Proximity of drilling, fracking, seismic surveys of concern

From an Article by Dillon Carr, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, October 13, 2017

Monroeville council has approved an ordinance that limits Marcellus shale drilling to heavy industrial zones.

The ordinance was spurred by residents’ concerns that seismic testing planned by a Monroeville oil and gas exploration company would lead to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the area.

Resident and founder of the anti-fracking Sustainable Monroeville advocacy group, Elisa Beck, called the vote a step in the right direction. “We’re all paying attention to make sure we’re protected to maintain fresh and clean water,” she said.

Huntley and Huntley, the company having seismic testing done throughout the region, has said it has no plans for gas wells in Monroeville.

But resident David Mintz, who has expressed support for the zoning amendment, remains uneasy about the possibility of fracking in the municipality. “There’s a lot of residents who live near the industrial area,” he said during a recent council meeting.

Mintz also asked whether the municipality could ban fracking. “We have to allow that activity take place somewhere,” Solicitor Robert Wratcher said. “The trick is in trying to minimize it … we can’t just have a blanket prohibition.”

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Fracking Surveyor Hauls Obstinate Town to Court

From an Article by Lana Morelli, Courthouse News, October 13, 2017

PITTSBURGH (CN) – Saying the small city of Monroeville, Pennsylvania, is hurting its business with strict regulations, fracking surveyor Geokinetics asked a federal judge to intervene.

Just east of Pittsburgh, Monroeville became the area’s third community to regulate seismic testing with a unanimous vote last month by the city council.

In its October 11th complaint filed in the Western District of Pennsylvania, Geokinetics scoffs at the notion that lawmakers had a valid reason for their interference.

“Upon information and belief, Monroeville’s intransigence is not motivated by any legitimate concerns for the health and safety of its citizens but rather by its council’s concerns about November elections,” the complaint states, filed by Steptoe & Johnson attorney Kevin Gormly.

Otherwise known as hydraulic fracturing, the process of injecting high-pressure mixtures of chemicals into the earth to extract oil and gas from rock was once widely embraced by communities on the gas-rich Marcellus Shale. In recent years, however, pressure from environmental groups and science connecting fracking to earthquakes has shifted the tides.

Monroeville has not returned a request for comment on the complaint, which paints Geokinetics as an innocent victim caught in political crossfire.

“At issue is solely Geokinetics’ need to collect data using Monroeville roads and rights-of-way through use of vibroseis vehicles, which PennDOT has determined to be safe, and temporary placement of receivers,” the complaint states. “No opening of the surface of the roads is necessary. Geokinetics is willing to post a bond and hold Monroeville harmless against any claims.”

Geokinetics is one of the world’s largest independent land and seafloor geophysical companies, specializing in acquiring and processing seismic data. It set its sights on Monroeville this year as part of a 191-square-mile project with the oil company Huntley & Huntley Exploration involving Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.

While seismic testing can require the “drilling of shot holes on parcels of land,” according to the complaint, it principally involves the use of sound waves to map rock layers underground.

Geokinetics emphasizes that the minor shock waves caused by its Pennsylvania Department of Transportation-approved vibroseis trucks “virtually preclud[e] damage to the highways,” the complaint states.

Monroeville had no ordinance in place regarding seismic testing, Geokinetics notes, when it first requested permission to use the city’s roads for its survey. Aiming to complete its survey by February 2018, Geokinetics says it has no option but to get an injunction.

Penna. Supreme Court

PA Supreme Court strikes down major portions of shale-drilling law

Article by Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 12/20/2013

Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared major provisions of the state’s Marcellus Shale drilling law, Act 13, unconstitutional Thursday, including one that allows gas companies to drill anywhere, overriding local zoning laws.

The court’s decision, on a 4-2 vote, also sent back to Commonwealth Court for review and disposition challenges by a physician to the Act 13 provisions that would have prevented doctors from telling patients about health impacts related to shale gas development, and a constitutional challenge that the law benefits a single industry.

Voting in the majority, which held that “several challenged provisions of Act 13 are unconstitutional,” were Chief Justice Ronald Castille, and Justices Debra McCloskey Todd, Seamus McCaffery and Max Baer. Justices Thomas Saylor and J. Michael Eakin filed dissenting opinions.

Deron Gabriel, commission president in South Fayette, the only Allegheny County municipality to challenge the shale gas law passed in 2012, said the decision validating municipalities’ zoning rights was a victory for all residents of the county and the state.

“Preserving zoning is vital to local planning efforts, in order to keep industrial activity out of residential and commercial areas,” Mr. Gabriel said. “Now we can keep industrial activities away from our school and residences, and there’s been more and more of a push by the industry to locate closer to the residential areas.”

“We got the major thrust of what we were looking for. The drill-everywhere provision was declared unconstitutional and that part of the law was permanently enjoined,” said John Smith, the lead attorney representing South Fayette and the other municipalities that brought the case.

In addition to South Fayette, the municipal plaintiffs included Peters, Mount Pleasant and Robinson townships in Washington County, and Nockamixon and Yardley in Bucks County in Eastern Pennsylvania.

In affirming the municipalities’ standing to bring the Act 13 challenge, which was challenged by the state’s attorneys, Chief Justice Castille wrote in the 162-page majority decision that “[t]he protection of environmental and esthetic interests is an essential aspect of Pennsylvanians’ quality of life and a key part of local government’s role.”

The decision also notes “how remarkable a revolution is worked by this legislation (Act 13) upon the existing zoning regimen in Pennsylvania, including residential zones,” and it questions whether the General Assembly can pass laws inconsistent with the constitutional mandate to protect the environment.

“By any responsible account,” Chief Justice Castille wrote, “the exploitation of the Marcellus Shale Formation will produce a detrimental effect on the environment, on the people, their children, and the future generations, and potentially on the public purse, perhaps rivaling the environmental effects of coal extraction.”

He goes on to say that although the state’s regulatory powers are broad, they are “limited by constitutional demands, including the Environmental Rights Amendment.”

The decision sent shock waves through the shale gas industry, which had sought legislation guaranteeing uniform statewide land use rules, and the Corbett administration and legislators who had championed passage of the oil and gas law changes.

Gov. Tom Corbett, who had supported and signed the legislation into law in February 2012, issued a statement saying he was disappointed by the decision. He maintained that Act 13 improved environmental protections while respecting local government rights.

“I will continue to work with members of the House and Senate to ensure that Pennsylvania’s thriving energy industry grows and provides jobs while balancing the interests of local communities,” Mr. Corbett said.

Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, an outspoken opponent of Act 13, hailed the ruling as an affirmation of the state constitution’s guarantee of “clean air and clean water” and the self-governance rights of local communities.

He said “a clear message has been sent to Gov. Corbett and his friends in the energy industry: Our fundamental constitutional principles cannot be auctioned off to wealthy special interests in exchange for campaign dollars. On this day, David has defeated Goliath.”

 Adam Garber, field director with PennEnvironment, a statewide environmental advocacy organization, said the court’s decision shows that the state constitution’s environmental rights provisions have “serious teeth.”

“The Legislature made a huge overreach in trying to take over regulation of gas drilling from local municipalities,” Mr. Garber said. “The court said there are serious health and environmental impacts from gas drilling that the Legislature did not address and that local communities ought to.”

Groundswell protest

Commentary by S. Tom Bond of Lewis County, WV

Many areas now have moratoria or bans on shale drilling and / or hydraulic fracturing as presently conducted. The latest is Longmont, Colorado. Its city charter now bans the practice. Some 60% of the votes on Ballot Question 300 were against drilling and storage of drilling waste in the city. The population of Longmont was 86,270 as of the most recent census, the 13th largest city in Colorado.

The oil and gas industry fought the ban hard, giving half a million dollars to an opposing group. Last year a drilling company began to drill near Union Reservoir where people can enjoy fishing, swimming, no-wake boating, camping, windsurfing and picnicking. There has been a great deal of shale drilling in Colorado, and despite low population density, its effects are well known.

Those interested in more information are referred here.

And, for background information and current news see here.

Readers of FrackCheckWV.net are knowledgeable about many of political areas which have rejected drilling, at least for a time. Here is a partial list: New York State; Maryland; Vermont; Delaware River Basin; Catskill water supply region for New York City; Quebec (Canada); New South Wales (Australia);
France; Bulgaria; South Africa

Some other places where there is a strong anti-fracking movement: Illinois; California; Ohio (including Columbus); Nova Scotia (Canada) and New Brunswick (Canada).

FrackCheckWV.net does not oppose natural gas drilling per se. But, it is clear that many serious issue exist that are not receiving appropriate attention by the industry, by state governments, nor by the federal government. There are health problems due to air and water pollution, destruction of aquifers, threat to drinking water supply, destruction of wildlife and domestic animals, depreciation of property values, and such other values as hunting and fishing, recreation and quiet enjoyment of life.

The general environment should be protected. Public lands should be off limits for degradation. The public is catching on.

Everywhere shale drilling goes opposition occurs spontaneously, due to the same constellation of problems. Some of the groups formed are highly specialized. Chefs, wineries, some religious groups, organic farmers, fishermen, outdoor recreation enthusiasts, physicians, among others. Some are older environmental groups moving in a new direction. Where ever the population is most dense and best educated, the reaction is strongest.

Lawyers are very interested in these problems, too. Some are interested in helping get appropriate laws passed, like the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). Some are interested in helping landowners, like Clark Law Firm. Some go for the big bucks. Shale drilling is a veritable feast for lawyers, on both sides.

The shale beds are believed to be the original source of gas and oil above them in the geological strata. Although the resource is large, it is not unlimited. Any kind of conservation for the future is un-thought-of. Resource recovery is only 10%, one of, perhaps the lowest of any petroleum recovery. There is no coordination of companies. It is “every man (corporation?) for himself, devil take the hindmost.”

Then there’s Global Warming. There is no sign of any substantial effort to get away from burning carbon as the principal source of energy by any industry or nation (except, perhaps Germany, the leader in solar). Gas burns cleaner, as the industry constantly reminds us, but the effect of escaped gas and the pollution at the source they ignore. All forms of carbon burning pollute at both ends, extraction and consumption.

We need rational policy and real regulation of extraction industries. We need a political agenda that works for the public, not the energy magnates. We need a world where our children and our children’s children can survive and enjoy a good life. If the industry can’t perform, regulation must come from somewhere. Whether you like it or not, government seems to be the only alternative.

Pennsylvania Marcellus Region

Commentary by S. Tom Bond,  Lewis County, WV

Republican Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, has characterized persons criticizing shale drilling as “unreasoning opposition,” according to an article  in the Canon McMillan Patch. Coreitt, who has managed to “tic off” about everybody outside the shale drilling industry and its minions, from the American Planning Association to the public health industry for his Act 13 excesses, as well as industries producing renewable energy, environmentalists, and a large number of ordinary citizens who have to bear the decline in property values and destruction of their surroundings and health. The governor even wants universities to drill on their grounds to “help solve their financial problems.”

Shale drilling is big industry, not concentrated, but with the potential to spread over 100,000 square miles of Appalachia and hundreds of thousands more in other areas. It consumes vast quantities of refined petroleum products, tens of thousands of tons of steel and a wide assortment of industrial chemicals, which are used in vast quantities. Each square mile of shale will be touched, if the industry has its way. Parks, airports, national forests, cities and towns, rivers and lakes, homes and all other industry in the area, will have on every square mile four to six acre pads filled with 18 inches of stone, a miniature brownfield and something like military free fire zones along the pipelines and access roads.

The fact is that Gov. Corbett has a pathological aversion to evidence. His world is determined by claims of the shale drilling industry such as: We don’t destroy water. We don’t make anyone sick. Of course our balance sheet doesn’t show costs to the public – there are none. And so on. Considering the amount of money investors have put into shale drilling and the acute sensitivity of investors to adverse news, what else could the industry say? Look at what happened to Chesapeake as a result of Aubrey McClendon’s financial antics when they became public.

If the governor wanted evidence he’d send people out to talk to victims. Of course, his campaign donations from the industry stand in the way. Just as campaign donations stand in the way of fact-finding in other states.

The ground under the Shale drilling industry is shifting, though. The public health industry has a strong moral backbone. They are gearing up to go for data in spite of Act 13. There are suits all over the place. Google “shale drilling suit” and there are pages of articles on the subject. Along with the Shale industry advertisements, of course, top and bottom of the page. One of the most interesting is against OSHA by Petro-Hunt.  It is clear the industry risks it employees in many ways, just as it does residents by such things as inordinately long hours, silica dust, breathing vapors, for example.

Several newspapers now have special shale drilling sections. One of the most comprehensive is here.  Publications by opponents are increasing in number and sophistication. An organization called Host Farms exists to invite and encourage researchers interested in measuring the parameters in question. There was a worldwide protest against shale drilling Saturday, September 22.

In New York’s Finger Lakes region, Inergy Corporation plans to build a LPG storage facility in caverns formed from mining salt. The community is uniting against the plan. Businesses including Tourism,Vineyards and Wineries. Watkins Glen businesses (which are close enough to be affected by catastrophic fires), are lining up against it. Nothing so complete has been faced by the industry before.

And moratoria are being declared in many jurisdictions. The most recent is Quebec. “On her way into her first cabinet meeting Thursday morning, Natural Resources Minister Martine Ouellet told reporters she does not believe natural gas can ever be safely extracted from shale rock. She vowed to impose a complete moratorium on the industry until a new and more complete environmental assessment by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) is completed.”

So, Gov. Corbett, there are good reasons. You can’t see them because your eyes are closed. And your mind, too. If you don’t open them the world will pass you by.

>>> S. Tom Bond, is farming 500 acres in Lewis County in central West Virginia.  He has a Ph.D. in chemistry and has taught chemistry at the high school and college level.  He is active in the Guardians of the West Fork and the Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact <<<