Frack Check WV » Civil Engineering

Erosion & Sedimentation (E&S) and Threatened & Endangered Species (T&E) Training

admin — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 09:07:24 +0000

One hundred years of activity: 1918 to 2018

PENNSYLVANIA INDEPENDENT OIL & GAS ASSOCIATION (PIOGA)

“Erosion & Sedimentation (E&S) and Threatened & Endangered Species (T&E) Training”

Hosted by: PIOGA’s Environmental Committee

Date: Thursday, July 26, 2018

Location: Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.
Conference Room – Pittsburgh

Time: 8:30 AM – Registration, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM Training
(Lunch is provided)

Fee: $100 for PIOGA Members, $150 for Non-Members

Fee includes Continuing Education Units (CEU’s), and/or Professional Development Hours (PDH’s), and lunch.

PIOGA’s Environmental Committee is pleased to host this training in conjunction with our partners Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., Fire Cherry Consulting, Inc., the Ruffed Grouse Society and Wilkes University.

E&S and T&E Species Training — This course is designed to provide information and updates on erosion and sedimentation controls and threatened and endangered species issues.

The five-hour class will cover the following topics:
1. Threatened & Endangered Species Update – Presented by Dan Maltese, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.,
2. Native Seed Mixes for Reclamation – Presented by Dr. Linda Ordiway of the Ruffed Grouse Society
3. Regulatory Update – Presented by Bruce Snyder, Fire Cherry Consulting, Inc. and Paul Kanouff, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc
4. PADEP ePermitting – Presented by Vince Scicchitano, P.E., Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.
5. Lessons Learned for E&S Inspections – Presented by Eric Ondrasik and Marc Strini, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.

The fee for this one-day training, which includes lunch, Continuing Education Units (CEU’s), and/or Professional Development Hours (PDH’s) is $100 per person for PIOGA members and $150 per person for non-members. Payment must be received prior to the training session.

>>> Registration: Click HERE to register online.

Deadline to register is Monday, July 23, 2018. Space is limited, register now!

Questions? Should you have any questions about the training or the CEU’s & PDH’s, please contact Deana McMahan (deana@pioga.org).

Cancellation Policy: You may cancel without penalty if written cancellation requests are received by July 23, 2018. Due to financial obligations incurred by the host, we will not provide a refund or credit after July 23, 2018. Please send all cancellation requests to Deana McMahan at deana@pioga.org.

Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.
Conference Room
333 Baldwin Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15205
(412) 429-2324

Up to 900,000 Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Pollute Pennsylvania’s Air

Duane Nichols — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 18:18:02 +0000

Abandoned Wells Often Not Obvious

Princeton University Study: Up to 900,000 Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Pollute Pennsylvania’s Air

From an Article by Brandon Baker, EcoWatch.com, June 19, 2014

Pennsylvania already has a fracking problem groups struggle to inspire politicians to address. Now, a Princeton University study shows that hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil wells are adding to the state’s pollution.

CO2, Methane, and Brine Leakage through Subsurface Pathways: Exploring Modeling, Measurement and Policy Options is a first-of-its-kind study from Mary Kang that describes how abandoned oil wells serve as leakage pathways for carbon dioxide, methane, brine and more.

Based on records, Kang estimates that between 280,000 and 970,000 abandoned wells account for 4 to 13 percent of the PA state’s methane emissions.

Three of the 19 wells measured by the team are considered high emitters. Leakage was found in both plugged and unplugged wells.

“Existing well abandonment regulations in Pennsylvania do not appear to be eﬀective in controlling methane emissions from AOG [abandoned oil and gas] wells,” Kang writes in her abstract.

“As a mitigation strategy, inclusion of gases emitted from AOG wells in Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard may be valuable for both promoting capture and possible use of the gas as well as for reporting and monitoring of these wells.”

[P.S. There are over 50,000 wells in West Virginia, a number well beyond the capability of the WV-DEP to inspect, monitor, or regulate in an environmentally satisfactory manner. The WV Legislature has been unable to improve the State law for oil and gas wells because of the strong industry lobby and lack of leadership from the Governor. Federal regulations have similarly been constrained by the strong industry lobby and existing loopholes. Concerned citizens must speak up and be heard in Charleston, Harrisburg, and in Washington, DC.]

Marcellus Drill-site Pits Have Problems Says WVU

Duane Nichols — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:31:20 +0000

: WV Storage Pit

First of Three Reports for WV Legislature Completed

From an Article by Ken Ward, the Charleston Gazette, March 15, 2013

A legislatively mandated study by West Virginia University has found consistent and potentially significant problems with the way oil and gas companies build drilling waste pits and with how state regulators inspect those impoundments.

WVU engineers reported that field evaluations found insufficient compaction, soil erosion and seepage at sites where gas-drilling companies store wastewater from hydraulic fracturing and gas production activities.

Impoundments inspected as part of the study were found to be larger than permitted, with different widths and steeper slopes than authorized. While none of the problems “indicated imminent pit or impoundment failure potential,” the WVU report warned, “the problems identified do constitute a real hazard and present risk if allowed to progress.

“Overall, these deficiencies reflect a lack of adherence to the best management practices . . . as well as poor construction knowledge,” the 208-page report said. “These construction practices combined with a lack of field quality control and assurances are indicators of the source and frequency of the problems observed across all evaluated sites.”

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection officials, though, said the sites designed and constructed to current state standards scored higher on WVU’s inspections than those built before new Marcellus Shale drilling regulations were enacted.

In a summary of the WVU report, the WV DEP said it “is able to conclude that the current regulatory framework is sufficient to properly regulate the construction, operation, and maintenance of large capacity pits and impoundments.”

The report was required as part of the new WV Marcellus drilling law and found that none of the DEP inspectors had any formal training related to pit and impoundment inspection. “Infrequent inspections may allow problem areas to go unnoticed or delay corrective action,” the report said.

In summarizing the WVU report for lawmakers, DEP officials said the agency has since provided additional training to inspectors on the proper design, construction and maintenance of pits and impoundments.

“Continuous improvement through training has been, and will continue to be, ongoing at numerous events in order to stay apprised of the new and constantly changing industrial activities associated with horizontal well drilling,” the DEP said. “In addition, the OOG developed a standard inspection checklist to ensure that the inspection of pits and impoundments is standardized across the Divison of Oil and Gas.”

The OOG now has 49 staff positions, up from 32. Agency officials have filled 41 of the 49 positions, and the eight vacancies are evenly split between enforcement and permitting functions, Martin said.

The WVU report itself said, “There was no evidence of significant leakage of flowbacks from the impoundments.

“While the monitoring wells detected no contaminants, it is not clear that the monitoring interval of 146 days was sufficient to capture any leakage from the impoundments,” the WVU report said. “A longer sampling period is suggested with, perhaps, aquifer permeability testing.”

The pits and impoundments report from WVU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was initially submitted to the DEP in mid-December.

Two other documents from WVU were provided to the DEP in February, and the DEP released the material publicly last week.

A separate study on noise, light and dust from drilling operations was to be provided to the Legislature by December 31, 2012, but is still not finished. A third study, examining possible air pollution from oil and gas operations, is due July 1st.