Even though extensive testing done by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proven Marcellus Shale wastewater does not increase levels of radioactivity in its waterways (see here), that doesn’t stop the over-reaching federal Environmental Protection Agency from interfering in PA’s business:
Read More “U.S. EPA Tries to Tell PA DEP How to Do It’s Job – PA Pushes Back”
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:
Former PA Governor Tom Ridge has a new role as spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition. In that role, he met yesterday with local political officials and reporters in Canonsburg, PA, near Pittsburgh. He had some common sense words for those in the audience:
“You cannot eliminate the risk from anything you do,” said Ridge, who was casually dressed in jeans, a blue turtleneck and a blue button-down shirt. “Airplanes crash because pilots make bad judgments, but we don’t stop flying.”(1)
Read More “Former PA Gov. Tom Ridge Says NYT Spreading Disinformation”
It looks like new PA Gov. Tom Corbett’s pick to head the Department of Environmental Protection will soon be confirmed by the State Senate. Michael L. Krancer, 53, of Bryn Mawr in Montgomery County, answered Senators’ questions at his confirmation hearing yesterday. In particular he responded to questions about the recent stories in The New York Times alleging PA has been lax in testing drinking water supplies that The Times claims are now contaminated with high levels of radioactivity from drilling wastewater.
Krancer took the opportunity to set the record straight on a few facts The Times got wrong:
Read More “New PA DEP Secretary Krancer Sets the Record Straight, Corrects NYT Errors”
The New York Times continues its vendetta against drilling in the Marcellus Shale—it sells papers and God knows they sell far fewer today than they did even a year ago. MDN wonders what made-up quotes pulled from past public statements adorn this new article? The theme of the new article: “Yes, yes, drilling companies say they’re recycling more wastewater (some even approaching 100 percent), but not all of them do! And even recycling produces nasty stuff that pollutes water supplies anyway. So pay no attention to all that recycling talk.” And of course, Pennsylvania continues to be the whipping boy.
Pittsburgh is located in the middle of some of the most active drilling in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. Many drilling and other related companies have located either branch or even headquarters offices in the Pittsburgh area, making it the defacto capital of drilling in the Marcellus Shale. So plenty of news comes out of Western PA to do with drilling in the Marcellus.
One of the chief objections of those who oppose drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is the amount of water used in drilling—an average of 3-4 million gallons per well. Environmentalists raise the alarm of sourcing the water from rivers and streams, and the disposal of what’s left over.
Here’s how the numbers break down: It takes between 100,000 and 300,000 gallons of water during the drilling process itself, and another 3-4 million gallons of water gets mixed with sand and chemicals and pumped in under pressure to fracture the shale, releasing the gas. Anywhere from 10 to 50 percent of the water comes back out—something called “flowback.”
The rumor mill has been working overtime in Harrisburg, PA with talk that newly minted Gov. Tom Corbett is planning to merge two state agencies that oversee drilling in the Marcellus Shale into one. Corbett officials are trying to tamp down the rumors:
Read More “Will PA Merge DEP and DCNR to Oversee Marcellus Shale Drilling?”
Below is a detailed response from the Marcellus Shale Coalition to the New York Times “hit piece” on gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale (see MDN’s review of that article here).
Read More “Marcellus Shale Coalition Provides Devastating Critique of NYT Anti-Gas Article”
Have no fear, the great New York Times is now on the case of natural gas drilling, and it has “uncovered” some rather disturbing news:
With hydrofracking, a well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. Other carcinogenic materials can be added to the wastewater by the chemicals used in the hydrofracking itself.
While the existence of the toxic wastes has been reported, thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.(1)
Yesterday saw the first round of hearings by the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), four hearings total—two in Honesdale, PA and two in Liberty, NY (afternoon and evening sessions at both locations). The hearings were for public comment on the DRBC’s proposed new extra layer of drilling regulations for Marcellus Shale gas wells drilled within the Delaware River watershed, which includes portions of Pennsylvania and New York where Marcellus drilling occurs.
The drilling moratorium on Marcellus drilling in Pennsylvania state forests has been lifted by new Gov. Tom Corbett:
Read More “New Drilling in PA State Forests Back On with New Governor”
Although not enough to offset the loss of revenue from lower commodity price of timber sales, the Pennsylvania State Game Commission says royalties from leasing state land for drilling in the Marcellus Shale is helping to keep the commission afloat.
A bone-headed move by Pennsylvania’s top Senate Republican:
The state Senate president, a key player in the debate over natural-gas drilling in Pennsylvania, accepted a free trip from one of the state’s largest energy companies to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl.
Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, had his ticket, plane ride, and hotel bill paid for by Consol Energy Inc., a major coal producer and one of the companies drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale, according to Mr. Scarnati’s top aide.*
Read More “Pro-Drilling PA Senator Joe Scarnati Accepts Free Super Bowl Trip from CONSOL Energy”
New high paying jobs are being created, right now, in the Marcellus Shale—that is, where drilling is happening. Here’s an example from Pleasant Gap, PA:
Read More “Marcellus Shale Jobs – How Does $55K a Year Starting Wage for a 19 Year-Old Grab You?”
Pennsylvania State Rep. Phyllis Mundy (Democrat, Kingston) recently reintroduced several pieces of legislation designed to stop drilling in the Marcellus Shale in PA. Not that it will make much of a difference since Republicans now control the governorship, the Senate and the House in PA.