Posts Tagged ‘John Hanger’

Published: August 6, 2010

By Laura Legere

Staff Writer

When the New York State Senate passed a nine-month moratorium on a crucial natural gas drilling technique late Tuesday, legislators there held up Pennsylvania, state regulators and a small Susquehanna County community as models for how not to drill for gas in the Marcellus Shale.

The senators’ criticism raised the ire of Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger, who defended the state’s environmental regulations on Thursday and criticized New York for riding the moral “high horse while consuming Pennsylvania gas.”

“If they are so ashamed of what’s gone on here perhaps they should stop buying Pennsylvania gas,” Hanger said.

The sponsor of the New York legislation barring hydraulic fracking, Senator Antoine Thompson, twice visited Dimock Township, in Susquehanna County, and Bradford County in the last eight months to learn from citizens and gas companies about the positive and negative effects of drilling – experiences he cited when he introduced the bill for a vote.

“I think because the state of Pennsylvania was so thirsty to get this development opportunity they did not have enough infrastructure in place, making sure they were inspecting the wells properly, making sure that landowners were protected,” Thompson, D-Buffalo, said Tuesday night.

Despite his opposition to the moratorium, New York State Senator Tom Libous, R-Binghamton, spoke even more critically of Pennsylvania.

“Shame on the state of Pennsylvania,” Libous said. “Shame on their Department of Environmental Protection … because they screwed up badly. They didn’t keep an eye on those who were drilling. They didn’t keep an eye on environmental factors on behalf of the citizens of that state.”

Hanger agreed the experience in Dimock was “unacceptable” – the department found that faulty Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. natural gas wells caused methane to contaminate residents’ drinking water there. But he described two years of work the department has dedicated to strengthening Pennsylvania’s drilling standards and enforcement, including doubling the size of its gas enforcement staff while “New York has added nobody.”

“If New York demands to have no impacts from drilling, then they better have a moratorium that extends not just through May 2011, but forever,” he said. “You cannot have drilling, even done well, and get zero impact.”

When companies have “screwed up, like Cabot screwed up in Dimock,” he said, “we’ve come down on them very, very hard.”

Marcellus Shale drilling has been on hold in New York since 2008 when the state’s environmental regulatory agency began reviewing the environmental impact of the deep well drilling and updating its permitting requirements. That review is expected to be completed later this year.

When asked if he wished he had the opportunity to watch a neighboring state learn through trial and error – as the New York State Senate’s vote positions the Empire State to continue to do – Hanger said, “There are pluses and minuses to each state’s approach.”

llegere@timesshamrock.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Citizens Voice 

BY BORYS KRAWCZENIUK (STAFF WRITER)
Published: July 29, 2010

A provision to require disclosure of all chemicals used in fracturing Marcellus Shale to extract natural gas could wind up as part of the scaled-down national energy bill the U.S. Senate might consider soon.

Sen. Bob Casey said he convinced Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to fold disclosure provisions of his Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act into the energy bill.

“It’s a great breakthrough,” he said. “It’s a substantial step forward. … It gives people information they wouldn’t have otherwise about what’s happening underneath their property.”

Senate leaders are hoping to pass the bill before the summer recess Aug. 6, after realizing they did not have the votes to pass a more comprehensive energy bill. Even if the smaller energy bill gets through the Senate, the House would have to pass it before President Barack Obama can sign it. Neither is assured.

Industry groups said the fracturing chemicals are already well known to the public and state regulators, and further disclosure would harm the development of natural gas.

“We fundamentally believe that regulation of hydraulic fracturing is best addressed at the state level, and we have been unable to reach a consensus with congressional advocates on how this program would be overseen by the federal government,” America’s Natural Gas Alliance said in a statement.

Congress and the federal Environmental Protection Agency are studying whether the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing of shale contaminate drinking water.

Energy In Depth, an industry group, argues regulation should be left to states, which “have effectively regulated hydraulic fracturing for over 40 years with no confirmed incidents of groundwater contamination associated with (fracturing) activities.”

At public meetings on gas drilling, local residents regularly dispute the claim.

Though the industry argues the chemicals it uses are well known, a Times-Tribune investigation determined that DEP scientists who analyzed spilled fracturing chemicals at a Susquehanna County well site in September found 10 compounds never disclosed on the drilling contractor’s material safety data sheet.

None of the 10 was included in a state Department of Environmental Protection list of chemicals used in fracturing, a list developed by the industry. When DEP posted a new list earlier this month, none of the 10 was on it.

Mr. Casey dismissed the industry criticism.

“That’s why I called it a substantial step forward, if they’re attacking it,” he said. “If they’re feeling that this is giving information to people that they are reluctant to disclose, that’s why I think it’s an important change, and it’s progress on an issue that some would have thought would have taken years to get done.”

Mr. Casey’s legislation would amend the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, which requires employers to disclose what hazardous chemicals they use.

The amendments would require:

– Well-drilling operators to disclose to state regulators and the public a list of chemicals used in fracturing, commonly known as fracking. The requirement would cover chemical constituents but not chemical formulas whose manufacturers are allowed by law to keep the formulas secret, according to Mr. Casey’s office.

– Disclosure to be specific to each well.

– Disclosure of secret formulas or chemical constituents to doctors or nurses treating a contamination victim in an emergency.

– An end to thresholds for reporting chemicals normally required by law so all amounts of chemicals are reported.

In an analysis of the legislation, Energy In Depth said it would “chill” investment in innovations in fracturing and place “unrealistic burdens” on natural gas producers by requiring them to disclose secret chemical compounds whose composition they legally can know nothing about.

In an interview, DEP Secretary John Hanger said he welcomed the federal legislation, argued Pennsylvania already requires more disclosure than his bill and believes companies should disclose the volume and mix of chemicals they use in fracking.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

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Copyright:  The Scranton Times

Gas drilling incident in western Pennsylvania linked to firm’s corner-cutting tactics.

From staff and wire reports

HARRISBURG – Rig workers’ inexcusable failure to use a second set of pressure-control devices while preparing to connect a natural gas well to a pipeline led to the well’s blowout in western Pennsylvania last month, a consultant’s report said Tuesday.

State regulators, who hired the consultant, quickly ordered all drilling operators to adhere to a set of safety standards designed to prevent another such incident.

“I don’t know any company that would cut corners like this on this kind of well,” said consultant John Vittitow, a Texas-based petroleum engineer.

The company, Houston-based EOG Resources Inc., has used this same tactic on other wells in Pennsylvania, Vittitow said.

“I don’t think they’ll use it again,” he added.

Meanwhile, state Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger warned that another such incident could mean the end of EOG’s business in Pennsylvania, and insisted state regulations don’t allow EOG’s tactics.

EOG and its contractor, C.C. Forbes Co. of Texas, were given maximum fines of more than $400,000 combined and ordered to take corrective actions, but were allowed to resume all activities in Pennsylvania on Tuesday after a 40-day suspension of well-finishing work.

EOG operates nearly 300 wells in Pennsylvania.

The blowout happened late June 3 on the grounds of a hunting club in Clearfield County where EOG is drilling a number of wells.

For 16 hours, explosive gas and briny wastewater shot into the air before specialists brought it under control.

Hanger insisted Tuesday that existing regulations do not allow EOG’s tactics because they require companies to obey accepted industry safety standards.

Most companies obey those, he said, but a letter sent Tuesday would lay out in detail what is expected of them.

Gary L. Smith, EOG’s vice president and general manager in Pittsburgh stated in an e-mailed that company officials “sincerely regret that the well-control issue took place.”

Since that time, Smith said, EOG has worked with the DEP to resolve all issues, will implement the new operational procedures outlined in the letter to gas well operators and looks forward to resuming activities.

Marcellus Shale Coalition president and executive director Kathryn Klaber said the new regulations DEP put forth “have already been incorporated by many of our members as part of their regular wellsite operations.”

State Rep. Phyllis Mundy, who is leading the charge for a moratorium on gas drilling in the state, said the $400,000 in fines and 40-day suspension “seems like a pittance … for what was clearly an inexcusable lack of proper procedure to care for the environment and their workers.”

Mundy, D-Kingston, said the incident “reinforces the need to hit the pause button with a moratorium. With this kind of activity, there will always be accidents.

“But with proper laws, regulations, best practice guidelines and inspections in place, we could prevent many of them and be much better prepared to deal with them when they do occur. Those things are not in place at this time, yet we continue to issue new permits. We are simply not prepared to either prevent or react to these incidents.”

Hanger said his agency would redouble its inspection activity with more emphasis on well-finishing work.

Copyright: Times Leader

HARRISBURG – Untrained personnel and the failure to use proper well control procedures were the principal causes of a June 3 natural gas well blowout in Clearfield County, according to an independent investigation that was released today by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

DEP Secretary John Hanger said the blowout, which allowed natural gas and wastewater to escape from the well uncontrollably for 16 hours, was the result of failures by the well’s operator, EOG Resources. The company and its contractor, C.C. Forbes LLC, lost control of the well while performing post-fracturing well cleanout activities.

“The blowout in Clearfield County was caused by EOG Resources and its failure to have proper barriers in place. This incident was preventable and should never have occurred,” said Hanger, who added that EOG Resources has been ordered to take nine corrective actions; C.C. Forbes ordered to take six corrective actions and both companies were fined more than $400,000, collectively.

An EOG representative said the company would issue a press release in response to DEP’s announcement later today.

Following a 40-day suspension of operations in Pennsylvania, EOG Resources and C.C. Forbes were permitted to resume all well completion activities. EOG Resources, formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Co., operates approximately 297 active wells in Pennsylvania, 139 of which are in the Marcellus Shale formation.

The report was compiled by John Vittitow, whom DEP hired to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into all aspects of EOG’s drilling operation based on his respected reputation in the industry as an experienced petroleum engineer. The investigation was conducted alongside, but independently of, DEP’s investigation.

“Make no mistake, this could have been a catastrophic incident,” Hanger said. “Had the gas blowing out of this well ignited, the human cost would have been tragic, and had an explosion allowed this well to discharge wastewater for days or weeks, the environmental damage would have been significant.”

In light of the investigation’s findings, Hanger said his agency has written each company drilling into the Marcellus Shale to ensure they understand proper well construction and emergency notification procedures. The letter stated that:

• A snubbing unit, which prevents pipes from ejecting uncontrollably from a well, may be used to clean out the composite frac plugs and sand during post-fracturing (post-frac) if coil tubing is not an option.

• A minimum of two pressure barriers should be in place during all post-frac cleanout operations.

• Any blowout preventer equipment should be tested immediately after its installation and before its use. Records of these tests should be kept on file at the well site or with the well site supervisor.

• A sign with DEP’s 24-hour emergency telephone number and local emergency response numbers, including 911 and the county communications center, should be posted prominently at each well site.

• At least one well site supervisor who has a current well control certification from a recognized institution should be on location during post-frac cleanout operations. These certifications should be in possession at all times.

• A remote-controlled, independently powered blowout preventer unit, which allows workers to control what’s happening on the rig at a safe distance, must be located a minimum of 100 feet from the well and operational during all post-frac cleanout operations.

The fines assessed to EOG Resources and C.C. Forbes—for $353,400 and $46,600, respectively—will cover the cost of DEP’s response to the incident and the investigation. In addition to the financial penalties, DEP ordered EOG Resources to implement practices and take nine corrective actions to avoid a repeat of this incident. C.C. Forbes was ordered to implement similar practices and to take six corrective actions.

Copyright: Times Leader

By Andrew M. Sederaseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer

Victoria Switzer watches the trucks, at least 100 of them she estimates, ramble past her Dimock Township home every day. They go back and forth from the Cabot Oil and Gas drill sites, hauling equipment, waste water and materials.

She worries what would happen if there was a spill, if the operator wasn’t properly licensed, if the truck wasn’t mechanically sound.

For years she’s been calling state officials and complaining about their speed, their actions and what she saw as violations. Last week some agencies heeded the call of Switzer and others like her and made a concerted effort to send a message to the truck operators that though they are permitted to operate, they need to do so legally.

During a three-day enforcement effort last week that focused on trucks hauling waste water from Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations across the state, the state police placed 250 commercial vehicles out of service.

State Police Commissioner Frank E. Pawlowski said state troopers worked in partnership with personnel from the Department of Environmental Protection, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as part of Operation FracNET.

In total, 1,137 trucks were inspected from June 14-16.

“Pennsylvania has experienced significant increases in heavy truck traffic in areas where Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operations are taking place, particularly in Bradford, Clearfield, Susquehanna, Tioga and Washington counties,” Pawlowski said. “The process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, requires significant amounts of water to be delivered to the sites and later trucked away.”

He said the enforcement effort centered on identifying commercial vehicle safety deficiencies that could lead to crashes. Pawlowski said 131 of the 250 vehicles placed out of service were trucks hauling waste water. He said 669 traffic citations and 818 written warnings were issued as the result of waste water truck inspections. In addition, 23 of the 45 drivers placed out of service during the operation were waste water vehicle operators.

“As activities at natural gas sites continue to increase, it is important that everyone involved, including the waste transportation industry, understands Pennsylvania’s environmental and traffic safety laws and complies with them,” said DEP Secretary John Hanger.

“Cracking down, I’m thrilled to see it,” said Switzer, who is one of a dozen property owners in the Susquehanna County township that have had their well water polluted by oil drilling. “Better late than never.”

Mark Carmon, spokesman for DEP’s Northeast Regional office, said that three trucks were cited in Susquehanna County out of the 30 that were stopped. Two of the trucks were not carrying Prevention Preparedness Contingency plans, which list what chemicals are being hauled, emergency contact numbers in case of a spill and plans for cleanup. One of the trucks did not have proof of waste hauling certification, and one truck did not have its waste log book listing what it was hauling and from and to where.

Carmon said the operation provided “a good opportunity to check these trucks” and said it will be an ongoing measure.

Lt. Myra A. Taylor, a state police spokeswoman, said a decision was made to “make a concerted effort to blitz these particular areas,” in part, because of concerns raised by residents.

“I applaud the citizenry,” Taylor said. And she echoed Carmon’s comments that these inspections will not be a one-time event.

“We will be ever vigilant,” she said.

State Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, praised the offices involved in the operation.

“I applaud our state agencies and the state police for working together to monitor frack water hauling operations. It is vital that we continue to scrutinize every phase, aspect and offshoot of the drilling process, and I encourage law enforcement to persist in efforts to root out those operators who are not acting in accordance with Pennsylvania laws and potentially endangering the lives and health of Commonwealth residents, along with our environment,” she said.

Taylor said the truck violations found ran the gamut mechanical issues to overweight trucks. Driver citations included drivers operating without a proper license and drivers who were operating without enough rest or working too many hours in a day.

A list of what trucking companies were cited was not available by the state police or DEP.

A statement from the executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a pro-drilling organization, said steps have been taken and will continue to be taken to reduce gas-related truck traffic.

Copyright: Times Leader

An organization funded by the natural gas industry disputes the HBO film’s conclusions.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

After Josh Fox was offered nearly $100,000 to lease his 20 acres in Wayne County to a gas company, he heard two different accounts – one, a story of easy money, the other a tale of horror.

The 37-year-old independent filmmaker set out to find the truth about natural gas drilling, and his conclusions can be seen in his documentary film “Gasland,” to air on HBO at 9 p.m. on Monday.

And while representatives of the gas industry call the film a piece of propaganda filled with exaggerations and inaccuracies, Fox stands by his work and says it’s the industry’s response that is propaganda.

In a phone interview Thursday afternoon, as he was getting ready for a special screening of the documentary at the HBO Theater in New York City that night, Fox said a land man with a gas company told him in 2008 that the company probably wouldn’t even drill on the land. But he heard from others that environmentally, gas drilling was “very polluting.”

“There was such a disparity between what was being said and what was being offered, I needed to see with my own eyes,” Fox said.

So, Fox set out for the village of Dimock in Susquehanna County to talk with folks whose well water was polluted by natural gas migration from leaking gas wells.

“It was completely a disaster area. There were Halliburton trucks swarming everywhere. Water was bubbling and fizzing; some you could light on fire. There was a feeling of regret and betrayal in the air,” Fox said.

Residents were unaware of the contamination until Norma Fiorentino’s water well exploded on Jan. 1, 2009, Fox said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection fined the drilling company and ordered the wells capped.

Fox visited 23 other states where natural gas drilling was taking place. He interviewed people whose health and quality of life were negatively impacted; scientists, one of whom warns of the dangers of drinking water infused with chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (commonly called fracking), which releases the gas from the underground shale formations; and government officials on both sides of the issue.

One of the officials Fox interviewed was DEP Secretary John Hanger, who minimized the negative effects of fracking but refused to drink a glass of water from an affected well, according to a synopsis of the film on the HBO website.

On the same day as a special screening of the film in Montrose earlier this month, Energy in Depth – a gas-industry-funded organization, released an alert on its website entitled “Debunking Gasland,” pulling out numerous quotes from the movie and disputing them.

Energy In Depth claimed that Fox was “misstating the law” when he said that a 2005 energy bill exempted the oil and gas industry from the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Superfund law and other regulations. The industry is regulated under every single one of those laws, said Energy In Depth spokesman Chris Tucker.

The organization states that Fox was “flat-out making stuff up” when he said the Pinedale Anticline and Jonah gas fields of Wyoming are directly in the path of a 1,000-year-old migration corridor of pronghorn antelope, mule deer and sage grouse, each species of which is endangered.

Energy in Depth countered that three species of the pronghorn are endangered and none are found near the Pinedale Anticline, citing the Great Plains Nature Center; that only mule deer from New Mexico, noting that mule deer are so plentiful in Wyoming, there is a mule deer hunting season; and citing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife report stating that the sage grouse is not on the endangered list and there are “robust populations” of the bird in Wyoming.

Fox also blamed an algae bloom that killed fish and other aquatic life in Dunkard Creek in Washington County on natural gas development, Tucker said. But DEP reports show the bloom was caused by coal mine drainage.

The organization also cites a reference in the documentary to Colorado resident Lisa Bracken, who reported to environmental regulators occurrences of natural gas in the West Divide Creek, which she believed was related to natural gas drilling. “Fox blames methane occurrence in West Divide Creek, Colo., on natural gas development,” the release states.

Energy In Depth published links to reports on the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission website that showed the methane was naturally occurring. Tucker said those reports were available long before “Gasland” was released.

Theo Stein, communications director for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said a commission investigation revealed that the methane Bracken reported bubbling in her beaver ponds near the creek was naturally occurring swamp gas from rotting vegetation.

Stein confirmed, however, that about a quarter-mile upstream, some methane gas was still present from a gas migration into the creek from a leak in a well drilled in 2004 by EnCana Oil & Gas, the company that will begin drilling in Luzerne County next month. EnCana received the largest fine in Colorado’s history for allowing that leak to occur.

Tucker, who is a native of Kingston Township and has been closely following the development of the Marcellus Shale in Northeastern Pennsylvania, said the press release was addressing only Bracken’s claims in the documentary. He was unfamiliar with the incident involving EnCana and said the issue alert was not meant to be misleading.

Copyright: Times Leader

MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — A key piece of the state’s approach to controlling water pollution from Pennsylvania’s fast-expanding natural gas drilling activity cleared a major hurdle Thursday.

The Independent Regulatory Review Commission voted 4-1 over the objections of the gas industry to approve the Rendell administration’s proposal to prevent pollutants in briny drilling wastewater from further tainting public waterways and household drinking water. State environmental officials say too much of the pollutants can kill fish and leave an unpleasant salty taste in drinking water drawn from rivers.

“Drilling wastewater is incredibly nasty wastewater,” state Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said after the vote at the panel’s public meeting. “If we allow this into our rivers and streams, all the businesses in Pennsylvania will suffer … all those who drink water in Pennsylvania are going to be angry and they would have every reason to be, and all of those who fish and love the outdoors are going to say, ‘What did you do to our fish and our outdoors?”’

The vote comes at the beginning of what is expected to be a gas drilling boom in Pennsylvania. Exploration companies, armed with new technology, are spending billions to get into position to exploit the rich Marcellus Shale gas reserve, which lies underneath much of the state.

The rule would put pressure on drillers to reuse the wastewater or find alternative methods to treat and dispose of the brine, rather than bringing more truckloads of it to sewage treatment plants that discharge into waterways where millions get drinking water.

The rule is designed to take effect Jan. 1. However, the Republican-controlled Senate, a key counterweight to Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, could delay that if it votes to oppose the rule.

The drilling industry, as well as a range of business groups and owners, opposes the rule, calling it costly, confusing, arbitrary and rushed during more than three hours of testimony before the regulatory review commission.

Some, including a representative of the state’s coal industry, said they were worried about how it would affect different industries that also produce polluted water.

Water utilities, environmental advocates and outdoor recreation groups lined up behind it.

With drilling companies poised to sink thousands of wells in Pennsylvania, state environmental officials worried that its waterways would become overwhelmed with pollutants. They began writing the new rule last year.

Conventional sewage treatment plants and drinking water treatment plants are not equipped to remove the sulfates and chlorides in the brine enough to comply with the rule.

In addition, the chlorides can compromise the ability of bacteria in sewage treatment plants to break down nitrogen, which can be toxic to fish, environmental officials say.

Currently, a portion of the massive amounts of brine being generated by well drilling is entering the state’s waterways through sewage treatment plants, and that flow would be unaffected by the rule.

Once the rule takes effect, a treatment plant would have to get state approval to process additional amounts of drilling wastewater beyond what it already is allowed, or ensure that it was pretreated by a specialized method that removes sulfates and chlorides.

Hanger said no other industry will be affected and he has worked to incorporate the concerns of business groups that have had more than a year to scrutinize the administration’s plans. The companies, he said, are making more than enough money to pay for alternative treatment methods.

Copyright: Times Leader

State DEP chief warns gas companies to put end to well blowouts and water pollution.

MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — Serious consequences await the state’s rapidly growing natural gas industry if companies are caught cutting corners of safety measures to pump up profits, Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator warned Wednesday.

Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger told a state Senate committee that companies flocking to Pennsylvania to exploit the rich Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve must stop well blowouts, gas migration and water pollution.

He said he has seen examples of negligence and accidents and cited his agency’s actions to withhold new permits, stop a company’s operations or seal wells when safety is compromised.

“We need this industry to get the message from us that we expect that safety is not going to be sacrificed when those decisions have to be made, and there will be serious consequences” if it is, Hanger said.

Hanger spoke on the heels of two high-profile natural gas well accidents, one in Pennsylvania and one in West Virginia.

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee hearing was held as a result of a well blowout in Clearfield County earlier this month that spewed natural gas and wastewater into the air for 16 hours before it was brought under control.

It was incredibly lucky that a nearby engine did not ignite the gas and cause an explosion or fire, Hanger said.

Hanger declined to reveal the results so far of the investigation into the June 3 blowout, though he repeated criticism Wednesday of the apparently botched attempted by the company, EOG Resources, to get in contact with his agency’s emergency response hotline.

On another matter, he told senators that his agency found no violations after inspecting several Pennsylvania wells being drilled by Union Drilling, the contractor that was drilling a West Virginia well that caught fire three days after the blowout.

Hanger’s 90 minutes of testimony came a day before a state board is to vote on proposed new standards that he views as crucial to protecting public waterways from briny and chemical-laden drilling wastewater.

Copyright: Times Leader

The order against EOG Resources Inc. will remain in place until DEP can finish its investigation.

MARC LEVY Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania regulators halted work Monday at dozens of unfinished natural gas wells being drilled by the company whose out-of-control well spewed out explosive gas and polluted water for 16 hours last week.

The order against Houston-based EOG Resources Inc. will remain in place until the Department of Environmental Protection can finish its investigation and until after the company makes whatever changes may be needed, Gov. Ed Rendell said.

The order stops EOG from drilling and hydraulically fracturing wells. It affects about 70 unfinished EOG wells into the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation.

Another concern was the apparently bungled attempts to notify the right emergency-response officials about the accident. Fines are likely, said Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger.

Nobody was hurt in Thursday’s blowout in a heavily forested section of north-central Pennsylvania.

The accident shot highly pressurized gas and wastewater as high as 75 feet. The gas never caught fire, but state officials had worried about an explosion and ordered electrical service to the area cut before specialists secured the well at about noon Friday.

About 35,000 gallons of wastewater have been pumped into holding tanks so far, the company said.

Monitors in a nearby spring show signs of pollution, although Hanger said the spring is in such a rural area that it is not viewed as a public health hazard. Officials say they have detected no pollution in larger waterways that feed public water supplies.

The state says the company is cooperating and is supportive of the stop-work order.

Gary L. Smith, vice president and general manager of EOG’s Pittsburgh office, said the company regrets the accident and would continue to work with Pennsylvania officials.

“After the investigations are complete, we will carefully review the findings with the goal of enhancing our practices,” Smith said.

“When all outstanding issues are resolved, we look forward to resuming full operations in Pennsylvania,” Smith added.

DEP officials said the well’s blowout preventer failed, and they were investigating whether the failed equipment was the primary cause.

A blowout preventer is a series of valves that sit atop a well and allow workers to control the pressure inside.

Hanger and EOG said the blowout preventer had been tested successfully by the company on Wednesday morning.

Copyright: Times Leader

State DEP chief talks about protecting water supplies in the Marcellus Shale areas.

By Steve Mocarskysmocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

HARRISBURG – State Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger laid down the law to representatives of oil and gas companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale at a meeting he called on Thursday.

More precisely, he laid out two sets of proposed regulations for natural gas drilling procedures and responding to reports of contamination of water supplies – proposed regulations that members of the oil and gas industry helped create.

“There were technical discussions on how to prevent gas migration from (natural gas) well sites to water wells and what to do if migration does occur and how to respond,” Hanger said in an interview from his cell phone as he was riding to Dimock after the meeting in Harrisburg.

Hanger was on his way to an interview with ABC News at the site of a natural gas well that Cabot Oil & Gas capped under DEP order after the regulatory agency determined it was one of three that leaked methane, contaminating the well water supplies of at least 14 households in the rural Susquehanna County village.

“I challenged the industry. … I made it clear that regulations would be enforced,” Hanger said, noting that DEP opened two new field offices in Northeastern Pennsylvania in response to Marcellus Shale development and is doubling its enforcement staff. “I also made it clear we were strengthening the rules,” he said.

DEP spokesman Tom Rathbun said in a separate interview that the new drilling regulations would require specific testing according to standards of the American National Standards Institute on steel casing used in all high-pressure oil and gas wells as well as the use of “oil-field grade” cement in well construction.

Rathbun said the oil and gas industry supports the implementation of those standards, and most companies already employ those practices under best-management practices. The goal is to have all companies comply, and Hanger asked the industry to voluntarily comply immediately, rather than wait until regulations receive all necessary approvals, which are expected in November.

Rathbun said the new regulations are “designed to prevent situations like the one in Dimock.” He said the issue there was incomplete casing – Cabot Oil & Gas didn’t use enough cement in the well construction.

DEP in April banned Cabot from drilling in Pennsylvania until it plugs the three wells determined to be leaking gas. Cabot has already paid a $240,000 fine and must pay $30,000 per month until the company meets its obligations.

Rathbun said one well is capped, and Cabot is currently working to cap a second.

He said most of the discussion at the meeting focused on responding to reports of gas migration into water sources.

Currently, the industry is required to report any suspected or confirmed occurrence of gas migration to DEP. The new regulations would require immediately reporting suspected or confirmed migration to DEP and to emergency responders for the affected municipality.

As chairman of the state Environmental Quality Board, Hanger on Monday will present those proposed regulations to the board for adoption. If approved, they will be sent to the House and the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee.

Each legislative committee will have 30 days to review the proposed regulations before either recommending a vote or sending them to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, which is composed of administrative law judges. A final approval is required from the state attorney general to ensure they are constitutional.

The whole process can take about six months.

Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which represents the natural gas production industry, said in a written statement that the coalition is “fully committed” to continue working with government regulators to ensure that the potential of the Marcellus Shale in the state is realized in a safe and responsible way.

“Today’s meeting with DEP represents yet another honest and straightforward discussion about the best practices needed to fully achieve this vision. Positive progress on practices relating to the management of historic and naturally occurring shallow gas, as well as other initiatives related to transparency and well integrity, will help our industry continue to strengthen its safety and environmental record while continuing to create tens of thousands of jobs each year for residents of this state,” Klaber said.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

Copyright: Times Leader