EC March 2012

ec@lists.wvsierraclub.org

8 participants
26 discussions

It is impossible to overstate the damage done by Sierra Club's $26 million sell-out to the natural gas industry 3 years ago when this argument could still have been won.
by William V. DePaulo, Esq. 21 Mar '12

21 Mar '12

[image: Inline image 1] Gas it is Renewables take back seat Bill Opalka <http://www.renewablesbiz.com/author/bill-opalka> | Mar 20, 2012 [image: Share/Save]<http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.renewablesbiz.com%2…> <http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/12/03/gas-it&utm_medium=eNL&utm_campai…> The shine is off renewable energy and shale gas is the new disruptive technology in power generation. Harnessing Disruption is the theme of this year’s EnergyBiz Leadership Forum<http://www.energybizforum.com/>in Washington, D.C. this week, and that means gas-fired generation from unconventional sources is jumpin’. Recession, rising energy costs and competing interests that could hamstring the power sector all play a role. And renewables are sometimes seen as a stress point as utilities seek to meet state mandates for their renewable portfolio standards. The dim prospects for any carbon legislation for the foreseeable future are responsible, combined with downward price pressures from the gas glut. “Low gas pricing is really giving us some breathing room,” said Anthony F. Earley Jr., chairman and CEO of PG&E Corporation <http://www.pge.com/>(NYSE: PG&E). Renewable energy is competing for attention, and even as its costs decline, natural gas dominates the discussion. Earley, the new executive at the San Francisco utility, is a different circumstance than many of his colleagues. With California’s 33% renewable portfolio standard by 2020, he said that’s effectively 50% as most hydropower doesn’t count under the standard. But there was little talk about state renewable portfolio standards this year. Consider some of the headline speakers of the first three forums to get a sense of how the landscape has shifted. Three years ago Boone Pickens was touting massive wind farms in the Great Plains. In 2010, Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) was shepherding cap-and-trade legislation through the U.S. House of Representatives. A year ago, Google caused a stir with plans for a backbone transmission plan for offshore wind, with the Atlantic Wind Connection <http://atlanticwindconnection.com/> outlining its $5 billion project. But now the issue is managing expectations as costs rise and much of the public is still ill-informed, and sensitive to price shocks as gasoline tops $4 a gallon. “A certain part of the public thinks we can get off Mideast oil by building windmills, but we only get 1% of power from oil,” said Thomas F. Farrell II, president and CEO of Dominion <http://www.dom.com/> (NYSE: D). “The industry has $2 trillion in refurbishment of the grid, as we try to optimize how we handle our investments of what to build over the next two decades,” said Nick Akins, president and CEO of AEP <http://www.aep.com/>(NYSE: AEP). Even as recent as a year ago, the choice seemed to be renewables or nuclear, with much talk of natural gas as the bridge fuel. Now, gas is the fuel of choice due to its low cost and quick turnaround in building plants. A slow decline in attention paid by government support may not change, as wind and solar are under threat of collapse if tax credits expire, particularly for wind, at the end of 2012. Regardless of the resource base or the preferred resource of any CEO, the detrimental lack of a national energy policy is something on which all can agree, regardless of the year. The editorial staff at RenewablesBiz.com is passionate about exchanging ideas and dedicated to promoting ongoing conversation about renewable and sustainable energy issues. We invite you to join and contribute to our online community. If you have an idea for an article or editorial contribution, please contact me via email, bopalka(a)energycentral.com, or phone, 860.633.0090. -- William V. DePaulo, Esq. 179 Summers Street, Suite 232 Charleston, WV 25301-2163 Tel 304-342-5588 Fax 304-342-5505 william.depaulo(a)gmail.com www.passeggiata.com

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Fwd: "Beneficial" Reuse of Ash in FL: A rural road-paving project becomes an environmental disaster for JEA
by Jim Sconyers 21 Mar '12

21 Mar '12

Awful coal ash story devastating an ordinary homeowner. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Lisa Evans <levans(a)earthjustice.org> Date: Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 10:19 AM Subject: "Beneficial" Reuse of Ash in FL: A rural road-paving project becomes an environmental disaster for JEA To: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE(a)lists.sierraclub.org http://www.folioweekly.com/folio0320wkl008.php Road Trip A rural road-paving project becomes an environmental disaster for JEA – with a potentially hefty price tag Folio Weekly, Jacksonville, Florida Written by Susan Cooper Eastman Published March 20, 2012 When Steven Johnson accepted 16 tons of free coal ash from JEA’s coal-powered Northside Generating Station more than two years ago, the agency assured him it was as “safe as sand.” So Johnson spread the pebbly white material liberally over the dirt roads of his 30-acre Black Water Farm in Middleburg. He paved a road through wetlands, a boat ramp into Black Creek, an area near his drinking water well and roads on his neighbor’s property. He says one JEA representative was so impressed with how he applied the material, which JEA markets as EZBase, that he brought prospective clients out to Black Water Ranch to show them how Johnson was using it. But even as Johnson was spreading the stuff around his home, the federal government was considering whether to classify coal ash as a hazardous waste. Although the state of Florida has approved EZBase for a number of road-paving uses, that approval was based on strict compacting standards and application guidelines that are, in practice, not always followed. Loosely applied, the stuff leaches many of the same pollutants that make coal ash toxic, and that have prompted the state to require it be disposed of in a lined landfill. Folio Weekly previously reported about Johnson in the April 13, 2010 story “Road to Hell,” after he and a neighbor were cited by the state Department of Environmental Protection for applying the material in violation of state restrictions. The citation said the EZBase wasn’t properly compacted, meaning it could wash away and contaminate the surrounding area, and was improperly used near wetlands and in residential areas. Johnson insists that the JEA employee who offered him the EZBase rode all over his land with him and didn’t tell him anything about the restrictions. Still, DEP cited Johnson for the violation, and said the material needed to be excavated and removed. (At the time, Johnson wouldn’t talk to the media because he was working out a settlement with DEP and JEA.) Two years later, Johnson’s property is still covered with EZBase. JEA already removed the material from Johnson’s neighbor’s property, but the agency has not yet agreed to remove the material from Johnson’s property or responded to his request that JEA compensate him for the loss of value to his property and attorney fees. A 2010 report that Johnson commissioned from Moran Environmental Recovery that he provided last week to Folio Weekly estimated the cost of removing the 12 tons of EZBase and another four tons of contaminated soil at $653,640. Replacing the soil with clean fill would bring the total cost close to $1 million. Beyond fixed costs, there are intangible ones. A 2010 real estate appraisal from Broom, Moody, Johnson and Grainger Inc. estimated that Johnson’s property was worth $470,000 before he covered it with EZBase, but that it will drop $70,000 in value — even after the EZBase is removed — because of the stigma of contamination. In its current state, the company valued the property as a liability — at a negative –$486,300. “I’m a little guy,” he says. “I ain’t no millionaire like JEA.” Johnson now feels like JEA used his farm as a toxic dump. He worries about allowing his 3-year-old daughter Kelsey to play outside. He fears she’ll ingest poisons, breathe in the EZBase dust or absorb it through her skin. Preliminary tests he had done of the property in 2010 show reason for concern. The arsenic levels in the soil samples were four times the level the state considers safe and the levels of vanadium were 75 times the state standard. “JEA is the ones with the knowledge and the science about how to use this stuff,” he said. “I put it out here thinking I was going to improve my property. After I did my homework on it, I began to see that it’s not good, it’s not good at all.” JEA first began selling EZBase as a paving material in 2005, for $50 a truckload. Like other coal-powered electric generating stations, JEA facilities produce a sludge waste that’s a combination of fly ash and bottom ash from their silos. The ash contains heavy metals like lead, mercury, vanadium and boron, which in high concentrations can cause birth defects, lung disease, cancers, nerve disorders and other illnesses. But when the sludge hardens, it becomes like concrete. If properly compacted, JEA testing shows, the toxins are contained in the hardened material. JEA has promoted EZBase as a means of recycling, and has the strong support of the state DEP, which considers the paving material a beneficial reuse of an otherwise hazardous waste. DEP issued permits for each EZBase application. The federal Environmental Protection Agency also supports reuse, but admitted late last year that there hasn’t been enough testing done to determine the safety of coal ash byproducts. Some utilities recycle their ash into drywall or roofing shingles, bowling balls and even cosmetics. Prompted in part by the catastrophic collapse of a coal pond in Tennessee in 2008, which sent a billion gallons of coal ash sludge into Emory River, EPA has been considering for the past two years whether to classify coal ash as a hazardous waste and require that concentrations of heavy metals in it be reduced before it is dumped. (In January, the legal nonprofit Earthjustice announced it would sue EPA for delaying its decision.) For JEA, the questions surrounding the safety of EZBase have proved costly. DEP has required the utility to remove it or cover it with a top coat at a number of locations in Northeast Florida. JEA spokesperson Gerry Boyce said there is no estimate yet of what it will cost to clear out Johnson’s EZBase, but the agency began removing the four tons of EZBase that Steven Johnson spread on neighbor James Evans’ property in December 2011. The removal cost about $20,000, and raised additional contamination concerns. Neighbors complained that the resulting dust covered everything and that trucks were leaving the property uncovered. “There were probably 20 dump trucks in and out of here every day,” says neighbor Bonnie Smith, who lives down the street from Evans and says she had two attacks of bronchitis during the process. “A white dust covered everything. There was a film on my swimming pool, every day.” If EPA does designate coal ash a hazardous waste, utilities say the increased costs of transporting and handling the material would make recycling cost-prohibitive. They’ve lobbied heavily for states to retain regulatory control over its disposal and reuse. In October, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that gives the states’ control over permitting and regulating products like EZBase and prevents the federal government from regulating disposal. The companion bill is in committee in the Senate. But even if EPA takes control of coal ash regulation, it will be too late to make much difference at Johnson’s Black Water Ranch. “I have an absolutely beautiful place here,” Johnson tells Folio Weekly. “It’s like a piece of heaven. It’s not some dump where it’s OK for JEA to bring their EZBase in here and poison it up.” Susan Cooper Eastman sceastman(a)folioweekly.com Lisa Evans Senior Administrative Counsel Earthjustice 21 Ocean Ave. Marblehead, MA 01945 T: (781) 631-4119 F: (212) 918-1556 www.earthjustice.org *please consider the environment before printing The information contained in this email message may be privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying is strictly prohibited. If you think that you have received this email message in error, please notify the sender by reply email and delete the message and any attachments. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To unsubscribe from the COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE list, send any message to: COAL-COMBUSTION-WASTE-signoff-request(a)LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/ -- Jim Sconyers jimscon(a)gmail.com 304.698.9628 Remember, Mother Nature bats last.

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Fwd: WV Watershed Assessment Pilot Project Stakeholer Workshop
by James Kotcon 20 Mar '12

20 Mar '12

Anyone else see this? I have teaching conflicts, so if someone is interested in representing us, let me know. Jim Kotcon 304-293-8822 (office) 304-594-3322 (home) >>> Ruth Thornton <rthornton(a)TNC.ORG> 3/20/2012 11:51 AM >>> You are invited to participate in a Stakeholder/Partner Workshop for The Nature Conservancy’s West Virginia Watershed Association Pilot Project. This is the final of three workshops to design the methodology and final products of our watershed assessment project. The purpose of this workshop is to present the results of the first two Watershed Assessments, introduce our proposed end-user products, and request feedback on the structure and methodology of the products, which will include both a report on each watershed and an interactive web mapping application. Two workshops will be held, your participation is requested for one of these: - Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012, 3pm – 5pm. Focus: Monongahela River watershed. Location: Lakeview Resort, 1 Lakeview Drive, Morgantown, WV. Directions: Located off Exit 10 of Interstate 68, 10 miles east of Interstate 79 on scenic Cheat Lake in Morgantown. http://www.lakeviewresort.com/ - Thursday, April 5th, 2012, 3 pm – 5pm. Focus: Elk River watershed. Location: Steptoe & Johnson Office, 707 Virginia St. E., Suite 715, Charleston, WV. Directions are included in the pdf file attached to this email. Some background about this project: The Nature Conservancy, in cooperation with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, is working on a Watershed Assessment Pilot Project in WV, funded by the US EPA. This is a two- year project conducted in five watersheds. During the first year we are working on the Elk and Monongahela watersheds, and during the second year we will work on the Gauley, Little Kanawha, and Upper Guyandotte. The goals of the project are to: 1) Design and test a process that assesses the condition of aquatic resources and the impacts to those resources within a watershed, including an assessment of cumulative impacts and integration of information with multiple sources within and outside of government agencies. 2) Provide relevant data, strategies/actions, and a decision support tool to assist partners, stakeholders and regulatory staff with decisions affecting aquatic resources. 3) Establish priorities for protection and restoration of aquatic resources, with the goal of a net increase in functional wetland acres and riparian areas in the watershed. 4) Develop common and consistent strategies for various government agencies and non-governmental organizations to partner and utilize various protection and restoration tools to achieve goals established for the watershed. I sincerely hope that you or somebody from your organization will agree to participate. Your guidance and input will help make the objectives of the Watershed Assessment Pilot Project achievable outcomes. For those willing to participate, but unable to attend the workshop, we can make arrangements to talk with you one on one or you can submit written comments. If somebody else from your organization would be more appropriate to attend, please let me know and I will extend the invitation to them. Please let me know by Tuesday, March 27th, if you will be able to attend either of the two workshops. You can contact me by email or phone (listed below) if you have any questions. Thank you, Ruth Please consider the environment before printing this email Ruth Thornton Conservation Information Manager rthornton(a)tnc.org (304) 637-0160 Ext. 102 (Phone) (304) 637-0584 (Fax) nature.org The Nature Conservancy West Virginia Field Office P.O. Box 250 21 Third Street Elkins, WV 26241

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Fossil Fools Day
by Jim Sconyers 19 Mar '12

19 Mar '12

We have declared Sunday, April 1, 2012 as: *Fossil Fools Day!* Plan an event! Have some fun! Go wacky or serious, it's your call! [?][?] Let us know if you want help, what's up, who can come, etc. -- Jim Sconyers jimscon(a)gmail.com 304.698.9628 Remember, Mother Nature bats last.

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Fwd: WVEC Board Meeting 3/24
by James Kotcon 17 Mar '12

17 Mar '12

The WVEC Board meeting is next Saturday, but I am supposed to speak at Mountain Justice Spring Break on Marcellus and Fracking. Is anyone else able to represent the WV Chapter at the WVEC meeting? Jim Kotcon 304-293-8822 (office) 304-594-3322 (home) >>> Denise Poole <deniseap(a)earthlink.net> 3/17/2012 8:30 AM >>> Reminder: The next meeting of the WVEC Board of Directors: Saturday, March 24th - 11 AM - 4 PM Where? The 79er Restaurant, Burnsville, WV Located off I 79, exit 79 (12 miles north of Flatwoods). An agenda will be sent out soon. If you have an agenda item to add, please send to Kevin Smith at a_clean_wv(a)yahoo.com by Tuesday March 20th. We will meet in the Conference / Meeting Room. Lunch can be purchased from the regular menu. Please reply with regrets only. The minutes from our November board meeting are attached. Thanks everyone, Denise Denise Poole, WVEC Coordinator Board member representing Sustainable Living for WV deniseap(a)earthlink.net (304) 617-7073 __._,_.___ Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (1) Recent Activity: Visit Your Group Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use. __,_._,___

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Paul Krugman's NY Times Op-ed today: Natural Born Drillers
by Paul Wilson 16 Mar '12

16 Mar '12

March 15, 2012 March 15, 2012 Natural Born DrillersBy PAUL KRUGMAN<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/pau…> To be a modern Republican in good standing, you have to believe — or pretend to believe — in two miracle cures for whatever ails the economy: more tax cuts for the rich and more drilling for oil<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/oil-petroleu…>. And with prices at the pump on the rise, so is the chant of “Drill, baby, drill.” More and more, Republicans are telling us that gasoline would be cheap and jobs plentiful if only we would stop protecting the environment and let energy companies do whatever they want. Thus Mitt Romney claims that gasoline prices are high not because of saber-rattling over Iran, but because President Obama won’t allow unrestricted drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Meanwhile, Stephen Moore of The Wall Street Journal tells readers that America as a whole could have a jobs boom, just like North Dakota, if only the environmentalists would get out of the way. The irony here is that these claims come just as events are confirming what everyone who did the math already knew, namely, that U.S. energy policy has very little effect either on oil prices or on overall U.S. employment. For the truth is that we’re already having a hydrocarbon boom, with U.S. oil and gas production rising and U.S. fuel imports dropping. If there were any truth to drill-here-drill-now, this boom should have yielded substantially lower gasoline prices and lots of new jobs. Predictably, however, it has done neither. Why the hydrocarbon boom? It’s all about the fracking. The combination of horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing of shale and other low-permeability rocks has opened up large reserves of oil and natural gas<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/natural-gas/…> to production. As a result, U.S. oil production has risen significantly over the past three years, reversing a decline over decades, while natural gas production has exploded. Given this expansion, it’s hard to claim that excessive regulation has crippled energy production. Indeed, reporting in The Times makes it clear that U.S. policy has been seriously negligent — that the environmental costs of fracking have been underplayed and ignored. But, in a way, that’s the point. The reality is that far from being hobbled by eco-freaks, the energy industry has been given a largely free hand to expand domestic oil and gas production, never mind the environment. Strange to say, however, while natural gas prices have dropped, rising oil production and a sharp fall in import dependence haven’t stopped gasoline prices from rising toward $4 a gallon. Nor has the oil and gas boom given a noticeable boost to an economic recovery that, despite better news lately, has been very disappointing on the jobs front. As I said, this was totally predictable. First up, oil prices. Unlike natural gas, which is expensive to ship across oceans, oil is traded on a world market — and the big developments moving prices in that market usually have little to do with events in the United States. Oil prices are up because of rising demand from China and other emerging economies, and more recently because of war scares in the Middle East; these forces easily outweigh any downward pressure on prices from rising U.S. production. And the same thing would happen if Republicans got their way and oil companies were set free to drill freely in the Gulf of Mexico and punch holes in the tundra: the effect on prices at the pump would be negligible. Meanwhile, what about jobs? I have to admit that I started laughing when I saw The Wall Street Journal offering North Dakota as a role model. Yes, the oil boom there has pushed unemployment down to 3.2 percent, but that’s only possible because the whole state has fewer residents than metropolitan Albany — so few residents that adding a few thousand jobs in the state’s extractive sector is a really big deal. The comparable-sized fracking boom in Pennsylvania has had hardly any effect on the state’s overall employment picture, because, in the end, not that many jobs are involved. And this tells us that giving the oil companies carte blanche isn’t a serious jobs program. Put it this way: Employment in oil and gas extraction has risen more than 50 percent since the middle of the last decade, but that amounts to only 70,000 jobs, around one-twentieth of 1 percent of total U.S. employment. So the idea that drill, baby, drill can cure our jobs deficit is basically a joke. Why, then, are Republicans pretending otherwise? Part of the answer is that the party is rewarding its benefactors: the oil and gas industry doesn’t create many jobs, but it does spend a lot of money on lobbying and campaign contributions. The rest of the answer is simply the fact that conservatives have no other job-creation ideas to offer. And intellectual bankruptcy, I’m sorry to say, is a problem that no amount of drilling and fracking can solve. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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No Nukes Summit — May 4-6
by Paul Wilson 15 Mar '12

15 Mar '12

If anyone is interested in attending this, you can camp out at my digs in Charles Town, and then we can carpool from Charles Town to the Takoma Park area. Maybe take the train in on Friday May 4th. Let me know..... No Nukes Summit — May 4-6<http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=KcJzx8b6R1TAHC0iOkpsCQ>The Club’s No Nukes Team<http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=-rPumWRJ1R6nWZ6zYr3Tww> invites Club members who want to help develop a national anti-nuclear campaign to gather at the Western Theological Union<http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=P2p_-Ys8AIoCz8emDejHPQ> in Washington, D.C., May 4-6, 2012<http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=mUmnsmFE4Ktsa9TmKkaQ2A> . <http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=Q57LJc84H4Q18FsW99q9Rw> The Summit will feature presentations from national nuclear experts Kevin Kamps from Beyond Nuclear and Arjun Makhijani, author of *Carbon Free Nuclear Free.*There will also be sessions on the True Cost of Nukes, Nuclear Waste, Replacing Nuclear with Renewables and Efficiency, and How to Harness Online Tools and Social Media to Communicate, Collaborate, and Organize. To register, and find out more about lodging and transportation, go here<http://action.sierraclub.org/site/R?i=qgpCKxWZhUeOSsKALf6K8w>. There are a limited number of scholarships available for conference volunteers. Contact Leslie March <lesliemarch(a)hotmail.com> to find out more. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361 "There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha "In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle

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Today's good laugh
by Jonathan Rosenbaum 14 Mar '12

14 Mar '12

http://wvgazette.com/News/201203130215 Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Maloney's remark Tuesday that West Virginia politicians "just pull our pants down to get a cracker" has sparked criticism from state Democrats.

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Fwd: Weekly Swamp Stomp 72 - What is in fracturing fluid
by Paul Wilson 13 Mar '12

13 Mar '12

fyi, paul ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: David Dow <ddow420(a)comcast.net> Date: Tue, Mar 13, 2012 at 12:12 PM Subject: Fwd: Weekly Swamp Stomp 72 - What is in fracturing fluid fyi Begin forwarded message: *From: *Marc Seelinger <info(a)swampschool.org> *Date: *March 13, 2012 10:24:38 AM EDT * * Having trouble viewing this email? Click here<https://swampschool.infusionsoft.com/app/hostedEmail/1590580/09a19cfb798d5f…> [image: Swamp Schol Swamp Stomp] What are the fracturing fluids and where do they go? By The Swamp School There has been a controversy about fracking in recent days. Amongst many issues is the question of what exactly is in fracturing fluids and what happens to them. There are a number of answers to this that speak to proprietary recipes of the fracturing fluids. However, the folks at the American Petroleum Institute have identified a number of key ingredients. The largest ingredient is water. Over 90% of the fracturing fluids is made up of plain old water. Each well is estimated to need about 3 million gallons of water. So it is a lot of water. Where this water comes from is also an issue in and of itself. The second major ingredient is sand. The sand is used to provide void spaces in the shale once the the pressure from the fracking has been released. Approximately 9.5% of the fracturing fluids is comprised of sand. This needs to be mined and trucked in. Many fracking sites are miles from reliable sand borrow pits. The third ingredient are chemical additives. This is mainly to help float the sand and aid in the fracking process. This makes up about 0.5% of the fracturing fluids. These are some of the main ingredients. There are others, but it is sort of like the secret recipe for Coca Cola. It is a very closely guarded. Typical Chemical Additives Used in Frac Water Compound Purpose Common Application Acids Helps dissolve minerals and initiate fissure in rock (pre-fracture) Swimming pool cleaner Sodium Chloride Allows a delayed breakdown of the gel polymer chains Table Salt Polyacrylamide Minimizes the friction between fluid and pipe Water treatment, soil conditioner Ethylene Glycol Prevents scale deposits in the pipe Automotive anti-freeze, deicing agent, household cleaners Borate Salts Maintains fluid viscosity as temperature increases Laundry detergent, hand soap, cosmetics Sodium/Potassium Carbonate Maintains effectiveness of other components, such as crosslinkers Washing soda, detergent, soap, water softener, glass, ceramics Glutaraldehyde Eliminates bacteria in the water Disinfectant, sterilization of medical and dental equipment Guar Gum Thickens the water to suspend the sand Thickener in cosmetics, baked goods, ice cream, toothpaste, sauces Citric Acid Prevents precipitation of metal oxides Food additive; food and beverages; lemon juice Isopropanol Used to increase the viscosity of the fracture fluid Glass cleaner, antiperspirant, hair coloring What happens after the fracking is done? How much of the fracturing fluids are recovered? There are several ways oil and natural gas companies manage the use of fracturing fluids, depending on what specifically is in them, the presence of usable groundwater or surface waters, geography, and local, state, and federal regulations. Spent or used fracturing fluids are normally recovered at the initial stage of well production and recycled in a closed system for future use or disposed of under regulation, either by surface discharge where authorized under the Clean Water Act or by injection into Class II wells as authorized under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Regulation may also allow recovered fracturing fluids to be disposed of at appropriate commercial facilities. Not all fracturing fluid returns to the surface. Over the life of the well, some is left behind and confined by thousands of feet of rock layers. It is estimated that about 70% of the fracturing fluids are left in the ground. I hope that this helps. Cheers! - Marc Please note that this information does not constitute legal advice and is meant as informational only. It is strongly recommended that you seek the services of a competent environmental attorney for the interpretation of any legal or regulatory matter presented herein. New York Accreditation NEW for Engineers and Surveyors The Swamp School is now accredited by the New York State Education Department as an Approved Sponsor of Continuing Education for Engineers and Land Surveyors. Share: <https://swampschool.infusionsoft.com/app/socialShare/1590580/09a19cfb798d5f…> <https://swampschool.infusionsoft.com/app/socialShare/1590580/09a19cfb798d5f…> <https://swampschool.infusionsoft.com/app/socialShare/1590580/09a19cfb798d5f…> Follow: <http://www.facebook.com/marc.seelinger> <http://twitter.com/SwampSchool> <http://swampschool.org/> March 13, 2012 V12, Issue 11 Subscribe to the Swamp Stomp Would you like your own copy of the Swamp Stomp delivered to your mail box each week? If so, please click HERE<https://swampschool.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/6146/db4d52e0e7edece1/15…>to subscribe. Call Us Toll Free 1- 877- 479 - 2673 [image: CCMIT Logo]<https://swampschool.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/6148/13c7d643947dbf16/15…> New Class - Baltimore, MD March 27, 2012 2012 Wetland Regional Supplements Updates Join us for this one-day seminar and get up to speed on all of the latest changes and updates to the US Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation methods. This class is perfect for wetland professionals who have been struggling with the new Regional Supplements. This is a great opportunity to go beyond the figuring it out on your own. You will be able to ask questions and clarify assumptions. More Information Here<https://swampschool.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/6150/eb9b31b48e4c4cd3/15…> [image: Wetland Plants] New Class - Wetland Plant Identification The 100 Plants You Need to Know! 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Fwd: Re: Water bill
by James Kotcon 12 Mar '12

12 Mar '12

I am not sure if anyone else saw this, but SB 615, and the comparable SB 562 are on a fast track and are on the calendar for final passage today. These bills could easily reverse our victory before the EQB on the New Hill West permit in Morgantown. Jim Kotcon THE STATE JOURNAL: Bill aims to narrow scope of DEP water pollution permits Posted: Mar 08, 2012 5:57 PM EST Updated: Mar 08, 2012 8:52 PM EST By Pam Kasey The coal industry is backing a bill that would remove a provision in state water pollution discharge permits that requires compliance with all water quality standards. It's a provision the industry says applies, unfairly, only to coal. Although DEP representatives were unavailable to confirm or correct this at the time of this story, a quick review finds it in other water pollution discharge permits as well. Senate Bill 615, amending the state's Water Pollution Control Act, was introduced by Sens. Art Kirkendoll, D-Logan; Mike Hall, R-Putnam; Erik Wells, D-Kanawha; and Ron Stollings, D-Boone. The bill would insert new language into the Water Pollution Control Act stating, essentially, that compliance with effluent limits is compliance with the law. That sounds obvious, but West Virginia Coal Association Vice President Jason Bostic explained the meaning. The way it stands now, a coal mine operator's water pollution permit contains limitations for a number of pollutants. In addition, it includes language stating that, even if the permittee meets the pollution limitations specified in the permit, it also can't violate any other water quality standard. The industry wants that to stop, Bostic said. "That sets us up to get sued for things that aren't a parameter in our permit," he said. "Since they aren't in our permit, we aren't monitoring for them — so how would we know we're violating them?" "We've had notices of intent to sue for high conductivity," Bostic said — a water quality measure for which neither the state nor the federal government has set a water quality standard. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has, however, set a controversial benchmark for conductivity as a proxy for the tricky-to-implement biologic component of West Virginia's narrative water quality standard. "In concert with what EPA alleges, these anti-mining folks allege that high conductivity is violating the narrative water quality standards," he said. So a statement in a coal mine operator's water pollution discharge permit requiring the operator to meet not only its specific effluent limitations but also all of the state's other water quality standards is opening the operator to lawsuits. The requirement to meet all water quality standards does appear in other, non-coal water pollution discharge permits. The general permit for sewage systems treating less than 50,000 gallons per day, for example, reads, "The effluent or effluents covered by this permit are to be of such quality so as not to cause violation of applicable water quality standards adopted by the state Environmental Quality Board" — a function taken over by the DEP. A general stormwater construction permit reads, differently but relevantly, "This permit may be re-opened and modified, suspended, revoked and reissued or revoked at any time if information becomes available and demonstrates that the established controls do not attain and maintain the narrative water quality standards …" Bostic expressed further frustration over the fact that the Clean Water Act allows these suits to bypass state permitting and legal authority and go straight to federal court. "We're taking responsibility for the program away from the people of West Virginia and the Legislature and Department of Environmental Protection and putting it in the federal government's hands where it doesn't belong," he said. "It's certainly not supposed to be in front of a federal judge." The goal of the bill, he said, is to bring the coal program into conformity with the federal program and, in his mind, also with the non-coal industrial sector in West Virginia. "We want to get away from what has become a very hazardous situation where you have different rules that apply only to coal mining," he said. The bill will get its second reading on March 9 and will come to vote after its third reading on March 10.

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