Earthbytes

EPA announces schedule to develop natural gas wastewater standards

Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its schedule to develop standards for wastewater discharges produced by natural gas extraction from underground coalbed and shale formations.

Right now we don't have national standards for disposal of wastewater discharged from natural gas extraction activities -- a fact that has been of concern to citizens and activists for many years.

As extraction technology has allowed development of shale gas resources, many parts of the United States are experiencing gas booms which many believe have led to significant threats to the health of people and nature. Shale gas now accounts for close to 15% of US gas production.

This sharp rise in domestic production has fans among political and industry supporters who say it has improved U.S. energy security and created jobs. Activists (and the Department of Defense!) argue that our ultimate security lies in energy efficiency and vigorous development of renewable and sustainable energy resources. And, though it's true many jobs have been created, US history has many stories of the "bust" side of fossil fuel extraction that can leave hundreds jobless, sometimes overnight.

The Obama administration has assured people that it is committed to safe and responsible leverage of all energy resources that includes protection of water:

"The president has made clear that natural gas has a central role to play in our energy economy. That is why we are taking steps -- in coordination with our federal partners and informed by the input of industry experts, states and public health organizations -- to make sure the needs of our energy future are met safely and responsibly,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "We can protect the health of American families and communities at the same time we ensure access to all of the important resources that make up our energy economy. The American people expect and deserve nothing less."

Currently, shale gas wastewater can't be discharged directly to US waterways. Some of this wastewater can be reused, but significant amounts still must be disposed. In cases where shale gas wastewater has been transported to treatment plants, it's been found that many are not able to remove contaminants. The EPA says it will consider standards based on demonstrated, economically achievable technologies, for shale gas wastewater that must be met before going to a treatment facility.

The EPA will also develop standards for disposal wastewater from coal bed methane extraction based on economically achievable technologies.

The EPA expects it will be ready to open a proposed coal bed methane wastewater rule for public comment in 2013, and for a proposed shale gas wastewater rule in 2014.

More information is available at EPA's Effluent Guidelines page. The official notice of this action has not been published yet in the Federal Register, but EPA has released a prepublication notice of its schedule to develop natural gas wastewater standards.

Report from SEAB Natural Gas Subcommittee gives me some deja vu

Earlier this week I sat with a group of citizens, oil and gas industry people, and officials from the Department of Environment and Conservation to begin hammering out a proposal for regulation of hydro-fracturing in Tennessee.

This process essentially began with a bill to limit high volume hydro-fracking in the state. In a legislative compromise, Tennesseans got, instead, a resolution that encouraged specified citizen groups, the Tennessee Oil and Gas Association and TDEC to meet with the purpose of proposing regulations to provide necessary oversight for the use of hydrological fracturing as a method of modern natural gas extraction in Tennessee."

House Resolution 98 stated that the goals of these regulations would be

to protect Tennessee’s groundwater quality and drinking water supplies, to protect the collative rights of the land and mineral owners, and to allow for development, protection, and management of the resource of natural gas deposits.

The initial meeting for these purposes on Wednesday was interesting, to say the least. For me, it brought more into focus the ways different stakeholders fundamentally view humankind's relationship to nature, and how those views drive the behavior which -- if analyzed in terms of natural consequences -- tells us how future life on Earth will look.

Source:Energy Information Administration

The day after our meeting in Knoxville, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Natural Gas Subcommittee released a 90-day report on hydrofracking that had been called for in the Obama Administration's Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future. The purpose for this 90-day report was to identify any immediate steps that could be taken to improve the safety and environmental performance of the practice of fracking.

For me, reading this report was a little like deja vu because the recommendations of the Subcommittee closely paralleled the issues that citizen groups had put on the table in our meeting with TDEC and TOGA.

Deja vu all over again was reading responses to the Natural Gas Subcommittee's report. If I hadn't heard them all at the Wednesday meeting, I'd heard it at other meetings and hearings on oil and gas regulations in Tennessee.

For example, Erik Milito of the American Petroleum Institute commented on an analysis of the report and response to it by Michael Levi:

While I have great respect for your coverage of energy issues I have to take issue with your interpretation of my comment on the DOE report. It was meant to underscore that opponents of natural gas who claim that shale gas development is unregulated and unsafe are incorrect and that any work toward improving both the development of energy from shale and perceptions of that development must start with recognizing the hard work that regulators and industry already perform to ensure that this important resource has been, and will continue to be, developed responsibly. Far from being a dismissal of further studies and improvement – best practices and regulations are continuously evolving and part of that evolution is identifying problems and solving them– the comment was a reminder that any DOE recommendations must be based on reality and not on the alarmist rhetoric of those opposed to resource development.

And from Jim at Marcellus Drilling News:

The report says in the Executive Summary:

This 90-day report presents recommendations that if implemented will reduce the environmental impacts from shale gas production. The Subcommittee stresses the importance of a process of continuous improvement in the various aspects of shale gas production that relies on best practices and is tied to measurement and disclosure. While many companies are following such a process, much-broader and more extensive adoption is warranted. The approach benefits all parties in shale gas production: regulators will have more complete and accurate information; industry will achieve more efficient operations; and the public will see continuous, measurable improvement in shale gas activities.

MDN’s interpretation of the above paragraph: Some companies are doing it right, but others are not, and we think a heavy-handed top-down approach that forces everyone to follow our rules is the best solution. Bottom line: Get ready for the federal government to start interfering in states’ business. The federal government is building a case, via this report and no doubt the second report due from the Subcommittee in another 90 days, for a federal takeover of regulations for oil and gas drilling, instead of letting states oversee what is their constitutional right to oversee.

On the other side of the fracking divide, here's an excerpt from an Earthworks press release:

An Energy Department advisory panel today called for swift action to protect air, drinking water and public health from the impacts of the shale gas boom. Earthworks applauded the recommendations, but said loopholes in key environmental laws must still be closed to shield communities in America's gas patch from the risks of drilling and fracking.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), who coauthored the FRAC Act, which would mandate public disclosure of fracking chemicals and allow the EPA to regulate fracking under the Safe Drinking Water Act, also released a statement on the report:

I continue to have significant concerns that six of the seven members on the Natural Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board have financial ties to the natural gas industry, which inherently creates a conflict of interest. Nevertheless, the fact that this same subcommittee found a wide array of improvements that should be made by the natural gas industry and government agencies underscores the fact that we as a nation are not adequately prepared yet to protect the public and environment from an unprecedented level of drilling across the country.

You can see more responses via links in Michael Levy's article and in this one by Tara Lohan at Alternet.

 

 The geology of natural gas resources. Source: EIA

The meeting on Wednesday, the Subcommittee Report, and the response to their recommendations has been revealing, and adds much to some research I'm doing on humankind's ambivalent relationship to nature and to the Earth. A core question going forward has to do with how systems change, how they evolve. More to come on that subject....

One more note for people who are concerned about natural gas development and extraction:

Next Monday, August 15th, SEAB will hold an open teleconference at which Natural Gas Subcommittee members will present their report. Members of the public will be able to comment during the teleconference. Registration for this event closed on August 10th, but anyone can still submit comments in writing to Amy Bodette, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington D.C. 20585, or email to seab@hq.doe.gov.

 

The Colbert Report on fracking

This is the best thing I've seen on fracking in awhile, and comes with the opportunity to lighten up and laugh for a few minutes before getting back to work...

 

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

 

 

My favorite poster of the week: The People of the Marcellus

I got this awesome image via the Sierra Club hydrofracking listserv today...I'm not sure who actually did the design...if I find out, I'll update this post.

 

 

"My Water's on Fire Tonight"

Just got a link to this awesome video via @greenforall on Twitter. Here's the video's description at YouTube:

"My Water's On Fire Tonight" is a product of Studio 20 NYU (http://bit.ly/hzGRYP) in collaboration with ProPublica.org (http://bit.ly/5tJN). The song is based on ProPublica's investigation on hydraulic fractured gas drilling (read the full investigation here: http://bit.ly/15sib6).

Music by David Holmes and Andrew Bean
Vocals and Lyrics by David Holmes and Niel Bekker
Animation by Adam Sakellarides and Lisa Rucker

Find us on Twitter:
@studio20_nyu
@propublica
@explainernet
@david_m_holmes
@nielbekker
@adamsounds
@lisaslashjudy

 

Groups gear up for hearing on gas drilling regulations in Tennessee

In February, about 100 citizens showed up for a hearing on oil and gas drilling regulations proposed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. A procedural wrinkle created in January by an administrative decision of the state's incoming Governor Haslam opened the door for a second hearing on the proposed regulations, scheduled for next Thursday, April 28, 2011at 6 pm at TDEC's field office in Knoxville.

Tennessee groups that began their collaboration for the first hearing have continued meetings to discuss drilling issues in the state. Next week they'll gather again to give further testimony on specific concerns.

While much public concern about oil and gas well drilling nationwide focuses on hydrofracturing, there are many other serious issues with extraction to be addressed, such as casing deterioration of abandoned wells and damages to land and vegetation secondary to well pad construction.

This Google Earth image of a well field in Anderson County, Tennessee, is dated October 9, 2010 (eye altitude is around 27,000 feet):

The patterns made by gas and oil drilling activity are easily recognizable from the air. So far, the well fields in Tennessee are not nearly as dense as they are in other notable fields such as this one (image date: August 2006; eye altitude about 10 miles) of the Jonah field in Wyoming:

Tennesseans may be in a better place in resource extraction history than many other states where gas booms have already happened. If we get organized now to insist on strong regulations, we may be able to avoid some of the social, economic and environmental consequences that the boom-and-bust cycles of oil and gas development have imposed elsewhere.

I'll be posting more about efforts to get good oil and gas regulations for Tennessee. Today I'll end with this awesome animation from Earthjustice:

 

 

For more information on the hearing next Thursday, check out the Facebook event page.

 

Tennessee coalition to air concerns at public hearing on gas drilling regulation

On February 22nd in Knoxville, a coalition of environmental and grassroots justice groups will hold a rally to initiate what they hope will be a larger public discussion of oil and gas well drilling impacts and regulations in Tennessee. They will then offer testimony at a public hearing on proposed changes to oil and gas well regulations by the Tennessee Oil and Gas Board.

Here is the full press release from the groups concerned about gas well drilling and hydrofracturing issues in Tennessee:

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          

February 21, 2011

Contact:

William Wilson, United Mountain Defense, (865) 978.7582;

Renee Hoyos, TN Clean Water Network (865) 522. 7007 ext. 100

 

Regional Environmental Organizations Call for Tighter Regulations, More Transparency for Gas Drilling in Tennessee

 

KNOXVILLE— Several environmental groups have joined together to ask the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) for greater oversight of gas drilling permits and practices. This request is in response to recent knowledge that the Halliburton-developed natural gas drilling technology known as fracking is taking place in Tennessee without any regulations. In fact, industries are not even required to tell TDEC when they frack a well.

“Although our state regulators assure us that fracking, if it is done at all here, is perfectly safe under the proposed regulations, experience in other states has shown that when the natural gas bandwagon gets to Tennessee—and it will—we will need far stronger regulations than what is being offered us,” says Axel Ringe, Vice Conservation Chair of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club.

The Tennessee Oil and Gas Board proposed changes to gas drilling regulations. A public hearing is scheduled for February 22 at 6 p.m., at TDEC’s main offices at 3711 Middlebrook Pike in Knoxville.

Representatives of the following environmental organizations plan to be in attendance: Tennessee League of Women Voters, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning (TCWP), Sierra Club, Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN), United Mountain Defense (UMD), and Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM).

Fracking can use any number of chemicals. Industries are not required to disclose which chemicals they use or how much. One estimate says that more than 80,000 pounds of chemicals are injected into the earth’s crust per well. In states across the nation, fracking has become well known for its disastrous effects upon aquifers and drinking water wells, with many accounts of people being able to light their tap water on fire after a well has been fracked near their home.

“We want to see more regulations on gas drilling methods. Fracking involves the injection of chemicals into the ground, without regulation and without understanding what happens once they’re in the ground,” says William Wilson of UMD.

Another controversial aspect of fracking is its use of water—tens of thousands of gallons to millions, depending on each individual drilling site. Even without the use of chemical additives, pumping such large amounts of water into the ground can bring brine, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM), and other contaminants to the surface.

“Across the nation, people are being negatively impacted by this practice.  Within hours of a fracking event, people’s drinking water wells can no longer be used. Why do we think it will be any different here? This practice needs to be regulated at the state and federal level to protect human health and the environment, ” said Renée Victoria Hoyos, executive director of TCWN, one of the groups calling for strict regulations.

TDEC’s Geological Department reports that there are 15,340 gas and oil wells in the state.

“When many of these wells were drilled, adequate baseline data for air and water around them did not exist,” said Cathie Bird, who chairs the Energy-Ecology-Environmental Justice Committee of SOCM. “When the first inch of dirt is disturbed to drill the well, that’s when the monitoring should start, and it shouldn’t stop. Even wells that have been sealed and abandoned are known to leak. We really don’t have a clue about the short- or long-term impacts of one well, let alone thousands.”

The Chevron Corporation recently acquired 120,000 acres in Tennessee with the stated goal of exploiting the natural gas potential of the Chattanooga and Utica Shale. There are an estimated 500 potential drilling sites within that acreage.

There will be a public demonstration at 4:30 p.m. EST leading up to the public hearing on Tue., Feb. 22, 2011 at 6 p.m.

The coalition encourages those with concerns about Tennessee’s gas drilling regulations to attend this demonstration in order to obtain more information before the hearing begins.

The public is also invited to a public screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary Gasland on Monday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at 800 Luttrell Street.

 

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No frickin' with frackin' in Tennessee!

Are you ready for hydrofracking in your community? If a gas developer with a lease in hand knocks on your door, do you know the risks and know your rights?

A new grassroots hero in Appalachia named Josh Fox helps fellow citizens understand some of these issues in his documentary, Gasland:

 

The Tennessee Clean Water Network will host a free screening of this award-winning documentary this coming Monday, February 21st, in Knoxville. For more information go to the Facebook event page for the Gasland screening, or click on the event link in the sidebar.

Over the next few months I will be posting article links as well as more detailed blog posts about oil and gas development in Tennessee and other states. In a future post, I'll tell you about a public hearing in Knoxville on Tuesday, February 22nd, and other events in Tennessee where you can learn more, discuss the issues, or voice your concerns and opinions.

Here are some links with information on issues associated with gas and oil well drilling -- and the practice of hydrofracking -- that have citizens across the United States and Canada so concerned:

Sign a petition to ask the state of Tennessee to protect citizens, communities and watersheds from negative impacts of oil and gas well drilling.

Sierra Club's Natural Gas Reform page.

Tennessee Clean Water Network's hydrofracking page.

State of Tennessee Oil and Gas Well Permitting page.

Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project page.

EPA's hydrofracking page.

USGS page on oil and gas resources.

Riverkeeper's industrial gas drilling page.

ProPublica's home page for the series Buried Secrets: Gas Drilling's Environmental Threat.

Gasland: A film by Josh Fox -- action page and information about the documentary.

 

Cumberland Plateau is one of SELC's top 10 endangered places for 2011

The Southern Environmental Law Center has released its list of the Top 10 Endangered Places for 2011. Included is the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee, known for its world class biodiversity and number of rare species and at risk for mountaintop removal mining. Also listed is the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, at risk for potential gas well drilling with hydrofracking methods that threaten water supplies.

 

 

SURVEY: DRINKING WATER POLLUTION CONCERNS FUELING AWARENESS AMONG AMERICANS OF 'FRACKING' USED TO EXTRACT NATURAL GAS

Interesting surveys from the Civil Society Institute sampled more than 1,000 adults last month to see what folks are thinking about issues related to hydrofracking:

Do Americans think natural gas is as "clean" as it is touted as being by the energy industry? Nearly half of Americans (45 percent) are already very or somewhat aware of the controversy about hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") drilling used to tap cheap natural gas supplies in the U.S., according to a new Infogroup/Opinion Research Corporation (Infogroup/ORC) survey conducted for the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI). Among Americans who already are aware of "fracking," more than two out of three (69 percent) are concerned about the drilling technique's possible threat to clean drinking water.

The U.S. fracking survey conducted by CSI – the first national poll to gauge the attitudes of Americans on the subject – was released today along with two separate survey reports for more than 800 New York State/New York City residents and over 400 Pennsylvanians. The national and two state-specific reports are available at http://www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org.

You can also view the survey report with a summary as well as detailed findings, questions and responses (pdf, 394KB).