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Dear DEP Employee

10/2/2015

 
Mr. D.,

I'm the man you met in the drive at the Cratty well (EM Energy, Well API Number 019-22387, OGO Number OGO-39487, Facility ID 782174)  in Allegheny Township in northern Butler County. You may recall that I was concerned about the reckless 4 day flaring (it is still ongoing, by the way) of a well with a low cloud cover four hundred yards from where my granddaughter lives - that's why I called the DEP Emergency number to report the dangerous situation I was witnessing. You may remember that I was concerned because my wife, who has scarring on her lungs from previous exposures, was also experiencing difficulties. You may also remember that I was pretty heated.

Flaring is a dangerous process and one that I've had lots of experience with. Flaring by EdgeMarc (aka EM Energy) is a particularly dangerous proposition because they are so reckless (not that any drillers I have observed are not reckless). I have witnessed them, over and over, flare wells with little concern for nearby residents. In this most recent flaring, we had several days in a row where we had a low hanging cloud cover and little wind. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project says that days like this are "very unhealthy." They suggest that people should "avoid extended heavy exertion, close windows, go somewhere else, turn on air filter." At the very least, nearby residents should be warned well in advance of a flaring so they can be proactive, make informed choices to protect their health.


I wanted to get back to you about the studies I cited yesterday that you derided as "skewed" and the product of known foes of fracking.

The first study I cited, out of your alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, was published in June (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0126425 ). You asked about sample size and the length of study. I believe you will find the information you asked about in the link.

The second study I cited, out of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, was published in July (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131093 ). Once again, the information you requested is available.

I think your derision is a deplorable display by an employee of a state agency.

I don't believe that your degrees, no matter how well you are trained, permits you to slander or impugn the integrity of scholars of high repute; your opinion does not have the weight of systematic study reflected in the scholarly articles published in a well regarded journal. If you can't back up your opinion with anything more than, "I know these people", it's probably better for you to keep your opinions to yourself (and I seriously doubt you know them well enough to slander their work). More to the point, these studies are not isolated utterances by random scientists. They are, rather, reiterations and elaborations of previous studies conducted at other institutions that have reached similar conclusions or conclusions that pointed to the need for more research.

More to the point, there have not been enough studies done to quantify the risks. The studies I cited were just initial forays into the research that should have been conducted BEFORE drilling was permitted and peoples' lives and health were put at risk. For you to contend that the work cited was skewed or that the authors were prejudiced but not point to anything to address my concerns about my granddaughter's (and wife's) health was both irresponsible and betrayed an ignorance on your part. To suggest that your degrees trumped "stuff I got off the internet" also pointed to a sort of arrogance - I've actually devoted a good bit of time the last 5 years meeting with the scientists that you've derided and many, many more. I'd stack my knowledge of the scientific literature surrounding the health concerns around fracking against yours (more so now, after meeting you).

Being an "activist" doesn't equate to being ignorant. I would contend that my "activism" sprung from my increasing awareness. Being an activist doesn't mean that I know all other activists and for you to insinuate that I might know the activists you claim followed you about is both ludicrous and, because I told I didn't know anything about anyone following people, insulting.

During testimony at the EPA hearings on methane emissions in Pittsburgh earlier this week, I said, "many of us in front line communities have little faith in regulatory and enforcement agencies such as PA DEP, which we've labeled Don't Expect Protection, and the EPA". My dealings with you have only reinforced my feelings in this regard.

This point was driven home to me when the air quality inspector that was also on the scene told me that as long as he couldn't see anything coming out of the stack, EM Energy was in compliance with regulations. Apparently, poisoning people is permissible if an inspector can't see the poisons with his naked eye. 

It seems ridiculous to me that an air inspector's only tool is his naked eye. It seems preposterous that an agency that has a mission statement that reads, in part, "protect Pennsylvania's air, land and water from pollution" isn't armed with even rudimentary detection tools.

I realize, as Ed Orris (outgoing supervisor of air in Meadville) told me, you can only enforce what you're mandated to enforce, but it gives me little comfort to know that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania deems the health and safety of a four year old less important than gas production and that you, an employee charged with protecting, deem scholarly research from reputable scientists as nothing more than a propaganda tool and activists as nothing but ignorant hindrances to the continued exploitation of a dirty fuel.

M B-C

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

Dear Mars Area School Board

3/6/2014

 
I have lived in the Mars Area School District for 47 years. My three children attended Mars Area schools and, I believe, they received a superior education. Throughout their public-school careers, neither my children nor the rest of the community were ever, to my knowledge, placed directly at risk for serious health and safety problems by the leadership of MASD.

The slightly disheveled, soft-spoken, gosh-howdy demeanor of Rex Energy representative Duane Maust is typical of the carefully crafted image that Big Gas presents in its relentless campaign to con people into selling out their rights - and in some cases, their livelihoods or even their lives. Duane's colleagues were less able to conceal their discomfort as they lied to the school board and to the assembled residents of MASD. To anyone who took the time to read the body language of the other Rex people, it was crystal clear that they're not as comfortable with lying as Duane. The water-test guy weaseled out of the questions addressed to him by failing to mention that although his company does extensive testing at the behest of drillers and DEP, DEP's protocol has carefully, intentionally, and cynically omitted reporting over half of the toxic chemicals that they find in homeowners' well water after drilling has contaminated it. The young man who presented the company line - now widely acknowledged to be false - that their drilling had never contaminated a water supply, was visibly shaken by the spotlight. I was disappointed that no board member was well enough informed to ask the obvious follow-up question about the entire Butler County community of Connoquenessing Woodlands, whose water supply has been poisoned as a result of the shale-gas drilling that surrounds their community, or about the refusal of the drilling company to continue to provide water to the devastated members of the community, even though the drillers admitted culpability.

The Rex geologist, who was able to tell you how long most laterals are, carefully avoided discussing the fact that the many existing abandoned coal mines, shallow gas wells, and naturally occurring but unidentified geologic faults in our area provide migration pathways through which millions of gallons of toxic chemicals will begin to seep toward the surface, the instant they complete the fracking process. These are the chemicals that they hope to pump under enormous pressure into the laterals that pass under MASD property - and roughly 80% of those chemicals will remain deep underground, long after the well has run its full gas-production cycle and been capped.  Long after your lease has expired. Long after Rex Energy has gone out of business. But our children and grandchildren may still be living in this area when those chemicals finally migrate up into our aquifers, poison our fresh-water supply, and render Adams and Middlesex Townships uninhabitable.

The "produced water" or "flowback" following the fracking process also contains radioactive components that sometimes spill at the drill site or during truck transportation, and even when handled properly, must be transported far away and injected into deep underground storage facilities (not yet proven to be safe, either, but proven to trigger earthquakes in areas that have never in human history experienced earthquakes). Trucks bearing this radioactive material are increasingly setting off radiation alarms at dump sites. The trucks are being turned away and forced to travel across state lines for disposal. And the drivers of these trucks are, all the while, exposed to many hours' worth of exposure to radiation intense enough to set off alarms at dump sites. Think about that, as you evaluate Big Gas claims that they create great jobs.

Even your own solicitor's representative was oddly - perhaps tellingly - testy, defensive, and unwilling to make eye contact when asked by your own board members about indemnification.  Indemnification sounds comforting until you realize that in this case, it applies to a nearly zero probability of legal actions taken against MASD until long after Rex has folded their tent and crept far out of legal reach.  And the REAL problems that will arise - perhaps 10 or 20 years down the road - are going to be problems that your $1 million windfall couldn't begin to address, even if you put it all in escrow now, to be used against future claims, such as loss of water supply, destruction of the environment, and catastrophic loss of property value.

The loss of water supplies and property values, although high-probability eventualities, are longer-term problems that will likely peak here in Adams and Middlesex long after your terms as school-board members are completed. The more immediate issues, which the community will begin to feel as soon as this industrial process starts to ramp up less than a mile from our schools, are noise, truck traffic, and - most important of all - air pollution. Big Gas is fond of asserting that they "know how to do it safely."  Perhaps some of them do, at the intellectual level.  The problem is that everywhere in the country where this technology is currently being employed, it is NOT being done safely - and there's no evidence that the proposed well less than a mile from our schools will be the first, shining example of Big Gas finally getting it right in their desperate rush to apply this poorly understood, evolving technology. Air pollution will come in the form of the toxic chemicals that are both leaked and intentionally vented during and after the drilling process at every site like this that has ever been drilled.  There are emissions of volatile organic compounds and other toxins that are well-known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. There are unburned hydrocarbons and additional toxins that are produced by flaring and by the myriad diesel engines that power trucks, drilling equipment, compressors, pumps, and electric generators at every drilling site.

Another fracking-related air-pollution issue is one that is already dramatically affecting gas-field workers, and will soon be producing symptoms in communities near fracking sites: the use of silica sand as a "proppant" agent. The angular shape of silica sand crystals, which makes it suitable for injection along with the toxic chemicals into cracks in shale rock to hold it open after fracking is completed, is exactly the property that also makes it the perfect agent to produce silicosis, a deadly lung disease, in humans. Universally inept handling of silica sand during transportation and at drilling sites is allowing it to enter the atmosphere and be inhaled by unprotected and unsuspecting citizens and gas-field workers.

Duane Maust blithely asserted that you won't even know the laterals are there, deep under your feet. But you asked the wrong question. You should have asked if the noise associated with drilling, fracking, and production will be disruptive to the business of running a school district. The answer to that, if he'd been willing to be truthful, would have been "yes." In fact, people living within a mile of these drilling sites are frequently subjected to noise levels that prevent them from sleeping at night, even with their windows closed. He would also have been compelled to comment on the ground-shaking explosions that will occur directly beneath your schools when the laterals are actually "fracked," which is the process by which they fire depleted-uranium projectiles into the sides of the lateral boreholes, to fracture the gas-bearing shale. That's depleted uranium as in "the munitions that have produced radiation sickness in Gulf-war soldiers who had to handle those munitions." This facet of their process only adds to the hazard presented by the naturally occurring radioactive elements that are also brought to the surface in "produced water."

Another family of lies that landmen like Duane are skilled in delivering with a straight face has to do with "inevitability." They say, "Everyone around you has signed, so you might as well go along." In fact, Duane was lying to you when he said that everyone in the entire yellow area on his map has signed leases with Rex. It's simply not true, but it's the most-often-used falsehood uttered by landmen. Another aspect of the same lie is "The well will be drilled anyway, so you might as well benefit." Don't take it for granted that the well "will be drilled."  The permit hasn't even been issued yet, and the economic viability of this well if you refuse to lease is not a foregone conclusion. Another lie used to prod the gullible and uncaring into signing leases is the false sense of urgency instilled by drillers' assertions that they're about to start drilling, and you need to respond to their offer quickly - "Hurry - get one before they're all gone!". Like, by next week. 

Just so you know, the residents and taxpayers of MASD who attended your 4 March meeting and who strongly oppose both drilling in general and your signing of this lease in particular are only a small proportion of the people here and elsewhere in your immediate sphere of impact who are actively working to prevent the destruction of our lives and our environment by this greedy industry.and their egregiously misused technology. Your board president mentioned the presence here of both risks and benefits, but she may not fully appreciate the dramatic difference between those to whom the benefits accrue and those upon whom the risks - both short-term and long-term - will fall. To think of this issue as one of balancing risks and benefits is to miss the point entirely, especially for a school district that is not destitute, and is considering acceptance of huge risks on the community's behalf in exchange for what, in the grand scheme of things, would be a trivial windfall.

I hesitate to bring it up because it's non-technical and risks getting into the 'argumentum ad hominem' realm, but it's not lost on the community that the land on which this proposed drilling site would be located is owned - and was eagerly leased - by a former president of your very school board. And it's likely that individual board members will soon be asked which of you has leased personal land for drilling, and might therefore derive personal financial benefit from expanded gas drilling in the area. Think of these issues as examples of your need to avoid "the appearance of evil."

If you truly take seriously your roles as stewards of our children's future and of our community, you MUST take a stand for our children and our environment and reject this and all future lease proposals until and unless the technology for shale-gas extraction has been proven to be safe. The deluge of slick, industry-generated TV ads ASSERTING that it is safe do not in any way comprise that proof. Duane's unsupported assertions do not comprise that proof. The overwhelming and steadily growing body of evidence of human tragedy and environmental destruction that have followed in the wake of shale-gas development around the country do, in fact, represent proof to the contrary.

If you're not willing to reject the Rex lease proposal outright at this time, I urge you to at least delay the decision until you've done some REAL research into the long-term implications of allowing this technology to creep under our school district's property, and until you've heard from more residents who are determined to protect our kids, our environment, and our property values.

This is not about a million dollars.  It's about the future health and safety of our community.

Reid Joyce

It CAN Happen Here

1/18/2014

 
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.

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

Roll Back Big Government

11/12/2012

 
Who knows your community better?  Harrisburg would have you believe that they do.  Over the loud objection of many local governments and citizens, on Feb. 14, 2012 Gov. Corbett signed into law act 13 which stripped local municipalities of their rights to zone within their boarders forcing local residents to allow oil and gas drilling, processing, and pipelines in all zoning regions including in residential areas and next to schools.  In short, decades worth of carefully thought out local zoning laws put in place to safeguard the health, safety, and character of our communities were erased with the stroke of a pen on Valentine’s Day.
  But it seems that people are starting to realize the full scope of this power grab.  In July the Commonwealth Court declared the zoning provision of act 13 unconstitutional. The PA Association of Township Supervisors has come out in opposition to the provision. So have over 65 local governments including four in Butler County.  When the PA Utility Commission (PUC) withheld close to $1,000,000 in impact fees in an apparent retaliation against the municipalities who challenged Act 13 in court, the Commonwealth Court again had to rein in big government by issuing a “cease and desist” order and declaring that the PUC has no authority to review local gas drilling ordinances.

The Corbett administration, the general assembly, and state agencies have overstepped their bounds time and time again by putting the profits of oil companies over the people and the laws of the Commonwealth and I for one am happy that the courts are rolling back their power grab.

J.M.B.

DEP Keeps Most Drilling Violations Hidden from Public

10/12/2012

 
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.

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