How should you test for water contamination when fracking comes to town?
One thing people don’t realize – lab tests aren’t exactly definitive. ExxonMobil uses a cheap testing procedure (approved by the RRC) that reads “no detect” if there is any sort of matrix interference. (other things in the mix) We are going to experiment and thru trial and error find the best testing to find the chemicals common in ExxonMObil and Chevron’s legacy oilfields. We can run whats called a Mass Spec test. They are very expensive – $1000 but pick up everything. Then, we will back track and find which of the cheaper / readily available tests work. I’m going to teach everyone how to find and identify their oilfield contamination.
via A satirical view from the McGill Brothers Lease: Rained out?.
Equal Opportunity Contamination
While reading about the Chevron Texaco Ecuador lawsuit, I saw some suggestion that Texaco junked the rainforest because it was poor tribes in the Amazon that couldn’t help themselves. I beg to differ. We are white ranchers and get mowed over by Oil companies, too. Chevron Texaco and ExxonMobil and El Paso Corp (and the rest of their ilk) behave the way they do because they have money and lawyers and think they can drag out court battles until the other side dies. It doesn’t matter if you are Black, White, Indian, Chinese, Angolian, Rain Foresterian,…. whatever.
Tracer In The Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid for Accountability
Now, a novel protection has been proposed – that tracer dye be injected into exploratory wells drilled into the shale formations – as a best management practice
via SPLASHDOWN!: Tracer In The Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid: Accountability for Marcellus Shale Drillers.
Otsego 2000 strongly opposes DEC’s design for hydrofracking
Otsego 2000, a non-for-profit environmental organization in operation in Otsego County for nearly three decades, recenlty issued a statement arguing strongly against the draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement issued in late September by the DEC for horizontal natural gas extraction horizontal fracturing, or “fracking,’’ in the Marcellus Shale.
via Cooperstown Crier – Otsego 2000 strongly opposes DEC’s design for natural gas extraction.
Is a “bridge fuel” or techno fix the answer?
Burning more fossil fuel, albeit a cleaner one than oil-derived products, is not really a bridge when what we need to do is build our cities, towns, and transportation networks differently, radically ratcheting down dependence on the automobile. We must start on this path now, and not rely on technology, be it gas or energy alternatives such as solar power. The real solutions less technology, not different and more technology.
Sierra Club’s Pro-Gas Dilemma
When energy companies began preparations to drill for natural gas in upstate New York last year, the local Sierra Club quickly organized against them.
The group’s New York chapter demanded studies on the environmental risks, pushed for stricter regulations and called for a statewide ban on most gas drilling. The drilling hasn’t begun as the state works to develop regulations.
It would have been a typical story of environmentalists battling industry, except for one thing: The national Sierra Club is one of natural gas’s biggest boosters.
Congressman Hinchey submits comments on hydrofracturing
New York’s 22nd District should be proud of their congressman, Maurice Hinchey. He’s got a clear handle on the issues, and has submitted a nice set of comments to the NY Department of Environmental Conservation on their evaluation of permitting needs for drilling in the Marcellus shale in NY.
His submittal is detailed at his House website here.
Unconventional Gas Shales: State Water Supply Management
New York’s SPDES permit program… governs water quality only, not water quantity. With a limited exception for pumping water on Long Island,108 there is no proactive regulatory scheme in New York for extracting water from streams, lakes, groundwater, etc. In the case of drawing water from a public drinking water supplier, however, the state does have limited authority to make sure that the public water supplier stays within its permit terms. Otherwise, however, the state can only respond to water flow problems—e.g., if a fish kill occurs, it can prosecute the responsible entity for violating the flow standard that is a component of the state’s water quality standards.109 There is no requirement to notify the state in advance of a water extraction.
via Congress and Law: Unconventional Gas Shales: State Water Supply Management.
NYC says Catskill gas drilling risks are too great
New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection called on state officials Wednesday to ban natural gas drilling in the Catskills watershed, saying it would pose too great a risk to the city’s upstate drinking water system.
The DEP took that position in response to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s draft regulations on gas drilling in New York’s portion of the Marcellus Shale region, which includes parts of the Catskills where reservoirs supply drinking water for 9 million people.
via The Associated Press: NYC says Catskill gas drilling risks are too great.
Dish TX health survey results point to nat gas air contamination
Sixty-one percent of the health problems reported by residents in a survey are associated with the toxic air emissions detected here, according to an independent analysis released Thursday.
via Dish results released | Denton Record Chronicle | News for Denton County, Texas | Local News.
Dominion spends $253M on WV gas expansion
Power company Dominion Resources said Wednesday it will spend $253 million to upgrade a network of natural gas pipelines in West Virginia that was never designed to handle the gas bonanza that has been uncovered in the region.
Large portions of the state sit on top of the Marcellus shale, where a massive deposit of natural gas that touches five states is locked in tight rock formations.
via The Associated Press: Dominion spends $253M on W Virginia gas expansion.
Residents still wondering about gas drilling
…the Community Science Institute recommends having the water from your well tested before any drilling is done for a baseline. Then if a well within 1,000 feet of your well is hydraulically fractured, have the water tested again every two years for the life of the well, and even continue the testing for 10 years after the well is abandoned and plugged. This may seem extreme but we all have heard about some contamination of wells in Pennsylvania.
New York is a lab rat for testing hydrofracturing
Now, the world’s largest drilling fluid supplier is licensing new technologies that have never before been used on a large scale as they work to develop more effective ways to extract natural gas. These new fluids will include nanotechnology, according to the largest supplier of drilling fluids in the world. This potential application of nanotechnology, a branch of science involving the technological manipulation of particles about one-tenth the size of a human cell, has not been thoroughly vetted and tested in natural gas wells.
via The Marcellus Shale: New York is the Natural Gas Industry’s New Lab Rat.
Investors watch for new frac regs
Socially responsible investors, who try to minimize, if not eliminate, their exposure to companies and sectors with questionable environmental, labor, or corporate governance practices, also are keeping careful watch on developments in the natural gas industry.
Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management, though positive about natural gas moving into the energy spotlight, hasn’t been keen to invest in companies that use fracturing because of concerns about waste products generated by the technology and sensitivity about water issues, says Chat Reynders, a principal at the Boston-based firm.
That’s why he prefers EnCana (ECA) over XTO and was thrilled when the Canadian producer spun off its oil sands production unit Cenovus Energy (CVE), which was getting too aggressive in energy-intensive oil sands for his taste, at the end of November. “We liked that EnCana became more of a pure-play natural gas producer” and used the proceeds from selling the firm’s Cenovus holdings to increase its exposure to EnCana and invest in Calgon Carbon (CCC), a water purification company.
“We didn’t invest in XTO because of how ‘frac-ing’ intensive it was,” he says. “[EnCana has] enormous reserves not based on frac-ing. For us, that’s the kind of natural gas company we want to invest in.”
via Natural Gas: New Environmental Rules Could Cloud Prospects – BusinessWeek.
Sand producers receive grant to service hydrofracking in PA
New business is being generated in the region as companies begin tapping into the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves. State officials announced a $700,000 grant to D & I Silica for improvements in Cameron, Tioga, McKean and Luzerne counties to deliver sand for the natural gas industry.
via Monolith Exxon Mobil moves in | www.endeavornews.com | Endeavor News.
Environmentalists Seek More Regulation for Marcellus Drilling
Showing pictures of huge natural gas well fields and a patch of forest left dead from well wastewater, an environmental advocate asked state lawmakers to support increased regulations on drilling in the Marcellus shale.
Beth Little of the West Virginia Sierra Club told members of the state Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources that state law has little to prevent some of the worst environmental consequences of gas drilling using a process known as hydrofracking.
“They need millions of gallons of water, and there are no restrictions on water withdrawal in West Virginia except you are not supposed to take so much water it kills the stream,” she said.
via Environmentalists Seek More Regulation for Marcellus Drilling – WVNS-TV – WVNSTV.com.
Ulster County pol express reservations about hydrofracturing
“It is not extracted in an environmentally sound way in West Virginia where they idea of mining is to take a bunch of dynamite and blow off the top of a mountain,” he said. “It is not being environmentally extracted from places like Louisiana where the entire state is a wetland.”
via Marcellus shale gas must be extracted in environmentally safe manner, says Cahill.
NY energy plan touts natural gas
One of the nation’s largest gas companies praised the new plan, which also calls for the expansion of solar and wind energy.
Chesapeake Energy, which has leased land in the Marcellus shale, said it was “gratified.”
“Safe and responsible drilling “» represents an historic economic opportunity for the citizens of this region, who have been suffering through extremely difficult economic conditions that pre-date the recession,” sad Dave Spigelmyer, Chesapeake vice- president for government relations.
But opponents said the plan was premature, coming before new drilling regulations have been approved.
“It’s counting your chickens before they’ve hatched,” said Wes Gillingham, program director of Catskill Mountainkeeper in Youngsville. “You don’t promote an energy plan until you figure out what to do about all the problems.”
via New state energy plan touts natural gas | recordonline.com.
Go slow on plans for gas drilling says Poughkeepsie Journal
Gov. David Paterson announced the 10-year energy plan Tuesday, and most of the concepts are quite good. But the governor is also putting a disturbing amount of faith in the state’s ability to greatly expand natural-gas drilling without harming the environment. That is problematic, especially within the Marcellus Shale natural-gas reserve, which includes parts of the Catskills. In fact, this idea has caused so much rancor that one of the nation’s largest natural gas producers, Chesapeake Energy, has announced it won’t drill in parts of the reserve, citing, in part, the high costs and opposition from politicians and environmental groups.
via Go slow on plans for gas drilling | poughkeepsiejournal.com | Poughkeepsie Journal.
Range Resources has good numbers for hydrofrac profits
According to Scotia Waterous, an analytical firm, the breakeven natural gas price for the Marcellus is $3.25/million btu. The only lower breakeven price is for condensate- rich Eagle Ford at $2.73/million. Range Resources has managed to lower their breakeven price, probably as a function of economies of scale. But the drastic decline in shale gas drilling rig count is also a contributing factor inasmuch as labor and material costs are less now than one year ago. Natural gas prices have been firming up recently with current prices in the $5.25-5.50/million btu range. Two other plays, the Woodford and the Pearsall are clearly uneconomic at today’s prices. Barnett Tier 1 is marginal. Range Resources strong drilling campaign has taken most of the risk from their Pennsylvania holdings and with a low extraction cost structure, the company will make money even as the overall natural gas environment remains fair to poor. With the recent ExxonMobil announcement of the XTO acquisition to reinforce belief in the future of shale gas, the management of Range Resources must be satisfied with decisions in the Marcellus that have brought them to this happy situation.
via Range Resources in enviable position with Marcellus shale – GLG News.
Range Resources Marcellus production quadruples
Range Resources Corp. on Wednesday said its Marcellus Shale production rate has quadrupled from a year ago, reaching the high end of its target.
via Range Resources: Marcellus production quadruples – BusinessWeek.
Midland TX suspected hydraulic fracture contamination spreads
Imagine waking up one morning and having no safe water at all. In a recent radio program about Peak Water, Maude Barlow said: The day will come–mark my words–when every single thing we do will be measured against what it does to water. For people in Midland, Texas, that day is here.
Hexavalent Chromium contamination is spreading in the groundwater used by some Midland, Texas residents and environmental investigators say the mounting evidence points to the oil and gas industry. Affected residents say they have proof that hydraulic fracture giant Schlumberger is responsible.
Erin Brockovich was in Midland investigating and her team is still in Midland. (video)
Hydrofracking regs would nix Exxon’s XTO deal
An out clause exists for the Exxon in its merger with XTO Energy if Congress decides to regulate hydraulic fracturing, reported Russell Gold of the Wall Street Journal’s Environmental Capital blog on Wednesday. Exxon will spend $41 billion to purchase XTO, an energy firm known for its expertise in natural gas drilling and production. XTO has invested heavily in the Marcellus Shale, a region in western New York and northern Pennsylvania which is home to large reservoirs of natural gas.
via Hydrofracking Regulation Would Kill Exxon’s XTO Acquisition | HeatingOil.com.
Politicians choose sides in Marcellus Shale drilling debate | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin
Elected officials taking a position on Marcellus Shale development are facing strident demands from stakeholders who could become rich, go broke or possibly abandon hope, depending on Albany’s response.
As a Dec. 31 public comment deadline approaches, the polarizing debate shows no sign of easing. Stakeholders continue to hold town hall meetings, sign petitions and write elected officials in an attempt to make or break the multibillion-dollar gas industry’s move to the Southern Tier.
“This is by far the most contentious issue that I’ve worked on since joining the state Assembly,” said Lupardo, a third-term Democrat from Endwell. “I’m compelled to do everything possible to protect our environment, while recognizing the enormous economic potential of the Marcellus. I’m trying to be a moderating voice in this process.”
Mantius calls out the elephant in the room: the DEC’s ability to enforce
As the New Year’s Eve deadline approaches for final comments on a proposed 800-page rulebook for natural gas drilling, state officials are ignoring the elephant in the room: The agency responsible for supervising the industry is woefully understaffed and ill-equipped to handle the job.
Columnist describe need for landowner coalitions, warts and all
If they’re smart, nearly all experts agree, they’ll join a landowners’ coalition before signing anything.
Why?
Because gas drillers and the landmen (leasing agents) who represent them are notorious for cutting one-sided deals that leave the landowner under-protected and under-compensated.
Gas leasing has “lots of traps for the unwary,” Guy Krogh, an Ithaca attorney, said at a recent forum at Cornell University. “Coalitions are a tool for getting better information and better negotiations.”
Although some landowner coalitions will happily pit neighbor against neighbor, forgetting their original reason for forming:
The pro-drilling crowd didn’t show much patience for the other side’s detailed environmental concerns or “scare tactics.” Several argued that drilling represents a rare economic opportunity that the region can’t afford to squander. “True environmentalists,” one pro-drilling speaker said, see natural gas as a better alternative than coal or foreign oil.
Ken Knowles, head of the Steuben County Landowners Coalition, went further, taunting the antis by repeatedly saying, “If you are opposed to drilling, you are in favor of foreign oil.”
Schuyler County’s coalition is led by a land agent who is payed for getting leases signed, rather than the conditions or payout on the leases:
The two neighboring coalitions both chose Empire Energy Consultants, LLC, to represent them in negotiations with gas drillers. Empire was formed last year by Nicole Gwardyak, a former Pennsylvania landman. Under its deal with the Schuyler coalition, her company would receive $20 per acre for negotiating a drilling contract.
“If the wells come to fruition, it will mean life-changing money,” Gwardyak said last year, as quoted in Wealth Daily.
Regardless of land agents and coalition leaders motives:
The New York Farm Bureau and the Cornell Cooperative Extension agree, at least in principle. Steering people to leasing coalitions strikes them as a better option than telling individuals to go it alone.
Ashur Terwilliger, Chemung County Farm Bureau President and head of a coalition in that county, has long been an advocate for better protections for landowners who enter gas leases.
The wording and interpretation of gas leases can have major unforeseen consequences.
Hydrofracking lessons: Accidents happen; Insufficient safety margin
Jeffrey Jacquet of Cornell’s Department of Natural Resources said gas development firms prefer hiring workers they have used elsewhere and that the workers (imported or local), work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, for two weeks without a break. Thousands of workers working 84 hours a week for two weeks without a break? Talk about accidents waiting to happen.
ShaleShock distributed a published column that Louis Allstadt, a retired Mobil Oil executive, wrote. Allstadt sees many problems with DEC’s current draft environmental impact statement, including its “proposed setback distances, which would allow drilling just 300 feet from New York City reservoirs, a mere 150 feet from the rest of the state’s municipal water supplies, and at any distance from individual water wells.”
via Lessons on gas drilling | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Gas drilling workers suspended following drug tests
The drug inspection was conducted by an independent contractor hired by the company and didn’t involve law enforcement officials, he said. Bill Strong, a detective for the Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, and state police confirmed they were not involved in the enforcement action.
Strong added that some law enforcement officials have attended workshops and seminars with industry security companies to alert them to the types of drug problems — including amphetamine abuse — that can accompany roughneck crews migrating from the South working 12-hour shifts weeks at a time. “We can expect more methamphetamine use,” he said.
via Gas drilling workers suspended following drug tests | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Hydrofrac water is radioactive waste
The Marcellus Shale debate just got a little hotter.
Radioactive waste from the Marcellus is an issue state regulators will have to anticipate as they draft new rules for tapping the massive natural gas field under the Southern Tier.
Exxon moves into the Marcellus Shale play
Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest energy company, is the newest stakeholder in the fight over drilling in the Southern Tier.
In a move to capitalize on a trend toward domestic energy production, Exxon Mobil finalized terms to buy XTO Energy for $31 billion Monday. The deal includes XTO’s rights to 47,000 acres in the Deposit area over a lucrative section of the Marcellus Shale — a massive natural gas formation that runs from upstate New York through the Appalachian Basin.
via Exxon to buy natural gas firm XTO | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette.
Hydrofracking a threat to Southern Tier Ecosystem
Now, as public pressure builds to curb CO2 emissions, the fossil fuel industry has begun to push natural gas as the “clean energy alternative.” In reality, the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale of upstate New York promises to be an environmental disaster. It would permanently mar the landscape of a region that depends heavily upon agriculture and tourism. It would create an untenable burden for the public roads and other infrastructure of small, rural communities across New York’s Southern tier. And it threatens to contaminate the clean drinking water of the entire southern half of the state, including New York City itself.
To fully appreciate the danger one must first understand how the energy corporations plan to extract this natural gas. Traditional natural gas and oil drilling has involved sinking a vertical well to access a large pool of gas or oil. The unique geological nature of the Marcellus Shale makes this traditional method impossible—within the Marcellus, the natural gas is spread out in tiny pockets and bubbles, far too small to be profitably tapped by a traditional well. Instead the natural gas companies have devised a method they call “hydrofracking.”
via Hydrofracking a threat to Southern Tier Ecosystem | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette.
“Frac Attack” movie premiers in Ithaca, NY Dec. 12
When the town of Ithaca, New York gets fracked by natural gas drilling, the water goes sour and the citizens start craving human flesh. Anna and other survivors band together to save their community. Come one, come all, to the World Premiere of the environmental zombie short Frac Attack: Dawn of the Watershed at Cinemapolis!
7:00 Family Screening
7:30 Q&A with Filmmakers
8:00 R-Rated
After Party TBA
$5-10 suggested donation
Tickets at the door – come early!
Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green St, Ithaca, NY
via Shaleshock.org » Blog Archive » 12/10: Frac Attack World Premiere at Cinemapolis.
Online chat about hydro-fracturing with Binghamton journalist Wednesday
Tom Wilber, who has been reporting on the Marcellus Shale drilling and environmental matters for the past 18 months, will host a live chat at noon Wednesday. Come join the discussion, and ask Tom about pressing Marcellus Shale issues.
via Chat with Tom Wilber about the Marcellus Shale at noon Wednesday | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette.
Tests show highly radioactive water in Marcellus Shale
An analysis of wastewater samples by the Department of Health found levels of radium-226, and related alpha and beta radiation that are up to 10,000 times higher than drinking water standards, according to a memo the agency sent to the Department of Environmental Conservation. That means the DEC will have to do more testing to identify drilling sites that pose radiation risks, and ensure hot drilling waste is handled and disposed of properly, according to records from the state.
via Tests show high concentration of radioactive waste in Marcellus | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette.
Interfaith Power & Light connects ecology and faith
Interfaith Power and Light is a ministry devoted to deepening the connection between ecology and faith. Our goal is to help people of faith recognize and fulfill their responsibility for the stewardship of creation. Specifically, the IPL campaign is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. People of faith have an opportunity to put their faith into action and help reduce the devastating effects of global warming. http://www.theregenerationproject.org/
via About Texas Interfaith Power & Light | Texas Interfaith Power and Light.
Dimock Residents Describes Sickness Caused by Hydrofracking (video)
“They got sick in August. It was before school started. I thought it was just a bug and was trying to get them over it before school started. It didn’t go away and kept going until November and December. They had very severe stomach cramps and would throw up or have diarrhea, one or the other other. I was having problems with the water myself. One of my cats would throw up every time she drank the water inside, so we started using other water. This was reinforced by one of my neighbors telling me that one of my neighbors water wells had gone bad, and this was before Norma’s well had blown up. I started putting things together saying, my kids don’t get sick at school but they get sick at home.”
Just last week, the 15 families filed a lawsuit against Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation for allegedly causing a number of problems, including ruining their water supply.
Haudenosaunee witness first-hand the impacts of hydrofracking
I was getting a headache. We’d only been there for ten minutes, but the periodic strong whiffs of propane gas were already getting to me. “It was worse two days ago,” Yvonne Shafer explained to me, “the whole outside and inside of the house would smell like that, about every half hour. At its worst, I spent two hours in the basement because it was the only place I could breathe.”
Such was our introduction to the domestic nightmare that the residents of Hedgehog Lane in Bradford, PA have to live through daily. This residential road winds up a valley outside of town, surrounded by forested hillsides. “We moved here because it was perfect,” Yvonne explained. “You couldn’t see the neighbors, there was lots of wildlife, clean air to breathe and clean water in the wells.” This all changed about a year ago, when a company called Aiello began hydrofracking on the hillside above them.
Penn State Coop Ext Offers Hydrofrac Webinars
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Farmers speak out about hydrofracking
With just a few weeks left for public comment on the NYS environmental impact statement for “horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing,” some farmers are speaking out against the method. The public comment period ends December 31.
via Ithaca’s Food Web: Farmers speak out about natural gas drilling via hydrofracking.
Searching For Hydrofracking Data in NY Records
I’ve been advising, and urging, that an effort must be made to acquire a full “core dump” of all records, submittals, letters, emails, reports, etc. used in developing the NY draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (sSGEIS) for hydrofracturing in the Marcellus shale.
The NY State regulation on so doing is available on the web (start here, and let me know if you have trouble getting to it), and 6 NYCRR 616.5 describes the procedure:
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