Responsible Drilling Alliance
Seeking truth about the consequences of shale gas development   
RDA e-Newsletter September 2012 v.2     

In This Issue
RDA Files Complaint Against Penn State With Middle States
RDA's Letter To DCNR Secretary Richard Allan
New Report Questions PA Environmental Chief's Assertion About Methane Contamination
Hundreds Come To Keep It Wild
Clinton County Commissioners Unanimously Reject Zoning Amendment
Support RDA's Efforts
RDA Files Complaint Against  
Pennsylvania State University With Middle States Commission On Higher Education 

The Responsible Drilling Alliance, a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, has filed a complaint against Pennsylvania State University. We are asking the Middle States Commission on Higher Education to consider this complaint in the context of the accreditation review of Penn State currently underway.  Like the issue that caused Middle States to begin its current investigation of Penn State, this complaint centers on unethical practices and an abuse of public trust by the university.
 
Penn State published three papers commissioned and paid for by the shale gas industry as independent research reports. They contained a host of highly exaggerated predictions on jobs, economic development, and tax revenues. These papers profoundly influenced the legislative debate in Pennsylvania in favor of the gas industry and to the detriment of the commonwealth.
 
Contact person:  
Jon Bogle
201 East Third Street
Williamsport, PA 17701         
 
 
Additional information and supporting documents:        

Letters exchanged between RDA and Penn State in 2010: 

 

Open Letter to Penn State President 

 

Penn State's Response to RDA 

 
RDA's Letter To DCNR Secretary Richard Allan

Dear Secretary Allan:

Recent seismic testing in the Loyalsock State Forest suggests that the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources ("DCNR") is planning to authorize natural gas development in parts of the Forest where, although the oil and gas rights are in private
ownership, DCNR has exclusive control of the surface. We, the undersigned conservation
and recreation organizations, respectfully request that DCNR afford the public a meaningful
opportunity to participate in DCNR's decision-making concerning gas development in this
unique public resource. Before making any final development decisions, DCNR should publish all of its environmental impact studies on such development; hold one or more public meetings on development alternatives; and solicit public comment on any proposed agreements with exploration and production companies. As interpreted in a 1989 Commonwealth Court decision, Clarence Moore v. Department of Environmental Resources,
566 A.2d 906 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1989), the deed that gives DCNR surface ownership of more than 25,000 acres of the Loyalsock State Forest also gives DCNR an extraordinary degree of
control over the use of most of that acreage.  DCNR is legally obligated to exercise this extraordinary control in the best interests of the public.  To ascertain those interests, DCNR should engage the public while it considers options for managing the exceptional areas at stake.

Continue reading...
New Report Questions
PA Environmental Chief's Assertion
About Methane Contamination

On May 19, 2012, a faulty Chesapeake gas well in Leroy Township caused methane levels in nearby drinking water wells to spike. Although the drilling company and DEP claim "the situation is for the most part over," a new report has found that the situation is ongoing, with no end in sight.

Clean Air Council and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability funded a survey by Gas Safety, Inc. to study methane emissions in the Leroy Township area of Bradford County. The study found that:

...substantial surface emissions of likely 100% methane over an area at least 600 meters by 200 meters, and at least two substantial methane plumes in the air [were confirmed in the Leroy Township area].  The data suggests methane is entering the local fault/fracture system at a considerable depth and traveling laterally apparently thousands of meters before reaching the surface or a residential water well.

Full report available through Damascus Citizens for Sustainability and Clean Air Council.


Note from RDA:


Whether this is a localized phenomenon due to the geology of this region or a consequence of heavily concentrated drilling and fracturing in a
ny area is a big question. This is only 13 miles or so from Rock Run and Old Loggers path, so geologically it may be similar, although it may easily be quite different. The point is, it is something the DCNR and the public needs to know in determining access. Only those who have the seismic data in both places and in between really know.

Image: Barb Feigles
by Morgan Myers
RDA Director of Communications and Outreach

RALSTON - Despite severe weather, an all-ages crowd of over 200 came to Ralston in support of keeping Rock Run and Old Loggers Path free of industrial development. Responsible Drilling Alliance launched it's Keep It Wild campaign after discovering Anadarko had purchased acreage in a beloved area of the Loyalsock State Forest.

Reverend Leah Schade and members of the Interfaith Sacred Earth Coalition opened the event with a four directions blessing.

Ralph Kisberg, President of the Responsible Drilling Alliance, spoke next. "So many problems have occurred already in many of the areas surrounding this oasis we have now. A geyser of methane and frack flowback in Union Township in Tioga, cows refusing to drink the water and 10 dead sheep in the vicinity of the well pad where the problem is believed to have originated. There have been dangerous methane levels in water wells of over 30 homes in east Lycoming County," said Kisberg. "But even if we could be guaranteed there will be no accidents, we would still say no: it doesn't belong here in this special and ecologically sensitive place."

Penn Future attorney and RDA board member Mark Szybist clarified the legal complexities of the situation. "DCNR can restrict Anadarko's access if it wants to," said Szybist. "Still, we don't know how the land is parceled off. We've asked DCNR Secretary Allan to make these maps public."

"Hunting, fishing, hiking, biking, canoeing, camping: the Pennsylvania Wilds is our identity," said Jim Dunn, Armstrong Township Supervisor and member of the Lycoming County Planning Commission. "Don't let the corporate penthouse in Houston, Oklahoma city, London, or the Hague look down upon us and define who we are and what we may have for our special places!"

When environmental scientist Kevin Heatley took the stage, he threw his notes in the air and said, "The gas industry makes fun of people who get too emotional. Well, I have a right to be emotional! My backyard in Hughesville is just as sacred as Rock Run. Your land is just as sacred. As a scientist, I understand the impacts. Seeing the way this industry operates in spite of them infuriates me." Heatley's speech was peppered with bursts of laughter and applause from the standing room only crowd.

"There are 2 things that are infinite, the universe and the stupidity of man...and I'm not sure about the universe," said RDA Board member and treasurer Barb Jarmoska, quoting Albert Einstein. "Never has this quote seemed more fitting than when applied to unconventional gas drilling." Jarmoska encouraged those in attendance to exert their civic rights by following RDA's recommended action steps.

The event closed with by Daishin Eric McCabe of Mt. Equity Zendo in Pennsdale. He read from Zen Master Dogen's Mountains and Waters Sutra. "The healing of our planet and our own psyches begins every time we make a concerted effort like we are doing today to see ourselves in the mountains and to see the mountains as a part of ourselves," said Daishin.

The event in Ralston was just the beginning of an ongoing campaign spearheaded by Responsible Drilling Alliance. Help us keep the pressure on Governor Corbett, DCNR, and Anadarko. Watch for updates on www.keepitwildblog.blogspot.com.

More Photos From The Event

Richard Karp's album
Barb Feigle's album
RDA's album













by Morgan Myers

HANEYVILLE - In a unanimous bipartisan vote, Clinton County Commissioners rejected the zoning
ordinance amendment that would have permitted frack water withdrawal and treatment facilities in certain districts.

After an hour's worth of public comments almost exclusively opposed to the amendment, Commissioner Joel Long made a motion to reject it.
"This is a rural area," said Long. "I've always disagreed with the state's vision of things. They allowed drilling because they wanted some money. I can't control that but I can control this, so I will."

Commissioner Jeff Snyder seconded the motion.

"The advantages are a short list," said Snyder. "The amendment as written falls way short of meeting environmental controls."

"I wish the facilities could be built in such a way that guaranteed nothing would leak off the property, but the word 'guarantee' is a hard one," said Commissioner Pete Smeltz. "Additional research and study needs to be done. Perhaps someday there will be places you could safely install one of these facilities."

The amendment was drafted to take advantage of a regulatory loophole in the now-suspended zoning portions of Act 13. The proposed ordinance would have re-zoned portions of East and West Keating, Grugan, Noyes, Gallagher, Logan and Colebrook townships for industrial use. Residents of Gallagher Township were particularly concerned due to Hawbaker Engineering's plan to build a frack water treatment facility along the Coudersport Pike if the amendment passed.

During the comment period a Hawbaker Engineering employee whose family has lived in the area for generations spoke up: "[The gas industry] is already permitted to do the same treatment on pads that they're proposing to do in a centralized facility."

Others remained concerned. "The changes I've seen in 10 years have been remarkable," said one Gallagher Township resident. "At one time the roughest ride to town was when you had to follow a school bus. Now there's lines of tankers, traffic, diesel fumes, and animals hit on the road."

"I really agree with a treatment facility because it would cut down on removing water from the streams," said Wayne Runes, a property-owner along the Old Coudersport Pike. "But we should protect the beauty of the woods we have here."

The proposed ordinance would have allowed frack water withdrawal facilities in Agricultural and Nature Conservation Districts, and frack water withdrawal and treatment facilities in Rural Forest and Rural Industrial Districts.

"An industrial site in a Nature Conservation District? That's ridiculous," said one Gallagher Township resident.

The Commissioners held a vote publicly rejecting the amendment at the end of the hearing.

"Hawbaker Engineering will probably move the operation over into Lycoming County, where we'll still have the impact on Route 44, " said Tim Holladay, Clinton County Planner. "Or, they'll challenge our ordinance as exclusionary. The planning commission has discussed strategies."

"In one way or another this will be back," said Commissioner Snyder after the meeting. "Still, our job is to represent the interests of the residents."
Wear The Message

Thanks to over a hundred folks who bought a Keep it Wild t-shirt in Ralston, our message continues to grow.  
 
A number of organic cotton Keep It Wild
shirts now remain and are available at Freshlife in Williamsport for $12 each. All proceeds will benefit RDA.
 
Quantity and sizes are temporarily limited while RDA expands the Keep it Wild mission.

If your organization is interested in adapting the Keep it Wild campaign, contact us.

Watch the newsletter and blog for other ways to spread the Keep it Wild message.

If you are interested in purchasing a shirt but can't make it to Freshlife, e-mail us with your desired size.

Support RDA's Keep It WILD Campaign   
Responsible Drilling Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded entirely by donations. Running the Keep It WILD campaign costs money, and we need your help to recuperate funds. Please considering donating.

We accept money through PayPal via the RDA website. Donations may also be sent by mail to:

Responsible Drilling Alliance
Box 502
Williamsport, PA 17703 

 
Thank you for your support!