BrynMawr, PA-based Aqua America is one of the nation’s largest water and wastewater treatment companies, serving over 3 million customers across 12 states. Their largest water customer is Exelon Energy. Soon, though, Marcellus Shale gas drillers may provide an even larger revenue stream. Aqua will see tidy profits selling the Susquehanna River Basin water it pulls in Lycoming county to gas drillers in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier. It’s simply good business to accommodate them by laying 18-miles of 12-inch pipe. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Pennsylvania Watersheds’ Category
Aqua America to Supply Susquehanna Basin Water to Gas Drillers
September 30, 2011Toxic Floodwaters In Pennsylvania Raise New Questions About Fracking – Updated
September 10, 2011UPDATE, September 23, 2011:
Since posting below, PA DEP officials have gone on record insisting that “no chemicals” used in hydraulic fracturing or toxic wastewater produced were spilled during the recent catastrophic flooding in Pennsylvania, which occurred as a result of back-to-back hurricanes Irene and Lee. State officials have also suggested that the photo linked in the initial post (below) is inauthentic. Okay. But the fact is, we have only their word for it. Scott Detrow reports in StateImpact that gas drillers weren’t required to report any incidents due to a “loophole” in state regulatory policy. I know, right? How dumb is that? And these are the guys who are going to protect The Delaware River Watershed, drinking water source for 15.6 million people. (more…)
Anti-Fracking Conference Draws Hundreds Despite Epic Flooding In Philadelphia
September 8, 2011Wake The Village! Again
This morning, I sat in traffic for nearly three hours. Record flooding, mudslides and downed trees blocked the way of nearly every commuter in the region. It was a nightmare. I was late for the Freedom from Fracking Conference in Center City, and I was ticked. I arrived just in time to catch hydrogeologist Paul Rubin’s workshop, Our Aquifers, Our Drinking Water: Casualties of Gas Development. 
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Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission Drills into Gas Issues at Philadelphia Public Hearing
September 7, 2011The purpose of the Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission September 6th hearing at the Free Library of Philadelphia was to “delve deeper into a variety of shale gas issues, including water and air quality, social impacts of gas drilling, the drilling tax, and impacts outside Marcellus communities.” A host of invited presenters gave detailed testimony in their area of expertise, then the floor was open to public comment. This was, by far, the more colorful aspect of the evening, (more…)
Frack Waste Decimates Stand of West Virginia Forest
August 17, 2011In a controlled test conducted by the US Forest Service initiated in 2008, frack waste was applied to a contained 1/4-acre of deciduous forest in West Virginia. I’ve been saying it for months, “Test, Baby, Test.” By that, I meant independent baseline testing (more…)
Recycling Frack Waste in PA? Shout Eureka!
August 2, 2011[UPDATE: April 5, 2012]: Eureka Resources Supports New Pennsylvania DEP Standards Encouraging Reuse-of-Wastewater From Oil and Gas Sites
[Original Post]: As of May, 2011, the PA Department of Environmental Protection has insisted that industrial gas drillers in Pennsylvania “stop sending toxic wastewater to 15 treatment plants unequipped to purify it.” There has been little mention of the millions of gallons of untreated frack waste that were released prior to the dumping deadline but hey, as the saying goes, it’s water under the bridge, right?
Seemingly overnight, gas drillers such as Chesapeake Energy began claiming that they now re-use or recycle 100% of their hydrofracking flowback. Other drilling companies have proffered similarly impressive percentages. Wow. That’s one nimble industry! In the space of a mere 28 days – not 28 months – they were able to revamp their industrial waste-stream and totally eliminate one of environmentalists’ biggest concerns. Amazing.
Water re-use has been key to substantiating the gas drillers’ claims. (more…)
Schuylkill County Marcellus Task Force Takes Proactive Approach
August 1, 2011The Schuylkill County Marcellus Task Force was established by the Schuylkill County Board of Commissioners in May 2011 to determine how they would deal with shale gas drilling issues. Last week, according to Leslie Richardson in republicanherald.com, the task force was talking roads, education, taxes and water withdrawals with Lt. Governor Jim Cawley. It’s not so much a matter of drilling in Schuylkill County, as the shale is much deeper there, rather it’s concern over pollution, truck traffic and jobs. The county has one landfill that accepts cuttings and other solid waste, and in June, 2011, Rausch Creek Land LP of Valley View. PA applied to withdrawal up to 100,000 gallons from an abandoned mine in Porter Township for hydrofracking operations elsewhere in the state. (more…)
Got Water? Pennsylvania Is Home to Over 1,000,000 Private Water Wells
August 1, 2011Pennsylvania has more fresh water wells in private use than any other state in the US. We also have an abundance of natural, mineral-laced springs. Most of these wells and nearly all of the springs, however, exist undocumented. That means, if you use a well, the Department of Environmental Protection has no record of your water’s baseline composition, and it probably doesn’t even know your well exists.
Many water advocates in the state recognize that this one of the weakest links in the DEP’s plan to regulate, and therefore enforce, the shale gas drilling industry. After all, how can they determine if a homeowner’s water has or has not been polluted when they do not know the quality that existed before gas drilling began, right? If you’re a water well owner, don’t let it come to that. Make sure your water quality is tested and certified, and becomes part of public record. This could be especially important of you are seeking to sell your home in the future, as any potential buyer could be denied financing if your well water quality is in question. (more…)
Delaware Riverkeepers Oppose SB 1100 – The Scarnati Bill
June 16, 2011The Delaware Riverkeepers oppose Senate Bill 1100 – the Scarnati Impact Fees Bill. They are organizing a petition against it. “We need Pennsylvania residents to speak out and urge their elected officials to vote NO on Senate Bill 1100 introduced by Senate President Joe Scarnati should it come to the House or Senate floor. We oppose SB1100 because it would trade the rights of citizens and local governments for drilling fees and taxes. A democratic society supports local decision-making. Pennsylvania’s citizens must be able to have input into the laws and practices that affect them and municipal officials must be able to represent their constituents.” SOURCE: DelawareRiverkeepers.org
To sign learn more about the DelawareRiverkeepers position and current actions Opposing Hydraulic Fracturing, click here.
Fracking Is Fracturing Pennsylvania Communities
June 14, 2011“Raucous Crowd Meets on Shale Debate”
Forces for and against drilling clash at session run by the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board’s Natural Gas Subcommittee in Washington, PA. SOURCE: Erich Schwartzel, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Competing crowds tried to out-shout each other for more than four hours Monday night as Department of Energy representatives came to Washington & Jefferson College for help in forming a national plan for gas drilling, but instead sat quiet as a vicious neighbor-versus-neighbor ordeal played out in the auditorium before them. (more…)
“My Marcellus tale: Would the gas companies steal our stream?”
June 13, 2011SOURCE: Patriot-News Op-Ed by Ann Whitner Pinca, Sunday, June 12, 2011
Clean water was something we took for granted whenever we traveled to Sullivan County. Whether it was swimming in the clear waters at Worlds End State Park, splashing in the Loyalsock Creek among the giant sandstone boulders of the Haystacks or just poking around for frogs in Bear Wallow Pond, water was always a big draw. (more…)
Aqua Testifies Before PA Democratic Policy Committee
June 11, 2011At long last, Aqua PA has given its 3 million water-consuming customers a definitive position on Gas Drilling and its impacts on the drinking water quality in the Susquehanna and Delaware River Watersheds. Speaking on behalf of the company, Preston Luitweiler, Vice President and Chief Environmental Officer presented the testimony of Regional President, Karl Kyriss. The testimony is reprinted here in its entirety:
Testimony of Karl Kyriss, Regional President, Aqua America, Inc.
Before the Pennsylvania House Democratic Policy Committee
June 9, 2011, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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“Darn Close to Zero” Wastewater In PA Treatment Facilities, Says Secretary Krancer
June 9, 2011Yesterday evening, DEP Secretary Michael Krancer joined a four member panel at The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The panel included University of Pennsylvania Professor Richard Pepino, Rep. P. Michael Sturla (D., Lancaster) and ANS Senior Scientist, David Velinsky, who has studied the deleterious effects of industrial shale gas drilling on water supplies.
It was a full, but not packed, auditorium and heckling was – for the most part – polite. It was by design a calm conversation about why we have to frack for shale gas (cuz we like air-conditioning) and why we gotta “get it right” right now (cuz it’s coming, ready or not). It was generally agreed among all panelists, save Krancer, that the Delaware River Watershed is particularly appealing to drillers and Governor Corbett’s Office is basically a fact-free zone. Tom Corbett was the invisible boogie man in the room. (more…)
PA Frack Wastewater To Get “Full Treatment”
June 4, 2011Exactly how industrial gas drillers are required to recycle frack wastewater will make all the difference when it comes to the safety of municipal drinking water supplies.
As of now, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Industrial Gas Drillers are no longer disposing of untreated wastewater in Pennsylvania facilities that discharge into rivers and streams. This is “big” indeed. Gas Drillers must either re-use the water they pull from local aquifers to frack another well, or they must recycle it. So how, exactly, does an industrial gas driller “recycle” millions of gallons of produced, toxic wastewater? (more…)
New Rules! PA’s Top Docs Weigh In
June 3, 2011PA Department of Health Makes Recommendations to Marcellus Shale Advisory Committee
As the July 22nd deadline approaches, several statewide constituencies are weighing in with their recommendations for the regulation of industrial shale gas drilling development in Pennsylvania and amending the state’s Oil & Gas Act (1984). Some of our best minds have been noodling the limited data available, striving to solve the perplexing dilemma of how to Do Gas Right. Perhaps Senator Bob Casey expresses the importance of this best when he says, “We have to.” As early as this summer, the public could see new legislation emerging from Harrisburg on this particularly hot hot-button issue. Last week, the PA Department of Health presented the Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission with their recommendations. The most important one: a requirement that the Department of Health routinely evaluate and assess environmental data to determine if there are any health impacts from drilling operations. (more…)
Ever Hear of Radium 226? (Hint: It’s the stuff that causes Radon in basements)
May 18, 2011“Two Landfills in South Central PA Approved by DEP to Accept Marcellus Shale Drill Cuttings”
In Februray of this year, two landfills in South Central Pennsylvania—the Cumberland County Landfill and IESI Blue Ridge Landfill—have state approval to accept drill cuttings from Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations. Drill cuttings are the leftover dirt, rock, mud and lubricants that come out of the bore hole. (more…)
PA DEP Splits Hairs, Drags Heels Over Duke Water Study
May 17, 2011Duke University scientists published “The Duke Water Study” on May 9, 2011 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found “systematic evidence” that fracking increases methane contamination at least 17 times in wells near gas drilling sites in 68 wells tested in NY and PA. Much as industry groups, such as the Marcellus Shale Coalition, would like to detract from Duke’s conclusions, the science is there. The “good” kind. (more…)
AquaPA’s Official Position on Wastewater Re-Use
May 16, 2011Local and regional water authorities don’t have it easy these days in Pennsylvania. AquaPA, our local, privatized water supplier is no exception. According to AquaAmerica’s 2010 Sustainability Report, the company spent $10 million upgrading Bristol’s aged water treatment plant in 2006 and $33 million on Crum Creek’s in 2009. The 30-page report makes no mention of Natural Gas Drilling. Here, an excerpt outlines Aqua’s position on wastewater re-use: (more…)
EPA Asks State to Improve Gas Well Water Checks”
May 16, 2011Article By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Monday, May 16, 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked Pennsylvania to do a better job sampling, monitoring and regulating Marcellus Shale wastewater discharges near public drinking water sources. The EPA also has reminded the state Department of Environmental Protection that any new methods for disposing of drilling wastewater must comply with federal rules. The federal agency last week directed six of the major Marcellus Shale drilling companies in Pennsylvania to disclose, by May 25, how and where they will dispose of or recycle wastewater now that they can no longer use municipal sewage treatment facilities. (more…)
Altoona, PA – The Taj Mahal of Water
May 10, 2011Water Authority Sells Susquehanna Waters to Gas Drillers at $.005 a Gallon…
A few months ago, Chief Oil & Gas was approved by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to withdrawal 250,000 gallons a day to Chief Oil & Gas so they could frack up to 16 gas wells in the Blue Knob area near Altoona, PA. In April, the Altoona Mirror reported on what happens to a town when its Water Authority sells its water to gas companies. Because we have weak state laws protecting watershed regions, similar scenarios are occurring in small towns across the state. Residents around Altoona will see their streams and wells dry up, while the local Water Authority inhabits an impressive new office building, none-to-affectionately dubbed “the Taj Mahal” by local residents. Reporter William Kibler paints a dismal portrait… (more…)
Keep Tap Water Safe 