 Accident or Incompetence?
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September 11, 2015
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Frack truck in pond - photo credit: nofrackingway.us
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Are you getting fed up with industry loopholes and company negligence? We sure are. RDA Chemical Advisor Ted Stroter lets them have it in our feature. Ted spent his career monitoring safety controls, and makes a strong case about the difference between an accident and incompetence.
If you haven't done so already, please click here to sign this petition urging Governor Wolf to protect the pristine Clarence Moore lands of the Loyalsock State Forest. Upon signing, please share the link with your email and Facebook network. We need all the signatures we can get to help save Rock Run and KEEP IT WILD.
Beyond the local, dissonance seems to be reaching the national level as well. RDA joined with six other groups to warn the EPA we plan to sue if drilling and fracking waste is not re-classified and regulated as "toxic waste." Read all about it in our second feature.
In other national news, the "Stop the Frack Attack" network is holding a national summit in Colorado next month. The summit welcomes movement leaders, community activists and people affected by fracking across the country. Although we won't be attending, it gives us peace of mind to know this is happening. Folks will gather in Denver to share stories, become better spokespeople, learn about clean energy alternatives, celebrate victories and strengthen this national movement.
For more peace of mind, our third feature revisits Clean Earth's airport runway plans for recycled drill cuttings near the PA Grand Canyon. Fortunately the plans have been withdrawn. Read below for the latest from State Impact PA.
Be sure to check out "In Other News" for more noteworthy articles and videos. Also take notice of the final other news box entitled "Well Count." Here we will continuously provide details on new permits and various running totals for Lycoming County and PA.
As usual, a number of other "Action Points" are also included in the sidebar for your participation.
Thank you for caring and staying informed,
Brooke Woodside
RDA Member, Managing Editor
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Another Well Site Violation:
Accident or Incompetence?
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by Ted Stroter, RDA Chemical Advisor
Although 31.5 gallons of flowback water blown out onto a well pad may not cause serious environmental damage, the violation itself reveals a disturbing lack of competence.
PA DEP reports: "Alarm system for the 8H well was accidentally wired to the 7H well, so time of rupture was unknown."
Accidentally??? When your 2-year-old can't hold it and goes in his pants, that's an accident. When a well operator using and producing hazardous materials wires a crucial, spill-warning alarm to the wrong well, that's complete incompetence. May I remind you that this is the industry that our illustrious, paid-off politicians insist is well regulated and doing a great job protecting our health and environment?
Even more disturbing is Range Resources' history of violations. Here's just a sampling:
I could go on and on, as Range Resource's record goes back much further. But you get the picture. Is this a company we want to entrust with safeguarding our air, water and environment?
Range is hardly the only wrongdoer. Talisman Energy, Cabot Oil and Gas and the #1 offender, Chesapeake Energy, have more spills and legal violations. FRACKING'S MOST WANTED report identifies the top 10 oil & gas companies for spills & legal violations.
I spent my career reviewing, specifying and approving the necessary engineering safety controls (like the leak alarm mentioned above) for chemical storage, delivery and usage systems. In addition, I regularly inspected these controls to ensure that everything was operating as designed.
From my experience, this is how a competent company ensures that their chemical operation alarms and other safety systems are working properly:
- Before any process using chemicals begins to operate, all critical safety controls/systems are tested and the test documented. While well operators may use sub-contractors for well set up and maintenance, that is no excuse for lack of control over safety devices. The well operator with overall responsibility for the site must require all employees and sub-contractors to document the proper functionality of all safety systems.
- All alarms are periodically tested. Test frequency depends on the manufacturer's recommendations, critical nature of the alarm, normal industry practices, etc. All tests must be documented and completed at minimum once per year.
The proper use and maintenance of alarms and all other safety equipment isn't rocket science for any competent, environmentally conscious company, but it sure appears to be so for Range Resources!
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RDA Joins with National Groups Filing Notice of Intent to Sue EPA over Dangerous Drilling and Fracking Waste
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A coalition of environmental organizations from Pennsylvania and across the U.S. filed a legal notice with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demanding regulations to stop oil and gas companies from dumping drilling and fracking waste in ways that threaten public health and the environment.
RDA joined the Environmental Integrity Project, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthworks, San Juan Citizens Alliance, the West Virginia Surface Owners Rights Organization and the Center for Health, Environment and Justice in taking the action. The groups are calling on EPA to comply with its long-overdue obligations to update waste disposal rules that should have been revised more than a quarter century ago.
"Improper handling of drilling waste threatens the health and safety of 3.5 million Pennsylvania residents whose drinking water comes from private wells," said Barbara Jarmoska, RDA Board of Directors member. "It is past time for the EPA to put public and environmental health and safety first. EPA should revise existing regulations and specifically address issues relevant to the modern oil and gas industry."
The organizations that filed the petition with EPA argue that, for example, EPA should institute stricter controls for underground injection wells, which accept two billion gallons of oil and gas wastewater every day and have been linked to numerous earthquakes in Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas. EPA should ban the practice of spreading fracking wastewater onto roads or fields, which allows toxic pollutants to run off and contaminate streams. And EPA should require landfills and ponds that receive drilling and fracking waste to be built with adequate liners and structural integrity to prevent spills and leaks into groundwater and streams.
"We're asking that EPA finally do what it found to be necessary back in 1988: update the regulations for oil and gas wastes," said Adam Kron, attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project. "The oil and gas industry has grown rapidly since then, and yet EPA has repeatedly shirked its duties for nearly three decades. The public deserves better protection than this."
"Oil and gas waste is extremely dangerous-yet the EPA admitted decades ago that federal rules are inadequate to protect the public," said Matthew McFeeley, attorney at NRDC. "The scary truth is that right now this waste-complete with carcinogens and radioactive material-is being dumped irresponsibly or disposed of like everyday household garbage. Toxic waste should not be sent to run-of-the-mill landfills, sprayed on our roads and fields, or stored in open air pits."
One example of problems caused by the improper disposal and handling of fracking and drilling waste occurred in Tioga County, PA when a six-million-gallon industrial pond holding fracking wastewater leaked pollutants, including arsenic and strontium, through holes in its liner into groundwater and a nearby trout stream.
Landfills in states around the Marcellus shale formation have experienced increasing shipments of drill cuttings that contain high levels of radiation. Many of the landfills do not test for radiation and do not have adequate controls to prevent the often toxic and radioactive "leachate" from seeping into groundwater.
EPA's current regulations do not take into account the dangerous contents of oil and gas wastes or their unique handling and disposal practices. Since 1988, the agency has acknowledged the shortcoming of its basic rules for solid waste management and has indicated that it needs to create enhanced rules tailored to the oil and gas industry. However, the agency has yet to take any action to develop these updated regulations.
If EPA does not act within 60 days, the groups intend to ask a federal court to set strict deadlines for EPA to complete this long-needed update and strengthening of its regulations for oil and gas wastes.
"These are not your mom and pop wells of the 1980s, and their waste can no longer be ignored and listed as being non-hazardous," said Teresa Mills, director of the Ohio field office for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. "For the agency to continue to classify millions of gallons/tons of hazardous material as non-toxic is mind-boggling. The free ride for the oil and gas industry must come to an end, now."
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| Plans Scrapped for Drilling Waste near PA's Grand Canyon |
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by Susan Philips, State Impact PA, August 31, 2015
A waste disposal company has backed off its controversial plan to use 400,000 tons of natural gas drill cuttings to help expand an airport in Tioga County. The proposal would have put the waste, which includes dirt and rock displaced by shale gas well-drilling, on a steep embankment near a tributary to the Pine Creek Gorge, a pristine watershed also known as the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania."
The Department of Environmental Protection says the Montgomery County company, Clean Earth, did not respond to the agency's questions on a number of issues with the permit application, which the DEP calls "technical deficiencies." So Clean Earth decided to withdraw an erosion and sediment control permit application for the first stage of the project. StateImpact Pennsylvania first reported on the project back in July.
The DEP sent a letter to the company in February, detailing the agency's concerns and seeking answers from Clean Earth. Drill cuttings, which can originate hundreds or thousands of feet below the surface, often contain naturally occurring radiation, heavy metals and industrial chemicals. But instead of responding to the requested information, Clean Earth agreed to abandon the project.
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Keep it Wild! Protect the Clarence Moore Lands from Drilling  |
The Clarence Moore Lands remain unprotected!
The Clarence Moore lands, 25,000 acres of exquisite natural beauty within the Loyalsock State Forest, offer recreation and respite to those who visit. Here one can hike through tranquil forests on the Old Loggers Path and cool off aside the crystalline waters of Rock Run. Like many of Pennsylvania's public lands, this area is treasured by those who visit its streams and forests. But unlike the state parks and forests thankfully protected from natural gas development by Governor Wolf's Executive Order 2015-03, the Clarence Moore lands remain at risk.
As natural gas development sweeps across Pennsylvania, this area of the Loyalsock State Forest represents the last unfragmented forest in Lycoming County. Here forests, bogs and wetlands provide vital habitat to sensitive plant and animal species at risk. Here the National Audubon Society has designated an Important Bird Area. Here gather the headwaters of the Exceptional Value watersheds of Pleasant Stream and Rock Run. There is no room for drilling here in the Clarence Moore lands.
Since 2012 the Save the Loyalsock Coalition, an organization of conservation and outdoor enthusiasts representing over 100,000 citizens, has labored to prevent natural gas development in this forest. On July 14, 2015, the Coalition sent a letter to Governor Wolf reminding him of the keen public interest in the Clarence Moore lands and of the state's ability to protect this vulnerable area.
Governor Wolf previously indicated his willingness to explore legal options available to prevent drilling in this pristine forest. Now you can help protect this Pennsylvania treasure by signing this petition to Governor Wolf. We will deliver your signature along with the many other thousands who say, "No drilling in the Clarence Moore lands!"
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In Other News
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Judge Faults FERC, Acquits Beyond Extreme Energy Activist
A member of Beyond Extreme Energy who was arrested inside the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission building in May and charged with illegal entry was declared not guilty last week (Aug. 20) in a bench trial before Judge John F. McCabe Jr. in D.C. Superior Court.
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Obama's Walking a Razor's Edge When it Comes to Climate Change
For the majority of Alaska and for businesses and more conservative audiences, Obama is proclaiming that Alaskan resources are part of our energy future. With oil providing 90 percent of state government revenues, that's the message many Alaskans most ardently want to hear.
For environmentalists and to the nations of the world, Obama is making another argument. His stops were chosen to provide compelling visual evidence now written across Alaska's landscape that climate change is real, it is here, Alaskans are already suffering, and we must act aggressively to address it. "Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now ... We're not acting fast enough."
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Author Takes on Oil Industry in New Book, 'Slick Water'
"The practice has been around for a long time: oil companies in Pennsylvania in the 1830s dropped nitroglycerine-filled "torpedos" down their unproductive wells, with mixed results. Sometimes the wells produced more oil, sometimes nothing happened, and sometimes the rock fractured so much that oil leaked into nearby wells and aquifers. Little has changed since then."
"To question the right of Big Oil to poison and then silence the general public is considered to be a criminal act."
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Speaking out in Montrose
Dr. Carpenter is the director for the Institute for Health and the Environment for the University at Albany School of Public Health. He explains his involvement with air quality studies conducted near fracking sites.
Katie Huffling, RN and midwife also speaks about her experience with the public outcry. She directs a small non-profit called the Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment. Katie is concerned with fertility issues near fracking sites.
Click on the videos below to view.
Part I (w/ Katie Huffling, RN)
Part II
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Well Count
New permits were issued for Gamble Township by the following energy companies. Click on the blue titles for more detail on each well:
Atlas Resources
Inflection Energy
Total wells permitted:
Cummings Township - 327
Lycoming County - 1448
Pennsylvania - 16,725
Water usage:
Lycoming County wells -
6,765,000,000 gallons
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The proposed Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline would span 178 miles through eight counties in PA. If approved, it would directly impact the lives of thousands of people living in these communities.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 1,400 pipeline spills, accidents, and significant incidents including explosions and death, occurred in the US from 2010-2013. This amounts to an average of one incident per day. No area with a pipeline is immune to damage. Living in PA, we already know the daily reality of pipeline leaks and explosions from living in the shale gas era. Williams Company would gain economic benefit while residents along the proposed right-of-way would bear the burdens.
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Since the shale boom began in Pennsylvania, gas companies have only been required to voluntarily look for and fix air pollution leaks. As one of the world's largest natural gas fields and now the second largest shale gas producer in the country, we need to do better than trust the industry to do the right thing.
By adopting strong rules to fight methane pollution, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) can save lives, improve health and help curb climate change. DEP must live up to its mission to ensure the health and safety of Pennsylvania's citizens by enacting best-in-the-nation regulations to stop air pollution leaks from shale gas operations.
Please add your name to this petition from the Clean Air Council to tell Gov. Wolf that we need strong rules to fight methane pollution.
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The oil and gas industry is running amok, and public health, our climate, and our communities are paying the price. Fracking can never be made safe, but the EPA is developing important new rules to slash climate pollution from the oil and gas industry. We need you to make sure the EPA approves strong protections.
The EPA is holding one of three public hearings in Pittsburgh to get input directly from people like you. Join hundreds of activists and concerned citizens on September 29 to show the EPA that we demand an end of business-as-usual for the oil and gas industry. Here are the details -- WHAT: EPA public hearing on proposed regulations to cut down on methane pollution from the oil and gas industry WHEN: Tuesday, September 29, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., with a rally in front of the hearing at noon
WHERE: William S. Moorhead Federal Building, 1000 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
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RDA Newsletter
Brooke Woodside, RDA Working Group, Managing Editor
Barb Jarmoska, Treasurer - RDA Board of Directors, Editor
Ralph Kisberg, RDA Working Group, Contributing Editor
Ted Stroter, RDA Working Group, Chemical Advisor & Contributing Editor
Jim Slotterback, President - RDA Board of Directors
Robbie Cross, Vice President - RDA Board of Directors
Jenni Slotterback, Secretary - RDA Board of Directors
Mark Szybist - RDA Board of Directors
Roscoe McCloskey - RDA Board of Directors
Dianne Peeling - RDA Board of Directors
This biweekly e-newsletter is written and designed by the RDA consultants and Board of Directors and sent to RDA members/subscribers. Every effort is made to assure complete accuracy in each issue. This publication and the information contained herein is copyrighted by RDA and may not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved. Readers are invited to forward this newsletter in its entirety to broaden the scope of its outreach. There is a forward link below. Readers are also invited to submit articles to be considered for publication in a future issue.
Please note: The RDA newsletter includes reporting on a variety of events and activities, which do not necessarily reflect the philosophy of the organization. RDA practices only non-violent action in voicing the organization's beliefs and concerns.
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Phone: 888.332.1244 (toll free)
Please mail donations to: RDA, PO Box 502, Williamsport, PA 17703 |
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