Beware ‘Boom Town’ Sales Pitch
For Marcellus Shale Drilling, Pitt Prof Warns
New Website & ‘Neighborhood Well Watch’ Training
Coming from Pitt’s Center for Healthy Environments & Communities
Pitt Professor Dan Volz warns folks to be skeptical of the 'boom town' pitch for gas drilling.
Chuck Christen of Pitt spoke about a new website and training program about to begin.
University of Pittsburgh Prof Dan Volz challenges the “boom town” pitch for natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale - a model that claims benefits far outweigh risks.
“Much is said about the benefits of drilling in the Marcellus Shale,” Volz said. “But none of the cost-benefit analyses touted by the gas industry and government take into account what is known as ‘public goods’ - like impacts on air and water.”
Volz spoke to an audience of more than 40 property owners who gathered at an informational meeting on gas drilling issues in Clearville, PA:
He and five other speakers spoke and answered questions at the meeting held at the Pleasant Union Church Building. See the first post on this meeting, published last week: http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/?p=546
The Pitt Prof noted that hydraulic fracturing fluid is more than water and sand, as some suggest. It includes a mix of chemicals in a gel form and these chemicals include toxins like endocrine disruptors.
In addition, he said, “When you hydro frac rock - or inject this water-sand-chemical mix into the shale in order to push out the gas - you are also picking up heavy metals and other harmful elements from the shale formation itself.”
So the production water that is injected into the shale to push out the gas contains toxic chemicals. And the flowback water which returns to the surface now contains heavy metals on top of that.
“No adequate disposal or treatment exists for water used in the hydraulic fracturing process to extract natural gas from shale formations like the Marcellus,” Volz said. “And we are talking about millions of gallons of water.”
As one report indicates, a single, typical horizontal well in the Marcellus Shale requires from 1.5 million to 9 million gallons of water during the 4-6 weeks of hydraulic fracturing that takes place.1
“Some of this water is disposed of in sewage treatment plants - which does nothing to purify the water,” Volz told the audience.
For those who might be considering leasing, Volz advised, “Get your water tested for the byproducts of gas operations before any drilling begins on or near your property. And use a state-accredited testing lab.”
“Bond together with your neighbors,” he added. “Hire good lawyers; and ask to see detailed plans, including how your property will be impacted and put back together.”
Potential lease signers might also want to read two previous posts on this website: Marcellus Powerball at this link: http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/?p=494
And Sweet Lease 1 at this link: http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/?p=504
This was a return visit to Clearville for Volz and colleague Chuck Christen, Director of Operations for the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) at the University of Pittsburgh.
Last year, they spoke with area residents and listened to landowner reports about possible environmental and health effects related to gas drilling operations.
On this return trip, Christen provided an update on several areas of activity.
Baseline Research
A baseline research proposal to understand the health and environmental impact of gas drilling has been submitted for funding, he said. Pitt’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) will collaborate with others like John Stolz, Professor of Environmental Microbiology at Duquesne University, who also addressed the audience.
“For example,” Christen said, “where does the frac fluid go once it is in the ground, because not all of it comes back up to the surface. The disposal of frac water is a big issue; and it will be part of our research at Pitt.”
“But good research takes time,” Christen cautioned. “Even if we started in July, we’re probably not going to have information back for at least a year or more.”
In the meantime, there is much that can be done, he said. “As a participatory, community-based environmental research center, CHEC is moving ahead in several areas.
New Website: Gathering & Sharing Information
CHEC will soon launch a website to collect, organize, share and distribute information citizens can use to monitor and track the impact of gas drilling operations. The website will also provide information tools to help educate the public.
The software on the website is so easy and effective to use, Christen said, that it is being introduced to an Amazon tribe to track logging that is infringing on their lands - some 600,000 acres of the rainforest.
“For example,” he said, “you could use the software on this website to create a map showing how many drilling sites are found in a 25-mile radius from where we sit.”
A sign-up sheet was provided for members of the audience who wanted to begin providing information for the project.
‘Neighborhood Watch’ Workshops
Pitt’s CHEC team will soon start to train citizens on what to observe about gas drilling operations and how to report it. Christen said they would work through a range of organizations, including Trout Unlimited, local rod and gun clubs, fishing clubs, Sierra Club, League of Women Voters and more.
In the meantime, citizens can go to CHEC’s website where there is a section on Marcellus Shale that is updated regularly. Link: http://www.chec.pitt.edu/MarcellusShale.html
Coming up, the Mayor of DISH, Texas, Calvin Tillman, is taking on the gas industry for environmental and health problem surfacing in Texas and in states across the country.
Mayor Tillman is returning to Pennsylvania and New York for a “Marcellus Shale Public Speaking Tour.” One of his stops will be in Clearville, PA, on Saturday, April 17 at 7:00 pm. This meeting will be held at the Pleasant Union Church in Clearville.
Links & Resources
1 Worth reading: Hancock & The Marcellus Shale, 40-page booklet from Columbia University’s Urban Design Program, published in the Spring of 2009. Easy-to-read, illustrated report on what to expect. Available as a downloadable pdf file: <http://www.osiny.org/custom/HancockAndTheMarcellusShale.pdf> [For the water usage reference, see "Water Withdrawal," p. 10 on print document; p. 14 of pdf file.]
Speakers on Natural Gas Drilling, Clearville, PA
Ron Gulla - a property owner from Hickory in Washington County, PA (outside of Pittsburgh), who speaks knowledgeably and passionately about his personal experience with Range Resources and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. See previous post: http://www.spectraenergywatch.com/blog/?p=546
Conrad Dan Volz - Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. Volz is also Director for the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities there. For additional background, see link: http://www.pitt.edu/~cdv5/Biography.htm
Chuck Christen - Director of Operations for the Center for Healthy Environments and Communities (CHEC) at the University of Pittsburgh. Website link: http://www.chec.pitt.edu/
John Stolz - Professor of Environmental Microbiology and Director of the Center for Environmental Research and Education at Duquesne University. For additional background, see link: http://www.duq.edu/science/faculty/stolz.cfm
Ken Gayman - Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Vice President of the Mon/Yough Chapter #3. The Society is attached to California University of Pennsylvania (California, PA). He has addressed forums on the protection of archaeological sites and ground water from gas drilling. He is a former combat Marine who will not permit gas companies to drill on his property.
Diane Kisner - Laboratory Manager with Mountain Research, a state-accredited environmental engineering and laboratory services company serving customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. Toll-free phone: 800-837-4674. Website: http://www.mountainresearch.com/