PA Marcellus News Digest 11/1/12

PA Marcellus News Digest

November 1, 2012

Releases

ALERT: The below release is SIGNIFICANT, and has been included in its entirety below.  The normal Digest is found following Rep. Jesse White's press release

White calls on state, federal authorities for investigation of DEP over deceptive Marcellus Shale water-quality testing practices

Testimony by DEP lab chief reveals possibility of intentionally undisclosed public health risks from Marcellus Shale gas drilling

HARRISBURG, Nov. 1 – State Rep. Jesse White, D-Allegheny/Beaver/Washington, today called for state and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for alleged misconduct and fraud revealed by sworn testimony given by a high-ranking DEP official.

White said he received a letter and corresponding documents highlighting the sworn testimony of DEP Bureau of Laboratories Technical Director Taru Upadhyay, who was deposed in a lawsuit alleging nearby natural gas drilling operations contaminated drinking water supplies in Washington County, causing serious health issues. In the deposition, Upadhyay said that the DEP was clearly aware of water impacts from Marcellus Shale drilling, but no notices of violation were filed – a violation of the state’s Oil & Gas Act.

Of more critical concern to Pennsylvania residents, according to White, was that the deposition revealed that the DEP developed a specialized computer-code system to manipulate the test results for residents whose water was tested by the DEP over concerns of adverse effects from gas drilling operations.

According to the transcripts, which have been filed as exhibits in a related lawsuit in Washington County Court of Common Pleas (Haney et al. v. Range Resources et al., Case No. 2012-3534), the DEP lab would conduct water tests using an EPA-approved standard, but the DEP employee who requested the testing would use a specially designed ‘Suite Code’ which limits the information coming back from the DEP lab to the DEP field office, and ultimately to the property owner.

The code in question, Suite Code 942, was used to test for water contamination associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities, yet specifically screens out results for substances known to be hazardous and associated with Marcellus Shale drilling. Similar codes, Suite Code 943 and 946, are also used by the DEP in similar circumstances; both of these codes omit the presence or levels of drilling-related compounds.

As a result, if Suite Code 942 is applied, the report generated for the homeowner by DEP only includes eight of the 24 metals actually tested for: Barium, Calcium, Iron, Potassium, Magnesium, Manganese, Sodium and Strontium. The homeowner would not be given results for: Silver, Aluminum, Beryllium, Cadium, Cobalt, Chromium, Copper, Nickel, Silicon, Lithium, Molybdenum, Tin, Titanium, Vandium, Zinc and Boron.

“This is beyond outrageous. Anyone who relied on the DEP for the truth about whether their water has been impacted by drilling activities has apparently been intentionally deprived of critical health and safety information by their own government,” White said. “There is no excuse whatsoever to justify the DEP conducting the water tests and only releasing partial information to residents, especially when the information withheld could easily be the source of the problem. This goes beyond incompetence; this is unlawful and reprehensible activity by the DEP. If these allegations are true, there needs to be a thorough and objective investigation to determine if someone belongs in a jail cell.”

White continued: “I am not releasing this information to hurt Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania, but to help ensure the reality matches the rhetoric. The Marcellus boom was built on the assumption that the DEP was competent and capable of balancing the positive impacts of the industry with its job of keeping residents safe and secure, but we now know that simply isn’t the case. Like most of us, I want the Marcellus Shale industry to succeed by doing things the right way, so it is crucial to find out what exactly the DEP was up to. If the system is indeed rigged, we must do everything in our power to root out corruption and restore public confidence in our ability to have an honest conversation with one another about developing a responsible energy policy for Pennsylvania.”

Due to the strong possibility of unlawful conduct, White is calling on the U.S. Attorney’s office, the Environmental Protection Agency, state Attorney General Linda Kelly and any other appropriate law enforcement agency to pursue an investigation of the DEP to discover the scope and depth of this scheme to withhold important information from Pennsylvanians. White is also sending a letter to the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NJ-NELAP), to investigate whether the DEP’s conduct and practices violated the accreditation standards for the DEP laboratories. If accreditation standards were violated, White is requesting the DEP’s accreditation be stripped, rendering the agency unable to conduct and certify its own tests.

White said he is sending a letter to DEP Secretary Michael Krancer seeking a summary of how many constituents in his legislative district, which includes communities with high levels of Marcellus Shale drilling activity, had DEP tests done using Suite Codes 942, 943 or 946. White also intends to make a blanket request on behalf of his constituents that DEP release the full testing data directly to the individual property owners in question.

Any Pennsylvania resident who received water quality test results from the DEP should look for the number 942, 943 or 946 as a ‘Suite Code’ or ‘Standard Analysis’. White encouraged anyone with questions to contact his district office at 724-746-3677 for more information and noted that the property owner should be entitled to the complete testing results from DEP.

“This isn’t a technicality, and it isn’t something which can be ignored,” White said. “We are talking about people’s health, safety and welfare. The sworn testimony from inside the DEP about a scheme to withhold vital information about potential water contamination is truly alarming. An investigation is necessary to answer these serious allegations.”

The letter sent to Rep. White alerting him of these issues can be found at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/111821139

The deposition of TaruUpadhyay, technical director of PA DEP Laboratory can be found at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/111821978###

Bradford County Firm to Unveil Breakthrough Environmental System for Drilling Sites
Wallaby
Oct 31
HARRISBURG, October 31, 2012 – D.A. Nolt, Inc. of PA, a general contracting company with a specialty in water management systems, will unveil its state-of-the-art Well Pad Containment and Water Management System on Friday, November 2, 10:00 AM at the pilot project site located at 220 Ranch Lane, New Albany, PA.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012103139.HTM

Marcellus Shale in the US, 2012 - Gas Shale Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020
Wallaby
PR Newswire
Oct 30
GlobalData's new report "Marcellus Shale in the US, 2012 - Gas Shale Market Analysis and Forecasts to 2020" which provides insight into existing and potential exploration and development activities in the Marcellus shale play. The report provides details of the existing and emerging Marcellus shale areas and the major companies exploring the high-producing areas in the shale play such as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and New York. The report emphasizes the essential parameters for Marcellus gas exploration and production in the play, and highlights the need for solving environmental issues resulting from the shale gas exploration and production activities. The report also discusses the drilling activities in the Appalachian region of the Marcellus shale play in the US, detailing the companies involved and their coverage in different counties of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012103104.HTM

Clean Energy Releases Second Edition of “Road to Natural Gas”
Wallaby
Business Wire
Nov 1
SEAL BEACH, Calif.-Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) today released the second edition of “The Road to Natural Gas,” an update of truck companies, refuse haulers, fleet operators, airports, municipalities and other organizations which are making the switch to natural gas with transportation fuel, station construction and services provided by Clean Energy.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012110176.HTM

Marcellus gas production continues undaunted despite Sandy
Wallaby
Platts
Oct 31
[...]On Wednesday, some Marcellus Shale-area producers were saying there was very little impact to their operations, and data from Bentek Energy, a unit of Platts, showed minimal drop-off to total Northeast gas production flow.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012110158.HTM

Articles

Westminster may join trend of leasing land for natural gas rights
Beaver Co. Times
Rachel Morgan
Oct 30
NEW WILMINGTON — Westminster College may lease natural gas rights for 340 acres of school-owned land, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/westminster-may-join-trend-of-leasing-land-for-natural-gas/article_0c9438e8-0f0a-5b0e-9b6c-6e1f7b7ee04d.html

LNG Proponents Step Up Lobbying Efforts
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
Nov 1
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/11/01/lng-proponents-step-up-lobbying-efforts/

Shale gas boom makes some Pennsylvanians richer — and some poorer
Washington Post
Brad Plumer
Oct 31
In recent years, states like Pennsylvania have seen a massive natural gas boom as improved drilling techniques have allowed companies to extract natural gas from shale rock in the Marcellus. The boom has helped drive U.S. natural gas prices down to stunningly low levels and has upended the country’s energy sector. But how does it affect the people living in those regions?
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/10/31/how-the-shale-gas-boom-is-making-some-pennsylvanians-richer-and-some-poorer/

Storm precautions used at gas wells
Herald Standard
Steve Ferris
Nov 1
Chevron has resumed Marcellus shale natural gas production work that was halted as a precaution before Hurricane Sandy struck on Tuesday and is monitoring erosion controls at well sites because of continuing rain, the company said.
Link: http://www.heraldstandard.com/marcellus_shale/storm-precautions-used-at-gas-wells/article_a5d27ccd-46de-5d5e-aa16-be85250b718d.html

Sandy skips drillers
Beaver Co. Times
Rachel Morgan
Oct 31
HARRISBURG — Hurricane Sandy spared the Marcellus shale drillers in the state.
Despite crushing the East Coast with destructive winds and water, Hurricane Sandy didn’t do any damage to Pennsylvania’s nearly 4,500 functioning natural gas drilling wells, an official said Wednesday.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/sandy-skips-drillers/article_1479fe13-4f44-57f4-acaf-702501bacd19.html

Lawsuit alleges drilling contaminated water supply
Observer-Reporter
Linda Metz
Nov 1
Attorneys for Range Resources and 16 other defendants named in a lawsuit filed by three Amwell Township families are asking the court to order the plaintiffs to release specific evidence regarding their alleged wrongdoings.
Link: http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/story11/11-01-2012-Range-lawsuit

Shale Boom, Part 4: Meetings on shale-related issues scheduled
New Castle News
Debbie Wachter
Oct 31
NEW CASTLE — Several meetings are planned in Lawrence County to address Marcellus Shale issues.
The meetings address progress, zoning issues and other concerns. The sessions are:
•North Beaver Township
•The Lawrence County Economic Development Corp.
•Pulaski Township
•Slippery Rock University
Link: http://www.ncnewsonline.com/topstories/x1200670093/Shale-Boom-Part-4-Meetings-on-shale-related-issues-scheduled

Enviros on the lookout for storm damage to Marcellus operations
E&E News
Ellen M. Gilmer
Nov 1
(full text below)
As Hurricane Sandy began its march up the East Coast on Monday, environmentalists called on those weathering the storm to keep an eye on natural gas wells. Better yet, take a picture.

The Pennsylvania-based Delaware Riverkeeper Network warned that heavy rain and high winds from the massive storm could threaten Marcellus rigs, wells and related infrastructure -- leading to uncontrolled release of toxins into the environment. But all that could go unchecked, the group said, unless residents document the damage.

"These terrible impacts tend to get masked by the ravages of flooding and we never even know what happened," the group said in its call to action.

The network plans to collect the submitted photos and pass them along to an analyst who will try to identify the companies responsible for any wrecked equipment, along with associated pollution. The group tried a similar effort during last year's Hurricane Irene but came up short, saying flooding had wiped away the evidence. Another environmental group began distributing a photo of a flooded drilling rig, which was later exposed to be a picture from Pakistan.

Oil and gas industry representatives have told the public that drillers take precautions to avoid any such pollution. Tom Shepstone of Energy in Depth, an arm of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, went on the defense in a post for the group's Marcellus blog. He dismissed the call to action from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network as an attempt at capitalizing on the storm by using hypothetical damage as ammunition for the environmentalists' cause.

John Krohn, a spokesman for Energy in Depth, outlined the regulations that protect against storm-related pollution. In Pennsylvania, for example, drillers must provide erosion and sedimentation plans that limit the amount of rainwater running off the well pad, in accordance with the state Clean Streams Act. Plus, well sites must have backup containment systems, such as dikes and barriers.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R) issued an order earlier this week for Marcellus operators to remove equipment from flood-prone areas and to ensure that pits holding flowback fluid would not run over. Department of Environmental Protection head Michael Krancer said drillers had made those preparations and that his agency had not heard about any storm-related damage.

Krohn told EnergyWire that Pennsylvania sites are less likely to have that problem because so many drillers use a closed-loop system that eliminates the need for pits.

"Less than a year removed from similar efforts, activists are again directing volunteers to defy local officials and risk life and limb to photograph natural gas operations potentially impacted by severe weather," Krohn said in an emailed statement. "Of course, strong regulatory requirements and a commitment to safety by the industry make these impacts unlikely."

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network emphasized in its call to action that residents should not endanger themselves to get a picture.

As of yesterday, the group said it could not report findings because its Internet connection had not yet been restored after the storm.
###

Utility commission must stop reviews that kept drilling money from townships -- judge
E&E News
Ellen M. Gilmer
Nov 1
(full text below)
A Pennsylvania court has ordered the state utility commission to stop reviewing local drilling ordinances -- a process that kept three townships from receiving oil and gas funds that were doled out statewide last month.

In an order: http://www.eenews.net/assets/2012/10/29/document_ew_01.pdf issued last week, Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Keith Quigley banned the Public Utility Commission (PUC) from continuing ordinance reviews because they effectively carried out a now-stricken provision of Pennsylvania's new oil and gas law, Act 13.

The provision held that municipalities were not allowed to have zoning ordinances that limited where natural gas operations could occur. In July, the Commonwealth Court struck down that measure as unconstitutional, a decision that has now been appealed to the state Supreme Court. The Commonwealth Court also enjoined all other sections of Act 13 that served to enforce the zoning measure.

But here's where it gets tricky: A separate, unchallenged measure holds that municipalities cannot have environmental ordinances more stringent than state law. Act 13 sets up a process for the PUC to review ordinances for compliance. According to a PUC source, the commission believed it still had a legal responsibility to carry out those reviews. The PUC could sidestep the zoning issue and focus on whether ordinances overstepped their bounds on environmental rules.

In doing so, the commission withheld from four townships their share of oil and gas impact fee money because they had ordinance reviews pending. In his order, the judge wrote that the court's July decision did not distinguish between the reasons for review -- zoning or otherwise -- and ordered the commission to cease and desist.

According to an attorney who has represented municipalities throughout the legal battle over Act 13's zoning provision, the PUC "had no basis" to conduct the reviews in the first place. And even if it had, he said, there was no legal reason to withhold the impact fee money.

The legislative deadline for payouts is Dec. 1. The judge's order seems to ensure that the townships will now receive their payments, which total more than $400,000. But the PUC has not yet confirmed that. A spokeswoman for the commission said yesterday that reviews had been suspended but that the PUC was still reviewing the implications of the order. As of yesterday, no appeal had been filed.