Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group Updates September
12, 2013
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Thank you to contributors to our Updates: Debbie Borowicz,
Ron Gulla, April Jackman, Marian Smyzd, MOB group from Butler, Bob Donnan
Take Action!!
***Stop NPR from Accepting Natural Gas Industry $
(From Move on)
Petition Background
NPR receives underwriting funds from the
American Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA). In
exchange, NPR airs misleading ads promoting further development of natural gas,
which must now be mined by the environmentally damaging extreme extraction
process, “fracking”. This path would
commit the US to decades more of increasing dependence on fossil fuels. NPR refuses to disclose its policy on how
it selects sponsors from which to accept funding. (For a detailed account
of my two-year unsuccessful attempt to get through NPR’s corporate wall of
secrecy surrounding its underwriting practices go to http://wp.me/pJm45-33d.)
NPR (National Public Radio) should stop accepting funds and
airing underwriting announcements from the American Natural Gas
Alliance (ANGA). NPR must be transparent and accountable with its sponsorship
practices.
*** Stop Gag
Orders On Children Soon after fracking operations started near the Hallowich
family farm in Mount Pleasant the family started experiencing health problems
like nosebleeds, sore throats, and unexplained headaches. They were forced to
abandon their home and to sue the gas companies, eventually reaching a
settlement that includes a standard gag order.
But in
an unprecedented move, the gas companies insisted the gag order extend to the
Hallowiches’ children, age 7 and 10 years old at the time, legally barring them
from talking about what happened to them -- and fracking -- forever.
Stop
silencing children. Take immediate legal action to remove the Hallowich
children from the gag order placed on their family, and ensure your company
does not include children in any future gag orders related to fracking.
The
Hallowich children suffered unexplained illnesses and were forced to move from
their childhood home. They will be processing these traumatic experiences for
the rest of their lives. Children should not be forced by fossil fuel
corporations to remain silent about issues that affect their health and well
being.
Will
you join me and add your name to my petition telling Range Resources, Mark West
Energy Partners, and Williams Gas to legally remove the children from the gag
order — and commit to never go after kids again?
Thank you for your support.
Corinne Ball
*** Take Action on Endangered Species (Sierra Club)
Just
when you thought the special interests couldn't find another way to eliminate
environmental protection in Pennsylvania, "there they go again......"
This time they are going after the protectors of Pennsylvania's threatened and
endangered species, such as the osprey, the great egret, the bog turtle and the
banded sunfish.
The mining, gas drilling, and timber
industries want to undermine the independence of the PA Fish and Boat
Commission and the PA Game Commission to administer Pennsylvania's endangered
species laws.
House
Bill 1576 would send the Commissions' endangered species lists to the
Independent Regulatory Review Commission -- an agency dominated by the
legislature -- for additional scrutiny.
These
changes proposed in the bill blunt the effect of the Commissions' list of
threatened and endangered species of fish and wildlife, allowing more mining,
drilling and clear-cutting in Pennsylvania's lands. The Commissions would have
to go through a very cumbersome regulatory review process. To make matters even
worse, under the current versions of the bills the agencies would only be allowed
to protect fish and wildlife already listed by the federal government.
At the same time, permit applications for
mining, oil and gas drilling, and timbering would be approved, without any
on-the-ground check for their impacts on the PA endangered species.
This week, Sierra Club's
Conservation Chair Tom Au testified before a Joint House Committees hearing
urging opposition to HB 1576. He pointed out that the agencies' scientists are
better judges of the threats to wildlife and aquatic life. He explained that
the agencies make decisions proposals for protecting rare, threatened, or
endangered species in an open, transparent manner. The agencies publish the
scientific data collected, have it reviewed by other scientists, publish
proposed lists and protection plans, accept public comment, and hold public
hearings. It is hard to find fault with this deliberative process.
TELL
YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO OPPOSE HB 1576.
Don't let the mining,
drilling and timber industries drive our precious wildlife, fish and plants
into extinction in Pennsylvania!
Thanks, Jeff Schmidt,
Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania
Chapter
***Sick of Dirty
Fossil Fuels? Consider Ethical Electric
From Sierra Club
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Switching
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Enrolling
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Make your choice for clean energy and switch to Ethical
Electric today.
Sincerely, Michael
Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director
P.S. The more of us that switch to Ethical Electric, the
more demand there will be for clean, local power. Choosing an Ethical Electric
plan is fast and easy. Make the switch today!
Calendar
***Volunteers
Needed For Mother Earth Fair at Seven Springs
Sept 20 -22, Friday through Sunday. Can you donate an hour or two to table with
us? Kathryn has badges for workers to enter the
fair. Let me know if there is a time you can volunteer. Help is greatly appreciated. jan
Mother Earth News Fair
Dates: Sept. 20-22, 2013
Time: All day (9:00 AM to 7:00 PM)
Location: Seven Springs Resort, Champion, PA
***WMCG Steering Committee Meeting Second Tuesday each
month. All are invited. 7:30 PM at Mike and Cindy’s, Greensburg. Email
jan for directions.
*** The Great Ohio River Relay - September
14 Pittsburgh to Cairo, IL Kicks off from Mr. Rogers' statue, North
Shore, Pittsburgh. Participants will walk, run, bike, rollerblade, and paddle
the length of the Ohio River to attract national attention to the environmental
issue of fracking, and in particular, to the proposed barging of toxic and
radioactive fracking wastewater on the Ohio River, and other waterways in our
country.
Kick Off Rally-- Saturday,
September 14, 12 Noon, Point State Park
www.facebook.com/WheelingWaterWarriors
www.facebook.com/events/482808835127323/ www.greatohioriverrelay.com
*** Protect Our Parks - South Park Fairgrounds September 21
Outreach/education during Community Day
**Webinar with Allison Insley
--proposed Tenaska Station Sept
25, 7:00 pm
Details to follow.
***Facing the Challenges-- Duquesne University-- Nov 25,
26- Researchers present on : Air and water, Animal and Human Health,
Geological, Biological investigations.
For a full calendar
of area events please see “Marcellus Protest” calendar:
http://marcellusprotest.org/
Frack Links
*** Shale Truth --On Wednesday, September 11th, a new segment
of the Shale Truth interview series premieres, in which Dr. Anthony Ingraffea
of Cornell University says the gas industry has changed communities, and that
many people who once lived in rural or suburban areas now find themselves
living in industrial zones.
In the
previous two segments with Dr. Ingraffea we heard him discuss shale gas drilling and the unique dangers it
poses to communities and their drinking water.
How the gas and oil industry will leave Pennsylvania a polluted
landscape after it finishes tapping the Marcellus formation.
A new
Shale Truth segment can be seen on The Delaware Riverkeeper Network's YouTube
channel every Wednesday at http://bit.ly/ShaleTruth
***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. 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.
***Preview
- Glass Half Empty: An American Water War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rVV-umpTlU
Frack News
All articles are excerpted. Please use the links to read the
full article.
1. Westmoreland County Landowners Fight Pipeline and Eminent Domain
“A controversial
pipeline project could meet its first legal opposition next week in
Westmoreland County, where a lawyer for two families said Tuesday he's going to
fight ongoing attempts to take the land by force.
Sunoco Logistics Partners LP took action in Common Pleas Court last
week to force three families to give up rights of way in Hempfield, Penn and
South Huntingdon townships. The Philadelphia company wants to pipe
Marcellus shale gas to Europe-bound
ships. To do so, it's trying to use
eminent domain to gather land for a link between a Washington County
gas-processing plant and a Salem pipeline hub.
Latrobe
attorney Daniel J. Hewitt — who represents Michael and Laurie Zima of Hempfield
and Timothy and Jennifer Klobucar of Penn Township — said he plans to object to
those claims during a motions hearing Sept. 13 before Westmoreland County Judge
Richard E. McCormick Jr. The Hempfield landowners also have a lawyer. Sunoco
Logistics had filed only one previous eminent domain claim — for land near a
Penn Township senior home — which ended uncontested Aug. 2.
“I don't
want to think my property is going to be the property for all the pipelines
that come through,” said Sandra Busch-Cup, who already has two other gas
transmission pipelines on her Harmony Road property in Hempfield. “I just
sometimes feel like it's useless to try to fight them. With this eminent
domain, there's really nothing you can do.”
Busch-Cup declined to explain her exact plans. Hewitt
declined to give details about his argument, saying he was still researching.
“Sunoco
Logistics has taken significant measures to lessen the impact of the Mariner
East project on residential areas,” said Shields. “Our initial route in
Westmoreland County was modified significantly to follow the right-of-way of an
existing Dominion pipeline. Our preference is to work with the landowners on an
individual basis so that we can understand their concerns and address issues
related to their particular property, offering them fair market value or above
for the needed easements.”
The
Tribune-Review previously reported the company has a strong eminent domain
claim because of where the Mariner East project ends. After snaking for nearly
300 miles within Pennsylvania, the last half-mile of the pipeline edges into
Delaware. Any inch of a pipeline that
crosses a state border qualifies as interstate commerce, giving the company
eminent domain power under state law, legal experts told the Trib.”
Read more:
http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/4642857-74/pipeline-company-county#ixzz2eQslDW4Q
More on The Pipeline
“The
energy company planning to install a pipeline to transport propane and ethane
from a natural gas processing plant in Washington County to its pipeline north
of Delmont wants to hold public meetings in Sewickley and Penn townships this
fall to discuss the project's local impact, officials said.
The
proposed route through Sewickley Township would run near Lowber, between
Cowansburg and Hutchinson, south of Herminie and south of Edna No. 2. The proposed pipeline would
connect the MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources natural gas processing
plant in Houston, with Sunoco Logistics' terminal in Salem Township, where it
has a pipeline connection with Sunoco's refinery in Marcus Hook. It would enter
Westmoreland County in Rostraver Township and cross the Youghiogheny River near
Collinsburg. The line would run through
sections of South Huntingdon, Sewickley, Hempfield, Jeannette, Penn Township
and Murrysville. It will end at Sunoco Logistics's terminal in Salem Township,
where it has a pipeline that connects with Sunoco Inc.'s refinery in Marcus
Hook, south of Philadelphia.
The 50-mile pipeline would cross 68 streams
in Westmoreland; 45 in Washington; and 31 in Allegheny counties, according
to the application Sunoco Logistics submitted to the Westmoreland Conservation
District on Aug. 2 for an erosion and sediment control general permit for earth
disturbances. It will disturb 459 acres in three counties, according to
documents submitted to the conservation district.
Sunoco
plans to bore a hole for the pipe underneath the streams and roadways, said
Chris Droste, senior erosion control specialist. The pipe would be placed four
to five feet underneath the streams, Droste said.
The
conservation district has 43 days to review the plans, but that can be extended
when responses are needed to questions or comments on the plans, said Kathleen
A. Fritz, erosion and sedimentation program administrative assistant.
“This is
a very different and complex plan,” Fritz said.
The
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Aug. 28 approved a plan to convert a
pipeline that currently carries motor fuel from the Philadelphia area to
Pittsburgh, into a line that will carry ethane and propane eastward to Marcus
Hook. It then will be loaded onto ships for export.”
Read more:
http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourwestnewton/4609027-74/pipeline-sunoco-township#ixzz2eYLzQQYd
2. De Pasquale Fulfills
Campaign Promise
Audit May Show Problem With Water
“In an interview with the Scranton
Times-Tribune’s editorial board , Eugene DePasquale –Dem. suggested that there may hbe flaws with how the DEP is handling
water pollution issues related to natural gas drilling.
“The only thing I
could say is, it’s a good thing we’re doing the audit,” he told the
Times-Tribune without offering further details about the findings.
Eric
Shirk, a spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett, said the administration does not
anticipate the finding of major problems ….He said the department doubled the
number of inspections of oil and gas sites since last year.
The full audit is expected in January 2014
and will be the fulfillment of one of DePasquale’s campaign promises.
DePasquale also told the Pittsburgh
Times-Tribune that he’s planning to audit how revenue from the impact fees
charged to every operating Marcellus Shale well in Pennsylvania is being spent.
StateImpact Pennsylvania has previously reported that local governments in
some of the state’s busiest drilling counties failed to disclose how they spent
impact fee funds because of confusion about how to file the necessary
paperwork.”
http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/09/06/anticipated-audit-of-pa-dep-may-show-trouble-in-the-water/
Auditor General’s Investigation of DEP Important for Southwest PA-
by Rep Jesse White, Dem.
Remember Suite Codes?
“It’s great to say we should
all work together on every issue all the time, but there comes a point when you
have to realize the other side has no intention of doing so under any
circumstances whatsoever.
Eugene
Depasquale and I were both elected to the State House in 2006 and our offices
were across the hall from one another in the Capitol for several years. I believe
Eugene is an honest public servant and a good person, and I consider him a
friend. I have no doubt that his audit of DEP will be objective and accurate,
even though the Corbett administration has recently slashed budgets for
investigators, limiting manpower and resources.
To refresh everyone’s memory, the basis of the audit is the DEP’s use of “Suite Codes” to limit the
amount of information given to people about what DEP found in their water. This
scheme was uncovered through the sworn testimony of DEP lab chief Taru Upadhyay
in a deposition taken last year.
Based on that testimony, here’s what was apparently
happening. You have concerns about your water because you live near drilling
operations, so you call DEP to check it out. The DEP inspector comes to your
house, takes a sample, marks it with a “Suite Code” and sends it off to the lab
for testing. The lab tests over thirty different chemicals and substances as
required by federal law, the results of which are stored in the DEP lab
computer. So far so good, right?
But when it’s time
to generate the report based on the test results, that “Suite Code” tells the computer to only give back results for a
handful of the things DEP tested for, not all of them. So the DEP inspector
gets a report out of the computer that is purposely incomplete, but you
don’t know that because you’d have no way to know.
And when the inspector shows up
with that report, they can be technically correct when they say, “According to
the report I received from the lab, there is no evidence of any contamination.”
But what they know, and you don’t, is that they purposely told the computer to
leave out results of dozens of chemicals known to be found in frac water and
flowback water. Many of them are known
or suspected carcinogens, which means they can cause cancer. The results are
sitting in the DEP computers, but you had no way of knowing you got less than
the complete results.
The DEP has not denied this
practice, but they haven’t explained it either. We also learned that they developed a “Suite Code” specifically
designed to provide proper results for drilling-related water quality concerns;
unfortunately (but not surprisingly) it has never been used by DEP.
Furthermore, you would think the Marcellus Shale Coalition would be with us on
this. If they don’t believe drilling operations impact the water, wouldn’t they
want all the facts out there to help prove their point? The facts should be
allowed to speak for themselves, plain and simple.
I have provided the
Auditor General and his staff information about many problems occurring here in
the 46th District, and will continue to do what I can to shed light on these
inexcusable practices by the DEP.
People are entitled to the truth about what is in
water they drink. Is that a debate we even need to be having? Aren’t some
things so obvious they should go without saying? What possible reason is there
for the DEP, under the direction of Governor Corbett, to withhold information
from residents about something this important?
The
DEP is clearly taking their marching orders from the Corbett Administration to
stonewall anyone who asks the tough questions. It’s great to say we should all
work together on every issue all the time, but there comes a point when you
have to realize the other side has no intention of doing so under any
circumstances whatsoever. On an issue as important as letting parents and
grandparents know whether their drinking water could put their children or
grandchildren at risk of cancer, I decided that standing up for what’s right
and demanding accountability is more important than pandering for the sake of
politics.”
3. Drilling Near
Butler School
“September 2, 2013 an
XTO well located at Summit Elementary School in the Butler School District
began flaring.
The Ventura County Air Pollution Control
District, in California has estimated that the following air pollutants may be
released from natural gas flares: benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, including naphthalene), acetaldehyde, acrolein,
propylene, toluene, xylenes, ethyl benzene and hexane. Researchers in Canada
have measured more than 60 air pollutants downwind of natural gas flares. Deadly hydrogen sulfide and radon-226 has
also been shown to exist in shale gas. A
full list of sources of oil and gas air pollution can be found on the
Earthworks website.
The wellhead is located approximately 500 ft. from the Summit
Elementary School sports fields and 900 ft. from the building itself. According to an eye-witness, on Wednesday
Sept 4, the wind was blowing in the direction of the school and a group of
children were on the sports field playing soccer. A parent contacted the superintendent, Dr.
Michael Strutt. According to the parent,
Dr. Strutt was surprised and alarmed by
the situation. Dr. Strutt told the
parent that he would order the building
principal to suspend all outdoor activities while the flaring was taking
place.. Later that day, two classes were
sighted outside.
The Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental
Health Project (SWPA-EHP) issued an alert
to the school community based on their research surrounding the health
impacts of air pollution on the public.
They report, “People near drill sites that are active have reported
respiratory problems (particularly for those with asthma), dizziness,
headaches, nausea and other gastro-intestinal problems. Skin conditions are also frequently
reported.”
Are
these the type of experiments that we want taking place where we educate and
recreate with our children? The oil and
gas industry has spent billions in campaign contributions and lobbying efforts
to convince officials to allow them to drill what is ours for their
profit. It is time that we stand up and
remind them that This land is my land.”
-MOB
4. Colorado Grandparents
tell Governor To Protect Grandchildren
From Fracking
“Concerned
grandparents from across Colorado delivered a letter to tell Gov. Hickenlooper
(Dem-CO) and other governors from across the country to say no to fracking and
yes to a renewable energy future in celebration of National Grandparents’ Day.
These
grandparents voiced their concerns over the risks fracking, drilling and
related activities pose to all Coloradans health, air, water, land, property
values and their special concerns for
their grandchildren and great-grandchild. They also demanded that Gov. Hickenlooper end his continued use of
lawsuits to bully the people of Colorado to accept fracking next to their homes
and schools.
“Yesterday
I celebrated National Grandparents’ Day with my two grandchildren in
Lafayette,” said Merrily Mazza, a retired corporate executive and current
member of East Boulder County United. “Today, I’m here to tell Governor
Hickenlooper to stop trying to force fracking next to our homes and schools
with lawsuits. My grandchildren deserve a safe, healthy future in Colorado.”
5. Attorney
General Kane Files Charges Against Exxon-
Illegal Discharge
“Attorney
General Kathleen Kane-Dem, filed criminal charges against a Pennsylvania
subsidiary of ExxonMobil for illegally
discharging more than 50,000 gallons of toxic wastewater from a Marcellus Shale
gas well site in Penn Township, Lycoming County.
XTO Energy Inc., of Indiana, Pa.,
was charged after evidence and testimony was presented to a statewide
investigating grand jury, which recommended the criminal charges be filed,
according to a news release from Kane's office.
XTO
issued a news release shortly after Kane, indicating it would challenge the
charges because they were "unwarranted and legally baseless because
neither XTO nor any of its employees intentionally, recklessly or negligently
discharged produced water on the site."
According
to the attorney general, the grand jury found that XTO hired a company to
recycle wastewater at its Marquardt site in Lycoming County from Nov. 4, 2010,
through Nov. 11, 2010. After that one-week period, XTO directed the company to
remove its processing equipment from the site and transport it to another XTO
well site in West Virginia. However, XTO
allegedly continued to transport and store gas well wastewater at the Marquardt
site despite not having the proper equipment on site to safely store or process
it.
The illegal discharge of gas well
wastewater was discovered on Nov. 16, 2010,
when an inspector with the DEP made an
unannounced visit to the Marquardt site, according to the attorney general.
According
to the grand jury, during that visit the DEP inspector discovered that a rear discharge valve on a storage tank was
opened and a drain plug removed, causing gas well wastewater to flow out of the
storage tank onto the ground. There also was evidence of prior wastewater
discharges from other storage tanks at the Marquardt site.
The
grand jury found that between Nov. 12, 2010, and Nov. 16, 2010, more than
93,000 gallons of wastewater were transported to and stored at the Marquardt
site, of which approximately 57,000
gallons were unaccounted for following the spill, according to the news
release.
Kane said the toxic wastewater flowed into
and polluted an unnamed tributary of Sugar Run. As a result of the spill, DEP
required more than 3,000 tons of contaminated soil to be excavated and removed
from the Marquardt site
XTO allegedly failed to place a spill
containment system under any of the storage tanks at the Marquardt site; failed
to lock or otherwise secure any of the storage tanks on site; and failed to
utilize any security measures to prevent unauthorized individuals from
accessing the Marquardt site.
XTO Energy Inc. is charged
with five counts of unlawful conduct under the Clean Streams Law and three
counts of unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act.
The XTO news release said
the company "has already agreed with federal authorities on reasonable
civil penalties and preventative steps to avoid future accidents of this type.
Without admission of liability, on July 18, 2013, a consent decree regarding
the discharge was signed between XTO and the U.S. Department of Justice and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Department of Justice conducted a
full investigation for more than a year and concluded that criminal charges
were not warranted. An investigation by the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection is ongoing."
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/09/attorney_general_files_crimina.html
6. Republicans in
House Want To Force Dept. of Interior To Not
Regulate Fracking
“Lawmakers in the
House will focus in coming weeks on a measure to combat new regulations on
hydraulic fracturing. In a memo to Republican
lawmakers, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that the chamber will
take up a bill that would force the Interior Department to cede regulation of
the controversial energy development method to states that have already
developed their own rules.
The Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act, introduced
by Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), would
block the federal government’s attempt to impose new rules on the process. The
bill passed through the Natural Resources Committee along mostly partly lines
in July. Republicans have worried that the Interior Department rules, which are
still in draft form, would impose unnecessary requirements on the oil-and-gas
industry and restrict new energy development, which would lead to higher
prices.”
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/legislation/320801-house-to-take-aim-at-fracking-regulations
More:
http://naturalresources.house.gov/legislation/hr2728/
H.R. 2728 excerpt:
“SEC. 44. State authority for
hydraulic fracturing regulation.
“(a)
In general.—The Department of the Interior shall not enforce any Federal
regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing, or
any component of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production
activities on or under any land in any State that has regulations, guidance, or
permit requirements for that activity.
“(b) State authority.—The Department of the
Interior shall recognize and defer to State regulations, permitting, and
guidance, for all activities related to hydraulic fracturing, or any component
of that process, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on
Federal land regardless of whether those rules are duplicative, more or less
restrictive, shall have different requirements, or do not meet Federal
guidelines.
7. Allegheny County Councilwoman Danko Proposes 3-year Hold On Gas Drilling in Parks
“Saying "the parks are different," an Allegheny County
councilwoman is calling for a three-year hold on drilling for natural gas
beneath county parkland, potentially halting plans to produce gas from Deer
Lakes Park. In an ordinance scheduled to debut at Tuesday's council
meeting, Barbara Daly Danko, D-Regent Square, and her co-sponsor, John
Palmiere, D-Baldwin Township, propose a stop on drilling in parks until 2017,
saying unresolved legal issues and untested environmental regulations have made
them wary.
The ordinance will likely be
assigned to a committee and won't be voted on until at least Sept. 24. Ms.
Danko is prepared for a fight on council, where she'll need eight votes to pass
her resolution. It would then face a promised veto from Allegheny County
Executive Rich Fitzgerald, which would require 10 votes to override.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/region/allegheny-county-councilwoman-danko-proposes-3-year-hold-on-drilling-in-parks-702254/
8. Chesapeake
Energy Abandons 13,000 Acres Of Gas Leases In New York State-- Ban succeeds
“Chesapeake Energy Corp has agreed to release more than 13,000 acres of
land leased for oil and gas drilling in New York state as a ban on fracking
extends into its sixth year. The Oklahoma-based company agreed to terminate
the leases in Tioga and Broome counties in the southern portion of the state,
ending a two-year legal battle with over 200 landowners. Chesapeake had been
appealing a federal court ruling in November that stated the company could not
use a state ban on high fracking, as a reason to declare force majeure and
extend leases beyond their expiry without offering landowners better terms.
Some landowners, who signed their
leases during the last 13 years before a U.S. drilling boom boosted land prices
in gas-rich areas like New York, had been calling for a release from the leases
to seek more lucrative deals from other energy firms. Other landowners are now opposed to any drilling on
their land altogether. Chesapeake's
decision to now drop the leases is a sign of energy firms' growing frustration
over operating in the Empire State, where most drilling has been on hold since
2008. It is also an indication of how the Oklahoma-based company is reining
in spending after years of aggressive acreage buying left it with towering
debt.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/09/chesapeake-energy-gas-drilling_n_3895088.html?utm_hp_ref=green
9. Fracking Report Funded by Gas Industry
“The
recently released study, America’s New
Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil & Gas Revolution and the U.S. Economy,
received widespread media attention. The
report, conducted by consulting group IHS CERA, was commissioned by multiple
fossil fuel organizations that stand to benefit from growth in the oil and gas
industry.
According
to the report, the increase in unconventional oil and natural gas extraction
has added an average of $1,200 in discretionary income to each U.S. household
in 2012, and now supports 1.2 million jobs—projected to increase to 3.3 million
by 2020. These figures are much larger than the findings of many previous
economic studies.
However, multiple major news
outlets, including Reuters, CNBC, Forbes.com, and the Los Angeles Times,
covered the new report with no mention of its financial ties to the industry. The research was monetarily supported by
America’s Natural Gas Alliance, the American Petroleum Institute, the American
Chemistry Council, the Natural Gas Supply Association and others who stand to
gain economically from an unregulated increase in fracking.
Bloomberg, which did disclose the report’s
industry ties, reported that the IHS report didn’t take potential environmental
impacts from extracting unconventional oil and gas through drilling and
fracking, such as groundwater contamination and strains on water resources,
into account.”
http://ecowatch.com/2013/pro-fracking-report-funded-by-gas-industry/
10. Disinfection of Gas/Oil Wastewater Can Lead to Toxic Byproducts
“Wastewater treatment plants that process
waters from oil and gas development were found to discharge elevated levels of
toxic chemicals known as brominated disinfection byproducts, according to a new
study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Disinfection
byproducts are created by chemical reactions when water is disinfected. The brominated forms are among the most
toxic.
Produced
waters can originate from unconventional (e.g. hydraulic fracturing) and conventional
oil and gas extractions. Management of produced waters includes a variety of
methods, such as recycling, road spreading, deep-well injection, and processing
by wastewater treatment plants.
The
study examined river water samples downstream from the discharges of publicly
owned and commercial wastewater treatment plants that were processing produced
waters with high levels of bromide. These samples
were compared with water just upstream of the plants and with samples from
wastewater treatment plants that did not process produced waters from oil and
gas development.
This is
the first time it has been shown that these activities contribute DBPs to
streams where the wastewaters are discharged.
The
water was examined for 29 different disinfection byproducts, including
brominated and non-brominated disinfection byproducts. The brominated disinfection byproducts were detected more frequently
and at much higher levels in river water impacted by disinfected produced
waters than at other sites.
The
study is entitled "Discharges of
produced waters from oil and gas extraction via wastewater treatment plants are
sources of disinfection by-products to receiving streams," and is
published in Science of the Total
Environment. The study may be accessed online.”
To
learn more about this study and other USGS Environmental Health research,
please visit the USGS Environmental Health website or sign up for the USGS
GeoHealth Newsletter.
http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/dbp/
Video of Dr. Casson
at the Pitt Health Conference November 2012:
BROMIDE IN THE ALLEGHENY RIVER:
A POSSIBLE LINK WITH MARCELLUS SHALE OPERATIONS
http://mediasite.cidde.pitt.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=26fa990db3ac43ed8d92b4c1d9f28156
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
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