Frack gas is unnatural natural gas, containing different minor and trace components

Letter to the editor by Vickie Oles, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, August 5, 2022

Residents of New Freeport, Greene County, might not agree with letter-writer Dave Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (“Natural gas development benefits Pa. residents,” July 25, TribLIVE). Residents report shower water is oily, water smells bad and pets won’t drink the water. There are reports of “errant fracking fluid from a well site.” A microbiology professor’s testing determined the water isn’t potable. The solution? The driller and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection “are investigating.” The families received some bottled water.

Other communities are affected by gas development. Check out “Fractured: The body burden of living near fracking” from Environmental Health News.

In addition to threats to health and disruption to daily life to residents near frack sites, we all might face threats. The frack waste from wells can be toxic and radioactive. Is that what is in the residual waste trucks driving through our communities? Where is it going?

Aren’t jobs a benefit? Workers in the drilling industry have seven times the death rate of other U.S. workers on average with injury and death from road and rail accidents, machinery mishaps, toxic chemical exposure, respirable silica sand, explosions and fires.

These risks seem to outweigh any benefits. {an obvious understatement}

>>> Vickie Oles, Ligonier Township, Laurel Highlands, Westmoreland County, PA

>>>>>>>…………………>>>>>>>…………………>>>>>>>

See Also: PA-DEP Fines CNX for Well Failure Near Westmoreland County Reservoir, Reid Frazier, State Impact Penna, August 21, 2020

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined CNX $175,000 for allowing a gas well failure near a drinking water reservoir in Westmoreland County. A casing pipe inside the well ruptured about 5,000 feet below the surface of the Shaw 1G well on Jan. 26, 2019. The rupture sent gas and fracking fluids into nearby rock layers. The gas reached surrounding gas wells.

Stream damages and water pollution are excessive in WV

From the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, April 2, 2019

PHOTO: Failed sediment controls on the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River. Photo by WVDEP.

Another pipeline has been cited for water quality violations. The WB XPress Pipeline, a 26-mile project in Grant, Randolph, Pendleton and Hardy Counties was recently fined $13,340 by WVDEP for water quality violations to the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River. The proposed agreement for the fine is now open for public comment. Comments are due April 13, send a letter here.

The WB Xpress’ parent company, Columbia Gas Transmission was cited for failing to implement and maintain sediment controls during in-stream construction, which allowed muddy water to impact 19 miles of the North Fork. If that wasn’t bad enough, Columbia didn’t report the muddy water on the spill hotline.

The North Fork of the South Branch flows through Seneca Rocks Recreation Area and is hailed as one of the premier trout streams in West Virginia. Columbia’s fine for their water quality violations should account for the severity of their negligence.

Contact WVDEP, tell them to hold Columbia accountable for their water quality violations. Request the penalty be increased to account for the severity of impacts and Columbia’s repeated negligence and disrespect of environmental laws. Submit your comments here.

West Virginia Rivers Coalition
3501 MacCorkle Ave SE #129
Charleston, WV 25304

ACP faces many issues of financing, federal regulations and state laws

“The ACP is facing a triple threat,” so concludes a new study released March 25 by Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth.

“Atlantic Coast Pipeline – Risk Upon Risk” cites three principal threats to the viability of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline:

1) extensive legal and regulatory challenges that are delaying construction and raising costs;

2) fundamental challenges to its financial viability in the face of lack of growth in domestic demand for methane gas and increased affordability of renewable energy options; and

3) an unprecedented citizen initiative positioned to ensure strict compliance with environmental laws and regulations.

Some further highlights from the six-page study:

• “The ACP is a climate, environmental and human rights boondoggle.”

• “The ACP is facing an onslaught of legal challenges and loss¬es. Seven federal permits have been stayed, suspended or vacated; in fact, all construction on the pipeline is currently stopped. When — or if — construction will start up again is unknown. Environmental groups, Indigenous Peoples and others have brought at least nine court challenges to ACP permits and certifications, most of which are ongoing.”

• “In Dominion’s 2018 long-term Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), four out of five modeled scenarios showed no in¬crease in methane gas consumption for power generation from 2019 through 2033.9 However, in December 2018, this IRP was rejected by Virginia state regulators, in part for overstating projections of future electricity demand.”

• “The most recent IRPs of Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas also revealed that previously planned methane gas plants have been delayed by at least five years beyond the original proposal, and none have been approved by the state regulator.”

• “Over the next decade, it is likely that the demand for methZane gas in Virginia and North Carolina will decrease further as renewable energy and storage technologies continue to rapidly decline in price and undercut the cost of running methane gas-fired power plants.”

• “If construction proceeds, an unprecedented, highly coordinated science and technology-based Pipeline Compliance Surveillance Initiative (CSI) is positioned to make sure environmental laws and regulations are strictly applied and enforced during construction. It is spearheaded by the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance and member organizations.”

These challenges and the accompanying risk are likely to further delay construction and raise the project’s price tag even higher. If completed, state utility regulators in North Carolina and Virginia are unlikely to justify passing the full cost of methane gas transportation contracts onto ratepayers.

It would be prudent for investors in Dominion, Duke, and Southern to question whether pursuing the ACP further is a good use of capital. As the transition to clean energy gathers pace, the risks and growing costs of this major methane gas pipeline project look increasingly unwise to ratepayers, regulators and investors alike.

Briefing: Atlantic Coast Pipeline – Risk Upon Risk – Lorne Stockman, Oil Change International

———————————————————————

See also: Duke Needs ‘Another Project’ If Atlantic Coast Pipeline Fails, CEO Says – Bloomberg

Public lands in Colorado at risk of damages

From the Center for Biological Diversity, EcoWatch.com, April 27, 2018

The view from lease parcel COC77996 looking across the Colorado River and DeBeque State Wildlife Refuge toward parcel COC77999 and the Roan Plateau.

Conservation groups on Thursday sued Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the Bureau of Land Management for approving new leases to allow fracking on more than 45,000 acres in western Colorado, including within communities and within a half-mile of a K-12 public school, without analyzing or disclosing environmental and public health threats as required by federal law.

“Fracking is a filthy, dangerous business, and dodging environmental analysis puts people and public lands at risk,” said Diana Dascalu-Joffe, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Trump administration is trying to ignore science, public health and climate change threats to enrich corporate polluters, but it can’t shrug off the law.”

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, challenges leases in and around the towns of De Beque, Molina and Mesa on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. Fracking would be allowed near three state parks—James M. Robb-Colorado River, Vega and Highline, a migratory bird hot spot and the site of the “18 Hours of Fruita” mountain bike race. Leases also have been offered within a half-mile of a K-12 public school in De Beque and beneath Vega Reservoir, important for wildlife, recreation, irrigation and hydroelectric power.

“Not only did the Bureau of Land Management move forward with these lease sales without looking at the climate effects of fracking, the agency also failed to examine its likely public health risks,” said Kyle Tisdel with the Western Environmental Law Center. “In addition, the agency failed to analyze or acknowledge the enormous water depletion drilling will impose on the Colorado River, already in low-flow conditions. BLM is simply drilling in the dark on these lease sales.”

These areas would face toxic air pollution, industrialization and potential spills and groundwater contamination from fracking operations. The BLM is using a shortcut called a “determination of NEPA adequacy” to bypass analysis of fracking harms required under the National Environmental Policy Act. This cursory review, used with increasing frequency under the Trump administration, presumes that leasing complies with broad resource-management plans and delays site-specific review until drilling permits are requested, thereby ignoring NEPA’s requirement to disclose impacts at the earliest possible time. The BLM routinely bypasses that promised review at the drilling stage and says that it can’t block drilling once land has been leased to industry.

“BLM has reverted to a lease before you look policy that marginalizes the public, ignores environmental impacts, and violates the law—all for the benefit of oil and gas companies,” said Wilderness Workshop‘s Peter Hart. “We asked BLM to consider the impacts of these decisions and our requests were denied. Now we’re asking a federal court to order the agency to comply with its legal obligations.”

“Once again, Ryan Zinke’s efforts to please corporate polluters are leaving American communities to suffer the consequences,” said Sierra Club associate attorney Marta Darby. “Zinke wants to limit public input and hide the environmental and public health threats of this huge expansion of fracking in Colorado, but he is not above the law. We will continue to fight to ensure our communities are protected from the dangers of fracking.”

The areas to be fracked include habitat for rare wildlife like peregrine falcon, spotted leopard lizard and burrowing owl. It also includes critical habitat for threatened and endangered species, including the Colorado pikeminnow and two flowers, the Parachute beardtongue and DeBeque phacelia. Fracking, which can use more than 20 million gallons of water per well, would threaten the pikeminnow and the Colorado River with spills and water depletions at a time when climate-driven drought is already reducing river flows throughout the Colorado River Basin.

“The water of the Colorado River Basin is essential for the 40 million people relying it. The system is already strained from climate change and overuse,” said Sarah Stock, program director with Living Rivers Colorado Riverkeeper. “The last thing we need right now is to add more water hungry, polluting industry without the proper regulatory framework or public process in place to protect this priceless resource.”

The administration’s oil and gas leasing shell game is consistent with Trump’s new “energy dominance” edict and policies directing the BLM to avoid NEPA analysis by prioritizing the use of DNAs when issuing oil and gas leases. The policy also limits or removes public notice and gives the public only 10 days to raise concerns.

Dascalu-Joffe and Kyle Tisdel of the Western Environmental Law Center are representing the Center for Biological Diversity, Wilderness Workshop, Living Rivers Colorado Riverkeeper and Sierra Club in the lawsuit.

Helicopters at Wetzel 4-H Camp for Burn Victims

Three Workers Hurt in Wetzel County Well Pad Fire

From an Article by Staff, Wheeling Intelligencer, October 28, 2016

New Martinsville, WV ­ – Two natural gas well operators and a mechanic suffered burn injuries at the Stone Energy Corp. Howell pad in Wetzel County after a “flash fire” this afternoon, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Kelley Gillenwater said.

Gillenwater said the workers were performing maintenance on the well when the flash fire took place at approximately 4:49 p.m. Friday. All three workers have been transported to hospitals via medical helicopter for injuries of uncertain severity, she said.

“All the wells on the pad are shut in,” Gillenwater said. “We believe the situation is under control.” The site is along Turkey Run Road off WV Route 20 between New Martinsville and Reader, WV.

She said only the three burned workers were injured, adding the fire did not spread throughout the pad. The WV-DEP will monitor the situation through the evening and weekend. The flash fire occurred at 4:49 pm and was under control by about 6 pm.

Officials with Stone Energy could not be reached for comment. The Lafayette, LA, based company recently filed for bankruptcy.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The following process description, taken from the Howell Pad Permit Application R13-3171, is provided here for informational purposes only:

Natural gas and produced fluids (condensate and water) will be received from ten (10) wells on this location at approximately 500 psi and pass through heaters (one per well) to avoid ice formation during subsequent pressure drops. These materials will then pass through a three-way separator where gas, condensate and water are separated. The gas will be routed to a gathering pipeline.

Condensate will normally be injected into a liquids pipeline owned and operated by others. However, as a back-up to this pipeline, provisions will be made to stabilize the condensate through heating and pressure reduction, coupled with vapor recovery. The stabilized condensate will be accumulated in four (4) 400 bbl tanks, pending truck transportation by others to a regional processing facility for separation into individual products.

Flash, working and breathing losses from these tanks will be routed to two (2) vapor recovery units (VRUs) with the captured vapors routed back to the discharge line. In the event of shut down of the VRU’s due to maintenance or equipment failure, the vapors from the condensate tanks will be routed to two vapor combustion units operating in parallel. Vapors generated during truck loading of condensate will be routed to the two vapor combustion units.

The produced water, and water generated during the fuel gas conditioning process will be accumulated in two (2) 400 bbl tanks pending transportation via pipeline to a Stone Energy water management facility. Nominal flash gas vapors from these tanks (modeled at 8 SCFD and conservatively estimated at 120 SCFD for permitting purposes) will be vented to the atmosphere. These vapors are comprised solely of flash gases generated during the drop to atmospheric pressure.

Three (3) gas-fueled generators will also be present to provide electric service for the facility instrumentation and controllers and to operate the pumps.

All natural gas-fueled equipment uses natural gas received at the station.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Wide Concern About Fracking

From an Article by Deirdre Fulton, Common Dreams Blog, August 29, 2016

Fracking opponents vowed to keep up the fight in Colorado on Monday after it was announced that measures seeking to restrict fracking in the state had failed to make the 2016 ballot.

Secretary of State Wayne Williams said Monday that supporters failed to collect enough “valid voter signatures” for Initiatives 75 and 78, which would have given local authorities more power to regulate fracking and implemented mandatory setbacks for oil and gas activity around schools, playgrounds, and hospitals, respectively. 

As Denverite explains:

The state office looked over roughly 5,000 signatures for each of the measures, per normal procedure, and rejected about a quarter of them for being “invalid.”

The state then took that rejection rate and applied it to the total number of signatures collected, essentially knocking out a quarter of the submitted signatures and putting them below the requirement.

The state identified “several potentially forged signature lines” on Initiative 78. 

According to the secretary of state’s office, proponents have 30 days to appeal the decision to the Denver District Court.

A statement from anti-fracking groups distributed Monday suggested organizers were still deciding whether to appeal.

“As we review the ruling, we want to assure our volunteers and supporters that we are as committed as ever to giving the residents of Colorado a say this November on whether their communities can regulate fracking,” said Tricia Olson, executive director of Yes for Health and Safety Over Fracking.

“That fracking is dangerous to the health and safety of the state’s residents resonated loudly in every corner of the state,” she said. “Today’s announcement is not the final action on this issue as countless residents are now committed to protecting their children’s schools, parks, and homes.”

“We will not be cowed by the anti-democratic efforts of the oil and gas industry,” added Suzanne Spiegel of Frack Free Colorado.

The Colorado Independent reports:

The failure of both measures to make the ballot comes after months of a costly, contentious and occasionally disorganized grassroots campaign. Industry groups poured money into a “decline to sign” effort, and anti-fracking activists say they faced harassment from opponents while trying to gather signatures to qualify the measures for the ballot.

Furthermore, the Coloradoan reported this month, opponents raked in more than 35 times the contributions of groups backing the measures, with about 90 percent of the anti-ballot measure donations coming from energy companies.

“The ‘Decline to Sign’ campaign only served to highlight the industry’s stranglehold on the state government,” said Spiegel. “The actions of the industry have only served to galvanize supporters and we intend to fight the destructive and dangerous fracking practices that harm our health and destroy our environment.”

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a fracking supporter, was among those opposing the initiatives. He predicted last week that the measures would not make the November ballot.

Earlier this month, the New York Times wrote that if either measure should pass, “it would represent the most serious political effort yet in the United States” to stop fracking. 

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

WV Wells: www.FracTracker.org

AP Exclusive: Fracking Boom Responsible for 175 Million Gallons of Toxic Wastewater Spilled Since 2009

From an Article by Lauren McCauley, EcoWatch.com. September 9, 2015

Among the litany of risks posed by the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels, an Associated Press analysis published Tuesday exposes yet another harmful side effect of the oil and gas drilling boom: an uptick in toxic wastewater spills.

According to data obtained from leading oil- and gas-producing states, “more than 175 million gallons of wastewater spilled from 2009 to 2014 in incidents involving ruptured pipes, overflowing storage tanks and other mishaps or even deliberate dumping,” Associated Press reports, tainting agricultural land, poisoning drinking water and sparking the mass die-off of plant and animal life.

Most of the incidents involved the spill of fracking wastewater, which is a combination of underground brine mixed with a slurry of undisclosed chemicals. As the story notes, “A big reason why there are so many spills is the sheer volume of wastewater” produced, which according an organization of state groundwater agencies, amounts to roughly 10 barrels for every barrel of oil or more than 840 billion gallons a year.

The report details a sampling of incidents, which help illustrate the scope of the problem. In one instance, a roughly 1 million gallon spill in North Dakota in 2006 caused a “massive die-off of fish, turtles and plants in the Yellowstone River and a tributary.” In another case, a decades-long seepage of toxic brine onto Montana’s Fort Peck Indian Reservation polluted a river, private wells and the municipal water system, making the water “undrinkable.”

What’s more, the amount of toxic byproduct spilled along ranch land, streams and forests has grown each year since the so-called fracking boom began.

“In 2009, there were 2,470 reported spills in the 11 states; by 2014, the total was 4,643. The amount of wastewater spilled doubled from 21.1 million gallons in 2009 to 43 million in 2013 before dipping to 33.5 million last year,” Associated Press reports.

The analysis found a total of 21,651 individual spills reported in Texas, North Dakota, California, Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Kansas, Utah and Montana during that period. However, Associated Press notes that this figure is incomplete because “ninth-ranking oil producer Louisiana and second-ranking gas producer Pennsylvania” failed to provide spill data and other such incidents often go undocumented.

See also on www.EcoWatch.com:

Stop the Frack Attack National Summit Oct. 3-5

EPA Urged by Nearly 100,000 Americans to Redo Highly Controversial Fracking Study

MarkWest is taking down the hills

W.Va. shale fields fertile ground for nuisance lawsuits

From an Article by Ellen Gilmer, E & E EnergyWire, 9/9/15

Doddridge County, WV — Oil and gas workers didn’t seem to appreciate the “Go home frackers” sign in Lyndia Ervolina’s front yard here in northern West Virginia, where Marcellus Shale wells dot the landscape.

“It was so amusing. I’d watch them out the kitchen window,” Ervolina said during a recent interview at her home. “These guys would walk over and look at that sign, and then one of them would kick it. They’d knock it down on the ground and stomp on it and walk away. “And I’d walk back out there and set it up again.”

Other showdowns between industry and frustrated landowners have been more hostile, often leading to confrontations and even courtroom battles. The primary complaints: traffic, noise and odors from the area’s new natural gas wells, compressor stations and pipelines.

It’s a familiar story in shale country, where nuisance complaints from landowners have grown routine. As hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling open new swaths of the country to development, drillers eager to cash in on the boom are moving closer and closer to populated areas. And in the eastern United States, where homes are not as spread out as in traditional oil and gas territory like Texas, the increased friction between drillers and their neighbors can be particularly acute.

“We’ve been inundated by so much so fast,” said Doddridge County homeowner Lora Price, who lives near a natural gas processing plant and a compressor station. “Almost every road, every hollow has something going on. It doesn’t seem to matter where you go; you’re going to see a pipeline or a compressor station or a well pad.”

In 2013 and 2014, more than 200 north-central West Virginia residents decided they’d had enough. Scores of lawsuits were filed against Antero Resources Corp. and Hall Drilling LLC, saying the inconveniences that come with nearby oil and gas production have made it impossible for the residents to even enjoy their homes.

“The number is rather remarkable,” said West Virginia University College of Law’s Josh Fershée, referring to the sheer volume of lawsuits.

Ervolina and Price, who are both plaintiffs, said they could not discuss details of the ongoing litigation but could describe the everyday impacts of shale development on their lives. ”Basically, we’re going through a process where people are starting to evacuate this area,” said Ervolina, a West Virginia native who has lived with husband Anthony in their house for 35 years. “A lot of people are just starting to leave because it’s just a mess.”

Mass litigation panel for better or worse

The lawsuits against Colorado-based Antero and Hall, a local company, have now been rolled into one mega-case before the state’s Mass Litigation Panel, a group of seven circuit court judges who streamline proceedings for related complaints.

Antero and Hall fought hard against the consolidation, fearing a one-size-fits-all decision affecting disparate cases, each with unique circumstances. But the panel pushed on, aiming to establish a “uniform body of law.” That way, landowners and industry can have a clear understanding of their rights once the case is resolved, instead of having multiple threads of litigation drag out on appeal for years.

The approach raises the stakes for industry. While any single nuisance lawsuit would be shrugged off as relatively minor for an oil and gas company, a decision for the plaintiffs in mass litigation could result in a tougher penalty for Antero and Hall across the board.

Antero is also facing a compliance order from U.S. EPA for improperly discharging fill material into wetlands and streams in West Virginia and was cited by state regulators for drilling a horizontal well that hit an existing vertical well and caused a methane leak. In all, the company had at least 27 reported spills in the state in 2014.

While Antero declined to comment for this story, the company has acknowledged in financial filings that it is facing lawsuits in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado from plaintiffs who have alleged various damages from oil and gas activities.

“The plaintiffs have requested unspecified damages and other injunctive or equitable relief,” Antero’s most recent quarterly report says. “The Company denies any such allegations and intends to vigorously defend itself against these actions.”

Beyond the direct impacts on drillers involved in the big case, a win for plaintiffs would resonate throughout West Virginia — sending a message to other producers to minimize impacts on neighbors or else face the kind of uprising staged by the mass litigation plaintiffs.

But for now, the litigation’s path forward is unclear. Neither side indicated any plans for settlement after a mediation hearing late last month, and those involved in the case are keeping quiet about the proceedings.

Unreasonable interference with enjoyment & use of one’s property

Outside experts, meanwhile, are watching the case closely. They say any new precedent for nuisance law in West Virginia would also raise eyebrows in other parts of the country, where various jurisdictions are attempting to define exactly how much inconvenience from drilling is too much.

The traditional legal test for a nuisance claim stems from common law: Does an action unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment and use of one’s property? The interpretation of “unreasonably” can vary dramatically depending on the jurisdiction and circumstances, with some judges and juries excusing alleged nuisance activity when the defendant has at least made an effort to be unintrusive.

In the oil and gas context, plaintiffs generally have a tough time demonstrating that any nuisance they have experienced warrants enough in monetary damages to cover the cost of going to court in the first place. In one Texas lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy Corp., for example, a jury agreed that the company’s actions were a nuisance but awarded the homeowners $20,000 — pocket change compared to the legal expenses.

In 2013, a major win for plaintiffs raised suspicion that the tide might be changing. In the landmark Parr v. Aruba case in Texas, a jury found that Bob and Lisa Parr, who say they suffered health problems from the air emissions of nearby well sites, were entitled to $3 million for the nuisance the wells created.

The verdict was the biggest known award of damages to date for a nuisance case related to shale drilling and was predicted to embolden other landowners to file their own nuisance suits (EnergyWire, July 16, 2014).

The West Virginia litigation could serve as a similar model. In the Mountain State, the legal test boils down to the same question of reasonableness, but as long as the drillers’ actions are not considered reckless, state precedent also allows a balancing of interests between the plaintiffs and defendant. In other words, the court may consider whether industry’s interest in producing natural gas outweighs residents’ interest in peace and quiet.

Price said she understands the conflicting interests, but wishes residents who support the industry would take a longer view. ”They’ve got jobs, they’ve got income. I don’t begrudge them their jobs,” she said. “It’s a shame that they can’t see the broader future. It’s mostly about ‘What kind of money can we earn right now?’”

Circumstances are ripe for debate

Josh Fershée, a law professor and associate dean for faculty research at WVU, said several factors make West Virginia ripe for the debate. First, he said in an interview, West Virginians typically do not own their mineral estate. The prevalence of split estates means that residents without a lease or a royalty check are often bearing the inconveniences of the shale boom without directly joining in the rewards.

West Virginia’s mountainous topography also creates unique traffic problems, Fershée said. ”There’s a lot of places where there’s one way in and one way out,” he said. “In other states, there are often ways that you alleviate some of that tension by building another road, which isn’t a big deal because you’re not literally moving a mountain to make that happen.”

And the state’s long history of coal mining — which has not generally spread wealth to lower classes — may have prompted residents to develop mistrust for extractive industries, Fershée said. ”In West Virginia, coal is the backbone of industrialization but not of local profit,” he said. “People may see gas as kind of the new version of that. There’s a skepticism of industry.”

But Price’s daughter, Autumn Long, who is fighting her own battle against a pipeline company that wants access to her property in nearby Harrison County, said West Virginians have not become outraged enough.

“In this state, there’s been such a long history of exploitation and repression, and the population of this state has been walked over by the fossil fuel industry for so long,” she said. “I’m always amazed to see what people will put up with. People just sit in their cars and sit in their cars and let these trucks drive past.”

Still, she said, opposition seems to be slowly building. The added local impacts of major interstate pipeline proposals, including the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley lines, may push some otherwise complacent residents to the edge, she said.

“Everyone has a breaking point eventually, and I think that people are being pushed to that point now,” Long said. “Unfortunately a lot of times, you don’t do anything about it until it’s in your backyard. And that’s what’s happening now: It’s in people’s backyards.”

Community tension is widespread

The tension between those supportive or tolerant of drilling and those actively fighting industry expansion is clear. Price said she’s now known as the neighborhood “troublemaker,” with at least eight neighbors employed by the oil and gas industry.

Robert McClain, who has lived on a farm in the Doddridge County community of Big Isaac since the 1940s, said his brother hasn’t spoken to him in years, due to disagreement over whether to lease mineral rights under the family property for shale drilling.

Even families in agreement on the issue are split on how to respond to it. Anthony Ervolina, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., said he’s fed up with the vibrations, the traffic and the gas fumes that fill his yard every evening, and he wants out.

The family’s carefully landscaped property, filled with bamboo stalks, lilac trees, vegetable gardens and an outdoor dining area, has fallen into disuse while the couple decides whether they should stay — an emotional decision for Lyndia.

“I absolutely love West Virginia with all my heart,” she said while looking out at her yard last week. “I don’t want to leave my home. If we all get up and leave, West Virginia is gone. But I need to leave.”

Long is conflicted, too. ”I feel like I am standing on the train track watching a train bear down on me,” she said. “Sometimes I think I must be crazy. Why am I doing this? But I have invested so much in my life and in my home, and everything I have is in this space.”

The only hope, they say, is more public outrage and organized opposition from neighbors affected by the everyday impacts of industry. The mass litigation is a start, Price said, but she’s having a hard time feeling optimistic overall. ”The majority of people who maybe are adversely affected, they’re still not speaking out,” she said. “It’s just the way it is.”

The mass litigation case is set for trial next year.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Kent Residents: ‘We Evacuated Ourselves’

Neighbor: ‘It Looked Like the Whole Valley Was Exploding’

From the Article by Sarah Harmon, The Wheeling Intelligencer, September 29, 2013

KENT, W.Va. – Delbert Wade heard a pounding at his door. It was just before 1:30 a.m. Saturday, September 21.  Lorri Davisson heard the same pounding just minutes later. A neighbor stood outside. Nearby, at the Blue Racer Midstream Plant operated by Dominion Resources and Caiman Energy, which process natural gas and natural gas liquids, a fire raged.

(Repair work continues at the Blue Racer Midstream processing plant in Marshall County following the September 21st explosions and fire.) 

Davisson called the experience “a terrifying experience. It looked like the whole valley was exploding. The whole sky was orange and it sounded like landing airplanes.”

Kent residents were kept out of their homes for about two hours. No injuries were reported in the fire, and an investigation continues. Since September 21, the story has been that Marshall County officials evacuated the 25 residents who live in Kent. But the folks there have a different story to tell.

Wade and Davisson said they and their neighbors evacuated themselves after a neighbor saw the fire and alerted the community by going door to door. Wade noted a State Police officer did later arrive in Kent, but most of the community had left by that time. Wade said he evacuated to a family member’s home in Glen Dale. He said he was contacted by Dominion officials the next day.

Given what could have happened with the explosion and fire, Wade expects some answers from the company. Wade said the community does not have an early warning system in place with Dominion if the event of an emergency. He noted PPG has a pole with a buzzer installed in the neighborhood that emits a loud blast in case of an emergency, with three blasts meaning to evacuate the area immediately.

Wade said Dominion met with the community about a year ago and assured residents there was no reason to be concerned about the plant’s activities, but said they didn’t have a warning system in place yet. Wade said he hasn’t heard from the company since that meeting.

“We don’t feel safe,” Wade said. “None of us do. We are a relaxed community and we’ve lived here for 50 years and it’s been home to us. We are afraid to go to bed at night and everybody I talk to wants to sell out and relocate. Our safety doesn’t seem to be a concern.”

Davisson said she and her family could feel the heat from the fire when they fled their home, going to her sister-in-law’s house in Marshall County. Davisson said she has not yet received a phone call or a visit from Dominion about the fire. ”If Dominion has an emergency plan in place, it’s not a good one because I haven’t heard of it,” she said.

Marshall County Emergency Management Director Tom Hart confirmed many of the residents had evacuated the area before State Police arrived, noting self-evacuation is not uncommon in these situations. ”If I lived there and (saw) what they initially saw, I would have evacuated, too,” Hart said.

According to Ray Seech, director of Natural Gas Liquids operations for Blue Racer Midstream, it is in Dominion’s emergency plans to have Marshall County Emergency Management and the State Police notify residents to evacuate during an incident. Seech noted Dominion has done drills periodically with local fire departments and Marshall County EMS.

“Safety is our core value, for the public and employees and any person in the area,” Seech said. “The fire was contained in a small part of the plant and extinguished.” Seech said a third-party investigator was on site at the plant all last week, but the fire’s cause has not been determined.

Hart said a review of how the fire was handled will take place between Blue Racer and the public agencies involved to determine what went well and what needs improved.

Also last week, Robert C. Orndorff Jr., managing director of state and local affairs for Dominion, spoke to the Marshall County Commission saying he had talked to about 25 residents in Kent after the fire. What has been said to residents remains unclear.

Activities Set For July 25^th thru 28th in D.C.

A rush to drill is sweeping the United States. Across the country, the oil and gas industry is surging into new areas as quickly and cheaply as possible.

And they have been using techniques like hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) long before we fully understand the extent of the negative impacts on the health of the local people, communities, water, air, climate, and other critical resources.

Landowners and communities are struggling to cope: Existing laws are outdated and loophole-riddled, and enforcement is universally inadequate and underfunded. We battle a persistent myth that gas is a “clean” energy – which is not only false, but keeps us from moving towards truly clean energy and ending our reliance on fossil fuels.

The result: as industry rakes in record profits from fracking-enabled drilling, it passes on drilling’s heaviest costs to landowners, local communities and future generations. That’s because elected leaders (sometimes influenced by dirty energy money) too often refuse to hold the industry accountable for the damage they cause, or require them to prevent it.

The rush to drill, and the tragic consequences that follow, has made fracking a household word. In the process it has made “fracktivists” out of thousands of ordinary citizens — including some who regard “environmentalist” as a dirty word. Some are working to prevent fracking in their communities. Those already affected are fighting to protect their air, water, and health.

We all want to STOP THE FRACK ATTACK – the out-of-control rush to drill that is putting oil and gas industry profits over our health, our families, our property, our communities, and our futures.

Now is the time for us all to unite and demand that decisionmakers inside the Beltway hear our voice and take action to change the way the oil and gas industry operates in this country.

On July 28th, 2012, we invite community members and organizations everywhere to join us in Washington, D.C. for a rally at the Capitol to demand no more drilling that harms public health, water, and air. Instead of pushing for the increased use of oil and gas, elected officials and public agencies must insist that the industry stop all drilling that is dirty and dangerous, and put communities and the environment first, starting by removing special exemptions and subsidies for the oil and gas industry.

Join community leaders, celebrities and policymakers and add your voice to the call for a clean, fossil fuel free energy future.

Won’t you join us?

Signed,

Advisory Council:
Julie Archer, West Virginia
Stephen Cleghorn, Pennsylvania
John Fenton, Wyoming
Robert Finne, Arkansas
Rick Humphreys, West Virginia
Jenny Lisak, Pennsylvania
Kari Matsko, Ohio
Jill Morrison, Wyoming
Calvin Tillman, Texas
Matia Vanderbilt, Maryland
Jill Wiener, New York

Please click here for the Endorsing organizations

>>>>>>>>>>>>>  SCHEDULE  <<<<<<<<<<<

Stop the Frack Attack started as a one day march and rally, but the organizers decided they want to do a little bit more. As of June 1st we are rolling out a new schedule so we can make the most of our time in DC and, more importantly, grow the movement to Stop the Frack Attack! As we get closer to the event we will finalize locations, times, and all that jazz.

Don’t forget to sign up so we know how many people are coming!

Wednesday – July 25th: Trainings
6:30pm-8:00pm Evening Lobbying and Marshall Trainings
Location: Sierra Club Offices (50 F Street NW, Washington DC 20001)

These trainings are not required for people who are lobbying, but we highly recommend that you attend. We will discuss how to lobby, what our asks to members are, what to expect from lobbying meetings and more importantly how to get around the Hill! We will also be having a Marshall Training where we will go over conflict resolution and the plan for the march and fracking water drop-off. We’ll also give out some other roles that we need filled to make sure STFA goes off without a hitch.

Thursday – July 26th: Lobby Day
9:00am-5:00pm Lobbying at the US Capitol
Location: US Capitol Visitor Center (we will have a space there all day)

After being trained the night before, we will hit the pavement of Capitol Hill and bring our message to our members of Congress. Lobbying is a tactic that is as old as government itself, and is a great way to create the pressure needed to close the loopholes in the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. We will also take a group photo at noon on the steps of the Capitol!

More questions? Concerns? Shoot us an email: info@stopthefrackattack.org

Friday – July 27th: Stop the Frack Attack Gathering
10:00am- Noon: Trainings
Location: St. Stephens Church, 1525 Newton St. NW Washington, DC 20006

You’ve told us you want training before our day of action. Please fill out this survey to help us decide the topic of our fourth training! Check out the survey here!

1:00pm- 5:00pm: Strategy Session

Fracktivists from far and wide are coming to DC, and it’s time to figure out how we are actually going to win. We will break up by geographic regions, with a separate youth group, and talk strategy. What’s working? What’s not? What can we do better? These are the questions we hope to answer.

6:30-8:30: Town hall

We are working hard to get this event off the ground and we are gaining some traction, consider this the pre-rally. Our goal is to get someone from the Obama Administration here to talk to us about fracking and then have an open Q&A session… word on the street is it might be someone big, we’ll keep you posted!

Saturday – July 28th: Rally and March
2:00pm Rally

Location: The West Lawn of the Capitol

This is the big day, we are organizing to get as many people as possible! We have people coming from Texas, West Virginia, New York, Vermont, and even Australia. If you want to help get people there you can organize a bus! This rally will give us the energy needed to take our demands to the corporate powers pushing fracking onto our communities.

3:30 pm March
Location: The Streets of DC

After getting pumped up by our awesome speakers, it’s time to hit the streets. We will make a special delivery to the American Petroleum Institute and American Natural Gas Association. They say fracking is good for our water, we say nay and have the water to prove it!