Twelve Marcellus Shale gas drilling wastewater treatment plants proposed in northern Pennsylvania | Breaking Midstate News with The Patriot-News -
The state Department of Environmental Protection is reviewing permit applications associated with at least 12 different proposals to build treatment plants for chemical-tainted wastewater from natural gas drilling operations in northern Pennsylvania.
Ten of the plants are proposed in DEP’s 14-county north-central region, which is centered on Lycoming and Clinton counties.
Out-of-state drillers worry locals in PA
At Monday’s Conservation District meeting, Conservation Technician Fred Berry said there has been an increase in gas well drilling activity. He said some of the companies are from Texas, Utah and Louisiana and are not familiar with state and federal regulations.
Berry said he has been working to get these companies into voluntary compliance. He said some of these operations have more than five acres total of land disturbance. According to the state regulations, any operation which disturbs five or more acres of land must have an erosion and sedimentation control plan.
This total acreage of disturbance includes pipelines, well pads, and access roads. Berry said there were other regulations in place, such as setbacks for well pads and access roads from wetlands and streams.
via Courier-Express/Tri-County – Out-of-state drillers worry local staff.
Shale Drilling is Big Threat to PA Wilds
They call it the “Pennsylvania Wilds,” more than 6 million acres of relatively unspoiled forests and mountains in 12 northern Pennsylvania counties.
The area has long been known for its remnants of virgin forests, pristine mountain streams, abundant wildlife and magnificent vistas. More than 2 million of those acres are public land, an area equivalent to the acreage occupied by Yellowstone National Park.
Today, however, if you were to visit this part of our commonwealth, you would be greeted by a different environment. You would find a proliferation of new roads being cut into the forests, with semis and tanker trucks hauling tons of heavy equipment and water to remote destinations.
via Marcellus shale drilling is biggest threat to Pennsylvania wilds | Our Views & Yours -.
Penn. natgas water treatment plant challenged
Clean Water Action accused the state’s Department of Environmental Protection of illegally entering an agreement with Shallenberger Construction Inc, a water infrastructure contractor, to build the plant at Masontown in southwest Pennsylvania.
The plant would dump 500,000 gallons (1.9 million litres) of gas drilling waste water a day into the Monongahela River, violating federal clean-water standards, the group said.
The DEP has failed to control many of the chemicals that are used in hydraulic fracturing, a technique widely used to extract gas from deep deposits beneath Pennsylvania and parts of surrounding states, it added.
via Penn. natgas water treatment plant challenged | Stocks | Reuters.
PA Rep listens to industry exec’s & enviro regulators
Much of the testimony focused on the water issues various stakeholders are facing with respect to Marcellus Shale drilling and a proposed rule by DEP setting limits on wastewater discharges for new permit holders and those renewing their permits after 2011. This would apply to both sewage and industrial wastewater discharges.
That proposed rule, which is now in the public comment portion of the regulatory process, is causing considerable controversy, especially considering that DEP’s own Water Resource Advisory Committee — which consists of environmentalists, water experts and others — has publicly voiced concerns and asked the department not to proceed.
via Local News – Sayre, PA – The Morning Times – Pickett co-chairs hearing on gas drilling
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Challenges delay gas drillers in PA
Following the recent signing away of a considerable tract of northern Wayne County to natural gas development, the question is now when will the joint venture between Hess Corporation and Newfield Exploration Company materialize into actual extraction of the energy commodity.
Some challenges remain including whether the Delaware River Basin Commission, one of two environmental regulators in Wayne County, will permit any natural-gas related activity here since there are legitimate concerns regarding water resources and a medley of environmental issues that can arise.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has, on the other hand, promptly approved permits in Wayne County.
via Challenges delay gas drillers – Honesdale, PA – Wayne Independent.
Dimock Resident Describes Loss of Her Well to Hydrofracking (video)
Norma Fiorentino is the resident of Dimock, Pa., and leaseholder with Cabot Oil and Gas whose water well famously blew up on New Year’s Day 2009. Since then, she’s not been using her water for drinking or cooking. Hear her story in her own words. Clean Water Action is working with local people who have come to realize that the cost is too great to let Natural Gas Drilling proceed without close scrutiny by the Commonwealth.
PA Reaches Agreement with Cabot Regarding Water in Dimock
NEWS RELEASE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
| COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA Dept. of Environmental Protection Northwest Regional Office 230 Chestnut St. Meadville, PA 16335 |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/4/2009CONTACT: Freda Tarbell Phone: (814) 332-6816 |
| DEP Reaches Agreement with Cabot to Prevent Gas Migration, Restore Water Supplies in Dimock Township |
| Agreement Requires DEP Approval for Well Casing, Cementing
|
Pilly Inquirer Editorial: Shale game
A boom in natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania will ease energy demands and boost the state economy. But there’s reason to be concerned that environmental regulators won’t be able to keep up with this new gold rush.
via Editorial: Shale game | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/02/2009.
Commission proposes 24/7 monitors for streams in Marcellus Shale region
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission wants to be ready in case pollution makes its way into sensitive streams and creeks in the region where natural gas drilling is on the increase.
The commission has proposed a network of 30 automated, solar-powered water quality monitoring stations for the northern tier of Pennsylvania and southern New York.
Despite Dimock Mess, Cabot is Confident
Stricter oversight and a civil penalty aimed at fixing persistent drilling mishaps in Dimock will not slow Cabot’s production of the Marcellus Shale, according to state and gas company officials.
Kenneth Komoroski, a Cabot spokesman, said actions from the state Department of Environmental Protection will have no impact on the rate of production, expected to reach between 60 and 80 wells on line by the end of the year.
The company is producing natural gas from the Marcellus Shale just south of Montrose, about 25 miles south of the Broome County border. The formation runs under the Twin Tiers and throughout the Appalachian Basin.
via Cabot confident gas production in Pa. will increase | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette.
Monongahela River shows cost of hydrofracturing
Workers at a steel mill and a power plant were the first to notice something strange about the Monongahela River in summer 2008.
The water that U.S. Steel and Allegheny Energy used to power their plants contained so much salty sediment that it was corroding their machinery. Nearby residents saw something odd, too. Dishwashers were malfunctioning, and plates were coming out with spots that couldn’t easily be rinsed off.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection soon identified the likely cause. The Monongahela, a drinking-water source for 350,000 people, had apparently been contaminated by chemically tainted wastewater from the state’s growing natural- gas industry.
via Gas drilling a boon to Pa., but at what cost? | Philadelphia Daily News | 10/16/2009.
Frac water treatment plant challenged
Environmentalists have challenged the proposed construction of a plant that would process waste water from natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania’s booming Marcellus Shale field, an activist group said on Tuesday.
Clean Water Action, a nonprofit, said the plant would discharge drilling waste into the Monongahela River in southwest Pennsylvania without testing for most of the toxic chemicals that form part of the fluid.
via Penn. natgas water treatment plant challenged | Markets | Markets News | Reuters.
Range Resources & Cross Creek Park Spill
Cross Creek Park again appeared in the news in June, 2009 when the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was considering a possible enforcement action against Range over apparent toxic drainage from a leaky coupling on a six inch waste water pipe that ran from a recently drilled well to an impoundment area. Reportedly, there had been a fish, salamander, crayfish and aquatic insect kill in about three-quarters of a mile of stream leading into Cross Creek Lake. DEP was taking water samples both above and below the point where drainage from the leaky coupling entered the stream in order to be analyzed as one aspect of their investigation. A company spokesperson indicated a vandal may have been to blame for the problem.
Nearly a year after a water well explosion, Dimock thirsts for gas-well fix
Norma Fiorentino has not consumed water from her faucets since her well exploded 10 months ago. The 66-year-old widow lugged jugs of it up a hill from her neighbors’ house for about a month, until they found out they had methane in their water, too. Now she buys it for about $20 a week at the grocery store or travels to a spring in Montrose to collect it.
Cabot has been providing water to four families since January and has installed methane separation systems in the basements of three homes, according to Kenneth Komoroski, a Cabot lawyer and spokesman. DEP puts the count higher, saying Cabot is providing water or treatment systems to 13 Dimock homes with elevated methane.
But residents say at least 18 families no longer drink their well water, many of whom, like Mrs. Fiorentino, pay for replacement water on their own.
“I’ve begged him since my well blew up to give me water,” Mrs. Fiorentino said of Mr. Komoroski, “but he’s never given me a bottle.”
Meshoppen Creek proposed as dumping site for frac fluids (video)
DC Koviack reported on a hearing and meeting held Tuesday at the Tunkhannock Middle School in regard to a proposed water treatment plant that would discharge treated frac water (from natural gas wells) into Meshoppen Creek. Wyoming Somerset Regional Water Resources Corporation has applied for a permit to locate this plant in Lemon Township (Wyoming County, PA).
PA Residents Against ‘Frac Water’ Processing Plant
Several residents of Wyoming County, as well as experts in the fields of geology, aquatic biology and environmental studies, gave testimony that was not in favor of the proposed frac water treatment plant in Lemon Township, at a hearing and meeting on Tuesday evening at the Tunkhannock Middle School. The proposed plant would discharge treated frac water into Meshoppen Creek.
The site of the proposed plant is the former Siltex property, which before that was Schep’s Cheese and prior to that was the Aldovin Dairy. There are five documented wetlands on this site, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. The area was designated a Superfund site and slated for cleanup over a decade ago, but was allowed to remain untreated because its wetlands have held the toxins so they cannot pollute surrounding areas.
via The Rocket Courier.
PA revokes erosion permits for Fortuna & Ultra Resources
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday it has revoked three erosion and sedimentation control general permits previously issued to Ultra Resources Inc. and Fortuna Energy Inc. due to technical deficiencies at sites in Tioga and Potter counties.
Company cited for gas drilling wastewater violation | stargazette.com
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined Dunn’s Tank Service Inc. of Towanda, Bradford County, $3,000 for operating a waste transfer station without a permit last July in Wysox Township.
“Dunn’s was storing gas well drilling wastewater in tanker trailers and you must have a waste transfer station permit from DEP to do that,” DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell said in a prepared statement released Tuesday. “DEP will take similar enforcement action against any other such illegal facility in this region.”
via Towanda company cited for gas drilling wastewater violation | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette.
NYC warns that Catskill gas drilling could pollute drinking water | recordonline.com
“The potential consequences of these impacts cannot be overstated,” said the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, in a statement. “Any material degradation of the watershed or lack of faith in DEP’s ability to protect water quality could ” force the City to build a $10 billion filtration plant, requiring nearly a 30 percent increase to the City’s water rates.”
Of particular concern, the DEP said, are the more than 430 products and 350 chemicals used in the gas-drilling process.
Additives range from food-grade substances, such as sucrose and xanthangum, to potentially hazardous compounds, including heavy metals and biocides. Should those materials leak into the watershed, New York will lose one of its most valuable assets: unfiltered drinking water.
The DEP relies on upstate reservoirs and massive underground water tunnels to ferry more than 1 billion gallons of drinking water to 9 million people — about 50 percent of the state’s population — every day.
via NYC warns that Catskill gas drilling could pollute drinking water | recordonline.com.
Cabot Oil to restart natgas fracturing in Penn. | Reuters
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp said it will restart hydraulic fracturing operations at its natural gas wells in Susquehanna County, after Pennsylvania regulators lifted their order.
On Sept. 22, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had issued a notice of violation to Cabot for chemical spills near the northeast Pennsylvania town of Dimock.
The company said the hydraulic fracturing delay had pushed back some completions, but its location building, drilling and pipeline work were not impacted.
“We expect to frac one horizontal well per week for the remainder of the year. However, safety and environmental protection will dictate our pace,” Cabot Chief Executive Dan Dinges said in a statement.
via UPDATE 1-Cabot Oil to restart natgas fracturing in Penn. | Reuters.
Pa. officials reviewing Cabot drilling plan | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette
Operations to bring natural gas wells on line in Susquehanna County remain on hold after a chemical spill last month, as Pennsylvania officials review plans by Cabot Oil & Gas to prevent future problems.
The company has submitted a plan to strengthen its pollution controls as well as an engineering study of equipment and work practices associated with hydraulic fracturing. The process, commonly called fracking for short, uses chemical solutions to stimulate gas production.
The Cabot plan is under review by the Department of Environmental Protection, said Daniel T. Spadoni, a spokesman for the agency. No fines have been issued, he added, although that remains a legal option.
via Pa. officials reviewing Cabot drilling plan | stargazette.com | Star-Gazette.
Hard to extract consensus on natural gas | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/08/2009
The industry and academia are studying how to remove the salt and chemicals from the wastewater or how to bury it deep in underground wells.
“Let me emphasize that this isn’t easy,” Engelder said afterward. “The cleanup is expensive.”
Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, voiced concern that state law contains no requirement to study the environmental impact of so much drilling. And the gas industry was persuasive enough to be exempted from the transparency of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
As a result, the public doesn’t have a right to know what is in the chemicals being used to extract and recover the gas.
via Daniel Rubin: Hard to extract consensus on natural gas | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/08/2009.
What can be done with wastewater?
Workers at a steel mill and a power plant were the first to notice something strange about the Monongahela River last summer. The water that U.S. Steel in Clairton and Allegheny Energy in Greene County used to power their plants contained so much salty sediment that it was corroding their machinery.
Nearby residents saw something odd, too. Dishwashers were malfunctioning, and plates were coming out with spots that couldn’t be rinsed off easily.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection soon identified the likely cause and came up with a quick fix. The Monongahela River, a drinking water source for 350,000 people, apparently had been contaminated by chemically tainted wastewater from the state’s growing natural gas industry.
via SPLASHDOWN!: **** What can be done with wastewater? ****.
Shale drilling stirs concern – News – The Times-Tribune
John Kurilla was glad to hear Cabot Oil & Gas Co. can no longer hydraulically fracture shale in Susquehanna County to get natural gas for now.
The retired chemist, however, wants all natural gas drilling activity to cease until a better understanding of the industry’s effect is gained.
via Shale drilling stirs concern – News – The Times-Tribune.
Spills bring violation notice to company | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader
Cabot Oil and Gas has been issued a letter of violation for two liquid-gel spills last week at the company’s Heitsman natural-gas well pad in Susquehanna County, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced on Tuesday.
via Spills bring violation notice to company | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader.
Third natural gas chemical spill reported – Honesdale, PA – Wayne Independent
A spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) confirmed that Cabot Oil & Gas, who is engaging in extensive drilling operations in the small community, spilled “hundreds of gallons” of the volatile chemical mixture Tuesday morning.
It is the same chemical – one that can cause skin cancer and a malady of other health issues – that spewed out of a pipe, twice, last Wednesday – amounting to more than 8,000 gallons of the harmful fluid entering the environment.
via Third natural gas chemical spill reported – Honesdale, PA – Wayne Independent.
WNEP video: Drilling Halted After Leaks at Well
All drilling has now stopped at a natural gas well in Susquehanna County after three chemical spills in a week. …
via Drilling Halted After Leaks at Well – WNEP.
Trucks are coming and going, but Cabot Oil and Gas Company said the drilling process has stopped at one of its natural gas wells near Dimock. The move comes after three chemical spills in a week. The latest one was on Tuesday…
Rozanski and her husband live just down Troy Road from the well and the spill.
Now, they’re keeping an eye on Stevens Creek behind their home. The DEP said some fish died upstream because the chemical seeped into the water.
“The DEP has been here, the Fish Commission has been here and the County Commissioners have been here so it’s serious,” added Holly Rozanski.
A truckload of the chemical LGC-35 still sits at the drill site even though drilling has been halted.
via Drilling Halted After Leaks at Well – WNEP.
DEP ISSUES VIOLATION NOTICE TO CABOT OIL AND GAS
“DEP is very concerned about spills at Cabot sites and will require Cabot to take all necessary actions to prevent them from recurring,” DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell said.
The notice of violation cites Cabot for an unpermitted discharge of polluting substances, an unpermitted discharge of residual waste, two unpermitted encroachments on Stevens Creek, not containing polluting substances at the well site, and an unpermitted discharge of industrial waste.
via DEP News Releases.
Pa. finds gas-drilling firm in violation
Pa. finds gas-drilling firm in violation
By Tom Wilber
Natural gas drilling operations in Dimock, Pa., are violating laws to protect water and the public, Pennsylvania regulators have determined.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is holding Cabot Oil & Gas accountable for allowing natural gas from lower formations to contaminate fresh water supplies, according to a “Notice of Violation” sent to Cabot dated Feb. 27.
While tapping gas from the Marcellus Shale formation, the company has violated the state’s Oil and Gas Act and Clean Stream Laws, the notice states. Both of those regulations protect drinking water supplies from natural gas hazards.
Gas from Cabot drilling operations has migrated into an aquifer providing water for local residents, the DEP has determined. More than a dozen wells proving water to homes along and near Carter Road have been affected. Four have been taken offline and others have been vented.
Additionally, Cabot failed to provide the DEP with timely records of drilling on two dozen wells in the area, according to the notice, signed by S. Craig Lobins, regional manager for the DEP’s Office of Oil and Gas Management.
“They have to do the paperwork. It’s not just a bureaucratic exercise,” said Mark Carmon, a spokesman for the DEP. “These reports are lines of communications with the department, and they have to stay open.”
Lobins has asked Cabot Vice President Thomas Liberatore for a plan to address safety concerns and record- keeping problems by Friday.
Cabot spokesman Ken Komorowski characterized the DEP’s assessment that gas in the water came from Cabot drilling as “premature.” The company will meet with agency officials soon to discuss the concerns, he said. In the meantime, he added, Cabot will respond to the Notice of Violation by Friday’s deadline.
“This is all part of a discussion we’re having with the DEP,” Komorowski said.
The DEP is is asking to install gas detectors on area homes as a safeguard against explosions, provide more testing, improve its record-keeping and continue providing alternative water supplies to homes where gas levels exceed standards, according to the Notice of Violation.
Officials from Cabot and the DEP have been investigating gas in private water wells in Dimock Township since one well exploded in January.
Four water supplies exceeding the state’s guideline of 25 parts per million have been taken offline.
Cabot officials said last week work done to address potential problems at and near drilling sites has decreased levels of gas in nearby water wells.
The DEP has not reached that conclusion, Carmon said.
The gas does not generally pose a drinking hazard, Carmon said. But it does raise the risks of an explosion in dishwashers, laundry rooms, showers “and areas where the water could be agitated and heated in enclosed spaces.”
The DEP is also testing groundwater for a broader range of chemicals, including those used to fracture bedrock to release gas in the Marcellus. Advocates say too little is known about the process, called hydro-fracturing, or the chemicals involved.
The Notice of Violation did not outline possible fines or other enforcement action.
“We’re keeping those options open,” Carmon said. Cabot officials have been cooperative, he added.
Cabot is part of an industry-wide effort to develop the gas-rich Marcellus Shale, a geological formation running a mile or so deep under Pennsylvania, as well as New York’s Southern Tier and parts of West Virginia and Ohio.
The Marcellus land play in the Southern Tier reached a fever pitch last summer, when record-high natural gas prices, growing pipeline infrastructure and new technology triggered a wave of speculation. Almost overnight, the value of mineral rights in Broome County rose from less than $100 to an acre to more than $2,400 an acre. Since then, falling energy prices and the credit crunch have cooled prospecting in the area, although many remain confident development will continue over the long haul.
Meanwhile, Southern Tier property owners and others counting on an economic boost from the natural gas industry have been pushing New York state officials to encourage development, while environmental advocates have been trying to slow it down.
Regulators in New York said they are keeping an eye on developments in Dimock, about 20 miles south of the Broome County border, as they update regulations to account for the type of drilling needed to extract gas from the Marcellus bedrock. The update is expected to be completed this summer. In the meantime, permitting for the Marcellus in New York is effectively on hold.
Asked whether the DEP’s Notice of Violation is sending a message to Cabot and the natural gas industry that has intensified drilling operations throughout the Appalachian basin in pursuit of the Marcellus, Carmon replied: “I think the only message is we have concern for the residents on Carter Road.”
via pressconnects.com.
GoErie.com: Water woes
Bob Steiner doesn’t trust his well water enough to drink it.He is supposed to change his water system’s cylindrical filter every two to three months, but within 10 days, it is plugged with dark brown sludge.”That’s actually an improvement,” Steiner said. “I used to have to change it every four to seven days.”Steiner, 67, is one of the five homeowners on Head Drive who were forced to leave their homes for 40 days in late 2007.Potentially explosive levels of methane were detected in and around their southwestern Millcreek Township homes in November. The residents were evacuated until a nearby church capped one of its new gas wells, and the methane dissipated around Christmas.More than six months later, the air is safe on Head Drive. But the water isn’t.”I won’t drink the water,” said Steiner, who lives at 2797 Head Drive with his pet dog, Stewey. “I buy bottled water.”State officials have tested Steiner’s water and told him in a letter that it contained amounts of iron, manganese and other contaminants above the standards for safe drinking water.It also had enough natural gas to pose “a physical danger of fire or explosion,” the letter stated.
Trucking firm ordered to clean up diesel spill in Dimock | News | thetimes-tribune.com – The Times-Tribune
Up to 100 gallons of diesel fuel spilled into a Susquehanna County yard on Saturday when a pump truck contracted by a natural gas extraction company slipped down an icy hill and crashed.
A spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection said the spill was caused when a fuel tank on the truck ruptured during the crash. The spill did not impact any waterways or a nearby wetland, the spokesman, Mark Carmon, said.
DEP inspectors responded to the site on Saturday and again on Monday and ordered the owner of the truck, BJ Services, to hire a company to clean the spill on Monday afternoon, Mr. Carmon said.
Team 4: Gas Drilling Boom Taking Toll On Land – Pittsburgh News Story – WTAE Pittsburgh
The natural gas drilling business is having an unprecedented economic boom in the state.
But all the drilling can take its toll on the land.
via Team 4: Gas Drilling Boom Taking Toll On Land – Pittsburgh News Story – WTAE Pittsburgh.
Pa. May Reveal Drillers’ Secrets In Gas Shale Rush – Pittsburgh News Story – WTAE Pittsburgh
Three decades ago, environmentalists and public officials rang the alarm when the price of fossil fuels shot up and drilling companies descended on western Pennsylvania’s oil and gas fields in search of paydirt.
The state Legislature responded with the 1984 Oil and Gas Act, which forced the companies to comply with strict new environmental standards.
But it also handed them a cushion that allowed them to keep secret most information about their below-ground discoveries for five years.
Now, with a fresh wave of exploration companies flocking to Pennsylvania in pursuit of natural gas in the sprawling Marcellus Shale rock formation, state legislators are considering peeling back that cloak of secrecy.
via Pa. May Reveal Drillers’ Secrets In Gas Shale Rush – Pittsburgh News Story – WTAE Pittsburgh.
Deep impact – Natural-gas drilling grows despite state’s budget woes
The potential economic boon from natural gas drilling outweighs the hiring freeze imposed by Gov. Ed Rendell over agencies he oversees to help solve a projected $2.3 million budget shortfall, state officials said.
The Department of Environmental Protection has permission to hire 31 workers and open an oil and gas management office in Williamsport to deal with increased drilling activity in a newly accessible underground rock layer called the Marcellus Shale.
“Pennsylvania’s oil and natural gas industry is booming with a record 7,924 permits issued and nearly 4,200 new wells drilled in the past year,” acting DEP Secretary John Hanger said.
“Natural gas exploration, particularly in the Marcellus Shale, promises billions of dollars in investment and economic growth for the commonwealth.”
Pa. DEP to open new office to handle drill rush | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin
State environmental officials are opening a new office in central Pennsylvania to help deal with the drilling rush on the Marcellus Shale rock formation.
A regional Department of Environmental Protection executive says up to 250 natural gas wells are expected to be drilled in Lycoming County by this summer.
via Pa. DEP to open new office to handle drill rush | pressconnects.com | Press & Sun-Bulletin.
Satellite Office for Natural Gas Drilling to Open – News, events, information, PA | Muncy Luminary
With up to 250 gas wells expected to be drilled in the county by this summer, the state’s Bureau of Oil and Gas Management plans to open a satellite office here, according to Robert Yowell, regional director of the northcentral regional office of the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Yowell was among those on a recent Lycoming College panel who took up environmental issues surrounding drilling into the Marcellus Shale to extract natural gas.
The bureau is under the DEP umbrella and is charged with issuing drilling permits and inspecting sites to make sure they comply with agency regulations, Yowell said. It has had offices previously only in Pittsburgh and Meadville.
By this summer, there should be 17 staff members in the office, as well as another 20 staff in the western Pennsylvania offices, he said.
via Satellite Office for Natural Gas Drilling to Open – News, events, information, PA | Muncy Luminary.
Gas news at a glance
Gas news at a glance
• DEP TO OPEN NEW GAS OFFICE: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will open a new office for its Bureau of Oil and Gas Management, to be located in Lycoming County, PA, where 250 wells are expected to be drilled this year. The new site will be the third in the state devoted to overseeing gas drilling permits and site inspections. The other two are located in Pittsburgh and Meadville. The office is expected to be open by summer and to employ approximately 17 staff members.
• DIESEL SPILL IN DIMOCK: Cabot crews have cleaned up a 100-gallon diesel fuel spill that occurred on January 30 at a site where natural gas drilling is taking place in Dimock Township, PA. Contaminated soil has been removed and the spill is not believed to have contaminated any water sources, according to Mark Carmon, spokesman for the DEP. The spill is the second resulting from Cabot drilling operations during the past year, following an 800-gallon spill last spring. Cabot is also attempting to address a situation involving the contamination of nine wells in the Carter Road area with methane. DEP water test results indicate the source of the gas to be the Devonian shale layer, which lies above the Marcellus Shale, said Carmon. Another round of testing will be scheduled to determine whether measures being implemented by Cabot are resolving the problem. Cabot has hired a hydrogeologist familiar with Pennsylvania geology to investigate further.
• BACK TAX BACKLASH: Under pressure from protestors threatening a lawsuit, two of three Bradford County Commissioners in Towanda, PA voted in favor of delaying tax penalties imposed when land enrolled in the state’s Clean and Green program becomes leased for gas drilling, thereby changing its special use and causing back taxes to become due. Under the new measure, the tax will not be due until 60 days after the well goes into commercial production.
via Gas news at a glance.
Wastewater disposal to be tackled | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader
Wastewater disposal to be tackled | Wilkes-Barre News | The Times Leader.
Wastewater disposal to be tackled
State DEP, drilling industry to develop industry-standard guidelines to ease permitting.
By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
In an effort to promote natural-gas drilling in the state while addressing public concern over potential environmental degradation, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced last week a partnership with the drilling industry to address wastewater disposal.
“These guys are the ones who are going to have to … come up with the technology to dispose of (the water used in drilling). That’s why we’re working with them,” DEP press secretary Teresa Candori said. “This certainly isn’t the only input we seek.”
The overall goal is to agree on industry-standard guidelines that will streamline the permitting process by allowing drillers to acquire all necessary approvals at the same time. The industry has been asking for a comprehensive regulatory manual that it can follow, Candori explained… More…
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