Citizen Empowerment Training: Marcellus Shale Overview

PennEnvironmentwww.PennEnvironment.org

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/oilgas/images/Marcellus%20Shale%20Formation.jpg

64% of PA is underlain by Marcellus Shale. As of October 2011 more than 8,400 drilling permits have been issued and nearly 4,000 wells Marcellus wells have been drilled.

Environmental and Public Health Concerns

Chemical & wastewater leaks and accidents

Threatening drinking water Endangering public and private lands Harmful air pollution Water use

Chemicals and wastewater leaks

PA DEP lists 85 hydraulic fracturing components

Wastewater returns to surface over lifetime of the well.

Drilling wastewater often stored in open-air pits before transported to treatment facility.

Photo Credit: Jenne TurnerTioga State Forest

Frack fluid pill at Dimock gas well

Threatening drinking water Leaks and spills can

also threaten nearby drinking water sources.

Drilling allowed to occur as close as 100 feet from rivers and streams in PA and 200 feet from private water wells.

Several cases where private water wells contaminated or depleted soon after drilling begins (faulty casing, human error).

Beaver Run Reservoir

Endangering public lands As of May 2011,

companies had leased appr. 7 million acres of public & private land (1/4 state land mass).

Each drilling pad takes up an estimated 8 acres, including access roads, infrastructure

40 percent PA’s state forest that sit on top of Marcellus Shale have been leased to drilling companies – parks next?

Loyalsock State Forest

Degrading Air Quality At various phases of

extraction, invisible but harmful emissions can leak. Smog-forming Volatile

Organic Compounds (VOC);

Air toxics (benzene, ethylbenzene

Methane (Potent greenhouse gas)

Air is also the primary pathway of concern for fracturing chemicals in contaminated water (shower, cooking food).

Excessive water use

Each well requires 2 to 6 million gallons of water for the process

Gas companies look to local waterways to access water

Many waterways cannot handle these excessive withdrawals

Despite increased water re-use, fresh water still needed Matthewbartholemew under license from Shutterstock.com

PennEnvironment’s recommendations

Strengthen clean water laws

Setting water withdrawal limits and reporting requirements on wastewater disposal

Expanding the protective buffer zone around streams and drinking water supplies

Place pristine places off limitsPennEnvironment supports:

Designating pristine places off limits for natural gas drilling

Designating a safe distance between drilling activities and these places

Halting all new natural gas drilling leases in public lands (state forests, state parks).

Matt Dylan under license from Shutterstock.com

Improve public right to know

Requiring natural gas companies to report the specific types and volumes of the chemicals used at each well.

Requiring companies to report withdrawals from Pennsylvania’s waterways.

Photo Credit: Robert Donnan

Increase public participation

Requiring a public comment process for decisions being made about large tracts of state land.

Improving Pennsylvania’s property rights and land use laws.

Granting more rights to surface owners. NicholasT under license for Shutterstock.com

Improve tools for Pennsylvania’s regulators

Increasing capacity and funding for DEP’s permitting department and enforcement staff.

Increasing DEP’s time period for reviewing permits .

Allowing state health and environment officials to provide input on applications for operations that could affect public health or wildlife habitat.

Bob Donnan

Ensuring industries pay for damages

Levying extraction fees on gas drillers for the valuable resources they remove form underneath Pennsylvania.

Requiring drilling companies to pay for environmental and public health problems they create.

Requiring natural gas companies to pay the entire cost of reclaiming wells.

Photo Credit: Wetzel County Action Group

Opportunities for Action

U.S. EPA: Air rules on oil and gas sector to reduce smog-forming pollutants, air toxics and methane

Delaware River Basin Commission: Likely to allow drilling in river basin soon: October 21 decision.

Susquehanna River Basin Commission: Fast-tracking of Marcellus Shale projects