Greetings from CDOG          September 28, 2009
 

If central New York’s media and government and the landowners' coalitions' leaders weren’t in bed with the gas companies, they'd be carrying stories and asking questions about the disasters happening in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  In less than a month, fracture fluids have gotten into waterways through decoupling of pipes at a well site in PA and breach of a waste pit in WV; in a third incident, clandestine dumping of fracture fluids is suspected in the destruction of a 30 mile stretch of Dunkard Creek:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sunday, September 20, 2009, re  Dunkard Creek, PA & WV:
      "The elevated levels of TDS and chlorides in the creek indicates oil and gas drilling wastewater," West Virginia DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said.
     "It's disgusting to see that much life wiped out," said Ed Presley, who owns property along the creek at the Lower Brave Dam."To see the quality and beauty of that stream and then to see what happened to it, well, it really tears at you. I'm not really a tree-hugger but to see natural things destroyed and wasted like this, it's just dead wrong."
     The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Friday said more than 30 miles of the stream have been damaged by the discharge. It has killed 18 species of fish and at least 16 species of freshwater mussels, including the salamander mussel and the snuffbox mussel -- both candidates for federal listings as endangered species.
     An early and continuing focus of the investigation has been discharges from a mine water treatment facility located at Consol Energy's Blacksville No. 2 mine in West Virginia. But state and federal investigators are confounded because chemical analysis shows the creek water at the treatment facility site contains extremely high total dissolved solids, or TDS, and chlorides -- properties found in wastewater from Marcellus Shale gas well drilling operations but not mine water.  
- http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09263/999458-113.stm?cmpid=news.xml#ixzz0Rphp1BKv
 

Wayne Independent, Tuesday, September 22, 2009, re Dimock Township, PA:
      Make that three substantial chemical spills in less than one week at a natural gas drill site in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County.
     A spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) confirmed that Cabot Oil & Gas, who is engaging in extensive drilling operations in the small community, spilled “hundreds of gallons” of the volatile chemical mixture Tuesday morning. It is the same chemical - one that can cause skin cancer and a malady of other health issues - that spewed out of a pipe, twice, last Wednesday - amounting to more than 8,000 gallons of the harmful fluid entering the environment.
     The first two spills, which reportedly discharged from a pipe connecting a fluid holding tank and one natural gas well, impacted a wetland area and flowed into Stevens Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River. This latest incident was in the same area. DEP spokesman Dan Spadoni confirmed a “fish kill” in Stevens Creek.
     The chemical spilled is a fracturing fluid, according to interviews with DEP staff. It can cause headache, dizziness, or other central nervous system effects, according to the material safety data sheet obtained by The Wayne Independent. Inhalation may “cause respiratory irritation ... chemical pneumonia ... slurred speech, giddiness and unconsciousness.”
     It is also not known, as of this report, whether the spill contaminated local groundwater.
 - http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x1699593258/Third-natural-gas-chemical-spill-reported

 

Some people may get rich on the Marcellus Shale drilling that will soon start in New York. But that private wealth will be at the cost of damage to the environment, public infrastructure, property values, and personal health.

The ChenangoDelawareOtsego Gas Drilling Opposition Group invites you to get a handle on the processes and problems involved in drilling the Marcellus Shale. Attend our next presentation:

Gas Drilling 101
East Pharsalia Firehouse, Chenango County, NY
(crossroads of County Rte 10 & County Rte 8)
Tuesday Sept 29
7pm

The Draft State Energy Plan has been released and is promoting natural gas as a source of clean energy.   (They seem to be ignoring the impacts of extraction.)
 

If you have ideas about global warming and where and how NYS should get its energy, send in a comment.  According to the official site, you have until October 19, 2009. 

(This document should not be confused with the draft environmental impact statement for shale gas drilling, the DSGEIS, which is due to be released soon.)

You can find the Draft State Energy Plan at:
http://www.nysenergyplan.com/stateenergyplan.html

You can submit written comments, or through the website:
 http://www.nysenergyplan.com/submitIdeas.html

 

Noteworthy: Senator Tom Libous has a plan.  It's a plan to take away what little bit is left of our communities' local control over gas drilling. As of late August, the following (since modified) appeared on his website:

Maintain Our Roads
      State Department of Environmental Conservation regulations on natural gas drilling will protect you and me. But they also protect the drillers by giving them clear guidelines and setting out the process they need to follow.
     One of the elements the regulations should address is the fee the companies will pay to use the roads.
     Here’s the issue: All those heavy trucks going back and forth to well sites tear up a road pretty quickly. And it’s common practice to reimburse the community for the cost of increased repairs and replacements.
     But if the companies had to negotiate and reimburse each town and county separately, they’d be buried in regulatory paperwork.
     New York law allows the state to collect one fee and redistribute it to the municipalities – but only if the new DEC regulations stipulate that.
     It seems a pretty reasonable thing to do. The towns and counties still get the money they need for road repair. And we make life a little bit easier to the companies who can drop $2 billion a year into our wallets.  - Google cached page

 

Did "2000 people" attend the landowners' coalition rally in Bainbridge, NY on August 23? You decide:

http://un-naturalgas.org/weblog/?tag=our-rights-our-land-our-future

 

 

 

What do you love about living here?  Clean air?  Clean water? 
Whatever is precious to you, the time to take a stand for it is now.

 





 

Buckeye Creek, Doddridge County, West Virginia

In late August the pit holding fracture flowback "water" for natural gas well 47-017-05815 was breached near Sherwood in Doddridge County (the north central part of the state). The pit was constructed within feet of Buckeye Creek (the state has no requirement for a minimum distance between ground or surface water for pits -- see our Pits post) so the "water," at least 2500 gallons, went into the creek. The red gelled liquid has had a negative effect on wildlife. People were told "it was 'just oil' and hadn't killed any fish and okay to be in" -- kids swim and play in the Creek. Already, before the spill, a decline in fish and mussels had been noted by residents and some of the fish had raised nodules on the skin. Here are some photos:
 
Buckeye Creek was a good place to fish for bass and muskie. The contamination is plainly visible from fracture flowback chemicals and formation material (the color may be due to high iron) from a Marcellus well. Gels are created by chemicals which can include diesel fuel or ethylene glycol, neither of which is good to swim in. A similar fracture gel release in Pennsylvania caused a fish kill.
 
A high chloride concentration is a feature of fracture flowback but we don't think chloride killed this muskrat near its den. High chloride will kill fish and other aquatic organisms.
 
Two ducks were unable to fly.
Louanne (who furnished these photos and information) has a letter she wrote to Governor Manchin available online. The last I've heard, the gunk has been skimmed from the Creek but is lying in piles beside the Creek.

Reprinted with permission from http://sootypaws.livejournal.com/

 

T H A N K  Y O U 

The purpose of our efforts and this mailing list is to make sure the place we love isn't turned into a wasteland for the sake of corporate profit.  There's a lot that any one of us can do, even with just a couple of hours a month:  write a letter to the editor of your paper, chip in for advertising costs,  put up posters for the next event, talk to your neighbors, go to your town board meetings, staff a table at community events - whatever you think of, whatever you're good at!   Please watch for future e-mails with notices of meetings, events, and activities in which your participation will help keep our region the beautiful place and community it is.  If you'd like not to receive future e-mails, please reply with both of the following in the subject line: your e-mail address and the word 'remove.'
 
 

Please click over to our FAQs page, Hydraulic Fracturing A-Z, for a comprehensive overview and multimedia resources.  Read breaking news at our blog, use the Resources & Documents page for research or to download handouts, or the Organizers' page for ideas on how to get involved.