Jun 1
2010

Delaware County officials in particular:  it’s clear you think that having NYC telling us what to do is bad.  And so it is.  But tragically, if you facilitate or allow gas drilling to take place here, you – and your constituents – will have get used to much worse:
From a homeowner in Mt Pleasant Township, Pennsylvania -
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I wanted to pass along an update of what has been happening in Mt. Pleasant Township.  I find this whole thing very disturbing and unethical!  Several weeks ago our township zoning hearing board denied a variance and special exception to our zoning ordinances for MarkWest and Range Resources.  MarkWest was for the expansion of the compressor next to our home and another station in our township.  Range  Resources was for hosting the “man camps” at the drill sites.  
http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/05-13-2010-mt–pleasant-bunk-houses (MarkWest processes the gas that Range Resources pulls out of the ground).
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The man camps are set up when the driller starts the horizontal drilling.  They drill around the clock and claim that they need men there the entire time.  Some work 14 hour shifts.  Mobile trailers are placed on the drill pad to house the workers.  They contain sleeping quarters, eating areas and shower houses.  They have housed locally anywhere from 25 to 70+ men at one time.  During our public hearing an employee of Range Resources admitted that they leave background checks up to their sub-contractor, Patterson Drilling.  They only do back ground checks in the last state the man worked in.  This is NOT a federal background check.  Therefore, sex offenders can be living at these sites and we would never know.  They are going to be drilling ten wells across the street from our school and another ten beside the school.  We are VERY concerned about the safety of the children.  There are no fences around these camps.  In addition, the drilling company was hesitant in supplying documentation on the disposal of human waste from the site.  Like they aren’t dumping enough in our creeks…
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This was a huge statement in the State.  However, the industry retaliated. These two companies, along with their sub-contractors, boycotted all of our local businesses. Which in turn had business owners pressuring the township supervisors to reverse the decision.
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Then Range Resources sent letters to land owners who have leases.  The letters stated that since MarkWest couldn’t expand the compressor station, Range couldn’t drill for gas.  Therefore, this was causing a delay in them receiving their royalties.  Once again, more phone calls to the township supervisors. 
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It now sounds like within days the twp. supervisors will over turn this decision and allow MarkWest to expand their compressor stations.
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As if our community was not already divided enough, now the industry put in a bigger wedge.  “Divide and Conquer”.  I know this has happened in other parts of the country.  I find this a pitiful attempt to punish communities that tried to stand up to them.  This will further intimidate other rural communities.
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Not that I expect you to aid in this in anyway, but I just wanted you to understand what were are dealing with here.  This just adds to the nightmare we deal with!
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Steph Hallowich
Hickory, PA
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Below:  Range Resources’ letter to lessors, threatening them with loss of their royalties if they don’t pressure their township supervisors to give Range Resources what it wants.

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Trackback  •  Posted in Bad Neighbors, Community Effects, General, Mean Energy, Property Rights  


Nov 5
2009

A November 4th press release from the PA DEP reveals that while “numerous” people in Dimock have been without good water for, oh, a year, give or take, it takes an agreement process with DEP to force Cabot Oil & Gas to address residents’ need for “replacement” water.  It takes an agreement process with DEP to force Cabot Oil & Gas to release to DEP a complete list of people who have reported issues with their water.

DEP says this will provide a “long-term solution.”  That seems optimistic.  How do you “replace” someone’s own clean, clear, safe spring or well water?  And, you have to wonder, eventually,  after northeastern PA and New York’s Southern Tier are pincushioned with  gas wells, where will the “replacement” water come from?  And what will we use to schlep it from hither to thither?  Oh, yeah, now I remember: diesel fuel made from foreign oil.  Yup, that stuff that natural gas was supposed to free us from depending on.

________________________________

Pennsylvania DEP Reaches Agreement with Cabot to Prevent Gas Migration,
Restore Water Supplies in Dimock Township

Agreement Requires DEP Approval for Well Casing, Cementing

MEADVILLE, Pa., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Department of
Environmental Protection and Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. have executed a consent
order and agreement that will provide a long-term solution for migrating gas
that has affected 13 water supplies in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County.

The affected area covers nine square miles around Carter Road.

The consent order and agreement outlines a process that will give DEP more
oversight of Cabot’s new well construction work in the affected area. Prior to
drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or hydro fracking, the company will submit
well casing and cementing plans to DEP. Once DEP provides written approval,
Cabot may proceed.

“The goal of the consent order and agreement is to ensure a long-term
resolution to issues that have emerged in Dimock,” said DEP Northwest Regional
Director Kelly Burch. “The company will focus on the integrity of the wells in
the affected area in an attempt to determine the source of the migrating gas.”

This past week, Cabot has provided an interim solution for all of the homes
where water supplies have been affected. Cabot must develop a plan by March 31
to restore or replace the affected water supplies permanently.

Under the consent order and agreement, Cabot must additionally submit to DEP:

– Information on all parties who have contacted the company about water
quantity or quality issues; and

– A plan that specifically identifies how the company intends to prove the
integrity of the casing and cementing on existing wells and fix
defective casing and cementing by March 31.

If Cabot fails to fix the defective casing and cementing by the March
deadline, the company must plug defective wells or implement another
alternative as approved by DEP.

In addition, Cabot paid a $120,000 civil penalty for violations of the Oil and
Gas Act, the Solid Waste Management Act and the Clean Streams Law.

The consent order and agreement caps a DEP investigation that began early this
year when numerous Dimock area residents reported evidence of natural gas in
their water supplies. DEP inspectors discovered that the well casings on some
of Cabot’s natural gas wells were cemented improperly or insufficiently,
allowing natural gas to migrate to groundwater.

On Sept. 25, following a series of wastewater spills, DEP ordered Cabot to
cease hydro fracking natural gas wells throughout Susquehanna County. The
prohibition was removed after the company completed a number of important
engineering and safety tasks.

Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. is a Delaware-based company with a mailing address in
Pittsburgh.

For more information on oil and gas wells, visit www.depweb@state.pa.us,
keyword: Oil and gas.

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Trackback  •  Posted in Bad Neighbors, Boone-Doggle, or, Why the Pickens Plan Stinks, Community Effects, Fraccidents, Gas Drilling Accidents, Mean Energy, On the Bleeding Edge  


Sep 29
2009

  • Dimock, PA, approximately Thursday, 9/3:
    A blowout occurs during drilling under a road and wetland for a gas pipeline, resulting in a large spill of drilling mud.  Witnesses report a greasy, gray film running down a water body.  Local people who hear about the blowout have difficulty getting the straight story, despite persistently asking questions of DEP and drilling company representatives.
  • Dimock, PA,  Wednesday, 9/16, afternoon:
    “At least a thousand” gallons of frack fluid escape from the Heitsman2 well site and run down into Stevens Creek. According to the fracturing subcontractor, Halliburton, the fluid contains carcinogenic substances.
  • Dimock, PA, Wednesday, 9/16, late evening:
    A much larger spill of the same fluid occurs.  Reports say the total volume of both spills the released frack fluids is as much as 8500 gallons.
  • Dimock, PA, Tuesday, 9/22
    Another spill of the same fluid occurs.   This one is of “hundreds of gallons.”

DEP reports fish swimming erratically and kills of small aquatic life.

On 9/22, after the third spill in a week’s time, DEP cites Cabot with 5 violations.

Following DEP’s action, the fish are still dead.

On 9/25, DEP orders Cabot to stop all hydraulic fracturing activities in Susquehanna County.

Reports indicate that, subsequent to DEP’s order, the fish are still dead.

. . . .

Why do regulating agencies pretend that physics pays any attention to regulations?

Why do they pretend that their disciplinary action is effective, when no disciplinary action can reverse the damage once it’s done?

On 9/30, the NYS DEC will issue its draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, the next step in paving the way for New York to enjoy the  benefits of industrial-scale gas drilling with horizontal drilling / high-volume hydraulic fracturing in low-permeability gas reservoirs.

The fish in our brooks and rivers are, for the time being,  still alive.  But it’s only a matter of time and physics – not regulation – before the same fate befalls them.

See:

http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x576510049/Fracturing-fluids-spill-into-Susquehanna-County-stream?popular=true

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090917/NEWS01/909170411/State%20probes%20spill%20at%20gas-drilling%20site

http://www.propublica.org/feature/frack-fluid-spill-in-dimock-contaminates-stream-killing-fish-921#photo_correx

http://www.timesleader.com/news/ap?articleID=2868477

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/09/18/business-energy-financial-impact-us-gas-drilling-spill-pennsylvania_6905460.html

http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x1699593258/Third-natural-gas-chemical-spill-reported

http://www.wayneindependent.com/news/x1128380990/DEP-notes-5-violations-for-gas-drilling-spill

http://www.wnep.com/sns-ap-pa–gasdrilling-spill,0,7426305.story

http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/newsreleases/default.asp?ID=5676&varQueryType=Detail

http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/newsreleases/default.asp?ID=5678&varQueryType=Detail

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Trackback  •  Posted in Bad Neighbors, Community Effects, Cost Externalization, Fraccidents, Gas Drilling Accidents, General, Mean Energy, On the Bleeding Edge, SGEIS, The Fox is Guarding the Henhouse  


Sep 9
2009

Published: September 9, 2009

BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN

TOWANDA – Gas drilling activity is resulting in an increase in crime
in the borough, the borough police chief said on Monday.

The issue came up at Monday’s Towanda Borough Council meeting, when
borough council member Bob McLinko asked Police Chief Mitch Osman
whether the “extracurricular activity in the borough, along with
population increase, has resulted in problems.”

By extracurricular activity, McLinko was apparently referring to
drinking at the bars in Towanda.

Osman replied that police calls have gone up as workers in the gas
drilling industry have moved into the county, “especially the severity
of the calls.”

In the past, you could probably predict which nights would be quiet in
town, the police chief said.

“We can’t do that any more,” he said. “It’s definitely busy.”

. . . . .

Osman said…that he could use two additional police officers.

Complete story:
http://www.thedailyreview.com/news/police_chief_gas_drilling_causing_increase_in_crime_locally

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Trackback  •  Posted in Community Effects, Cost Externalization, Mean Energy  


Sep 3
2009

The Bradford Era reports:

Thursday, September 3, 2009 4:05 AM EDT

DEP gets tough questions Wednesday night

By ADAM VOSLER, Era Reporter

Hedgehog Lane residents made it clear to Department of Environmental Protection officials Wednesday that their water and quality-of-life problems due to recent oil drilling are far from solved.

About 20 residents and Bradford Township Supervisors Chairman Don Cummins gathered at the Lions Club community building to ask tough questions of four DEP representatives who made the trip to provide an update on the issues and answer concerns. State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, also attended the meeting, the second of its kind in recent weeks.

“I’m sure this has dragged on longer than you would’ve liked it to,” Regional Director Kelly Burch said of the problems, for which DEP issued violation notices to Schreiner Oil and Gas for four overpressured oil wells and contamination to seven water wells.

“Gas migration cases are very difficult.”

Schreiner drilled nearly two dozen wells last fall. Since then, residents have complained of everything from poor water quality to odor, noise, oil lease access road runoff onto Hedgehog, and other issues.

“We think most of the problems are corrected,” Burch said.

Several residents took exception to that claim. Many of them said their water still has foul odor and abnormal taste, while DEP countered that the water passes the agency’s 18 parameters for safe drinking.

“The source of the gas has been abated,” said Craig Lobins, regional manager of DEP’s Oil & Gas Management Program.

The other top complaint of residents has been a stripper plant located off Hedgehog Lane. [http://un-naturalgas.org/weblog/?p=457]

The plant strips unwanted gas out of the gas product that is coming out of wells. The structures, residents say, are a hazard because of its propane tanks that were placed only a few hundred feet from homes; also, the compressor station is noisy and produces an odor.

So the residents were likely not happy to hear that DEP granted New Century Pipeline a permit for the plant a few weeks ago — months after the structure was already built without permission.

That company, which is under Schreiner partner Aiello Bros. Oil & Gas, is facing a yet-unscheduled Bradford Township Zoning Board hearing on grounds that it never filed for a zoning permit. The matter could end up in McKean County Court if the company appeals the zoning officer’s findings.

“We are obliged by law to issue the permit if they meet our standards,” said DEP Air Quality Coordinator John Guth.

Cummins complained that the permit shouldn’t have been issued if the plant was in violation of township zoning laws. New Century has also faced DEP fines because it never informed the agency of its building plans, either.

“They have been noncompliant since the day they started operating,” Burch acknowledged.

Hedgehog natives wondered aloud why their neighborhood has been slow to receive help and why repeated offenses by Schreiner have been tolerated.

“When people are acting like this over and over and over, that’s where my frustration lies,” one Hedgehog resident said.

“Why is it up to us to try and stop somebody else who’s obviously breaking the rules?” asked another resident.

Schreiner’s permits for the several remaining wells to be fractured are valid until spring. DEP would not deny him that right, but Lobins said the wells are nearly worthless at this point because they’ve been open for so long.

“I don’t know if (Schreiner’s) going to drill any more of those,” Lobins said.

DEP had ordered Schreiner to stop further oil and gas drilling on Hedgehog until the water supplies were “restored or replaced,” which they have done by supplying bottled water and redrilling water wells. Of course, that matters little to the residents who say their water is still coming up bad.

. . . . .

Overall, it’s clear the residents are tiring of the water situation and what they believe is DEP’s negligence of obvious problems with its drinkability.

“I’ve lived there 21 years, and my water in the last year, it’s gone to crap,” said a man who identified himself as a resident of 177 Hedgehog Lane. Several residents cited the water as tasting “musty” and “old.”

A few visitors even questioned DEP reports they found online, saying the reports twisted what agents and residents said about their water’s poor odor and taste during recent visits.

Burch was swift in defending his staff.

“Many of my employees have a private well just like many of you … I know they wouldn’t tolerate it.”

After nearly two hours of back-and-forth between Cummins’ constituents and DEP officials, the supervisor boiled it down to one simple question.

“How do we get their water back to the way it was?” Cummins asked Burch.

As of today, the DEP does not seem to have an answer.

Full story at

http://bradfordera.com/articles/2009/09/03/news/doc4a9f350208adc444487486.txt

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Trackback  •  Posted in Bad Neighbors, Community Effects, Cost Externalization, Mean Energy, On the Bleeding Edge, The Fox is Guarding the Henhouse  


Aug 25
2009

From The River Reporter, covering a presentation hosted by Penn State Cooperative Extension (PSCE) at Honesdale High School:
_____________________

“Ventello [executive director of the Central Bradford Progress Authority] lauded the economic benefits to Bradford County, but became frustrated at questions related to the possible health effects associated with chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids. ‘If you want to be critical of the materials they’re using, I suggest you talk to the gas companies,’ he said.

“’What about the health impacts?’ asked audience member Beverly Sterner. ‘What commissioners are going to represent that? What company is going to represent that? How are you going to deal with the health of the community because there’s evidence that gas drilling has caused terrible health problems and even death?’

“’Do you want me to stay here? Because I’ll walk out of here!’ Ventello responded.”
_____________________

Mr Ventello, being in authority means exercising stewardship of community resources on behalf of the community. If you can’t answer the community’s questions, both competently and respectfully, you should indeed “walk out” – of not only the room but the position you’re in no position to occupy.

Complete story here: http://www.riverreporter.com/issues/09-08-20/news-impacts.html

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Trackback  •  Posted in The Fox is Guarding the Henhouse  


Jul 29
2009

From Hedgehog Lane, Bradford Township, McKean County, PA:

“There is a Crossett truck here this morning.  The second that I saw it pull up, I closed every window because I knew what was coming.  My house is currently full of vapors that are making me nauseous….even with every window closed, this is the result.  What more can I do????  There is nowhere in my house that I can go to escape the fumes, I certainly can’t go outside, and I have no vehicle.  So I am forced to sit here light-headed, dizzy, and with a headache sucking in these fumes.  This is the third time in the past 6 days that we have been exposed to this severity of stench.  This is a very real problem that is going on way too long.”

“I spent 2.5  hours in my basement because the fumes were so bad in my home while a propane truck filled up from the stripper plant.  It’s the 3rd time in 6 days that the stench has been so bad, but today was by far the worst!  The basement even stunk, just not as bad as the rest of the house…I have had calls from neighbors over a pretty large area that say that they experienced the vapors today as well.”

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Trackback  •  Posted in Bad Neighbors, Community Effects, Cost Externalization, Mean Energy, On the Bleeding Edge  


Jul 28
2009

PA DEP Investigating Natural Gas Well Leak In Lycoming County

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa., July 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating a natural gas well leak at an East Resources well in McNett Township, Lycoming County.

“East Resources is cooperating fully with our investigation, and has already implemented measures to stop the leak,” said DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell. “DEP staff will continue to work closely with East Resources and local emergency responders to ensure the safety of nearby residents.”

DEP was alerted to the problem last week by a citizen who reported discoloration of water in a tributary to Lycoming Creek and in a nearby spring. DEP staff investigated on July 24 what was then a suspected sediment problem in the creek.

On Monday, DEP received a report of possible natural gas bubbling from the tributary. DEP staff collected water samples from the spring and the tributary. Those samples are being analyzed for methane and other parameters in the department’s laboratory in Harrisburg. DEP staff confirmed the bubbling in two Lycoming Creek tributaries earlier today.

East Resources personnel monitored 18 private water wells in the nearby area that same day, and are providing water to four homes. They also monitored methane levels in the homes.

East Resources has three wells in the area, which are in the Oriskaney [sic] geologic formation, and not in the Marcellus Shale area. Two of the wells are drilled and completed, but not yet in service due to the lack of gathering lines in the area. The third well was previously plugged and abandoned.

East Resources began flaring the Delciotto #2 well on Monday to reduce pressure from the natural gas, and is currently working to flare the other two wells. The company is investigating the possibility that a casing failure in part of the Delciotto #2 well caused the natural gas leak. The company is attempting to seal off the leak with drilling mud to stop the natural gas from escaping.

CONTACT: Daniel T. Spadoni (570) 327-3659

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

- http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-28-2009/0005067720&EDATE=

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Trackback  •  Posted in Bad Neighbors, Community Effects, Cost Externalization, Gas Drilling Accidents, Mean Energy, On the Bleeding Edge  


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