Water Buffalo Water Freezes at Bradford County, PA, Home

So your water goes bad.  The gas company provides you with a 1100 gallon plastic container called a buffalo tank.  It sits attractively in your front yard.  But strangely it turns cold in the winter!  Water freezes.  You have no water for 15 days.  This was the recent experience of Jason and Janet Otis who live near Terrytown, PA.  Last August their water was ruined when a gas well was drilled about 500 feet from their home.  The problem, which doesn't really ever go away, is still making a shambles of their daily life.  The Otis family was initially enthusiastic about gas drilling in their neighborhood.  Now with no good water, they are in a quandry about the next step.  Should they sell their home to Chesapeake Energy Corporation?  Should they accept the offer of a filtration system?  They say that is the last thing they want.

Read more: LINK

Here is a response from Chesapeake Energy which refutes just about everything the Otis family is claiming:
LINK

Susquehanna Still Bubbling in Bradford County, PA

More claims of gas drilling contaminating drinking water have prompted a lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy in Bradford County. Some believe the proof is in the Susquehanna River.

LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

In loving Memory of Robert Shippee

1922-2010

He loved the river.

Gas Drilling Bad For Business in Bradford County, PA

A water tanker spews dust as it drives along North Street recently.  Jackie Vanderpool says some of the customers at her hair styling business are reluctant to venture out in the dust after an appointment.
Photo: The Rocket-Courier, Wyalusing, PA

Road construction and heavy truck traffic on North Street in Terry Township have not been kind to Jackie Vanderpool and her business.  Road work has hurt her business immensely she says.  Other small business owners have experienced similar problems- lost business.

Vanderpool says that the entrance to her salon used to be level with the road, but now there is a steep incline to traverse in order to get to her walkway.  Some of her elderly clients have a lot of trouble now, and they are afraid of falling.  She says,

All I want is for it to be fixed somehow.  I worry about my customers falling down and hurting themselves.

Customers have started calling the salon to see if road conditions are good or bad. Roads being worked on are sometimes closed off. Vanderpool has asked the construction company if her customers can be allowed to go through to get to her salon. Some of her clients just want their hair cut instead of the usual wash, set, and style. They feel like it is futile to get their hair styled only to go outside and be enveloped in dust.

It's sometimes so thick you can't even see across the street.

While it is nice that the construction workers have offered to come and help customers get back to their cars safely, that solution seems undesirable. Who wants to have a sweaty, road crew member in full battle array take a hold of your arm?

Vanderpool told the reporter, Cain Chamberlin, that it takes her two or three weeks to make the same amount of money that she used to make in only one week.

LINK

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

In memory of Karen Korell

SPLASHDOWN

1944-2010

DEP Investigating Source of Methane Bubbles In Susquehanna River

The French Azilum United Methodist Church
Located on the Susquehanna River, French Azilum, Bradford County, PA
Photo credit:  Carol Manuel

By Feed: PA Environment Digest in Gas Industry
Tue, 09/07/2010 - 16:02

The Department of Environmental Protection is continuing to investigate the source of stray methane gas detected in the Susquehanna River and at six private water wells in Wilmont Township, Bradford County, late last week. "Chesapeake Energy has been working at the direction of DEP to determine the source or
sources of the stray gas," said DEP Secretary John Hanger.

"Gas migration is a serious, potentially dangerous problem. Chesapeake must stop the gas from migrating."

Chesapeake has six Marcellus Shale gas wells located on the Welles well pads one three and four, located two to three miles northwest of the Susquehanna River. These wells are believed to be the source of stray gas that was detected on August 4 at a residence located on Paradise Road in Terry Township.

DEP issued a notice of violation to Chesapeake and required it to provide and implement a plan to remediate. Progress has been made, but, to date, this violation has not yet been fully resolved. While neither DEP nor Chesapeake have been able to conclusively show that the Welles wells are the source, DEP believes that they are the most likely source.

The wells were drilled between Dec. 2009 and March of this year; however the wells have not been fractured or "fracked" and are not producing Marcellus gas. For that reason, DEP believes that any stray gas migrating from these wells is not from the Marcellus Shale formation, but from a more shallow rock formation.

Chesapeake has screened 26 residences within a one-half mile radius of the river and found six water wells to have elevated levels of methane. Chesapeake monitored each of the houses served by an impacted water well and found no indication of methane gas in the homes.

On September 3, high levels of methane were detected in the crawl space under a seasonal residence. Emergency responders were contacted to ventilate below the home and gas and electric utilities were shut off to eliminate any potential for ignition.

Chesapeake has equipped water wells with high levels of methane with ventilation systems and installed five methane monitors in the homes associated with the impacted wells. Additionally, Chesapeake has provided potable water to the effected residents. No residents have been evacuated from their homes.

DEP first received information about water bubbles in the Susquehanna River late  on September 2, with additional reports received the next morning of bubbling in two private drinking water wells nearby. In response, DEP sent two teams of inspectors to investigate the source of stray methane gas on September 3.
One team of DEP inspectors went to the Susquehanna River near to Sugar Run where bubbling had been reported. DEP collected samples of the gas for isotopic analysis which is used to identify the source. Analysis of the lab results will be complete within 2 weeks.

Biogenic methane gas is formed at shallow depths from the natural organic decomposition of waste, such as one would find in swamp gas. Thermogenic methane gas is produced in deeper geologic formations and is the gas typically developed for economic purposes.

Both DEP and Chesapeake have taken gas samples from the water well heads and the natural gas wells. The results will help to determine if the source of the stray gas detected at the river and in the water wells is the Welles wells.

Anyone who notices unusual bubbling in surface or well water should notify DEP immediately by calling 570-327-3636.

LINK

Also click here to read the Chesapeake Bay Foundation blog.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

In memorium

Karen Korell

1944-2010

"What Chesapeake claims is a crock..."

Well water from Dimock, PA

George Turner, a licensed professional geologist from Tunkhannock, has a strong message for the citizens of Bradford County.  He warns everyone that they must test their water before drilling begins, and they must follow protocol called "chain of custody."  The homeowner must prove that contaminated well water was caused by drilling and was not present before drilling was done.  Drilling companies notoriously claim, "We did not cause this," as their first line of defense.  Unless a homeowner has documented water tests, the gas company can get off the hook easily.Turner says that Chesapeake Energy's claims of pre-existing conditions on Paradise Road in Terry Township are, in his words, "a crock." 

Chesapeake says that pre-drilling water quality testing in the area was done by an independent lab and showed that nearly 70% of the residential wells had pre-existing  methane saturarion and 30% of the wells exceeded acceptable EPA standards for arsenic, iron, or mangenese.  Turner takes exception to this.

What Chesapeake claims is a crock. I've done testing in Terry Township and I haven't found any of that. I haven't found any examples of methane saturation at all in Terry Township. What they're trying to do is lay the groundwork for saying: 'We didn't do it.' That's the same thing that Cabot (in Dimock) did when people came to them about water contamination. First thing they said was: 'We didn't do it.' Well, Chesapeake is saying the same thing: 'We didn't do it.'

A resident on Paradise Road is able to ingnite the water coming out of his tap in his kitchen. According to Turner, this indicates that methane saturation has occurred- about 25-26 milligrams per liter of water. He stresses that, regardless of dramatic evidence, a well owner has to obtain documents that will stand up in court.

Read the whole article here.

Back story from SPLASHDOWN, Towanda's most reliable source of news, is here.

Breaking news:  Residents of Paradise Road were evacuated yesterday (8/4). Reported by the Rocket Courier.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

WE CAN'T DRINK NATURAL GAS!

Marcellus Shale: Water Truck Crashes in Bradford County, PA

[Photo credit: David Keeler, Rocket Courier]

Another truck accident in Bradford County (NEPA) has occurred in Terry Township.  This and other incidents involving gas drilling vehicles are becoming almost commonplace.  This road does not appear to be anything but a rather straight stretch of road, although there are ditches on either side, and it is a narrow country road as most are.  Was the driver going too fast for conditions?  A fisherman called in to 911 after witnessing this accident.  Read the article here.