(western NY) Natural gas boom brings riches to a rural town

[phantom power]

A few hours east down the southern tier from where I grew up

Like many rural towns, Wellsboro is getting rich from the rush to develop the Marcellus Shale, a formation stretching from New York to West Virginia that contains enough natural gas to satisfy U.S. demand for 20 years or more, experts say.

It is expected to become the most productive of America's shale gas fields.

The boom has also transformed the lives of some local farmers who, after struggling financially for years, now find themselves with six- or seven-figure checks from the gas companies in return for leasing their land for drilling.

Tim Gooch, a partner in the Wellsboro office of the accounting firm ParenteBeard LLC, recalled a dairy farmer client who had run up about $500,000 in debt over 20 years because of depressed milk prices and rising farm costs.

But then in 2008, the farmer got a gas-lease check for $800,000, allowing him to pay off his debts and own his 300 acres outright for the first time, Gooch said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6341Y420100405

[no_hypocrisy]

1. The excavation for natural gas tends to ruin the acquifiers and water supplies.

Rendering the water unsuitable for drinking and cleaning.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x240063

[phantom power]

2. Yes.

[naaman fletcher]

3. Tell that to people in Oklahoma and Dallas.

We drink our water just fine, thank you.

[phantom power]

4. Shale fracking has been implicated in some aquifer contaminations.

In NY and PA, there is a rush to develop some regs on what chemicals they use for fracking Marcellus, and what they do with the blow back.

[naaman fletcher]

5. Yes, in some,

but the blanket statement that natural gas drilling tends to contaminate acquifers is not true.

[phantom power]

6. I consider the aquifer contamination to be a significant problem. However...

that aside, the CO2 release from burning all this NG will do more damage at the end of the day. And no regulation will avoid that.

[OKIsItJustMe]

13. Well... let's see what the EPA finds

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d0cf6618525a9efb85257359003fb69d/ba591ee790c58d30852576ea004ee3ad!OpenDocument

EPA Initiates Hydraulic Fracturing Study: Agency seeks input from Science Advisory Board

Release date: 03/18/2010

Contact Information: Enesta Jones (MEDIA CALLS ONLY), [e-mail], 202-564-7873, 202-564-4355, Lina Younes (PUBLIC INQUIRIES ONLY), [e-mail], 202-564-9924

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will conduct a comprehensive research study to investigate the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health. Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future and the process known as hydraulic fracturing is one way of accessing that vital resource. There are concerns that hydraulic fracturing may impact ground water and surface water quality in ways that threaten human health and the environment. To address these concerns and strengthen our clean energy future and in response to language inserted into the fiscal year 2010 Appropriations Act, EPA is re-allocating $1.9 million for this comprehensive, peer-reviewed study for FY10 and requesting funding for FY11 in the president’s budget proposal.

“Our research will be designed to answer questions about the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing on human health and the environment,” said Dr. Paul T. Anastas, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “The study will be conducted through a transparent, peer-reviewed process, with significant stakeholder input.”

EPA is in the very early stages of designing a hydraulic fracturing research program. The agency is proposing the process begin with (1) defining research questions and identifying data gaps; (2) conducting a robust process for stakeholder input and research prioritization; (3) with this input, developing a detailed study design that will undergo external peer-review, leading to (4) implementing the planned research studies.

To support this initial planning phase and guide the development of the study plan, the agency is seeking suggestions and comments from the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB)—an independent, external federal advisory committee. The agency has requested that the Environmental Engineering Committee (EEC) of the SAB evaluate and provide advice on EPA’s proposed approach. The agency will use this advice and extensive stakeholder input to guide the design of the study.

Hydraulic fracturing is a process that drills vertical and horizontal cracks underground that help withdraw gas, or oil, from coalbeds, shale and other geological formations. While each site is unique, in general, the process involves vertical and horizontal drilling, taking water from the ground, injecting fracturing fluids and sands into the formation, and withdrawing gas and separating and managing the leftover waters.

A federal register notice was issued March 18, announcing a SAB meeting April 7-8.

More information on hydraulic fracturing: http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/uic/wells_hydrofrac.html

...

[FBaggins]

7. That's a dramatic overstatement

"Tends to" implies quite a bit more than what has been observed to date. It can have a negative impact on the environment (as can oil drilling or coal mining), but it does not "tend to" do that.

On edit - I see that this point has been made. Your reply that the burning of the fuel has a larger long-term impact is a good one...

...but it raises the question of how much damage is done from the exploration/recovery compared to oil/coal and more "traditional" gas sources - and, if it's greater, how that gap compares to the "greener" advantages of buring the gas over coal/oil.

[DCKit]

8. It's the fracking, not the drilling.

If they were simply drilling, no problem, but they're fracturing the rock underlaying entire regions of the state and all kinds of crap is coming up and into the water.

[FBaggins]

9. There is no compelling evidence of that at this point.

"Simply drilling" has caused similar problems in the past... it's speculation at this point that there's something more sinister going on in these cases. The shale is not usually close enough to the water table to assume that this would be a common problem.

Could it happen? Sure. And when it does they need to pay for it.

[phantom power]

10. I asked my dad about the water table thing...

because people have been fracking NG wells for a long long time, but these water problems showed up w/ the shale fracking. His take is that shale develops vertical joints that didn't happen with older sandstone drilling. Allows avenue for fracking chemicals up to aquifer.

Also, the newer horizontal drilling techniques may figure into it.

He used to take me with him when he inspected NG sites in western NY. Back then it was sandstone.

[FBaggins]

11. Not an unreasonable theory...

...but the shale is several thousand feet down (well below the water table) and there are other layers in between. You would have to see "verticle joints" that cross multiple geological boundaries.

I'd say that it's far more likely that there are two distinct factors involved. One would be the gas itself leaving the less permeable shale and passing through more permeable layers... but that can happen almost anywhere. The second is likely to be surface (or near surface) spills on the part of the drilling companies. Something that gets into the water the same way many polutants do (and which should be simpler to regulate and/or punish).

[malakai2]

12. Surface spills are not easy to regulate or punish

Spills happen, it's a fact of life. Some are reported, many are not, and many of those are not cleaned up. States vary in their reporting requirements. Enforcement can be lax for a variety of reasons. Actual punishments, depending on the state, range from a slap on the wrist to nothing whatsoever.

Were the public not so divorced from what the process of well drilling and fracking entails, this would not be the case.