Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group Updates
March 13, 2014
* 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/
* Our email address: westmcg@gmail.com
*
To discuss candidates: http://www.facebook.com/groups/VoteProEarth/
* To contact your state
legislator:
For the email address, click on the envelope
under the photo
* For information on PA state gas legislation
and local control: http://pajustpowers.org/aboutthebills.html-
WMCG
Thank You
* Thank you to contributors to our Updates: Debbie Borowiec, Lou
Pochet, Ron Gulla, the Pollocks, Marian Szmyd, Bob Donnan, Gloria Forouzan, Elizabeth
Donahue, and Bob Schmetzer.
Calendar
*** WMCG Meeting We meet the second Tuesday of every month at
7:30 PM in Greensburg. Email Jan for
directions. All are very welcome to attend.
***The Climate Marchers Are Coming!
“They left Los Angeles March 1st and have Pittsburgh, Irwin,
Greensburg, Ligonier etc on their itinerary.
I've already sent a welcome to them to count on warm hospitality in
Greensburg. Dates are not firm yet.”
Visit:
www.climatemarch.org
B. Survil, Ph:
724-850-1616
*** Act 13 Forum –To
view the live webcast after March 13th, please visit: http://whyy.org/hamiltoncommons/ustream/delriver.html
Our Water, Our Air,
Our Communities - And Forced Gas
Drilling?
The Inside story on the landmark court case that overturned
the pro-drilling Act 13
and recognized our constitutional right to a healthy
environment.
(The forum explains many
interesting details about the Act 13 case.
Jan)
Action!!
***Letters to the editor are important
and one of the best ways to share
information with the
public. ***
RON SLABE Thanks All for Signing Frack Pit Ban Petitions
Dear
friend,
On Tuesday, March 11, 2014, I was able to
deliver our petition to Ban the Frack Pit with over 3800 signatures to the PA
DEP's Environmental Quality Board in Harrisburg, PA. Along with several environmental groups,
we brought petitions and letters and presented them to the PA DEP. Those petitions and letters, gathered with
the help of such groups as Clean Water Action, PennEnvironment, Delaware
Riverkeeper Network, the Sierra Club, Upper Burrell Citizens Against Marcellus
Pollution, and several other environmental groups, had over 17,000 signatures
demanding an end to open impoundments or what is commonly known as frack
pits. Mr. Scott Perry, DEP Deputy
Secretary, received us in the lobby of the DEP and accepted our petitions and
letters. We who delivered those messages
and the signers of those letters and petitions, spoke for the countless number
of Pennsylvanians who are tired and fed up with the environmental degradation
caused by these open impoundments or frack pits.
I cannot thank you enough for your
signature and help in making this effort a great success. And remember, if you still haven't signed,
you still have until tomorrow, March 14, which is the last day for accepting
public comment on the proposed DEP regulations.
The petition to Ban the Frack Pit
with any additional signatures
will be delivered electronically to the DEP.
Finally, I want to leave you with a most
profound ballad written and sung by Kris Kitko, called the Frack Pit Love
Song. It is a beautifully written piece
of music which tells the true tale of the horrible consequences of the frack
pit. Just click and listen. Give it about 20 seconds before the music
starts. If you have trouble, just go to
YouTube to find the "Frack Pit Love Song”
***Help Needed for Pittsburgh Parks!!
From Doug Shields
DEAR FRIENDS:
Thanks for signing the petition to stop fracking
Allegheny County Parks! Over 3,600 have
signed!
Things are heating up in Allegheny County Council
with regard to drilling under and around Deer Lakes Park.
We need you help more than ever! I ask that you sign up at the local PROTECT
OUR PARKS web page here: http://www.protectparks.org/petition_signer_list
UPDATE
Numerous meetings have been held between citizens
and County Council Members. While these discussions have been cordial, the
County Council, as of yet, has taken any action to conduct public informational
meetings. It is also unclear if they appreciate their Constitutional
obligations as outlined in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision related to
Article I, Section 27, of the PA Constitution.
There were four (4) major well fires two weeks ago,
notably the Chevron well blowout in Greene County where, tragically, one worker
was killed and another injured. It is time we put a stop to this risky
business!
ACTION
Please take the time to contact the Council and let them know you are
opposed to leasing of drilling rights in Deer Lakes Park. All are invited to communicate with the
Council. They truly do want to hear your opinions. Please be courteous. Here is a link for Allegheny County residents
to determine who your County Council member is:
Frack Links
***Concerned about the air quality in
your community due to drilling?—Speaker Available
Southwestern Pennsylvania
Environmental Health Project will provide a professional speaker if you host a
community meeting. “Tyler Rubright is available throughout the next couple of
weeks to come to meetings and present and/or help to facilitate and answer any
questions.”
Contact Jessa Chabeau
***To sign up for notifications of
activity and violations for your area:
*** List of the Harmed--There
are now over 1600 residents of Pennsylvania who have placed their names on the
list of the harmed when they became sick after fracking began in their area. http://pennsylvaniaallianceforcleanwaterandair.wordpress.com/the-list/
*** Southwest PA
Environmental Health Has Air Monitors
From
Ryan Grode at the SWPA-EHP:
“I
am beginning a distribution of new air
quality monitors for individuals who are living near any type of drilling
activity. If you know of anyone who
would want to have one of these monitors at their home I would visit them and
set up the monitor for them, then come back in a few weeks to pick up the
monitor and perhaps our nurse practitioner will join me and conduct an exposure
assessment on the family.
If
you hear of anyone who would like help dealing with issues because of drilling please
refer them to me. The office number is 724-260-5504. As mentioned I'll
personally be able to go out to see the family and speak with them and possibly
set up air quality, water quality, and possibly in the future soil quality
monitors.”
From Jan:
At
our last WMCG meeting, SWPA-HEP provided information about the air and water
monitors. “Speck” is the air monitor developed by Carnegie Mellon. It is used
indoors, plugged into an outlet, and detects particulate matter. These monitors
are being used within about 3 miles of fracked wells. The device is not calibrated in a way to be
used in a court of law. It is used to
give the homeowner an idea of the level of pollution they are being exposed to,
and it registers a continuous read. The
dylos monitor could detect 2.5 particulate but had no continuous read.
The
water indicator, called “Catfish”, is
placed in the back of a toilet and measures conductivity which is related to
general water quality of water. Further testing can be done if conductivity is abnormal.
***Isaak Walton
Presentations-- A series of
presentations on how shale gas drilling can affect water, air, and property, as
well as citizens' rights and state laws like Act 13.
1 - Ken DeFalla - Henry Enstrom Chapter - Water Quality
2 - Dr John Stolz - The Woodlands
3 - Dr Ben Stout - Charleston MCHM spill
4 - Dr Dorothy Basset - Energy Independence falsehoods
5 - John Smith, Esq - Act 13 Updates
6 - Raina Rippel, SWPA-EHP - Health Effects and Air Testing
7 - Ron Gulla - What to expect from the industry
8 - Linda & David Headley - Living close to drilling
9 - Joe Bezak - Jailed for stopping pollution of his land
***Colbert’s Tip of the Hat To Chevron’s Pizza Gift
“On Comedy
Central’s The Colbert Report, Stephen
Colbert called out Chevron’s absurd apology tactics in the highly publicized
“pizza gift certificate” scandal. As reported on EcoWatch, the vouchers were an
attempt to make amends with residents following the fatal gas well explosion at
a Chevron Appalachia drilling site in Dunkard, PA. We couldn’t help but share
this priceless bit:”
Fracking News
***E
notice for North Huntingdon
North Huntingdon Municipality:
Blasting Activity Permit –Geokinetics Inc.
Authorization # 1011683 has
been overdue as of 2/28/2014.
(All articles are
excerpted. Please use links to read the entire articles. Jan)
1. Wanda Guthrie
Comments On the Bobtown , Green County,
PA Explosion
Excerpt From New People
“The DEP is
seriously understaffed and the three inspectors could not get within 500 feet
of the well pad. DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo said it was “fortunate” that the
nearest house was about a half mile away from the exploding drilling site, yet
Abruzzo and Gov. Corbett continue to defend Act 13, the law that would allow
gas well pads and the attendant infrastructure to be built just 300 feet from
homes schools, day care centers, hospitals, or any other structure in PA.”
2. Mars Area
School Board Rejects Drilling Proposal
By Bill Vidonic
“More than
150 Mars Area School District residents cheered loudly Tuesday night as the
nine-member school board voted unanimously to reject Rex Energy's proposal to
conduct horizontal drilling for oil and gas underneath district property along
Route 228.
“This is not just for today, but
forever,” said Amy Nassif of Adams. “The community has spoken. We do not want
this type of industry near our children.”
The school
board rejected an agreement that would have paid the district just over $1
million for a five-year lease. The pact promised the district about $4,000 an
acre for drilling rights about a mile
underneath nearly 175 acres of school property.
The $1 million payment included
about $330,000 in advance royalties for the rights to drill from a site about
4,000 feet from district property. The district would have received 15 percent
of royalties from the drilling.
The school district's rejection means that the Mars Home For
Youth won't be able to finalize a separate lease agreement to drill under its
property, because school district property is between the youth home and the
drill site, Rex officials said.
Board
solicitor Tom King said questions remained as to how much of the mineral rights
the school district owned on the 175 acres because a full title search hadn't
been done. There's also a question of long-term liability from the substances
that are used in the extraction process, he said.
The drilling proposal
had drawn strong opposition from parents, who cited safety concerns. Nassif
presented directors the signatures of about 900 people, collected in person and
online, opposing the plan.
The grassroots group Protect Our Children — which is
partnering with members of the Marcellus
Outreach Butler and Marcellus Outreach Middlesex — said it has concerns
about environmental pollution and its effects on children. The groups want a
ban on drilling within a mile of the school.
“Thank you,
school board. You did the right thing, but we as a community need to take the
next step,” said Charles Clark, who has a second-grader attending Mars
Elementary. “
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/5745500-74/district-energy-rex?fb_action_ids=10203336432638732&fb_action_types=og.comments&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B448675181930253%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.comments%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D#axzz2viFFakRk
Bill
Vidonic
3. Drilling Halted After 2 Earthquakes In Ohio
“ The Ohio
Department of Natural Resources has halted drilling at Hilcorp's well pad in Poland Township. The action follows two
earthquakes both of which had epicenters close to the well pad.
According to the USGS,
the first earthquake occurred one mile south of Lowellville. The agency pinpoints the epicenter roughly 2,000 feet northeast of Poland
Township Park on land owned by Republic Services' Carbon Limestone Landfill,
where Hilcorp is developing 12 oil and gas wells in the Utica shale formation.
The second
earthquake's epicenter was traced to roughly 4,000 feet east of Poland Township
Park.
The first
earthquake registered at a depth of 1.2 miles, USGS reports. The second quake
occurred at a depth of three miles.
According
to the ODNR, Hilcorp has drilled seven wells at the site. One of those wells is
in production, another one is being drilled and four other wells are permitted
at the site.
ODNR
released a statement saying the agency is "in the process of analyzing the
[seismic activity] data. All available information indicates the events are not connected to Class II injection
activities. Out of an abundance of caution we notified the only oil and gas
operator in the area, and ordered them to halt all operations until further
assessment can take place," the statement continued. "ODNR is using
all available resources to determine the exact circumstances surrounding this
event and will take the appropriate actions necessary to protect public health
and safety."
John Williams, an activist who is part of a
group that opposes the use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling,
emailed a statement and stated the region has experienced its "first earthquake
caused by fracking, not just injection wells," and petitioned
residents to appeal to local government to assist homeowners with earthquake
insurance.
After the
2011 quakes, the state of Ohio placed a moratorium on injection wells within
five miles of the D&L site on Ohio Works Drive in Youngstown.
"To be clear, Hilcorp has no disposal
wells in the area," the company's statement concluded. "Hilcorp
always strives to be a good neighbor and responsible corporate citizen in the
communities that we operate in. We welcome the inquiry into exactly what
happened in Poland and encourage state inspectors to provide the community with
as much information as possible."
Business Journal,
Youngstown, Ohio
4. Fayette Commissioners
Move To Limit Comments
“Commissioners Al Ambrosini and
Vincent Zapotosky agreed on Tuesday to place on their meeting agenda for March
18 a resolution to establish rules for public comment at commissioner meetings.
Commissioner Angela Zimmerlink did not attend the agenda meeting. A legal
representative of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association recommended the board
tread carefully in any limitation to public comment.
“It's a public comment period. People
can ask questions. We are not obligated to debate,” Ambrosini said. “We have to
use some common sense here. We are not violating anyone's rights.” Rules
adopted in 1997 by an earlier board limited public comment to three minutes per
person if requested in advance and two minutes if not. Ambrosini said he didn't
know those rules were in effect.”
http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/5741532-74/public-comment-minutes#axzz2vnURl4wS
5. Seismic Test Equipment
in Residents’ Yards
Commonwealth Court Orders They Cannot Remove Equipment
By Rachel Morgan rmorgan@timesonline.com
“Local commissioners
have been pushed aside in their efforts to stop a seismic testing company from
conducting what the officials consider disruptive activities.
Under a recent court order, Hopewell
Township officials cannot tell residents to remove, destroy or prohibit Seitel
Data Ltd. from placing receivers — or geophones — in the right of way, which in
some cases can mean residents’ yards.
The company uses seismic
testing to create a map of subterranean rock layers, then sells that
information to oil and gas companies, who then use it to determine the best
areas in which to drill for oil and gas. A contractor for Seitel, Dawson
Geophysical, is conducting the seismic testing in Hopewell.
“The essence of the injunction against
Hopewell Township, which includes its elected officials, employees and police,
is that the township cannot interfere by any means whatsoever with Seitel’s
seismic operations in Hopewell Township and cannot communicate with township
residents about seismic operations conducted on or in township rights of way,”
said Mike Jones, solicitor for Hopewell, Potter and Greene townships.
The right of way is commonly 33 feet wide,
but can be up to 120 feet, and “extend beyond the paved road and shoulders,”
according to PennDOT. The agency will
execute right of way “only when it will benefit the public,” its website
says.
But Shawn
Gallagher of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, who represents Seitel, said the
company is permitted by Section 459 of the Pennsylvania Code, which deals with
seismic activity by the vibroseis method, regarding occupancy of highways by
utilities. “Highway is defined as roads and rights of way,” he said.
But some have different definitions of right of
way, namely, Jones.
“It has been our stated position at every
Commonwealth Court proceeding over the past six months that, ordinance or no
ordinance, Act 13 or no Act 13, municipalities have the right to just say ‘no’
to a nonpublic use of their rights of way,” Jones said. “Seitel has stated
to us that this data is worth millions to those who have commissioned the
study, namely Range Resources. Interestingly, Range Resources has stated
that there is no intention to ever drill a well in the municipal boundary of
Hopewell Township as this data is being collected for use in operations west of
Hopewell Township.
“That is
why the (Hopewell) Township Commissioners are opposed to a private use of
public rights of way for private financial gain and have appealed this issue to
the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania,” he said.
Seitel sent out letters to local
residents in Beaver and Allegheny counties asking for permission to conduct seismic
testing on their land . The letters
contained various permit numbers, causing some residents to question whether
these permits were issued by the state DEP or Seitel. The DEP confirmed they
were not DEP-issued permits.
DEP
officials said Tuesday that conducting seismic testing via vibroseis trucks
does not require a DEP-issued permit, but that it may be subject to local
municipal ordinances.
By June, Seitel had state permission to conduct seismic
testing on state roads, it still needed
local permission to do so on township roads, Kyle Ayers, a spokesman for
Seitel said at the demonstration.
But local
elected officials at that time raised concerns for local infrastructure, such
as home foundations, utility lines and water lines.
Then in August, Seitel sued Hopewell and Potter townships,
seeking permission to conduct seismic testing on local roads. Jones said at
the time that Hopewell and Potter had already adopted regulations for seismic
testing within the townships, but that Seitel
wanted to have these regulations set aside by the court. In addition, Hopewell did not grant Seitel the right to
use vibe trucks on its roads, due to aging infrastructure, and roads with a
history of sliding problems, Jones said in that same interview.
In September, Seitel was granted
a court order in the Commonwealth Court, forbidding
Hopewell and Potter townships from ordinances to regulate seismic testing,
court documents show.
More
legal cases ensued.
In October, the Center Township
Water Authority, the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, and Wayne Lipecky,
a Hopewell Township resident, sued Seitel, Hopewell, Center and Potter in
Beaver County Court, saying that seismic testing could damage infrastructure
beneath some roads.
An agreement for that case was
reached in December in Beaver County Court.
In the agreement, Seitel said it will not vibe roads directly over the municipalities’
infrastructures. It also requires Seitel to post various bonds and secure
insurance should any damage occur from seismic testing on roads.
Also in October, Seitel sued Center, Greene Township and Shippingport —
none of which had ordinances to regulate seismic testing in place — and was
granted a court order that said that these municipalities “are hereby
(prohibited) pending further order of court from enforcing and applying seismic
regulations either by resolution or agreement to petitioner’s survey
operations and from arbitrarily and unreasonably prohibiting petitioner’s use
of the municipality’s respective roads.” That order is still in place, pending
further action of the Commonwealth Court.
Last month, after Hopewell sent
out automated calls regarding the seismic testing, the newest court order was
issued.
“The township was advising that
we had no right to place our equipment there in the rights of way, and that was
incorrect,” Gallagher said Tuesday. In court documents, Gallagher said that “Hopewell
had begun robo-calling all of the residents in Hopewell, advising them Seitel
does not have the authority to lay the geophones and that they have the right
to remove them if placed within the right of way.”
Gallagher said that some of
Seitel’s geophones have gone missing and the company was in the process of
procuring their return. He also said that the ongoing court cases have delayed
the company’s operations, which were originally scheduled to be completed in
November.
“Seitel hopes to conduct and
complete its operations in the area without any further incident now that the
Commonwealth Court has made it clear that we can place our equipment within the
rights of way,” Gallagher said.
Hopewell officials have since appealed the
Jan. 31 order to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, citing lack of jurisdiction
under Act 13, since their ordinance has been rescinded.
“Under Section 3306 of Act 13,
‘any person who is aggrieved by the enactment or enforcement of a local
ordinance’ that violates Act 13 ‘may bring an action in Commonwealth Court to
invalidate the ordinance or enjoin its enforcement,’” Jones said. “It is our
argument on appeal to the Supreme Court that although the Commonwealth Court
initially enjoined the enforcement of the ordinance, that ordinance was
immediately rescinded. Therefore, we argue, the Commonwealth Court lacked
jurisdiction to take any further action in the case under any provision of Act
13.”
http://www.timesonline.com/news/energy/court-order-blocks-hopewell-officials-from-interfering-in-seismic-testing/article_20b58b14-23ed-5026-9c0f-913664b8918c.html
6. DEP Manipulates
Law On Fracking Complaint, Leaves Leroy
Twp. Family Without Water
(Link to this article.
Documents, maps, and photos are posted. jan)
Public Herald |
March 7, 2014 By Joshua B. Pribanic
“It’s
day one and Christine Pepper’s family has no water. There’s no water for the
family to drink, to shower or wash their clothes so they’re making calls to
inlaws and saving single gallon plastic jugs. It’s day one, and the Pepper family has 45 days until they know
what’s happened. It started when Christine splashed water on her face from
the kitchen faucet and a burning sensation shot through her skin. “It felt like
my face was on fire for 20 minutes,” she said. Later red bumps developed. Not
shortly after there was no water at all. The Pepper’s spring-fed well, which
had produced water for more than 50 years, went completely dry.
“I’m not
saying we’ve never had low water,” explains Christine’s husband Cory, “but it
always comes right back, but it’s stayed dry for two weeks. And … I’ve never
seen it! I’m 42, I’ve lived here 42 years, and my Dad was 18 when he bought
this house.”
Cory and Christine Pepper stand at
their spring water well in Leroy Twp. in Pennsylvania after looking for water
in their well after it recently went dry for the first time
The Peppers
live on Southside Road in Leroy Twp. Bradford County, where Public Herald
reported on drinking water problems in the documentary Triple Divide. The
DEP has pending Gas Migration Investigation (GMI) cases throughout the
area, with Leroy Twp. being famous for two GMI’s in the last three years:
the Atgas 2H well blowout in April 2011, and the Morse 5H well subsurface
problems in 2012. Both wells are within three miles of each other.
Cory and
Christine Pepper live 1,000 feet from the Morse 5H well and 3 miles from the
Atgas 2H well, each operated by Chesapeake Energy Corporation.
According
to DEP, the Morse 5H well is currently in “inactive status” due to regulatory
procedures. But, there’s a second well
on the pad—the 3H—which the Peppers were told was put into production the same
week their well went dry. “They opened up the [3H] well and the next day we
have problems,” told Cory, who happens to work locally for the gas industry
but has been skeptical that fracking had anything to do with stories of water
contamination in the area.
The phrase “opened up” is another way of
saying the gas well went “on line” or into production. Essentially, the company
pulls a plug and the gas is released, ready to go to market. When Cory saw
his family’s spring dry up, and found out that the 3H well had been put online,
he and Christine did the only thing to do; they called DEP to submit a
complaint. Christine talked to DEP on a Friday but as Cory puts it, “They told her it was an inconvenience for
them to come out and test it on a Friday. So, they came out Tuesday [Feb. 11].
That was day one with DEP.”
As of
June 2013 Public Herald found Bradford County had 285 water supply complaints.
Of those, 10 complaints were filed for Leroy Twp., seven being water
complaints. The remaining three general complaints have at least two concerning
drinking water from spills; one involving a 4,700 gallon spill of hydrochloric
acid, a component of fracking fluid, on July 4, 2013.
To see all
of the Bradford County complaint files visit Public Herald’s new #fileroom
website. Carolyn knows about these complaints,
… The
Morse 5H well is also responsible for blowing out and impacting a creek down
the road on Tim Pepper’s farm [Cory's brother], an incident documented in
Triple Divide. With the Leighton’s case, Tim Pepper’s creek blowout, and other
incidents happening within the past two years, DEP has evidence on the Morse
well for the presumptive clause. But, instead they’ve left the Pepper family
without water and manipulated the law.
“If they
took care of the landowners and the local people you’d be so much further
ahead, but they won’t. And that’s what pissed me off,” Cory protests. If the
Peppers water supply turns out to be safe to drink, it doesn’t restore their trust
in the department or Chesapeake Energy. For complaint #302587 Christine
affirms, “It’s not just my life I’m concerned about; it’s their life.”
7. Pro
Publica: The Latest In Fracking Health
Studies
“In 2011, when
ProPublica first reported on the different health problems afflicting people
living near gas drilling operations, only a handful of health studies had been
published. Three years later, the
science is far from settled, but there is a growing body of research to consider.
A review of
health-related studies published last month in Environmental Science &
Technology concluded that the current scientific literature puts forward “both
substantial concerns and major uncertainties to address.”
Still, for
some, waiting for additional science to clarify those uncertainties before
adopting more serious safeguards is misguided and dangerous. As a result, a
number of researchers and local activists have been pushing for more aggressive
oversight immediately.
1. An Exploratory Study of Air Quality near
Natural Gas Operations. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 2012.
The study,
performed in Garfield County, Colo., between July 2010 and October 2011, was
done by researchers at The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, a non-profit
organization that examines the impact of low-level exposure to chemicals on the
environment and human health. In almost
75 percent of all samples collected, researchers discovered methylene chloride,
a toxic solvent that the industry had not previously disclosed as present in
drilling operations. The researchers noted that the greatest number of
chemicals were detected during the initial drilling phase.
2. Birth Outcomes and Natural Gas
Development. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2014.
The study examined
babies born from 1996 to 2009 in rural Colorado locations — the state has been
a center of fracking for more than a decade. It was done by the Colorado School
of Public Health and Brown University.
The study
asserted that women who lived close to
gas wells were more likely to have children born with a variety of defects,
from oral clefts to heart issues. For instance, it claimed that babies born
to mothers who lived in areas dense with gas wells were 30 percent more likely
to have congenital heart defects.
3. Health Risks and Unconventional Natural Gas
Resources. Science of the Total Environment, 2012.
Between
January 2008 and November 2010, researchers at the Colorado School of Public
Health collected air samples in Garfield County, Colo., which has been
experiencing intensive drilling operations. Researchers
found the presence of a number of hydrocarbons including benzene,
trimethylbenzene and xylene, all of which have been shown to pose health
dangers at certain levels.
Researchers
maintained that those who lived less than
half a mile from a gas well had a higher risk of health issues. The study also
found a small increase in cancer risk and alleged that exposure to benzene
was a major contributor to the risk.
“From the data we had, it looked like the well completion
phase was the strongest contributor to these emissions,” said Lisa McKenzie,
the lead author of the study.
During the
completion phase of drilling, a mixture of water, sand and chemicals is forced
down the well at high pressure, and is then brought back up. The returning
mixture, which contains radioactive materials and some of the natural gas from
the geological formation, is supposed to be captured. But at times the mixture
comes back up at pressures higher than the system can handle and the excess gas
is directly vented into the air.
http://www.propublica.org/article/drilling-for-certainty-the-latest-in-fracking-health-studies
8. Cause Of W.Va. Pipeline Blast
( Bob Donnan: How much inferior foreign steel is being used
for all the new gas pipelines being laid?)
“Severe
corrosion caused a 2012 natural gas pipeline rupture and explosion in West
Virginia that destroyed three houses and cooked a stretch of Interstate 77, and
the incident likely could have been prevented if the pipeline had been
inspected or tested, said the National Transportation Safety Board.
Investigators
found severe external corrosion that reduced the thickness of the pipeline wall
to about 30 percent of its original thickness. The 20-inch buried pipeline, which
was installed in 1967, had not been inspected or tested since 1988, the
report said. Columbia Gas Transmission Corp.’s response to the rupture was
delayed by inadequate configuration of
alerts and the lack of automatic
shut-off or remote control valves, the report said. Columbia owns and
operates the pipeline.
http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140310/NEWS04/140319912#.Ux7yMSKYbcsg
9. DeSmog Blog Obtains Censored EPA Report on Dimock Water
Contamination
“DeSmogBlog has obtained a copy of a EPA fracking groundwater contamination
PowerPoint presentation describing a then-forthcoming study's findings in
Dimock, Pa.
The PowerPoint presentation reveals a clear
link between fracking in Dimock and groundwater contamination, but was censored by the Obama Administration. Instead, the EPA issued an official statement
in July 2012 -- in the thick of election year -- saying the water in Dimock was
safe for consumption.
Titled "Isotech-Stable Isotype
Analysis: Determining the Origin of Methane and Its Effects on the Aquifer,"
the PowerPoint presentation concludes that in Cabot’s Dimock Gesford 2 well, "Drilling creates pathways, either temporary
or permanent, that allows gas to migrate to the shallow aquifer near [the]
surface... In some cases, these gases
disrupt groundwater quality."
Other charts depict
Cabot's Gesford 3 and 9 wells as doing much of
the same, allowing methane to migrate up
to aquifers to unprecedented levels -- not coincidentally --
coinciding with the wells being fracked. The PowerPoint's conclusions
are damning
"Methane is released during the drilling and perhaps during the
fracking process and other gas well work," the
presentation states. "Methane is
at significantly higher concentrations in the aquifers after gas drilling and
perhaps as a result of fracking and other gas well work...
Methane and
other gases released during drilling (including air from the drilling)
apparently cause significant damage to the water quality."
Despite the findings, the official EPA desk
statement concluded any groundwater contamination in Dimock was "naturally
occurring."
"EPA found hazardous substances,
specifically arsenic, barium or manganese, all of which are also naturally
occurring substances, in well water at five homes at levels that could present
a health concern," read the EPA desk statement. "EPA has
provided the residents with all of their sampling results and has no further
plans to conduct additional drinking water sampling in Dimock."
EnergyWire's Mike Soraghan explained the studies were dropped -- according to one
of two unidentified EPA whistleblowers who were close to the field team in
Dimock -- "out of fear the inquiries would hurt President Obama's
reelection chances."
Though the two
EPA career employees' initial findings pointed to water contamination in
Dimock -- as seen in the PowerPoint presentation -- their superiors told them
to stop the investigation, in turn motivating them to blow the whistle.
One of the
whistleblowers said he came forward due to witnessing "patently unethical
and possibly illegal acts conducted by EPA management."
At the center of the management team
overseeing the false desk statement: former EPA head Lisa Jackson, who now works as Apple's top environmental adviser. Jackson was
recently replaced by just-confirmed
EPA head Gina McCarthy.
This was revealed
by the other whistleblower, who as part of the regular duties of his job, was a
member of the "HQ-Dimock" email listserv.
On that list, Jackson went
by the pseudonym "Richard Windsor"
as a way to shield her real name from potential Freedom of Information Act
requests.
"Many members of the email group... were lawyers and members of
Lisa Jackson's inner political circle," explained
Soraghan.
The real question at the heart of
the matter: What were the EPA's motives for doing an about-face on a key
multi-year taxpayer subsidized study?
Scott Ely -- a former Cabot employee and Dimock
resident who has three small children and whose water was contaminated by Cabot -- expressed
similar despair over EPA abandoning ship in this high-profile study.
"When does anybody just stand by the truth? Why is it that we
have a bunch of people in Washington, D.C. who are trying to manipulate the
truth of what's happening to people in Dimock because of the industry?,"
Ely asked rhetorically.
Ely says he keeps an open line of communications with EPA
employees, who regularly check in and caution him not to use his water. The
employees remain unidentified for fear of retribution by EPA
upper-level management.
"We thought EPA was going to come in and be our savior.
And what'd they do? They said the truth can't be known: hide it, drop it,
forget about it."
10. Oil/Gas Workers Suffer
Walter Brasch http://http://www.opednews.com/articles/Disposable-Assets-in-the-F-by-Walter-Brasch-Chevron_Corporation-Chevron_Fracking_Hydrofracking-140308-472.html
“The oil and gas
industry has a fatality rate seven times higher than for all other workers, according to data released by the
Centers for Disease Control. (CDC). According to the CDC, the death rate in the
oil and gas industry is 27.1; the U.S. collective death rate is 3.8.
"Job gains in
oil and gas construction have come with more fatalities, and that is
unacceptable," said
John
E. Perez, secretary of labor.
Not included in the
data, because it doesn't include the past three years, when the oil/gas
industry significantly increased fracking in the Marcellus and other shales, is
a 27-year-old worker who was cremated in a gas well explosion in late February
in Greene County, Pa. One other worker was injured. Because of extensive heat and fire, emergency management officials
couldn't get closer than 1,500 feet of the wells. Pennsylvania's Act 13,
largely written by the oil and gas industry, allows only a 300 foot set-back
from wells to homes. In Greene County, it
took more than a week to cap three wells on the pad where the explosion
occurred.
The gas drilling
industry, for the most part, is non-union or dependent upon independent
contractors who often provide little or no benefits to their workers. The billion dollar corporations like it that
way. That means there are no worker safety committees and no workplace
regulations monitored by workers. The workers have no bargaining or grievance
rights; health and workplace benefits for workers who aren't executives or
professionals are often minimal or non-existent.
It may be months or years before most workers learn the extent of
possible injury or diseases caused by industry neglect.
Tom Bean, a former gas field worker
from Williamsport, Pa., says
he
doesn't know what he and his co-workers were exposed to. He does know it
affected his health:
"You'd constantly have cracked hands, red
hands, sore throat, sneezing. All kinds of stuff. Headaches. My biggest one was
a nauseating dizzy headache . . . People were sick all the time . . . and
then they'd get into trouble for calling off sick. You're in muck and dirt and
mud and oil and grease and diesel and chemicals. And you have no idea [what
they are] . . . It can be anything. You have no idea, but they [Management]
don't care . . . It's like, "Get the job done. ' . . . You'd
be asked to work 15, 18 hour days and you could be so tired that you couldn't
keep your eyes open anymore, but it was "Keep working. Keep working. Keep
working.'"
Workers are exposed
to more than 1,000 chemicals, most of them known carcinogens. They are exposed
to radioactive waste, brought up from more than a mile in the earth. They are
exposed to the effects from inhaling silica sand; they are exposed to
protective casings that fail, and to explosions that are a part of building and
maintaining a fossil fuel system that has explosive methane as its primary
ingredient. The oil/gas industry, the Chambers of Commerce, politicians, and
some in the media, even against significant and substantial health and
environmental evidence, erroneously claim there are economic benefits to
fracking. Disregard the evidence that
the 100-year claim for natural gas is exaggerated by 10 times, or that the
number of jobs created by the boom in the Marcellus Shale is inflated by
another 10 times. Focus on Greene County, Pa.
Apparently, included
in the "economic boom" is a small pizza shop that was contracted by
Chevron to provide large pizzas and sodas to about 100 families living near the
gas well explosion that cost one man his life.
Workers, like pizza boxes, are just disposable items to the oil and
gas industry.”
[Dr. Brasch is an award-winning journalist of more than four decades.
His latest of 20 books is Fracking Pennsylvania , an in-depth
documented exploration of the economic, health, and environmental effects of
fracking, with an underlying theme of the connection between politicians and
campaign funds provided by the oil/gas lobby.]
11. Texas Homeowners Seek up to $25 million in Damages from
EagleRidge Energy- Property Value
Diminished
By
Dianna Hunt / Staff Writer
“Forty-three
homeowners in Hickory Creek neighborhoods have filed a lawsuit against
EagleRidge Energy, seeking up to $25 million in damages for creating what the
suit claims are nuisances that have diminished the value of their properties.
The suit was filed in
state district court in Denton by the owners of 25 homes in the two
neighborhoods, which are close to natural gas drilling operations by
EagleRidge. It is filed against EagleRidge Energy and EagleRidge Operating.
Fort Worth attorney Kirk Claunch, who is representing the homeowners,
said the wells have limited the
residents’ use of their property.
“Who wants to go hang
out in your backyard when all you hear is the sound of drilling operations and
there’s a cloud of dust in the air and it smells bad?” he said. “They don’t want
to go outside and do the things that most people want to do in their backyard,
whether it’s gardening, swimming or anything like that.”
The suit is seeking damages of $200,000 to $1 million per home, plus
court costs.
EagleRidge officials
said in a written response to the Denton Record-Chronicle that they
would “vigorously defend” the lawsuit.
EagleRidge said in the
statement that the wells in question obtained the proper permits, including
permits under a city of Denton ordinance that found that gas well development
in the area would be “compatible with and not injurious to the use and
enjoyment of other property nor significantly diminish or impair property
values.”
12. DEP Investigates Tri-County Joint Municipal Authority
“The Tri-County Joint Municipal
Authority office staff was fired late last week as the state DEP investigates
possible reporting and permitting violations at the East Bethlehem Township
water treatment facility. The water
authority serves 10,000 customers in the Mon Valley.
The authority’s board terminated the workers
as the DEP launched an investigation into why water discharge records and
modification permits hadn’t been filed for what DEP spokesman John Poister
called a “lengthy period of time.” Poister
said the agency is looking into a number of violations and that it is very
likely the municipal authority will be fined for multiple and repeated
violations. The DEP’s investigation
centers around the lack of discharge monitoring reports filed by workers as
required under the federal Clean Water Act, Poister said.”
13. Chloramine in Water Systems
By Bob
Donnan
“You’ve heard me
mention on various occasions that I have a ‘nose full of ammonia’ after a
shower, suspecting our “new” disinfectant CHLORAMINE to be the cause. WHY?
Because some chlorine is replaced with ammonia to create CHLORAMINE. The
reason PAWC switched our water was to reduce trihalomethanes, which were never
a problem until fracking arrived.
I
got this email from a local friend on the same PAWC water system this morning:
“So
not that I intentionally get water in my eyes, but the stuff this morning has a
wicked burn. Visine even took a while to
clear up the red. No worries. All good
in SW Pa.”
The water company did say they
would be super-chlorinating our water from around now through mid-April.
WHY? Because CHLORAMINE does not
disinfect water as well as straight chlorine, meaning dangerous germs like E.
coli can more easily persist.
So then, I revisited the
CHLORAMINE FACTS page which you should also do if your water system is using
chloramine:
http://www.chloramine.org/chloraminefacts.htm
Here is a brief collection of bullet points from that page:
• Chloramine cannot kill the pathogens in the water as well as chlorine.
• As a result, people with suppressed immune systems must have their
water boiled over TEN minutes BEFORE use to kill pathogens, or they risk
becoming ill.
• Those at risk include children under 6 months of age, the elderly,
those on or who have had chemotherapy, people with HIV or AIDS, organ
transplant patients, and others with a weakened immune system.
• Chloramine is a less effective disinfectant than chlorine. The World
Health Organization says that "monochloramine is about 2,000 and 100,000
times less effective than free chlorine for the inactivation of E. Coli and
rotaviruses, respectively."
• Chloramine does not dissipate easily compared to chlorine.
• Chloramine stays in the water distribution system longer than
chlorine.
• Chloramine is difficult to remove.
• Chloramine cannot be removed by boiling, distilling, or by standing
uncovered.
• Some disinfection byproducts of chloramine are even more toxic than
those of chlorine, i.e. iodoacids.
• Chloramine vapors and its disinfection byproducts can accumulate in
indoor air and concentrate in an enclosed area such as a shower stall, small
bathroom, kitchen, or apartment (see Toxic Showers and Baths:
http://www.chloramine.org/toxicshowersandbaths.htm
• The EPA states that there are NO dermal (skin) and NO inhalant
(respiratory) studies on chloramine as used as a disinfectant for drinking
water.
• The EPA states that there are INADEQUATE cancer studies on humans or
animals.
• The disinfection byproducts of chloramine have not been studied and
may be worse than those of chlorine.
• Chloramine can cause and/or aggravate respiratory problems.
• Chloramine fumes can cause an individual to become congested and cause
sneezing, sinus congestion, coughing, choking, wheezing, shortness of breath,
and asthma (see the Hazardous Substances Fact Sheet for Chloramine, PDF, 98
KB), by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services).
• An increase in asthma due to exposure from chloramine in indoor
swimming pool areas was shown in a Belgium study from the Catholic University
of Louvain (PDF, 707 KB).
• Chloramine damages mucous membranes. The lung damage in those exposed
to chloramine in indoor pool air is similar to that seen in regular smokers
(see Health24 News article).
• Chloraminated vapor from showers, baths, hot tubs, dishwashers, and
other household appliances contains volatilized chemicals that can be inhaled
and cause irritation to the respiratory tract.”
14. Politicians Who Support Fracking Are Starting to Pay a Political Price-California
“
The expected silent protest suddenly became vocal. Persistent shouts of “No
Fracking!” seemed to rattle the normally sure-footed Jerry Brown, California.
“All you guys who like to make noise, just listen a moment,” Brown said, trying
to steer the audience back around to his points about fighting climate change
with a range of solutions. But he had lost the crowd by then, as the slogans
and shouts increased. He concluded by saying, “Thanks a lot, and keep
protesting, but add a bunch more stuff.” Brown does have a climate record to
tout, with his support for the state’s cap-and-trade system, his at times
lonely advocacy for high-speed rail, and continued investments in renewable
energy. “I support everything he said that he’s doing,” said RL Miller after the
speech. “But climate leaders don’t frack.”
Just a couple of hours after Brown’s
speech, billionaire former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, who plans to spend up
to $100 million in campaign ads this year pressuring lawmakers to fight climate
change, addressed the convention. He called for legislation that would
force oil companies to get approval for fracking from counties through a public
vote, requiring a two-thirds threshold. This is the same threshold that the
state and local communities in California must secure to raise taxes. Steyer
argued that fracking effectively imposes a tax on the public because of the
health and safety costs that result from it, and so the public deserves the
same protections as businesses enjoy. “This two-thirds vote requirement will
empower local communities to secure the safety and health provisions their
people deserve,” he said. “It will give communities the right to determine
whether fracking is really in their interest.”
http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-supporting-fracking-exacts-real-political-price?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark
15. Wyoming Supreme Court—Trade Secrets Must Be Justified
“Litigation continues to better identify the chemicals used in hydraulic
fracturing
By: Earthjustice
Cheyenne, WY March
12, 2014 — Today, the Wyoming Supreme Court issued its decision in a case where
Powder River Basin Resource Council and other groups challenged the Wyoming Oil
and Gas Commission's withholding of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) chemical
information from public disclosure and review. The Court reversed and remanded
the case back to the District Court in Casper, Wyoming to fix certain
deficiencies. In its opinion, the Court ruled in favor of the Resource Council
in two main ways: 1) It held the Oil and Gas Commission has the burden of
justifying the use of a trade secrets exemption and 2) It found that the
definition of trade secrets under the Freedom of Information Act applies in
Public Records Act cases, such as this one. In contrast, the Oil and Gas Commission
wanted to use a broader definition of trade secrets, which would allow more
withholding of chemical information from public disclosure and review.
"We're pleased the
Court recognized that the Oil and Gas
Commission has to fully and rationally justify its use of trade secrets
exemptions before it can hide fracking chemical information from public review,"
stated Marilyn Ham, Resource Council Board Member from Laramie County, Wyoming.
"We're looking forward to the next stage of the case and hopefully to getting
better information out to the public on what chemicals are used in fracking
operations.
The Wyoming Supreme
Court affirmed that the public's right to know is paramount under state law. If
fracking operators don't want to reveal what chemicals they use, they will have
to prove that the chemicals are trade secrets, which means they shouldn't be
able to capriciously keep secrets from the public about dangerous
chemicals," said Katherine O'Brien, an attorney with Earthjustice, which
represents the plaintiffs. "We will continue the fight in the trial court
to ensure that the identity of fracking chemicals—which threaten the water
supplies that communities depend upon—cannot be kept secret from the
public."
http://yubanet.com/usa/Wyoming-Supreme-Court-Rejects-Fracking-Industry-Argument-to-Withhold-Chemicals-As-Trade-Secrets.php#.UyEOMIWJTV9
Donations
We are very appreciative of donations
to our group.
With your help, we have handed out thousands of flyers on
the health and environmental effects of fracking, sponsored numerous public
meetings, and provided information to citizens and officials countywide. If you
would like to support our efforts:
In the Reminder line
please write- Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group (no abbreviations). You can send checks to Jan Milburn, 114
Mountain Road, Ligonier, PA 15658 or you can give your check to Jan or Lou
Pochet, our treasurer. Cash can also be accepted.
To make a contribution to our group using a credit card, go to www.thomasmertoncenter.org. Look for the contribute
button, then scroll down the list of organizations to direct money to. We are
listed as the Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group.
Please
be sure to write Westmoreland Marcellus
Citizens’ Group on the bottom of your check so that WMCG receives the
funding since we are just one project of many of the Thomas Merton Center.
Westmoreland Marcellus Citizen’s Group—Mission Statement
WMCG is a project of the Thomas
Merton Society
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 and
Thomas Merton Liason-Lou Pochet
Secretary-Ron
Nordstrom
Facebook
Coordinator-Elizabeth Nordstrom
Science Advisor-Dr.
Cynthia Walter
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