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Blows to the Empire

8/29/2014

 
In what can only be described as a mighty blow against industry hubris and governmental malfeasance, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has rescinded a permit it had previously issued to XTO for a proposed well site in Franklin Township. It would be wonderful if this act of sanity could be attributed to corporate conscience or governmental due diligence, but that is not the case. This amazing turn of events came about because a mighty band of residents pooled their pluckiness, their resources and their expertise and felled Goliath - XTO is a subsidiary of the richest company on the planet - ExxonMobil.

Time and again, XTO assured the residents that they knew Franklin Township better than the folks that live there. Time and again, XTO, its apologists and sock puppets crowed about meeting or exceeding DEP's "stringent" regulations. Time and again, governmental bodies soothed the concerned residents, "DEP will take care of you."

XTO's permit application failed to address, didn't even fill out, important parts of the application. Other parts were merely boilerplate, failing to address facts on the ground. This put the Lake Arthur watershed in harm's way, it endangered the drinking water supply of Harmony Borough and the private wells of nearby residents. And how did DEP respond? It approved this woefully inadequate and dangerously deficient plan - living up to a moniker many of us now use to describe the agency, Don't Expect Protection.

Using thousands of dollars of their own money, Save Lake Arthur Watershed (SLAW), the aforementioned mighty band, mobilized. These, mostly retired, residents did what XTO and DEP should have done. They poured over maps, studied run-off patterns, read regulations, examined documents,read research, and implored company and government officials to pay attention. All to no avail. Finally, they filed suit - at great cost. And then, XTO and DEP took notice.

The system is broken. We, the residents of the Commonwealth, pay taxes to fund an agency that doesn't do its job. Worse, that agency is held up as an impediment to business and, contradictorily, a protector of the Commonwealth. It's neither. DEP is a sham. Residents of the Commonwealth shouldn't have to pay more money just so DEP will pay attention to us.

If XTO can't fill out paperwork properly, even when it knows that people are watching, how can we trust them to do infinitely more complex things when no one is watching? And how do we know that no one is watching? Because DEP rubber stamps documents that leave entire critical sections blank.

A while ago, a Butler County resident found that a driller located a well too close to his house (the driller was XTO). He told me that he notified DEP and was told, "XTO would never make a mistake like that." The homeowner insisted that DEP measure and, sure enough, the well was too close.

If XTO and DEP can't take care of the little things, they have no business conducting or regulating big and complex things.

What would we do without plucky residents?

Michael Bagdes-Canning

Shale-gas zoning & Environmental Rights Amendment

7/7/2014

 
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.

Spill Baby Spill

9/3/2013

 
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As fracking and its ancillary operations are charging full steam ahead across Butler County, we are seeing almost daily reports of high profile and high volume spills, explosions, accidents, deaths, reported violations and acknowledgement of old and continuing violations.  We thought that we would highlight a few to give you a sense of the destruction that fracking leaves in its path.   This is by no means a full list.

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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.

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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]

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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.

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MAY 2013
May 30- PDC Energy pipeline drilling operations polluted White Day Creek in Monongalia County, WV.

May 30-13 people were injured in natural gas explosion at Williams Gas Pipeline facility in Branchburg, NJ.
May 14-Explosion at Williams natural gas compressor in Brooklyn Twp., Susquehanna County [video]
Approx. May 22-A Louisiana man was killed at a North Dakota drillsite
May 1-More than 1,600 gallons of oil spilled from an oil storage tank into a creek in Trumbull County, OH [video]
May 30- PDC Energy pipeline drilling operations polluted White Day Creek in Monongalia County, WV.
May 30-13 people were injured in natural gas explosion at Williams Gas Pipeline facility in Branchburg, NJ.
May 14-Explosion at Williams natural gas compressor in Brooklyn Twp., Susquehanna County [video]
Approx. May 22-A Louisiana man was killed at a North Dakota drillsite
May 1-More than 1,600 gallons of oil spilled from an oil storage tank into a creek in Trumbull County, OH [video]
May 30- PDC Energy pipeline drilling operations polluted White Day Creek in Monongalia County, WV.
May 30-13 people were injured in natural gas explosion at Williams Gas Pipeline facility in Branchburg, NJ.
May 14-Explosion at Williams natural gas compressor in Brooklyn Twp., Susquehanna County [video]
Approx. May 22-A Louisiana man was killed at a North Dakota drill site
May 1-More than 1,600 gallons of oil spilled from an oil storage tank into a creek in Trumbull County, OH [video]


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APRIL 2013
April 30- 9,000 gallons of wastewater spilled onto a miniature horse farm and into the farmhouse basement and garage from a Carrizo well site.  Fluid spilled from another Carrizo well site in Wyoming County in March [video]
April 27-A considerable amount of natural gas and crude oil residue blew out of an Atlas Energy pipeline Lafayette Twp., Bradford County.
April 27-More than 100 barrels of oil-based drilling mud spilled into Cadron Creek after a truck accident in WV.
April 17- MarkWest natural gas operations in Butler and Washington Counties were cited by the EPA for being in violation of federal clean air laws.
April 11-Two men died after an explosion at Eureka Hunter Pipeline operations near Wick, W.Va
April 4-An explosion at a natural gas compressor station in Logan County, OK forced the evacuation of homes within one square mile of the incident.

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MARCH 2013
March ??-DEP found "petroleum-based hydraulic fluid used in industry" in Hicks Creek .  It is unknown who or the when the dumping took place.
March 19-A compressor station caught fire in Bradford County, PA sending one worker to the hospital with burns. [video]
March 17-An oil tank on a pad in Columbiana County, OH exploded throwing its lid 400-500 feet into the yard of a nearby residence.
March 15-An explosion of a gas well with 30 ft. flames forced people from their homes in Chippewa Township, Wayne County, OH.  It was felt 3 miles away.
March 14-Frack fluid spewed at a rate of 800 gl/min. in Wyoming County, Pa [video]
March 9-A Spectra Energy compressor station in Clearville, PA spewed methane and other hydrocarbons over a period of three hours.  Local homeowners complained yet Spectra and the DEP denied the release for 6 six days.
March 9-Two children were killed when a water truck rolled over and crushed a car on in Clarksburg, WV.

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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

If You See Something, Say Something

4/28/2013

 
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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.

Response to more Industry Spin

4/3/2012

 
This blog is in response to Deke Forbes' Mar. 7 Letter to the Butler Eagle, “Welcome Gas Industry.”

While it's true, as Forbes states, that hydraulic fracturing has been in use since the 1940's, the current combined technology known as “high-volume slickwater hydraulic fracturing” (google “Old and New Hydraulic Fracturing: What's the Difference?”) has been in widespread use for 10-15 years at most and has been plagued with problems throughout its short history.

To wit, the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center has culled from PA DEP records a total of 3,355 violations of environmental laws by 64 different gas drilling companies between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011.  Of these violations, 2,392 violations were identified as those likely to pose a direct threat to the environment and were not reporting or paperwork violations.

Another truth in Forbes' letter is that only 0.5% of fracking fluid consists of chemicals, but let's put that number into perspective. According to Dr. Simona Perry, research scientist at the Rensselaer (NY) Polytechnic Institute: “While these chemicals typically compose less than 0.5% by volume of the 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, stored and mixed on one well site per day.”

Forbes claims that many of the chemicals used in fracturing are found in common household items. True, the report “Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing” released by the U.S. House of Representatives lists instant coffee and walnut hulls as components of fracking fluid. It also lists diesel fuel, benzene and toluene. In all, 29 toxic compounds were found in 652 different fracturing products that were either 1.) known or possible carcinogens, 2.) regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act for their risks to human health or 3.) listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. And then there are the undisclosed substances which the industry claims are “proprietary” or “trade secrets” – the ones that doctors aren't allowed to tell anyone about under Act 13. If they were innocuous substances, the industry would not be required to disclose them to doctors as possible causes of illness.

The “mandated concentric layers of thick-walled steel pipe and cement” that Forbes extols have been a perennial problem for the industry. Cement casing violations for the first eight months of 2011 had already exceeded the total for all of 2010, according to DEP violations data. Faulty well casings have often been implicated in drilling-related groundwater contamination, including the infamous 2009 case in Dimock Twp., Susquehanna County.

Forbes claims that these cases do not exist, but that is just not true. In May 2011 the DEP fined Chesapeake Energy $900,000 for contaminating the drinking water of 16 families in Bradford County. The DEP implicated drilling in Dimock and the EPA implicated fracking in Wyoming for groundwater contamination.

Forbes cites “misinformation ignorant of the truth” behind fears and concerns regarding shale gas drilling, but this, too, is false. The reports I have cited are reliable, and only a small sampling of all that has been published. The issues are real; the concerns are many. It is not “panic and fear-mongering,” as Forbes claims. It is seeking to inject a dose of unpleasant reality into the sugar-coated pablum being fed us by the gas industry.

j.p.m.

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