Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group Updates August
22, 2013
* For articles and updates or to just vent, visit us on facebook;
* 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-
Thank you to Bob Donnan, Debbie
Borowiec, Marian Szmyd and others who contribute to this newsletter. jan
Volunteer!—Hand Out Flyers at County Fair
In an effort to get information to a wider
population base in Westmoreland County we are going to hand materials out at
the County Fair on Friday at 7pm. We are
going to meet at the entrance of the main gate.
Join us if you can! Time
commitment is up to you. Stay for 30 minutes
or stay for two hours. Please be advised
to bring a satchel to carry materials in for your comfort! The fair is at the County Fair
Grounds. If you have trouble finding us,
or the fair, call Jan 412-298-3476 or Kathryn 803-646-8243. For those interested some of us may stay to
go in the fair after we’ve passed out materials, everyone is welcome to join in
this!
For
the sake of conserving gas, don’t feel obligated to attend if you live far from
Unity! If you would like to do a mass
dispersal of information at an event near you, contact Kathryn@mtwatershed.com
to arrange!
TAKE ACTION!!
***Constituents of Senator Don White
(and non-constituents affected by his leadership):
Mountain Watershed Assoc. has a meeting with Sen. White next Wednesday,
Aug. 28th to discuss the issues outlined below. Originally this was focused on
Ferlo’s moratorium legislation but we are now just focusing on “solutions” to the problems listed and
leaving the moratorium bill out of it for now.
We need *you* to call and request
a meeting. White’s office not only has a tiny space but we only have ½ an hour,
11-11:30 on Wed. Aug 28th with him and his staff. I asked when the senator would
be back in Murrysville; the secretary said it depended on requests. So –
Constituents:
PLEASE CALL (866) 736-9448 ASAP and tell the secretary if
you had planned to attend a meeting for constituents with Mountain Watershed
Association and say you understand there is only 30 minutes, but that isn’t
enough time to meet with the senator so can you have another meeting. Suggest
he make time to meet with all constituents concerned about the issue of
dangerous, fast-paced, and unfair shale gas development at once due to the
ever-increasing encroachment of industrial activity that comes with huge
health, safety, and environmental risks.
Non-constituents:
PLEASE CALL (866) 736-9448 ASAP and tell the secretary you
had planned to attend a meeting on Aug. 28th with Mountain Watershed
Association but understand there is only 30 minutes, but that isn’t enough time
to meet with the senator so can you have another meeting. Note that you’re not
a constituent but are affected by the Senator’s leadership. Suggest he make
time to meet with all who are impacted by his work regarding the shale gas
development, aka fracking.
We seek solutions to these
growing issues:
*Permits issued for this activity exceed the
state’s capacity to adequately protect the environment and public. Mountain
Watershed Association recently attended a meeting with heads of Pennsylvania’s
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
One recurring answer to our inquiries about DEP policy and procedures for
oil and gas impacts occurring throughout shale-field communities was, ‘We don’t
have the capacity (time and budget).’
*Unresolved
injustice. MWA responds to citizen complaints of impact such as water
contamination. Several cases we work on, as well as many others, are still
unresolved and citizens are unjustly bearing the burdens created by others.
Until an adequate, rapid response system is in place at the state or federal
level, we do not support continuing down the same path that has created these
impacts and will only continue to create more.
*Toxic
secrets. The oil and gas industry enjoys exemptions from our most stringent
environmental laws. Operators are still not required by law to disclose the
specific contents of the toxic cocktails used for their ‘slickwater, horizontal
hydraulic fracturing.’ Without full disclosure of chemicals, the public cannot
be adequately protected and testing standards for soil, air, water, and food
cannot be properly updated. In addition,
this is an unconstitutional special treatment of one industry allowing them to
withhold information that belongs to the public. Ultimately, allowing toxic
mixtures to be hidden from communities does not promote the economic health of
the Commonwealth nor the physical health of the people living here.
*Unbalanced
priorities. There is no comprehensive plan for the full-scale implementation of
shale gas infrastructure across Pennsylvania, even though Dr. Terry Engelder of Penn State University (the
‘Godfather’ of the Marcellus Shale’) says himself that shale gas will consume
about 50% of PA’s land mass over the course of development. There are no
environmental or health impact studies on the effects of shale gas extraction
in Pennsylvania. Our state seems to value profits over proactive, principled
common sense values. Pushing ‘Pause’ on fracking provides time to assess and
adjust.
FYI
- The secretary couldn’t understand why anyone would want to drive to Indiana
to meet with him (some of you offered to carpool to Indiana) if they were from
Westmoreland. I finally said, “Why would people want to talk to their elected
official so badly?” She kept saying, “Well, are these people all constituents?
They should be meeting with their own senators.” I replied, “These are
constituents.” Her: “Well we’ve never heard from them before.” Me: “Well, as
development encroaches on more and more backyards, more and more people have a
need to talk to their senator.”
Please
call!
Melissa
***Tell DEP-- You
want more input on environmental permits
DEP
proposed participation policy does not apply
to DEP general permits, permits by rule, and other permits that are not
published in the PA Bulletin. This policy continues the status quo of the
unacceptable lack of public input on many permits and projects that have far-reaching
and substantial impacts on the environment and our communities.
An example of a permit that does not
require publication in PA Bulletin is the drilling permit for a natural gas
well. Wells are drilled and entire regions get built out with gas well pads,
pipelines, and their infrastructure without public involvement in the permit
process and without public awareness of how a region can be affected.
Please
write PADEP and tell them you want MORE participation in the permits it issues
because the present sorry state of affairs is unacceptable!
Send a letter today with a click. Deadline for comments in Tuesday, August 27, close of business. Comments must include the originator's name and address or they will not be accepted by PADEP.
Send a letter today with a click. Deadline for comments in Tuesday, August 27, close of business. Comments must include the originator's name and address or they will not be accepted by PADEP.
***Stop Fracking
of Public Lands
From Breast Cancer Action
“Do
public lands in the U.S. really belong to you and me? If they do, shouldn’t we
have a say in how they are used – especially if the decision could be harmful
to public health?
The
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is
considering new regulations that will allow private companies to drill and
frack for oil and gas on public lands. We say: NO WAY.
We
will not stand idly by while our government allows private companies to drill
public lands and pump it full of chemicals that harm our health.
Fracking on public lands jeopardizes drinking water across
the country -- from Washington to West Virginia, from Montana to Florida. Each
time a new well is fracked, tens of thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals,
including known human carcinogens and endocrine disruptors, are pumped deep
underground to force oil or natural gas to the surface.
Take
action right now so President Obama hears our message loud and clear: Ban
Fracking on Our Public Lands!
There’s
no un-contaminating our water supply. Now’s the time for us to act – together.
Annie Sartor, Policy and Campaigns Coordinator, Breast
Cancer Action”
***Ask Pres. Obama to Resume Fracking Studies
From Food and Water Watch
“Last
week, there was breaking news from EPA whistle-blowers that in 2012 the EPA abandoned an investigation of
fracking-related water contamination in Dimock, Pennsylvania after an EPA staff
member raised the flag that it was likely caused by fracking¹.
There's
an unfortunate trend here, because they've also abandoned their
fracking-related water contamination investigations in Pavillion, Wyoming² and
Weatherford, Texas³. This is
unbelievable, and totally unacceptable.
Will
you join me today in calling on President Obama and his new EPA administrator
Gina McCarthy to immediately reopen these investigations and deliver safe
drinking water to the residents of these communities while the investigations
commence?
Thanks
for taking action,
Sarah Alexander, Deputy Organizing Director, Food & Water Watch”
Frack Links
***Rob Rogers Fracking Cartoon An excerpt:
“The whole idea of
marketing fracking as a “festival” makes me uncomfortable.”
“What’s next the “Carbon monoxide expo” or the “Mercury-poisoning
regatta?”
***Colbert Video -- Range Pays for Silence on Fracking and Health Problems
Colbert’s Satire on Hallowich Case
***To sign up for notifications
of activity and violations for your area:
***List of the Harmed--There are now
over 1300 residents of Pennsylvania who placed their names on the list of the
harmed because they became sick after fracking began in their area . http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/
***Problems with
Gas?—Report It-from Clean Air Council
Clean
Air Council is announcing a new auto-alert system for notifying relevant
agencies about odors, noises or visible emissions that residents suspect are
coming from natural gas operations in their community.
Just
fill out the questions below and our system will automatically generate and
send your complaint to the appropriate agencies.
Agencies that will receive your e-mail: the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (Regional Office of sender and
Harrisburg Office), the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Take Action Here
If you witness the release of potentially hazardous
material into the environment, please also use the National Response Center's
online form below:
Thanks for your
help.
Sincerely, , Matt Walker, Community Outreach Director, Clean
Air Council
***Dr. Brasch
Hosts Fracking Program-- Dr. Walter Brasch, author of the critically
acclaimed book, Fracking Pennsylvania,
is hosting a weekly half-hour radio show about fracking. "The Frack Report" airs 7:30 p.m.,
Mondays (beginning July 29) and is re-run 7:30 a.m., Wednesdays, on WFTE-FM
(90.3 in Mt. Cobb and 105.7 in Scranton.) The show will be also be live
streamed at www.wfte.org and also available a day after the Monday night
broadcast on the station's website. Brasch's first guest is Karen Feridun,
founder of Berks Gas Truth. He will be interviewing activists, persons affected
by fracking, scientists, and politicians. Each show will also feature news
about fracking and the anti-fracking movement.
Brasch is a multi-award-winning four-decade
journalist and social activist, a former newspaper reporter and editor,
multimedia production writer-producer. Among his most recent awards are those
from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association, Pennsylvania
Press Club, National Federation of Press Women, National Society of Newspaper
Columnists, and Society of Professional Journalists. He is professor emeritus
from the Pa. State System of Higher Education. He is also the author of 17
books, most fusing history with contemporary social issues.
Skytruth Report
Details-
“A Few Recent Violations”
NRC Report
ID:
1057105
Incident
Time: 2013-08-09 06:00:00
Nearest
City: Waynesburg, PA
Location:
INTERSECTION OF CRAYNES RUN AND CEMETERY ROAD ON TOP OF THE HILL
Incident
Type: FIXED
Material:
CONTAMINATED WASTE WATER
Medium
Affected: WATER
Suspected
Responsible Party: EQT PRODUCTIONS
SkyTruth
Analysis
Lat/Long:
39.900367, -80.177726 (Approximated from CITY_STATE)
Report
Description
CALLER
IS REPORTING THAT A DAM BURST THAT STORED CONTAMINATED WASTE WATER (FROM
FRACKING) CAUSING FLOODING TO RESIDENTIAL AREA. CALLER STATED THAT SHE WOULD
LIKE TO HAVE HER WELL WATER TESTED.
NRC Report ID: 1057513
Incident
Time: 2013-08-18 11:05:00
Nearest
City: Canonsburg, PA
Location:
WESTERN AVE HICKORY
Incident
Type: FIXED
Material:
UNKNOWN MATERIAL
Medium
Affected: AIR
Suspected
Responsible Party: MARKWEST, CRYOGENIC PROCESSING FACILITY
SkyTruth
Analysis
Lat/Long:
40.254024, -80.236490 (Approximated from route)
Report
Description
***THIS
REPORT WAS RECEIVED VIA THE WEB REPORTING SYSTEM*** EXTREME AMOUNT OF WHITE SMOKE BEING RELEASED INTO
THE ENVIRONMENT, NOTICED THE EMISSION AT APPROXIMATELY 11:05 PM, CURRENTLY
BURNING, WITH LARGE FLARING FLAME, LOUDER THEN NORMAL ACTIVITY. PHOTOS AND
VIDEOS OBTAINED. MOUTH AND TONGUE ARE RAW, SORE THROAT.
PA Permit Violation Issued to Chevron Appalachia Llc in South
Huntingdon Twp, Westmoreland CountyAdministrative
violation issued on 2013-08-14 to Chevron Appalachia Llc in South Huntingdon
Twp, Westmoreland county. 206C - Failure
to restore well site within nine months after completion of drilling, failure
to remove all pits, drilling supplies and equipment not needed for production.
PA Permit Violation Issued to Chevron Appalachia Llc in Salem
Twp, Westmoreland CountyAdministrative
violation issued on 2013-08-14 to Chevron Appalachia Llc in Salem Twp,
Westmoreland county. 206C - Failure to
restore well site within nine months after completion of drilling, failure to
remove all pits, drilling supplies and equipment not needed for production.
PA Permit Violation Issued to Chevron Appalachia Llc in South
Huntingdon Twp, Westmoreland CountyAdministrative
violation issued on 2013-08-14 to Chevron Appalachia Llc in South Huntingdon
Twp, Westmoreland county. 206C - Failure
to restore well site within nine months after completion of drilling, failure
to remove all pits, drilling supplies and equipment not needed for
production.
PA Permit Violation Issued to Chevron Appalachia Llc in
Sewickley Twp, Westmoreland CountyAdministrative
violation issued on 2013-08-14 to Chevron Appalachia Llc in Sewickley Twp,
Westmoreland county. 206C - Failure to
restore well site within nine months after completion of drilling, failure to
remove all pits, drilling supplies and equipment not needed for production.
Frack News
1. OP-ED
CONTRIBUTOR-NYT
Gangplank to a Warm
Future
By ANTHONY R. INGRAFFEA
As a
longtime oil and gas engineer who helped develop shale fracking techniques for
the Energy Department, I can assure you that this gas is not “clean.” Because
of leaks of methane, the main component of natural gas, the gas extracted from shale deposits is not a “bridge” to a renewable
energy future — it’s a gangplank to more warming and away from clean energy
investments.
Methane
is a far more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, though it doesn’t
last nearly as long in the atmosphere. Still, over a 20-year period, one pound
of it traps as much heat as at least 72 pounds of carbon dioxide. Its potency
declines, but even after a century, it
is at least 25 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. When burned, natural
gas emits half the carbon dioxide of coal, but methane leakage eviscerates this
advantage because of its heat-trapping power.
And
methane is leaking, though there is significant uncertainty over the rate. But recent measurements by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration at gas and oil fields in California, Colorado
and Utah found leakage rates of 2.3 percent to 17 percent of annual production,
in the range my colleagues at Cornell and I predicted some years ago. This is
the gas that is released into the atmosphere unburned as part of the hydraulic
fracturing process, and also from pipelines, compressors and processing units.
Those findings raise questions about what is happening elsewhere. The
Environmental Protection Agency has issued new rules to reduce these emissions,
but the rules don’t take effect until 2015, and apply only to new wells.
A 2011 study from the National Center for
Atmospheric Research concluded that unless leaks can be kept below 2 percent,
gas lacks any climate advantage over coal. And a study released this May by
Climate Central, a group of scientists and journalists studying climate change,
concluded that the 50 percent climate advantage of natural gas over coal is
unlikely to be achieved over the next three to four decades. Unfortunately, we
don’t have that long to address climate change — the next two decades are
crucial.
To its
credit, the president’s plan recognizes that “curbing emissions of methane is
critical.” However, the release of unburned gas in the production process is
not the only problem. Gas and oil wells
that lose their structural integrity also leak methane and other contaminants
outside their casings and into the atmosphere and water wells. Multiple
industry studies show that about 5 percent of all oil and gas wells leak
immediately because of integrity issues, with increasing rates of leakage over
time. With hundreds of thousands of new wells expected, this problem is
neither negligible nor preventable with current technology.
Why do
so many wells leak this way? Pressures under the earth, temperature changes,
ground movement from the drilling of nearby wells and shrinkage crack and
damage the thin layer of brittle cement that is supposed to seal the wells. And
getting the cement perfect as the drilling goes horizontally into shale is extremely
challenging. Once the cement is damaged, repairing it thousands of feet
underground is expensive and often unsuccessful. The gas and oil industries
have been trying to solve this problem for decades.
The
scientific community has been waiting for better data from the E.P.A. to assess
the extent of the water contamination problem. That is why it is so discouraging that, in the face of industry complaints, the
E.P.A. reportedly has closed or backed away from several investigations into
the problem. Perhaps a full E.P.A. study of hydraulic fracturing and
drinking water, due in 2014, will be more forthcoming. In addition, drafts of an Energy Department study suggest that there
are huge problems finding enough water for fracturing future wells. The
president should not include this technology in his energy policy until these
studies are complete.
We have
renewable wind, water, solar and energy-efficiency technology options now. We
can scale these quickly and affordably, creating economic growth, jobs and a
truly clean energy future to address climate change. Political will is the
missing ingredient. Meaningful carbon reduction is impossible so long as the
fossil fuel industry is allowed so much influence over our energy policies and
regulatory agencies. Policy makers need to listen to the voices of independent
scientists while there is still time.
Anthony R. Ingraffea
is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University and
the president of Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy, a
nonprofit group.
2. Act 13 Update—Attorney General Kane Does Not Join with State on Re-arguing the Case
“After the
municipalities' filing last week (to oppose the PUC and DEP's request to
re-argue Act 13), the PUC and DEP filed a request with the PA Supreme Court
seeking leave to reply.
The Supreme Court gave the
municipalities an opportunity to respond to their request. The municipalities filed that pleading with
the court today. All 4 documents are
attached.
Of importance, which isn't attached, is
that the PA Attorney General did not join with the PUC and DEP's request to
re-argue Act 13.
A
possible explanation as to why the PA AG did not join with the PUC and DEP is:
In the
municipalities' first response, it was pointed out to the court that the PUC
and DEP are not the governmental bodies entrusted with defending the
constitutionality of PA laws; the Attorney General has that job.
With
that being said only the Gov. appointed heads of the PUC and DEP seek
re-argument of Act 13, not the PA Attorney General, who has the duty to defend
the law.
A
possible interpretation of the PA AG decision to break with PUC / DEP and
Corbett, is that legally they don't agree with their counterpart's
decision. Interestingly, this is the
first Act 13 issue that (newly elected) AG Kane is involved in - not Corbett's
handpicked successor, who ran the show when Act 13 started last year. “
Act 13 Watch: PUC and DEP File
Petition To Get New Justice Involved
By
Penn Future
“As has been reported, the
Pennsylvania PUC and DEP filed a joint petition last week requesting that the
Robinson Township case, which challenges the constitutionality of Act 13, be
resubmitted to the full Court so that new Justice Correale Stevens may
participate in the decision.
When oral argument was heard on
October 17, 2012, there were only six justices on the bench as former Justice
Joan Orie Melvin was suspended while being prosecuted for public corruption
charges. She was eventually convicted.
Governor Corbett appointed
Correale Stevens to replace Melvin. He was sworn in last Tuesday, and though
the Supreme Court has yet to decide the Robinson Township case, it said that
Stevens would not participate in the decision unless he heard oral argument.
According to StateImpact, a spokeswoman for the Court indicated that it has
rarely ordered re-argument, but that another avenue for Stevens to participate
might be for the parties to resubmit briefs. Considering that the Supreme Court
said that oral argument was an "integral" part of their
decision-making process, it is difficult to understand how resubmitting briefs
in an already well-briefed case would, by itself, make a difference in whether
Justice Stevens should participate in the decision.
To review, the Commonwealth Court in Robinson Township decided that a
provision of Act 13, which mandated municipalities to allow industrial
activities in areas not zoned for those activities, unconstitutionally harmed
those that depended on that zoning to purchase property in the district, in
violation of their substantive due process rights under Art. 1, Sec. 1 of the
Pa. Constitution. The Commonwealth Court also declared unconstitutional a
separate provision granting DEP the right to waive gas well set-back
requirements because the legislature provided no guidance for the executive
branch agency to exercise that discretion, in violation of Art 1, Sec. 2 of the
Pa. Constitution. In effect, the Court said that the legislature did not
properly delegate its authority to the DEP.
While on the Superior Court,
Justice Stevens issued no opinions on the constitutional provisions relied on
by the majority in Robinson Township to strike down portions of Act 13. He did
participate in a handful of decisions that raised substantive due process
claims, but those cases were criminal cases that shed little light on his
views. For example, Commonwealth v. Gaines involved a claim that substantive
due process entitled an individual to have his arrest record expunged, and Commonwealth
v. Teeter involved an individual's right to be free from vague and
discriminatory sentencing statutes. Both principles are well established, but
the claims of the individual defendants were rejected in those cases without
much analysis.
During his tenure, Justice Stevens has not issued or joined an opinion
that reveals his view of how the courts should use substantive due process to
protect an individual's right to life, liberty and, in particular, the right to
acquire, own and protect property as guaranteed by Art 1, Sec. 1 of the Pa.
Constitution.”
3. Hearing On Range’s
Mt Pleasant Impoundment
“A
zoning hearing regarding Range Resources’ use of four water impoundment
facilities in Mt. Pleasant Township at times grew heated and was continued
because residents did not have a chance to testify as it grew late.
Why doesn’t Range tell everyone
what they’re doing?” asked Dwight Ferguson, the attorney representing a number
of residents affected by the impoundments. “This has become a tri-state water
treatment facility. That’s what’s going on.”
Mt.
Pleasant recently sent Range zoning permit violations for one fresh water and
three used water impoundments near natural gas wells in the township after
officials became aware the well pads closest to the sites stopped production.
The municipality wanted the impoundments
removed and restored.
Range attorney Shawn Gallagher argued
the impoundments were not regulated by the township, but rather by the state
DEP. He argued the impoundments were a
legal nonconforming use and did not count as a well pad accessory, therefore
did not fall under the purview of the township ordinance.
Representatives
from Range asserted the impoundments were being utilized by about 20 wells in
nearby municipalities and that the company may utilize it for possible future
drilling in Mt. Pleasant.
Gallagher and Range faced
opposition from both Ferguson, who represented about seven families, and
township solicitor Bill Johnson.
As the
two sides duked it out, zoning officer Barry Johnston reminded them how the
issue had originally evolved.
“I think it’s about scope,”
Johnston said about the case. “When this
ordinance was written, we thought well pad and accessory use (such) as
impoundments could fit in this room. We thought when these things came out onto
our farms, it was not that big of a deal.
“As the
situation is, we are, in a sense, overrun with magnitude … it’s the scope in
terms of it happened without us even knowing about it – it just came upon us.”
4. Protesters Object to Drilling in Allegheny County Parks
“They promised they would come, and they did.
Dozens of protesters with pamphlets to spare packed Allegheny County Council's
meeting Tuesday night, speaking against the push to drill for natural gas
beneath county parks -- a plan that they say betrays the county's commitment to
preserve parkland for perpetuity. While drilling beneath Deer Lakes Park is
still far off -- Marcellus Shale wasn't on Tuesday night's rather light meeting
agenda-- the protesters said they would rather speak their mind now than wait
for the deal to be signed. One speaker equated fracturing liquid to male bodily
fluid in a spoken-word poem; another later led the crowd in singing an
anti-fracking folk song.
"The parks are not to be bought and sold as commodities for
profit," said Carrie White, who lives near the park. "Let's look
at the ramifications of what's proposed, and who will be held
accountable." It was a raucous crowd by council standards, which usually
tends more to golf-clap applause than the hearty whoops of support heard
Tuesday night. More than 50 people signed up to speak during the 31/2-hour
meeting. Time might not be on the protesters' side. By the end of the month,
the county hopes to release a request for proposals to drill beneath Deer Lakes
Park, whose 1,180 acres straddle Frazer and West Deer. The deal is likely to go
to energy giant Range Resources, which has leased most of the surrounding land
and has already secured permits for three drilling sites near the park's
borders.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/protesters-object-to-possible-driling-in-allegheny-county-parks-700055/
5. Public Photos Facilitate Crackdown On Gas Plant In Chartiers
“Residents have complained for years about thick black smoke and possible pollution
coming from the MarkWest gas plant in Chartiers. But the state DEP said it
couldn't take action because it had no evidence. On Tuesday, the department
said it had the goods. Someone snapped pictures of a plume of black smoke
coming from the plant on July 14 and 15 and sent them to regulators. The DEP said
that the deluge of photos sent directly
to its workers last month will likely lead to the first state environmental
fine against the plant, owned by MarkWest Energy Partners LP. The pictures
provided the evidence the agency needed that the plant was violating state
environmental regulations, DEP spokesman John Poister said. “We can't be
everywhere, so we appreciate the help we can get when something like this is
going on,”
This case was particularly
clear-cut, Poister said. The plant — which processes ethane, propane and butane
out of the natural gas extracted from the Marcellus shale — is not supposed to
emit any black smoke, a sign of air pollution. So when inspectors saw photos
with black smoke, which witnesses claimed they could see from miles away, the
state had the evidence it needed to assess violations against MarkWest, Poister
said. “Why does it take so long to get someone's attention with this?” said Mark Bastien, who lives less than two miles
from the plant and can see emissions from his backyard. “We're just so
frustrated because this has been going on for four or five years. We don't know
what we're breathing out there.”
http://triblive.com/business/headlines/4562938-74/plant-markwest-photos#axzz2cbDrNBRb
6. Comment from
Bob on radioactivity:
Just to
think a few years ago this water-soluble radioactive waste was getting dumped
into our drinking water source, no holds barred. We can thank the EPA for
getting that dumping drastically reduced, because it sure didn’t appear our DEP
was going to do very much. And no surprise to once again hear John Poister of
the Pa DEP ‘explaining away’ the seriousness of all this radioactive waste.
New York Imports
Pennsylvania’s Radioactive Fracking Waste Despite Falsified Water Tests
By Peter Mantius, on August 14th, 2013
“Questions about the integrity of official
water tests are stirring the latest controversy over New York State’s embattled
policy of allowing imports of radioactive waste from natural gas drilling
operations in Pennsylvania.
The issue arose last
month in Casella Waste Systems’ bid to speed up by 49 percent deliveries to its
Hyland Landfill in Angelica, about 80 miles south of Rochester. Neighbors of
the landfill and the Sierra Club are asking the state to conduct a full
environmental review of the case or at least to hold a public hearing on it. So
far, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has not responded to
those requests. “We are currently reviewing the comments received on the
Casella solid waste application, and no decisions have been made,” said Lisa
King, a DEC public information officer.
Meanwhile,
water testing data related to Hyland and
a wastewater treatment plant that accepts its leachate have been linked to a
Syracuse laboratory that pled guilty in July to one felony count of mail fraud
in a case said to involve 3,300 falsified water tests.
Federal prosecutors and the DEC have so far
declined to provide details of the faked tests. But documents obtained by
DCBureau confirm that the guilty company, Upstate Laboratories Inc., analyzed
material from Hyland as recently as this past February. “It doesn’t allay our
concerns that these guys have been dealing with a crooked lab,” said Gary
Abraham, an attorney for Concerned Citizens of Allegany County, a group
opposing Hyland’s latest permit bid.
The
permit application is the last chapter in a long-simmering controversy over the
DEC’s narrow interpretation of its responsibility to monitor radioactive waste.
That legal stance has opened the door for imports of waste from horizontal
hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of the Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania.
Most
shale formations contain naturally occurring radioactive material, or NORM.
Although contamination levels vary widely from well to well, the Marcellus formation is suspected to be the
most radioactive of all the nation’s shales.
The brine, rock cuttings and
drilling mud from Marcellus wells are likely to contain heightened levels of
radium isotopes, including Radium 226, which is especially dangerous because it
is soluble in water. Earlier this year, state regulators in Pennsylvania
launched a study of radioactivity in Marcellus drilling waste, giving drillers
in that state further incentive to find dumping options across the New York
border. New York has not conducted or planned a similar study.”
-
See more at: http://www.dcbureau.org/201308148881/natural-resources-news-service/new-york-imports-pennsylvanias-radioactive-fracking-waste-despite-falsified-water-tests.html#more-8881
7. Conflict of Interest by Director of PA Game Commission?
“William
A. Capouillez may be the hardest-working man in Harrisburg. From 7:45 a.m. to 4
p.m. each day, Capouillez works as a
director for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, where his responsibilities
include overseeing leases for oil and natural gas development on 1.4 million
acres of public game lands. Capouillez has a profitable side job. He acts as an
agent for property owners who lease their land for oil and gas development,
signing private deals with the same companies that often work with his state
agency.
Business rivals, including other leasing
agents and drilling companies, have complained for years to legislators and to
the Governor's Office that Capouillez's dual roles represent a conflict of
interest. Capouillez in 2012 sued the
owners of a private hunting club and the drilling company Range Resources Corp.
for cutting him out of a lease that could have earned him millions of dollars
in gas royalties.
"I felt if the conflict of
interest wasn't a concern for the Game Commission, it wasn't a concern for
me," said Sweger, then the head of
the Washington County Farm Bureau. He signed up and introduced Capouillez to
other farmers. "In a way, I helped to create Bill," Sweger said.
"The activity I got him involved
with made him a millionaire many times over." Capouillez's side job
rubbed some people the wrong way. Rival leasing agents felt Capouillez had more
credibility with potential clients by virtue of his state job. "This guy's a snake in the woods as
far as we're concerned," said Mark Thompson, president of Horizontal
Exploration L.L.C., an Indiana, Pa., drilling firm.”
8. MarkWest Cited
in Fish Kill- WVA
“West Virginia environmental regulators cited MarkWest
Energy for "conditions not allowable in the waters of the state"
following a natural gas liquids spill
from one of MarkWest's pipelines in northern Wetzel County. The spill occurred last
week following a landslide. It has led to a fish kill in Rocky Run, a tributary
of Fish Creek. Minnows, smallmouth bass and other species of fish died from
the spill, Jernejcic said. "We never will know exactly how many were
killed," he said, noting the DNR will use the wildlife composition of a
comparable "reference stream" to estimate the number of dead fish.
WVA DEP spokeswoman Kathy Cosco said officials remain unable
to closely examine the Rocky Run area where the liquid was released, as the "vapors are keeping us from getting
close." Cosco said it appears a landslide affected the pipeline, which
then ruptured. She said the spill
involved a "liquid gas" and that many natural gas liquids - propane,
ethane, butane, pentanes and others - can vaporize when their liquid forms come
in contact with water.”
http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/588671/MarkWest-Cited-in-Fish-Kill.html?nav=515
9. Andy Schrader Asks Washington County District Attorney to Investigate Cecil Board
“A Cecil Township
supervisor has called on the Washington
County District Attorney to investigate whether three members of his board who
met privately with Southpointe-based Range Resources on issues related to the
Worstell impoundment violated the state Sunshine Act.
Supervisor
Andy Schrader said he was made aware of the private meeting through an email
sent by Range Resources government affairs representative Jim Cannon. A violation of the Sunshine Law is a criminal
act, and the district attorney would have jurisdiction.
That
email thanked the township for the meeting with supervisors Tom Casciola,
Elizabeth Cowden and Frank Ludwin on Aug. 6.
The
email was copied to all five Cecil supervisors, as well as township Manager Don
Gennuso and some top brass at Range, including its Senior Vice President David
M. Poole…..
The
private gathering, which was held the morning after the board's regular August
meeting, was not mentioned by supervisors nor did it appear as an announcement
on the agenda.
It came days before another private meeting regarding the
Worstell impoundment with the state DEP.”
http://canon-mcmillan.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/cecil-supervisor-calls-on-district-attorney-to-investigate-private-meeting-between-board-members-and-range-resources
10. Seitel, Ltd Files Lawsuit to Conduct Seismic Testing without Following Regs
“On
Monday, August 5, 2013, Seitel Data, Ltd filed a lawsuit against Potter Township
and Hopewell Township, PA.
Over the course of
the past 7 months Seitel has been engaged in efforts to obtain landowner
permission to perform seismic testing on private property in Beaver County. This testing involves the placement and
discharge of underground explosives and recording geophones in order to obtain
a picture of the geologic strata rich with natural gas. This
valuable information will then be sold by Seitel to the oil and gas industry
including Range Resources and Shell who have commissioned the survey.
However, with the minimal and non-negotiable offer of $5 per acre and
the risk of both structural damage and disturbance of natural water supplies,
many landowners have refused to allow Seitel to test on their property. Seitel then approached southern Beaver County
municipalities with a request to vibe local roads with thumper trucks. This vibing would enable Seitel to obtain a
seismic survey of all properties within 7000 feet of the thumper truck without
the need to obtain permission from these private property owners. Hopewell
and Potter adopted regulations relative to seismic testing operations within
each Township.
In the lawsuit filed by Seitel, it seeks to
have these regulations set aside by the Court so that it may conduct seismic
activities without any oversight. In
addition, Seitel seeks an order from the Court directing both Potter and
Hopewell to allow Seitel to vibe local
roads without any setback requirements and without regard to potential damage
to abutting private properties and public infrastructure within the roadways. Seitel has requested that the Commonwealth
Court hold an expedited hearing on its request for an injunction so that Seitel
may commence vibe testing or roads immediately.
Both Potter Township and Hopewell Township will defend this
challenge for the protection of their residents and their public
infrastructure.”
http://www.hopewelltwp.com/news/seitel-sues-hopewell-township-hopewell-fights-to-protect-township-residents-infrastructure/
11. Wanda Guthrie
of Thomas Merton Society on Divestiture
“The Environmental Justice Committee (of Thomas Merton, jan)
is getting ready to welcome Bill McKibben with a call and petition to the Mayor
and City Council Members of Pittsburgh
INVEST IN THRIVE-ABILITY and DIVEST FROM FOSSIL FUELS
We don't
have to go along with this gas and oil industry. Other cities are doing this
and the cities that do will be leaders in creating a new model for quality of
life, environmental thrive-ability and economic success.
We are
calling on the City of Pittsburgh to:
Immediately freeze any new investments in fossil fuels.
Divest from direct ownership and any commingled funds that
include fossil fuel public equities and corporate bonds within 5 years.
The goal
is to unhook Pittsburgh from the grip of the fossil fuel industry, which is
preventing us from addressing climate change and forcing Pennsylvania to become
a gas colony and pushing the Keystone pipeline through.
You can find a link to both the Online and Paper Petition on
the Thomas Merton Center Environmental Justice Page.
Faith
communities are divesting. The Resolution of the United States Conference of
the United Church of Christ makes the need of faith communities to lead crystal
clear:
If you follow this path of divestment from fossil fuel
companies you will
drive
public awareness of the incalculable damage being done for huge immediate profits in exchange for an
uninhabitable future;
build
public recognition of the urgent need to drastically and rapidly reduce
dependence on fossil fuels;
call
widespread attention to the consequences of continuing a "business as
usual" approach to extracting, marketing and burning fossil fuel;
lead to
inspiring an urgent, accelerated and popular commitment to leave untapped 80%
of the known carbon reserves, while developing renewable energy resources
capable of meeting human needs while making it possible that life as we have
known it might continue on Earth.
UCC Resolution:
We
don’t believe we can say it any better than the text of the UCC Resolution:
WHEREAS,
the leaders of 167 countries (including the United States) have agreed that any
warming of the planet above a 2°C (3.6°F) rise would be unsafe, and we have already
(as of 2012) raised the temperature 0.8°C, causing far more damage than most
scientists expected; and
WHEREAS,
computer models show that even if we stopped increasing CO2 levels now, the
temperature would continue to rise another 0.8°C, bringing the planet over
three-quarters of the way to the 2°C limit; and
WHEREAS,
scientists estimate that humans can pour roughly 565 more gigatons of carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere and still have some reasonable hope of staying
below 2°C; and
WHEREAS
the proven coal, oil, and gas reserves of the fossil-fuel companies, and the
countries (e.g. Venezuela or Kuwait) which act like fossil-fuel companies
equals about 2,795 gigatons of CO2, or five times the amount we can release to
maintain a 2°C limit of planetary warming; and
WHEREAS
the purpose of fossil fuel companies is to make money for their shareholders by
providing for the energy needs of the world using the resources they currently
own or have rights to tap – and if they simply continue to carry out this purpose,
they will raise the temperature of the earth far beyond what is hospitable for
life as we know it; and
WHEREAS,
because we are a covenant people and affirm Jesus’ call to love our neighbors
as ourselves, we join God in recognizing our moral obligation to take into
account how our decisions and activities affect all of creation now and into
the future; and
WHEREAS
even though God loved the world and called it very good, humanity’s normal,
everyday activity is putting God’s world in jeopardy; and
WHEREAS
over the past five or more decades, many bodies of the United Church of Christ,
including the General Synod on numerous occasions, have recognized our moral
obligation to be faithful stewards of God’s creation as well as acknowledging,
in one way or another, that wrecking creation is a sin; and
WHEREAS
the Core Purpose of the United Church of Christ states (in part): “… we serve
God in the co- creation of a just and sustainable world as made manifest in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ,”
**********
The
Environmental Justice Committee will break bread and invites you to come and
talk about this.
Join
us for the Monthly TMC Potluck on Thursday, September 19 at the Merton Center
as we talk about Thrive-ability and Divestment from Fossil Fuels. George Hoguet,
a Buddhist postulant, will speak to the moral and ethical reasons for divesting
from fossil fuel for the health and well-being of all people and the survival
of the planet. Bonnie DeCarlo, long-time TMC supporter and a professional
financial planner will talk about socially responsible investments. Please
bring food or drink to share. For more information contact Wanda Guthrie,
Chair, Environmental Justice Committee, at 412-596-0066 or
724-327-2767,environment@thomasmertoncenter.org
FB
Page: https://www.facebook.com/nofossilpittsburgh
Online
petition: http://campaigns.gofossilfree.org/p/pittsburghthrives”
12. EPA Backs Away
From Science On Fracking Again and Again
Corporate
Overreach
“Nearly
everywhere EPA begins investigating the dangers in the gaspatch, they later shy
away.
EPA recently turned
over their investigation of water contamination from fracking in Pavillion, WY
to the polluters themselves, EnCana. EPA also backed away from the people of
Dimock, PA. And they recently announced their long awaited study on fracking’s
effects on water resources would take an additional two years.
Even simple things like their Guidance for
the use of diesel fuels in hydraulic fracturing keeps gathering dust sitting on
a shelf somewhere in the bowels of the government bureaucracy.
The oil
and gas industry calls these investigations EPA overreach. What’s really happening here is corporate overreach.
A
brewing culture war fought by oil and gas industry lobbyists and their allies
has subdued any attempts by the federal government to stick up for the people
caught in the fracking industry’s crosshairs.
EPA’s
core mission is to protect our environment. The House Majority attacks the
agency for doing its job, while the EPA continues to back down to political pressure.
Even with a pro-fracking Administration, EPA needs to stand firm. They understand flammable water, induced
seismicity, and health effects justifies precaution. And nothing justifies this
broad EPA retreat.
Staying
above the political fray and maintaining some measure of objective scientific
credibility demands that the EPA follow through on what they started. It is
time to re-open their investigation in Parker County.”
Read
the ProPublica article: http://www.propublica.org/article/epas-abandoned-wyoming-fracking-study-one-retreat-of-many
13. Ousted Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon Launching Ohio Land Grab
“Aubrey McClendon's penchant for "land
grab" as a business model made the recently-ousted
Chesapeake Energy CEO infamous - and he's at it again for his new start-up
"fracking" company in Ohio's Utica Shale basin.
Under
Securities and Exchange Commission investigation for sketchy business
practices, McClendon departed Chesapeake with a severance package including $35
million, access to the company's private jets through 2016 and a 2.5% return on
every well Chesapeake fracks through June 2014.
Since then, he launched three new start-ups:
McClendon Energy Partners, American Energy Partners and Arcadia Capital LLC.
American
Energy Partners' headquarters are just half a mile down the road from
Chesapeake's, the number two U.S. producer of shale gas behind ExxonMobil. Some
of those in McClendon's Chesapeake inner circle - those who helped run the potentially
illegal internal hedge fund named AKM Operations (McClendon's initials) - have
left Chesapeake and joined him at his new ventures.”
http://desmogblog.com/2013/08/21/ousted-chesapeake-energy-ceo-aubrey-mcclendon-beginning-ohio-land-grab
14. How Oil and Gas Drillers Avoid Paying Royalties
by Abrahm
Lustgarten, ProPublica
Excerpt:
“It
seemed promising. Two wells drilled on Don Feusner’s lease hit tens of millions
of cubic feet of natural gas. Last December, he received a check for $8,506 for
a month's share of the gas.
Then one
day in April, Feusner ripped open his royalty envelope to find that while his
wells were still producing the same amount of gas, the gusher of cash had
slowed to $1,690.
Chesapeake Energy, the company that drilled
his wells, was withholding almost 90 percent of Feusner's share of the income
to cover unspecified "gathering" expenses and it wasn't explaining
why.
In 1982,
in a landmark effort to keep people from being fleeced by the oil industry, the
federal government passed a law establishing that royalty payments to
landowners would be no less than 12.5 percent of the oil and gas sales from
their leases.
Manipulation of costs and other data by oil
companies is keeping billions of dollars in royalties out of the hands of
private and government landholders, an investigation by ProPublica has found.
An
analysis of lease agreements, government documents and thousands of pages of
court records shows that such underpayments are widespread. Thousands of
landowners like Feusner are receiving far less than they expected based on the
sales value of gas or oil produced on their property. In some cases, they are
being paid virtually nothing at all.
In many
cases, lawyers and auditors who
specialize in production accounting tell ProPublica energy companies are using
complex accounting and business arrangements to skim profits off the sale of
resources and increase the expenses charged to landowners.
Deducting
expenses is itself controversial and debated as unfair among landowners, but it
is allowable under many leases, some of which were signed without landowners
fully understanding their implications.
But some companies deduct expenses for
transporting and processing natural gas, even when leases contain clauses
explicitly prohibiting such deductions. In other cases, according to court
files and documents obtained by ProPublica, they withhold money without
explanation for other, unauthorized expenses, and without telling landowners
that the money is being withheld.
In
Pennsylvania, however, courts have set
few precedents for how leases should be read and substantial hurdles stand
in the way of landowners interested in bringing cases.
Pennsylvania
attorneys say many of their clients'
leases do not allow landowners to audit gas companies to verify their
accounting. Even landowners allowed to conduct such audits could have to
shell out tens of thousands of dollars to do so.
When audits turn up discrepancies,
attorneys say, many Pennsylvania leases require landowners to submit to
arbitration - another exhaustive process that can cost tens of thousands of
dollars.
"They
just wait to see who challenges them, they keep what they keep, they give up
what they lose," said Root, the NARO, National
Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) chapter president. "It may
just be part of their business decision to do it this way."
For
the article: http://www.propublica.org/article/unfair-share-how-oil-and-gas-drillers-avoid-paying-royalties
15. ALEC Attacks
Renewable Energy
“Having failed
completely in its attempt to repeal state renewable
electricity standards (RES) during the spring 2013 legislative season,
the American
Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is shifting gears. Their new strategy is more nuanced, but the goal remains the same:
support their fossil fuel cronies by rolling back renewable energy policies. Fortunately, this latest scheme is likely
doomed to fail as well.
This week, ALEC will host its
annual meeting in Chicago, during which the group—who provides powerful
corporations with behind-closed-doors access to legislators for the purpose of
drafting ‘model legislation’ that serves their interests—will discuss the next
phase of its ongoing effort to dismantle
state renewable energy policies across the country. But first, ALEC leaders will
likely have to explain their failures to their fossil fuel industry funders,
including Koch Industries, Exxon-Mobil and Peabody Energy.
Just last year,
ALEC made it very public that repealing state RES policies would be a
legislative priority in 2013, doubling down on its recent efforts to roll
back these standards. ALEC adopted model legislation, written by climate skeptics at the
Heartland Institute and innocuously dubbed the “Electricity Freedom Act”, which had the
sole purpose of repealing state RES policies. Along with the Heartland Institute and a host of fossil fuel-funded cohorts, ALEC launched
a disinformation campaign targeting
several state RES policies, including high-profile attacks in Kansas and North Carolina.
The good news is that ALEC’s efforts completely failed: not a single
state RES was repealed. Instead, 14 new pro-renewable energy bills became law
nationwide, including stronger RES targets in Colorado, Minnesota, and Nevada.”
From Union of Concerned Scientists
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
