Marcellus & Utica shale region struggles for economic progress

Natural gas production boom was a bust for Appalachia, report urges economic transition

From an Article by Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette Mail, July 21, 2021

Appalachia’s natural gas boom turned out to be an economic bust that local and state officials can rebound from if they embrace the rising clean energy economy.

That’s the bottom line of two bottom-line-focused reports released Tuesday by nonprofit think tank Ohio River Valley Institute making an economic case for transitioning away from fossil fuels, especially natural gas development that has failed to convert production into prosperity.

“We know that the Appalachian natural gas boom hasn’t just failed to deliver growth and jobs and prosperity so far. We now know that it’s structurally incapable of doing so,” Ohio River Valley Institute senior researcher Sean O’Leary contended during a webinar on the reports Tuesday. “[That] means that a lot of economic development strategies in the region need to be rethought.”

The Ohio River Valley Institute’s analysis focuses on changes in income, jobs, population and gross domestic product — the total market value of goods and services produced — in 22 counties in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania from 2008 to 2019 that suggest a rise natural gas production in that span did little to lift up the economies in those counties.

One of the reports calls those 22 counties — which include Doddridge, Harrison, Marshall, Ohio, Ritchie, Tyler and Wetzel counties in West Virginia — “Frackalachia” based on the slang term for hydraulic fracturing of deep rock formations to extract natural gas or oil.

Jobs increased in the counties that comprise “Frackalachia” by just 1.6% from 2008 to 2019, 2.3 percentage points behind all West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania counties and 8.3 percentage points below the national average, the report notes.

The report concludes that a dramatic increase in gross domestic product in “Frackalachia” over the same span that came with the natural gas boom didn’t yield economic prosperity because the boom depended heavily on out-of-state workers and service suppliers, yielded less leasing and royalty income for property owners than expected and generated comparatively little income going to employee compensation.

The report find that from 2008 to 2019, when 97% of gross domestic product growth nationally was realized as personal income, that figure was just 21% in the 22 counties across West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania — something that the study attributes to three quarters of growth in those counties taking place in the mining, quarrying, oil and natural gas extraction sector.

“We’re not looking at this from a pro-fracking or anti-fracking perspective or a pro-industry or anti-industry perspective,” O’Leary said. “We’re looking at the fact that the counties are getting a bad deal economically. Whether you’re pro-industry or anti-industry, pro-fracking or anti-fracking, … you look at the numbers, it’s a bad deal.”

The report highlights a recent study from researchers at the University of Akron and Ball State University finding that micropolitan-area counties with higher quality of life experience higher population and employment growth. The study found no “statistically significant relationship between quality of the business environment and growth in micropolitan areas.”

“This finding should come as no surprise to policymakers in many micropolitan and rural regions and states that have premised economic development strategies on providing the best possible business environment — low taxes and minimal regulation — for the natural gas industry only to be disappointed with the result,” states the report authored by O’Leary, fellow Ohio River Valley Institute staff member Ben Hunkler and three University of Washington researchers.

“We have things like the natural resource curse,” said Amanda Weinstein, an associate economics professor at the University of Akron who co-authored the micropolitan-area county study cited in the Ohio River Valley Institute report. “These areas that tend to extract their natural resources tend to do worse … What we’ve seen in the Appalachian area is that they haven’t invested in that quality of life, making sure that as they take out those resources that they’re doing something to maintain their environment and the physical capital, this kind of natural capital that they have in that area.”

In August 2019, Gov. Jim Justice established a task force to bring manufacturing opportunities to West Virginia ahead of an anticipated expansion of the petrochemical industry in Appalachia. Justice’s office said that expansion would bring billions of dollars in investments and more than 100,000 new jobs to the region.

O’Leary said that will never happen because the natural gas industry doesn’t support a large enough workforce to produce its output, arguing that Appalachia should instead embrace the more labor-intensive energy efficiency industry.

“Energy efficiency is heating, ventilation and air conditioning and insulating, and door and window replacement, things that are done by local suppliers even in relatively small towns,” O’Leary said. “These are very labor-intensive businesses. They’re locally delivered. These are businesses that are done by local contractors, and so when you spend money with them, the money stays in the local economy. They hire local workers, and it has a multiplier effect locally.”

O’Leary noted that residential energy efficiency measures for low and moderate-income residents, along with clean energy technologies and worker retraining, were priorities for economic transition funding in Centralia, Washington, where a plant owner-funded $55 million economic transition plan was finalized in 2011 to help that community deal with the closures of a coal mine and plant.

The Ohio River Valley Institute’s other report released Tuesday highlights that transition model, which O’Leary has touted as an example replicable in areas like Marshall County, which faces the possible early closure of the American Electric Power-controlled, Mitchell coal-fired generation facility that serves as an economic engine for the county.

Federal infrastructure proposals inching their way through Congress and savings that American Electric Power would realize from closing the facility in 2028 instead of at the end of its planned life in 2040 could fund such a transition plan for Marshall and surrounding counties.

“[T]he concept of economic transition really needs to take root in the region,” O’Leary said.

Repaving Sellers Road near Middlebourne in Tyler County, WV

From an Article by David Beard, Morgantown Dominion Post, December 13, 2019

MORGANTOWN — It’s early November and a mini-parade of heavy equipment is churning up Sellers Road in Tyler County. The nearly 6.25-mile stretch running along Middle Island Creek near Middlebourne was widened and received a rebuilt base, new pavement, culverts and improved drainage, costing $7 million. “Basically we’re building a whole new road,” said Shawn Bennett, road and special projects construction manager for Antero.

After the New Year, the road will host a full-size parade of oil and gas traffic to serve two Antero well pads: Roma Lou and Eldon.

The visit was the conclusion of a day viewing Antero road projects in Doddridge and Tyler counties. Asked if he had a message for West Virginia residents, Bennett said, “If they would go around and look at any place that we’ve been, and have a little patience, we will always leave it better than what we found it.”

Anyone who has driven West Virginia’s shale country has seen the beat-up roads. And, anyone who’s spent a day at the Capitol has heard complaints about the wear and tear.

Among our first stories on the fracking industry were visits in 2011 to Brock Ridge and Proctor Creek roads in the hills of Wetzel County. Proctor Creek was potholed and rutted while kidney-jarring Brock Ridge had no asphalt left (we’ll mention them again later).

But a hallway conversation with leaders of the Independent Oil and Gas Association–West Virginia during the 2019 legislative session led to this story: a new tour of shale roads to see what gas companies are doing these days to try to keep roads in shape.

Riding along with Bennett that November day was Anne Blankenship, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, and two staffers with Charles Ryan Associates, which represents IOGA and WVONGA and helped set up the tour and field written questions.

Bennett also drove us along the Oxford Road Upgrade, between Sunnyside and Taylor Drain roads in Doddridge County. This was a five-mile, $3.2 million combined effort between Antero and EQT. With Antero taking on 55% of the cost, EQT the rest.

This is a busy area – 18 sites for Antero alone, and this particular stretch had numerous road base failures, Bennett said. The Antero/EQT contractor milled off 3 inches of the failing road and put down 7 new inches of asphalt. “It made for a nice project out here.”

The state agreed to take care of culverts and ditching, but on the day of the ride was running behind and had completed only half the ditching, he said. The poor draining also explain why the repair job was showing some signs of edge collapse at a few points along the way.

To determine what needs to be done to a stretch of road, Bennett said, Antero takes into account the number of well pads and the expected amount of traffic in the area. It does advance work, maintains it during the project, and completes any after-project repairs. Antero is responsible for the road until it’s released from its state Division of Highways bond.

Here’s what Antero has spent each year in upgrades, snow plowing, maintenance and flagging since 2015: 2015, $22,395,974; 2016, $21,389,936; 2017, $32,548,633; 2018, $30,794,236; 2019, $39,926,604.

Antero will generally present a proposal to the DOH for it to sign off on the engineering plans, he said. The state doesn’t always need to give its OK. But “we generally like to keep them as informed as we can and make sure that thy’re OK with what we plan to do.”

For any project, routine maintenance falls to the DOH, who will do ditching during the bond period, unless the state agrees otherwise, as with the Oxford project.

Often, several companies may be operating the same area, all contributing to road wear, Bennett said. “That’s probably the biggest challenge we run into, is figuring out who’s responsible for what. There’s so many operators active on any given road.”

Some are mom and pops. “Usually the Anteros and the EQTs are the ones that end up footing the bill for the most part. It’s just hard to pinpoint.”

A frequent complaint voiced back in 2011, and after, could be summed up as “bad-neighbor policy.” Producers didn’t pay attention to local school and work schedules and jammed them at crucial times, hogged the roads and forced residents into ditches or onto shoulders, and more.

While Antero doesn’t have formal community meetings, Bennett said, it takes school bus and commuting schedules into account. Residents in tri-county area – Doddridge-Ritchie-Tyler – have the Antero number and can call with complaints and concerns. “Our public relations department has helped out tremendously with public relations and with our relationship with the state.”

Antero employees have GPS trackers in the vehicles and Antero encourages its contractors to do the same, to keep drivers accountable for their driving.

One homeowner on the driving route had giant anti-EQT signs posted in the yard. Because of publication deadline, EQT was unable to meet for an interview but supplied a brief statement:

“Because EQT values all of the communities where we operate, we know how important it is to manage any potential impacts to the roads in these areas. Our approach is to work with counties and municipalities in advance to proactively upgrade roads and ensure that they are suitable.

“In many cases, the roads we upgrade are improved compared to their condition before we started work. We don’t have many ongoing projects in West Virginia at the moment, but we will continue this proactive approach with any new operations. Our acreage and the communities where we operate in West Virginia are very important to EQT.”

Fines plus restorations become more expensive

Information Compiled by FrackCheckWV, Primarily From SkyTruth, Shepherdstown, WV

>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Cnx Gas Co Llc in South Franklin Twp, Washington County
Description: Administrative violation issued on 2019-01-30 to Cnx Gas Co Llc in South Franklin Twp, Washington county. 78.55(a) – CONTROL AND DISPOSAL PLANNING – Operator failed to prepare and implement a plan under 25 Pa. Code Section 91.34 for the control and disposal of fluids, residual waste and drill cuttings, including tophole water, brines, drilling fluids, additives, drilling muds, stimulation fluids, well servicing fluids, oil, and production fluids from the drilling, alteration, production, plugging or other activity associated with oil and gas wells.

>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Cnx Gas Co Llc in South Franklin Twp, Washington County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2019-01-30 to Cnx Gas Co Llc in South Franklin Twp, Washington county. 78.57(a) – CONTROL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTION FLUIDS – Operator failed to collect the brine and other fluids produced during operation, service and plugging of the well in a tank, pit or a series of pits or tanks, or other device approved by the Department or Operator discharged brine or other fluids on or into the ground or into waters of the Commonwealth.

>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Cnx Gas Co Llc in South Franklin Twp, Washington County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2019-01-30 to Cnx Gas Co Llc in South Franklin Twp, Washington county. 78.54 – GENERAL REQUIREMENTS – Operator failed to control and dispose of fluids, residual waste and drill cuttings, including tophole water, brines, drilling fluids, drilling muds, stimulation fluids, well servicing fluids, oil, and production fluids in a manner that prevents pollution of the waters of the Commonwealth.

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>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene County
Description: Administrative violation issued on 2019-01-22 to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene county. OGA3211(H) – WELL PERMITS – LABELING – Failure to install, in a permanent manner, the permit number on a completed well.

>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2019-01-22 to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene county. CSL 401 – PROHIBITION AGAINST OTHER POLLUTIONS – Discharged substance of any kind or character resulting in pollution of Waters of the Commonwealth.

>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2019-01-22 to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene county. CSL 402(b) – POTENTIAL POLLUTION – Conducting an activity regulated by a permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of The Clean Streams Law to prevent the potential of pollution to waters of the Commonwealth without a permit or contrary to a permit issued under that authority by the Department.

>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2019-01-22 to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene county. 78.54 – GENERAL REQUIREMENTS – Operator failed to control and dispose of fluids, residual waste and drill cuttings, including tophole water, brines, drilling fluids, drilling muds, stimulation fluids, well servicing fluids, oil, and production fluids in a manner that prevents pollution of the waters of the Commonwealth.

>>> PA Permit Violation Issued to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2019-01-22 to Rice Drilling B Llc in Franklin Twp, Greene county. 78.57(a) – CONTROL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTION FLUIDS – Operator failed to collect the brine and other fluids produced during operation, service and plugging of the well in a tank, pit or a series of pits or tanks, or other device approved by the Department or Operator discharged brine or other fluids on or into the ground or into waters of the Commonwealth.

SkyTruth, P.O. Box 3283, Shepherdstown, WV 25443
(304) 885-4581, info@skytruth.org

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US Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs

Note the Ohio River (at risk) at upper left

U. S. and West Virginia Reach Settlement With Antero Resources Corporation for Clean Water Act Violations at 32 West Virginia Sites

The Department of Justice, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) announced that they have reached a settlement with Antero Resources Corporation resolving alleged violations of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA) at 32 sites in Harrison, Doddridge, and Tyler Counties in West Virginia.

The settlement filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia requires Antero to pay a civil penalty of $3.15 million and to conduct restoration, stabilization, and mitigation work at impacted sites. Antero will also provide mitigation for aquatic resource impacts.

“The Department of Justice is pleased to join with the EPA and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in reaching this settlement and will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to hold corporations accountable for violating the nation’s environmental laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark of the Environment and Natural Resources Division.

“This settlement seeks to rectify harm done to U.S. waters from unauthorized activities undertaken by Antero, and demonstrates that federal and state regulators are committed to pursuing violations that threaten human health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio.

Impacts to aquatic resources will be partially offset at a 51.5-acre permittee-responsible mitigation site that will restore, enhance, create, and preserve over 11,500 linear feet of streams and more than 3 acres of wetlands. The EPA-estimated value of the proposed mitigation and restoration is $8 million.

The violations involved the unauthorized disposal of dredged and fill materials into waters of the United States at or near sites where Antero had constructed well pads, compressor stations, impoundments, pipeline crossings, access roads, and other structures associated with Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction by means of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

While each of the 32 sites varied regarding the extent of the impact to wetlands and streams, the unauthorized activities impacted more than 19,000 linear feet of streams and over four acres of wetlands and included:

>> Stream impoundments;
>> Filling wetlands and streams for compressor station pads;
>> Realigning and culverting stream segments; and
>> Failing to fully restore “temporary” impacts.
>> Approximately half of the sites were identified by Antero through a self-audit. Several of the sites were associated with construction failures or “slips” from access roads and pads.

The proposed settlement which is subject to a 30-day public comment period is available at: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees

For more information about Clean Water Act Section 404 protection of wetlands and waterways, visit: https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404

Marcellus shale & drill cuttings are radioactive

From an Article by the Associated Press, WV Public Broadcasting, December 19, 2017

Environmentalists have reached an agreement with Antero Treatment that calls for monitoring for radioactivity and bromide around its landfill in northern West Virginia that takes the waste from recycled groundwater used in hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

It settles an appeal by the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and West Virginia Highlands Conservancy of the state permit for the landfill, which takes salt byproducts from Antero’s adjacent wastewater recycling facility. Both are located on 447 acres in Ritchie and Doddridge counties.

The environmental groups say the permit allows discharging stormwater runoff and associated pollutants into tributaries of the Hughes River upstream within 5 miles of Harrisville’s public water system intake.

“This is one example of how the state is tasked with evaluating new sources of pollution brought about by the fracking boom,” said Angie Rosser, executive director of West Virginia Rivers Coalition. “We need to find out sooner rather than later if we’re seeing harmful things, like radioactivity, affecting our water supplies.”

The groups say the compound bromide is known to cause problems for treating drinking water.

According to Denver-based parent company Antero Resources Corp., about 95 percent of the water it uses for fracking will be treated at the recycling facility, nearly eliminating the need for wastewater disposal wells and reducing withdrawals from West Virginia’s waterways. Salt will constitute about 92 percent of all solid byproducts, it said.

The company (Antero) drills for natural gas in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The agreement signed December 8th requires one initial year of monitoring for radioactivity in materials entering the landfill and in groundwater monthly, as well as regular monitoring for bromide and solids in surface water discharges.

That includes a monthly lab analysis of salt samples from a truck that passed through the landfill’s radiation detection equipment. If two or more lab samples significantly deviate from the detection equipment measurements, Antero will conduct an additional year of sampling.

If any monthly groundwater sampling for radium is significantly higher than background levels, the agreement says Antero will conduct another year of that sampling.

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Environmental Working Group Prepares Report on Radioactivity in Public Drinking Water in the United States

Some 170 Million in U.S. Drink Radioactive Tap Water. Trump Nominee Faked Data to Hide Cancer Risk.

From an Article by Bill Walker and Wicitra Mahotama, Environmental Working Group, January 11, 2018

Tap water used by 170 million Americans in all 50 states contains some level of radiation that may increase the risk of cancer at least marginally, according to the new report from the Environmental Working Group analyzing state data from 2010 to 2015. Only a small percentage of water systems serving a total of 276,000 people in 27 states reported radiation levels exceeding federal limits, but environmentalists warn those limits are already too high and should be updated to improve water quality.

Radiation in drinking water comes from naturally occurring elements in the Earth’s crust and may be higher in areas disturbed by mining or oil and gas extraction, according to the report. The most common sources of radiation are radium-226 and radium-228, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires utilities to test for these elements to make sure radiation in tap water does not exceed the federal limit.

Doddridge County Emergency

Two Injured in Fire at Antero Gas Drilling Site in Doddridge County, WV

Article from WTAP, Parkersburg, WV, October 29, 2013

Media outlets report that the fire occurred Sunday morning at a well pad near West Union.

Antero Resources chief administrative officer Alvyn Schopp says there was a condensate leak as the workers were installing a new separator.

Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Tom Aluise says the vapors ignited, causing the flash fire.

Both workers suffered burns. Schopp says one worker remains hospitalized at West Penn Burn Center in Pittsburgh. The other was treated at a Clarksburg hospital and released.

The WV-DEP is investigating the incident.

In July, two workers were killed and three others were injured in a fire at another Antero Resources drilling site near New Milton in Doddridge County.

See also www.FrackCheckWV.net

The WVDEP Office of Oil and Gas issued cease operations orders to Antero Resources Appalachian Corp. and Bronco Drilling on Monday, March 21st, the same day that a citizen complaint was turned in.  WVDEP inspectors documented that drilling “mud” had flowed into Indian Creek in Harrison County.  The source of the contamination was a spill of the drilling fluid at the  Antero O. Rice well pad adjacent to Indian Run.  Bronco Drilling was the operator of the drill rig on the pad.

Drilling mud is a fluid used in the drilling process to keep the drill bit cooled, seal off corrosive salty water in the shale from the borehole, and assist in removing drill cuttings.  Diesel based mud has been a favorite of industry but it is unknown what type of mud was used by Bronco at the time of this writing.

Because Bronco allowed pollutants to flow into the stream, Bronco’s operations in West Virginia were ordered to be halted until the company developed a spill prevention plan for all state activities.  Per Kathy Cosco, WVDEP spokesperson, on Thursday the company was allowed to resume operations after producing a spill plan, making corrections at other drilling sites, and agreeing to pay a $15,000 civil administrative penalty.

Antero was ordered to cease operations at the O. Rice well pad but the company had already finished drilling and was breaking down the drill rig.  Antero must submit proposals for soil sampling and remediation, surface water sampling and removal of any pollutants found, and testing and monitoring of all water wells within a 2,000-foot radius of the well pad or testing for groundwater contamination if no water wells exist within the prescribed parameter.

The site of the spill from the O. Rice pad is about 3 miles north of Salem, WV.  Salem’s Public Works Director, Ronnie Davis, assured water customers that Salem does not use water from Indian Run.  Indian Run flows northeast and joins 10 Mile Creek.

Click here for the full Clarksburg Exponent Telegram story, March 27.   There is no fee for visiting this newspaper site but there is a brief online registration form which must be completed to access news content.