Westmoreland County Commissioner Meetings:
The next four meetings are: March 8th and 22nd April 12th and 26th at 10:00 AM at the Westmoreland County Court House. Please see specifics in previous blog entry.
Quote of the week—“They just insult your intelligence. I don’t
trust the DEP” Kim McEvoy commenting
on DEP staff after they told her the dramatic changes in her water over the
past year including the bad smell was simply from garden slugs in her well
which is 300 feet deep. (story below)
Commentary---As the violations of air and water continue,
the gas industry and DEP continue to deny contamination. Notice that it is
frequently independent agencies that are conducting follow-up testing for
families. In this update, the associated
press had further testing done on water samples. What does this say about validity
of the results and the credibility of the gas industry and the DEP when it
becomes necessary for other agencies to assume the testing and invariably find
contamination beyond what is shown in
DEP results?
--Visual Assessment Training by
Mountain Watershed Assoc.-from Veronica
Do you want to help
prevent pollution from Marcellus Shale
development in your
community? Visual
assessment training provides information on
permit tracking, air and water pollution, safety, and filing
a complaint with DEP.
When: Thursday, March
29, 2012 from 6pm to 9pm
Where: Cook Township Community Center
1698 State Route 711
Stahlstown, Pa 15687
For more information call Veronica at
724-455-4200 ext. 4# or email
veronica@mtwatershed.com
*****************************************
--Everyone----Please copy and
forward this invitation to your township supervisors!!!! (this is not a meeting for the general public)
If supervisors receive more than one
invitation, that is not a problem.
IMPORTANT LOCAL GOVERNMENT
MEETING
WHEN: MARCH 7, 2012
WHERE: UPPER BURRELL TOWNSHIP
BUILDING
3735 Seventh Street, New Kensington, PA
15068
TIME: 6:30 PM
Dear Local Officials:
With the passage
of HB 1950 (now Act 13), local communities have been stripped of much of the
authority they had to regulate oil and gas drilling through their zoning
powers. With the rush of Marcellus
drilling coming to local areas, an important informational meeting is being
held by Brian Coppola, a supervisor from Robinson Twp., to explain the new law
and what possibly can be done to help local communities in preparation. Brian and his fellow supervisors are seeing
firsthand the drilling in their Washington Co. community and would very much
like to share with you their experiences and future plans.
I urge you
to attend and, if possible, due to limited seating, please respond via phone or
email to me at the phone number below. If you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to contact me, thank you in advance.
Sincerely,
Allen Uhler
Upper Burrell Supervisor
RSVP:
724-335-4918
1. Not to Worry—It’s Only Slugs
DEP Refused to Do Follow- Up Water Testing for
Evans City Woman
Janet McIntyre of Evans City, says
the DEP refused to do further testing after a lab report showed chemicals in
her drinking water that could have come from a nearby gas well. Ten other families
have complained that recently done drilling contaminated their water.
Although the DEP said McIntyre’s
water contained only low levels of toluene, a review of the test results by the
Associated Press found 4 other VOCs in her water that are associated with gas
drilling. Kevin Sunday of DEP said the low levels are not a health risk and
that the contamination came from the agency’s lab or abandoned vehicles on the
property. Mr. Sunday had no response as to why the DEP did not do follow- up
tests if he thought its own lab was contaminated..
“DEP cannot just simply walk away.
You’ve got to pursue the findings” said Dr. Bernard Goldstein, professor
emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health
McIntyre and other residents say
the water problems started about a year ago, after Rex Energy Corp. of State
College, Pa., drilled two wells. But a map provided by Rex shows there are also gas wells from other
companies in the area.
McIntyre’s water showed detectable
levels of t-Butyl alcohol, acetone, chloromethane, toluene and 1, 3,
5-trimethylbenzene. The chemicals are often used in the hydraulic fracturing
process.
Another
Resident who complained about dramatic changes in her water over the last year
said DEP staff suggested the bad smell was simply from garden slugs in their
well, which is 300 feet deep.
and..
2. Drinking Water Contamination in Evans City, PA Denied-- but
Rex Energy Knew
At least
two gas wells near residents who complained of sudden drinking water pollution
had had casing failures during the drilling process. The casing is supposed
prevent gas or other fluids from leaking into nearby aquifers.
Last week
Rex Energy and the DEP suggested there was no evidence that recent gas drilling
contaminated water wells in the Woodlands community (Evans City), 30 miles
north of Pittsburgh. People in at least 10 households have complained of
suddenly discolored and smelly water and unexplained illnesses.
But The Associated Press learned that Rex
admitted the problem in a 2010 financial report. A spokesman for DEP did not respond to a
question on whether the agency knew of the structural problems with the wells.
(W. Pa. wells had casing failures in complaint area,
Associated Press, AP, 2-27-12)
3. Eminent Domain Used -the Words Most Feared by Landowners
Central New York Oil and Gas
assured federal regulators it would minimize the use of eminent domain against
private landowners if they were given approval to lay the 39 mile MARC pipeline
in northern PA’s pristine Endless Mountains. Despite this promise, in
actuality, the company was already preparing condemnation papers against dozens
of landowners for the MARC1 pipeline.
And within 2 days of winning approval, the company went to court to condemn
nearly half the properties along the pipeline’s route.
Residents are arguing that the
company offered them less than a third of the money they got from another
pipeline company that installed lines on their land and that there is no
negotiation of placement of pipes. The EPA has expressed concerns about damage
to the forest ecosystem, noting the pipeline will cross dozens of pristine
waterways in an area popular with hikers, hunters and fishermen.
Bob Schwartz was told that the
company plans to cut a 50 foot wide 400 foot long gash through and ancient
stand of trees across the front of his property. Swartz proposed an alternate
route that the company would no consider.
A
judge has recently halted work on the pipeline.
4. 4,000 gallons of Condensate Spills in Robinson Township
(Chevron assessing damage of
Washington Co. well leak, February 28, 2012
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
A pipe carrying oily condensate from a fracking
operation in Robinson, Washington County, leaked as much as 4,000 gallons of wet gas. The DEP does not know if any
condensate got into Bigger Run Creek. Sampling is being done to determine the
extent of soil and water contamination. Chevron is to contact concerned
neighbors to test their water wells.
The leak
from a faulty weld in a pipe joint , which was buried 4 feet under the well
pad, was discovered by the Chevron and reported to DEP in December. Chevron thought it had spilled about 100
gallons, telling the DEP it was a controlled, minor incident.
The pipe
leaked when fracking began Nov. 8, but was not discovered until 42 days later.
No notice
of violations has been issued.
5. Corbett Fights for Cracker Plant in SW, PA
One more
aspect of the horrendous Marcellus gas legislation that passed this month, is
that money from the fee is dedicated to bringing a cracker plant to SW PA. “5% of the revenue from drilling fees would
go to infrastructure projects related to the natural gas industry, such as the
establishment of a petrochemical plant.”
(Petrochemical refineries are known for their toxic air pollution. Jan)
A video is located at the following site:
“Aliquippa in Running for Cracker refinery”
by Scott Detrow
6. Colorado-Bureau of Land Management Forced by Lawsuit to Consider Clean Air
WildEarth
Guardians has forced the BLM to prohibit
drilling on several oil and gas leases and to address the impacts of fracking on air in Eastern Colorado
which is not in compliance with federal limits on ozone
pollution Ozone triggers asthma attacks and damages the lungs. Drilling is a
major contributor to the region’s smog. Fracking and production cause more
ozone- forming compounds than vehicles in the area.
The BLM will complete a comprehensive
inventory of air emissions from oil and gas operations which encompasses all of
eastern Colorado. BLM has agreed to prepare a full air quality analysis before
allowing any drilling on the 12 leases that were sued over.
7. Air Pollution Linked to Heart, Lungs, and
Cognitive Decline
Air pollution is increasingly being
linked to more than lung damage. New studies, three published in the past week
indicate that even levels of air pollution deemed to be safe by agencies such
as WHO, can contribute to higher rates of cognitive decline, stroke and heart
attack . 19,409 women were studied for a decade and those women with higher
levels of long- term exposure to air pollution had “significantly faster
declines in cognition”.
Stroke risk
peaked between 12 and 14 hours after levels of air particulates went up. Even on moderate air pollution days, the risk
of stroke was 35% higher. If air pollution was reduced by 20%, some 6000 of
184,000 hospital admissions for stroke would have been prevented in 2007.
Pollution
from road traffic, construction, and industry was found to adversely affect
both short and long term health. The Lancet showed air pollution to be an
important trigger of myocardial infarction of an equal magnitude to physical
exertion alcohol, and coffee.
Coarse as well as fine particles,
can enter the body possibly through the nasal passage and into the brain.
(This obviously raises concerns
about the impact of gas operations on our health, since all facets of the
process significantly pollute the air. An
unregulated industry provides more profits
for the industry, but are increased profits more important than raising
healthier children and protecting our
hearts and brains? Governor Corbett has
answered. jan )
(New studies cast dark cloud
over air pollution, Sharmila Devi http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/vol379no9817/PIIS0140-6736%2812%29X6008-2)
