PA Marcellus News Digest 2/11/13

PA Marcellus News Digest

February 11, 2013

Articles

Youngstown residents react to fracking wastewater
Times Online
Rachel Morgan
Feb 7
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Youngstown-area residents are not just angry over the dumping of an estimated 20,000 gallons of suspected fracking wastewater into a storm sewer that empties into the Mahoning River.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/youngstown-residents-react-to-fracking-wastewater/article_0792083c-ebff-5b14-ae44-46d92915ce7a.html

A 50-mile pipeline to cross from Washington to Westmoreland
Post-Gazette
Tom Barnes
Feb 7
Folks who live in parts of Washington and Westmoreland counties can expect to see a "big ditch" being dug across the region starting in midsummer.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-east/a-50-mile-pipeline-to-cross-from-washington-to-westmoreland-673780/

Rendell Downplays Role in Range Contamination Case
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
Feb 7
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/02/07/rendell-downplays-role-in-range-contamination-case/

Lack of zoning  may limit action  against well plan
Courier Express
Feb 6
Discussion of a proposed injection well off Highland Street Extension in Brady Township occupied much of the February supervisors meeting.
Windfall Oil & Gas of Falls Creek wants to locate the well to dispose of fluids used in the hydorfacturing of Marcellus shale wells. Windfall President Mike Hoover said the company plans to inject brine fluid 7,306 feet below the surface at the site. The application for a permit projects a maximum monthly volume of 30,000 barrels.
Link: http://www.thecourierexpress.com/courierexpress/courierexpresslocal/992780-349/lack-of-zoning-may-limit-action-against.html

Fracking, old wells have local farmer worried
Times Online
Eric Poole
Feb 5
A drill platform, which is extracting natural gas from the Marcellus shale subterranean layer, began operation last year less than a mile from her front door. Last month, she played host to a protest that denied access to the well pad through the use of a giant papier-mache pig and nearly three dozen protestors, some of whom were handcuffed together with PVC pipe.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/fracking-old-wells-have-local-farmer-worried/article_25dec9d3-def2-5730-94dc-0c19fdf38110.html

Corbett Touts Energy Jobs in Budget Address
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
Feb 6
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/02/06/corbett-touts-energy-jobs-in-budget-address/

Pa. Gov. Rendell Intervened on Behalf of Gas Driller in Texas Contamination Case
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
Feb 5
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/02/05/pa-gov-rendell-intervenes-on-behalf-of-gas-driller-in-texas-contamination-case/

Electric plant gets OK for conditional use
New Castle News
Debbie Wachter
Feb 5
NEW CASTLE — A woman was escorted out of the North Beaver Township supervisors meeting Monday after shouting a profanity.
Link: http://www.ncnewsonline.com/topstories/x2056605342/Electric-plant-gets-OK-for-conditional-use

Radioactivity not a problem with fracking
Herald Standard
Steve Forde
Feb 5
A series of recent stories on the subject of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) as a byproduct of natural gas development failed to provide proper context to your readers.
Link: http://www.heraldstandard.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/radioactivity-not-a-problem-with-fracking/article_8e2125b6-20d5-5a4f-931b-c1a145ea80c3.html

A Clash in Pennsylvania Over Fracking and Water Tests
NY Times
Jon Hurdle
Green Blog
Feb 4
A war of words has broken out between environmentalists and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection over the cancellation of a meeting on the state’s testing of water from water wells near natural-gas drilling sites.
Link: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/a-clash-in-pennsylvania-over-fracking-and-water-tests/

EPA report for first time shows methane emissions from oil and gas
E&E News
Gayathri Vaidyanathan
Feb 6
(full text below)
Petroleum and natural gas systems in the United States accounted for 40 percent of the methane emissions reported to U.S. EPA in 2011, the first year that emissions from oil and gas were included in the agency's greenhouse gas inventory.http://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.doThat translates to 83 million metric tons carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, reported to EPA. Including carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, the industry emitted 225 million metric tons of CO2e.

The industry was second only to the power generation sector, which emitted 2,221 million metric tons of CO2e, remaining the top emitter in the United States.

Oil and gas emissions included onshore and offshore production, liquefied natural gas storage, LNG import and export, natural gas distribution, underground natural gas storage and natural gas transmission. Of these, onshore production and natural gas processing accounted for 69 percent of the emissions.

EPA's emissions inventory compiles data from large facilities emitting more than 25,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases per year. It does not include agricultural sources or small emitters, and thus is not a comprehensive picture of the nation's emissions.

The database, however, allows users to drill down and get information on particular companies.

Of the natural gas companies that reported to the database, the top 10 emitters of methane in 2011 were ConocoPhillips in the San Juan Basin, Apache Corp. in the Permian Basin, Stephens Production Co. in the Arkoma Basin, Enervest Operating LLC in both the Appalachian Basin and the Forth Worth Syncline, XTO Energy and Marathon Oil Corp.

The scale of emissions could mean that the company has an especially large operation or a particularly bad leakage problem. Some 1,877 companies reported to the database.

Much of the reported leakage from onshore oil and gas production was concentrated in basins in Texas, the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas, the Gulf Coast Basin in Louisiana, the Williston Basin of North Dakota and the Appalachian Basin in the Northeast.

"EPA's vital new pollution data is a call to action for America to work together in deploying innovative solutions to address the carbon pollution from power plants and methane from oil and gas development activities," said Peter Zalzal, staff attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, in a statement.

Benefits

Illustrating the potential climate benefits of natural gas, emissions from the power plant sector fell by 4.5 percent between 2010 and 2011, due in part to plants switching from burning coal to natural gas.

"This data, in addition to recently released data from EPA and EIA [the Energy Information Administration] further demonstrates the air quality and overall environmental benefits of increased use of natural gas," wrote Steve Forde, a spokesman for the industry group Marcellus Shale Coalition, in an email. "According to EPA data, Mid-Atlantic states saw a nearly 14 percent reduction in emissions in 2011 and EIA recently reported that CO2 emissions are at 20 year lows, thanks in large part to increased use of natural gas."

The positives and negatives in the database reveal the tug-of-war over the perceived benefits and risks of natural gas. While the fuel burns cleaner than coal, methane leaks from valves, compressor stations and pipelines have led some to question its climate benefits.

Scientists say that to avoid the worst effects of climate change, temperature rise would have to be limited to 2 degrees Celsius. Swapping out natural gas for coal in electricity generation would help until about 2025 or 2030. After that point, assuming that leakages during production and distribution have been controlled, the emissions from natural gas power plants could become a hindrance in achieving the climate goal, according to the International Energy Agency (EnergyWire, July 18, 2012).