Posts Tagged ‘responsible shale gas development’

Gov. Ridge: “The development of the Marcellus Shale will benefit all of the citizens of our state, our region, and our nation”

Canonsburg, Pa. – The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), representing the majority of those responsible for the development and transportation of clean-burning shale gas throughout the Commonwealth, is pleased to formally announce that former Gov. Tom Ridge has joined the group as a strategic advisor.

“I am pleased to work with the members of the Marcellus Shale Coalition to ensure that this clean and abundant natural gas resource is developed for the full benefit of my home state of Pennsylvania and the nation. Joining the planning effort at this early stage will allow my voice to be added to efforts already underway to ensure worker safety and environmental protection, and to encourage the fullest economic benefit for our state, our communities, and the entire workforce involved in this transformational effort,” said Gov. Ridge.

“The responsible development of the Marcellus Shale represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen our region’s economy and our nation’s security,” said Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the MSC. “We are honored to have Gov. Ridge working alongside our organization to help ensure that Pennsylvanians fully recognize our industry’s commitment to environmental and workforce safety, as well as the positive and overwhelming economic benefits that responsible shale gas development continues to generate across the region.”

“Pennsylvania, Penn Woods, is rich in natural resources and has led our nation in energy development. We have learned from the past that we must develop our resources safely and efficiently. During my term as Governor, we grew our economy by providing incentives for economic growth and always by ‘Growing Greener.’ The development of the Marcellus Shale will benefit all of the citizens of our state, our region, and our nation. Not only can the environmental and economic benefit be transformational for generations to come, our homeland security will be forever strengthened.,” added Gov. Ridge. “There is much work to be done to maximize the benefits of these abundant and domestic resources, and I’m looking forward to help lead this important effort.”

Before becoming Pennsylvania’s 43^rd governor, serving as the Commonwealth’s chief executive from 1995 to 2001, Gov. Ridge represented northwestern Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 10 years. Following the tragic events of September 11^th, 2001, Gov. Ridge became the first Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and, on January 24, 2003, became the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Agency convenes hearing in Canonsburg tomorrow to discuss scope of upcoming hydraulic fracturing study. But has EPA forgotten about its 2004 report?

Tomorrow night in Canonsburg, the EPA will convene its third public hearing on its upcoming study on hydraulic fracturing, a key technology that’s been used to produce energy in Pennsylvania for more than a half-century, but one that’s become especially important lately as efforts to convert the enormous potential of the Marcellus into jobs and revenues for Pennsylvanians move forward across the Commonwealth.

But for those keeping tally at home, this new study by EPA isn’t the first time the agency has looked into the safety and performance of fracturing technology. In a report released by EPA in June 2004, federal officials found the fracturing of coalbed methane formations “poses little or no threat” to underground sources of drinking water – despite that fact that coal seams generally reside close to formations carrying drinking water underground. In remarks set to be delivered at tomorrow’s hearing, MSC president and executive director Kathryn Klaber lays out some additional details (and context) associated with this landmark study:

In that report — the product of an intensive, four-year course of study first initiated under the Clinton administration — EPA found “no evidence” suggesting the fracturing of shallow coalbed methane reserves posed a threat to underground drinking water supplies. Certainly you’re aware that coalbed methane strata residethousands of feet closer to the water table than shale formations, and that the technology used today to access clean-burning natural gas from these formations is much more advanced and sophisticated than what was available in the past.

For their part, natural gas critics contend that EPA’s 2004 study on fracturing’s application to coalbed methane reserves somehow isn’t relevant to the current conversation about the Marcellus Shale. Come again? If the fracturing of shallow coalbeds near the water table was found to be safe by EPA, how is it that the fracturing of deep shale formations is any less so? After all, we’re talking about shale strata that reside thousands and thousands of feet below both the water table and the coal beds themselves.

Thursday’s forum in Canonsburg is expected to address some of these questions, and more generally lay out the direction that EPA will take in engaging in its second study on hydraulic fracturing in 70 months. And you know what? It’s an effort we support in full. With fracturing, we’re talking about a technology that’s been deployed more than 1.1 million times in the 60-plus years in which it’s been in commercial use. And in all that time, not a single government regulator – including the EPA – has made a single claim suggesting it’s a threat to groundwater. Assuming this new study is science-based and peer-reviewed, there’s no reason to believe its findings will diverge from what the agency has consistently found in the past.

So what will the latest installment of EPA’s hydraulic fracturing study series look like when it hits the shelves sometime in the next two or three years? Tough to say for sure, but if it ends up drawing on the testimony of regulators in the states, experts in the field, and everyday Americans whose lives are being made better and more prosperous thanks to the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of shale gas in America – it should be quite a page-turner indeed.

In the meantime, folks interested in coming out to tell EPA what they think of responsible shale gas development in Pennsylvania have a few outstanding tasks to complete before they arrive tomorrow night. First order of business: Register for the meeting, which is easily accomplished by navigating to this page. Second: Make sure to stock up on all the facts. MSC fact sheets have been developed on a range of topics likely to be addressed in some form – from the full disclosure of materials involved in the fracturing process, to the many ways in which natural gas can be used as a workhorse in PA to deliver a clean, secure and affordable energy future. The full arsenal can be accessed here.

So that should just about do it. Pre-registration for the event starts at 5:00 p.m. sharp, and the address for the Hilton Garden Inn is 1000 Corporate Drive in Canonsburg. Hope to see you out there.

Copyright: Marcelluscoalition.org

The economic benefits associated with the responsible and environmentally sound development of the Marcellus Shale’s abundant, clean-burning natural gas reserves are overwhelming. Tens of thousands of good-paying jobs are being created across the Commonweal of Pennsylvania, where Marcellus development has been underway for several years. Hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues are being generated to local and state government. And Pennsylvania consumers, who continue to struggle with nearly double-digit unemployment rates, are seeing the benefits of shale gas development in the form of lower energy costs.

However, the story of the Marcellus Shale in New York State is a very different one. You see, in terms of geology, the Marcellus Shale formation is not considerably different in New York than it is in Pennsylvania. The technologies used to safely and effectively reach thesejob-creating resources are the same, too. But environmental regulators there have kept this production off-limits, denying the creation of thousands of jobs and countless other economic benefits to the region, despite the fact that the nation’s first natural gas well was completed in Fredonia, NY in 1821. At the same time, some elected state leaders are also working to implement an even more far-reaching moratorium on shale gas development.

Recognizing how critical this development is for Upstate New York’s struggling economy, and for our nation’s energy security, Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) president Kathryn Klaber joined a broad group of organizations this week in a letter to the State Assembly urging their support to move forward with responsible shale gas development: Here are key highlights from that letter:

We need your support for this compelling economic development opportunity, one that could benefit the State and localities significantly for years to come. We should embrace our State’s ability to bring New York-produced gas to New York customers, and by so doing create new opportunity and prosperity in our own State.

Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel known to man – is a solution to reducing our nation’s carbon footprint, and it will greatly improve New York’s and America’s energy independence. … And natural gas is abundant; the Marcellus Shale alone could supply natural gas to the entire United States for 20 years or more.

Based on economic projections in Pennsylvania, where the Marcellus is now being explored, Marcellus Shale development in New York will generate more than $1.4 billion in annual economic impact, based on 300 wells drilled – including more than $100 million in lease payments to landowners, $32 million in state tax revenue and tens of thousands of new jobs over time. In Broome County, a recent study that showed that 2,000 wells would annually generate more than $7.4 billion in economic activity, and nearly $400 million in wages, salaries and benefits. Also, more than $600 million in property tax income and $22 million and $20 million in state and local taxes would be generated. All of this – in just one county.

The folks in New York, especially those along the Southern Tier where Marcellus development would occur, are doing their part to educate, engage and inform the public, and key stakeholders, about the overwhelmingly positive benefits associated with shale gas production and how safe the process actually is. Last night, a group of elected officials, academics, landowners, and energy and labor representatives met in Binghamton to discuss these benefits, and to dispel the myths about the production of shale gas. The Ithaca Journal reports this today under the headline “Meeting touts benefits of tapping into Marcellus Shale”:

According to Syracuse University Earth Sciences professor Don Siegel, these concerns are more myth than reality. “This is the first environmental issue that I’ve thrown my hat into the ring on,” he said. “As a hydrogeologist, I really am almost offended by some of the opposition that’s trying to paint a picture of what groundwater resources are like that is completely wrong.”

“New investments will be made in a region where multimillion — and even multibillion — dollar investments have not been seen to this level in years,” said Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala,” and we can do all this while protecting the environment.”

“Our campus was one of the fastest-growing campuses in the United States, and virtually all of our graduates were going out into very good-paying energy industry jobs,” Drumm said. “The energy industry creates great jobs — lots of jobs — and we were heavily involved in our colleges in training for those jobs.”

Labor unions are also speaking out for responsible shale gas development in New York on behalf of their members. This from a WICZ-TV report:

Local union representatives were on hand as well, supporting the notion that jobs and money are on the coat tails of hydro-fracking.

Alex Barillo of Laborers Local 785 says he’s seen the benefits of drilling south of the border in Pennsylvania, and on the Millenium Pipeline where he says workers have seen a gross income of approximately 35 million dollars.

“That’s $35 million in gross wages that went to local workers right here so that they could have health insurance, they can have retirement, and they could pay their mortgages and so that they can do the things they do every day in their communities,” Barillo said.

We encourage you, your employees, colleagues, businesses associates, friends and family to visit Marcelluscoalition.org/get-involved, and join this fight for a more prosperous economy that leverages these resources into permanent, family-supporting jobs and stable supplies of domestic energy. Becoming a “Friend of Marcellus” will help ensure that you are informed and educated about the opportunities and critical issues surrounding this development, especially as it relates to moving forward with Marcellus development in New York.

Copyright: Marcelluscoalition.org

Canonsburg, Pa. – Today, the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) passed a new rule mandating an “end of pipe”, 500 milligrams per liter cap on the concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the disposal of produced water from natural gas production.

Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), issued this statement about the new rules, which have been sought by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP):

“There is not a single water treatment facility in Pennsylvania that could meet this unreasonable benchmark, which will not provide any additional environmental benefit.

“Our industry is working aggressively and constantly to improve our water management practices, as one of our top priorities has been and remains the protection of our rivers, lakes, streams and tributaries. In fact, MSC members are now recycling nearly 60 percent of the water from this process. Many are recycling almost 100 percent of their water, thanks to new technologies and the unwavering commitment to environmental protection.

“There is a need for commonsense regulations that encourage the production job-creating natural gas throughout the Commonwealth and aim to keep our water clean. Unfortunately, these rules will make responsible shale gas development more difficult, and the jobs and economic benefits created throughout this process less likely, without positively impacting Pennsylvania’s water quality.”

NOTE: San Pellegrino Mineral Water’s TDS concentration is nearly twice the level of what these regulations would require.

Copyright: Marcelluscoalition.org