PA Marcellus News Digest 5/2/12

PA Marcellus News Digest

May 2, 2012

A long Digest.  Still catching up on a backlog of stories from last week. 

Releases

Sen. Ferlo to Push for Stronger Gas Drilling Law in PA
Wallaby
April 27
State Senator Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny), pointing to what he calls questionable business practices and lopsided influence in Pennsylvania, announced draft legislation that would impose a reasonable Marcellus Shale severance tax, toughen environmental and health protections, and restore local zoning powers.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012042770.HTM

House Democrats unveil ‘Marcellus Compact’ to fix flawed shale drilling law
Six-point plan puts Pennsylvanians first, rather than the multi-billion-dollar oil and gas industry
PA House
April 30
HARRISBURG, April 30 – House Democrats today launched a renewed effort to fix Gov. Tom Corbett’s industry-friendly Marcellus Shale law (Act 13), offering a six-point plan – the Marcellus Compact.
Noting that the new law provides one of the lowest tax rates in the nation on natural gas drillers and weak environmental protections, House Democrats unveiled their Marcellus Compact – a promise to put the interests of Pennsylvanians first, rather than the oil and gas industry for whom, and by whom, Act 13 was written.
Link: http://www.pahouse.com/pr/033043012.asp

Articles

DEP should focus on its own mistakes
Post-Gazette
Jim Ferlo
Opinion
May 1
Shame on Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer for his "In Rebuttal: Bogus Pollution Report" (April 5).
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/dep-should-focus-on-its-own-mistakes-633781/

Gas drillers expand presence in area
Beaver County Times Online
Bill Utterback
April 30
One major natural gas developer is accelerating its position in western Beaver County, while another is expanding its presence in the Hanover Township/Findlay Township area, according to April online documents posted on the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/gas-drillers-expand-presence-in-area/article_873178e5-a29d-5ea6-b527-dc4cc4005dba.html

Mapping Pennsylvania’s Impact Fee Revenue (This Time, Officially)
State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 30
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/maps/mapping-pennsylvanias-impact-fee-revenue-this-time-officially/

Residents Fed Up with Bad Water Flee Shale Drilling Areas
State Impact
Susan Phillips
April 30
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/30/residents-fed-up-with-bad-water-flee-shale-drilling-areas/

DEP Investigates Potential Methane Migration
State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 30
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/30/dep-investigates-potential-methane-migration/

HOUSE DEMS UNVEIL MARCELLUS COMPACT BILL PACKAGE, AIM TO “FIX” ACT 13
Wallaby
Mike Howells
May 1
On the first day of session following the April primaries, House Democrats wasted no time taking aim at Act 13, the Marcellus Shale law, by introducing a series of bills amending the new law that they believe will prioritize the health and well-being of Pennsylvania citizens ahead of the drilling industry.
House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny) called Act 13, formerly HB 1950, a “sweetheart deal” for the drilling industry that put Pennsylvanians second. He accused House Republicans of priorities that are “out of whack,” and drafting a drilling law that is a “national embarrassment.”
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/20120430CY.HTM

Drilling issues are real
Butler Eagle
April 28
Joseph P. McMurry
Opinion
Deke Forbes, in a letter to the editor last month, urged people to welcome the gas industry.
While it’s true, as Forbes stated, that hydraulic fracturing has been in use since the 1940s, the current combined technology known as “high-volume slickwater hydraulic fracturing” (Google “Old and New Hydraulic Fracturing: What’s the Difference?”) has been in widespread use for 10 to 15 years at most, and has been plagued with problems throughout its short history.
Link: http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20120428/EDITORIAL02/120429956/-1/editorial

“Crucify Him”: The Latest EPA Flap
State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 27
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/27/crucify-him-the-latest-epa-flap/

Anti-fracking group adds claims to surveillance suit
Post-Gazette
Saranac Hale Spencer
April 30
Opponents of hydraulic fracturing in Luzerne County can add defamation and conspiracy claims to their suit against the private surveillance company the government allegedly hired to watch them, a federal judge has ruled.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/legal/anti-fracking-group-adds-claims-to-surveillance-suit-633713/

Hunters, anglers must lead charge to protect Pa. forests
Patriot-News
David Levdansky
Opinion
April 29
I am a lifelong hunter and angler, and Pennsylvania’s state forest system has afforded me an extraordinary opportunity to hunt on public lands for grouse, squirrel, turkey, deer and bear, and it’s pristine creeks and streams have enabled me to fish for native wild trout. I love our beautiful state forest, its habitat and wildlife.
Link: http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2012/04/hunters_angles_must_lead_charg.html

Region's shale boom extended to law
Times-Tribune
Denise Allabaugh
April 29
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/business/region-s-shale-boom-extended-to-law-1.1307460#axzz1tWGv1B48

Lawmaker wants to exempt Bucks County from Marcellus Shale law
State Sen. Chuck McIlhinney pushes amendment that would exempt county from Marcellus Shale law.
Morning Call
JD Malone
April 29
A thin layer of 200-million-year-old mud lies thousands of feet beneath the fields, farms and homesteads of Nockamixon Township in upper Bucks County.
That ancient mud, laid down in prehistory and dubbed the Lockatong Shale, might have a spot of natural gas locked away in its flaky layers.
Link: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-bucks-gas-drilling-marcellus-amendment-20120429,0,2690231.story

Website to provide upclose look at Marcellus operation

PittTrib
Paul Peirce
April 27
A website on Marcellus shale natural gas wells aimed at giving residents information about drilling with the touch of a mouse and computer keyboard has been introduced by the Westmoreland County Planning Department.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/1220016-74/county-website-wells-westmoreland-drilling-local-marcellus-drilled-impact-million

Gas industry officials say drug tests not hindering local hiring
Herald Standard
April 29
Steve Ferris
Contrary to comments from politicians, hundreds of local people have passed pre-employment drug tests and found jobs in the Marcellus shale natural gas industry over the last several years.
Link: http://www.heraldstandard.com/gcm/news/local_news/gas-industry-officials-say-drug-tests-not-hindering-local-hiring/article_6c312589-f614-5938-89dd-077067d40612.html

Yardley Borough, municipalities challenge Marcellus Shale gas drilling law
Bucks Local News
John Williams
April 29
YARDLEY – Borough council has joined a spattering of municipalities and groups around the state in a lawsuit that is challenging a new law on natural gas and oil drilling.
Link: http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2012/04/29/yardley_news/news/doc4f9ae13d6b212971220625.txt

Law firm supports O-R in gas case
Observer-Reporter
Linda Metz
April 28
The Observer-Reporter's efforts to obtain details regarding a legal settlement between a Mt. Pleasant Township couple and a group of gas-drilling corporations is gaining the support of a San Francisco environmental law firm.
Earthjustice will file an amicus brief Monday with Pennsylvania Superior Court on behalf of a group of doctors, scientists, researchers and advocates supporting the joint efforts of the O-R and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, according to the organization's campaign manager, Kathleen Sutcliffe.
Link: http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/story11/04-28-2012-hallowich-appeal

Trying to find the gas drilling 'line of death'
Times-Tribune
April 29
Elizabeth Skrapits
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/trying-to-find-the-gas-drilling-line-of-death-1.1307866#axzz1tQOPwzla

State investigating possible stray gas case near area of past problems in Dimock
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
April 28
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/state-investigating-possible-stray-gas-case-near-area-of-past-problems-in-dimock-1.1307302#axzz1tQOPwzla

New DEP Permit to Cut All Public Input on Gas Equipment
Clean Air Council
(action alert, comment submission form included)
Pennsylvania’s newly revised General Permit 5 (or GP-5) will continue to prevent public input on smaller engines at natural gas compressor stations, and will also essentially block all commenting and public participation for all compressor stations that are categorized as “minor sources.”
Link: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1152/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10267

Shell And DEP Begin Work On Ethane Cracker Permits
State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 26
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/26/shell-and-dep-begin-work-on-ethane-cracker-permits/

Act 13 is good law
Butler Eagle
Sen. Mary Jo White, chairman Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee
Opinion
April 24
The Butler Eagle published an article recently regarding Act 13, known as the Impact Fee. Regrettably, I found the article to be filled with misleading and factually incorrect statements, most of which were based on a misunderstanding of the new law.
Link: http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20120424/EDITORIAL02/704249853/-1/Editorial

A Link Between Heavy Drilling and Illness? Doctors Search for Solid Answers
State Impact
Susan Phillips
April 27
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/27/doctors-in-shale-country-search-for-answers-but-come-up-short/

What Low Water Levels Mean For Pennsylvania
State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 27
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/27/what-low-water-levels-mean-for-pennsylvania/

SRBC Lifts Water Withdrawal Suspensions
State Impact
Scott Detrow
April 26
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/04/26/srbc-lifts-water-withdrawal-suspensions/

Politics should not overshadow the real issues
Wayne Independent
Opinion
April 25
Honesdale, Pa. —
A funny thing happened on the way to a Chapter 102 regulations meeting Tuesday night in Tafton.
Actually, it was anything but funny. What happened is the state official in charge of the Pennsylvania Department of Environment was supposed to focus his remarks on the controversial regulations but instead became a political spokesman for the Gov. Tom Corbett administration.
Link: http://www.wayneindependent.com/opinions/editorials/x1364630370/Politics-should-not-overshadow-the-real-issues

Gas drilling: Boom in the beginning can be followed by bust later on
Citizens Voice
Tom Jiunta, Spokesman GDAC
April 27
Misericordia University President Michael MacDowell recently wrote a commentary entitled, "Shale exploration holds promise for Pennsylvania and the country," which asserted that Pennsylvania will enjoy an economic boom as natural gas extraction will supply a clean burning and abundant source of energy that will make our country less dependent on foreign oil. Recent articles from national news outlets disagree.
Link: http://citizensvoice.com/opinion/letters/gas-drilling-boom-in-the-beginning-can-be-followed-by-bust-later-on-1.1306367#axzz1tFdCFU38

EPA releases third set of Dimock water tests
Citizens Voice
Laura Legere
April 21
Federal environmental regulators said Friday that 16 new water test results from Dimock Township give them no reason to take "further action" after a resident with hazardous levels of arsenic in a water well declined their offer of replacement water.
Link: http://citizensvoice.com/news/drilling/epa-releases-third-set-of-dimock-water-tests-1.1303285#axzz1tFdCFU38

Marcellus citizens training announced
Observer-Reporter
April 27
The Mountain Watershed Association is bringing the Marcellus Citizen Stewardship Project to Greene County. The project, which has been implemented in the Youghiogheny River watershed, is expanding throughout the Southwestern Pennsylvania region, providing citizens with tools and knowledge to responsibly monitor Marcellus Shale activity to aid in community and environmental protection.
Link: http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/story11/04-27-2012-stewardship-project

Fracking protesters take aim at Aqua America
Times-Herald
April 29
LOWER MERION - A dozen protesters stood outside the Bryn Mawr offices of Aqua America Wednesday afternoon claiming that the company is forcing people from their homes and poisoning water in Lycoming County.
Link: http://business-news.thestreet.com/the-times-herald/story/fracking-protesters-take-aim-aqua-america/1

PUC moves carefully on new rules while court weighs shale gas challenge
PittTrib
Timothy Puko
April 26
Some early efforts to prepare for the state's new drilling fee and for meditating disputes on local oil and gas laws are on hold after a vote from the state Public Utility Commission this morning.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/1179807-74/commission-rules-court-local-money-state-delay-fee-judge-drilling

Pa.: less than 30 health complaints about drilling
CDT
AP
April 26
The Pennsylvania Department of Health says it's received less than 30 complaints from people who feel natural gas drilling has impacted their health.
The state's public health agency also says it has no manuals or guidelines for how its staff should respond to health complaints about gas drilling.
Link: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/04/26/3176361/pa-less-than-30-health-complaints.html

Sierra Club challenges Md. natural gas terminal
CDT
Matthew Daly, Ap
April 26
The Sierra Club said Thursday it will try to block an energy company's plan to export liquefied natural gas to find new markets for the drilling boom that has flooded the Mid-Atlantic with natural gas.
Link: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/04/26/3176280/sierra-club-blocks-md-natural.html

Ohio debates 'best in breed' fracking regulations
E&E News
Peter Behr
April 30
(full text below)
Ohio's bid to make its regulation of shale gas and oil development a model for the nation is at the decision point, as legislators in Columbus weigh new drilling and disclosure rules proposed by Republican Gov. John Kasich.

Parts of Kasich's program win praise from the Environmental Defense Fund, whose draft "model regulatory framework" was a starting point for the governor's proposal, according to EDF and a state regulatory review panel.

"We are quite pleased to see that Ohio is in the process of joining the movement to adopt robust state requirements" governing hydraulic fracturing of shale oil and gas resources, said Scott Anderson, EDF senior policy analyst. "At the general level, Ohio has put out what seems to be a pretty solid framework."

However, EDF and the Natural Resources Defense Council say the proposals must be substantially strengthened in several critical areas to meet best industry drilling practices and to provide the public with essential information about the compositions of chemicals used in fracking operations.

Ohio's oil and gas industry, on the other hand, wants changes that make the regulatory proposals better aligned with current drilling rules and practices, says W. Jonathan Airey, a partner in the Columbus office of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP.

Kasich's legislative proposal "will probably require pretty significant modifications and amendments. It has some inconsistencies with the current regulatory regime that will need to be straightened out," said Airey, who represents independent oil and gas companies.

The debate puts Ohio in the forefront of a question that looms over all U.S. shale resource development as it follows different paths in states across the country: What are the model regulations and best practices that are required to protect public health and safety as this new energy resource emerges?

Some of Ohio's proposed new rules are found in S.B. 315, drafted by the Kasich administration. Others are in drilling regulations proposed by Ohio's Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to implement the state's previous oil and gas law, adopted two years ago. The ODNR draft regulations are now under review by a special legislative regulatory oversight panel.

Chemical disclosure terminology

The disclosure of chemicals used in fracking operations is one of the contentious issues in Ohio. S.B. 315 expands the current disclosure requirements, creating what the ODNR calls the nation's first "cradle to grave" public reporting process to record and permanently preserve the chemical additives in drilling.

ODNR says it will require operators to reveal the "description" of chemicals. S.B. 315 says the requirement covers "types" of chemicals. "We'd be in the forefront of disclosure of the chemicals that are used," Fred Shimp, assistant director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, told Bloomberg last month.

Neither term is specific enough, says Thomas Cmar, an attorney with NRDC's Midwest office. "As the bill is written, it requires companies only to disclose basic information about the class of chemicals," he said.

The regulation should direct companies to disclose the unique Chemical Abstracts Service registry number for each chemical. Using the CAS tag system created by the American Chemical Society would allow regulators and researchers to make more accurate public health risk assessments by connecting particular chemicals to health studies, for example, Cmar said.

Cmar added that the legislation also gives drilling companies unilateral authority to withhold details about the chemicals they use if they consider the information to be proprietary. "In every other industry in Ohio, if there are legitimate trade secret concerns, a company can share information [with regulators] on a confidential basis, but the agency has the opportunity to review that information and the public has an opportunity to challenge" the validity of the confidentiality cloak, he said.

"Under the bill as it is drafted, there is no such process," Cmar said.

"We've generally seen a lack of understanding [among environmental groups] of the existing disclosure regime in Ohio and how healthy it is," Airey said. "It's frankly better disclosure than what the environmental community has been supporting in Texas and Colorado. I'm not sure why they wouldn't be dramatically supportive of the current disclosure plan" in Ohio, he said.

EDF's Anderson praises Kasich's plan for requiring disclosure of chemicals used in nearly all oil and gas operations, not just in the fracking process. "Ohio is going other states one step better" in this case, Anderson said. "This is actually a first."

But he agrees that Ohio's rules should be more detailed. "It is absolutely essential that CAS numbers be reported. We're optimistic that Ohio will move in that direction," he said.

Drinking water barrier discrepancies

A second issue arises in the ODNR drilling regulations now before the Ohio Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, a legislative panel that can ask the General Assembly to invalidate all or part of a proposed regulation.

ODNR's draft regulations adopt an existing requirement that a 50-foot cement barrier be set around the drilling pipe below the deepest level of a groundwater aquifer, to isolate drinking water supplies from drilling operations. NRDC's Richard Sahli noted in testimony this month that the industry standard is 100 feet, set by the American Petroleum Institute. "We strongly believe that Ohioans should receive at least as much protection as the industry itself proposes as the minimum safeguard," he said.

"Further, other states -- including Michigan to our immediate north -- have adopted a minimum isolation zone greater than the industry's 100-foot maximum. The governor's goal of making Ohio the leader in hydraulic fracturing protections can be met only if the state meets, rather than lags, the leading standards in these rules," he said.

"I think the industry and the division are both comfortable with the 50-foot" standard, Airey said. "It's not unreasonable to suggest 100 feet. But I don't know anyone feels that accomplishes anything of substance."

Anderson said that Ohio's regulators stuck with something they were familiar with. "They seem confident they can make 50 feet work. Part of their optimism is based on the apparent fact that Ohio -- more so than most states -- does a good job of having inspectors on in the field witnessing cement jobs."

The shale gas and oil development has come on so rapidly that model safety regulations, detailed accounts of differences in state regulation and validated studies of how safety measures relate to public health protection are missing or incomplete, Anderson said.

EDF's "model" regulatory framework is still in draft form, he said. "At a general level, there is a lot of similarity between the Ohio proposal and the work we've done."

Among the common points, he said, are the creation of performance goals for isolating and protecting groundwater zones and maintaining operational well control; some flexibility in rules that reflect the variety of conditions site by site; material quality standards for casing and cement; and the permanent maintenance of detailed well construction reports. Pennsylvania, he said, requires that construction reports be kept only for five years, not permanently.

Work ahead

EDF has not determined when it will publish its regulatory model. It has been working on it with Southwestern Energy Co. since early 2010. "We continue to get input from a variety of quarters," Anderson said.

How Ohio's regulatory framework stacks up may be known by the time the state Legislature leaves for the summer.

Anderson said EDF is "cautiously optimistic" that the changes it seeks will be made.

Airey said the industry generally believes that the ODNR rules "are in good shape." As for S.B. 315, "the governor would like to see that finalized and passed before the Legislature takes a summer recess. It may well happen," he added, "but it's going to take some work."
###

Industry coalition offers first take on best practices
E&E News
Margaret Kriz Hobson
April 30
(full text below)
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a natural gas industry group, last week released the first of a series of reports outlining the best voluntary industry practices for hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in the Appalachian basin.

The reports, drawn up by teams of coalition members in consultation with leading sportsmen and conservation groups, outline recommended practices for developing natural gas resources while addressing environmental concerns and working with local landowners, according to MSC Chairman Dave Spigelmyer of Chesapeake Energy Corp.

Spigelmyer said the recommended practices will be updated and refined as natural gas development advances. Future reports will cover air quality and water management.

The first report describes state-of-the art techniques for site selection, working with local surface owners, permitting, clearing, facility construction and restoration.

"This guidance document is the first of many that the coalition will release in the coming months -- all of which are designed to increase awareness and share ideas and practices that work while continuing to raise the bar on responsible natural gas development across the region," MSC President Kathryn Klaber said.