Pipeline Protest, Well Blowout, Free RDA Event

[RDA - Responsible Drilling Alliance]

Pipeline Protest – Call to Action

 

RDA is grateful for the consistent and tireless support Earthjustice has offered us as we seek to advocate for the health and safety of our land, air, water, and all the lives and life forms impacted by gas drilling. Of all the big NGOs, Earthjustice has consistently stepped up, providing advice, supporting RDA’s campaigns, and lending legal expertise. The organization has our admiration and sincere gratitude. Many of us have made financial contributions to Earthjustice, and we certainly encourage you to do the same. Visit them at: http://www.earthjustice.org

 

Many of you, as members of RDA, frequently ask,  “What can we do?” The best answer is - make your voice heard. Speak up within your circle of influence. Speak out by taking action when requests appear in this newsletter. RDA members have previously had an impact on effecting positive regulatory change. Much more is needed, and the calls to action will continue.

 

Today, the most time-sensitive issue involves the environmental review process for a pipeline proposed for the Endless Mountains region of northeastern PA.  The MARC I Hub Line project would run through Bradford, Sullivan, and Lycoming Counties. A hubline is a very large gas pipeline that would connect to smaller pipelines that connect to individual gas wells. Two enormous compressor stations, and many smaller compressors, would be built as part of the project. This hub line, and all the gathering lines that would feed it, would permanently alter the landscape of a very large tract of rural and wooded land. Specific areas of impact are listed below. 

 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must approve this pipeline.  Earthjustice and RDA are requesting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project, instead of a much more superficial Environmental Assessment (EA).  FERC has announced that it plans to issue only an EA on May 27, 2011, and it will offer 30 days for comment.

 

TAKE ACTION by contacting FERC and expressing your concerns. In order to be heard, your comments MUST be relevant to the issues at hand – that is, that the MARC 1 Hub Line Project, if permitted, would have significant impacts on health, safety, and/or the environment of this tri-county region.

 

Listed below are six factors that might persuade the Commission to prepare an EIS.  Choose what is most important to you, and feel free to add your own comments within the arena of “significant impact”.

 

In order to submit your comments on line, you must follow the registration process available at: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling.asp. 
Written letters can be submitted to: 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
888 First Street, NE 
Washington, DC 20426

 

Please be sure to reference the MARC 1 Hub Line Project in all correspondence. 
Points to consider when requesting a complete Environmental Impact Statement include:

1. The affected area has unique characteristics, such as historic resources, wetlands, and ecologically important areas. The Project will cross 91 streams and affect 41 wetlands, including the Susquehanna River watershed and the sub-basins of Wyalusing Creek, North Branch Susquehanna River, Sugar Run, Mehoopany Creek, Towanda Creek, Loyalsock Creek, and Muncy Creek. More than 300 acres of forest will be cleared during construction of the Project, and about 150 acres of forest will remain cleared forever because of the Project.  Fragmenting unbroken forests not only makes the area less habitable for wildlife, but it also diminishes the forest’s ability to filter water, absorb rain, and replenish groundwater, all of which are critical for a clean drinking water supply.
   
   
2. The Project will threaten public safety. Construction of the Project would bring heavy equipment and pipe-stringing trucks into an area with many pedestrians and cyclists, including children and the elderly. After the Project is built, gas development and the construction of gathering lines that will connect to the MARC I will require thousands more heavy truck trips. The local roads are not built for heavy trucks, and accidents are more likely in mountainous areas. There are not adequate emergency services in this area to respond when there are explosions, fires, spills, or other accidents.
   
   
3. There has not been an adequate field survey for endangered species. The endangered Indiana bat, which is already threatened by a highly contagious disease, may bear its young in the area that will be affected by the Project.
   
   
4. There is a serious dispute about the Project’s impacts. As of April 18, 2011, nearly 500 public comments have been submitted to the Commission about the Project, most of them expressing substantive concerns and opposition. Audubon Pennsylvania has written to the Commission expressing its concerns about the Project’s impact on migratory birds. The Stroud Water Research Center based in Pennsylvania has expressed its concerns about the Project’s impact on the state’s water resources.
   
   
5. The Project involves unique and unknown risks. There is almost no research on the impacts of pipeline construction and gas development in sensitive areas like those where the pipeline will be built. 
   
   
6. The Project has cumulatively significant effects. In addition to transporting gas between two existing pipelines, the Project will gather gas from producers.  Gathering lines will connect existing wells, and new wells will be drilled and connected all along the hubline’s 39-mile length.  The MARC I Project, therefore, will have intense and widespread cumulative impacts.

 

Please circulate this information to all potentially interested people, especially residents of the affected area.  Deborah Goldberg, Managing Attorney at Earthjustice, would be happy to answer any questions you may have at: Earthjustice, 156 William Street, Suite 800, New York, New York 10038 
Phone: 212-791-1881 x227    Fax: 212-918-1556    http://www.earthjustice.org

 

Bradford County Gas Well Blowout

 

Late week, thousands of gallons of what the gas industry calls “produced water”, and what many folks commonly refer to as frack water, gushed from a blown gas well in Bradford County.  For two days, until the well could be plugged, thousands of gallons of hazardous waste--including chemicals from the original fracking fluid combined with heavy metals, salt, and radioactive elements--gushed from the well to saturate the ground and flow into a small tributary of the Susquehanna River. 

 

The day after the blowout, Mark Smith, Chairman of the Bradford County Commissioners, sent this letter to Governor Corbett. RDA believes Smith’s letter echoes sentiments that many of us share. The letter may also be an ominous look at Lycoming County’s future, as the type of gas development that has occurred in Bradford County is just in the early stages here. As we look north, we can see what is to come closer to home.

 

April 20, 2011
Dear Governor Corbett,
 
Issue after issue has arisen in Bradford County in relation to the development of natural gas in Bradford County. Most recently there was a major incident involving a well blowout in Leroy Township, Bradford County. This major incident is just one more issue our county is dealing with in regards to the development of the Marcellus Shale.
 
I have a number of concerns I would like to address in relation to these important issues that are unfolding in the county I was elected to represent.
 
DEP officials are quoted in the media as saying they spend as little as 35 minutes to approve each gas well permit. This is an appalling statistic considering the significant operations and impact of a natural gas drilling site and even more appalling considering that there have been nearly 2,000 gas wells permitted in Bradford County.
 
In recent weeks it has been reported that DEP is now requiring Marcellus Shale violations to be approved by top DEP officials before being levied on gas companies. This practice strikes at the heart of the integrity of that organization. It does irreparable damage to the local areas in the Marcellus Shale with the environmental damage that has become an everyday reality in Bradford County.
 
Well water contamination in Bradford County is a real and serious issue that is affecting residents’ quality of life, livelihoods, families, and property values. Water buffalos, temporary water storage tanks, now lay claim to peoples’ front yards as a stark reminder of the extreme negative impact that natural gas development is having on our local communities.
 
Last year I put forth much effort working for a severance tax that would include an equitable share for local communities. It was a failed attempt but a sincere effort to ensure our county is taken care of through this development. I continue to see our county, townships, and boroughs struggle with complex issues of development with no financial or logistical support from the Commonwealth. Emergency responders, volunteers, state and local police and dispatchers are working at a break neck pace to respond to immense traffic accident increases, well site accidents, and other related issues.
 
I have heard politicians in complete favor of the gas industry use the phrase, “We don’t want to kill the golden goose”. I would like to state, for the record, that the “Golden Goose” does not exist. It is no more part of reality than the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny.
Lastly, I would like to address the outstanding issue regarding Bradford County’s lack of representation on your appointed Marcellus Shale Commission. Bradford County has had the unique experience of being the most drilled in county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Yet, despite that fact, no one from our county was appointed to your commission. The fact our county was not taken into consideration is a direct insult to our county.
 
I have been working to, at least, find a way for some of our agencies to be heard by the commission or one of its work groups. To date I have not been successful. I have called and e-mailed the Lt. Governor’s Office and tried working through one of our state representatives to no avail. What a shame that a county with the most experience dealing with the impact of natural gas development seems to have been blackballed from comment to what will be your basis for setting Marcellus Shale policy.
 
I ask you to take our county and others like it seriously as you move forward setting policy in regards to Marcellus Shale development. The economic benefit of this development is unquestionable. However, it is also unquestionable that when left unattended, the negatives outweigh the positives quickly and heavily.
 
Best Regards,
 
Mark W. Smith
Chairman, Bradford County Commissioners

 

SHALETEST - TOMORROW! 
Learn how to get the water, soil, and air testing you need, but may not be able to afford. Plan to attend this FREE event to be held in Hughesville tomorrow.

Protest at Gov. Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission Meeting

Wednesday, April 27 
11:30 – 1:30 
Outside the DEP office, Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market St., Harrisburg, PA 17101

 

Gov. Corbett has established a Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission that is stacked with gas drilling companies and campaign contributors.  We need to let them know that we want a real Commission that is balanced and represents people who are impacted by gas drilling.  The state should listen to what people in Pennsylvania really want them to do about Marcellus Shale drilling.  They shouldn’t just listen to oil and gas companies.  Join us in speaking out on April 27!

 

The Commission will be meeting from 10:30 – 3:30.  You can sign up at the meeting to give public comment to the Commission, most likely at 3:00.

 

Endorsed by:  Gas Truth of Central PA, Peach Bottom Concerned Citizens Group, Community Action Forum on Marcellus Shale Gas (Lancaster Co.), Clean Water Action, Protecting Our Waters, Responsible Drilling Alliance, Transition Harrisburg, and PA Campaign for Clean Water

 

For more information contact: pit...@cleanwater.org or call Steve at 412-765-3053, x210
For carpooling from Williamsport, conta...@responsibledrillingalliance.org