Advice on Testing Well Water as a Precaution Before Marcellus Gas Drilling Begins
Some Juniata Township residents (located near Altoona, in central Pennsylvania) with properties close to Marcellus Shale drilling sites have had their water tested as a precautionary measure. Their aim is to have evidence in case their water supplies become contaminated due to drilling activity. While MDN would point out that no known instances of chemical contamination of drinking water supplies from Marcellus Shale drilling exist, we applaud anyone who wants to ensure the drilling industry lives up to its stated high standards. The residents of Juniata Township offer this sage advice if you do get testing done:
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Good question, and one that Brandon Otis, a CPA and valuations specialist with Alpern Rosenthal, an accounting advisory firm, addressed at a recent meeting in Pittsburgh. Otis has done research on 384 Marcellus wells in Susquehanna County, PA and has come up with a list of criteria for determining value. Among the criteria he uses:
Those in Pennsylvania who oppose drilling in the Marcellus Shale have gotten a bit desperate. They’re unhappy with new Gov. Tom Corbett, especially since the budget he introduced earlier this week contains budget cuts to education and calls for a layoff of state workers in order to plug a massive multi-billion dollar shortfall, without also including a severance tax on Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. Pennsylvania, like New York, California, Wisconsin, Ohio and a number of other states is essentially bankrupt from years of overspending and one-time gimmicks and budget patches. The chickens have finally come home to roost and now state governments have to make some hard decisions. It is in that context that anti-drilling protestors got nasty and thug-like yesterday:
The latest fallout from The New York Times story is about how wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling operations in Pennsylvania is tracked as it is disposed. Supposedly the Times has found that there is a conspiracy:
Pittsburgh City Councilman and Council President Doug Shields (Democrat-District 5) was the driving force behind legislation passed late last year that banned drilling for Marcellus Shale gas inside city limits. Energy companies hold leases on 362 acres, or 1 percent, of land in the city proper. Shields worked with the environmentalist and anti-drilling law firm Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund to craft that legislation.