in 1989 and remain largely unchanged.

“New well drilling and completion practices used to develop Marcellus shale wells, as well as recent impacts to drinking water supplies and the environment by both ‘traditional’ and Marcellus shale wells, prompted the department to reevaluate existing requirements.”

With the continued development of the oil and gas industry, the potential exists for natural gas to migrate from the wellbore by either improperly constructed wells or older, deteriorated wells, according to Pine. “This migration could adversely affect underground sources of drinking water and pose a threat to public safety and the environment,” he said. “Accordingly, DEP has revised Chapter 78, Subchapter D, for its well-drilling and operation regulations.”

Pine’s webinar presentation will explain how his department is making changes to the regulations, and will detail the proposed and final rulemaking process (timeframes, public-comment periods, etc.). “I will generally explain where we are in this process and then highlight the more significant revisions to the existing regulations,” he said. “The regulatory revisions emphasize, and are intended to strengthen, proper well drilling, construction and operational practices.”

Aunkst, on the other hand, will talk about new treatment standards for gas well wastewater. “In 2010, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board amended Chapter 95 of Title 25 of the Pennsylvania Code to include new treatment requirements for total dissolved solids,” he said. “This final form rulemaking ensures the continued protection of this commonwealth’s water resources from new and expanded sources of TDS.”

Most importantly, Aunkst noted, the final-form rulemaking guarantees that state waters will not exceed a threshold of 500 milligrams per liter. “In doing so, the final-form rulemaking assures the continued use and protection of drinking water intakes on streams throughout this commonwealth,” he said. “That provides the required protection of our aquatic life resources and maintains continued economic viability of the current water users.”

Based on stakeholder comments received during an extensive public and stakeholder participation process, the final-form rulemaking adopts a combination of recommended approaches for addressing these larger loadings of TDS, Aunkst pointed out. This combination of approaches includes an industrial sector-based regulation along with a watershed-based analysis.

“The sector-based piece focuses on the natural-gas industry, mandating the treatment of wastewater,” he said. “In addition, this treatment must be performed at a centralized wastewater treatment facility to the standards in the proposed rulemaking. This approach sets treatment requirements for natural-gas well wastewaters, based on available, proven treatment technologies for this industry and takes cost into consideration.

“These requirements will assure that any threat of water pollution from this rapidly growing industry is prevented in accordance with the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law.”

Aunkst’s webinar presentation will provide background on the need for the new regulation, a history of the development of the regulation and a summary of the current status of implementation of the new requirements.
Information about how to register for the webinar is available athttp://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/webinars. Online participants will have the opportunity to ask the speaker questions during the session.
The webinar “Pa. DEP Regulatory Update” is part of an ongoing series of workshops and events addressing issues related to the state’s Marcellus Shale gas boom, which can be viewed at Penn State Cooperative Extension’s natural-gas website, http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas.
Previous webinars, which covered topics such as water use and quality, zoning, gas-leasing considerations for landowners and implications for local communities, can be viewed online athttp://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/webinars.
Additional one-hour webinars will be held at 1 p.m. on the following dates:
–Dec. 16: “Plumbing the Depths in Pa.: A Primer on Marcellus Shale Geology and Technology.”  Presenter: Mike Arthur, Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.
–Jan. 20, 2011: “Marcellus Shale Legislation: What Was Accomplished in the 2009-10 Session and What Issues Remain to be Addressed.” Presenter: Ross Pifer, Dickinson School of Law, Penn State.
–Feb. 16, 2011: “Dealing with Gas Tax Issues: What You Need to Know.” Presenter: Mike Jacobson, Penn State School of Forest Resources.
–Mar. 17, 2011: “Natural Gas Well Development and Emergency Response and Management.” Presenter: Craig Konkle, Lycoming County Office of Emergency Management.

For more information, contact John Turack, extension educator in Westmoreland County, at 724-837-1402 or by e-mail at jdt15@psu.edu.

From Penn Live, Jeff Mulhollem

Originally Posted At: PSU.edu

Published November 10, 2010

Three-quarters of haulers for drillers came up short in inspections, say state cops.

Three-quarters of trucks hauling water for natural-gas drillers stopped in a recent enforcement operation targeting the gas industry were cited, state police reported Tuesday.

State police on Tuesday released the results of their latest FracNET operation, an enforcement initiative targeting commercial vehicles hauling water for Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations.

State police and the state Department of Environmental Protection cited 1,066 of the approximately 1,400 trucks they inspected in the operation, conducted Oct. 25 to 27 in areas of the state where Marcellus Shale gas drilling has created increased truck traffic.

“Large numbers of vehicles are required to support the drilling operations, and the state is committed to ensuring that those vehicles are in good condition and operated safely,” state police Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski said.

During FracNET inspections, state police teams check vehicle braking systems, exterior lighting and other equipment that plays a role in operational safety, as well as whether drivers possess the appropriate operator licenses. DEP inspects a more narrow range of issues pertaining to vehicle weight, proper waste-hauler authorizations and standards for maintaining safe and secure loads.

DEP Secretary John Hanger said DEP personnel inspected 254 other trucks during the operation, issuing notices of violation for 65 of the vehicles and nine citations.

“These inspections are crucial because they ensure that wastewater haulers are working to comply with the commonwealth’s environmental regulations and are keeping our roadways safe for other drivers,” Hanger said. “Taking the time to do so now will go a long way toward making a positive difference as drilling continues.”

State Police Troop P, Wyoming, which covers Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming and part of Luzerne counties, conducted 202 inspections, issued 476 citations and placed 84 vehicles out of service.

In addition, DEP’s Northeast region, which covers Carbon, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming, conducted 78 inspections and issued four notices of violation and two citations.

In a similar operation in September, Troop P reported violations in 154 of 207 trucks inspected. They issued 401 citations and placed 75 vehicles out of service in that FracNET operation.

Contact the writer MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Times Leader

Proposed revisions to Pennsylvania’s oil and gas law will force drillers to disclose for the first time the names and amounts of chemicals they inject underground to coax oil and gas from rock.

But the final revision of those rules – earlier versions of which had been applauded by citizens and environmental groups as a step forward in terms of public health and safety – contain provisions that will limit the amount of information drillers have to disclose.

The new rules are meant to provide citizens and regulators with information about the specific chemicals that are used to hydraulically fracture gas wells drilled next to homes and water supplies.

The process, which the industry contends has never polluted drinking water, has been criticized because companies have been reluctant to reveal the chemicals they use – making it difficult to prove suspected pollution is caused by gas drilling.

Unlike earlier drafts of the regulations that were open for public review and comment, the final draft describes in detail the information drillers will have to disclose about each well, including the name and percent by volume of each chemical additive, as well as the names, unique identifying numbers and amounts of hazardous chemicals that make up those additives.

The final draft also describes the limits of that disclosure, including for the first time a provision that allows drillers to designate parts of the record as containing trade secrets that will be kept from the public, and another provision requiring drillers to disclose only the chemicals listed on federal safety documents – called material safety data sheets – instead of every toxic or nontoxic chemical injected in a well.

The changes were motivated by a comment letter submitted by Halliburton, the energy services giant, questioning the need for disclosure beyond what is contained in material safety data sheets and saying the draft regulations created “serious risks” to its trade secrets, including the identity of “specific proprietary chemicals.”

Halliburton “believes that any requirement that service companies routinely disclose information concerning the chemical constituents of frack fluid additives … would be inappropriate because it would require the disclosure of trade secret information when it is not needed and would serve as a disincentive to future frac fluid and technical innovation,” the company wrote.

The Department of Environmental Protection, which developed the revised regulations, said it struck an appropriate balance between public disclosure and protecting confidential information.

But critics of the final revisions look at similar rules adopted by the state of Wyoming this year and see Pennsylvania’s proposed standard as a step backward.

“I think it’s sad that when you’re writing new regulations you are actually doing less than what is state of the art,” said Deborah Goldberg, managing attorney of the eastern regional office of Earthjustice. “There are better regulations out there; you know what they look like; they are already in effect; they haven’t shut down the industry; and you still don’t do the best for your citizens. That’s a shame.”

The Wyoming rules – the first in the nation to require well-by-well disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing – require drillers to disclose all chemicals used in the process, not just those listed on material safety data sheets. That matters, Goldberg said, because many lesser-studied chemicals are not included on the safety sheets, even if they are known or suspected to be toxic. And nontoxic chemicals not on the sheets may combine with other chemicals to become toxic.

“MSDS sheets are widely known to be insufficient to really give people the information they need to protect themselves,” she said.

And although Wyoming also allows companies to invoke trade secrets claims, regulators there have committed to scrutinizing those claims as they are submitted and have routinely rejected drillers’ reports that incompletely identify the chemical constituents.

Under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law, companies are allowed to designate information as a trade secret and the validity of that claim is only scrutinized once someone requests to see the record.

Scott Perry, the director of DEP’s Oil and Gas Bureau, said the agency is restricted in what it can ask drillers to disclose because of the trade secrets standard set in the state’s Right-to-Know Law.

“We don’t have the same statutory authority as Wyoming does to be requesting all of this other information,” he said.

“I think we’ve drawn an appropriate line that addresses the public’s right to know what’s being used at these sites without drifting into areas where, quite frankly, we would be in litigation.”

Legal challenges might have held up the full suite of oil and gas revisions, which include stronger casing and cementing standards, stricter provisions requiring drillers to respond when they impact drinking water supplies and greater use of well blowout prevention equipment, he said.

The rules face reviews by the House and Senate environmental resources committees and a vote this month by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission before they take effect next year.

llegere@timesshamrock.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Citizens Voice

TUNKHANNOCK – A sand-and-gravel company in Falls Twp. secured local permission Thursday to withdraw water from Buttermilk Creek for gas well drilling.

The township zoning hearing board approved the variance for Geary Enterprises, which operates a quarry and processing plant along Buttermilk Road.

Owner William Geary Jr. told the board his company already has a permit from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission for the withdrawal of up to 99,999 gallons a day, with a maximum of 68 gallons a minute. Mr. Geary said the water will be taken from the site for use in the hydraulic fracturing process, or fracking, at gas wells.

Mr. Geary said he has not contracted with any gas company yet. The withdrawal operation is speculative, he said, based on the imminent expansion of the gas industry into Wyoming County.

He stated that there would be no fracking chemicals or any other substances on the site, which would merely be used for withdrawal of fresh water.

Mr. Geary told the board he is still awaiting a minor modification of his existing mining permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection to allow the withdrawal site. He said he has also applied for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers for a minor encroachment on wetland adjacent to the creek.

The board granted the variance conditional on the receipt of those two permits.

Mr. Geary said studies of the creek dating back nearly 70 years have shown the average creek flow rate is about 3,000 gallons a minute, so the water taken out should have minimal effect.

In addition, Mr. Geary said the SRBC has tied its permit for the site to the flow rate of the Lackawaxen River in northern Wayne County. He said if that river’s rate falls below a certain level, the operation must shut down, and remain offline until the river is back over the minimum rate for at least 48 hours.

SRBC review docket No. 20100907 notes that the Lackawaxen gauge is used because “local stream monitoring may not be practicable.”

Mr. Geary said water will be drawn from the creek into storage tanks, then trucks will take water from the tanks to well sites. That will enable water to be pumped continuously, while having trucks coming in and out only during daylight hours.

He said there would be about 20 trucks a day accessing the site via Buttermilk Road and Route 92. Because his company already operates heavy trucks in the area, Mr. Geary said the extra traffic should have little to no additional effect on roads.

Contact the writer: mrudolf@wcexaminer.com

View article here.

Copyright: The Scranton Times

The Associated Press

 PHILADELPHIA — A Bradford County woman is suing natural gas driller Chesapeake Energy Corp. and two of its subsidiaries, claiming that drilling near her rural home has fouled the water with methane and other pollutants and created a rash of health problems since 2009.

Judy Armstrong’s lawyer, Peter Cambs, said Thursday that the lawsuit, filed in state court in Bradford County on Wednesday, asserts the woman has seen her water supply contaminated with methane, barium and other irritants that have left her with health problems.

Chesapeake senior director for corporate development Brian Grove said Thursday the company had not seen the lawsuit and he could not comment on it.

Also named in the suit were Chesapeake subsidiaries Nomac Drilling LLC and Chesapeake Appalachia LLC.

The state Department of Environmental Protection views the potential for contamination by methane, a highly flammable gas, as among the most serious risks of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.

The DEP said last month that at least six residential wells were tainted with methane believed to be caused by Chesapeake’s drilling operations.

View article here.

Copyright:  The Times Leader

DIMOCK TWP. – A wealth of gas beneath this small Susquehanna County community has brought it a new industry, a national reputation for bad luck and a host of polarizing issues: the risks and damage to water, soil and air; the fair rate for leased land; the condition of the roads and the shape of the economy.

But nothing has defined the division in Dimock Township like a line that exists, for now, only on paper: a proposed $11.8 million water main to bring fresh water to 18 families with methane linked to gas drilling in their wells – a pipe that will travel along Route 29, the thoroughfare that cuts the township in two.

For the group of citizens and businesses called Enough Already that formed this month to oppose the line, the project represents a big-government solution that penalizes many taxpayers for the benefit of a few and threatens to drive away the gas companies that have brought them money or jobs.

For the residents who need the line – those whose water has been contaminated with methane the state found seeping from faulty natural gas wells – the opposition is an attack on their health and safety that comes after they have waited two years for clean water.

“To have neighbor go against neighbor – our own neighbors are doing this,” said Norma Fiorentino, the retired nurse whose water well first drew the state’s attention to the methane problem when the concrete slab above it was blown apart in January 2009.

“This is a real stab in the back for us,” she said. “That was not our fault this happened.”

‘We’re fed up’

Enough Already’s two dozen core members met for the first time in early October, days after Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger announced a plan to use public financing to build the 12.5-mile waterline then sue to get the money back from Cabot Oil and Gas Corp., the company deemed responsible for the contamination.

The group declared its opposition to the line in an ad in the Mulligan’s Shopping Guide, a Susquehanna County advertising publication, on Oct. 13. It began posting fliers with the same logo – a blue pipe labeled “water line” crossed out in red – in businesses and on public bulletin boards along the proposed route from Montrose to Dimock.

Dan and Gretchen Backer posted the fliers in the windows at the Inn at Montrose, the hotel and restaurant they bought and expanded since 2008 to serve the gas workers.

Gretchen Backer summarized the group’s position: The state has “gone amok” by siding with families who are suing Cabot for contamination the driller says it did not cause and using the opportunity to demand a “handout” from a wealthy company in order to expand a public utility.

“There’s just enough flags that say this is ridiculous,” she said.

Before the lunch rush last Tuesday, she and Dan Backer sat at a table in the tavern they renovated entirely except for the original bar made from wood reclaimed from a bowling lane.

The couple touts the fact that they have benefited from the influx of industry, and they think not enough is said about the good influence of gas drilling.

“Enough Already is enough with the negativity,” Dan Backer said. He fears the combination of state enforcement actions against the gas industry and a public perception of Dimock as a “wasteland” will kill the new opportunities.

“If they left, we’re done. We fold,” he said. “We can’t survive serving steaks and cheeseburgers.”

At Lockhart’s – a combination tag and title business, gas station and diner about 2½ miles south on Route 29 – the Enough Already flier was posted last week on a cork board below another advertising a chicken-and-biscuit dinner.

Don Lockhart, the owner of the business for 26 years, sat on a stool at the lunch counter, where he keeps a petition asking the state infrastructure investment authority to deny financing for the project.

“They’re going to shove this water down everybody’s throats,” he said. The affected residents should have clean water, he said, but the state should consider the impact on people who are not involved with the problem and think of less-intrusive options, like building a reservoir closer to the affected homes.

“All you’re getting is the ‘wah, wah’ part of this,” he said. “You’re not getting any common sense. All you hear about is ‘these poor people.’ The people, we’re fed up.”

Residents without businesses also have signed on with the group, including at least three who have had replacement water provided by Cabot because they believe drilling has damaged the quality or quantity of water in their wells.

Martha Locey, a 78-year-old woman who lives on her family’s farm in Hop Bottom, gave $20 – the money she had in her purse during the group’s first meeting – to help pay for the Enough Already ad. Her farm’s two water wells have had methane in them since they were drilled in the 1940s and 1970s, she said, and signed an affidavit for Cabot testifying to that fact.

“I came out with the truth, because I know it has been in the water,” she said.

The company has used evidence of pre-existing methane to help prove its case that it did not cause the problems in the Dimock wells. It also paid Dr. Robert W. Watson, an emeritus professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering at Penn State University, about $25,000 to review its materials and well-completion records. Watson concluded that Cabot’s wells did not cause methane to seep into aquifers.

DEP counters Cabot’s evidence with a photographic record of methane bubbling out of the company’s gas wells, documentation of excessive well pressures, and isotopic analysis – a kind of chemical fingerprinting – that matches the gas in the affected water supplies with the gas coming from Cabot’s wells.

Hanger has explained that the waterline is the only remedy that will guarantee the families clean water – now and in the future – because there is no certainty that methane will stop migrating from Cabot’s wells.

He also dismissed the conclusions reached by Watson.

“No surprise that his report supports the company that is paying him,” he said in an e-mail.

‘Stirring up trouble’

The most visible battle in Dimock has been the one waged between DEP and Cabot in press releases, public announcements, letters and ads.

Hanger sees evidence of Cabot’s influence in the formation of Enough Already, an accusation the group and Cabot both deny.

“For Cabot to constantly stir up trouble is very disappointing,” Hanger said. “They are doing everything to deflect attention from their own failings and creating distractions from the real issue here, which is they drilled bad wells.”

The businesses hosting the Enough Already petition are either Cabot contractors or frequently do business with the company or its workers, he pointed out. One business, listed on the ad as Guy Parrish’s, is hired by Cabot to deliver replacement water to families affected by the stray methane.

Cabot spokesman George Stark said the driller “does business with many Susquehanna County companies, having invested nearly a billion dollars in the region. Cabot did not ask businesses to participate in any organization or group in Susquehanna County, or anywhere else for that matter.”

Harold Lewis, a resident who has worked delivering water to the affected homes, built a large handmade sign with the words “water pipe line” crossed out in black in his front yard just beyond a telephone pole wrapped with four No Trespassing signs.

The anti-waterline sign faces across the road toward two homes with tainted water.

“It’s nothing against the neighbors or anything like that,” he said in a hallway of Elk Lake High School after a meeting organized by Enough Already on Thursday night. “It’s against the pipeline.”

The Lewis family also had replacement water supplied by Cabot for several months after they noticed an odor in their well water. Lewis said he was just “nervous in the beginning,” but tests show the well water is fine.

“I know all the neighbors think I’m mad at them – I’m not,” he said. “They’re probably mad at me now.”

The meeting on Thursday was punctuated with shouts from members of the audience, many from outside the town or county, who wore blue ribbons in support of the affected families in Dimock.

As the meeting ended, those wearing blue ribbons looked warily across the auditorium as those without ribbons were being interviewed for television. On the other side of the room, audience members sympathetic to Enough Already mumbled on their way out the doors that the families’ complaints were “all about the money.” Others said the families were “pumping chemicals into their own wells.”

Lynn Senick, a Montrose resident and critic of the industry, stood outside and touched the ribbon on her lapel.

“I hate the divisiveness and the lies,” she said. “I hate that the DEP, their authority is being flouted and challenged. I don’t like to walk down the street and feel like I can’t talk to certain people, or that because I have this” – she pointed to her ribbon – “now I’m an enemy.”

Residents who will be served by the waterline also recognized the stakes are higher than hurt feelings.

“If we have regulations and laws but DEP won’t hold the gas companies responsible, we might as well have no DEP,” said Victoria Switzer, one of the affected residents, who paused in the hall after apologizing to the presenters for the heckling from the families’ out-of-town supporters.

“No laws, no regs, just gas,” she said. “Welcome to Dimock.”

llegere@timesshamrock.com

View article here.

Copyright: The Citizens Voice

Dan Naylor said he has thought a lot about Marcellus Shale over the past six months, a subject he believes will have the greatest impact on Northeast Pennsylvania in his lifetime.

The Benton Twp. Republican, who works as a commercial engineer and has served on the Lackawanna Trail School Board for 17 years, has a gas lease on the 100-acre dairy farm where he grew up. And since making the decision in February to take his second run at a seat occupied by state Rep. Jim Wansacz, Mr. Naylor said he has begun worrying more and more about how to protect communities that host drilling.

In a Wednesday meeting with the Times-Tribune editorial board, Mr. Naylor said his top priority if elected to represent the 114th Legislative District will be balancing the impact Marcellus Shale drilling will have on job creation and the economy with the impact it will have on the environment and infrastructure.

“Protecting the environment must come first,” Mr. Naylor said.

And while he is for implementing a state severance tax on natural gas drilling, he does not support the proposal on the floor in Harrisburg because about 81 percent of the money generated would go into the general fund. He believes most of the money collected should stay with the communities affected by drilling.

Mr. Naylor is running against Democrat Sid Mich-aels Kavulich, a former reporter for WBRE-TV and WYOU-TV who has spent the last four years working as a communications specialist for the Senate Democratic Caucus. The pair are vying for the seat held by Rep. Jim Wansacz, who lost a bid for the 22nd Senatorial District seat in the primary.

Representatives serve two-year terms and are paid $78,314.66 a year.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Mr. Naylor said he would like to look at decreasing the size of the Pennsylvania Legislature to save money, realign the state budget to make transportation and infrastructure needs a bigger priority and increase accountability of elected officials in Harrisburg.

He has promised not to take per diems – taxpayer-funded reimbursements for expenses that do not require receipts – and will post receipts for expenses on his website.

“Right now, no one trusts Harrisburg, and no one trusts elected officials,” he said. “I want to be held accountable.”

Contact the writer: enissley@timesshamrock.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Scranton Times

The state Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. traded barbs Tuesday about the scope, cause and solution for methane contamination in 18 residential water wells in Dimock Township.

The state agency and the natural gas drilling company have been arguing via press releases and advertisements since late last month when DEP announced that Pennsylvania American Water Co. will construct a new, 5.5-mile water main from its Lake Montrose treatment plant to provide water to the affected families, and Cabot would be made to pick up the tab.

“DEP was forced to take action since Cabot continues to deny responsibility for the contamination, despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility,” DEP Secretary John Hanger said in a letter released widely on Tuesday and circulated over the weekend in Susquehanna County.

“Since that announcement was made, Cabot has launched a public relations campaign and much misinformation has been brought forth concerning who will be party to that solution and who will end up paying for it.”

In a press release also sent Tuesday, Cabot spokesman George Stark said that water tests performed by Cabot and DEP showed only four of the 18 water wells have methane at levels exceeding the 28 milligrams per liter limit suggested by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining. He also said the company, which maintains it did not cause the methane contamination, has provided “substantial and persuasive proof that methane gas has been present in water wells in and around the Dimock area for generations.”

Hanger said in an interview Tuesday that Cabot “unfortunately” continues to deny responsibility and the company’s data “must be examined through that prism.”

The state’s environmental oversight agency determined that excessive pressures and faulty casings in 14 of Cabot’s natural gas wells caused methane from a rock layer above the Marcellus Shale to seep into residential water supplies.

The state’s evidence includes video recordings of gas bubbling between the casing in Cabot’s wells and high pressure readings “that could only exist in wells that are leaking,” as well as isotopic analysis – a form of chemical “fingerprinting” – that matched the gas found in five homes to the gas leaking from nearby Cabot wells.

Hanger said DEP testing since April has shown as many as 18 affected supplies. DEP will continue water tests until the Nov. 1 deadline for Cabot to rid the water of gas.

“We, of course, would be delighted, as the families would be, if in fact some of the gas went away,” he said. “We have seen declines at some properties, but not at all. We’ll do some more testing and frankly we’ll make our own judgments based on our own data.”

In the open letter to Susquehanna County residents, Hanger said PENNVEST, a state agency which finances water and sewer projects, will be asked to provide the $11.8 million for the water line project, and then the state will “aggressively seek to recover the cost of the project from Cabot.”

“No one in Dimock or Susquehanna County will pay for it and local taxes will not be increased as the result of it,” he said.

Besides the affected residents, others who live on Route 29 between Montrose and Dimock will have the option to tap into the water line if they choose, Hanger said, adding that the line should boost the value of homes and businesses nearby.

Stark called the project an “unwarranted burden on the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.”

“Given the science and our findings, we question how the secretary could spend the 12 million of taxpayer dollars,” he said in an interview. “He’s going to sue us to get it back. I’m not certain that a court will find in favor of the commonwealth.”

The public feud between Cabot and DEP was joined by a group of Susquehanna County residents and businesses called Enough, Already! last week, when the group bought an ad in the Mulligan’s Shopping Guide criticizing the waterline as a “terrible, big government decision” that is “expensive and unnecessary.”

The group asks residents to sign petitions, hosted at eight area businesses, telling PENNVEST to deny an application by DEP to fund the line.

Many of Cabot’s positions were echoed in the ad, which Cabot and members of Enough, Already! said the company did not place, write or pay for.

llegere@timesshamrock.com

eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Times Tribune

Encana to finish drilling at Luzerne gas test well

Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. is preparing to wrap up drilling operations soon at the company’s – and Luzerne County’s – second exploratory natural gas well.

According to an update from Encana, drilling is nearly complete at the Salansky site on Zosh Road in Lake Twp.

“We installed additional directional signs and turning points leading in and from this location to remind anyone working on behalf of Encana to follow the approved ingress and egress,” the company’s newsletter states.

The Lake Twp. well is Encana’s second. The first – not only for the company, but for Luzerne County – at the Buda property off Route 118 in Fairmount Twp., has already been drilled.

However, Encana has not scheduled completion, which includes hydraulic fracturing, for either well. Hydraulic fracturing involves blasting millions of gallons of water at high pressure deep underground to break up the shale rock and release the gas.

Due to the dry conditions over the summer, some natural gas companies, including Encana, had their sources of water put temporarily off-limits by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which regulates large water withdrawals from all sources within the river’s watershed. Those withdrawal bans were lifted by the commission after the rainy weather recently experienced by the region.

Another of Encana’s projects is starting to take shape. The company is building what it calls the Alimar natural gas processing facility at 44 Hartman Road in Fairmount Twp. This facility will process the natural gas and get it into the nearby Transco pipeline to be sent to market. Encana reports that Alimar site preparation is complete and foundation con­- struction has started.

The company is also planning more wells. Encana has received permission for 10 new wells from Luzerne County, and has state approval for half of them so far.

The state Department of Environmental Protection is still reviewing Encana’s plans for five new wells on the 4-P Realty property on Loyalville Road in Lake Twp. DEP has already granted Encana permits for four horizontal wells and one vertical well in Fairmount Twp., on the property of William Kent.

So far the only DEP violation Encana has committed has been administrative; the company failed to file the required production reports on time – even though the wells are not yet producing any gas. The company has since remedied the oversight and is now in compliance.

Contact the writer: eskrapits@citizensvoice.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Scranton Times