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Shale gas environmental issues: A Natural Resource Perspective John Quigley John H Quigley, LLC
Shale gas environmental issues:
A Natural Resource Perspective
John Quigley
John H Quigley, LLC
A global issue…
PA…A cautionary tale
PA’s History
Punctuated by waves of natural resource extraction…
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PA’s History
Drake’s first oil well
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PA’s History
Timbering over of millions of acres of forests to fuel the early
days of the Industrial Revolution
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PA’s History
King Coal
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In Each Case
PA got it wrong
Privatized profits, socialized costs
Blighted environment
Uncounted unplugged wells
180K acres of abandoned mine lands
5,000 miles of polluted streams
Multi-billion dollar /perpetual clean up bill
Blighted communities (during/ghost towns after)
Impaired public health
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Now Consider…
Marcellus underlays 2/3 of PA
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Now Consider…
At least 7M acres – 25% of PA land area – leased for
drilling
60K? 200K? wells drilled in PA in next 20 years
Each well = millions of gallons of water; refrac?
1000’s mi. of roads
@ 60K wells:15K mi. gathering lines, 1700 mi. pipelines,
industrial infrastructure, (TNC, 2010)
Air, water, soils, habitat, other impacts…
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Now Consider…
Utica?
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The Marcellus/Utica Era
The wave of natural gas development that is just
beginning to sweep over PA will have profound
environmental impacts.
Change the face of Penn’s Woods
@ 60K wells, 3-8% of PA forest damaged (TNC 2010)
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The Marcellus/Utica Era
Cumulative impacts will dwarf all of PA’s previous
waves of resource extraction combined.
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Oil/shallow gas Timbering
Marcellus Utica
Coal
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New York?
PA’s Public Lands: Under the drill
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PA’s State Forest
2.2 million acres
First, longest-certified sustainable public forest in US
12% of PA forested land, 88% of certified forest
A working forest, managed in balance
Critical to PA’s:
Environment – air, water…
Forest products industry
90K jobs, 3000 businesses, 10% of manufacturing workforce
Entrée to $5B “green” wood market
Tourism economy
PA’s 2nd largest industry - $33B impact
Quality of life
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The Numbers… The Impacts…
1.5 million acres SFL in Marcellus fairway
700,000 acres available for exploration
1/3 total state forest
40% SFL in PA Wilds
Next 15-20 years - 10K-12K wells?
Plus infrastructure
Cumulative impacts?
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The Limits
All unleased SFL is environmentally sensitive
2009-2010 – DCNR analysis - no additional leasing
w/surface disturbance without threatening ecological
integrity, wild character of the state forest
2010 - Governor Rendell signed an executive order
prohibiting additional leasing
DCNR – monitoring program
WWCD?
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PA State Parks
117 state parks
2009 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and
Recreation Management by American Academy for Park
and Recreation Administration, National Recreation and
Park Association
38 million visitors
Return $10 to local economies for every $1 invested by
PA (PSU, 2010)
$818 million in local sales
More than 10,500 local jobs
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61 state parks lie atop
Marcellus
PA owns 15% -20% of
state park mineral
rights
Coming to a State Park Near You…
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However, Marcellus (and other shales):
Vast source of domestically-produced energy
Landowner wealth
New jobs
Replace gasoline, diesel in our vehicles
Replace coal in our power plants (and reduce water
consumption for electricity generation)
Reduce soot, mercury pollution, no ash disposal
Improve public health
Enhance national energy security
Reduce global warming emissions *
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* About that Asterisk
Artic Monitoring and Assessment Program:
Record high temperatures in the Arctic – higher than any time
in the last 2,000 years – are melting glaciers and ice caps at a
rate that is projected to raise global sea levels by 3 to 5 FEET
by the year 2100.
That's up from a 2007 projection of 7 to 23 inches by the
U.N.'s scientific panel on climate change.
Gas - 50%-55% less CO2 emissions than coal (NETL, 2011)
Bridge to renewable future
Facilitate renewable energy deployment (Worldwatch Institute, 2010)
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Getting it Right
The right regulations
The right enforcement
The right monitoring
The right taxation
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Fracking Technology
Developed in states with different land forms
Applied to eastern forests for the first time in PA
Much to learn
Ample reasons for caution
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PA Problems
Gas migration
Contamination of drinking water wells
caused by improper well construction
Leaks of wastewater pits
Fracking fluid, diesel, other spills at surface
Well blowouts, explosions, fires
Gas bubbling in middle of Susquehanna River
Thousands of recorded violations of enviro regs
Infrastructure damage
Social impacts
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The Odds…
Scale, pace, volumes…
The sheer number of wells that are/will be drilled in
coming decades makes incidents inevitable
A daily occurrence across PA
State government must plan accordingly
Full regulatory program
Monitoring program
Robust enforcement
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Heroic Work
Over last 2 years, PA’s Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) put into place:
Drilling-related policies
Regulations
Fee increases
Staffing increases
Provided essential protections for PA’s water,
environment, public health
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PA: Strong State Regulator of Drilling…
Protective water withdrawal policies
Drilling w/w must be treated to Safe Drinking Water
Standard for TDS if returned to a river
New rules on well design, materials, construction,
monitoring, testing and disclosure of chemicals
150-foot buffer requirement from all development for
High Quality streams
DEP doubled drilling staff by raising drilling application
fees
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PA: Strongest State Regulator of
Drilling…
2011:
TDS testing done quarterly and radionuclide testing once
per year.
Results to date show drinking water meets Safe Drinking
Water Act requirements
DEP Request – no drilling w/w to POTW - zero
discharge (subject to verification)
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…But More, World-Class Regs Needed
Proposed:
Extend well operator's presumptive liability for water
pollution from 1,000’ to 2,500’
Restrict deep gas drilling within 500’ of private water
wells and within 1,000’ of a public water supply;
Prohibit deep gas drilling in flood plains;
Comprehensive cradle to grave tracking of wastewater
Increasing bonding requirements for deep gas wells
Tougher penalties for violations
Grant DEP authority to condition well permit based on
assessment of impact on public resources
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More, World-Class Regs Needed
Need:
Required disclosure of amount/chemical characteristics of
frack water and wastewater
Lifecycle methane emissions
Protection of local government authority
Local air pollution controls
Public lands protections (where mineral rights are
privately owned)
Require100% water recycling
Reduce surface impacts
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What to Do?
Abundance of caution in protecting irreplaceable water
resources is defensible
More study – beyond EPA – is needed
Scientific research on impacts of fracking to groundwater (local
and total)
Cumulative impacts (air, water, soils, habitat, etc.)
Baseline data needed
Continual wastewater monitoring
Long term ground/surface water monitoring
Regulation must follow where the science leads
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Collaborative Model
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http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/ucmprd1/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_004055.pdf
Taxation
PA - the only gas-producing state in the nation that
does not have a drilling tax.
Natural gas production must be taxed responsibly
Benefit all Pennsylvanians
Pay for statewide environmental restoration
Make whole communities impacted by drilling
Support basic functions of government in a challenging fiscal
climate
Facilitate the shift to cleaner burning sources of energy that
grow our economy, protect public health and the environment
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New York…
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New York…
DEC’s revised recommendations (reversing 2009 draft):
No fracking in NYC, Syracuse watersheds, buffer zone.
No drilling in primary aquifers, 500’ buffer zone.
No surface drilling on state-owned land
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New York…
No drilling w/in 500’ of private water well or domestic
use spring, in 100-year floodplain, or w/in 2,000’ of a
public drinking water supply well or reservoir - at least
until 3 years of experience evaluated.
Additional well casing, watertight tanks, secondary
containment
New permit process for stormwater control measures.
Water withdrawal permitting
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New York…
Disposal of flowback water, production brine,
Monitor disposal of flowback water, production brine, drill
cuttings and other drilling waste streams similar to
medical waste.
POTW analysis
Local governments notification, driller plans must be
consistent w/local land use/zoning laws.
Disclose of chemicals
Evaluate alternative additives that pose less potential risk.
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New York…
Enhanced air pollution controls on well pads, use of
existing pipelines when available vs. flaring gas.
BMPs required for disturbing surface of privately-owned
forestland of ≥150 acres or privately-owned grasslands of
≥ 30 acres.
Community impacts study
High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel
@ 85% of the Marcellus Shale in New York State accessible
to natural gas extraction
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With a prudent, thoughtful public policy
response, Marcellus shale natural gas
development can be an environmental victory
that grows our economy.
Whether we achieve that victory is up to all
of us.
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