CONSOL Energy now drilling under Greater Pittsburgh Airport

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation Renews Support for CSSD in SW PA & WV

Pittsburgh, PA —  4/22/15 (PRNewswire) – The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD), a collaborative of environmental organizations and energy companies that encourages responsible practices in the development of shale gas resources in the Appalachian region, announced today that the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation renewed its support for the Center with a 2015 grant.

The Foundation first awarded a grant to the Center in December 2013. “The Benedum Foundation’s continued support strengthens our commitment to achieve the highest level of environmental responsibility in shale development in the Appalachian Basin,” said Susan LeGros, President and Executive Director at CSSD. “In particular, this grant will support our outreach to increase community awareness of the benefits of leading performance standards and voluntary certification.”

The Benedum Foundation focuses its investments in West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania.  The foundation encourages projects that cross state lines and supports initiatives that benefit the multi-state economy centered in Pittsburgh.

About The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation was established in 1944 by Michael and Sarah Benedum, natives of West Virginia, as a memorial to their only child, Claude Worthington Benedum, who died in 1918 at the age of 20.  The Foundation is a regional foundation focusing primarily on West Virginia and Southwestern Pennsylvania.  For more information on the Foundation, please see:  www.benedum.org.

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CSSD Expands Its Wastewater Treatment Standard, Fulfilling Initial Plans

• News Release
• Background

The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) has developed 15 initial performance standards for operators that are protective of air quality, water resources and climate. These standards represent consensus on what is achievable and protective of human health and the environment.

As these standards are put into practice, CSSD will learn from these adaptations and is committed to adopting further innovations of value, which will be incorporated into revised standards as appropriate.

The “wastewater treatment standard” has been expanded, as announced by CSSD on February 27, 2015. (Some new standards are in the works as well.)

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CONSOL Energy now certified with CSSD, joining Chevron and Shell

Pittsburgh, Pa — April 7, 2015 (PRNewswire) — CONSOL Energy Inc. has announced certification of its operational practices by the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD).  The certification, independently validated by Bureau Veritas, confirms CONSOL’s compliance with all 15 CSSD performance standards related to environmental stewardship of air and water.  These performance standards have been designed to exceed the regulatory minimums established by state and federal regulatory bodies.

CONSOL Energy President and Chief Executive Officer Nick DeIuliis commented, “Our core values of safety and environmental compliance are the foundation of our business model and part of our DNA as a company.  We constantly strive to push the envelope in terms of innovation, and to go above and beyond the regulatory baseline that governs our operations.  This CSSD certification is clear recognition of that commitment, and of our commitment to being a good neighbor and true partner in the communities where we live and work.”

The company also released its fourth annual Corporate Responsibility Report, which details execution against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and outlines activities and new initiatives undertaken during the past year toward the company’s comprehensive corporate responsibility goals.

“Our fourth annual report continues to build on goals and objectives aimed at our commitment to responsible business practices across all operational and support functions within the Company.  Our commitment to these concepts is reinforced by the belief that such practices are not only the right thing to do, but that they also provide CONSOL Energy and our customers with competitive advantages in today’s global marketplace,” said Katharine Fredriksen, CONSOL Energy Senior Vice President of Environmental Strategy and Regulatory Affairs.

CONSOL Energy, Shell and Chevron are now certified on the 15 criteria with CSSD.

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Perspective Commentary – Considering how super fast production from these gas wells drops off, they will have to stay on “the drilling treadmill” as Deborah (Rogers) Lawrence so accurately describes it in several videos. Her comments 3 years ago sound prophetic in this “Drilling for Dollars” video when you consider the recent shale bust:

See this: https://youtu.be/5SzO1UJuduw See also:  www.Marcellus-Shale.us

The Center for Sustainable Shale Development (New)

From an article by Kevin Begos, Associated Press, March 21, 2013

The Sierra Club and some other environmental groups are harshly criticizing a new partnership that aims to create tough new standards for fracking. The criticism came a day after two of the nation’s biggest oil and gas companies made peace with some national and regional environmental groups, agreeing to go through an independent review of their shale oil and gas drilling operations in the Northeast.

If Shell Oil, Chevron Appalachia and other companies are found to be abiding by a list of stringent measures to protect the air and water from pollution, they will receive the blessing of the new Pittsburgh-based Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD), created by environmentalists and the energy industry.

But some are questioning whether a partnership between environmentalists and the oil and gas industry should exist at all. “We know that our continued reliance on dirty, dangerous fossil fuels, like natural gas, will not solve the climate crisis, even with the best controls in place,” said Deb Nardone, a Sierra Club campaign director, who called the new plan “akin to slapping a Band-Aid on a gaping wound.” “The majority of natural gas must stay in the ground if we want any chance of avoiding climate disaster,” Nardone said.

An Ohio environmental group wasn’t happy, either. “This deal in no way represents the interests or agreement of the people being harmed by fracking in Ohio,” said Sandy Buchanan, the director of Ohio Citizen Action. “A hydraulic fracturing peace treaty? Not so fast, my friend.”

In addition to Shell and Chevron, the participants in the new center include the Environmental Defense Fund, the Heinz Endowments, the Clean Air Task Force, EQT Corp., the Group Against Smog and Pollution and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. The organizers hope to recruit new members, too.

The project will cover Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio — where a frenzy of drilling is under way in the huge, gas-rich Marcellus and Utica Shale formations. If fracking is approved in New York and other states in the East that have put a hold on new drilling, it could apply there, too.

The Environmental Defense Fund responded to the Sierra Club criticism by noting that the new plan is meant to be a complement to strong regulations, not a replacement.

“When an opportunity comes to engage companies constructively and hold them to a higher standard, we’re going to take that opportunity every time,” said Mark Brownstein, EDF associate vice president. He added that the new partnership with oil and gas companies comes with “a heavy dose of trust but verify” reality.

Brownstein noted that extensive oil and gas fracking is already taking place in many states and that it makes sense to improve standards in those places in every way possible.

During fracking, large volumes of water, along with sand and hazardous chemicals, are injected into the ground to break rock apart and free the oil and gas. In some places, the practice has been blamed for air pollution and gas leaks that have ruined well water, but President Barack Obama’s administration and many state regulators say the practice is safe when done properly.

The PA Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Kevin Sunday said the agency “applauds this collaboration between natural gas operators and non-governmental organizations. The best practices this group’s document speaks to — better on-site waste management practices, more recycling of wastewater, progressive fracturing fluid disclosure, and protecting private water supplies — are vital concepts of responsible gas development. ”

Sunday said the state has toughened standards over the last few years, and he praised “a cooperative spirit among oil and gas stakeholders to continually raise the bar of performance.”

Another person who was involved with the creation of the Pittsburgh center suggested that the Sierra Club and others are missing a key point.

John Hanger, the former director of the Pennsylvania DEP, wrote in a blog post Thursday that “ultimately, it will matter not that individual gas producers like or dislike CSSD. What will be decisive is that consumers of gas from Washington DC to Maine and from New York to Chicago will demand that their gas is certified as sustainably managed.”

The Pittsburgh project will be overseen by a 12-member board consisting of four seats for environmentalists, four for industry and four for independent figures, including former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and Christine Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency chief.

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See CSSD Online: http://www.sustainableshale.org