SRBC: OM- We Honor the River

Another way we can honor the Susquehanna River and try to change the hearts and minds of the people who sit on the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. This Commission is not listening to the citizens of New York, Maryland, and New Jersey. When will they start listening?

SRBC Meets in Wilkes-Barre Today: Hurray To the Protesters!

At a meeting on December 15, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) was to consider several water withdrawal applications from gas operators, and vote on proposed regulations that speed up approvals of gas development projects and the transport of hazardous drilling wastewater.

Jay Sweeney, who testified at the hearing, filed this report: "There was about an hour or two of awesome testimony. All opposing the withdrawals. After a break they began reviewing the applications one by one. One was recommended to be denied and a couple reduced volumes of water withdrawal, but, when they continued to recommend applications the crowd got confrontational. There were questions, calling out, finally a mic check. It ended in shouts of "Whose water?" "Our water". The chairwoman called for a motion to approve the applications. There was a motion, a second, a vote and the meeting was adjourned. "


Then a demonstration ensued!  This is what happened (see video above). People care about the river, and they care about water. Today they spoke up.

Background: The Susquehanna River Basin Commission coordinates the use of water resources among Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania—the three states across which the river flows for over 400 miles—and the federal government. The Commission’s work is governed by a Compact adopted in 1970 by the U.S. Congress and legislatures of the three member states.

In November, the SRBC received a letter signed by more than 40 organizations across the region urging the Commission to stop its rulemaking on gas drilling until it conducts necessary comprehensive environmental studies.

Our grandson fishing in the Susquehanna River in Bradford County, PA

Thanks to Don Williams for providing this video.

Chesapeake Energy: We want water 24/7!

Water extraction site in Ulster, PA, near Susquehanna River

Chesapeake Energy wants more...more hours to steal  extract fresh water from the Chemung River on Route 199 in Athens, PA.  This water use has been approved by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.  The term is "consumptive use" because the water will never be suitable to return to the hydrologic cycle.  It will be turned into contaminated water of one form or another (brine, flowback, frack waste, etc.).  At present, Chesapeake can only withdraw water at the Barrett site in Athens 12 hours a day.  They wanted that extended to 24 hours a day, but the board of supervisors granted only a 4-hour extension.  

Having visited a water withdrawal site in Ulster, I can attest that the truck traffic is relentless.  It's noisy, kicks up a lot of dust, and is a blot on the landscape of otherwise beautiful rural communities. It's an ugly place.  Imagine the bright headlights at night.  The Athens supervisors requested that Chesapeake install a chain link fence with slats at the Barrett site to help deflect headlight and noise from the residential properties along Route 199 nearby.  Oh yes, there are homes nearby.  The facility was built near where people live.  And what do these huge trucks run on?  DIESEL!  Air pollution. 

And that's just a small problem compared to the environmental destruction caused by actual drilling.  The negative effects of trucks used in the gas industry just adds insult to injury.  One more way our quality of life and the future of our children and grandchildren are degraded.
(Read more...)

Natural Gas Drilling: Think, baby, think!

Water guzzler trucks line up at a water extraction site in Ulster, PA, on the Susquehanna River
Photo: Carol Manuel (2010)

The numbers can be deceiving. That is what the gas companies are counting on. They make a habit of using rhetoric for their own purposes. Words can be misleading. Take, for example, the idea of water trucks stealing taking 3,570,000 gallons of water out of rivers and streams in Susquehanna County, PA. Cabot Oil recently filed a request with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, indicating their intention of procuring this volume of water for what is called "consumptive use." This means that the water is never returned to the environment- gone forever. The average person, like you and me, would have a hard time visualizing just what this means for the surrounding community.  Gerald Salmon, a resident of Vestal, NY, writes on pressconnects.com

Hard for you to picture what 3.6 million gallons looks like? An 18-wheeled Hess tanker truck delivering gasoline to a station on the Vestal Parkway holds about 9,000 gallons of gas; 10 trucks would hold 90,000 gallons of gas, and 100 of them would hold 900,000 gallons. So, it would take 400 such trucks to hold the 3.6 million gallons of water Cabot wants to use each day.

And Salmon goes on from there, developing the picture further, painting the image of almost 5 miles of trucks end to end. Next he puts the "only one-half of 1 percent additive," proudly proclaimed by the "good neighbor" gas companies as an advantage, into perspective. Gas driller public relations people will stand in front of local citizen groups and say that the amount of deadly, toxic chemicals used in the drilling process is so minimal as to not be significant. Salmon does the math for us: two full tankers filled with 18,000 gallons of a "witch's brew of toxins, chemicals, and carcinogens guaranteed to poison its associated drilling water forever. That's the one-half of one percent we're talking about. Unless laws are changed, these chemicals do not have to be made known to the public. It is proprietary- a company secret.

Read the article in full here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

WE'VE DONE THE MATH, CABOT AND CHESAPEAKE

Another Fine For a Gas Drilling Company in Bradford County, PA

Southwestern Energy Production Company was recently fined $50,000 by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) because they violated regulations on or about January 8th.  What did Southwestern do?  They started construction at a well pad without a permit.  They installed a well conductor pipe, used to move water, before obtaining permission from SRBC.  All water-related construction activities at these kinds of sites require SRBC prior approval.  The $50,000 has been termed a "payment in lieu of a penalty."

Another example of the rampant disregard for the law.  My suggestion for such an incident:  Shut down the company immediately.  How many "oopsy" things would happen if the penalties were more severe?

Read the whole article which appeared in the Towanda Daily Review on March 24.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

Chesapeake Energy Corp. Fined For Water Withdrawal Violations

I guess the folks at Chesapeake Energy Corp. have trouble determining just how much water they are permitted to take out of the Susquehanna River in Bradford and Sullivan counties.  Is this believable?  You back your huge truck up to the river's edge and pump too much water into your truck- BY ACCIDENT?  Don't you just look at your clipboard and check the permit?  Aren't there gauges on those vehicles?

Chesapeake was fined $20,000 for 47 violations from April-December 2009.  A mere $425 per violation! The gas company spokesman Brian Grove says they regret the overdraws. Is this acceptable?  Is the "Just say you're sorry" approach enough?  Now the company has added "additional sourcing alternatives that will incorporate real-time automated control systems equipped with automatic shutdown protocols ensuring adherence to daily permitted withdrawal limits."  Well, it's about time.

Is it just me, or could we have reasonably assumed that Chesapeake Energy would already have had control systems in place by this time?  This isn't rocket science, is it?  If the gas drillers can't even figure out how much water they are taking out of our rivers, how can they be expected to handle much more serious operational tasks which can have lethal consequences?

We are in big trouble.

Read an article from the Towanda Daily Review (3/23/2010) by Staff Writer James Loewenstein.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

LEAVE SOME WATER FOR THE FISH PLEASE!

SRBC Warns of Water Challenges If Drought Occurs

In April the Susquehanna River Basin Commission convened its interagency Drought Coordination Committee to assess growing impacts to water resources in the Susquehanna basin due to ongoing precipitation shortfalls. Three consecutive months of shortfalls have caused streams and groundwater well below normal for this time of the year, particularly in the Lower Susquehanna region in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

If drought is a concern, why are gas drillers given permission through the permit process to extract millions of gallons of river water for their drilling operations? This water is consumptive in nature, meaning that it ends up as hazardous waste and cannot be reused as water again. It is gone forever. Should not drilling be halted until a drought subsides? Why are the citizens of PA asked to fixed their leaky toilets to save 200 gallons of water per day, take shorter showers instead of baths, and repair dripping faucets while gas drillers are allowed to take as much water as they need for their operations?

I think the answer lies in the money the state stands to gain by gas drilling. We've heard about selling someone down the river. What about selling the river? Our river is now a commodity. This is unconscionable.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission will meet in Binghamton, NY, on June 18th. Go to the website here. Read the press release about the drought and rainfall deficits here.

Read an article from the Baltimore Sun about the threatening drought. All kinds of measures may be put in place, including mandatory water restrictions on golf courses, power plants, and big water users. There is not a mention of the hydrofracking of gas wells. Will the gas drillers be asked to curb their water use like everyone else?

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

SRBC Takes Enforcement Action Against Natural Gas Driller

In April the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, through the Office of the Director of Communications, Susan Obleski, initiated enforcement action against Ohio-based Belden & Blake Corporation, a natural gas drilling company, for using water without approval from SRBC. The water was used to hydraulically fracture the Marcellus shale formation in Smithfield Township, Bradford County, PA.

Just one more example of how the gas industry violates the few regulations they do have to follow. Read the press release here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!