http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20091108/NEWS01/911080372&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
THE ITHACA JOURNAL
November 9, 2009
Natural gas quest: State files show 270 drilling accidents in past 30
years
By Tom Wilber
[email protected]
The state's depiction of a clean, tightly regulated natural gas
industry just got a shot of muck in the eye.
As the debate over the merits of Marcellus Shale development reaches a
crescendo, an Ithaca researcher has culled a list of 270 files
documenting wastewater spills, well contamination, explosions, methane
migration and ecological damage related to gas production in the state
since 1979.
Walter Hang, president of Toxic Targeting, compiled the files using the
Department of Environmental Conservation's own hazard substances spills
database.
Hang runs an environmental research firm that sells data to interested
parties, including engineers, consultants and municipalities. He also
has a background as an environmental advocate, and he relishes the role
as a public watchdog.
"We're students of how you clean this crap up," he said. "That's what
we really care about."
DEC officials responded that the proportion of files relating to the
oil and gas industry is small -- less than 0.1 percent -- of the total
number of spills recorded on the database.
Hang said his company publicly released the list Monday to show
regulation of the state's gas industry is "fundamentally inadequate."
"All we wanted to do is test the fundamental assessment the DEC often
makes: Existing regulations are just fine," he said.
Fracking regulations
By Hang's assessment, they are a long way from fine. Only 60 of the 270
cases were actually caught by DEC regulators. Many were called in by
residents, public safety officials, affected parties or "people who
just stumbled over them," he said.
The complaints are related to traditional wells drilled through the
decades, most of them in the Southern Tier and western New York.
They come to light as the state creates regulations for a new type of
horizontal drilling that would be used to develop the Marcellus, the
largest natural gas reserve in the country, running under the Southern
Tier and throughout the Appalachian Basin. In addition to drilling
horizontally through bedrock, Marcellus production requires a process
called hydraulic fracturing -- pumping millions of gallons of water and
chemical additives into wells under high pressure to fracture the
bedrock and release gas.
The process would produce volumes of waste hundreds or thousands of
times greater than what has been produced from traditional wells.
"I don't have anything against drilling, but we have enough pollution
around here already, and this is going to be drilling on an
unprecedented level," Hang said.
Debate over the merits and drawbacks of drilling has been fierce for
the last 18 months, prompting DEC officials to suspend Marcellus
permitting until it develops regulations for it. A public hearing on
the proposal is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Chenango Valley High
School in the Town of Fenton.
One of the most commonly documented problems is methane migration,
which means natural gas flows from production formations and goes
places where it shouldn't, such as water wells, basements or barns.
In Dimock, Pa., state regulators have ordered Cabot Oil & Gas to
replace 13 water supplies ruined by methane migration near drilling
operations into the Marcellus. One well exploded.
DEC spills data show the problem has a history in New York, even
without the Marcellus.
In Freedom, for example, 12 families were evacuated in 1999 after gas
moved through a fault and surfaced in a neighborhood 1 1/2 miles away,
bubbling up in ponds, ditches, barns, basements and yards. The disaster
was caused by equipment failure on a drill rig, although no fines or
penalties were recommended, according to the file from the DEC's spills
database.
It's one of the 270 cases Hang highlights. Some are more recent.
In 2003, about 100,000 gallons of brine spilled, contaminating Shanada
Creek in Independence after a valve broke, according to the record.
In May of this year, a 300-gallon diesel fuel spilled after an
explosion and fire at a Nornew rig in Lebanon.
Accidents 'rare'
The DEC has determined regulations being crafted for horizontal
drilling and fracking used in Marcellus production would not apply to
traditional wells. Hang, holding the list of problems as Exhibit A,
argues the entire regulatory process needs to be rebuilt from scratch.
"They say their existing regulations are completely adequate, and their
own data clearly shows this isn't true," he said.
In public meetings about drilling on state land in the summer of 2005,
DEC regulators presented slide shows emphasizing how effectively drill
pads and pipelines are reclaimed as lush wildflower-filled fields and
meadows after drilling, characterized as a short-term disturbance.
During public meetings crowded with residents concerned about the
effects of Marcellus Shale production last year, representatives from
the state's Division of Mineral Resources pointed to the industry's
successful history in New York as evidence it was prepared for
Marcellus development
Asked how local emergency responders could prepare for a spill, fire or
explosion without knowing what chemicals are used in the hydraulic
fracturing process, Linda Collart, regional supervisor with the DEC's
Division of Mineral Resources, responded: "We don't anticipate any
significant emergencies. ... These things are rare."
Asked whether the state was ready for an influx of new drilling
activity beyond all historical comparisons, Collart responded: "We have
been doing fine so far. ... No problems."
DEC officials, confronted with Hang's list late last week, stood by
that assessment.
Dennis Farrar, chief of DEC's Emergency Response Spills Unit, said less
than 300 instances out of more than 300,000 shows oil and gas issues
are disproportionately small.
"In the scheme of things, this is not really a problem," Farrar said.
The agency also tracks problems through its Oil and Gas Division, said
Jack Dahl, director for the Bureau of Oil & Gas Regulation. Late last
week, he could not provide the number of complaints that division has
responded to or the outcome.
More than three-quarters of oil and gas problems on the spills database
were caught by somebody other than a DEC staff member, according to
Hang's assessment. That's further evidence the Division of Mineral
Resources -- with about 17 inspectors -- lacks the manpower to oversee
traditional well development, let alone the Marcellus, he said.
As many as 2,000 to 4,000 Marcellus wells could be developed in Broome
County in coming years, according to an economic development report
commissioned by the county.
State regulators say they don't foresee problems.
"The question is, how often do they actively look for problems?" said
Phil Sears of AKRF, a multidisciplinary environmental consulting firm
based in New York City. "Not a whole lot."
Also Ithaca Journal Viewpoint
November 6, 2009
Farm owners should voice drilling concerns
http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20091106/VIEWPOINTS02/911060301/1129/viewpoints/Farm+owners+should+voice+drilling+concerns
By Tina Wright
Don Barber, Town of Caroline supervisor, has stated that upcoming gas
drilling in the Southern Tier is the biggest thing in this region since
people cleared trees off the land and started farming. Where are the
farmers' voices on this issue? Very few members of the agricultural
community have expressed public concerns about the future
industrialization of our rural landscape. In my opinion, hydro-fracking
technology and horizontal drilling for natural gas will create
sacrifice areas not compatible with agriculture. Farm land is at great
risk. Risk to our water is even greater.
I was raised on a dairy farm in southern Cayuga County and have worked
in agriculture most of my life. In modern times, the farming community
has asked for right-to-farm laws and appreciation for the open space
and green space farming provides. We have pushed for farmland
preservation. Now that energy companies have offered many farming
landowners big money, is our commitment to stewardship of the land just
talk?
The New York Farm Bureau never saw a gas well it didn't like. It did
not oppose last summer's rewriting of gas drilling regulations when our
state Legislature dropped gas well spacing distances from 640 acres to
40 acres, a drastic change for agriculture. This was done quickly and
with no public debate. Look south to Pennsylvania. Where the Marcellus
Shale is drilled, some farms in Pennsylvania look butchered.
I appreciate farmers who have spoken up on all sides of the issue.
Chemung County Farm Bureau president Asher Terwilliger supports
drilling but has cautioned landowners and the general public to get the
best deal possible with safeguards. Many town and county leaders
working tirelessly on this issue are farmers or from farming
backgrounds like Caroline's Barber. But most farmers are quiet about
the gas rush future of upstate agriculture. I would love to hear from
some of the farmers with large dairies. I have worked and helped manage
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation-sized dairies, and some of these
farmers are the best. I can't think of a worse nightmare than waking up
and finding that the water for your 400 cows is no good because of gas
mining.
Organic farmers and young farmers need to speak out, too, about the
legacy we leave the next generation. The farming community and
supporters can work through groups other than the Farm Bureau. NOFA-NY,
the organic farmers' association, has a nice statement about gas
drilling on its Web site, but it's time for action.
Cornell Cooperative Extension should do more on gas drilling's effects
on agriculture, rather than just helping land owners sign good leases.
Farmers and environmentalists have formed coalitions out West after gas
extraction companies ruined land and water. Why don't we do that here
before it happens?
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