Last month MOB hosted a screening of Naomi Klein's film This Changes Everything.  I thought the movie was powerful and compelling in encouraging people to take action against climate-disrupting attitudes and activities.  As dire as our situation is regarding the mammoth changes in our climate and environment, Klein poses that our one hope for turning this around is the moral action of people standing up to the corporations that continue to extract fossil fuels and mine minerals from the Earth for profit with total disregard for all the life in the directly impacted area and all the life on the planet impacted by climate change.  In many cases people are literally putting their bodies between the machines poised to mine, drill, etc. and the land or water to be protected.  

One of the more indelible images etched on my mind from that movie is the stark landscape of the tar sands of Alberta, Canada.  After exposing this terribly huge expanse of ugliness, the scene shifts to that of workers drinking, partying and bragging about how much money they make.  This reveals that such planet- altering industries are highly profitable, but at what cost to the Earth and both its human and non-human inhabitants?

The film is a call for all of us to get out of our comfort zones, to wake up to the realities of what is happening to the Earth that sustains all life, and to make a decision to have our voices be heard, despite the fact that such action may seem too inconvenient or  risky.  One certainty that Naomi Klein has left with me: the risk of maintaining the status quo is way too high.

​d. a.

A statement given to the Butler Township commissioners.

This past weekend I read a letter to the Butler Eagle about drilling and zoning from Middlesex Twp. I found it very enlightening.

The writer spoke of the overturn of Act 13 that returned zoning powers to municipalities regarding natural gas drilling. That's certainly true. She spoke of the alleged majority of leaseholders in Middlesex that township supervisors were “listening to” in changing their ordinances to allow expanded drilling in the township. I thought: “Okay, that's probably what happened in Butler Township, too.” Lastly, she spoke of DEP's 500-ft. setback as being state law and that no further restrictions were required. I figured that was probably at least a part of Solicitor Lutz's assertion that Butler Twp.'s drilling ordinance is in compliance with state law...

But nowhere in that letter did I see any mention of the Environmental Rights Amendment – Article 1, Section 27 of the PA State Constitution, upon which much of the PA Supreme Court's ruling on Act 13 was based.

As I understand it, from people like Atty. Jordan Yeager and others who were closely associated with this case, the court ruling does indeed return zoning powers to municipalities with regard to shale gas drilling, and it also requires municipalities to zone for drilling in a way that upholds the constitutional protections guaranteed by the Environmental Rights Amendment.

What does that mean? Do you know? Has Penn State Extension been roaming the commonwealth explaining to municipalities how to be in compliance with the revised Act 13 and the Environmental Rights Amendment?

Maybe they have, but I doubt it. I do know that Jordan Yeager has written letters to at least four municipalities in Butler County attempting to explain to them their rights and responsibilities under Act 13 and the Environmental Rights Amendment.

For example, in his letter to Adams Township officials, Atty. Yeager states that an ordinance that allows drilling everywhere would violate the state constitution. Butler Twp. has just such an ordinance.

And in his letter to Butler Twp. officials, Atty. Yeager states that if the township were to change its ordinance so as to no longer allow drilling in all zoning districts, such action would be in compliance with the state constitution and Section 27, and therefore would nullify any charges of “unlawful taking” that the township might incur through such an action.

However, if the township were to persist in allowing drilling to occur in all zoning districts, including residential, Atty. Yeager states that the township would run a “significant and substantial risk” of a constitutional challenge from township residents. Notice that he does not say a “regulatory” challenge – he doesn't mention the drilling ordinance being in violation of DEP regulations – but a constitutional challenge. Four times he mentions this in his letter to the township, once even referring to it as a “Section 27 challenge.”

And, given Atty. Yeager's track record and familiarity with this particular law and this particular court ruling, I don't think he would be mentioning that if he didn't think that such a challenge had a very good chance of being successful...

Consider well, gentlemen. Consider well...

J.P.M.

I am greatly concerned about the proposed well pad at the Cratty farm off Election House Road. Currently, this pad is located within the watershed for Lake Arthur and Moraine State Park. This watershed is a state-designated Special Protection High Quality Watershed in which strip mining and other significant earth-moving projects have been prohibited since the creation of the lake in the 1960s. However, because the Marcellus Shale boom is so recent, there are no special protections concerning fracking. I am opposed to fracking in general, but it likely will happen regardless. Therefore, since townships have the power to regulate fracking within their communities through zoning and other laws since the repeal of Act 13, Franklin Township should pressure XTO Energy to move their well pad to the southeast, so that it would not drain into Shannon Run, which directly feeds Lake Arthur. 

I would like to point out the fact that XTO has one of the worst violation records for a drilling company in the state. XTO has 186 violations on record, the sixth highest in the state (NPR StateImpact). Here are some recent examples:

• April 22, 2014: XTO Energy issued a violation for “Failure to properly store, transport, process or dispose of a residual waste” at their AK Steel B1H well in Butler Township.   
  A similar incident also occurred at their Vadnal A Unit 10HB in Jefferson Township on April 20, 2014. There are numerous cases of this violation at XTO sites across Butler County. 
• July 23, 2013: XTO issued a violation for “Discharge of industrial waste to waters of Commonwealth without a permit” at their Kozick Bros Const Inc 2 well in Summit Township.

The majority of XTO’s numerous violations are related to spilling, mishandling, or dumping fracking fluid or residual waste. Fracking fluid contains “BTEX compounds, which stands for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene.  They are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – (organic chemical compounds that are highly evaporative and can produce noxious fumes). Benzene is a known carcinogen, and has also been shown to cause blood disorders.  Both benzene and toluene can affect the reproductive and central nervous systems.   Ethylbenzene and xylene can have respiratory and neurological effects” (from Catskill Mountainkeeper). A joint study by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that a fracking fluid spill in Kentucky in 2007 killed all of the aquatic life in Acorn Fork Creek, the stream into which the fluid was spilled. “After studying samples of the water and bodies of green sunfish and creek chub, government researchers have concluded that the spill acidified the stream and increased concentrations of heavy metals including aluminum and iron. Fish exposed to the water developed gill lesions and showed signs of liver and spleen damage, USGS announced in a press release. The gill lesions were consistent with ‘toxic concentrations of heavy metals,’ the researchers concluded” (from the Huffington Post). Hydrochloric acid was present in the spilled fluid.

As you can see, if similar incidents were to occur at the XTO site on the Cratty farm as have occurred elswhere in Butler County, Lake Arthur and Moraine would be directly affected by it. XTO will also likely construct both fresh and wastewater impoundments at the site due to the lack of municipal water sources and other drilling activity in the area. This poses another threat, as the linings in these pits are only required to be 30 mm minimum in thickness. Often, these liners are poorly installed or tear, leaking the fluid into the ground. These pits have also been known to overflow in heavy, sustained rains. 

I love Lake Arthur and Moraine, and I am certain that many in western Pennsylvania would be devastated if anything were to happen to our beloved park. I urge you to do the smart, common-sense thing and force XTO to move their wells out of the Moraine watershed. Since the repeal of Act 13, you have the power to do that and you need to use it. I have enclosed copies of the articles I mentioned in this letter. Thank you.

Samuel A. Hoszwa

On Jan. 9, about 300,000 West Virginia American Water customers were left without water after a stainless steel and cement containment wall at a nearby chemical plant was breached and failed to keep a toxic chemical from contaminating their public water source, the Elk River. The spill occurred a mile upriver from the WVAW plant. The chemical, methylcyclohexane, is also used in hydraulic fracturing.

This should be a wake-up call for local residents. Trust not in steel and cement walls and casings to protect local private and public water supplies, both under and above ground, from toxic fracking chemicals. (Trust even less the plastic linings used in frac waste ponds and pits.) And don't think that just because you have “public water” that you are immune to contamination from the massive amounts of hazardous chemicals being used by the shale-gas drilling industry all around us.

While these chemicals typically compose less than 0.5% by volume of hydraulic fracturing fluid, with a three million gallon fresh water consumption rate per well per day, this could result in approximately 15,000 gallons of these chemicals being transported to, stored and mixed on one well site per day.

Don't be fooled. What happened in Charleston, W. Va. can happen here, and it can happen to you.

j.p.m.

August 2013
Aug 31- Kevin Figaniak, a 21-year-old Wheeling Jesuit University student, was beaten to death by Craig Tyler Peacock and Jarrett Mathis Chandler.  Peacock and Chandler are from out of the area and are reported to be working in the natural gas industry.
Aug 30- A Chevron pipeline leaked an unknown quantity of natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico near Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Aug 29- Jesse A. Grimsley, 31, of Shevlin, Minn, was killed in a Sheehan Pipeline Construction accident near Steubenville, OH.  According to the sheriff’s office, Grimsley had filed a daily equipment check noting "brakes will not hold on hill.”  Sheehan Pipeline Construction is based in Tulsa, Okla.
Aug 29- Michael Guesman of Cortland admits in U.S. District Court in Cleveland that his former boss at Hardrock Excavating, Ben Lupo ordered him to dump brine waste on 24 separate occasions into the Youngstown sewer system.
Aug 29-An oil rig exploded in Lavaca County, TX, triggering a massive fire [video]
Aug 27-Caller discovers tanker truck dumping brine water on the roadway and running into Clearfork Creek near Grayville, OH
Aug 23-A breached frack pond operated by Berry Petroleum flooded nearby residential property in Gardendale, TX.
Aug 22-Residents in Chartiers Twp., PA complained of burning eyes, throat nausea and a metallic taste their mouths after another flaring incident at MarkWest’s natural gas processing plant.  This is at least the third flaring incident at the plant in the past six weeks.
Aug 22-A pipe manufacturer in the Marcellus region spilled 5,000 gallons of sulfuric acid into the Shenango River. 
Aug 21-Chesapeake Appalachia is cited with not reporting two pollution incidents in Beaver County, PA.  Soil samples and eye-witness accounts suggest petroleum products and flowback wastewater spilled onto the ground.
Aug 20-A 16-inch natural gas pipeline exploded in OK sending flames 200 ft. in the air and damaging a barn.
Aug 20-A semi-truck hauling for oil and gas wells in the area struck and killed 57-year-old Dan Wilson of Weirton, WV along U.S. 22.  The truck company was out of Indiana. [video]
Aug 20-West Virginia environmental regulators cited MarkWest Energy for causing a fishkill in Rocky Run, a tributary of Fish Creek after one of their pipelines ruptured.  Minnows, smallmouth bass and other species of fish died from the spill.
Aug 16-A Texas longhorn steer was killed by exposure to poisonous hydrogen sulphide (H2S) gas from a pipeline leak in Alberta.
Aug 16- An Antero Resources site in Harrison County, WV caught ablaze sending three workers to the hospital, two via airlift.
Aug 16- Records were released indicating that OSHA cited Central Environmental Services LLC for the death of Brian Hopkins caused by an explosion at an EQT Corp. well pad in Taylor County, WV.
Aug 13-A landslide ruptured a MarkWest Energy pipeline in Wetzel County, WV causing a leak of an unidentified, but potentially explosive, liquid into a nearby stream.
Aug 13-Around 80 families were evacuated when a pipeline carrying gas byproducts ethane and propane somehow ruptured, caught fire, and exploded in IL.
Aug 10-A 24-year old was killed when a block from a New Star Energy fell and crushed him near Highvale, Alberta. [video]
Aug 7- A joint study from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that a Nami Resources Company’s fracking fluid spill in Kentucky in 2007 likely caused the widespread death of several types of fish.
Aug 6-A driver was cleared of any wrongdoing  for failing to stop after his 18-wheeler carrying fracking wastewater crushed a 14-year-old boy in Fort Worth, TX on April 24, 2013.  Deston Bibbs died as a result of his injuries.
Aug 3-In Tioga County, PA, Swepi Lp spilled 5 barrels of produced water from hole in the coil tubing unit onto the containment and pad. Holes were discovered in the containment liner.
Aug 1-A truck hauling brine collided with two cars in Vienna Township, OH.  Injuries were reported. 
Aug 1-In Lawrence County, PA, a Rockwater Energy Solutions truck carrying ethylene glycol to nearby fracking operations crashed spilling 265 gallons of the toxin poison in a field.  Unfamiliarity with the road was cited as one of the causes of the accident.
Aug 1-Two families in TX file a class-action lawsuit claiming that fracking caused damage to their real estate and homes.

JULY 2013
July 28-Jason Mearns, 37, of Beverly, W.Va., died as a result of a well explosion in New Milton, WV.
July 25-Slurry produced by the construction of the Appalachia-to-Texas Express Pipeline leaked into a creek in OH.
July 25- The Justice Department announces that Halliburton admits to destroying evidence in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and will plead guilty to a criminal charge.
July 24-A truck that carries fracking waste blew up killing a Wise County resident in TX.
July 24-Tommy Paxton, a 45-year-old from Walton, W.Va. died after an explosion on a well pad in WV.
July 23-An out-of-control natural gas well off the Louisiana coast caught fire. This is the second natural gas well in the gulf to fail in as many weeks.
July 22-Hundreds of residents were evacuated after a high pressure Dominion gas line ruptured in OH.
July 22- A crane tuck rolled off a road and over the hillside in Ohio County, WV, leaking diesel and closing the road.  The truck from coming from gas drilling site in Marshall County and is reported to be contracted by Noble Energy.
July 21-A Halliburton truck leaking hydrochloric acid closed part of Interstate 70 for four hours. 
July 20-A driver of a water truck was flown by helicopter to a Morgantown hospital after his truck overturned in WV.
July 18-Energy Corp. Of America is is caught discharging industrial waste to waters of Commonwealth without a permit in Moshannon State Forest in Clearfield County, PA.
July 18-OH Landowner accuses driller A.E.R. of dumping wastewater on his land [video].
July 18-The EPA fined XTO Energy (Exxon Mobil) $100,000 for violating the federal Clean Water Act for a two-month discharge of between 6,300 and 57,373 gallons of wastewater into the Susquehanna river system in Penn Township, Lycoming County.
July 18-Waste Treatment Corporation (WTC) received legal notice from Clean Water Action for their illegal discharge of oil and gas drilling wastewater (including chloride, bromide, lithium, strontium, radium-226, and radium-228) into the Allegheny River in Warren, PA.
July 16-Energy Corp Of America cited for 307CSL-Discharge of industrial waste to waters of Commonwealth without a permit in Moshannon State Forest, Clearfield County
July 14 & 15-A malfunction at the MarkWest Houston Gas Plant in Washington County sending large amounts of black smoke into the air for two days.  Residents report hearing a loud boom and seeing a mushroom cloud.
July 13-A gas well pad in Wetzel County, WV caught fire around 6:30 pm. 
July 12- A spill on a Penneco well site in Center Twp. left dead vegetation all the way and into Claylick Run.  There were reports of an oily substance released off site through pasture and into Claylick Run.
July 9- An oil field accident killed two men in KS.  Both were exposed to deadly hydrogen sulfide gas; a byproduct from the production of oil and natural gas.  It causes respiratory paralysis and is highly toxic. [video]
July 9-A gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico caused the greenhouse-gas methane to escape into the atmosphere.  The Coast Guard reports a "rainbow sheen" over a four mile area
July 8- Gas worker admits to dumping wastewater in the Big Sandy River after his boss told him to do so. [video]
July 8- A road in NJ collapses due to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.'s Northeast Upgrade Project.  It will take 1 to 2 weeks to repair the road. [video]
July 8-Brine & produced water were spilled at a well in Lycoming County.
July 7-The media is reporting the between five and eight people were injured when a gas well exploded in Doddridge County , WV.  There is suspicion that the employer was violating mandatory work hour rules.
July 6-As many as 40 people are missing after a massive explosion caused by a derailed train leveled parts of Lac-Megantic in Quebec.  Up to 1,000 people were evacuated in the community. [video]

JUNE 2013
June 26-Two county workers suffered minor injuries and at least 34 cars were damaged when a section of roadway sunk as a result of a Sunoco Pipeline LP project in Beaver County.
July 25- In Susquehanna County, PA, Chief Oil and Gas spilled an estimated 20 barrels of oil due to a valve that was left open.  It then leaked onto the ground through a hole in the plastic lining. 
June 25-A caller to the NRC reported a fire at an oil well near Ravenna, OH.  There were 150 gallons of oil released.
June 25-A 30-inch transmission pipeline exploded in Enon, LA causing the evacuation of 55 people.
June 22-A water tuck owned by JB Oil and Gas ran a stop sign killing a mother and her 14 year old daughter.
June 21-PVR’s Chapin Glycol Dehydration plant in Monroe Twp accidentally discharged in the atmosphere.  This is the 3rd such event since the PVR Chapin plant went operational in late spring of 2012. [video]
June 21 -32-year-old Greg Peacock, died from 3rd degree burns he suffered during an explosion at a well pad.  He left behind a two year-old son and fiancee.
June 20-50 homes were evacuated when a gas pipeline containing 1% deadly hydrogen sulfide ruptured southwest of Calgary after debris from a flood struck the pipeline.  
June 18-A 30-inch transmission line in Louisiana ruptured, sparking a natural gas explosion and a fire. 
June 13- A gas line ruptured underneath the Ohio River near Bellaire spewing gas out of the water between OH and WV [video]
June 12 -A truck at a well in MI backed into a high-pressure line causing an explosion that knocked people over in a nearby home. 
June 12 -A Williams cracker plant in LA exploded killing 2 and injuring 100.  This is the same type of plant that is proposed for Beaver County.
June 7-Investigations determined that Vintage Oil illegally dumped formation fluids and fracking fluids into an unlined pit in CA [video]
June 4- PA DEP fined PVR Marcellus Gas Gathering LLC of Williamsport, Lycoming County, $150,000 for multiple and continuing violations of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, the Dam Safety and Encroachments Act and various related environmental regulations, including sediment discharges into High Quality and Exceptional Value streams during construction of the Coal Mountain pipeline in four Lycoming County townships
June 4-Wastewate hauler Harch was ordered to suspend operations in OH after evidence was found that the company was illegally disposing waste in a private pond [audio]
June 3- SWEPI LP was cited in for “failure to properly store, transport, process or dispose of a residual waste” at their West 1 OG Well in Slippery Rock Twp.
June 3- RE Gas Dev LLC (Rex Energy) was cited for “discharge of industrial waste to waters of Commonwealth without a permit” at their Warner Unit 1H in Lancaster Twp.
June 1-A pipeline operated by a Texas-based oil company has leaked 9.5 million litres of industrial waste water in Canada.
June 1-A caller to the NRC reported that a water tanker truck was dumping into Indian Creek in Tyler County, WV.

FEBRUARY 2013
Feb 26-One man was killed and another was injured in a drilling accident in eastern Ohio.
Feb 22-PA based Noble Energy spills over 95,000 gallons from a frack pond into a local tributary of Big Wheeling Creek in WV [video]
Feb 13-A blowout at a Chesapeake well sent fluid gushing into a stream in Bradford County, Pa
Feb 12-Over 12,000 gallons of “re-use” water was spilled at a Range Resources site in Cross Creek County Park, Washington County, PA
Feb 11-84,000 gallons of green oil-laden fracking fluid gushed from an oil well near Fort Collins, Co for nearly 30 hours
Feb 4-Approx. 840 gallon of waste water were spilled at the Rex/ McElhinney well in Forward Township, Butler County, Pa

JANUARY 2013
Jan 16-A chemical emergency is reported at an Ohio oil well facility.  At the time of the investigation, an inventory of the facility's chemicals wasn't available to local authorities.
Jan 14-Two workers were critically injured after an explosion at a well site in Atascosa County, TX. [video]
Nov. 1 to Jan. 31— likely more than 250,000 gallons of drilling wastewater and oil illegally dumped into a Mahoning River tributary in Ohio

Back in the old days, when we drilled for natural gas in “conventional” shallow rock deposits, drilling and fracking for natural gas raised barely a blip on the social controversy radar.  Now that those conventional deposits have been mostly depleted and we are drilling in “unconventional” deep shale deposits, using millions of gallons of water laced with a proprietary cocktail of toxic chemicals for fracking, natural gas drilling has sparked local, national and global opposition.

The reasons for worldwide fracking protests are manifold, but one area of particular concern is the likely long-term effects of unconventional drilling on groundwater aquifers.

Back in the old days of conventional drilling, it was economically feasible to capture up to 95% of the natural gas released from shallow rock deposits per well.  With unconventional drilling in deep shale deposits, that figure is generally placed in the 30-70% range.  Granted, 30-70% of the massive amounts of natural gas locked up in shale, combined with the number of wells being drilled, translates into an enormous amount of natural gas being captured, which is what all the recent crowing about shale gas production is about.

But not much is ever said about the 30-70% of shale gas which is released from the rock and stays in the ground.  Where does it go?  What does it do?

The natural gas that is released but not captured for human use is free to migrate where it will, including up the well-bore which facilitated its release, even after said well has been capped, and through whatever cracks and fissures, natural or man-made, it may find.

The gas industry would have us believe that between it and Mother Nature, the groundwater aquifers in shale country are completely protected.  We are told that the layer of rock between shale and aquifer is totally and permanently impermeable.  Not all geologists are in agreement on this.  Seismic forces can lead to fissures where none existed previously.

But the main focus of natural gas advertising is on the layers of concrete and steel which are placed between the well-bore and the aquifer.  That, we are told, will shield the aquifer from all pollution, be it methane or toxic flowback, forever.  Not so. Failure of well casings to prevent leakage is figured at 6-20% from day one to year five of a well, even by industry sources.

But let's estimate the integrity of wells out 30 years, 50 years, 100 years. How well are those concrete and steel casings going to hold up?   Think of your knowledge of the roads and bridges in western Pennsylvania. Steel rusts and corrodes.  Concrete cracks and deteriorates.  And that 30-70% of released natural gas will find those cracks and fissures eventually.  Eventually there will be 100% failure of steel and concrete casings across hundreds of thousands of wells throughout Pennsylvania, throughout the Northeast, throughout the U.S., throughout the world.  Aquifers will be polluted, by methane gas and by any residual toxic wastes from fracking that are not disposed of properly.

The “unconventional” wisdom of the gas industry seems to be: “Let's make a killing on the drilling now and clean up the mess later.”   It may well be a mess unparalleled in the history of human existence.

Indeed, drilling is just the beginning.

j.p.m.

A letter to the editor published in the Butler Eagle on April 26, 2013 with the original title If you See Something, Say Something

The April 21 Butler Eagle article “Natural gas development thriving in Butler County” focuses on the positives that the fracking boom has brought to Butler County, while downplaying the damages.
The article reports that there have been “just 41 violations reported across all wells (in Butler County), resulting in about $11,000 total in fines. Most wells that have been issued violations have received only one, while no site has received more than three citations from the DEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection).”
One thing many people overlook when assessing these numbers is that violations are assigned to a unit (or a well) and not a pad. A pad can have numerous wellheads.
For example, according to the DEP’s website, there are seven wellheads on the Voll/Soergel pad on Woodlands Road. Three thousand feet to the west sits the Gilliland site with 10 wellheads. Combined, they have four recorded violations, according to the DEP website on oil and gas.
None of the numerous “unintentional returns” and “discharges” into streams during pipeline construction are reported in the DEP system.
One such example was the February 2011 leak into Crab Run next to the Gilliland well. At that time, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission was investigating more than a dozen such spills into Connoquenessing Creek and its tributaries. There is no way of knowing how many have occurred in the county.
Many pads also house compressor stations to push the gas through the pipeline. Last week, it was reported that MarkWest, Rex Energy’s midstream partner in the area, was found by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to be in violation of the Clean Air Act. MarkWest operates many of the compressor stations, including the one on the Voll/Soergel pad, and the cryogenic plant in Connoquenessing. Its plant in Jackson Township is located about a mile from the Seneca Valley School District’s secondary school campus, and the Jackson supervisors have just approved a third plant right next door.
The third plant will be larger than the previous two combined.
If we are going to peddle the exaggerated short-term benefits of toxic fracking, should we not also be studying the devastation and violations? Should we not look at the whole process and not just the narrow view of the industry’s public relations campaigns?
In the middle of the biggest expansion of its responsibilities in recent history, the DEP’s budget has been slashed to historic lows. The recently resigned head of the agency, Michael Krancer, stated that he placed growth of the natural gas industry above oversight.
Additionally, as the deadly explosion in West, Texas, clearly demonstrated, a lack of documented violations does not make a facility safe. Far from it. It often points to a lack of proper oversight.
It has therefore been left to investigative journalists, grassroots organizations with limited resources, and concerned taxpayers to shine a light on the dangers of this industry.

On Aug. 23, the PA DEP issued an “environmental health and safety” violation to Rex Energy for “failure to properly store, transport, process or dispose of a residual waste” in Lancaster Township, Butler County. (Note: “Residual waste” from hydraulic fracturing is generally toxic.) And on Oct. 24, another violation of the same type occurred at a Rex Energy well in Penn Township, Butler County.

I know this because my wife and I subscribe to an online service that continuously monitors the DEP violations database and sends us notifications of violations in our area.

This online service is a valuable resource, because the DEP is not legally required to report drilling violations to the public, nor to local officials, and so, for the most part, it doesn't. If I wanted to learn more about this violation, I would need to apply to DEP for a “file review” – a rather involved process which would include a trip to the Northwest District office in Meadville.

An in-depth analysis of DEP data by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center, “Risky Business: An Analysis of Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling Violations in Pennsylvania 2008-2011,” identified a total of 3,355 violations of environmental laws by 64 different Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011. Of these violations, the Center identified 2,392 violations that likely posed a direct threat to the environment and were not reporting or paperwork violations. Of these thousands of violations, perhaps a handful have received any media attention.

In March, the supervisors of Center Township, Greene County, learned of a 480-gallon diesel spill into a local stream. The spill occurred in December. They learned about it because a reporter from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review did a violations file review. The supervisors were upset, saying that DEP should have notified them. Department officials told them that they wouldn't want to know about “every little spill.” “It isn't clear that DEP officials should be making that judgment if a 480-gallon spill went unreported to the public,” said Edward “Butch” Deter, chairman of the township's board of supervisors and president of the Center Township Volunteer Fire Department, Company 91.

Ed Barale, a supervisor in Amwell Township, Washington County, is also dissatisfied with DEP's lack of notification. DEP officials “don't tell us any more than they have to. I think we have a right to know. DEP keeps you in the dark, so I don't have much faith in them.” Eight Amwell residents are suing Range Resources and DEP over environmental problems they claim stem from violations committed by Range that the DEP did not report to the public.

Online services such as skytruth.org, epa-echo.gov and fractracker.org can help local residents to stay abreast of drilling violations in our area, and also, via skytruth, of new drilling permits that have been issued by the DEP for our area.

But wouldn't it be nice if the DEP would issue regular detailed drilling violation reports to all state media outlets, and especially to local officials and all residents within a mile or two of violation sites? One would think DEP would do this out of a sense of moral responsibility, or that state lawmakers would make it a legal requirement. If these violations were made public, maybe local residents would have a clearer, more realistic perception of the “safe and responsible drilling” taking place in their communities.  

j.p.m.

On Aug. 23, the PA DEP issued an “environmental health and safety” violation to Rex Energy for “failure to properly store, transport, process or dispose of a residual waste” in Lancaster Township, Butler County. I know this because my wife and I subscribe to an online service that continuously monitors the DEP violations database and sends us notifications of violations in our area. (Note: “Residual waste” from hydraulic fracturing is generally toxic.)

This online service is a valuable resource, because the DEP is not legally required to report drilling violations to the public, nor to local officials, and so, for the most part, it doesn't. If I wanted to learn more about this violation, I would need to apply to DEP for a “file review” – a rather involved process which would include a trip to the Northwest District office in Meadville.

An in-depth analysis of DEP data by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center, “Risky Business: An Analysis of Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling Violations in Pennsylvania 2008-2011,” identified a total of 3,355 violations of environmental laws by 64 different Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011. Of these violations, the Center identified 2,392 violations that likely posed a direct threat to the environment and were not reporting or paperwork violations. Of these thousands of violations, perhaps a handful have received any media attention.

In March, the supervisors of Center Township, Greene County, learned of a 480-gallon diesel spill into a local stream. The spill occurred in December. They learned about it because a reporter from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review did a violations file review. The supervisors were upset, saying that DEP should have notified them. Department officials told them that they wouldn't want to know about “every little spill.” “It isn't clear that DEP officials should be making that judgment if a 480-gallon spill went unreported to the public,” said Edward “Butch” Deter, chairman of the township's board of supervisors and president of the Center Township Volunteer Fire Department, Company 91.

Ed Barale, a supervisor in Amwell Township, Washington County, is also dissatisfied with DEP's lack of notification. DEP officials “don't tell us any more than they have to. I think we have a right to know. DEP keeps you in the dark, so I don't have much faith in them.” Three Amwell families are suing Range Resources and DEP over environmental problems they claim stem from violations committed by Range that the DEP did not report to the public.

Online services such as skytruth.org, epa-echo.gov and fractracker.org can help local residents to stay abreast of drilling violations in our area, and also, via skytruth, of new drilling permits that have been issued by the DEP for our area.

But wouldn't it be nice if the DEP would issue regular detailed drilling violation reports to all state media outlets, and especially to local officials and all residents within a mile or two of violation sites? One would think DEP would do this out of a sense of moral responsibility, or that state lawmakers would make it a legal requirement. If these violations were made public, maybe local residents would have a clearer, more realistic perception of the “safe and responsible drilling” taking place in their communities.


j.p.m.