SGEIS Community Impacts

September 17, 2011

SGEIS Community Impacts.

Filed under DEC, Economics, Local Control Tagged with , , , , ,

Science Lags As Health Problems Emerge Near Gas Fields – ProPublica

September 16, 2011

Science Lags As Health Problems Emerge Near Gas Fields – ProPublica.

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Have frackers pushed their luck too far? | The Oil and the Glory

September 16, 2011

Have frackers pushed their luck too far? | The Oil and the Glory.

Filed under Environment, Water Tagged with , ,

Aggressive upstate land grab sets up taxpayers for fracking fall-out

September 15, 2011

Aggressive upstate land grab sets up taxpayers for fracking fall-out.

Filed under Economics, Leasing Issues Tagged with , , , , ,

Shale Gas Industry Insider: We Are Losing the Messaging War on Fracking – Natural Gas Watch.org

September 13, 2011

Shale Gas Industry Insider: We Are Losing the Messaging War on Fracking – Natural Gas Watch.org.

Filed under Industry claims Tagged with ,

Rendell assails drillers over lack of taxation

September 11, 2011

Rendell assails drillers over lack of taxation.

Filed under Economics, Environment, Industry claims, Official Actions--Legislation, judgments,regulation Tagged with , ,

Pennsylvania Groups Express Concerns over Fracking Fluids in Flood Water

September 9, 2011 2 Comments

For Immediate Release
September 9, 2011
Contact:
Jeff Schmidt, Sierra Club – Pennsylvania Chapter, 717-602-5431
Tracy Carluccio, Delaware River Network, 215-692-2329

 

Pennsylvania Groups Express Concerns over Fracking Fluids in Flood Water
Demand Disclosure of Chemicals and Number of Well Pads in Floodplains

Harrisburg, PA—As tropical storm Lee continues to dump massive amounts of rain throughout Pennsylvania, concerns are growing over natural gas drilling pits overflowing and spilling their toxic contents into flooded creeks, streams and rivers.  There are no currently safeguards in place by the State of Pennsylvania to prevent natural gas drilling and the placing of open pits containing toxic fracking fluids in flood plains.  The groups call on the DEP to immediately disclose to the public and emergency response professionals how many wells are located within the floodplain, how many may have potentially leaked into our waterways, and what types of chemicals residents and emergency responders may have come in contact with.

Pennsylvania Environmental groups released the following statements in reaction to the heavy rainfall and potential for contaminated flood regions:

“Given the significant flooding over the past several days, there is much concern over how many well pads, open pits and chemical storage tank fields have been inundated with toxic chemicals washing into our waterways and flooded communities,” states Jeff Schmidt, Director with the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter.  “It is imperative that the PA DEP not allow natural gas wells and infrastructure to be located in floodplains.”

“The human devastation experienced by flooding is largely the result of bad decision making – building in the wrong place and the wrong way,”  said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper.  “Because we have once again put the priorities of industry above the health, safety and protection of people, which includes protecting the environment that feeds and sustains them.  We have created a catastrophic situation – and the damage we see here will far surpass what we are able to see with our eyes, the chemical slurry of the drillers will spread its poison, becoming an insidious and unseen threat that will cause sickness and harm for years to come.”

“We can only assume that the runoff from gas well sites during this terrible flooding is a toxic flood,” said Tracy Carluccio, Deputy Director of DRN.  “PA should shut down all drilling now and must immediately revise its regulations to prohibit any gas well development within the floodplains adjacent riparian areas, for the sake of public health and safety.”

B. Arrindell, Director of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, said, “We have verified that there is a spreading oil slick in the Wyalusing area along the flooding Susquehanna River.  This is indicative of not just oils, but also all the chemicals being used and released materials brought to the surface by the drilling that are now being spread everywhere the flood waters travel.  This has profound ongoing health implications for everyone living, working, farming or visiting the area.  Pennsylvanians are being denied their constitutional right to a clean environment”

“While the industry mouths rhetoric about ‘safe and responsible’ drilling, they do the absolute opposite in fact, storing hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic flowback fluid in open frack pits, now flowing into floodwaters,” said Iris Marie Bloom, director of Protecting Our Waters. “Fracking fluid chemicals, and even worse, the radioactive materials, arsenic and other deadly contaminants brought up from the deep shale, should never come into contact with air, water or earth.  But here they are flowing with flood waters irreversibly into our ecosystem.  This is a public health disaster in the making.  Not one more fracking permit should be issued.  All open frack pits must be permanently abolished and life-cycle cumulative impact studies done.”

Nature Abounds President Melinda Hughes-Wert commented on the situation, “Prior to the epic flooding, we already knew that toxic water from the wells was seeping into our waterways through inefficient containment ponds placed in mountainous topography. Now with the epic flooding, we have even more toxic chemicals in our ground and surface waters. This is truly a significant problem for the commonwealth and it should be addressed by our officials with urgency. Anything less, is an insult to the intelligence of the citizens of Pennsylvania.”

“The devastating flooding occurring in Pennsylvania is just another chilling reminder that we are all downstream of poorly regulated, poorly understood, and inherently dangerous natural gas drilling operations. Natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania needs to stop,” said Karen Feridun, Founder of Berks Gas Truth.

# # #

—
Jason Pitt

Associate Press Secretary – Natural Gas Reform Campaign
Sierra Club
50 F Street NW, Eighth Floor
Washington, DC 20001
Direct: 202-675-6272

— .

Filed under Environment, Spills-Accidents-Suits Tagged with , ,

Lawmaker’s sign cracks decorum at Obama job speech

September 9, 2011

WASHINGTON – Rep. Jeff Landry knew not to yell at President Barack Obama during his jobs address Thursday night to Congress.

via Lawmaker’s sign cracks decorum at Obama job speech.

Filed under Economics Tagged with , , , ,

Report for the Delaware River Basin Commission Consolidated Administrative Hearing on Grandfathered Exploration Wells To Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability Prepared by Paul A. Rubin HydroQuest November 15, 2010 1) On

September 8, 2011

Rubin-Report_R1.pdf (application/pdf Object).

Report for the Delaware River Basin Commission Consolidated Administrative Hearing on
Grandfathered Exploration Wells
To
Delaware Riverkeeper Network
and
Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
Prepared by
Paul A. Rubin
HydroQuest
November 15, 2010

Filed under Geology, Water Tagged with , , ,

Revised Draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (September 2011)

September 7, 2011

Revised Draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (September 2011)

Well Permit Issuance for Horizontal Drilling and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing in the Marcellus Shale and Other Low-Permeability Gas Reservoirs

DEC received more than 13,000 public comments on the Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) issued in September 2009. The Draft SGEIS addresses permit conditions required for gas drilling in Marcellus Shale and other areas of the State.

In response to issues raised, DEC has prepared a Revised Draft SGEIS. As of September 7, the document is available for public review. To help those interested in understanding the issues involving horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing, several fact sheets are also available.

2011 Document Availability

The individual chapters of the Revised Draft SGEIS (September 2011) can be viewed as PDFs (see below). The full 2011 Revised Draft SGEIS document (PDF) (46 Mb) is available as a single PDF file. Although it is a very large file, it is downloadable and searchable.

Please note: Some of these are very large documents. Only print them if you really need to, and only those sections that you need. Double side all printing and copying jobs. For every ton of office paper use avoided, greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by more than 8 metric tons.

2011 Revised Draft SGEIS Chapters

Table of contents (PDF) (2.7 Mb)

Executive Summary (PDF) (805 kb)

  1. Introduction (PDF) (575 kb)
  2. Description of Proposed Action
  3. Proposed SEQRA Review Process (PDF) (996 kb)
  4. Geology (PDF) (4.2 Mb)
  5. Natural Gas Development Activities and High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing (PDF) (5.2 Mb)
  6. Potential Environmental Impacts
  7. Mitigation Measures (PDF) (2.8 Mb)
  8. Permit Process and Regulatory Coordination (PDF) (1.4 Mb)
  9. Alternative Actions (PDF) (990 kb)
  10. Review of Selected Non-Routine Incidents in Pennsylvania (PDF) (498 kb)
  11. Summary of Potential Impacts and Mitigation Measures (PDF) (711 kb)

Glossary and Bibliographies (PDF) (1.7 Mb)

Appendices 1 through 14 (PDF) (3.0 Mb)

Appendix 15 (PDF) (6.8 Mb)

Appendices 16 though 27 (PDF) (4.5 Mb)

Socio-economic Impact Analysis Report, Ecology and Environment, P.C. (E & E)

Ecology and Environment Engineering, P.C. prepared the Socio-economic Impact Analysis as a technical consulting report in support of the revised draft SGEIS. The Socio-economic Impact Analysis (PDF) (4.0 Mb) is available for download as a single PDF file

Public Comment Period

Written comments will be accepted through the close of business December 12, 2011 by two methods only:

  • Electronic submission using a web-based comment form available on DEC’s website (preferred method); or
  • Paper submission mailed or delivered to: Attn: dSGEIS Comments, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway,Albany, NY 12233-6510. Please include the name, address, and affiliation (if any) of the commenter. Paper submissions also will be accepted at the public hearings listed below.

Due to the expected volume, comments that are faxed, telephoned, or emailed to the DEC will not be accepted for the official record. This is to ensure that all comments are captured properly and can be included during the review process. Please use DEC’s web-based comment form to provide your input.

Public Hearings

DEC plans to hold four public hearings during the comment period for the SGEIS and regulations in November. The meetings will be held in counties in the Marcellus Shale area, as well as New York City. Dates and locations will be announced shortly.

Supplemental Documents

Press Conference Webcast

DEC Commissioner Joe Martens held a press conference on July 1, 2011 to explain the preliminary revised draft SGEIS. A webcast is available for viewing. (Leaving DEC’s website)

Assistance

For further information or assistance with these documents, please contact the DEC’s Bureau of Public Outreach by email at public@gw.dec.state.ny.us or by calling 518-402-8044.

More about Revised Draft SGEIS on the Oil, Gas and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (September 2011):

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