Responsible Drilling Alliance
Seeking truth about the consequences of shale gas development   
RDA e-Newsletter, October 2012 v.4        

In This Issue
Article Headline
Help Support The Keep It Wild Campaign
Drilling Rock Run: A Christian Perspective
Article Headline
Article Headline
Shale Gas News
CGG Veritas Chats With RDA

by Morgan Myers


Curious about the meaning behind colored flagging hanging around Pennsylvania's shale zone, RDA spoke with Houston-based seismic surveying company CGG Veritas. The conversation yielded some interesting information on an array of topics.

Flagging
Each company's flagging colors mean something different. CGG Veritas primarily uses pink or orange flagging. As of last year, all CGG Veritas flagging bears their name.

"Pink flags are typically where geophones are set," said Dennis Langlois, CGG Veritas company official.

Geophones sit on the ground and measure sound vibrations from "thumper" trucks or shot point detonations.

"Orange flagging indicates the source line, but not necessarily where every shot point is," said Langlois. "The guys that are on the source line need to know how to get to the next shot location."

When asked for more specifics about shot points versus source lines, CGG Veritas hesitated: "There are security concerns with that," said Langlois.

Security
"The general public doesn't really need to know where every shot point is," said Alain Viau, company official for CGG Veritas. "There are some security measures that we have to take, and that includes burying our leads."

Lead lines are cables connecting geophone receivers to shot points. Shot points are places where dynamite charges have been buried, usually at a depth of 50'-100'.

"We have to sign off that we're in control of all the charges and we're responsible for that," said Langlois. "If the state came back and said you can't use dynamite, our operation would suffer."


Cleaning Up
CGG Veritas makes an effort to clean up their flagging when the job is done.

"We try to do it but sometimes guys miss it," said Langlois.

"We've been saddled with jobs in the past to clean up flagging that does not belong to us," said Viau. "That's why we've gone to putting our name on the flagging."

Changing Seasons
Winter poses unique challenges to seismic operations.

"It's possible to shoot in the winter but it's a very risky proposition because of access issues," said Viau.

"With all the leaves off the trees it would be the greatest time to be there, but operationally it's the worst time," said Langlois. "You also have safety issues, with the ruggedness of the terrain."

Clinton County
"Clinton County may be the most rugged country we've had to go through," said Langlois.

"We started in late May on both sides of the river going from Lock Haven to Renovo. We shot through Little Pine State Park all the way up to Bloomfield - at least 200 square miles."

CGG Veritas is finished with surveying Clinton County for the season.

"We'll be back next year, starting in June through December," said Langlois. "The crews stay in Milesburg, but beginning next year we'll be going back to Williamsport."
Support The 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 
PO Box 502 
Williamsport, PA 17703

Thank you for your support!
Drilling Rock Run: A Christian Perspective
 


An Open Letter to Governor Tom Corbett, DCNR Secretary Richard Allan, and Anadarko Regarding the Protection of Rock Run and Old Loggers Path in Loyalsock State Forest:

We are members and friends of United in Christ Lutheran Church in rural Lewisburg. We are alarmed about the threat to Rock Run and Old Loggers Path in Lycoming County from the natural gas industry. This pristine wilderness area of Pennsylvania is a treasure that should be protected. We are asking you not to develop the Clarence Moore mineral rights in the Loyalsock State Forest and to halt natural gas development in the Old Logger's path area.

This issue is important to us as Lutherans for several reasons. First, we see the despoiling of the Rock Run area as nothing less than the degradation of God's gracious gift of creation. Scripture witnesses to God as creator of the earth and all that dwells therein (Psalm 24:1). The creeds, which guide our reading of Scripture, proclaim God the Father of Jesus Christ as "maker of heaven and earth," Jesus Christ as the one "through [whom] all things were made," and the Holy Spirit as "the Lord, the giver of life" (Nicene Creed). Thus we believe all of creation is worthy of protection, especially those areas that are particularly sensitive and whose ecosystems are fragile. Rock Run is one of those areas.

Second, the Holy Bible gives us several examples of mountains and waterways being special places in which God reveals God's self. We believe that this area of Loyalsock State Forest is a place where God's presence in creation is experienced deeply by those who hike, swim, and fish there. A natural area such as this is not a domain to be conquered and
exploited for short-term gain, but to be enjoyed, preserved, and explored as a wondrous, sacred trust.

Third, according to Genesis 2:15, our role within creation is to serve and to keep God's garden, the earth. You have an opportunity to leave a legacy for this state and future generations that preserves the pure water, native fish populations and unparalleled beauty of the forest. It is your responsibility as leaders in government and industry to protect this ecologically and aesthetically sensitive area. And it is our responsibility as Christians to ask that you do so.

Finally, according to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) social statement, "Caring for Creation," adopted in 1993 (http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Social-Statements/Environment.aspx): "We live within
the covenant God makes with all living things, and are in relationship with them. The principle of participation means they are entitled to be heard and to have their interests considered when decisions are made." We urge you to consider the interest of the fish, fauna, trees and plant life, as well our children who deserve the opportunity to be in communion with their earth-kin in this area of Rock Run.

We will be praying that God's will may be done in this situation. And we trust that you will make the decision that is best for the residents - both human and God's creation - of Pennsylvania.

Sincerely,
The Rev. Leah Schade and Members and Friends of United in Christ Lutheran Church
Can Industry Shift The Fracking Paradigm?  
 
by John Quigley 

Five environmental groups filed a lawsuit this week that would force California regulators to study the possible effects on groundwater and air quality before allowing companies use hydraulic fracturing.

 

The suit alleges that state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, which reviews proposed fracking projects, has violated the California Environmental Quality Act by not requiring an environmental impact report for them.

 

While oil companies have fracked wells in California for decades, its use within the state is on the rise, and the stakes are high.  California may have the nation's largest oil shale formation - the Monterey Shale, which lies beneath much of Central California. The Monterey could hold more than 15 billion barrels of oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

 

The lawsuit provides me with a bit of an I-told-you-so moment. The issues at the heart of the California lawsuit flow from the use of water and chemicals for fracking. On September 25, I had the honor of delivering the keynote address  at shale gas event in Washington, D.C. that was hosted by The Howard Baker Forum and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  In my talk, I called on the gas industry to adopt an aspirational goal of eliminating the use of water and chemicals from shale gas development.  Among a long list of reasons why this is in the public interest and in the financial interest of oil and gas companies, I gave this example:

 

Titan Oil and Gas is proposing to drill one exploratory unconventional well in Kern County, California.  Recently, (the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources) issued a finding of no significant impact for that single well. In response, The Center for Biological Diversity submitted this petition  challenging the finding - an 83-page compendium of issues and allegations against fracking. 

 

The gas industry can either spend the next decade responding to 83 pages of charges, and perhaps fight the battle well-by-well. Or they can change the entire fracking paradigm and choose a way that can reconcile both society's and industry's goals. 

 

It will take vision - and the ability to imagine a fundamentally different approach.  But the stakes justify the efforts.

 

With access to the U.S.'s largest oil shale field in doubt; with moratoria posing serious access challenges for oil and gas producers; and with persistent concerns about the U.S. fracking experience in the EU, China, Canada, and South Africa, there is, as Maria van der Hoeven, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, has warned, "a very real possibility that public opposition...will halt...fracking in its tracks."
     

  John Quigley is a former Secretary of the PA DCNR. You can read his A Green Thing Blog at http://johnhquigley.blogspot.com. 

Rachelle van Zanten: My Country 
Rachelle Van Zanten - My Country
Inspired by images of Tahltan women blockading Shell in defense of the Sacred Headwaters in northern British Columbia, Rachelle wrote 'My Country'.
Shale Gas News From Around The World 

State Headlines