We've been talking, but not about specifics yet. He really went after an industry guy at last interim session about all the out-of-state trucks and workers. Orphy is a good guy.
I am basically NOT talking to anyone yet (except DEP and judiciary committee staff) about what should be in a bill. I am waiting to see what DEP proposes, which I will know more about on Nov. 10, and what judiciary subcommittee A proposes, which we will see at interims Nov.15-17. When we know those two things, we will be able to decide if we need/want our own bill.
don
In a message dated 11/3/2010 10:10:58 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, jkotcon@wvu.edu writes:
Is someone talking to Orphy Klempa about what needs to go in a Marcellus bill?
JBK
"Donald C. Strimbeck" dcsoinks@comcast.net 11/3/2010 4:07 AM >>>
Don Strimbeck, Sec/Treas Upper Mon River Assoc UpperMon.org MonRiverSummit.org WVU t-shirts & prints - FindHarri.com 109 Broad Street, P. O. Box 519 Granville WV 26534-0519 304-599-7585 (fax 4131) dcsoinks@comcast.net
----- Original Message ----- From: Donald C. Strimbeck To: Veronica Coptis ; Tom Bond ; Shari Wilson ; Scott Brewer ; Robert Vagnetti ; Mark Estlack ; Loretta Florence ; Judy Hunter ; John King ; Joel Morris ; Janice Christopher ; Ida Hughes ; Glen Kelly ; Garry Berti ; Connie Watson ; Chuck Wyrostok ; Chip West ; Catherine Lozier ; Carol Mapstone ; Brian K. Parker ; Bradley Omanson ; Bill Weiss ; Bill Hughes ; Bonnie Hall Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 4:07 AM Subject: DAILY UPDATE 3 November 2010. News of interest to Mon river watershed denizens.
DUNKARD CREEK-3NovY2K10
Wheeling WV THE INTELLIGENCER Wednesday 3 November 2010:
Klempa Looks to Take On Drilling in Senate
November 3, 2010 - By CASEY JUNKINS Staff Writer
With increasingly more Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling taking place throughout West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, state Sen.-elect Orphy Klempa knows it is time for the Legislature to act.
"Right now, there is entirely too much drilling with not enough regulations in place," said Klempa, D-Ohio, following his Tuesday general election victory over Republican Charles Schlegel of Wheeling. "We need to make sure these gas companies are respecting our land."
Klempa, who has served as a state delegate since his 2006 election, will replace outgoing 1st District state Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, who decided not to seek re-election this year. Klempa carried 58.7 percent of the vote in the district, which includes all of Hancock and Brooke counties, along with most of Ohio County.
Unofficial election totals indicate Klempa garnered a total of 17,044 votes, with 7,632 coming in Ohio County, 4,292 in Brooke County and 5,120 in Hancock County. Schlegel, meanwhile, carried a total of 12,015 ballots, including 5,437 in Ohio County, 2,448 in Brooke County and 4,130 in Hancock County.
"It seems like every time I'm in a race, it goes down to the last moment," Klempa said, noting he campaigned throughout the district. "My wife and I worked very hard because this was by no stretch of the imagination a good year to be a Democrat."
Schlegel, though disappointed in the results, pledged to support Klempa's efforts in Charleston.
"This was a very clean race," Schlegel said. "The voters of Ohio, Hancock and Brooke counties are getting a good representative. ... He (Klempa) will do a good job for us."
Klempa also thanked Schlegel for the amicable race, noting, "This was not a mud-slinging campaign."
"Charlie (Schlegel) is a man of honor. I wish him all the best," Klempa said.
The senator-elect added he hopes to continue the work he began in the House in his new role, including confronting some of the state's unfunded liabilities.
"I am very humbled by the level of support I got. I plan to do the very best I can do for the voters," Klempa added.
North Huntingdon Township moving forward with plans to regulate Marcellus Shale drilling
By Michael DiVittorio MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS Tuesday, November 2, 2010
North Huntingdon Township officials are moving forward with their plans to help regulate Marcellus Shale drilling.
Planning commissioner Virginia Stump brought up the idea of creating a gas drilling ordinance last month to help reduce negative effects regarding such drilling.
Township planning director/engineer Andrew Blenko announced at Monday night's planning commission meeting that a draft ordinance is being prepared by assistant township manager Michael Turley, and could be available for review by the planning commission within weeks.
Blenko said a meeting took place about four weeks ago with Westmoreland County and gas company officials regarding Marcellus Shale drilling and what could and what should be regulated.
Murrysville and Jefferson Hills both passed gas drilling ordinances earlier this year, and township officials have copies of those documents for review.
"We're not trying to outlaw the drilling. We're trying to outlaw the negative impacts of it," Blenko said. "The noise, the additional storm water run-off, damage to our local roads, potential ground water contamination, the long-term health effects, if any, the public safety aspects of it. Those can all be regulated. There's no reason why gas wells can't coexist alongside our commercial or residential areas of the township.
"I think that's what everybody's trying to do is come up with a set of regulations that will reasonably safeguard against some of those negative impacts while allowing it to coexist."
The engineer said he will meet with Turley today to discuss the ordinance.
Stump said she likes the language and some of the stipulations in the Murrysville ordinance.
"What I thought was pretty good about it is they have all new definitions," she said. "There's so much new terminology with this type of industry. You have to update the ordinance just for the terminology, and they had an application fee of $5,000 and the company has to put up an escrow of $25,000 so that the expenses that the municipality has with engineering and what have you, the municipality's not left holding the bag of those expenses."
Planning Commissioner Bernard Solomon said he read an article about a woman and her daughters getting sick from chemicals used at a Marcellus Shale site.
"What are they going to do to our underground water resources that we depend on?" Solomon questioned.
Blenko said a possible tour of a Marcellus Shale site is being scheduled through Westmoreland County officials.
The proposed ordinance could be available for public input in December.
Blenko said it would have to come through the planning commission before it is brought to township commissioners.
"Things are moving," he said. "I know it's been a long time coming. We kind of wanted to see what other people were doing."
The township was scheduled to get its first Marcellus Shale well along Hahntown-Wendel Road this summer. Atlas Energy was to drill the well on a 9.5-acre parcel near Barnes Lake Road.
Blenko said the last communication he had with Atlas Energy was in May, and that parcel is not an active Marcellus Shale site.
In other matters, the planning commission tabled a motion to approve the Hampton Heights plan of lots, phases 1 through 3.
It is a proposed 85-lot residential subdivision on the site of the former Carradam Golf Course.
Blenko said RWS Development needed an extension to address some sewer issues.
The site is outside the sewer lines of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County.
Blenko said there are plans for deep sewers to pump into MAWC lines, and the plan will be addressed by the planning commission again at next month's meeting.
The planning commission tabled the plan last month because of sewer-related concerns.
Michael DiVittorio can be reached at mdivittorio@dailynewsemail.com or 412-664-9161.
CEOs: Third World thirst to boost coal
By Chris Togneri PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The coal industry rebounded from the global recession and is poised to ride developing countries' thirst for steel and energy production for decades to come, said industry analysts and CEOs of energy producers Tuesday at the 14th annual Met Coke World Summit, Downtown.
"Coal is the fuel for the entire world," said J. Brett Harvey, CEO of Cecil-based Consol Energy Inc. "I don't see any change in that for the next 50 years."
Consol projects shipping more than 700,000 tons of coal from the United States to China in the fourth quarter.
Harvey; Don Blankenship, CEO of Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Co.; Michael Thomson, CEO of Knoxville, Tenn.-based SunCoke Energy; and John Elmore, director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. in India, talked about trends in the industry at an event attended by about 250 coal industry insiders. The summit continues today.
Blankenship agreed that coal is the fuel of the present and the future, particularly in developing countries. Access to electricity improves quality of life and leads to longer life expectancy, he said.
"It's strange that that idea hasn't caught on," he told the audience, eliciting a round of laughter.
The Massey CEO predicted coal use will increase by 81 percent in "emerging" countries and 1 percent in developed countries by 2035. Brazil, Russia, India and China, which make up 43 percent of the world's population, will account for much of that growth, he said.
Coal is "good for the environment" because it is the cheapest way to raise living standards by providing electricity to poor countries, Blankenship said.
"It bothers me that we are spending so much on renewable energy that supposedly will improve the environment when there is a lot of suffering going on," he said after his presentation.
China, India and Brazil will continue to be major importers of coal, particularly metallurgical coal for production of coke and steel, the CEOs said. Brazil, which will host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016, has limited resources but a strong economy. Its need to build infrastructure quickly makes it a major player, they agreed.
"The same thing happened in China (before it hosted the 2008 Olympics), but it just kept going," Harvey said. "They are raising their standard of living. We could see the same thing in Brazil. Maybe not on the same pace, but once they get a taste of it ..."
The auto industry's rising thirst for steel also drives coal use, the CEOs said.
Particularly in China, car production is soaring with plenty of room to grow, Blankenship said, noting that 128 people out of every 1,000 people in China own cars, compared to 765 out of 1,000 in the United States. China last year produced 13.3 million vehicles, compared to 8.8 million in North America, the Massey CEO said.
Africa will become a major importer of coal as the country begins to modernize, Harvey and Blankenship said.
Blankenship declined to answer questions regarding a possible sale of Massey or whether he might step down. In a conference call with analysts last week, he acknowledged the rumors, saying Massey is "considering all options," but declined to discuss specifics.
Massey runs the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va., where an April 5 explosion killed 29 miners and injured two. It was the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in 40 years. State, federal and company investigations are ongoing.
Chris Togneri can be reached at ctogneri@tribweb.com or 412-380-5632.
----- Original Message -----
From: stombond@hughes.net
To: "Donald C. Strimbeck" dcsoinks@comcast.net; "jOHN ELEYETTE" JMELEYETTE@rocketmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 9:46 PM
Subject: Letter to the Wheeling Intelligencer
Mr. Strimbeck: I sent the following letter to the Wheeling Intelligencer a couple of days ago. It is a response to the article "Chesapeake Energy Officials Pledge to Maintain Roads" published in your newsletter dated the 29th. You may use it if your want to.
As a person with training as a chemist, I was highly amused by the article "Chesapeake Energy Officials Pledge to Maintain Roads" in the 29 October 2010 INTELLIGENCER. It includes a statement of Stacey R. Brodak, manager of corporate development for Chesapeake concerning the 25,000 gallons or so of chemicals in frac fluid for a Marcellus well.
Her claims are right about all of them. HOWEVER, isopropanol is also used to denature alcohol, to make it undrinkable. Petroleum distillates is a very broad category (many different compounds) used for solvent properties. It is toxic, but is considered to have low toxicity. Guar gum, citric acid (think citrus fruits), potassium chloride, are, in fact food ingredients. Sodium and potassium carbonate are very similar and are sometime used as food additives. Glutaradldehyde is used in water treatment for killing alge and as a disinfectant for medial equipment. It causes severe irritation of eyes and respiratory system. It is a source of occupational asthma.
Ammonium persulfate is an extremely strong oxidizing agent listed as having low toxicity. It is used to etch copper and would doubtless cause other metals to dissolve. Formaldehyde is another protein denaturant. Among its uses is in embalming fluid. It is used in resins for plywood type materials, glue, etc. It is the source of eye irritation when these products are used. It is a known human carcinogen. Borate salts are toxic, but probably not at the concentration they are used in frac fluid. These things are what go down to begin with.
Now, what about the stuff that comes up with the "flowback." At the several hundred degree temperatures and huge pressures solubility of many compounds increase compared to solubility at the surface. What else comes up with the cuttings, which present a very large surface area for solution of the shale components? The shale contains a huge number of complex compounds. Things that come up with the flowback include heavy metals, highly poisonous, which the body accumulates because there is no mechanism to eliminate them, and radioactivity. One case is known where the radioactivity of returning frac water was 1000 times the allowed radioactivity of drinking water.
Ms. Brodak's list almost invariably cites external uses of the compounds. The objection is to drinking these compounds in surface water and ground water contaminated by flowback! I don't doubt her integrity, she is an executive and not educated in chemistry. But who put that list
on hydraulicfracturing.com ought to have his backside kicked. We're not all rubes out here.
Somebody ought to be out there sampling and testing for a wide range of contaminants. The whole Marcellus industry has its collective fingers crossed, screaming "There's nothing wrong with our work!" and "Just think about the money it will bring in." They are in the same position as the original oil and gas industry and the strip mining industry: they are running a humongous experiment while doing all they can to block out
any bad news.
By Mari Margil, Ben Price
Licking, Pennsylvania defies state law by banning corporations from dumping fracking wastewater.
In Pennsylvania-a central target for natural gas drilling and the controversial drilling practice known as horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking"-local communities don't have the legal authority to keep unwanted drilling from happening.
As fracking's impacts on water safety make headlines and public resistance to drilling grows, some towns have tried to use land use zoning to keep drilling companies out-but they can't use zoning laws to stop an activity the state has declared legal. (At best, they can zone where the corporations site their drill pads. But since drilling is not vertical but horizontal, there's no way to contain its impact on a community's water and environment.)
Taking local control One small community in western Pennsylvania wanted more say over what happens within its borders. Licking Township, population 500, chose to defy state law with its own local ordinance, banning corporations from dumping fracking wastewater within its borders. Licking sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation that contains large and mostly untapped natural gas reserves. On Oct. 12, 2010, the Licking Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban corporations from dumping fracking wastewater within the township.
"When it comes to land use issues and the preservation of important resources, the local community is best suited to set priorities as they feel impacts most acutely," said Mik Robertson, chairman of the Licking Township Supervisors.
Pennsylvania's preferential laws for drilling companies are not unique. For years, the drilling industry has worked closely with government to pave the way for widespread drilling, eliminating regulatory barriers that may stand in its way. The so-called "Halliburton Loophole" was inserted into the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt companies drilling for natural gas, including those drilling in the Marcellus Shale (which extends from New York to West Virginia) from having to comply. Corporations have also been exempted from a host of other laws and regulations, and states have enacted laws pre-empting municipalities from taking steps to reign in the industry.
The residents of Licking felt that they should be the ones to decide what happens in their township. "People have the right to determine what is suitable for their community, as they are most directly affected by intended or unintended consequences of resource extraction," said Robertson.
The dangers of fracking The residents of Licking aren't alone in their concerns about fracking. Across the Appalachian highlands, residents worried about the health effects of fracking have been calling on their elected officials to protect them. In New York, a citizen movement convinced the state Senate to place a 9-month moratorium on the practice while its safety is evaluated. However, the moratorium is only temporary and has not been voted into state law.
Fracking involves pumping water laced with sand and a cocktail of chemicals underground to fracture the shale rock and release the natural gas. In the process, thousands of gallons of toxic wastewater are produced and can contaminate waterways and drinking water. Natural gas wells are often driven through aquifers.
The impacts from drilling can include exploding wells, groundwater contamination, and fish kills. Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture quarantined cattle believed to have drunk from a frack wastewater spill. Their milk was no longer considered safe to drink.
A new study by researchers at the University of Buffalo found that fracking also releases uranium trapped in the rock, raising additional health concerns.
Collateral damage includes lost property value, drying up of mortgage loans for prospective home buyers, and the threatened loss of organic certification for farmers. And it's not only rural communities feeling the pressure. In Pittsburgh and Buffalo (both of which straddle the Marcellus), gas extraction corporations have quietly signed leases with landowners to drill under the surface.
A new direction Drafted with the help of Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), the "Licking Township Community Water Rights and Self-Government Ordinance" is the first of its kind in the nation.
The City of Pittsburgh is also considering a CELDF-drafted ordinance, which is scheduled for a vote on November 16. With an expected veto-proof majority of City Council members in favor, that ordinance would impose an outright ban on gas drilling by corporations within city limits. Communities across the Marcellus Shale region, including Lehman Township in eastern Pennsylvania, are also considering CELDF ordinances that would ban corporations from drilling or from extracting water to use in drilling.
In addition to banning corporate disposal of frack wastewater, Licking Township's ordinance asserts the right to local self-government and the community's right to a healthy environment and to clean water. In adopting the ordinance, Licking joins more than a dozen other communities in legally recognizing the rights of nature and subordinating corporate constitutional rights to the rights of human and natural communities.
By recognizing the rights of nature, Licking is effectively protecting ecosystems and natural communities within the township from efforts by corporations to drill there-or by higher levels of governments to authorize that drilling. Residents of the community are empowered by the ordinance to enforce those rights on behalf of threatened ecosystems.
By prohibiting the introduction of frack wastewater into the Township's environment, Licking's new law effectively blocks hydro-fracturing. Critics of the ordinance claim that, by denying corporations that violate its prohibitions the civil rights protections conferred on them by the courts, the ordinance goes too far.
Robertson responds to these charges, saying, "People have rights, like the gifts of nature. People have rights to property. Property does not have rights. Corporations are property."
Corporations may sue to overturn the ordinance, with the argument that it violates their corporate constitutional rights. Such a lawsuit would finally raise imperative questions about whose rights trump whose: Do the court-endowed privileges of corporations override the inalienable rights of the people and ecosystems of Licking Township, nullifying their claim to have a legal right to their health, safety, and welfare? Or does the community have the right to make critical decisions to protect its well-being-and that of the ecosystems upon which it depends?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----
Mari Margil and Ben Price wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Mari is the associate director and Ben is projects director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit, public interest law firm providing legal services to communities facing threats to their local environment, agriculture, economy, and quality of life.
Washington PA Observer Reporter Wednesday 3 November 2010:
Sessions to provide info on roustabout training 11/3/2010 3:33 AM
Free information sessions on Marcellus Shale roustabout training will be held in November and December by Westmoreland County Community College in partnership with Pennsylvania College of Technology at WCCC's Greene County Education Center, EverGreene Technology Park, Waynesburg.
The sessions are designed for those interested in applying for free training for roustabout jobs in the natural gas drilling and production industry and will be conducted from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 12; 10 to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 20; and 3 to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 8.
Roustabouts prepare sites for natural gas well drilling, set up and operate drilling rigs and dismantle rigs for movement to another location. They work around moving equipment such as forklifts, back hoes and excavators and carry 80-pound bags of concrete and heavy pipe.
"This is physically demanding work requiring 12-hour shifts outside in all kinds of weather," said James Hayes, WCCC director of work force development. Some drilling jobs require 14 consecutive working days with 14 days off.
"Employers will not tolerate drugs, and workers will be randomly drug tested," said Hayes.
The three-week roustabout training program will run Jan. 17 through Feb. 4, and classes meet Monday through Friday. The training is a highly interactive, industry-oriented program and will be taught by expert instructors. Class size is limited to 15 students.
The sessions will provide information on drilling rig jobs, the free training program and the application process. The sessions are free, but prospective applicants must register by calling Pennsylvania CareerLink Greene County at 724-852-2900.
Copyright Observer Publishing Co.
Don Strimbeck, Sec/Treas Upper Mon River Assoc UpperMon.org MonRiverSummit.org WVU t-shirts & prints - FindHarri.com 109 Broad Street, P. O. Box 519 Granville WV 26534-0519 304-599-7585 (fax 4131) dcsoinks@comcast.net
On the local Bridgeport CBS news last night, Tim Miley was interviewed about what priorities would be with the new legislative session. He said, 1. Sorting out the new governor and new election, 2. Marcellus gas drilling legislation to protect roads, environment, etc.
From: ec-bounces@osenergy.org [mailto:ec-bounces@osenergy.org] On Behalf Of DSGJr@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 11:33 AM To: jkotcon@wvu.edu; jbc329@earthlink.net; lesleemac1@frontier.com; ec@osenergy.org Subject: Re: [EC] Fw: DAILY UPDATE 3 November 2010. News of interest to Mon river watershed...
We've been talking, but not about specifics yet. He really went after an industry guy at last interim session about all the out-of-state trucks and workers. Orphy is a good guy.
I am basically NOT talking to anyone yet (except DEP and judiciary committee staff) about what should be in a bill. I am waiting to see what DEP proposes, which I will know more about on Nov. 10, and what judiciary subcommittee A proposes, which we will see at interims Nov.15-17. When we know those two things, we will be able to decide if we need/want our own bill.
don
In a message dated 11/3/2010 10:10:58 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, jkotcon@wvu.edu writes: Is someone talking to Orphy Klempa about what needs to go in a Marcellus bill?
JBK
"Donald C. Strimbeck" dcsoinks@comcast.net 11/3/2010 4:07 AM >>>
Don Strimbeck, Sec/Treas Upper Mon River Assoc UpperMon.org MonRiverSummit.org WVU t-shirts & prints - FindHarri.com 109 Broad Street, P. O. Box 519 Granville WV 26534-0519 304-599-7585 (fax 4131) dcsoinks@comcast.net
----- Original Message ----- From: Donald C. Strimbeck To: Veronica Coptis ; Tom Bond ; Shari Wilson ; Scott Brewer ; Robert Vagnetti ; Mark Estlack ; Loretta Florence ; Judy Hunter ; John King ; Joel Morris ; Janice Christopher ; Ida Hughes ; Glen Kelly ; Garry Berti ; Connie Watson ; Chuck Wyrostok ; Chip West ; Catherine Lozier ; Carol Mapstone ; Brian K. Parker ; Bradley Omanson ; Bill Weiss ; Bill Hughes ; Bonnie Hall Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 2010 4:07 AM Subject: DAILY UPDATE 3 November 2010. News of interest to Mon river watershed denizens.
DUNKARD CREEK-3NovY2K10
Wheeling WV THE INTELLIGENCER Wednesday 3 November 2010:
Klempa Looks to Take On Drilling in Senate
November 3, 2010 - By CASEY JUNKINS Staff Writer
With increasingly more Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling taking place throughout West Virginia's Northern Panhandle, state Sen.-elect Orphy Klempa knows it is time for the Legislature to act.
"Right now, there is entirely too much drilling with not enough regulations in place," said Klempa, D-Ohio, following his Tuesday general election victory over Republican Charles Schlegel of Wheeling. "We need to make sure these gas companies are respecting our land."
Klempa, who has served as a state delegate since his 2006 election, will replace outgoing 1st District state Sen. Ed Bowman, D-Hancock, who decided not to seek re-election this year. Klempa carried 58.7 percent of the vote in the district, which includes all of Hancock and Brooke counties, along with most of Ohio County.
Unofficial election totals indicate Klempa garnered a total of 17,044 votes, with 7,632 coming in Ohio County, 4,292 in Brooke County and 5,120 in Hancock County. Schlegel, meanwhile, carried a total of 12,015 ballots, including 5,437 in Ohio County, 2,448 in Brooke County and 4,130 in Hancock County.
"It seems like every time I'm in a race, it goes down to the last moment," Klempa said, noting he campaigned throughout the district. "My wife and I worked very hard because this was by no stretch of the imagination a good year to be a Democrat."
Schlegel, though disappointed in the results, pledged to support Klempa's efforts in Charleston.
"This was a very clean race," Schlegel said. "The voters of Ohio, Hancock and Brooke counties are getting a good representative. ... He (Klempa) will do a good job for us."
Klempa also thanked Schlegel for the amicable race, noting, "This was not a mud-slinging campaign."
"Charlie (Schlegel) is a man of honor. I wish him all the best," Klempa said.
The senator-elect added he hopes to continue the work he began in the House in his new role, including confronting some of the state's unfunded liabilities.
"I am very humbled by the level of support I got. I plan to do the very best I can do for the voters," Klempa added.
North Huntingdon Township moving forward with plans to regulate Marcellus Shale drilling
By Michael DiVittorio MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS Tuesday, November 2, 2010
North Huntingdon Township officials are moving forward with their plans to help regulate Marcellus Shale drilling.
Planning commissioner Virginia Stump brought up the idea of creating a gas drilling ordinance last month to help reduce negative effects regarding such drilling.
Township planning director/engineer Andrew Blenko announced at Monday night's planning commission meeting that a draft ordinance is being prepared by assistant township manager Michael Turley, and could be available for review by the planning commission within weeks.
Blenko said a meeting took place about four weeks ago with Westmoreland County and gas company officials regarding Marcellus Shale drilling and what could and what should be regulated.
Murrysville and Jefferson Hills both passed gas drilling ordinances earlier this year, and township officials have copies of those documents for review.
"We're not trying to outlaw the drilling. We're trying to outlaw the negative impacts of it," Blenko said. "The noise, the additional storm water run-off, damage to our local roads, potential ground water contamination, the long-term health effects, if any, the public safety aspects of it. Those can all be regulated. There's no reason why gas wells can't coexist alongside our commercial or residential areas of the township.
"I think that's what everybody's trying to do is come up with a set of regulations that will reasonably safeguard against some of those negative impacts while allowing it to coexist."
The engineer said he will meet with Turley today to discuss the ordinance.
Stump said she likes the language and some of the stipulations in the Murrysville ordinance.
"What I thought was pretty good about it is they have all new definitions," she said. "There's so much new terminology with this type of industry. You have to update the ordinance just for the terminology, and they had an application fee of $5,000 and the company has to put up an escrow of $25,000 so that the expenses that the municipality has with engineering and what have you, the municipality's not left holding the bag of those expenses."
Planning Commissioner Bernard Solomon said he read an article about a woman and her daughters getting sick from chemicals used at a Marcellus Shale site.
"What are they going to do to our underground water resources that we depend on?" Solomon questioned.
Blenko said a possible tour of a Marcellus Shale site is being scheduled through Westmoreland County officials.
The proposed ordinance could be available for public input in December.
Blenko said it would have to come through the planning commission before it is brought to township commissioners.
"Things are moving," he said. "I know it's been a long time coming. We kind of wanted to see what other people were doing."
The township was scheduled to get its first Marcellus Shale well along Hahntown-Wendel Road this summer. Atlas Energy was to drill the well on a 9.5-acre parcel near Barnes Lake Road.
Blenko said the last communication he had with Atlas Energy was in May, and that parcel is not an active Marcellus Shale site.
In other matters, the planning commission tabled a motion to approve the Hampton Heights plan of lots, phases 1 through 3.
It is a proposed 85-lot residential subdivision on the site of the former Carradam Golf Course.
Blenko said RWS Development needed an extension to address some sewer issues.
The site is outside the sewer lines of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County.
Blenko said there are plans for deep sewers to pump into MAWC lines, and the plan will be addressed by the planning commission again at next month's meeting.
The planning commission tabled the plan last month because of sewer-related concerns.
Michael DiVittorio can be reached at mdivittorio@dailynewsemail.com or 412-664-9161.
CEOs: Third World thirst to boost coal
By Chris Togneri PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The coal industry rebounded from the global recession and is poised to ride developing countries' thirst for steel and energy production for decades to come, said industry analysts and CEOs of energy producers Tuesday at the 14th annual Met Coke World Summit, Downtown.
"Coal is the fuel for the entire world," said J. Brett Harvey, CEO of Cecil-based Consol Energy Inc. "I don't see any change in that for the next 50 years."
Consol projects shipping more than 700,000 tons of coal from the United States to China in the fourth quarter.
Harvey; Don Blankenship, CEO of Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Co.; Michael Thomson, CEO of Knoxville, Tenn.-based SunCoke Energy; and John Elmore, director of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. in India, talked about trends in the industry at an event attended by about 250 coal industry insiders. The summit continues today.
Blankenship agreed that coal is the fuel of the present and the future, particularly in developing countries. Access to electricity improves quality of life and leads to longer life expectancy, he said.
"It's strange that that idea hasn't caught on," he told the audience, eliciting a round of laughter.
The Massey CEO predicted coal use will increase by 81 percent in "emerging" countries and 1 percent in developed countries by 2035. Brazil, Russia, India and China, which make up 43 percent of the world's population, will account for much of that growth, he said.
Coal is "good for the environment" because it is the cheapest way to raise living standards by providing electricity to poor countries, Blankenship said.
"It bothers me that we are spending so much on renewable energy that supposedly will improve the environment when there is a lot of suffering going on," he said after his presentation.
China, India and Brazil will continue to be major importers of coal, particularly metallurgical coal for production of coke and steel, the CEOs said. Brazil, which will host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016, has limited resources but a strong economy. Its need to build infrastructure quickly makes it a major player, they agreed.
"The same thing happened in China (before it hosted the 2008 Olympics), but it just kept going," Harvey said. "They are raising their standard of living. We could see the same thing in Brazil. Maybe not on the same pace, but once they get a taste of it ..."
The auto industry's rising thirst for steel also drives coal use, the CEOs said.
Particularly in China, car production is soaring with plenty of room to grow, Blankenship said, noting that 128 people out of every 1,000 people in China own cars, compared to 765 out of 1,000 in the United States. China last year produced 13.3 million vehicles, compared to 8.8 million in North America, the Massey CEO said.
Africa will become a major importer of coal as the country begins to modernize, Harvey and Blankenship said.
Blankenship declined to answer questions regarding a possible sale of Massey or whether he might step down. In a conference call with analysts last week, he acknowledged the rumors, saying Massey is "considering all options," but declined to discuss specifics.
Massey runs the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, W.Va., where an April 5 explosion killed 29 miners and injured two. It was the deadliest U.S. mine disaster in 40 years. State, federal and company investigations are ongoing.
Chris Togneri can be reached at ctogneri@tribweb.com or 412-380-5632.
----- Original Message -----
From: stombond@hughes.net
To: "Donald C. Strimbeck" dcsoinks@comcast.net; "jOHN ELEYETTE" JMELEYETTE@rocketmail.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 02, 2010 9:46 PM
Subject: Letter to the Wheeling Intelligencer
Mr. Strimbeck: I sent the following letter to the Wheeling Intelligencer a couple of days ago. It is a response to the article "Chesapeake Energy Officials Pledge to Maintain Roads" published in your newsletter dated the 29th. You may use it if your want to.
As a person with training as a chemist, I was highly amused by the article "Chesapeake Energy Officials Pledge to Maintain Roads" in the 29 October 2010 INTELLIGENCER. It includes a statement of Stacey R. Brodak, manager of corporate development for Chesapeake concerning the 25,000 gallons or so of chemicals in frac fluid for a Marcellus well.
Her claims are right about all of them. HOWEVER, isopropanol is also used to denature alcohol, to make it undrinkable. Petroleum distillates is a very broad category (many different compounds) used for solvent properties. It is toxic, but is considered to have low toxicity. Guar gum, citric acid (think citrus fruits), potassium chloride, are, in fact food ingredients. Sodium and potassium carbonate are very similar and are sometime used as food additives. Glutaradldehyde is used in water treatment for killing algae and as a disinfectant for medical equipment. It causes severe irritation of eyes and respiratory system. It is a source of occupational asthma.
Ammonium persulfate is an extremely strong oxidizing agent listed as having low toxicity. It is used to etch copper and would doubtless cause other metals to dissolve. Formaldehyde is another protein denaturant. Among its uses is in embalming fluid. It is used in resins for plywood type materials, glue, etc. It is the source of eye irritation when these products are used. It is a known human carcinogen. Borate salts are toxic, but probably not at the concentration they are used in frac fluid. These things are what go down to begin with.
Now, what about the stuff that comes up with the "flowback." At the several hundred degree temperatures and huge pressures solubility of many compounds increase compared to solubility at the surface. What else comes up with the cuttings, which present a very large surface area for solution of the shale components? The shale contains a huge number of complex compounds. Things that come up with the flowback include heavy metals, highly poisonous, which the body accumulates because there is no mechanism to eliminate them, and radioactivity. One case is known where the radioactivity of returning frac water was 1000 times the allowed radioactivity of drinking water.
Ms. Brodak's list almost invariably cites external uses of the compounds. The objection is to drinking these compounds in surface water and ground water contaminated by flowback! I don't doubt her integrity, she is an executive and not educated in chemistry. But who put that list on hydraulicfracturing.com ought to have his backside kicked. We're not all rubes out here.
Somebody ought to be out there sampling and testing for a wide range of contaminants. The whole Marcellus industry has its collective fingers crossed, screaming "There's nothing wrong with our work!" and "Just think about the money it will bring in." They are in the same position as the original oil and gas industry and the strip mining industry: they are running a humongous experiment while doing all they can to block out any bad news.
By Mari Margil, Ben Price
Licking, Pennsylvania defies state law by banning corporations from dumping fracking wastewater.
In Pennsylvania-a central target for natural gas drilling and the controversial drilling practice known as horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking"-local communities don't have the legal authority to keep unwanted drilling from happening.
As fracking's impacts on water safety make headlines and public resistance to drilling grows, some towns have tried to use land use zoning to keep drilling companies out-but they can't use zoning laws to stop an activity the state has declared legal. (At best, they can zone where the corporations site their drill pads. But since drilling is not vertical but horizontal, there's no way to contain its impact on a community's water and environment.)
Taking local control One small community in western Pennsylvania wanted more say over what happens within its borders. Licking Township, population 500, chose to defy state law with its own local ordinance, banning corporations from dumping fracking wastewater within its borders. Licking sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation that contains large and mostly untapped natural gas reserves. On Oct. 12, 2010, the Licking Township Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban corporations from dumping fracking wastewater within the township.
"When it comes to land use issues and the preservation of important resources, the local community is best suited to set priorities as they feel impacts most acutely," said Mik Robertson, chairman of the Licking Township Supervisors.
Pennsylvania's preferential laws for drilling companies are not unique. For years, the drilling industry has worked closely with government to pave the way for widespread drilling, eliminating regulatory barriers that may stand in its way. The so-called "Halliburton Loophole" was inserted into the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to exempt companies drilling for natural gas, including those drilling in the Marcellus Shale (which extends from New York to West Virginia) from having to comply. Corporations have also been exempted from a host of other laws and regulations, and states have enacted laws pre-empting municipalities from taking steps to reign in the industry.
The residents of Licking felt that they should be the ones to decide what happens in their township. "People have the right to determine what is suitable for their community, as they are most directly affected by intended or unintended consequences of resource extraction," said Robertson.
The dangers of fracking The residents of Licking aren't alone in their concerns about fracking. Across the Appalachian highlands, residents worried about the health effects of fracking have been calling on their elected officials to protect them. In New York, a citizen movement convinced the state Senate to place a 9-month moratorium on the practice while its safety is evaluated. However, the moratorium is only temporary and has not been voted into state law.
Fracking involves pumping water laced with sand and a cocktail of chemicals underground to fracture the shale rock and release the natural gas. In the process, thousands of gallons of toxic wastewater are produced and can contaminate waterways and drinking water. Natural gas wells are often driven through aquifers.
The impacts from drilling can include exploding wells, groundwater contamination, and fish kills. Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture quarantined cattle believed to have drunk from a frack wastewater spill. Their milk was no longer considered safe to drink.
A new study by researchers at the University of Buffalo found that fracking also releases uranium trapped in the rock, raising additional health concerns.
Collateral damage includes lost property value, drying up of mortgage loans for prospective home buyers, and the threatened loss of organic certification for farmers. And it's not only rural communities feeling the pressure. In Pittsburgh and Buffalo (both of which straddle the Marcellus), gas extraction corporations have quietly signed leases with landowners to drill under the surface.
A new direction Drafted with the help of Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), the "Licking Township Community Water Rights and Self-Government Ordinance" is the first of its kind in the nation.
The City of Pittsburgh is also considering a CELDF-drafted ordinance, which is scheduled for a vote on November 16. With an expected veto-proof majority of City Council members in favor, that ordinance would impose an outright ban on gas drilling by corporations within city limits. Communities across the Marcellus Shale region, including Lehman Township in eastern Pennsylvania, are also considering CELDF ordinances that would ban corporations from drilling or from extracting water to use in drilling.
In addition to banning corporate disposal of frack wastewater, Licking Township's ordinance asserts the right to local self-government and the community's right to a healthy environment and to clean water. In adopting the ordinance, Licking joins more than a dozen other communities in legally recognizing the rights of nature and subordinating corporate constitutional rights to the rights of human and natural communities.
By recognizing the rights of nature, Licking is effectively protecting ecosystems and natural communities within the township from efforts by corporations to drill there-or by higher levels of governments to authorize that drilling. Residents of the community are empowered by the ordinance to enforce those rights on behalf of threatened ecosystems.
By prohibiting the introduction of frack wastewater into the Township's environment, Licking's new law effectively blocks hydro-fracturing. Critics of the ordinance claim that, by denying corporations that violate its prohibitions the civil rights protections conferred on them by the courts, the ordinance goes too far.
Robertson responds to these charges, saying, "People have rights, like the gifts of nature. People have rights to property. Property does not have rights. Corporations are property."
Corporations may sue to overturn the ordinance, with the argument that it violates their corporate constitutional rights. Such a lawsuit would finally raise imperative questions about whose rights trump whose: Do the court-endowed privileges of corporations override the inalienable rights of the people and ecosystems of Licking Township, nullifying their claim to have a legal right to their health, safety, and welfare? Or does the community have the right to make critical decisions to protect its well-being-and that of the ecosystems upon which it depends?
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Mari Margil and Ben Price wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Mari is the associate director and Ben is projects director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit, public interest law firm providing legal services to communities facing threats to their local environment, agriculture, economy, and quality of life.
Washington PA Observer Reporter Wednesday 3 November 2010:
Sessions to provide info on roustabout training 11/3/2010 3:33 AM
Free information sessions on Marcellus Shale roustabout training will be held in November and December by Westmoreland County Community College in partnership with Pennsylvania College of Technology at WCCC's Greene County Education Center, EverGreene Technology Park, Waynesburg.
The sessions are designed for those interested in applying for free training for roustabout jobs in the natural gas drilling and production industry and will be conducted from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 12; 10 to 11:30 a.m. Nov. 20; and 3 to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 8.
Roustabouts prepare sites for natural gas well drilling, set up and operate drilling rigs and dismantle rigs for movement to another location. They work around moving equipment such as forklifts, back hoes and excavators and carry 80-pound bags of concrete and heavy pipe.
"This is physically demanding work requiring 12-hour shifts outside in all kinds of weather," said James Hayes, WCCC director of work force development. Some drilling jobs require 14 consecutive working days with 14 days off.
"Employers will not tolerate drugs, and workers will be randomly drug tested," said Hayes.
The three-week roustabout training program will run Jan. 17 through Feb. 4, and classes meet Monday through Friday. The training is a highly interactive, industry-oriented program and will be taught by expert instructors. Class size is limited to 15 students.
The sessions will provide information on drilling rig jobs, the free training program and the application process. The sessions are free, but prospective applicants must register by calling Pennsylvania CareerLink Greene County at 724-852-2900.
Copyright Observer Publishing Co.
Don Strimbeck, Sec/Treas Upper Mon River Assoc UpperMon.org MonRiverSummit.org WVU t-shirts & prints - FindHarri.com 109 Broad Street, P. O. Box 519 Granville WV 26534-0519 304-599-7585 (fax 4131) dcsoinks@comcast.net
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