Marcellus shale drilling in Bradford County, Pennsylvania

From an Article by Jon Hurdle, StateImpact Pennsylvania, March 31, 2022

Renewed attempts by Pennsylvania House Republicans to boost natural gas production by ending a ban on new drilling on public lands, among other measures, are unlikely to succeed because the industry already owns many unused leases on those lands, and because it lacks the pipeline capacity to take any new gas to market even if it was produced, analysts said.

In early March, GOP members introduced a raft of bills and resolutions designed to increase gas production and so lessen national dependence on imported energy at a time when Russia, a major energy exporter, has invaded neighboring Ukraine.

The measures seek to halt Gov. Tom Wolf’s moratorium on new drilling under state forests; urge the Delaware River Basin Commission to end its ban on fracking in the basin; ask the governors of New York and New Jersey to allow pipeline construction so that more Pennsylvania gas can get to market; and boost domestic consumption of natural gas by stopping Pennsylvania’s plan to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

But all the initiatives are likely to miss their targets, and represent another Republican attempt to enact familiar measures at the behest of the natural gas industry, analysts said.

“All these are things that they have been suggesting on behalf of the natural gas industry for years,” said David Hess, who was secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection from 2001 to 2003 under Republican governors Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker. “It’s nothing new.”

Hess said that even if the Legislature approves the plan to open up state lands to new drilling, it wouldn’t result in the desired production increase because some two-thirds of the leases already held by drillers are unused, showing that it’s not the ban on opening up public lands that’s holding back production.

In fact, he said, drillers have avoided developing many leases because of low market prices, at least until the middle of 2021. More recently, expansion has been slowed by a labor shortage, supply-chain snarls, and even a shortage of sand for fracking. “It would be a little silly to open more land to leasing when they haven’t developed what was considered prime leasable land back in 2008,” Hess said.

Cindy Adams Dunn, secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, told lawmakers in a Senate budget committee hearing on March 2 that 65 percent of existing shale gas leases in state forests have not been developed.

Quoting data from Pennsylvania’s nonpartisan Independent Fiscal Office, Hess noted that the industry produced gas from 10,322 wells in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with 13,395 drilled, showing that more than 3,000 wells are shut in.

“Right now, today, they have multiple options if they wanted to increase production out there,” he said. “So far, they have not shown any interest in doing that.”

Despite Republican calls for higher gas production, IFO figures show it actually increased by 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with a year earlier, suggesting more downward pressure on prices.

Natural gas futures prices rose to around $5.50 per million British thermal units in late 2021, their highest in more than a decade, after years when abundant production from the state’s Marcellus Shale kept the price at around $3. On Tuesday, the futures price in New York closed at $5.33.

Before the recent spike, the market slump deterred energy companies from adding new production, even from some wells that they had already drilled, and led some investors to pull back on their support of the Pennsylvania industry after returns had not been all they had hoped.

“Investors in these companies want to get their money out,” Hess said. “They learned their lesson. The finance folks who invest in these companies are holding them on a tighter rein than they did before.”

House majority leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Center/Mifflin) said the United States should use Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an opportunity to wean itself off energy imports from countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia, and instead ramp up domestic production from places like Pennsylvania.

“Gas-producing areas need to do their part to step up; and while President Biden and other world leaders are looking to countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia—countries that do not share our values—to increase production and make up the difference, they really should be looking to places like Pennsylvania,” Benninghoff said at a news conference on March 8.

Legislation to allow new drilling on state lands was made by Rep. Clint Owlett (R-Bradford/Tioga/Potter) who said production from those areas could be increased without disturbing the natural environment by siting well pads outside the preserved area and extracting gas by sub-surface horizontal drilling.

Revenue generated from leasing subsurface rights would “most importantly put us on a path where we as a country are not relying on Russian gas,” Owlett said in a statement on March 7. The next day, President Joe Biden signed an executive order banning the import of oil, liquefied natural gas and coal from Russia to the United States.

Jason Gottesman, a spokesman for House Republicans, denied that Biden’s order undermined the GOP proposals. He argued that the order doesn’t have the force of law, and could be changed by the current executive or the next one. He said Pennsylvania is a victim of years of federal energy policy that has “deprioritized” domestic energy production, but the state now has the potential to make up a shortfall.

“Pennsylvania has the ability right now to once again invest in and export freedom by being a leader in American energy independence, which makes our country and our allies more secure by no longer needing to be reliant on countries like Russia and other geopolitical actors that do not share our values to heat our homes and fuel our cars,” Gottesman said.

Wolf accused the GOP of trying to use the Ukraine crisis to meet longstanding demands from the gas industry. Although he supports bipartisan moves to cut Pennsylvania’s financial ties with Russia, he issued a statement dismissing the plans to boost gas production as “simply ​natural gas industry giveaways.”

Other measures proposed by lawmakers included one from Rep. Jonathan Fritz (R-Wayne/Susquehanna) who highlighted a bill urging the Delaware River Basin Commission to end its ban on fracking in the basin that covers parts of four states, including eastern Pennsylvania. The DRBC is a federal/state government agency responsible for managing the water resources within the 13,539 square-mile river basin.

And Rep. Stan Saylor (R-York) introduced a resolution that would urge the governors of New York and New Jersey to allow construction of natural gas pipelines so that Pennsylvania gas could reach markets in New England, which Saylor said have been “walled off” by anti-pipeline policies in those two states.

Analysts said there was little prospect of New York and New Jersey allowing new gas pipelines, given their pursuit of clean-energy goals, New York’s ban on fracking beginning in 2014, and a decision last year by the PennEast company to end a controversial plan to build a natural gas pipeline from Luzerne County to central New Jersey. That project faced strong community opposition, especially in New Jersey, and was withdrawn after seven years on the drawing board.

“I don’t think a resolution urging New Jersey and New York to change their own energy policy that they adopted for whatever reason is going to have any impact,” Hess said. And he argued that any policy change by the DRBC would require the unlikely approval by the governors of all four basin states – all Democrats – as well as from the federal government.

Matthew Bernstein, senior analyst for shale exploration and production at Rystad Energy, a Norway-based research firm, said lifting the ban on new drilling under state lands would do nothing to boost production because output is restrained by a shortage of pipeline capacity.

“The main issue surrounding increasing production in Pennsylvania is not a lack of land to drill, but rather a lack of the necessary takeaway capacity to bring the gas to market,” he wrote in an email. “No material increase, with or without lifting the ban, is possible in the short-term, and is then dependent on whether future pipelines taking gas out of the basin come online.”

Rystad projects Pennsylvania gas production will remain flat in 2022 because drillers are already producing as much as they can, regardless of the market price, given transmission restraints.

John Walliser, a senior vice president at the nonprofit Pennsylvania Environmental Council, said current gas production is restrained by the industry itself, and not by a shortage of land to drill on.

“There was so much gas being produced that it drove prices down,” he said. “There were questions from the investment side on whether they were getting the return they wanted. I’m personally not of the mind that what’s holding back the industry at the moment is regulation.”

Penna. Republican lawmakers and the U.S. Capitol attack

As part of WITF’s commitment to standing with facts, and because the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was an attempt to overthrow representative democracy in America, we are marking elected officials’ connections to the insurrection.

Reps. Benninghoff and Owlett supported Donald Trump’s 2020 election-fraud lie by signing a letter urging members of Congress to object to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes going to Joe Biden. The election-fraud lie led to the attack on the Capitol.

EPA-Approved Fracking Chemicals Include PFAS, a ‘Forever Chemical’

From an Article by Susan Phillips, The Allegheny Front, July 14, 2021

Companies that drill for natural gas in Pennsylvania have used EPA-approved PFAS or pre-cursors to PFAS in fracking operations in other states, according to a report by Physicians for Social Responsibility.

The report’s author, Dusty Horwitt, says that while he couldn’t find evidence the chemicals were used in Pennsylvania wells, Exxon/XTO Energy and Chevron are among the companies that have used it elsewhere. “We can’t be confident that we know everything that has been used in Pennsylvania,” Horwitt said.

That’s because Pennsylvania’s fracking disclosure law allows exemptions for trade secrets, and does not require drillers to disclose chemicals used to drill a well. The chemical disclosure requirements include the fracking process, which uses high-pressure water and chemicals to break up the shale rock and release the gas.

What are PFAS (per-fluoro-alkyl substances, fluorine containing complex organic compounds)?

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a class of 9,252 man-made chemicals, according to the EPA. They contain strong carbon-fluorine bonds that don’t break down easily in the environment, which has garnered them the nickname “forever chemicals.” The strength of the bond makes them useful for waterproofing and stain resistance. They are used to make teflon, food packaging and firefighting foam.

Some, including PFOA and PFOS, are no longer made in the U.S. But use of PFAS continues, and the chemicals have been detected at concerning levels in some water supplies, especially near military installations in Pennsylvania and across the country. Studies of some of the PFAS chemicals show a link to low birth weight, pre-eclampsia and increased cholesterol; exposure also causes impacts to liver, kidney and thyroid health.

There are no easy ways to break [PFAS] down. They are going to be with us forever.

PFAS Used in 1,200 Wells in Six States

The Physicians for Social Responsibility report, Fracking with “Forever Chemicals“, found evidence the substance was used in 1,200 wells in six states between 2012 and 2020. The group obtained documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The American Petroleum Institute said PFAS use is limited.

“Although PFAS is not widely used in fracking and only at extremely low levels, API will continue to review available data and analyses to better understand and mitigate the use of these chemicals across the upstream segment,” API spokeswoman Bethany Aronhalt said. “We uphold long-standing procedures to transport, handle, and use chemicals safely, including well-bore integrity, chemical containment, science-based hazard assessments and other operational practices, and we will continue to use science-based measures to further protect health and safety.”

The public records PSR received included thousands of heavily redacted documents, including instances where the companies redacted their own name and chemical identification, or CAS, claiming a trade secret. The documents revealed EPA itself had questions about the approval in 2011:

“EPA has concerns that these degradation products will persist in the environment, could bioaccumulate or biomagnify, and could be toxic (PBT) to people, wild mammals, and birds based on data on analog chemicals, including PFOA and [REDACTED].”

Lack of Transparency is an Issue

The report highlights the difficulty of trying to find out information on the substances, which are often referred to differently in disclosure reports.

Linda Birnbaum, a toxicologist and the former head of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said transparency around fracking chemicals remains an issue despite the growing epidemiological evidence of impacts like low birth weight, linked to living near fracking sites. When it comes to PFAS, Birnbaum said, it’s ubiquitous and it causes a number of health impacts, including on both male and female reproduction.

“We don’t have just one source of exposure, but we’re also finding it’s just everywhere. PFAS are useful chemicals, they are very helpful for solubilization, and to prevent sticking,” she said. “The carbon fluorine bond is extremely difficult to make, barely exists in nature and there are no easy ways to break it down. They are going to be with us forever.”

Exposure to any fracking chemicals could happen at the well site, but studies have shown that wastewater transport can pose the greatest risk.

>> This story is produced in partnership with StateImpact Pennsylvania, a collaboration among The Allegheny Front, WPSU, WITF and WHYY to cover the commonwealth’s energy economy.

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See the Report here: New Report: Fracking with “Forever Chemicals” – Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), Dusty Horwitt, July 12, 2021

PSR is proud to publish Fracking with “Forever Chemicals,” a report presenting previously unpublicized evidence that major oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, have used per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or substances that could degrade into PFAS, in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for oil and gas in more than 1,200 wells in six U.S. states.

Toxic in minuscule concentrations, these man-made chemicals accumulate inside the human body and do not break down in the environment – hence their nickname, “forever chemicals.” Various PFAS have been linked by the U.S. EPA to low infant birth weights, effects on the immune system, cancer, and hormone disruption.

See the FracTraker Alliance for extensive coverage

From an Article by Nick Cunningham, DeSmog Blog, February 11, 2021

The fracking boom has received broad support from politicians across the aisle in Appalachia due to dreams of enormous job creation, but a report released on February 10 from Pennsylvania-based economic and sustainability think tank, the Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI), sheds new light on the reality of this hype.

The report looked at how 22 counties across West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio — accounting for 90 percent of the region’s natural gas production — fared during the fracking boom. It found that counties that saw the most drilling ended up with weaker job growth and declining populations compared to other parts of Appalachia and the nation as a whole.

Shale gas production from Appalachia exploded from minimal levels a little over a decade ago, to more than 32 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2019, or roughly 40 percent of the nation’s total output. During this time, between 2008 and 2019, GDP across these 22 counties grew three times faster than that of the nation as a whole. However, based on a variety of metrics for actual economic prosperity — such as job growth, population growth, and the region’s share of national income — the region fell further behind than the rest of the country.

Between 2008 and 2019, the number of jobs across the U.S. expanded by 10 percent, according to the ORVI report, but in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, job growth only grew by 4 percent. More glaringly, the 22 gas-producing counties in those three states — ground-zero for the drilling boom — only experienced 1.7 percent job growth.

“What’s really disturbing is that these disappointing results came about at a time when the region’s natural gas industry was operating at full capacity. So it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the results would be better,” said Sean O’Leary, the report’s author.

The report cited Belmont County, Ohio, as a particularly shocking case. Belmont County has received more than a third of all natural gas investment in the state, and accounts for more than a third of the state’s gas production. The industry also accounts for about 60 percent of the county’s economy. Because of the boom, the county’s GDP grew five times faster than the national rate. And yet, the county saw a 7 percent decline in jobs and a 2 percent decline in population over the past decade.

“This report documents that many Marcellus and Utica region fracking gas counties typically have lost both population and jobs from 2008 to 2019,” said John Hanger, former Pennsylvania secretary of Environmental Protection, commenting on the report. “This report explodes in a fireball of numbers the claims that the gas industry would bring prosperity to Pennsylvania, Ohio, or West Virginia. These are stubborn facts that indicate gas drilling has done the opposite in most of the top drilling counties.”

A Boom Without Job Growth

This lack of job growth was not what the industry promised. A 2010 study from the American Petroleum Institute predicted that Pennsylvania would see more than 211,000 jobs created by 2020 due to the fracking boom, while West Virginia would see an additional 43,000 jobs. Studies like these were widely cited by politicians as proof that the fracking boom was an economic imperative and must be supported.

But the Ohio River Valley Institute report reveals the disconnect between a drilling boom and rising GDP on the one hand, and worse local employment outcomes on the other. There are likely many reasons for this disconnect related to the long list of negative externalities associated with fracking: The boom-and-bust nature of extractive industries creates risks for other business sectors, such as extreme economic volatility, deterring new businesses or expansions of existing ones; meanwhile air, water, and noise pollution negatively impact the health and environment of residents living nearby.

“There can be no mistake that the closer people live to shale gas development, the higher their risk for poor health outcomes,” Alison Steele, Executive Director of the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, told DeSmog. “More than two dozen peer-reviewed epidemiological studies show a correlation between living near shale gas development and a host of health issues, such as worsening asthmas, heart failure hospitalizations, premature births, and babies born with low birth weights and birth defects.”

Moreover, oil and gas drilling is capital-intensive, not job-intensive. As the example of Belmont County shows, only about 12 percent of income generated by the gas industry can be attributable to wages and employment, while in other sectors, on average, more than half of income goes to workers.

In other words, it costs a lot of money to drill, but it doesn’t employ a lot of people, and much of the income is siphoned off to shareholders. To top it off, equipment and people are imported from outside the region — many of the jobs created went to workers brought in from places such as Texas and Oklahoma.

Despite the huge increase in shale gas production over the past decade, the vast majority of the 22 counties experiencing the drilling boom also experienced “economic stagnation or outright decline and depopulation,” the report said.

“[W]e could see long ago that the job numbers published and pushed out by the industry years ago were based in bluster, not our economic realities,” Veronica Coptis, Executive Director of Coalfield Justice, a non-profit based in southwest Pennsylvania, told DeSmog, commenting on the report. “At industry’s behest and encouragement, Pennsylvania promoted shale gas development aggressively in rural areas for more than a decade. And yet, the southwestern counties at the epicenter of fracking do not show any obvious improvement in well-being.”

Petrochemicals Also a False Hope

After natural gas prices fell sharply amid a glut of supply beginning in 2012, the number of wells drilled began to slow. Industry proponents then pinned their hopes on a new future: plastics. Petrochemical facilities would process low-cost natural gas into the building blocks of plastic and spur a virtuous cycle of new manufacturing while prolonging the drilling boom.

But the petrochemical promise has mostly been a mirage. Most of the proposed ethane crackers have been cancelled or delayed. Only one has moved forward: Shell’s ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, which was lured to the state with a $1.6 billion tax credit, the largest tax break in Pennsylvania history.

Even in Beaver County, job growth has been anemic: the county saw employment actually contract by 0.5 percent between 2008 and 2019, despite breaking ground on Appalachia’s flagship petrochemical facility, according to ORVI. In reality, the Shell cracker will employ several thousand people temporarily during construction, but only employ 600 people permanently when it comes online.

The market for petrochemicals has soured dramatically since Shell gave the greenlight on the project several years ago, raising doubts about future growth. And yet, in 2020, the Pennsylvania legislature passed another $667 million tax credit intended to lure in more petrochemical facilities to the state. Democratic Governor Tom Wolf supported it.

As the ORVI report concluded: “[P]olicymakers should look very critically at proposals to expand or otherwise assist the natural gas industry, which has yet to demonstrate that it is capable of contributing positively locally or on a large scale to the states and counties where it is most prevalent.”

SELECTED DRILLING & FRACKING VIOLATIONS IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

From Skytruth Alerts, Shepherdstown, WV, February 2021

PA Permit Violation Issued to RICE DRILLING B LLC in Center Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/11/2021 to RICE DRILLING B LLC in Center Twp, Greene county. 78a54 – 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 and in accordance with 25 Pa. Code 78a.55 – 78a.58 and 78a.60 – 78a.63.

PA Permit Violation Issued to RICE DRILLING B LLC in Center Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/11/2021 to RICE DRILLING B LLC in Center Twp, Greene county. 78A57(A)___ – CONTROL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTION FLUIDS – Operator discharged brine and other fluids on or into the ground or into the waters of this Commonwealth.

PA Permit Violation Issued to RICE DRILLING B LLC in Center Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/11/2021 to RICE DRILLING B LLC in Center Twp, Greene county. SWMA 301 – MANAGEMENT OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person operated a residual waste processing or disposal facility without obtaining a permit for such facility from DEP. Person stored, transported, processed, or disposed of residual waste inconsistent with or unauthorized by the rules and regulations of DEP.

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PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. SWMA 301 – MANAGEMENT OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person operated a residual waste processing or disposal facility without obtaining a permit for such facility from DEP. Person stored, transported, processed, or disposed of residual waste inconsistent with or unauthorized by the rules and regulations of DEP.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. SWMA 301 – MANAGEMENT OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person operated a residual waste processing or disposal facility without obtaining a permit for such facility from DEP. Person stored, transported, processed, or disposed of residual waste inconsistent with or unauthorized by the rules and regulations of DEP.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 78a54 – 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 and in accordance with 25 Pa. Code 78a.55 – 78a.58 and 78a.60 – 78a.63.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 78A57(A)___ – CONTROL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTION FLUIDS – Operator discharged brine and other fluids on or into the ground or into the waters of this Commonwealth.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 91.34(A) – ACTIVITIES UTILIZING POLLUTANTS – Failure to take necessary measures to prevent the substances from directly or indirectly reaching waters of this Commonwealth, through accident, carelessness, maliciousness, hazards of weather or from another cause.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 78a54 – 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 and in accordance with 25 Pa. Code 78a.55 – 78a.58 and 78a.60 – 78a.63.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 78A57(A)___ – CONTROL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTION FLUIDS – Operator discharged brine and other fluids on or into the ground or into the waters of this Commonwealth.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/06/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 91.34(A) – ACTIVITIES UTILIZING POLLUTANTS – Failure to take necessary measures to prevent the substances from directly or indirectly reaching waters of this Commonwealth, through accident, carelessness, maliciousness, hazards of weather or from another cause.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/05/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 91.34(A) – ACTIVITIES UTILIZING POLLUTANTS – Failure to take necessary measures to prevent the substances from directly or indirectly reaching waters of this Commonwealth, through accident, carelessness, maliciousness, hazards of weather or from another cause.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/05/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 78a54 – 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 and in accordance with 25 Pa. Code 78a.55 – 78a.58 and 78a.60 – 78a.63.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/05/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. 78A57(A)___ – CONTROL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTION FLUIDS – Operator discharged brine and other fluids on or into the ground or into the waters of this Commonwealth.

PA Permit Violation Issued to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/05/2021 to EQT PROD CO in Forward Twp, Allegheny county. SWMA 301 – MANAGEMENT OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person operated a residual waste processing or disposal facility without obtaining a permit for such facility from DEP. Person stored, transported, processed, or disposed of residual waste inconsistent with or unauthorized by the rules and regulations of DEP.

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PA Permit Violation Issued to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Redstone Twp, Fayette County, Penna.
Description: Administrative violation issued on 1/05/2021 to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Redstone Twp, Fayette county. 78.121(B) – WELL REPORTING – PRODUCTION REPORTING – Operator failed to electronically submit production and status report to the Department through its web site.

PA Permit Violation Issued to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/19/2021 to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette county. 78.74 – VENTING OF GAS – Operator vented gas to the atmosphere that produced a hazard to the public health and safety.

PA Permit Violation Issued to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/19/2021 to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette county. 78.91(a) – PLUGGING – GENERAL PROVISIONS – Upon abandoning a well, the owner or operator failed to plug the well to stop the vertical flow of fluids or gas within the well bore under 25 Pa. Code 78.92-78.98 or an approved alternate method.

PA Permit Violation Issued to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette County, Penna.
Description: Administrative violation issued on 1/19/2021 to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette 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 THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette County, Penna.
Description: Administrative violation issued on 1/19/2021 to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette county. OGA3211(G) – WELL PERMITS – POSTING – Failure to post the well permit number and the operator’s name, address and phone number at the well site during construction of the access road, site preparation and during drilling, operating or alteration of well.

PA Permit Violation Issued to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/19/2021 to THE PRODUCTION CO LLC in Jefferson Twp, Fayette county. 78.73(a) – GENERAL PROVISION FOR WELL CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION – Operator failed to construct and operate the well in accordance with 25 Pa. Code Chapter 78 and ensure that the integrity of the well is maintained and health, safety, environment and property are protected.

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PA Permit Violation Issued to EQUITRANS LP in Morgan Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 1/21/2021 to EQUITRANS LP in Morgan Twp, Greene county. 78.91(a) – PLUGGING – GENERAL PROVISIONS – Upon abandoning a well, the owner or operator failed to plug the well to stop the vertical flow of fluids or gas within the well bore under 25 Pa. Code 78.92-78.98 or an approved alternate method.

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PA Permit Violation Issued to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Cumberland Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2/04/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Cumberland 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 DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Cumberland Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2/04/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Cumberland Twp, Greene county. SWMA 302(B)3 – DISPOSAL, PROCESSING AND STORAGE OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person failed to design, construct, operate or maintain facilities and areas in a manner that do not adversely effect affect or endanger public health, safety and welfare or the environment or cause a public nuisance.

PA Permit Violation Issued to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Cumberland Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2/04/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Cumberland 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.

PA Permit Violation Issued to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Dunkard Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2/04/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Dunkard 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 DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Dunkard Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2/04/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Dunkard Twp, Greene county. SWMA 302(B)3 – DISPOSAL, PROCESSING AND STORAGE OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person failed to design, construct, operate or maintain facilities and areas in a manner that do not adversely effect affect or endanger public health, safety and welfare or the environment or cause a public nuisance.

PA Permit Violation Issued to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Dunkard Twp, Greene County, Penna.
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 2/04/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Dunkard 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.

Northeast Pennsylvania is part of the Marcellus shale zone

From an Article by Michael Rubinkam / Associated Press, StateImpact Penna., January 12, 2021

(Harrisburg) — Two Republicans claim the Delaware River Basin Commission overstepped its authority and usurped the Legislature with its moratorium on natural gas development.

Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania are seeking to overturn a ban on gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River basin, filing a federal lawsuit against the regulatory agency that oversees drinking water quality for more than 13 million people.

Senate Republicans led by Sens. Gene Yaw and Lisa Baker claim the Delaware River Basin Commission overstepped its authority and usurped the Legislature with its moratorium on natural gas development near the river and its tributaries.

The senators want a federal court to invalidate the ban, potentially opening a sliver of northeastern Pennsylvania to what their lawsuit describes as $40 billion worth of natural gas. The gas is found in the Marcellus Shale, the nation’s largest gas field, whose vast reserves spurred a drilling boom elsewhere in Pennsylvania more than a decade ago.

Maya van Rossum, who leads the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an environmental watchdog group, accused GOP lawmakers of “carrying the water of the industry,” saying their suit is “an absolute betrayal of trust in terms of their legislative obligation to serve the people of Pennsylvania, not the frackers.”

The lawsuit is the latest salvo in a long-running battle over drilling and fracking near the Delaware, which supplies drinking water to Philadelphia and half of New York City. A Pennsylvania landowners group is also challenging the basin commission’s right to regulate gas development. Baker and Yaw sought to intervene in that 2016 case — which is still being litigated — but a court ruled they lacked standing.

The commission, which regulates water quality and quantity in the Delaware and its tributaries, first imposed a moratorium on drilling and fracking in 2010 to allow its staff to develop regulations for the gas industry. A year later, the five-member panel was scheduled to vote on a set of draft regulations that would have allowed gas development to proceed, but it abruptly canceled a vote amid opposition from some commission members.

In 2017, the basin commission reversed course and began the process of enacting a permanent ban on drilling and fracking, the technique that has enabled a U.S. production boom in shale gas and oil.

The new litigation, filed Monday in federal court in Philadelphia, contends the de facto ban has deprived private landowners of the right to drilling royalties, and has prevented Pennsylvania from leasing public lands to the gas industry and collecting fees from gas development.

The suit argued the ban’s “deleterious effects” have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn, with the state and local governments facing significant budget shortfalls.

Even if the suit were to succeed, however, it’s far from certain that drilling could take place on public lands within the Delaware watershed. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, imposed a moratorium on new drilling leases on all state-owned land in 2015. That moratorium remains in effect.

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Senator Brewster Begins Another Term in Penna. Senate

Takes oath of office today in Harrisburg ceremony, EIN presswire

Harrisburg – January 13, 2021 – State Senator Jim Brewster (D) was sworn in today for another term in the Pennsylvania State Senate, serving constituents in portions of Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties.

“It is an honor and privilege to serve the citizens in the 38 communities that are a part of the 45th District,” Brewster said. “I will continue to pursue a broad agenda that is focused on families.

“My legislative proposals include measures to promote job creation, economic development, tax relief, education support and safety, and help for those who are in need.”

The lawmaker has also proposed plans to help small businesses and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to institute a responsible energy extraction tax on Marcellus Shale drillers and to use the revenue to fund education and environmental protection. He is also the prime sponsor of a package of bills to reform the legislature and make it more transparent, including eliminating per diems, state vehicles, and a gift ban.

Brewster was first elected to the Senate in a special election in 2010. He was re-elected in 2012, 2016, and 2020.

Brewster said there are great challenges ahead for lawmakers this session. A budget deficit and the continuing challenges from the pandemic, he said. Even amid these substantive and difficult issues, he said that there was an opportunity to address issues involving local government.

“As the former mayor of McKeesport, I know the difficulties that economically-stressed communities face,” Brewster said. “Lawmakers in Harrisburg also need to focus on addressing the problems of small cities and struggling communities across Pennsylvania.”

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Westmoreland County Landfill taking Drilling/Fracking wastes

From an Article by Reid Frazier, StateImpact Pennsylvania, October 14, 2020

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection fined a Western Pennsylvania landfill that accepts solid fracking waste $59,000 for multiple violations over the past year. It’s the latest in a series of legal actions against the landfill.

According to a consent order signed Oct. 7, the Westmoreland Sanitary Landfill in Rostraver failed to maintain up-to-date records, operated beyond permitted hours, and failed to maintain roads on multiple occasions between July 31, 2019, and Sept. 24, 2020.

The agency said the landfill also allowed spills and leaks of leachate — wastewater that seeps through the landfill and must be treated before it’s disposed of.

The landfill accepts oil and gas drilling waste, which is high in salts, metals, and radioactive materials, and many of these pollutants have ended up in the leachate.

Last year, Pennsylvania’s Attorney General’s office said it was investigating the landfill’s handling of its waste, and a judge ordered the landfill to stop sending its leachate to a nearby treatment plant.

That plant, which failed several state water quality tests, found high levels of contaminants common in fracking waste in the leachate it was receiving from the landfill.

In February, the DEP fined the landfill $24,000 for improper disposal of the leachate.

The latest fine is for new violations, which include the landfill’s trucks tracking mud on nearby roads, failing to put adequate soil cover on top of waste, including drilling waste, and failing to maintain equipment.

The department has ordered the landfill to come up with a plan to fix the violations.

West Virginia news of May 30, 2014

StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, WPSU, and The Allegheny Front. Reporters Anne Danahy, Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy.

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See also: Pennsylvania Regulators Won’t Say Where 66% of Landfill Leachate w/ Radioactive Material From Fracking is Going…”It’s Private” — From Joshua Pribanic and Talia Wiener for the Public Herald, August 5, 2020

In Pennsylvania, the final destination of 66 percent of liquid waste from 30 municipal landfills accepting fracking’s oil and gas waste remains unknown. Oil and gas waste from fracking contains high concentrations of Technically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM), and wherever this radioactive TENORM waste is stored, rain carries water-soluble radionuclides such as Radium-226 through the landfill to create what’s known as leachate – the landfill’s liquid waste. This TENORM-laden leachate is commonly sent to Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) that are not equipped to remove it before it’s dumped into rivers.

Familiar sign in Penna. state forests, unfortunately

Letter of Protest by Ron Evans to Olean Times Herald, August 29, 2020

When Andrew Jackson disagreed with a decision of the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, he reportedly said, “John Marshall has made his decision. Now let him enforce it.”

All three branches of Commonwealth government are saying the equivalent regarding a ruling the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made in June 2017. The court ruled in favor of the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation (PEDF), which sued the governor for not executing the environmental amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution.

The amendment states: “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

PEDF’s lawsuit specifically contended that the governor and legislature were ignoring the amendment in the management of state parks and forests. The state Supreme Court’s decision in PEDF’s case clearly stated that the amendment means state lands and resources are owned by the citizens of the Commonwealth in the form of a public trust. In addition, the trust includes any money gained from the sale of the resources.

The court ruled that the role of government at all levels is to act as a trustee of the public trust, not as proprietors, by conserving and maintaining public lands and resources.

Since the ruling, all three branches of state government have ignored the court. The governor, legislature and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the agency charged with conserving and maintain state parks and forests, abdicated their responsibilities as trustees, especially with the rush to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region of the state.

The governor and legislature have not permanently banned additional drilling on public lands, even though DCNR has stated that any additional drilling will endanger fragile ecologies. In fact, DCNR, in its most recent plan for state forests, determined that oil and gas extraction are legitimate uses of lands owned by the citizens. This is not “conserving and maintaining” public natural resources.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in its ruling, deemed the Oil and Gas Lease Fund can be used only to maintain and conserve public natural resources. Starting with the Rendell administration, approximately $1.2 billion has been taken out of the public trust and diverted to the general fund. Gov. Wolfe and the legislature continue to ignore the court decision by diverting $61 million from the Oil and Gas Lease Fund to the general fund for the 2020-21 budget.

Consequently, PEDF filed another lawsuit specific to the diversion of Oil and Gas Lease Fund money. After a two-year wait, Commonwealth Court has ignored the decision of the state Supreme Court by ruling that some of the Oil and Gas Lease Fund can be used to fund the operation of state departments and agencies. Now all three branches of state government are complicit in ignoring the state Supreme Court decision in the PEDF case.

PEDF’s appeal of the Commonwealth Court’s decision is under review by the Supreme Court.

In 1971, the legislature passed, the governor signed and the citizens ratified a visionary amendment to the Commonwealth’s Constitution. For almost 50 years, state government largely ignored its responsibility to conserve and maintain public lands and resources. In 2017 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court made an unambiguous ruling mandating that government fulfill its trustee responsibilities. However, all three branches continue to ignore the ruling.

As citizens who own the public trust, we cannot allow this undemocratic challenge to a state Supreme Court decision to persist.

>>> Ron Evans is president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation. For more information on PEDF’s legal actions, go to pedf.org or https://www.pedf.org/

Area of Concern — Marcellus Outreach Butler (County) PA

Fracking and Community Health Webinar Series, Parts 1 – 3

August 15, 22, & 29 — Register free for each session below

On September 15. 2011, South Butler School Board approved a gas lease with Phillips Exploration, a part of XTO and a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. The School District joined with privately owned property to form a 640 acre “pool” or drilling unit. Since then, the area has become inundated with gas wells and related infrastructure. Marcellus Outreach Butler asked then – and asks still, “What are the risks and impacts of placing such fracking activity so close to human habitats, especially a school campus?”

Join MOB for a series of online meetings to discuss these concerns about the intensive drilling near Knoch Schools Campus and Saxonburg.

Register below for each program by 6:30 PM on the day of the program and we’ll send you the link to join the Zoom online meeting.

PART 1, Aug. 15, 7 PM: Overview of the area, including drone footage, and Dr. Ned Ketyer who will review the health risks and impacts fracking and related activity pose to those who live in close proximity.
Register HERE .

PART 2, Aug. 22, 7 PM: Dr. John Stolz on Radioactive Fracking Waste and Sanitary Landfill. Register HERE.

PART 3, Aug. 29, 7 PM: EHP’s Sarah Rankin and Nathan Deron on potential impacts of fracking. Register HERE.

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THE PRESENTERS ARE DESCRIBED BELOW:

PART 1, Saturday, August 15, 7 PM

Ned Ketyer, M.D., F.A.A.P., ecketyer@gmail.com

Dr. Ned Ketyer is a Pittsburgh-area pediatrician with special interests in developmental pediatrics, preventative medicine, and environmental health. After his pediatric residency at Pittsburgh’s Children’s Hospital, Dr. Ketyer practiced general pediatrics for 26 years. Although retired from patient care, he writes and edits his practice’s popular blog, The PediaBlog, and remains a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health. He is a consultant for the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project bringing attention to the health impacts of shale gas development, a board member of Physicians for Social Responsibility – Pennsylvania, and a Climate Reality Project Leader.

In all these roles, Dr. Ketyer connects the vast petrochemical “clusterfrack” underway in SW Pennsylvania with local and regional health impacts, and the global ecological and public health catastrophes resulting from plastic pollution and climate change that threaten the health and well-being of all passengers on this shining ball of blue.

Register HERE.

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PART 2, Saturday, August 22, 7 PM

John Stolz, Director, Center for Environmental Research and Education, & Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Duquesne University

Dr. Stolz studies the microbial metabolism of metals and metalloids, microbial communities in hypersaline environments, and water quality. He has published 95 peer-reviewed articles, 37 book chapters, and author/edited two books. He is currently co-authoring/editing a book on the “Environmental Impacts of Unconventional Oil and Gas Reserves Development” for Cambridge University Press.

Most recently, Dr. Stolz has been looking at sanitary landfills in Pennsylvania and New York that have been allowed to take both solid and liquid waste from oil and gas operations. The leachate is now contaminated with toxins and radioactivity. Dr. Stolz will present the results of his investigation and the questionable ways in which the industry, with the help of legislators and regulators, are using to dispose of their wastes.

Register HERE.

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PART 3, Saturday, August 29, 7 PM

Sarah Rankin, MPH, BSN, RN, Public Health Nurse,
and Nathan Deron, MSPPM-DA, Environmental Data

The Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project (EHP) is a nonprofit public health organization that assists and supports residents of Southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond who believe their health has been, or could be, impacted by shale gas development (or fracking).

Sarah and Nathan will review the literature and EHP’s findings about potential health impacts of fracking. They will also discuss how a community science air monitoring project can measure the pollution that communities face.

Register HERE.

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See also: Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking – Physicians for Social Responsibility, June 19, 2019

Horse foals at Penna. site show ailment, not seen in New York

From an Article by Kristina Marusic, Environmental Health News, May 29, 2020

A new study has uncovered a link between fracking chemicals in farm water and a rare birth defect in horses—which researchers say could serve as a warning about fracking and human infant health. The implications for human health are “worrisome,” say researchers.

The study, published this month in the journal Science of the Total Environment, complements a growing body of research linking fracking to numerous human health effects, including preterm births and high-risk pregnancies. This is believed to be the first study to find fracking chemicals in farm water linked to birth defects in farm animals.

In 2014, veterinarians at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals in Ithaca, New York, realized that they’d diagnosed five out of 10 foals born on one farm in Pennsylvania with the same rare birth defect. The birth defect, dysphagia, involves difficulty swallowing caused by abnormalities in the throat. Dysphagia causes nursing foals to inhale milk instead of swallowing it, which often results in pneumonia if milk gets into their lungs.

PAH compounds cause swallowing problem in foals

The birth defect is so rare that the rate among the general population isn’t known, but one paper on health outcomes in horses from a large university veterinary neonatal intensive care unit documented just five cases of dysphagia out of 1065 hospitalized foals—a rate of less than 0.5 percent.

The owner of the Pennsylvania farm the horses came from also owned a farm in New York. Both farms used the same commercial horse feed and sourced hay from the same place—but none of the horses born on the New York farm ever had dysphagia. Additionally, several mares that lived on the Pennsylvania farm for the first half of their gestation had healthy foals after being moved to the New York farm mid-pregnancy, while several mares who started out in New York and were moved to Pennsylvania mid-pregnancy had dysphagic foals.

The only difference the farmer identified was that in Pennsylvania, there were 28 fracking wells within seven miles of the farm—two of which were within 1,500 feet of the property’s two water wells. There were no fracking wells near the New York farm. The state banned the practice in 2015 following a seven-year review of its health and environmental impacts, during which time there was a moratorium on it.

“We realized this was a really rich study opportunity,” Mullen said, “so we decided to look more closely to see if environmental factors were associated with the dysphagia cluster.”

Over the next two years, Mullen and colleagues analyzed samples of feed, soil, air, and water, and samples of blood and tissue samples from mares and foals at both farms. During that time, 65 foals were born, 17 of which were dysphagic—all of them from the Pennsylvania farm.

They didn’t find significant differences in the feed, soil, air, or blood and tissue samples from the two farms. But they did find a significant difference in the water: There were higher levels of four kinds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—chemicals commonly used in fracking—in the water at the Pennsylvania farm that weren’t seen in water at the New York farm. Those chemicals included fluoranthene, pyrene, 3,6-dimethylphenanthrene, and triphenylene, all of which have been linked to health problems in humans and animals.

Following that discovery, the farmer installed a water filtration system, which brought the levels of PAHs in the water on the Pennsylvania farm down to levels comparable to those seen at the New York farm. After that, they saw a marked decrease in the birth of dysphagic foals: In 2014, 26 percent of all of the farmer’s foals had been born dysphagic; in 2015, 41 percent were dysphagic; and in 2016, after the installation of the filtration system, the rate fell to 13 percent.

The researchers believe the reduction in PAHs in the water, along with a reduction in the amount of time the mares were spending on the Pennsylvania farm during their pregnancy, led to the corresponding reduction in birth defects in the horses—though Mullen added that more research is needed to evaluate the toxicity of those chemicals at the levels they observed.

“I think it’s a bit soon to say that all farms should have filtration systems installed for their wells,” she said, “but this study does provide at least preliminary evidence that well water in places with unconventional natural gas development can see increased levels of PAHs.”

A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau told EHN the organization hasn’t yet had time to fully review the study, but noted that “animal health is among the top priorities for Pennsylvania farmers, and scientific research plays a critical role in helping farmers develop practices to best care for their animals and understand factors that may affect their animals’ health.”

Mullen said she believes the study adds to the growing body of literature linking fracking to problems with human fetal development.

“Horses are often sentinels of health risks to humans,” she said. “Right now we can only speculate that what we saw in these foals also translates to human health risk, but the implications are certainly worrisome.”

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See also: We’re just starting to learn how fracking harms wildlife, Tara Lohan, The Revelator, October 3, 2019

The cumulative footprint of a single new well can be as large as 30 acres. In places where hundreds or thousands of wells spring up across a landscape, it’s easy to imagine the toll on wildlife — and even cases with ecosystem-wide implications.

“Studies show that there are multiple pathways to wildlife being harmed,” says ecologist Sandra Steingraber, a distinguished scholar in residence at Ithaca College who has worked for a decade compiling research on the health effects of fracking. “Biodiversity is a determinant of public health — without these wild animals doing ecosystem services for us, we can’t survive.”

Fusion epoxy facility for coating steel pipe in Duquesne, PA

From an Article by TOM DAVIDSON, Pittsburgh Tribune – Review, July 10, 2019

A Mercer man who had portions of both legs amputated six years ago after they were crushed in a Christmas Eve accident at a Duquesne pipe yard will receive a nearly $10.6 million settlement, attorneys announced Wednesday.

Robert R. Ryder, 59, was a truck driver dropping off a load of eight, 42-foot-long steel pipe on Dec. 24, 2013, at the Dura-Bond Coating Inc. pipe yard in Duquesne when one of them rolled off the truck as a Dura-Bond employee was unloading them.

The pipe weighed 5,000 pounds and pinned his legs, according to the lawsuit Ryder filed in Allegheny County court. In the lawsuit, Ryder claimed Dura-Bond failed to properly inspect the cargo and secure the load after receiving it.

“This was not his fault,” said one of Ryder’s attorneys, Dominic Guerrini of Philadelphia-based Kline & Specter. Guerrini accused Dura-Bond employees of making mistakes that caused and compounded his injuries.

“This settlement demonstrates that rigorous workplace safety policies and practices are not optional,” Guerrini said.

Ryder had been a truck driver for 25 years and was working for Yourga Trucking Inc., a Mercer County-based company that hauls steel and pipe across the region. Ryder had been hauling the load from Camden, N.J., to the Dura-Bond yard in Duquesne.

The load wasn’t inspected when Ryder arrived, according to the lawsuit. Had it been, the problem with the load — it was off-center — would have been discovered, the lawsuit alleged. Instead, Ryder was allowed to stand next to his truck while it was unloaded, and his legs were crushed when one of the pipe fell, according to the lawsuit.

Ryder hasn’t been able to work since the accident. The eight-figure settlement reflects the severity of Ryder’s injuries and how it’s impacted his life, Guerrini said.

Dura-Bond Coating Inc. is based in Export and has locations in Duquesne, McKeesport and Steelton. It produces pipe used in oil and gas industry, particularly in the Marcellus shale region.