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:

1. Get pumped deep into the Earth to stay for eternity
2. Get partially processed and dumped into our waterways
3. Get misted into the air to evaporate
4. 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.
   

Citizen's Resource Guide to Gas Development

Even though this guide was written for Colorado residents several years ago, it is still well worth the read for anyone affected by gas development.

"An informed citizen is the only true repository of the American will"
Thomas Jefferson

  
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]

MEAN ENERGY
The dirty truth behind "clean" natural gas

Cows pastured next to a
natural gas drilling site die

Update April 30, 2009
It was over 30 cows, all carrying calves...

"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:

• The lack of input D.E.P. has sought in regards to this decision, both from the public and from conservation districts.

• The lack of staff, training and local contacts for D.E.P. to adequately manage and issue these permits.

• The fact that this change will eliminate municipal notice of drilling activity.

• D.E.P. is telling local conservation districts to turn over all gas industry related records, which represent decisions made at the local level.

  
Déjà Vu?
"Among its legacies Love Canal will likely long endure
as a national symbol of a failure to exercise a
sense of concern for future generations."
  

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.’’.
  

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.

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.