Westmoreland
Marcellus Citizens’ Group Updates April 11, 2013
* For articles and updates or to just vent, visit us on facebook; https://www.facebook.com/groups/MarcellusWestmorelandCountyPA/
* To view permanent documents, past updates,
reports, general information and meeting information
http://westmorelandmarcellus.blogspot.com/
*
To discuss candidates: http://www.facebook.com/groups/VoteProEarth/
* To contact your state
legislator:
For email
address, click on the envelope under the photo
* For information on the state gas legislation
and local control: http://pajustpowers.org/aboutthebills.html-
Calendar of Events
Sponsor: Earth Day
Network
March begins
Northshore/Allegheny River - rally at PA DEP office
Washington's Landing Pittsburgh, PA
See map: Google Maps
Michael
Krancer is leaving Pennsylvania’s Dept. of Environmental Protection, after two
years as its Secretary. That’s good news! Mr. Krancer has bent DEP into a tool
for the fracking industry. But Gov. Tom Corbett will still choose his
successor.
A state-wide “Day of Action” has been
declared for this Earth Day, April 22, with rallies at each of the PA DEP
regional offices—Harrisburg, Meadville, Norristown, Pittsburgh,
Wilkes-Barre, and Williamsport. The coalition, which already includes 40
environmental organizations & grassroots fracktivist groups, is demanding that DEP fulfill its mission to
“protect Pennsylvania’s air, land and water” and “provide for the health and
safety of its citizens.”
In
Pittsburgh, we’ll march to the DEP office on Washington’s Landing, beginning
from the North Shore Trail along the Allegheny River. The march is scheduled to
begin at 2:00pm, on Monday, April 22, with a rally to follow at DEP.
For updates, and details about actions across Pennsylvania,
email info@shadbushcollective.org or check our calendar at
www.marcellusprotest.org
***Special Earth Day Fair - Renewable Energy
St Vincent College- Sunday , April 21, 12-4 pm and talk at 4 pm
Commercial providers of many renewable systems will be at
SVC
See details at SVC web site and Winnie Palmer web site
***Earth Day at Ligonier UU Church, Rt
30- April 14 Jan will talk about
fracking, Earth Day music 10:30 am
TAKE ACTION !!
***Call for
Moratorium in PA-Link Provided
It's
time to stop the frack attack in Pennsylvania.
The
gas industry has gotten away with far too much for far too long, and the
pressure is on to put a moratorium on drilling that would protect the entire
state.
The moratorium would mean a
full stop to drilling; at least until a comprehensive study can show that
fracking is definitely safe for Pennsylvania's communities and climate. It
would also mean critical breathing room for the parts of the state that have
been overrun with drilling in the past few years.
Organizations
from across PA have gathered 85,000 signatures in support of a stop to
drilling, and the goal is to reach 100,000 before delivering them to the Governor
at the end of this month.
Can you add your name to the
call for a halt to fracking in Pennsylvania? Governor Corbett signed a fracking moratorium
that protects only a small part of the state, but we know that drilling is
leaving its mark in many more places.
That limited moratorium came as a
result of powerful pressure from the grassroots movement in Pennsylvania.
Hitting 100,000 names in support of a stop to drilling would be an important
symbol and put notable pressure on leaders in the statehouse to take action.
(The folks at PennEnvironment who have been leading this effort say that
100,000 signatures would make it the biggest petition in the state in decades)
The stakes are crystal clear for
Pennsylvania and the planet: the International Energy Agency has said that
allowing the fracking boom to continue would warm the earth by a catastrophic 4
degrees Celsius. A moratorium on drilling is the first step towards a renewable
energy future that Pennsylvania deserves.
.Thanks
for everything,
Linda From: Linda Capato - 350.org
Click here to add your name, and let's keep putting the pressure on
***Write letters to Assoc. Press About
Bias of AP Reporter Kevin Begos
Begos is
the AP natural gas reporter. The vast
majority of his reports have a clear pro industry slant.
This is the email address I found for AP: info@ap.org
And if
you receive a local paper that publishes Begos, please write a letter to your
news editor complaining about Begos’ column. I cancelled my subscription to the
Latrobe Bulletin because of this AP reporter.
(See my letter, last item)
Frack Links
***Environmental
Justice Film Series:
The Price of Sand and Triple
Divide.
Please
visit:
EnvironmentalJusticeTMC.blogspot.com
For
additional information contact: Wanda Guthrie 412-596-0066 or email:
environment@thomasmertoncenter.org
The Price of Sand:
Saturday evening, April 20, 7pm Saturday evening, The Episcopal Church
of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Avenue (Squirrel Hill Community) 15217
In parts of rural Wisconsin,
the presence of sand mines is something you can feel, smell or taste. The presence of those mines and the trucks
hauling its powdery sands toward natural gas drilling sites has been
devastating. The sand is an essential ingredient in the fracking process.
Sand,
fracking, and health : It has been tough for residents of Pennsylvania to prove
that natural gas production is harmful to health. It has been equally difficult
for our Midwest neighbors to convince
the public of the health hazards posed by the frack sand mining.
Triple Divide:
Monday evening, April 29, 7pm, 5401 Centre Ave Pittsburgh, PA (Shadyside Community)15232
Through personal stories, experts
and public documents, Triple Divide tells a cautionary tale about the
consequences of fracking, including contamination of water, air and land;
intimidation and harassment of citizens; loss of property, investments and
standard of living; weak and under enforced state regulations; decay of public
trust; illness; fragmentation of Pennsylvania’s last stands of core forest; and
lack of protection over basic human rights.
The film begins at one of only
four triple continental divides on the North American continent in Potter
County, Pennsylvania, where everything is downstream. From this peak, rain is
sent to three sides of the continent—the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada,
Chesapeake Bay on the eastern seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. This vast water
basin is drained by three major rivers—the Allegheny, Genesee and Susquehanna.
These waterways rank among the most coveted trout streams in the U.S., helping
to create a regenerative tourism economy upon which locals have depended for
generations. At this “watershed moment” in Pennsylvania’s history, which way
will the future flow?
The documentary filmmakers,
Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman, will lead a question and answer session.
***New Outstanding Video by Geomicrobiologist Yuri Gorby
15 Minutes
Excellent short video to pass on. Includes Raina Rippel,
Carol Moten, Randy Moyer, Rep. Jesse White, Ron Gulla, the Headleys. Families and workers discuss health problems.
***Watch Triple
Divide Online for 13 Days
The
filmmakers of Triple Divide, a new investigative documentary co-narrated
by actor Mark Ruffalo, will host an Online Premiere between April 8th and 20th.
For a $5 donation, online users can watch the film for 48 hours at rent.tripledividefilm.org.
This
18-month, cradle-to-grave investigation by Public Herald, an investigative news
nonprofit co-founded by journalists Joshua Pribanic and Melissa Troutman,
features uncovered state documents, never before seen interviews with industry
giants and advocates, exclusive reports with impacted landowners, and expert
testimonies.
With stunning
cinematography, the film reveals how state regulators are using compliance as a
means of “regulating” without enforcing the law, abandoning the public and
environment in the wake of shale gas development.
Triple Divide’s title represents
one of only four Triple Continental Divides in North America, a place that
provides drinking water to millions of Americans and feeds rivers that reach
three separate sides of the continent. It signals to the audience that
everything, and everyone, is downstream from shale gas extraction.
Organizations
United for The Environment call it the “best documentary on fracking, ever!”
Writer Elizabeth Hoffman said,
“Troutman and Pribanic document several cases of people sickened by fracking...violations
with no consequences...drillers proceeding without authorization...drillers
with violations nevertheless getting new permits...[and] scientists raising
serious questions about the whole mess.”
Judy Bear, a water well driller
and the first female director of Pennsylvania Groundwater Association, provides
her insight in Triple Divide and asks what should concern every citizen: “Who
is protecting the residents of this state if our own state is not willing to do
it?”
Note:
Screeners of the film are available for those wishing to write a review.
From
the Offices of Public Herald Nonprofit Investigative News
Website:
www.publicherald.org
For
more information contact:
Apr Editor-in-chief and Triple Divide filmmaker
Joshua B. Pribanic
joshua@publicherald.org,
419-202-8503
Investigative
fracking documentary available April 8 thru 20
*** ‘Fracking
& Public Health’ on You Tube
Seminar held at St. Vincent
College in Latrobe, Pa
***To sign up for notifications of activity and violations for
your area:
***Headley Story on
WTAE
***List of Harmed Now on Fracktracker
***New link for Carol Jean Moten interview on YouTube-from bob
“This was taken off
of YouTube last week by unknown persons. It went viral in Australia, Ireland,
England & facebook. Now it’s back in the USA. This was filmed in Avella, Washington County,
Pa. The same illnesses are shown in Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana,
Arkansas, Oklahoma and other areas around the world where fracking is being
done.”
Frack News
***Vacancies on Derry Area Boards
According to the Latrobe Bulletin there are 4 vacancies on Derry Borough
governing boards including zoning boards. Good people are needed on these local
boards.
***Notes from Recent Meeting
Dr David Brown of SW
PA Environmental Health Project-at St Vincent
Natural Gas Operations and Infant Health
Study -Elaine
Hill
(I don’t think the following study has been peer
reviewed as of yet, but Dr Brown has made the point in repeated lectures that
it is the mission of public heath officials to look at assessments and
interviews with residents who experience health problems to determine a course
of action to prevent further illness. Public health officials cannot wait on
long- term studies and research results before they take action to protect
public health. Jan)
**This paper
provides estimates of the effects of natural gas operations on infant health—Low
Birth Weight and APgar scores
“There
are no other known studies, to date, linking NGO directly to human health at
this scale. These results suggest that
natural gas wells close to pregnant mothers’ residences increased Low Birth
Weight and reduced 5 minute APGAR scores by 26% points and more than one standard
deviation, respectively when compared to pregnant mothers’ residences that
are close to a future well (permit). These impacts are large, but not
implausible given the estimates found in the literature for LBW. The estimates
for 5 minute APGAR scores are similar in magnitude to those found by Almond et
al. (2005) for mothers who smoked in utero.”
The study: http://paa2012.princeton.edu/papers/121180
**There are no federal MCLs (maximum contaminant levels) set
for most of the chemicals being found near wells
**Measurements are often being averaged, which is not
applicable since humans are exposed to the highs and lows of emissions, not an
average. It is the peak measurements we need to know.
** Measurements of toxins can vary enormously depending on
various factors including wind. A measurement at ½ mile from a compressor
station can go from 5 to 444 ug depending on air and wind.
**There is not a government registry of health effects from
gas operations.
1. DEP To Begin Testing for
Radioactivity
“The PA
DEP will begin testing for radioactivity in waste products from natural gas
well drilling.
The
study also will test radiation levels for the equipment involved in the
transportation, storage and disposal of drilling wastes.
“We are sampling the wastewater and wastes,
the treatment equipment used to treat it, the trucks used to transport it, the
tanks and pits used to store it and the landfills or treatment plants used to
dispose of it,” said DEP spokesman Kevin Sunday.
According
to DEP data regarding the study, among the substances to be tested for are
Radium-226, Radium-228, Uranium-238, Uranium-235, Uranium-234, Thorium-232,
Radon-220 and Radon-222.
Gov. Tom
Corbett’s announcement Jan. 24 of the DEP’s plan to study radiation in natural
gas drilling wastewater came on the heels of extensive questioning by
Shalereporter.com regarding radioactivity in fracking wastewater, regulation of
the wastewater’s transport and the potential health effects of exposure to fracking
wastewater, all issues covered in the series “Under the Radar,” which was
published beginning Jan. 25.
Before
it announced the study, the DEP had consistently denied radiation in fracking
waste was even an issue. The agency told
Shalereporter.com in past interviews that it did not measure radium
concentrations or activities in brine, did not believe the potentially
radioactive water was making its way into waterways, and that it was the sole
entity in charge of the “handling, transport, disposal, storage and recycling
of brine,” despite the fact that it did not measure the brine for elevated
levels of radiation.
The
regulatory agency also previously said it was “not aware of any evidence to
suggest flowback contains dangerous amounts of radiation,” despite several
reports to the contrary by environmental groups and one by the U.S. Geological
Survey.
Despite
plans to study the issue, the DEP maintains that radiation in relation to
natural gas drilling does not pose a health risk.
The DEP
also said in the release that it “routinely reviews radioactivity data in
wastes that the drilling industry and other industries generate, and the
information obtained to date indicates very low levels of natural
radioactivity.”
Radiation levels in fracking wastewater
were first addressed in a December 2011 U.S. Geological Survey report that
found that millions of barrels of wastewater from unconventional wells in
Pennsylvania and conventional wells in New York were 3,609 times more
radioactive than the federal limit for drinking water and 300 times more
radioactive than a Nuclear Regulatory Commission limit for nuclear plant
discharges.
The
report’s author, USGS research geologist Mark Engle, said fracking flowback
from the Marcellus shale contains higher radiation levels than similar shale
formations.
“There
(isn’t) a lot of data but in general, the Marcellus appears to be anomalously
high,” Engle said in a previous interview.
The USGS
is still studying the issue, sampling wastewater from all types of oil and gas
wells in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, North Dakota and Montana.”
“So just what will be
tested for radioactivity?
Below are some of the major places from which samples will
be taken in the DEP’s study of radioactivity in relation to oil and gas
development:
• Twenty-two of the state’s largest Marcellus shale wastewater
treatment plants
• Drill cuttings
• Onsite pits containing drill cuttings
• Production water
• Fracking wastewater
• Compressed gas lines
• Well pads
• Centralized impoundments
• Wastewater facility sludge
• Wastewater facility influent and effluent water
• Drilling mud
• Drilling equipment,
• Treatment solids and sediments at well pads
• Landfill leachate
• Compressor stations
• Storage tanks
• Trucks
• Drill rigs”
By Rachel Morgan Shalereporter.com
2. Supreme Court Vacancy and Act
13
(KDKA) — “The impact
of the conviction and resignation of former Justice Joan Orie Melvin is already
being felt with a stalled decision on a matter of vital importance.
“This affects the health, safety and
welfare of our communities. It protects the children,” said Deron Gabriel, the
commissioner of South Fayette.
Act
13, which says that oil and gas rights trump local zoning codes, would allow
drilling within 300 feet
of residential neighborhoods and schools like South Fayette Elementary.
Without
Melvin, justices on the court have
hinted that they are deadlocked 3 to 3 on this case and others. Gabriel is
concerned a governor-appointed justice will tip the balance in favor of the
act.
“Our biggest fear is that the process would
allow for essentially case-fixing or tampering by the governor where he would
appoint a seventh justice to get a result that he wanted in the case,” said
Gabriel.
“What
this does is establish a very clear, concise, consistent standard across
Pennsylvania,” said Steve Forde, of the Marcellus Coalition.
The shale gas industry, which supported the legislation,
argues that Act 13 actually strengthens protections by increasing setback
distances and imposing impact fees.
But in this case, a tie means a victory for
the opponents of Act 13. And they are calling on their legislators to have
the case decided now.
“They
can demand that the pending cases be decided and released prior to an
appointment being confirmed,” Garbriel said.
But
right now, everything is on hold awaiting the governor’s appointment and
awaiting whether that new justice can decide this very important case.”
And
from Citizens’ Voice
http://citizensvoice.com/news/cooperation-needed-for-high-court-nominee-1.1465695
“Convicted
last month of corruption charges, Melvin announced her resignation this week to
spare herself an impeachment proceeding to remove her from office.
Gov. Tom Corbett said he will nominate an interim justice to
fill the vacancy until January 2016 when a successor elected in 2015 would take
office.
The governor's nominee will need
a two-thirds vote or 34 senators to get confirmed. This means a measure of
bipartisan cooperation is needed. Republicans control the chamber 27-23 with
Democrats in the minority. That means at least seven Democrats must vote yes if
all the GOP senators go along with Corbett's nominee.
The
Supreme Court is currently split 3-3 along party lines with major cases
involving the 2014 reapportionment of state legislative seats, the fate of the
voter identification law and local government zoning jurisdiction under the
natural gas drilling impact fee law before it. The last two cases involve
polarizing issues that have attracted considerable public interest.”
3.
Energy Nominee Ernest Moniz Criticized for Ties to Industry
“Congress will review the Obama Administration's nomination of Ernest Moniz for
Secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE) in hearings that start April 9.
Moniz has come
under fire for his outspoken support of nuclear power,hydraulic fracturing
("fracking") for shale gas, and the overarching
"all-of-the-above" energy policy advocated by both President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent in the
last election, Mitt Romney.
Watchdogs have
also discovered that Moniz has worked as a long-time corporate consultant for BP. He has also
received the "frackademic" label for
his time spent at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At his MIT
job, Moniz regularly accepted millions of dollars from the oil and gas industry
to sponsor studies under the auspices of The MIT Energy Initiative, which has received over $145 million over its seven-year
history from the oil and gas industry.
MIT's "The Future of Natural Gas" report,
covered by many mainstream media outlets without any effort to question who
bankrolled it, was funded chiefly by
the American, a front group for the shale gas industry's number two domestic
producer, Chesapeake Energy. That report concluded that gas is a "bridge
fuel" for a renewable energy future and said that shale gas exports were
in the best economic interests of the United States, which should "not erect barriers to natural gas
imports and exports."
As first revealed
on DeSmogBlog, Moniz is also on the Board of
Directors of ICF International, one of the three corporate consulting firms
tasked to perform the Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (SEIS) for TransCanada's Keystone XL (KXL) tar
sands pipeline. KXL is slated to bring tar sands - also known as diluted bitumen
from Alberta to Port Arthur, TX, where it will be sold to the highest bidder on
the global export market.
If he receives
congressional confirmation, this means Moniz will jump ship from his ICF Board
of Directors position and have the final say over DOE LNG export decisions. “
4. Judge Says Obama Violated the Law In CA
“ A federal judge has ruled that the Obama Administration violated the law when
it issued oil leases in Monterey County, Calif., without considering the
environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. The
ruling came in response to a suit brought by the Center for Biological
Diversity and the Sierra Club, challenging a September 2011 decision by the
federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to auction off about 2,500 acres of
land in southern Monterey County to oil companies.
“This important decision recognizes that fracking poses new, unique
risks to California’s air, water and wildlife that government agencies can’t
ignore,” said Brendan Cummings, senior counsel at the Center for Biological
Diversity, who argued the case for the plaintiffs. “This is a watershed
moment—the first court opinion to find a federal lease sale invalid for failing
to address the monumental dangers of fracking.”
Fracking employs
huge volumes of water mixed with sand and toxic chemicals to blast open rock
formations and extract oil and gas. The controversial technique is already
being used in hundreds—perhaps thousands—of California oil and gas wells. Oil
companies are aggressively trying to frack the Monterey Shale, which stretches
from the northern San Joaquin Valley into Los Angeles County, and west to the
coast. Extracting this oil will certainly require more fracking in California.”
5. Sierra Club, Earthworks, Delaware Riverkeeper,
and Others Petition DOE on Exporting Gas
“Today,
the Sierra Club and a list of environmental coalition partners have filed a
petition with the Department of Energy (DOE) to revise the nearly
30-year-old policy guidelines for approving natural gas exports. The
petition urges the DOE to establish new regulations or guidance, defining how
the DOE will review and approve applications to develop liquefied natural gas
(LNG) export terminals.
Organizations
that have signed the petition include Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, Center
for Biological Diversity, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earthworks, Environment
America, Friends of the Earth and Rogue Riverkeeper.
The
LNG export applications now before the DOE will significantly alter the shape
of American energy policy if granted even in substantial part, and have the
potential to make the U.S. one of the largest exporters of natural gas in the
world.
The Sierra Club and its
coalition partners are asking the DOE to open a public comment process in
which citizens and experts can generate dialogue, contribute critical
feedback and provide proposals on how to best revise the outdated policy
guidelines.
“The
U.S. has never before exported substantial quantities of natural gas beyond
North America, said Deb Nardone, director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Natural Gas
campaign. “Exporting natural gas will have serious implications for public
health, the environment and climate change. It is imperative that the DOE takes
this matter seriously and engages in an open dialogue with the public to
determine if exports really are for the good of the people.”
Members
of the environmental coalition want the DOE to ensure that the updated
policy guidelines are fully informed by transparent and thorough economic and
environmental assessments, which the Natural Gas Act and National Environmental
Policy Act require. The coalition says that the recent economic study
produced last December by NERA Consulting was flawed and should be rejected due
to its lack of completed assessments.”
6. Why The Compressor Station
Permitting Process Doesn’t’ Work
Barto Compressor Station Exceeds Pollution Standards
The
Clean Air Council has conducted a study of the Barto Compression Station in
Penn Township, Lycoming County. The study finds the station is creating pollution concentrations nearly
three times the amount allowed under the federal health-based air quality
standards.
Back
in 2011, Chief Gathering and Williams each had plans to each construct
compressor stations and metering stations approximately 1,500 ft from the
Dallas, PA school campus. There are 5 schools, K-12, on the campus where
over 3,000 children attend, plus the few hundred people who work in the
schools. The campus is located in a residential area.
The proposed compressor/metering stations would have been located near people’s
homes.
Parents
and taxpayers of Dallas were understandably concerned, and with the assistance
of GDAC formed a citizens group to stop the construction. During
the hearings, it was agreed town officials, and PA House/Senate legislators for
this district would take a tour of a compressor station. Originally the
tour was to be of the Barto Station. At the last minute it was changed,
and the officials toured a nice clean and quiet station instead. In fact,
the station was shut down for “maintenance” at the time of the tour.
Chief
Gathering withdrew its proposal for the compressor station, as did Williams and
constructed them in next door Wyoming County. There is one metering
station operated by Williams, in the backyard of residents in the area.
The Barto station started out with 1 building
and 3 compressors. This is how the creeping compressors
begin. A natural gas corporation applies for a DEP permit for 3-4
compressors. Because of the size and number of compressors, it
usually falls under what DEP calls a “minor pollutant” and the regulations are
less strict.
Next, the natural gas corporation
applies for a second permit for another 3-4 compressors. Because each
permit is viewed as separate, this second permit also falls under the “minor
pollutant” standards. The DEP does not upgrade to “major pollutant”
level even though the number of compressors at a single location has increased.
EACH PERMIT IS VIEWED AND ASSESSED SEPARATELY. From
there, a 3rd, 4th etc
permits are approved, with each just falling under the threshold and are
approved as minor pollutants.
The Barto station now has 2 buildings with a total of 14
compressors (7 in each building), 9 of which are operational, and it is assumed
the remaining 5 are back-ups.
Clean Air Council The Barto Compressor Station in Penn
Township, Lycoming County is creating pollution concentrations nearly three
times the amount allowed under the federal health-based air quality standards.
Recent modeling results show that the compressor station, which pressurizes
natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale to achieve the desired flow
along pipelines, is on
its own causing nitrogen dioxide pollution 278 percent over the National
Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The modeling shows that exceedances can be measured a
mile away from the station. Emission of oxides of nitrogen must be
reduced by up to 76 percent in order to stay below unhealthful levels.
The
Barto Compressor Station, owned and operated by Chief Gathering, LLC, consists
of nine compressor engines. Oxides of nitrogen are formed by fuel combustion
within the engines. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set a new
1-hour nitrogen dioxide NAAQS in
January 2010. The standard was
established at a level determined to protect the public from adverse health
effects associated with short-term exposure to elevated levels of oxides of
nitrogen. Health impacts include increased asthma symptoms, difficult
controlling asthma and increases in respiratory illnesses. Furthermore,
nitrogen dioxide contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone which can
trigger a variety of health problems.
Clean
Air Council has repeatedly requested that the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection (PA DEP) require modeling for larger compressor
stations to ensure that they do not cause pollution that will exceed the
federal health-based standard in nearby areas. PA DEP, however, responds
that because these sources are classified as “minor sources” of emissions they
are not required to perform modeling and that by virtue of being a minor source
the facility will not impact the NAAQS. However, while modeling is not
required for a minor source, Pennsylvania law gives PA DEP ample authority to
request modeling. This recent modeling study makes clear that these “minor
sources” are having a major impact on local air quality and PA DEP must address
this serious pollution.
The
natural gas industry from drilling to compressor stations, dehydration plants,
and pipelines are impacting all of us. We are all downstream and
downwind.”
7. EPA's Preliminary TRI Data for 2011 Show Increase in
Releases From Prior Year-The Gas Industry Does not Have to Report This Data
From environmentalhealthnews.org
(It is clear that it would be of value to have this data
from the gas industry on chemicals released and transferred. Again, they are
exempt. Jan)
The EPA has issued
its most recent set of preliminary data on toxic chemical releases and
transfers at industrial facilities nationwide, with the data showing an
increase in releases for 2011.
The public can now
access all of the data reported to the Toxics Release Inventory for Jan. 1 to
Dec. 31, 2011. The inventory provides information on toxic chemicals produced
and used at industrial facilities and how they are managed, through the online
tools Envirofacts and TRI
Explorer.
Current data in TRI
Explorer show that total on- and off-site releases increased from 3.8 billion
pounds in 2010 to 4.1 billion pounds in 2011.
Latest List Includes New Chemicals.
The preliminary data for 2011 set included information from 20,927
facilities on 513 chemicals.
Sixteen of the chemicals,
classified as carcinogens by the National Toxicology Program, were reported to TRI for the first time in
2011 (34 CRR 1145, 11/29/10).
The new chemicals are: 1-amino-2,4-dibromoanthraquinone; 2,2-bis(bromomethyl)-1,3-propanediol;
furan; glycidol; isoprene; methyleugenol; 1,6-dinitropyrene; 1,8-dinitropyrene;
6-nitrochrysene; 4-nitropyrene; o-nitroanisole; nitromethane; phenolphthalein;
tetrafluoroethylene, tetranitromethane; and vinyl fluoride.
Releases and transfers of
reported carcinogens have doubled since 2008, while those of persistent,
bio-accumulative, and toxic compounds (PBTs) have risen by about one-third.
Manufacturing, metal
mining, coal mining, electric utilities, and commercial hazardous waste
treatment facilities are among the 26 industries that must report to TRI. EPA
is considering adding reporting requirements for iron ore mining, phosphate
mining, solid waste combustors and incinerators, large dry cleaners, petroleum
bulk storage, and steam generation from coal or oil (36 CRR 75, 1/16/12).
The metal mining
industry, which usually accounts for the largest share of toxics reported by
industries, became an even larger contributor to the inventory in 2011,
reaching 46 percent of total releases, according to the latest data. In 2008,
metal mining made up 30 percent of total releases.
EPA expects to release a National Analysis for 2011 TRI data in EPA's
Toxics Release Inventory reporting tool Envirofacts is available at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/facts/tri/search.html.
Letter to Editor,
Re: Kevin Begos
AP
Editor-Energy
I cancelled my subscription
to the Latrobe Bulletin, a newspaper I have enjoyed tremendously, due to the
inadequate and biased reporting of Kevin Begos on hydraulic fracturing. I ask that you please replace him with a
journalist who is able to present news that balances the benefit of profit
versus the deleterious effects of drilling on environment, property rights, and
health. I do not know if the problem is Kevin Begos or a general AP position on
drilling. I will provide a few examples of skewed writing by Begos. I have seen
other on- line comments by readers disgusted with Begos’s reporting. (I have
also quoted a few lines from a letter to the editor by Stephen Luffy of Latrobe
PA)
Begos wrote of environmental
organizations that were considering supporting fracking, quoting the benefits
of drilling. He wrote nothing of the
numerous organizations such as Clean Water Action, Mountain Watershed, Penn
Environment, NRDC, (there are many more) that have serious concerns regarding
hydraulic fracturing as one of the most toxic industrial operations to invade
Pennsylvania communities.
Begos quoted PennFuture’s statement that gas
powered plants burn cleaner, but
twisted that to a claim that gas results in improved overall air quality: “natural gas is having a positive effect on
air quality”. He omitted any testimony from scientists who state unequivocally
that gas operations will increase serious health and environmental problems in
areas fractured for gas.
Begos wrote about the Duke
University brine migration study, interpreting it as a vindication of the
industry. The headline of his article read,
“Drilling Did Not Contaminate Drinking Water Wells”, emphasizing that
the brine examined was not from fracking. But he ignored important data that
was actually the headline of other news articles:
“ But there
is concern that the presence of the brine suggests there are "natural pathways" leading up to
aquifers from far below the surface, and that these pathways might allow gases
from shale-gas wells to put drinking-water supplies at risk.”
Begos cited sources that denied any basis for
linking Texas gas facility pollution to breast cancer increases, writing that
there were virtually no reports available that indicated an increase in breast
cancer. . He did not cite sources that did
point to a link.
From the Denton Record Chronicle:
“According to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality's 2010 inventory of gas production equipment in the 24
counties of the Barnett Shale, the same six counties with rising rates of
invasive breast cancer also have the highest count of compressors, separators,
tanks and other above-ground points of emissions”. While not proof of
causation, this data raised concerns.
Begos also takes issue with
reports on air pollution from gas operations, arguing that coal plants emit more
pollution than gas-powered plants.
Apples and oranges. Begos ignores
irrefutable data about pollution from total
gas operations i.e., wells, compressor stations, processing plants, valves,
and condensate tanks. Combined, these
facilities, being built near homes and schools, produce huge amounts of toxic
air pollution: thousands of pounds of nitrogen oxide, VOCs, and disease-
causing chemicals like benzene, toluene, and formaldehyde.
When AP covered shale waste being
moved by barge in Pittsburgh the reporter, this unsigned article, did quote
Clean Water Action. The reporter then
quoted John Jack of GreenHunter Water as saying “nobody told us that we couldn’t move shale wastewater by barge.“ The AP reporter left out an important
clarifying quote that other news sources carried- that is the quote from the
Coast Guard stating unequivocally that moving the waste by barge was illegal:
“CMDR Roldan of the Coast Guard, noted that current regulations are
confusing but said, “No they’re not allowed. You may want to tell them before
we catch them.” (Post Gazette, Emily Demarco)
When Begos covered information
from Carnegie Mellon researchers on water quality problems in the Mon River
that may have been linked to drilling, he wrote an entire article about how the
problem was disappearing but never included data that the very same researchers
released noting that the Allegheny is having conductivity problems.
Here’s that story from another
source: “The good news is that bromine
levels in the Monongahela have decreased significantly, bromine content being a
direct marker for disposed fracking wastewater. As reported by Carnegie Mellon researchers, the same was not true for the water in the Allegheny River, suggesting
that dumping of untreated frack water is still occurring north of Pittsburgh. The bad news is that there are as many
as 200,000 abandoned gas wells in Pennsylvania, and they can provide pathways
for methane gas released by fresh drilling to leak to the surface, as happened
at a Shell operation in June. Problem is, DEP does not know where all these old
wells are.”
The shale news Begos reports is
almost always positive, for example,
“Billions in Gas drilling Royalties Transform Lives.” But the negative side of those reports and
other critical issues receive little or no coverage: local zoning destroyed by
the industry, community groups fighting for their rights, farmers report sick
cattle, numerous violations not receiving fines, property values negatively
affected, families’ health affected- the now common frack rash, nosebleeds, and
other health problems which arose after drilling started ( The list of those
harmed in PA has now reached over 800 individuals). Readers have to look to the
Post Gazette’s Don Hopey, Pro Publica, Alternet, EWire, and other sources to
find that news.
I quote this from another reader who wrote of
Begos’s bias: “Readers should expect fair and accurate information from
reporters who are paid to do their homework.
Sound, unbiased reporting can serve to help achieve better regulation of
the industry and justice for residents working to preserve their communities.”
What we are getting is poor journalism without the data checks and
investigation readers expect from AP news.
Sincerely
Jan
Milburn
Letter to the Editor Re: Hallowich
April 10,
2013 - Gas industry shills, as witnessed in the 4/9 Letter from Mr. Garcia;
“Media leap to assumptions about Marcellus health impacts” are desperate to
squash any news of sick families being created by Marcellus Shale gas production.
We have known the Hallowich family since 2009 and know firsthand of their
plight after being surrounded by gas production facilities in their own toxic
‘Gasland.’ Their young daughter awoke at night with unusual nosebleeds, both
children looked sickly, and much more. Hardly “baseless claims” as energy
industry employed Mr. Garcia implies. Their health issues were real and greed
was not a factor, while moving their family away from the toxins was a doctor
recommended top priority. Hopefully everyday citizens will see this as another
industry ploy to destroy good people’s reputations while pulling the wool over
your eyes. After all, gas production is filthy business.
Robert Donnan
Bob was
responding to a letter to the editor. Excerpt: “The recently unsealed documents
include an affidavit from the homeowners that "there is presently no
medical evidence" to support their own prior statements to the gullible
media about health impacts ("Newspapers Seek Release of Shale Settlement,"
March 23). The affidavit also explicitly states that the children "are
healthy and have no symptoms that may allegedly be related" to nearby
natural gas development.” DAN GARCIA
O'Hara
Westmoreland
Marcellus Citizen’s Group—Mission
Statement
To raise the public’s general awareness and
understanding of the impacts of Marcellus drilling on the natural environment,
health, and long-term economies of local communities.
Officers:
President-Jan Milburn
Treasurer-Wanda Guthrie
Secretary-Ron Nordstrom
Facebook Coordinator-Elizabeth Nordstrom
Blogsite –April Jackman
Science Subcommittee-Dr. Cynthia Walter
To remove your name from our list please put “remove name from list’ in
the subject line
