PA Our Drinking Water Matters WV

Consol Energy subsidiary agrees to settlement over water usage

From an Article by Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 17, 2015

Marcellus Shale gas well developer, CNX Gas Co. LLC, has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle state violations alleging it exceeded its water withdrawal limits from a reservoir in north Franklin, Washington County, on multiple occasions from 2011 through 2014.

The settlement agreement was announced Thursday by the Pennsylvania Department of environmental Protection, which will receive $345,750, and the state Fish and Boat Commission, which will get $105,000.

According to the DEP news release, CNX, a subsidiary of Consol Energy Inc., violated its state water withdrawal permit on 43 days between October 2011 and june 2013. And on 164 days between October 2013 and December 2014, CNX withdrew water from the reservoir despite limiting restrictions set by the Fish and Boat Commission.

Those illegal withdrawals resulted in, “low water levels in the reservoir, drying out of the shallow shoreline areas and the surrounding forested wetlands,” the release said.

“Protecting the waters of the Commonwealth is a core function of both DEP and the PFBC and this agreement underscores the fact that, together, we take this responsibility very seriously,” said Eric Gustafson, DEP manager for Oil and Gas Operations in the Southwest Oil and Gas District Office. “We expect that operators will follow their water management plans and draw-down permits to the letter.”

CNX drills and hydraulically fractures shale gas wells, each of which can use upwards of 4 million gallons of water.

Fish and Boat Commission Executive Director John Arway said non-compliance with the water withdrawal plans could result in harm to other water users, fish populations and public water supplies.

See..also: www.FrackCheckWV.net and www.Marcellus-Shale.us

Jamie Stover of WBOY News 12 wrote the following story:

Center Point, Doddridge County, June 5, 2012

Residents of Broad Run Road in Doddridge County said their road used to be paved until an oil and gas company came in about three years ago and turned it to gravel. “The drilling companies continued to put limestone overtop of the asphalt and when these large trucks go over it basically turns it into a fine dust,” said Wayne Woods, a 16-year resident of Broad Run Road in Center Point. “Dust comes in so high sometimes that I can’t even see the road,” said Bill Watson, a 12-year resident of Broad Run Road in Center Point.

A little more than a week ago, that dust became an even bigger concern, when a water truck appeared to be dumping a dark and pungent liquid on their road. “The water that was coming out of the truck was black,” Woods said. “Brine or something in it. It was black. In front of my house, and it smelled terrible,” Watson said. “Pretty much as soon as it hit the road you could smell it,” Woods said. Residents said the air reeked of kerosene and other chemicals.

Residents said the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection and Ryan Environmental, hired by Jay Bee Oil & Gas, made it to the scene fairly promptly. Woods and his neighbors said some soil was removed from the sides of the roads, but not all of the soil was removed. He adds that the road has not been treated since the spill.

“Whatever was put on the road is caught up in the dust. Whenever a car, or a water truck goes by it’s going to lift up that dust and everyone on this road is going to be breathing it,” Woods said. He said the DEP and Ryan Environmental took samples, they haven’t been able to get their hands on any test results.

Woods and his wife tested the water themselves soon after the black liquid was poured just feet from their home. It’s not the first time Woods tested liquids coming from those trucks. But it’s the first time his meter got the readings it did. “The conductivity levels were 10 to 12 times what they usually are,” Woods said. Woods said high levels of conductivity indicate the presence of heavy metals, which can be toxic.

A Ryan Environmental representative confirmed that they were hired by Jay Bee Oil & Gas. The Rep tells WBOY 12 News it cleaned up some of the worrisome areas in the ditch lines the weekend the spill occurred, even before testing the soil. That soil was collected for testing but those test results haven’t been analyzed yet. As far as the road, the representative said it took several samples, and the test results are currently being analyzed.

The DEP tells WBOY 12 News that preliminary readings indicate no immediate health dangers, but that it is still waiting for additional test results before determining what may need to be done as far as cleanup. WBOY 12 News asked that the DEP provide those test results when they become available.

Public hearings sponsored by the House members of the legislature’s Select Committee on Marcellus Shale begin this week. You can tell the Legislature in person what you would like to see in a bill regulating natural gas drilling in West Virginia!  The first hearing is this Thursday, July 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium at West Virginia Northern Community College’s B&O Building, 1704 Market St., Wheeling. The second hearing is Monday, July 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Morgantown at the West Virginia University College of Law. The final hearing is Wednesday, July 27 in Clarksburg. The time and location for the Clarksburg meeting have not yet been set.  These public hearings are scheduled to last only 90 minutes, and the amount of time allotted to individual speakers will be allocated according to how many citizens want to speak.

On July 12^th the Governor issued Executive Order 4-11 which outlines several requirements for natural gas companies including but not limited to:  Surface land use that will disturb 3 or more acres must be certified by and constructed in accordance with plans certified by a registered professional engineer.  Companies withdrawing over 210,000 gallons of water a month must file a water management plan with the DEP and adhere to certain specified standards. Before fracking begins, such companies must also provide a list of additives that will be used in the frack fluid, and after fracking is complete, the additives actually used. When using water from a public stream, a company must identify the designated and existing uses of that stream.

However, the Executive Order does not address protection for surface land owners or for road repairs and traffic issues.  Further, the air pollution issues of leaks, vents and uncontrolled releases are not considered. Flares, fires and explosions are not that uncommon.  The Westover (Monongalia County) City Council has tabled their ban on Marcellus drilling as a result of the Executive Order which calls for public notice before drilling takes place within a municipality. Click here to read Executive Order No. 4-11

The WV Legislature did not pass bills in the 60 day Session just completed for the regulation of the new horizontal drilling and hydrofracking of deep shales for natural gas production. So, the acting Governor Tomblin proposes to proceed administratively.  [This would have many shortcomings, according to many of our Senators and Delegates].

 “Unfortunately, the Legislature was unable to agree upon a regulatory approach to drilling in the Marcellus shale. Nevertheless, this issue is too important to West Virginia for me to wait any longer,” Tomblin said. “Therefore, instead of calling a special session, I will be directing DEP Secretary Randy Huffman to use his inherent statutory power and rule-making authority to regulate this industry.

  “In addition to protecting the environment, [predictable and reasonable regulations] is the reason that I will direct DEP Secretary Randy Huffman to utilize his existing statutory authority to promulgate legislative rules addressing Marcellus drilling. I am committed to fostering a climate in which companies will invest capital in West Virginia to develop the Marcellus shale in an environmentally responsible manner.”

This threat from Governor Tomblin to regulate this industry on his own has given rise to much talk by legislators for a “special session” of the legislature to resume consideration of SB 424.  Acting Senate President Jeff Kessler has already spoken out in support of this idea.  The Governor’s Office can be reached by phone at 304-558-2000 and by email at governor@wv.gov.  The members of the Legislature can be reached on www.legis.state.wv.us

This past year there were 433 new drilling permits issued for the Marcellus shale, some 58 were completed; this is a booming industry bringing many trucks with much road wear and road damage, many acres of disturbed land, many noisy days and nights and many tons of emissions. When will our State government face up to these challenges? Are you doing your part to help out?  Come out and join in at the next meeting of the WV/PA Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact set for Wednesday, March 23rd at 1 pm, at the Morgantown Airport Annex.

With a week remaining in the 2011 West Virginia Legislative Session, almost everything dealing with water is still up in the air.  Will there be consideration for the public water supplies, for surface land owners, for the conservation of our watersheds, for the quality of life in West Virginia’s hills?

Regulation of Marcellus Shale drilling  is still alive, but just barely. The Senate has passed and sent to the House SB 424, a greatly pared down version of the bill proposed by the WV Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Putting it on the “special calendar” can keep the issue alive until the end of the session on March 12.

What is still needed in SB 424? Horizontal wells need to be 1000 feet from occupied dwellings and water wells unless a variance is granted. Horizontal wells must be inspected during each phase of cementing, completing and altering before the company can proceed. Produced (blow-back) water must be maintained in a closed system, and recycled to the extent possible before disposal. Studies of radioactivity and air pollution must be conducted. Inspectors must be selected and trained by the WV DEP.

The Water Quality Standards Rule (47CSR2) has now been “bundled” with all the rest of the WV-DEP proposed rules and sent to the House, where restoring the 500 ppm TDS standard will be opposed by the same industry lobbyists who opposed it in the Senate.

You can help by visiting, calling or faxing your representatives in the House of Delegates.

The West Virginia and Pennsylvania Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact is asking state lawmakers to consider legislation regarding water quality. Representatives handed out letters to State legislators this week  in Charleston describing the crisis in the Monongahela watershed and other streams state-wide.

The Compact includes about 50 organizations which share a concern about drinking water quality.  They are asking lawmakers to set a total dissolved solids (TDS) in-stream standard of 500 parts per million as proposed by the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection Agency.

“We’ve come to a crisis in our streams where the TDS has increased to the point that it’s a health hazard. Our drinking water is at stake and if we don’t do something now we’re going to endanger hundreds of thousands of people,” said Duane Nichols, W.Va./Pa/ Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact, according to WBOY television news.

Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is one of the 32 congressional representatives who comprise the bipartisan Natural Gas Caucus.  Capito and her Caucus colleagues signed a Jan. 5th letter to Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar indicating opposition to regulation of the natural gas industry being considered by the Department of the Interior.  One of the arguments in the letter is that the industry is “properly managed and regulated at the state level”.  An analysis of campaign contributions showed that in total the 32 members of this group of reps received $1,742,572 from the gas industry.  Shelley Moore Capito received $49,900 from the gas industry in campaign contributions.

Pro Publica reports that a week later, 46 House Democrats followed up by signing a letter to Salazar urging him to at least adopt the disclosure requirement (for fracking chemicals used in wells on federal lands)because, as Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., said, “communities across America have seen their water contaminated by the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process.”

“The public has a right to know what toxins might be going into the ground near their communities, and what might be leaking into their drinking water,” said the letter, which was sent by the three initial sponsors of now-stalled legislation to regulate fracturing (Frac Act), Hinchey, Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo.

Pro Publica story: Opponents to Fracking Disclosure Take Big Money from Industry