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Marcellus Shale Gas
Drilling
near Hickory, Pa
INTRODUCTION
April 2009
My first Donnan ancestor
emigrated from Scotland via Ireland to Hickory nearly
200 years ago, back in 1817. In my lifetime, Hickory has
always been a pastoral rural town, surrounded by farm
fields growing corn, soybeans and hay, with livestock
grazing.
Washington County was once the biggest wool producer in
the nation, but the livestock is now more likely to be
Holsteins or Herefords. The back roads out in the
country around Hickory are nice for Sunday car cruises
or motorcycle rides, with winding and rolling asphalt
roads, usually just wide enough for two cars to pass.
Hickory, Pennsylvania
The biggest annual event in Hickory, Pa used to be the
annual fall Apple Festival. That is, until the
Marcellus Shale gas boom came to town a few years
ago. My first heads-up came from a landscaping client
who works in the legal end of mineral and gas rights.
While discussing the vast reserves of gas in Marcellus
Shale underlying Washington County, Pennsylvania she
said "Hickory is the epicenter" of the Marcellus Shale
gas reserves. I became personally interested in
this rapidly unfolding gas drilling story when our
drinking water turned putrid last fall.
HERE AND NOW
A business trip took me into the Hickory area
last week, my first visit in 6 months. When someone
coined the expression "changing landscape" they must
have been thinking of Hickory Pennsylvania in the early
stages of this Marcellus gas drilling boom!
The first thing that caught our attention as we headed
out Route 519 from Houston, Pa wasn't your typical road
sign warning of workers ahead. Instead of saying Road
Work Ahead, it said Seismic Crew Ahead.
What the heck does that mean?? As we drove further, on
down back country roads, there were orange extension
cords crossing the roads every half-mile or so.
Seismic Crew Ahead
We noticed many more gravel roads cut into farm
fields than we had seen when we were out there last
fall. Some of the areas that didn't show much
development last year now looked like excavations for a
new shopping mall or grouping of Big Box stores. Changing
landscape indeed!
Driving through that area starts to give you an uneasy
feeling, not just the feeling you get when you see
pristine fields turned into housing developments. This
is more the feeling you get when reading about Love
Canal or seeing film footage of Operation Ranch Hand in
Vietnam. The more you learn about hydraulic fracturing
in the states ahead of us in these fast moving gas
ventures, the more concern you have for our local environment.
Marcellus Brine Pit
THE BIG PICTURE
It's taken thousands of years for things to happen
deep down underground, with the soil, geology and those
precious water tables. How do we know that this deep
fracturing of shale is really safe, especially when many
of these procedures are newly developed, and involve a
cocktail of very questionable chemicals going into the ground? And the
fact they are EXEMPT from the Clean Drinking Water Act. What
lobbyist and politician pushed that one through while we
weren't looking? What about
the millions of gallons of brine that come back out of
the ground with those secret (read: "Proprietary") fracking chemicals to get stored in huge frac pits? They
usually have one of several fates from there:
- Get pumped deep into the Earth to stay for
eternity
- Get partially processed and dumped into our
waterways
- Get misted into the air to evaporate
- Get left in holding tanks or lagoons
Neighbors said this pit near their house altered between
smelling like kerosene to raw sewage
Do spills occur? Of course. And there are cases of "seeps" of methane and benzene to the
Earth's surface through newly fractured passageways in
geological formations. You really have to wonder if these
operations are safe to begin with, as well as if they
are being properly regulated and monitored
by the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP).
Frac tanks lined up on a
farm along Route 519
Our tri-state area is no stranger to environmental
disasters, mostly from the extraction and burning of
coal. Mine subsidence from long wall mining that destroys people's water wells. "No problem," the companies
just provide them with a water buffalo of potable
water, forever. Some solution! Mountain top
mining just to our south in West Virginia ...yeah, just fill in those
valleys and streams with the rubble, no problemo. Or the
old favorite, strip mining. Acid mine drainage adds real color to
several local streams. Acid rain from coal fired emissions.
And our greenhouse gas problem makes us burn that special gasoline
every summer.
Drilling before hydraulic fracturing
My point here?... people in this area
have firsthand experience with the risks and
environmental costs of developing and using energy
resources. Bottom line: We now realize those who own mineral
and gas rights have rights that trump
everyone else's.
While natural gas may burn clean, it certainly isn't clean to
extract. It's even been said that gas in shale requires
more energy to extract than the gas will eventually
produce. It takes hundreds of tanker loads to haul the
one or two million gallons of water required for a
single fracking. Then a large percentage of it has to be
trucked back to a treatment plant. Fuel for trucks,
generators, drill rigs and every other piece of
equipment you can imagine. "Clean" energy???
DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT
Reading the blogs of concerned people like Lisa
Bracken of Colorado won't give you any peace on this gas
drilling business, and you don't have to be "an
environmentalist" for that uneasy feeling to set in. Her
part of Colorado is about six years ahead of us on this
style of gas
drilling. She has experienced the downsides to having
big reserves of natural gas deep underground, and
fortunately, written about them in her blog,
Journey of
the Forsaken. I compare Lisa to the canary in the
coal mine, and she has sounded many early warnings for us
Pennsylvanians.
They say "fools rush in." Are the good folks of
Pennsylvania being caught unawares by all this? Will the
citizens of New York State be the next to jeopardize their
precious water resources? Whatever those answers are,
they probably won't be very long in coming.
It's a rapidly changing landscape out there around
Hickory, as well as other small communities sitting atop
these Marcellus Shale gas reserves.
This web page was created to share photos of what gas
development looks like around Hickory Pennsylvania. I
suggest you follow some of the links below, do
some reading, and take a look at this issue for yourself. I can only
share what I have personally experienced and seen in
these early stages of drilling. Time will tell where this natural
gas boom will lead us. As with the huge National debt,
our ultimate hope is that we don't leave our children,
and their children's children another
nightmare to deal with sometime down the road.
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Photos of Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling near Hickory PA
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Drill rig on Marcellus Shale ©2009
(All photos on this website are
copyrighted)
Coming soon to a farm near you, with some toxic volatile
compounds
like toluene, benzene, ethylbenzene, and xylene
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'Tricky Dicky' the 2nd?
Halliburton tractor trailer parked along a country road near
Buffalo, Pa. Frac fluids were exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act
in 2005 while former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney was Vice
President of the US
Pennsylvania DEP Summary of Hydraulic Fracture Solutions
Marcellus Shale - May 2009 (PDF 411KB)
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Secret Sauce
Frac fluids are considered "proprietary" formulas and therefore
NOT subject
to full disclosure of their chemical makeup, even to emergency
personnel.
Things will improve in this area if The FRAC Act is passed by
Congress.
Nurse
sickened from aiding gas worker
Driller refuses to disclose chemicals that
would have helped treatment
July 17, 2008 Durango Herald newspaper story
by Joe Hamel, Herald Denver Bureau
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"An informed
citizen is the only true repository of the American
will"
Thomas Jefferson |
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Drilling begins on this farm near Hickory.
Rock dust everywhere!
Did the drilling company happen to mention to you that you might need to dust ....
hourly?The gas drilling industry is heavily diesel engine based, while
Washington, Allegheny, Beaver and Westmoreland counties were
listed among 37 counties in the United States that fail all three
air pollution measures used by the American Lung Association
in their
2009
State of the Air report. Washington County got an "F"
Map of Washington County's Oil & Gas Resources - November 2005
(PDF)
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Seismic Testing
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Texas Thumper Truck
2-D, 3-D and multi-component land seismic data produce
precise images of the earth's subsurface
(Click thumbnail
images to enlarge) |
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Thump This
Three 'Thumper Trucks' used for Seismic Testing |
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That's a Vibrator!
Seismic trucks with Mertz Universal Vibrators |
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Pinky
Pink surveyor markers used in conjunction with
seismic testing |
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X marks the spots
Orange fiber optic cords criss-crossing the back roads
are part of exploding
charges 20 feet underground for seismic testing |
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Orange spaghetti
Seismic equipment wrapped around a tree along a back
road south of Hickory, Pennsylvania |
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Drilling Convention
Activity south of Westland, Pennsylvania along
Route 519 between Hickory and Houston.
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Excerpts from testimony by Mark W. Smith,
Bradford County Commissioner,
to the State Senate April 9, 2009 regarding the impact
of Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Exploration
“One of the more significant
problems local governments face is the stress the
industry has on our roads and bridges. The majority of
roads in our townships were never built to withstand the
heavy and constant truck traffic that horizontal well
drilling and injection requires. One well drilling
operation may involve over 1,000 truck loads.”
“As the industry increases their
operations we can only expect a negative impact on our
bridges.”
“There are areas in terms of
regulation that local governments are struggling with.
In some cases Pennsylvania regulations and regulatory
agencies are in transition. It is unclear if the
challenges of balancing industry and public safety are
being met. There is great local concern that D.E.P.,
even with their proposed increased staffing has no
chance of keeping up with the pace of the drilling
activity, let alone the increased responsibilities D.E.P.
is taking away from conservation districts.”
“There are concerns about the
regulation of “drilling pits” or ponds, disposal of what
is known as “drilling mud,” which in some cases is being
encapsulated in the pond’s liner and buried on the land
owner’s property after drilling ceases. Water quality
and possible contamination is also of concern.”
“I would urge the D.E.P. to
reconsider its fast track approach to permitting and
reinstate local responsibilities to county conservation
districts and to take into consideration looking at
other aspects of the industry that may require D.E.P.
attention to ensure public safety and environmental
protection.”
[Full
testimony to the Pennsylvania State Senate] |
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Hauling Residual Waste and Condensate
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What a Waste
Tractor trailer hauling Residual Waste.... to and from where?? |
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Squeezing past
Second tractor trailer tanker hauling Residual Waste on a
narrow country road. |
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Heavy Load on Red Fox Road
BRIDGE
WEIGHT LIMIT 26 TONS
EXEMPT COMBINATIONS 34 TONS
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From a YouTube
guestbook with drill workers commenting:
"They send radioactive
isotopes downhole while
we are pumping from pad stage through flush."
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Moving Millions of Gallons of
Water
for Fracking a single Marcellus Gas Well
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Pipe Dream
These temporary water pipes must run for miles
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Don't Pull Over
Pipes are run along the berm of the road, still in the
road's right-of-way |
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Making a Connection
Pipe road crossing through a muddy mess |
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Pipe Dream
Water piping 'gate' designed for road crossings.
What stream will get pumped dry next? |
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Getting it there
Just get it there baby! |
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Pumping Water
Water is gathered from almost any source in just about any
quantity |
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Pipe It, Frac It Up!
Temporary water lines run from a farmer's field to a
drilling pad |
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Pollution from Hydro-Fracturing
Leaks, Seeps, Spills & Runoff
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Painted Black
Sure looks like black oily runoff just downstream from
this
horizontal well pad on Ullom Road south of Hickory
Cows pastured next to a
natural gas drilling site die
Update
April 30, 2009
It was over 30 cows, all carrying calves...
Eyewitness account from Caddo Parish
"120 CHICKENS
DIED, A BABY CALF (1 WEEK OLD) DIED, AND 15
CATS, THE SAME DAY ALL THE COWS DIED. AND IT
WAS 30+ COWS AND ALL OF THEM WERE PREGNANT.
THE COWS THAT WERE CONTAMINATED, JUST BEFORE
THEY DIED, STOOD BELLOWING, HEAD AND STOMACH
SWELLING AND FINALLY THEIR TONGUE SWELLED SO
BIG IT CUT OFF THE AIR SUPPLY AND THEIR EYES
EXPLODED IN THEIR SOCKETS, AND BLOOD RAN OUT
OF EYES, NOSE, MOUTH, AND THEIR BACK END.
THEIR STOMACHS WERE IMMEDIATELY HUGE, SO BIG
IT WAS A WONDER THE STOMACHS DID NOT
EXPLODE. THE CHEMICAL ATE THE INSIDES OF
THEIR GUTS UP."
News
story
Cattle Drop Dead Near Mysterious Fluid at
Gas Drilling Site |
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Scorched Earth
This foliage kill would even make the Ranch Hand crews who
sprayed Agent Orange jealous!
This area is clearly visible from Ullom Road near the old car tire
facility. Many of these sorts
of runoff areas aren't visible to the general public.
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The Ole Fishin Hole
Check that Mr. Yuk water color |
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Springtime near Westland
You can hear the frogs croaking! |
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One picture is worth....
1,000 letters to your state and federal
representatives!
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Worthy of Investigation by the
Pennsylvania DEP
Orange pipe in a cloudy stream just south of
Westland PA on Rte. 519
Is that pipe drawing water out of the stream or dumping something
into it?
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"On
April 1, 2009 Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental
Protection, (D.E.P.), eliminated local conservation
districts from the permit process of Erosion and
Sedimentation and Stream and Wetlands in relation to the
natural gas industry."
[Complete
letter from a Pennsylvania county commissioner]
April 7, 2009 - Some specific concerns we have in
regards to your decision are as follows:
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The lack of input D.E.P. has sought in regards to
this decision, both from the public and from
conservation districts.
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The lack of staff, training and local contacts for
D.E.P. to adequately manage and issue these permits.
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The fact that this change will eliminate municipal
notice of drilling activity.
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D.E.P. is telling local conservation districts to
turn over all gas industry related records, which
represent decisions made at the local level.
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Catchment Basin 1
Runoff area below a gas drilling pad
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Catchment Basin 2
A second runoff area below a drilling pad
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Catchment Basin 3
Looks like old dishwater. What is making those suds?
This is right above where the dead coon was drinking.
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"FARM RUINED"
This farmer would give his gas royalty money back and never
drill after all that he has seen and gone through: They ruined his farm and
3-acre pond with gas drilling activities... all
the cattails in his pond died and he had a fish kill (except the
catfish) after fracking one well.
YouTube video
Farm & Pond Ruined
9:31 minutes
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Don't Drink the Water
This raccoon didn't get far after taking a sip of runoff
water from another drill pad
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Gas Wells & Drilling for Gas
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On the edge of town
Gas well in the no-traffic-light village of Buffalo, Pa
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Big Blue
Burning diesel to produce "natural" gas. Huge blue
generators
behind pallets of bagged drilling and fracking supplies. |
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Phone home
Solar-powered communication link to HQ in Canonsburg |
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Drilling Pad
Several more gas wells will be drilled on this same drilling
pad. Some horizontal (directional) wells are fractured a dozen
times.
Since more environmental restrictions apply to drilling pads over 5
acres in size, pads are usually limited to 3 to 5 acres in size. |
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Danger Danger
NO SMOKING - NO OPEN FLAMES
Condensate tanks with solar powered communications
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Yellow Commodes?
Access points for pumping out separation tank contents |
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Christmas Tree
Installed after the drill rig is gone and the fracking is complete.
Some
gas wells are fracked over and over again, requiring
millions of gallons of water each time.
Hey mister, can you spare a couple million gallons?
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Homey
White 60-gallon tank holding methanol (wood alcohol). The
solar panels help monitor air temperature and when it gets near
freezing the tank releases methanol into the gas as it comes from
the ground to prevent the water that is still in the gas from
freezing and causing broken pipes and fittings. Sometimes these
tanks contain 20% ethylene glycol.
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Frac Fluid & Brine Pits
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Coming to a river near you!
Plastic-lined reserve pit on a drilling pad holding contents
that will be trucked
to a treatment plant near Pittsburgh, then dumped in a waterway that
is
probably a source for someone's drinking water.
Each time a well is
fracked this backflow solution contains more
salt.
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Seeing colors?
Rainbow haze across the top of the brine in the same reserve
pit.
Frac fluids often contain diesel fuel
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A Fracking Convention
Frac tanks lined-up like soldiers between
Westland and Houston.
These green tanks hold water for hydro fracturing, and later hold the
fluids that return to the surface, after shale fracturing.
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Brine Tanker
Another load for the treatment plant before it gets dumped in the
river.
Heavy water and brine tanker trucks greatly increase road wear and tear.
Key paragraphs
from the
ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005
SEC. 322. HYDRAULIC
FRACTURING.
Paragraph (1) of section 1421(d) of the Safe Drinking
Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300h(d)) is amended to read as
follows:
‘‘(1) UNDERGROUND INJECTION.—The term ‘underground
injection’—
‘‘(A) means the subsurface emplacement of fluids by well
injection; and
‘‘(B) excludes—
‘‘(i) the underground injection of natural gas for
purposes of storage; and
‘‘(ii) the underground injection of fluids or propping
agents (other than diesel fuels) pursuant to hydraulic
fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal
production activities.’’.
SEC. 323. OIL AND
GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION DEFINED.
Section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
(33 U.S.C. 1362) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(24) OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION.—The term
‘oil and gas exploration, production, processing, or
treatment operations or transmission facilities’ means
all field activities or operations associated with
exploration, production, processing, or treatment
operations, or transmission facilities, including
activities necessary to prepare a site for drilling and
for the movement and placement of drilling equipment,
whether or not such field activities or operations may
be considered to be construction activities.’’.
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No Swimming!
This pit is surrounded by the bare minimum in fencing. Better
fencing would include netting.
Fences need to be 10 feet tall to actually keep whitetail deer out. |
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Pit near Avella, Pa
Reports indicate there are holes in this plastic liner |
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YouTube video
No Permits At All
6:18 minutes
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This is the Pits
Central evaporation pit being excavated to hold millions of
gallons of fracing fluids.
Upon closure, every Pit like this has the potential to become a
Superfund
site.
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To a large extent, the
environmental laws and regulations affecting gas operations relate
to the release of hazardous substances or solid wastes into soils,
groundwater, and surface water, and include measures to control
environmental pollution of the environment. The Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, as amended,
or CERCLA, also known as the "Superfund" law, and comparable
state laws, impose liability without regard to fault or the legality
of the original conduct, on certain classes of persons that
contributed to a release of a "hazardous substance" into the
environment. These persons include current and prior owners or
operators of a site where a release occurred and companies that
transported or disposed or arranged for the transportation or
disposal of the hazardous substances found at the site. Under CERCLA,
these persons may be subject to strict and, under certain
circumstances, joint and several liability for the costs of removing
or remediating hazardous substances that have been released into the
environment, for restoration and damages to natural resources, and
for the costs of certain health studies. Also, it is not uncommon
for neighboring landowners and other third parties to file claims
for personal injury and property damage allegedly caused by
hazardous substances or other pollutants released into the
environment. Liability may also occur under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, or RCRA, and comparable
state statutes, which impose requirements relating to the handling
and disposal of hazardous wastes and nonhazardous solid wastes.
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Open Letter to the Editor
of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
in Pittsburgh, PA
April
28, 2009
The Marcellus Shale natural gas boom in western
Pennsylvania is the biggest news since Pennsylvania’s
discovery of oil. Gas drilling companies would have you
believe these new gas wells pose little environmental
risk. But a quick study of Colorado, Texas and Wyoming
gas drilling reveals the ugly truths. Chemicals used in
this deep geological fracturing process are called “frac
fluids” and brief exposure put a Colorado emergency room
nurse into organ shutdown in 2008. Her hospital couldn’t
even get a complete listing of the chemicals that
sickened her since they were secret (proprietary) mixes.
Drilling companies would have you believe they don’t use
very much frac fluid, but it averages 1,500 gallons per
well. They also downplay their unbridled water use,
saying 3 to 5 million gallons of water needed to
fracture one well isn’t really that much. But the
thought that will make you hesitate to drink Pittsburgh
tap water is that a big percentage of this water/frac
fluid mix is processed and dumped back into our
waterways. The gas industry is exempt from too many
critical regulations like the Clean Drinking Water Act,
and their only watchdog is our overburdened state DEP.
Whether you are county legislators or individuals,
BEFORE signing a gas lease do some thorough research to
separate smooth promises from harsh facts. Do research
on methane seeps and water well contamination in Dimock,
PA. Write Congress supporting the current clean water
legislation under consideration that would further
protect our water resources from pillaging and
pollution. |
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Down the Road
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Yellow Brick Road, not
Where will this gas drilling road leave us?? |
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Erosion Control?
Regulations and environmental monitoring seem weak to this
'scarred' land owner |
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Open Letter to the Editor
of the Observer-Reporter
in Washington, PA
April
7, 2009
On the surface, our Marcellus gas drilling boom has the
appeal of energy independence and fast money for many,
even though it’s a fossil fuel with a 100-year lifespan,
max. A study of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in
Colorado, 6-years ahead of us in this gas boom, reveals
something as appealing as acid mine drainage or dry
water wells from long wall mining. Our Mon River
drinking water quality has already been affected, but we
are told “don’t worry, be happy” your water is OK. It
takes 1 million gallons of water to fracture one well.
Secret (proprietary) chemical cocktails, often
containing diesel fuel, are added to this fracking
fluid. Due to a fast track 2004 EPA study and approval,
these formulas are exempt from the Clean Drinking Water
Act in the 2005 Energy Bill. These frac fluids come back
out of the ground with high brine content and are stored
in huge surface pits. Getting rid of all this frac calls
for partial waste treatment prior to being dumped in our
waterways, evaporated into the air or getting pumped
deep into the Earth. Deep fracturing of geological
formations leads to unpredictable methane (and benzene)
migration upward, adversely affecting plants, animals,
aquatic life and human beings, with subsequent seeps.
This development is moving at light speed, partly by
design. Drive out Rt. 519 to
Hickory, read about the track record of this
drilling industry in other states, and decide if you
should write your legislators about stricter monitoring
and regulations to help salvage Washington County for us
and future generations. |
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GAS DRILLING LINKS
Photos
of Marcellus Shale development
Regulation
Lax as Gas Wells’ Water Hits Pa. Rivers
DEP
gas drilling violations database
1
reason we shouldn't lease public parks & school properties
48.5 million gallons per day from Ohio River watershed in SW Pa?
Oil & Gas in Northern Michigan
Buried Secrets - Gas Drilling's
Environmental Threat
"Clean burning" natural gas has a dirty secret -- YouTube video
Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling
EnCana does the
neighborhood
Splashdown! - Defend our
Water Now
U.S. energy future hits snag in rural Pennsylvania
Buried Secrets: Is Natural Gas Drilling Endangering U.S. Water
Supplies?
Colorado Study Links Methane in Water to Drilling
Journey of the Forsaken
Colorado gas drilling
Our chunky
fracking water Bob's first blog on this topic
Polluted Water in Marcellus Shale
Un-Natural Gas
Hydraulic Fracturing 101
Photos of gas well
equipment
Damascus Citizens for
Sustainability
U.S. Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources
U.S. gas drilling boom stirs water worries
Tioga
Gas Lease - Broader View Weekly
Deep Well Natural Gas
Drilling a Concern for State's Water Quality
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