The 11th Injection Well Approved in Pennsylvania



A sign protesting a proposed deep injection well sits on the lawn of a home in Brady Township, Clearfield County. Community opposition to deep injection wells is strong because of links with earthquakes and fears of drinking water contamination.

Injection wells are now being permitted in Pennsylvania.  Injection wells are installed to store fracking fluids from gas well drilling.  In other areas of the country, for example, Oklahoma, injection wells have been linked to earthquakes, seismic activity, and underground pollution of water.  I guess injection wells are going to be increasing in number.  It is truly troubling that, added to more and more pipelines and compressor stations, we must face the consequences of all these threats to our environment and our health.

https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2017/06/05/pa-dep-approved-11th-underground-injection-well-for-oil-and-gas-waste/

BREAKING: Oil and Gas Drilling Impacts Public Drinking Water in Potter County (PA)

Journalist writer Melissa Troutman, Executive Director of Public Herald, reports that drinking water systems have been impacted and at least five private water supplies  are contaminated due to ongoing pollution being caused by a natural gas fracking operation of JKLM Energy in Potter County, PA.  An emergency public meeting occurred  this week in downtown Coudersport (Ms. Troutman's hometown). The water contamination has been sourced to the Reese Hollow #118 shale gas well where drilling operations began on August 28, 2015.

An interesting side issue:  JKLM Energy, a young company, whose largest shareholder, Terry Pegula,  sold the former East Resources for $4.6 billion and then purchased the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres.  A study revealed that East Resources ranked first among about 45 drillers cited for violations during the period of the study.

Another revolting aspect:  DEP is telling local residents to direct their complaints to JKLM Energy.  So they are kind of on their own I guess.

Read Troutman's report here. In the article, there are many links which will take you to other places to learn more about this horrible situation.

http://publicherald.org/breaking-oil-gas-drilling-impacts-public-drinking-water-supplies-in-potter-county/

Demand accountability!

PA DEP Cites Water Supplies Contaminated by Gas Drilling

DEP Lists Water Supplies Damaged, High Hydrogen Sulfide Emissions From Gas Drilling

The Department of Environmental Protection Thursday released a table listing the 248 water supplies found by DEP to be contaminated by oil and natural gas drilling from 2008 to 2014, about 1.2 percent of new wells drilled during that time period. Other complaints are still being investigated. According to Scott Perry, DEP Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, about half the water supplies were damaged by conventional oil and gas wells and about half were unconventional (Marcellus Shale) gas wells. The problems include methane gas contamination, spills of wastewater and other pollutants, and wells that went dry or were otherwise rendered undrinkable. The records show that some of the problems were temporary. The table with links to the letters of determination by DEP or the orders issued to correct the problems. DEP also posted a list of 19 oil and gas wells that have high levels of hydrogen sulfide emissions-- greater than 20 ppm.  14 of the wells with high emissions were conventional oil and gas wells and 5 were unconventional (Marcellus Shale) wells. 7 of the wells are still active, 8 have been plugged, 2 were abandoned wells and 2 are in regulatory inactive status (inactive, but not abandoned or producing). Hydrogen sulfide can cause conjunctivitis  and respiratory tract irritation at levels of 50 to 100 ppm and loss of consciousness and possibly death after 30 minutes of exposure at levels of 500 to 700 ppm. DEP reports 20,178 conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells were drilled between January 2008 and the end of July 2014.  There were 12,098 conventional wells and 8,080 unconventional (Marcellus Shale) wells. Copies of the list of damaged water supplies and the wells with hydrogen sulfide emissions are available online. NewsClips: DEP Releases List Of 248 Wells Impacted By Drilling DEP Releases Full List Of Wells Ruined By Gas Drilling DEP Publishes List of Water Supplies Damaged By Drilling Drilling Wastewater Contaminated Drinking Water In Westmoreland Indiana County Twp Fights Drilling Wastewater Well Study Seeks Link Between Fracking, Birth Defects

9/1/2014

Terry Greenwood: We Won't Forget You

Last month, Terry Greenwood, a Pennsylvania farmer whose water had been contaminated by fracking waste, died of cancer. He was 66 and the cause of death was a rare form of brain cancer.
His death drew attention from around the globe in part because Mr. Greenwood was among the first farmers from his state to speak out against the gas industry during the early years of the state's shale gas rush.

Read more here.

Many thanks to Josh Fox for all he has done to get the truth out about the harmful effects of natural gas drilling, and for this memorial video to honor the life of Terry Greenwood.

Terry Greenwood  1948-2014

Rest In Peace

New Video from Environment America: Drilling and Health

Go to environmentamerica.org

Fracking: Another Spill in PA

In the span of two months the same gas drilling company, Carizzo Marcellus, has had two accidents in Wyoming County and spilled thousands of gallons of fracking fluid. After the first accident on March 13 released more than a quarter million gallons of fluids and forced the evacuation of three homes, the state Department of Environmental Protection asked the company to halt all operations within the state. But the DEP allowed Carizzo to resume work just a few weeks later, before the agency’s own investigation was complete. Now Carrizo has spilled another 9,000 gallons at a different well site in Wyoming County.


Read the article here.

Marcellus Gas Drilling: The Mannings Tell Their Story

In less than 10 minutes, this video shines a light on the Mannings in Pennsylvania whose water is ruined. Listen to how their life has changed since hydrofracking began near their home. How much help have they gotten from the DEP or the gas company?

Max Chilson's Water Well Went Bad: French Azilum, PA

Max Chilson, eighty years old, living in French Azilum and surrounded by gas wells, cannot use his water any longer. It went bad in 2010- black solids turned up. The PA DEP and the gas company Chief Oil and Gas do not know what is in this black stuff. Public officials, including Gene Yaw, Tina Pickett, and the three Bradford County Commissioners, have been no help. Chilson has given up on them. He spends a lot of time trying to get good water to live. He's got a bad back and a bad knee. It's hard to get around. He doesn't trust his water to cook with or do laundry. Max Chilson lives just up the hill from my family farm we call "Hutchinson Camp." We use a spring for our water source. But Chilson's water and our water come from the same watershed, the same aquifer. I conclude that our water is also polluted. We only go there in the summer. I wonder if our water has been tested recently.

Rush, NY, Citizens Against Hydrofracking Talk With Vera

Published on Nov 16, 2012 by Ted D Barnett Excerpts from a four-hour tour by Rush, NY residents of hydrofracking sites in Susquehanna County, PA., Saturday, October 20, 2012.

Tanker Spills Drilling Wastewater in PA Creek

Pine Creek

Jersey Shore, PA:  A tanker carrying 4,600 gallons of fracking wastewater has spilled its load near a storm drain that empties into Pine Creek, a popular fishing spot in Lycoming County.

Read the short article from The Republic here.

This incident gets very little attention, but things like this happen much too often.  Are people becoming de-sensitized?

PA Resident Speaks To New Yorkers About the Natural Gas Industry

Vera Scroggins of Susquehanna County, PA, tells her personal story about how she got involved in the fight for public health and saving the beautiful land where she and her family settled years ago.  She speaks from the heart and knows her stuff.  She knows what she is talking about because she is living it every day.  She wants New York to be saved from the hell PA is experiencing. In this video, she is speaking to New Yorkers who live in Schoharie County.

 

Listen to Vera!  She speaks the truth!

 

 

DEP= Don't Expect Protection

Dimock Speaks, Hydrofracking and Health

Uploaded by rnntv on Feb 14, 2012 An RFL Special Investigation into Hydrofracking. Dimock, PA is a town so divided over gas drilling - the two sides describe the fight as a civil war. On the one hand, there are people who claim the health consequences of hydrofracking are so severe, it contaminated their water and left them unable to have kids. On the other hand, there's people who say it's the best thing that ever happened to Dimock. But no matter which side you speak to...everyone agrees, it's changed their community.

PA Streambed Moving: A Strange Sight

Don writes, "Folks, there should be solid rock in the streambed under my feet. It's anything but solid." He describes the creek bed: "I found sediment several feet deep that shakes like pudding."

More on this story HERE.

WHY ARE THESE ROCKS "FLOATING"?

Compressor Stations In Our Backyards?

A leader in the fight against the anti-health, anti-environment, anti-people, greed-filled gas industry speaks at a DEP Public Meeting at Elk Lake School in Susquehanna County.  She and others testified about our concerns. Four more Gas Compressors are coming to Susquehanna County in the north along the Laser Gathering Line. Tons of emissions are allowed for each and constant noise emissions. Taped 4-26-12.

We cannot allow Big Gas to pollute our residential areas.  Gas drilling is unhealthy for children and other living things.

Thank you, Vera, for your work to save Pennsylvania and all areas being destroyed by Big Gas.

Williams Partners Disregard PA DEP Request At Compressor Station

A compressor station in Susquehanna County, PA, was the site of a huge explosion March 29. Gas seeped into the building and ignited, blowing off part of the roof and damaging two of its seven compressor engines. Despite the DEP's advice NOT to run the station, Williams restarted operations the next day, March 30. It was a "procedural misunderstanding," according to a company spokesperson said. However, a DEP representative said there was no lack of clarity and the DEP is disappointed that its advice was not followed. No enforcement order is being considered, and there may or may not be a fine for either the explosion or the disregarding the DEP shutdown request.

This is totally unacceptable. Is there no way to enforce safe procedures? Gas companies are not scared of regulations or fines. The fines are puny and ineffective. And PA does not have enough inspectors to do the job they need to do to protect people and the environment. Compliance is optional. A company can always argue some fine point of any agreement and get off the hot seat. Even the state Public Utility Commission, which has inspectors on site, is apparently not sure it has jurisdiction over the Lathrop station. In most rural areas (places with 10 or fewer homes within a 220-yard radius of a facility), it does not have jurisdiction. The PUC is still trying to determine if it has oversight authority for the Lathrop station.

So while the gas company Williams, the PA DEP, and the PA DUC all weigh in on this situation, the public remains in possible danger.

Press Conference in Dimock, PA: January 20, 2012

Today, 1-20-12, Press Conference at the Sautner House in Dimock, Pa., Susquehanna County, where Julia Walsh of Frackaction.org of NY introduces Dimock residents with polluted water. Craig Sautner speaks, followed by Victoria Switzer, then Silver Lake resident, Craig Stevens and Josh Fox, "Gasland", Producer. EPA decides to bring water in a large tanker for polluted residents after reviewing more test data received by Cabot Gas and DEP and EPA will test 61 homes in the area starting this Monday and Tuesday and continue to bring water to several homes in Dimock. Industrial chemicals, barium , arsenic and metals, besides methane found in the water. Four EPA people were there.

Only four homes in Dimock are slated to receive clean water from the EPA so far, but there are many more homes still in need of clean water.

THANK YOU, EPA, FOR BRINGING CLEAN WATER TO DIMOCK.  A GOOD START, BUT THERE ARE MANY MORE FAMILIES IN NEED OF CLEAN WATER.

Living the Drill: Bradford County Farmers Speak Out (Video Part 2)

Carol French and Carolyn Knapp, dairy farmers from Bradford County PA, describe how gas drilling has affected their lives, families, farms, and community, and relay warnings and advice to New York residents.

Video from Essential Dissent.

Chesapeake Energy Accused of Operating Without a Permit (with Update)

The Arnold pad on Kerrick Road at Sollick Road
Taken in 2009 before it became a residual waste treatment facility
Photo: Carol Manuel

This would be just another bad story about Chesapeake if it were not so close to my family's summer home in French Azilum, Bradford County, PA. In this week's Rocket, there is news that Chesapeake is already hauling residual waste/frack fluid up to the Arnold site  on Kerrick Road.  The pad was there in 2009, but no well was put there. A group of neighbors with property on the border of Terry and Asylum Townships is making a lot of noise. They are claiming that Chesapeake Energy is "operating several wastewater treatment facilities in the area that were either improperly permitted, not permitted at all, or operating on sites that were not adequately prepared for such usage."

David Bohlander and Patrick Blow are angry that Chesapeake is so bold and DEP seems less than adequate in oversight.

They don't understand why this remote rural area was chosen for what they feel is a regional facility.

Chesapeake is claiming that these local people are just making a fuss over nothing.

The Asylum Township supervisors have taken an active role in questioning the operations. They noted that no Land Development Application had been submitted to the municipality as required in the township's 2008 subdivision/land development ordinance. Lee Allyn also expressed concern about the truck traffic on Herrick Rd. [Note:  I know this road very well.  It is very hilly, some steep hills.  Much of it is dirt, not paved.  I frankly cannot think of a less desirable location for a centralized facility.  It is literally out in the boonies!  I kid you not!] 

Bohlander and Blow say they would be "willing to put up with 300-600 trucks daily passing their homes on their way to the Arnold pad" if they could be assured that the watershed would be properly protected. Blow has a personal reason for being worried. He has lost two parakeets and a dog to ontaminated well water.

Both men say this is a matter of public health.

The Arnold facility, just up the hill from the family homestead  for all intents and purposes, is being used to treat waste drilling mud as we speak even though the permit for such an operation is not in place yet. How can this be? Gas drilling activity with no permit? The audacity is impressive. Meanwhile, my family is in jeopardy of contamination, both air and water. The recent hurricane, not to mention the earthquake which was felt in Frenchtown by none other than Cousin Mark, are reminders that weather happens. Rains and wind come, and the earth shakes. Unusual, at least the earthquake is unusual. At least it used to be unusual. Some say that fracking can cause earthquakes. It is a real problem in Arkansas and Texas.

Update:  I called the PA DEP Friday to speak with Lisa Houser, environmental waste manager.  She was not at her desk, but called back and left a message.  She said that indeed  Chesapeake Energy is operating what will be called the Arnold Centralized Fluids Processing Facility, as yet not fully permitted, though an application was filed in March.  Ms. Houser said there are a few minor issues yet to be worked out, for example, they are using a different kind of truck than originally stated in the application.  But she did not seem terribly concerned. (I will talk with her this week to get more information and verify this.  You can't always determine too much in a voice message.)

Click to read the whole Rocket-Courier article.

Important Update:
I had a very good conversation with Lisa Houser of the DEP today.  She called me in response to my phone call to her last Friday before Labor Day.  She told me that the DEP does not regulate the number of trucks that can go back and forth.  It regulates the amount of frack fluid that can be processed per day:  940,000 gallons.  She said there are many kinds and sizes of trucks, so it is impossible to know how many trucks it will take on a given day.  However, the average capacity is about 9,000 gallons per truck load.  So that would add up to about 200 truck trips up and down the mountain daily.  That number would change if the trucks used are smaller, of course.

Even more important:  I was in error (technically at least) to say that the Arnold facility is operating without a permit.  They do have a valid permit (issued last July) to operate a 123 facility.  However, the DEP has several issues still unresolved, involving the size of trucks and the kind of tanks that were listed in the permit. Ms. Houser said that the facility was not constructed in accordance with the permit.  She has spent a lot of time the last two weeks in conversation with Chesapeake in regard to this facility.  She told me that she only has four inspectors to cover 14 counties!  She added that, even if she had 100 inspectors, it wouldn't be nearly enough to do the proper oversight.  I have to sympathize with her frustration.

It is exasperating to think that gas companies can wiggle out of situations.  For one thing, they have scads of money in case fines are levied.  I think they "go ahead and apologize later."  And the chances of being caught in a remote area up on a mountain like the Arnold site are small.  Also, as Ms. Houser explained, these drillers are used to the way things are done in Texas and environs.  They are not used to the regulations in PA.  And they seem to treat the regs in a somewhat cavalier manner in my opinion.  The consequences are not harsh anyway.

I am beginning to see that permit issues can be messy.  It is impossible to police what is going on.  Violations are discovered perhaps by luck, random inspections, or maybe through citizen reports.  As for the latter,  it is almost impossible to observe what is going on because most well pads are off limits.  No Trespassing signs bar people from legally going on pad sites.

Sign at Arnold Site
Arnold Centralized Fluids Processing Facility
238 Sollicks Road at Kerrick Road
[Click to enlarge photo]
Photo: Carol Manuel
Asylum Township

Gas Drilling: More Truck Traffic Accidents, More Spills

Waste water truck line-up

Two people were sent to local hospitals August 7th after a water tanker truck rolled over on State Route 14 near Alba, PA, spilling 1,600 gallons of recycled water from gas drilling operations.  The truck driver was severely injured in the early morning crash.  After the truck came to rest upside down and partly in the road, a car came by and struck the trailer of the truck.  That driver was taken to a hospital as well.

Here is the strange part about this accident.
The PA Department of Environmental Protection were called to the scene and said that there was no "saline" in the truck and the treated water contained "no chemical contaminant."  This water was being transported from Williamsport, PA, after having been "treated" and was being taken to another well pad to be used again for another hydrofracking job.  According to the PA DEP, no clean-up was necessary except for some motor oil and hydraulic fluid from the truck itself.  The Bradford County Public Safety Director Robert Barnes said he did not know where the treatment facility was located- the one where this recycled frack fluid had been treated.

I have read that this recycled frack fluid becomes more and more salty every time it is treated for re-use and that eventually it becomes unusable and must be discarded.  Also I know that this frack fluid contains radioactive material brought up from the ground during fracking.  I do not believe this recycled frack fluid can be called water by any stretch of the imagination.  It could possibly be called recycled frack fluid, but not water.  That gives the false impression, in my opinion, that this fluid is somehow harmless, almost as if you could drink it safely.

I am also puzzled as to how the PA DEP got to the scene so fast and determined that there was no public health or environmental hazard at the crash site.  I know the DEP inspectors do a good job, but this is extraordinary!  Usually after accidents, samples are taken and sent to a lab and it takes a week or so to get the results.

The truck was operated by Principal Enterprises, LLC, of Canton, PA.  The gas drilling company was Talisman Energy USA, formerly known as Fortuna.

Read more.....

Interested in the business of treating frack water?  Go here. The industry makes some pretty amazing claims as to just how pure the treated "water" is.  Do we buy it?

I still maintain that, once fresh water is stolen removed from our rivers and streams and used for hydrofracking, it is no longer water, but rather produced water, or brine.  It will never ever be fit to drink or use in any other way as pure water.  It will never return to the hydrologic cycle as happens, for example, when water is used on golf courses.  This water is only useful to gas drillers and then only for a short while.  Then it becomes  useless even for fracking.  To read the advertisements for this water treatment process, you would think you could give the treated water to a baby.

Some interesting Reader Comments (Towanda Daily Review):

"I talked to one of these local water truck drivers earlier today and he said that he is putting in roughly 100 hours behind the wheel every week. Even working 7 days straight that is over 14 hours behind the wheel every single day. These drivers are being told to make as many trips as possible during their shift. So we have exhausted drivers racing from point A to point B and back - it's amazing we haven't seen more of these trucks involved in accidents."

"Amazing! The DEP was able to do all that testing & obtain the results in less than 24 hours???"

" I ran into one of these tanker rollovers on Sunday afternoon at near 5PM on Route 706 between the Frank and Mary's and the old Red House bakery. It was totally on its back, with wheels in the air, down from the road near a creek. There was lots of emergency services and another tanker (probably to pump the load of whatever out). Why hasn't this rollover been reported on by the Review? It did occur in Bradford County."

"There are too many crashes for the paper to possibly report them all. A couple weeks ago in Monroeton a water tanker ran completely over the front of a car. Squashed it flat. That was never in the paper. We would need a bigger paper."

"Within the past two weeks I have almost been hit head on by two tractor trailers in the Troy area. The first one broke my mirror and the second one would have hit me, but I swerved into the ditch. I encourage all truck drivers to remember that they are supposed to be professional drivers and should obey speed limits and avoid texting or talking on the phone."

"Excuse me for being suspicious, but I simply do not believe that EVERY time there is an accident and a spill by the gas industry, DEP almost immediately says there is no danger, no chemicals, etc. These trucks carry chemicals and highly toxic waste. This is why we need laws that require tracking this "stuff" from start to finish. I, too, wonder how it is they (DEP) can make such quick determinations and tell us it is safe? Each one of these accidents has the high potential to pollute our water. There are far too many of these incidents and too little reporting on them. I have heard these drivers work extremely long hours, often working 7 days in a row. This is insanity. Too much is at risk. I'd be interested in knowing that it was checked and double checked as to just WHERE this frack water was treated!"

And that's just a few of the comments at the end of the article! 

And here is another article related to this subject from the New York Times if you have a moment to check it out.                  

And finally, an interesting interactive graphic about wastewater chemicals.

I guess that's enough reading material for one day!


     

Laurel Lake Creek Pipeline Drilling Resumes (Susquehanna County, PA)

Salt Spring State Park
Laurel Lake Creek flows into Silver Creek which flows through this park.
[Photo: Gary Li]

It's a go for Laser Northeast Gathering Company!  They can now resume their installation of the 33-mile natural gas pipeline.  They had a little glitch- three "inadvertent returns" of drilling mud- this month, but now everything is back to drill, baby, drill normal.  The pipeline has to go under Laurel Lake Creek, a stream designated as an exceptional value waterway.  However, in eleven days, there were three accidents involving mud mixed with bentonite surging up into the pristine creek and making an utter mess.  The PA DEP is saying that there will be no lasting damage, no effect on aquatic creatures.  They say that most of the spilled material was recovered.  Think about this:  You pour gallons and gallons of mud into a creek.  How do you know you got most of it up?  And how do you really know how much mud actually did come up out of the ground and into that water? 

Laser CEO Thomas Karam met with DEP Secretary Michael Krancer in Harrisburg Monday and got the go-ahead to proceed with the pipeline project. They re-started drilling on Tuesday.  They are going to use a smaller drill to try and "intercept the existing pilot bore."  Laser already constructed a flume at the site to divert the water around the bore.  See video.

No fines have been levied thus far. 

Comment regarding the mud return from Susquehanna River Watch: LINK

FIRST, DO NO HARM

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primum_non_nocere]

LINK to PressConnects article.