In the debate over whether hydraulic fracturing should be allowed in New York State, the need for millions of gallons of water at each well is a major concern, according to Matt Richmond of Radio WSKG.  Now a Canadian company called GasFrac is trying to eliminate the large volume (2 to 8 million gallons) of water for every well being fracked by using propane instead of water.

Kyle Ward  of GasFrac says that, besides propane, there are only four ingredients in the company’s fracking fluid, all of which decompose naturally. Not only that, all of the propane comes back out of the well, whereas much of the water used in fracking stays underground.

Ward says the propane that comes back up out of the well can be easily separated. It’s then sold or reused.  “The propane fracturing would leave most of those naturally-occurring constituents down in the shale,” says Dave Yoxtheimer of Penn State’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.

While Yoxtheimer says propane offers a solution for the challenge posed by wastewater treatment, he says it also creates new risks. “You have a large volume of an explosive substance that you’re transporting and then handling onsite,” Yoxtheimer says. In fact, a recent explosion at a Gasfrac site in Alberta led to a three-week shutdown in operations while the company reviewed its safety procedures.

The company has expanded anyway, fracturing more than 500 wells in 2011. That’s a nearly four-fold growth in just two years. This year the company completed its first wells in Ohio’s Utica Shale. Gasfrac’s Kyle Ward says the technology, which was first used in 2008, should also increase production by up to 30 percent over the life of a well. It’s too soon to say whether that’s true. Still, the company’s expansion after just a couple of years is a sign that the technology is attractive to companies.

But Nadia Steinzor of the Oil & Gas Accountability Project says regulators should take a close look at the use of propane, also known as LPG fracking, before it spreads.  “Every time there’s a new technology that could get more gas out of the ground, a lot of people get really excited,” says Steinzor. “But just because LPG is new and different and doesn’t use water, doesn’t make it safe.”

Steinzor’s group along with 14 other environmental organizations sent a letter to New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in April.  The coalition is calling on the DEC to perform a separate environmental review of propane-based fracking before allowing it in the state.

A deal with a landowners’ group in New York’s Southern Tier that would have required drillers to use Gasfrac has been put on hold since first being reported in March.  An earlier report on propane fracking was presented here in FrackCheckWV.net

Natural gas pipeline projects are in the works. There were two stories on Oct. 17th by Casey Junkins in the Wheeling based

Photo courtesy of Marcellus-Shale.us

newspaper, The Intelligencer. One story described plans for a new pipeline to carry raw natural gas from wellheads to processing plants in Marshall County. The other story dealt with the announcement of plans for a pipeline project that will serve to deliver ethane to Texas from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The natural gas we burn is principally methane. Ethane and other hydrocarbons are also found in raw natural gas and must be separated from methane by a fractionation process. The western side of the Marcellus shale formation and the Utica shale formation are especially rich in “wet gas”, i.e. the gas from these shales has a higher percentage of the valuable weightier hydrocarbons such as ethane.

Junkins provides this regarding the raw gas pipeline: “About 250 miles of natural gas pipelines are planned for construction in northern West Virginia over the next six months, but some landowners are not ready to sign pipeline deals.” Another 60 miles is planned for southern West Virginia, bringing the total pipeline miles to 310. The project is anticipated to provide 3200 temporary jobs. Click here for this story.

Regarding the second story about the ethane pipeline, “A project designed to pump 90,000 barrels of Ohio Valley ethane to the Gulf Coast every day has been canceled.  But a new pipeline that would pump 125,000 barrels of ethane daily from West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to Mont Belvieu, Texas, is in the works.” Click here for that story.

So what does this mean for West Virginia? Clearly the construction projects will be massive and will create many jobs. Hopefully the jobs will go to West Virginians. Despite Chesapeake CEO Audrey McClendon’s assertion (in defense of hiring out-of-state workers) that a third of WV applicants fail the drug test, Wayne Rebich of the ACT Foundation disagrees. “Less than 3% of the union construction workers in West Virginia which are tested fail the drug test,” Rebich said.  The ACT Foundation is the lobbying and promotional arm of the state trade unions.

It is noted that the contract for the ethane pipeline construction has been awarded to Texas-based Enterprise Products Partners, LP.   The ACT Foundation asked our legislators for law to make it a priority for corporations engaging in construction projects in WV to hire West Virginians. “We didn’t get what we wanted,” Rebich said. A partial victory was achieved; companies which receive tax breaks or public subsidies must give priority to West Virginian hires.

What else does pipeline construction mean to West Virginia? I recommend that you visit www.Marcellus-Shale.us and take a peek at the (ugly) photos there of pipeline construction. The potential for noise, dust, sedimentation and erosion and the sequellae, destruction of stream water quality, are plain to see. There will be interruption of wildlife corridors.  There will be future risks of pipeline explosions.

Where exactly will the pipelines go?   Will they cross any public lands?  I believe that is an unknown until the rights are purchased to build the pipelines.

Cabot wants to resume drilling and fracking for natural gas in Dimock, Pa., one of the locales featured in the acclaimed documentary Gasland.  But residents are not satisfied with the measures that Cabot has taken to remediate the contamination of their drinking water.  Residents noticed problems with their drinking water three years ago, and tests confirmed that the aquifer was contaminated with thermogenic methane gas from Cabot’s drilling and hydrofracking activities.  The contamination is attributed to faulty well casings.

Below are excerpts from the Wall Street Journal on October 15th entitled “Tests: Pa. gas drilling town’s water still fouled.”

After a series of false starts, Cabot, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus, said it has met the state’s Oct. 17 deadline to restore or replace Dimock’s water supply, installing treatment systems in some houses that have removed the methane.

Residents who have filed suit against Cabot disagree, saying their water is still tainted and unusable. Another homeowner claims the $30,000 treatment system that Cabot put in failed to work.

As recently as May, DEP said nearly half of Cabot’s wells in the Dimock area — 20 of 43 — continued to leak methane, including 14 that DEP said were of the “most concern.” In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Craig Lobins, regional manager in DEP’s oil and gas program, wrote to Cabot that the leaking wells indicate faulty construction and that Cabot had “yet to achieve full compliance” with DEP mandates.

Cabot wants to resume drilling and claims that the company has satisfied its obligation.

Click here for full story.

David Zetland has recently written an article published in the Petroleum Economist on July 11^th that explores the issue of whether fracking companies should accept the costs of strong regulation.  If so, this could lay the foundation for a viable gas and oil industry world-wide, for the long-term.  The French government has banned fracking and many other small governmental entities are looking at the diverse impacts to communities and the environment.

This article says that fracking will deliver more natural gas, at cheaper prices, from more-reliable parts of the world.  The industry should embrace and promote useful regulation as an acceptable cost of doing business.  The alternative – weak regulation, or industry opposition to clean fracking procedures – is more likely to destroy the industry than increase profits.

David Zetland is a senior water economist at Wageningen University, Netherlands.  He is the author of the book “The End of Abundance: economic solutions to water scarcity.”  He frequently blogs at www.aguanomics.com

The Preston County Solid waste Authority voted 3-0 to not change a site plan to allow for the development of a landfill that would have accepted Marcellus waste products.  The proposed 200 acre landfill would have been situated at the confluence of the Little Sandy and Big Sandy streams.  Approximately 30 local residents attended the PCSWA meeting.  None raised a hand when a show of hands was asked of those in favor of the landfill.

Friends of the Cheat Executive Director Amanda Pitzer shared the concerns of the FOC and the residents that the landfill would threaten the water quality of the streams.  Big Sandy is a tributary of the Cheat River and a popular boating and fishing stream.  After restoration efforts, the Big Sandy is close to being removed from the WVDEP’s list of impaired streams.

Full Story in Dominion Post (subscription required), July 7, 2011

The public is invited to attend a rally to demonstrate support for a moratorium on Marcellus shale drilling and fracking to be held from 10AM to 2PM on Monday, July 11, 2011 at the State Capitol Building in Charleston, WV. This event is sponsored by WV4MOM (West Virginia for a Moratorium on Marcellus). More info about an agenda, speakers, transportation, and parking will be released soon.   For more information contact frackinquestions@gmail.com.  For carpooling arrangements contact  wv4momcarpool@gmail.com.

Se. Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall)

West Virginia Media (owner of WBOY Clarksburg and WOWK  Huntington) has reported that an interim committee of the West Virginia Legislature has created a special committee to study Marcellus shale and develop legislation.  Acting Senate president Jeff Kessler (D-Marshall), serving as chair of the interim Joint Committee on Government and Finance, stated that it was hoped that the Marcellus committee will come to a resolution that will then set the stage for a special session to be called in the summer or fall.

At a public meeting held Thursday evening in Morgantown at Skyview Elementary School,  West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Randy Huffman faced a crowd of incensed citizens.  The approval of two drilling permits within 1500 feet of the Monongahela River, 3000 feet from a public water intake, and close to two public schools has galvanized the Morgantown community into action.  Barry Pallay, cochair of the WV/PA Watersheds Compact, referred to the contentious permit as a “poster child for a permit that should not be approved”.   The Compact and The League of Women Voters cosponsored the meeting.

Slightly more than 200 people had turned out for the meeting to learn about and discuss the negative impacts of Marcellus shale drilling.  Roughly a third to a half had left before Huffman spoke in the latter part of the three hour program.  Pallay introduced Huffman and asked, “Using the powers you have, can you put together a regulatory program to protect the area” and the state?   Huffman explained that the oil and gas regulatory program in use now was developed for conventional vertical gas wells, not the new technology of horizontal drilling.  ”Quite frankly, our regulatory structure isn’t prepared to deal with it.”  The WVDEP, recognizing that the agency lacked the authority and the funding needed to properly regulate the industry, developed a 200 page hydraulic fracturing bill in 2010 which was introduced in the Legislature.  The West Virginia Legislature failed to pass any legislation relating to hydraulic fracturing in the 2011 session other than a bill that granted a tax credit package to industry primarily to provide incentives for chemical industry development.

The impacts of horizontal drilling on roads, water, air and public health and safety have not been considered in the aggregate.  ”We are learning so much about what is going on, we are making changes in our thinking every day” said Huffman.  At which point an audience member shouted, “Why don’t you stop the drilling until you know what you’re doing?”  Other audience members joined in the shouting; Pallay had to restore order.  ”I do not as the cabinet secretary of the DEP have the authority to stop gas drilling in the state of West Virginia,” Huffman said at one point in response to that sentiment in the room.  Two resolutions were presented and passed.  One calls for a moratorium on issuing permits until a regulatory framework is in place.  The second calls for the WVDEP evaluate permit applications for public health and safety impacts, flag those with potential problems, and seek public input regarding those flagged.  Huffman pledged to re-evaluate the DEP’s air quality control measures, and agreed that evaluating permits for public health and safety concerns, and flagging problem permits for further review is worth considering.

Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) General Manager Tim Ball spoke to concerns of the residents about potential for contamination of the drinking water supply.  He informed the crowd that MUB staff are at the drill site almost every day observing the safety tests and the results.  MUB also plans to conduct routine testing of the water in the Mon River at the base of the pad and at the intake. Contingency plans have been developed in the case of a spill or other contamination event.  The Cobun Creek reservoir can serve as an alternate water source for nine days. MUB is also planning on installing a backup intake upstream of the well pad.   Audience members asked who would cover the expenses of these additions to the system.  At this point in time, the costs are borne by the citizens.  Pallay called for a resolution to hold the drilling company responsible for these costs via a bond.  The audience approved that resolution.

Morgantown Deputy Mayor Don Spencer updated the crowd about the progress of the Morgantown City Council.   City Council is developing a resolution which calls for several items that were included in draft legislation that failed to pass the legislature this spring, and a few items that were not included in the legislature draft bills.   The City Council will have a first reading of a council resolution on June 7th.  A public hearing will be scheduled before the second reading of the council resolution.

Full story: Dominion Post by David Beard reprinted in Charleston Daily Mail

Concerned citizens showed up in force at the City Council meeting on Tuesday evening in Morgantown, WV.   About 20 people addressed the council members with concerns regarding a permitted Marcellus shale well near the Monongahela River within 3,000 feet of a public water intake that serves 100,000 people.   Many inquired about getting an injunction to stop the drilling of the wells permitted to Northeast Natural Energy, a West Virginia company.   The council responded with a letter to Randy Huffman, the Secretary of the WVDEP, supporting the permit modifications proposed by the Morgantown Utility Board.  The letter was faxed on Wednesday the 18th.  The WVDEP negotiated with Northeast and a modified permit which complies with the MUB requests is expected to be completed today.  Drilling can be expected to start as soon as the permit is issued as modified.

Wednesday morning, an estimated 120 concerned citizens assembled at the Courthouse Square in downtown Morgantown to protest the  controversial well permit.   Delegates Barbara Fleischauer and Charlene Marshall addressed the crowd to discuss their work on the issue of regulation of hydraulic fracturing.   Several citizens addressed the crowd, sharing their concerns about various aspects of hydraulic fracturing including the impact of industrialization on West Virginia, water contamination, air pollution, lack of regulation and lack of funding for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection.  Attorney Hiram Lewis, who represents clients with water contamination problems in Wetzel County, told that water is being contaminated with acrylonitrile, a toxic substance that is not being checked by testing.  He also observed that the concrete well casings may be incapable of withstanding the forces of fracking and may crack.  He stated that there is no proof that well casings can withstand more than 7,000 psi and that frack pressures exceed 10,000 psi.

As the protest demonstration was going on in the square outside the courthouse, inside the courthouse the County Commissioners were meeting.  Duane Nichols, representing the Mon Valley Clean Air Coalition, presented a position statement which expressed opposition to hydraulic fracturing in the Mon River Valley, noting in particular  dangerous threats to air quality.  ”The two Marcellus wells recently sited at or near the Morgantown Industrial Park are too close to the other facilities of the Industrial Park, too close to the Skyview Elementary School, too close to the Westwood Middle School, too close to the County Athletic Field between these schools, and too close to the City of Morgantown.”   Marc Glass is a certified soil remediation specialist who lives near the controversial drilling sites.  He described the Superfund site currently within the Morgantown Industrial Park where the wells are planned and the  proximity of a hazardous waste dump, both of significant concern if these come into contact with drilling fluids.  Glass also described the activities of the EPA and the Department of Energy toward developing best practices for drilling operations.

The three Commissioners agreed that that action at the state level is needed.  They agreed to draft a letter to the governor to call for a Special Session to create law for hydraulic fracking and pointing out that an untenable situation exists in West Virginia due to risks and uncertainties involved in Marcellus gas projects.