For Pennsylvanias Survival, The Natural Gas Industry Must Be Held Accountable

May 2011

Deirdre Lally University of Massachusetts - Boston Labor Studies BA

Lally 2 College of Public & Community Service Senior Portfolio: Analytical Thesis In Pennsylvania, the Shale Army has arrived. Among others, Halliburton, Chesapeake Energy, and Cabot Oil & Gas, have found a new type of gold to feed Americas fossil fuel addiction, this time in the form of pockets of natural gas 2,0003,000 feet underground in the Marcellus Shale. Halliburton has developed a technique to extract this gas as quickly and cheaply as possible, the technique is called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking (Drilling 101, 2011). Fracking is a technique the gas industry uses frequently but keeps quiet about. The industry pushes people to focus on the end result of the extraction and misrepresents the facts when confronted about the dangers of the actual process of fracking. The oil and gas industry uses certain talking points to sway public policies and legislations regarding the health and safety of people, air, and water. The talking points include claims stating natural gas drilling will bring new jobs, is cleaner burning than coal, and will provide economic booms to low-income regions (Fueling Americas Future, 2009). Oil and gas companies use these claims to persuade residents of Appalachia to sign leases of their land and the gas underneath for the drilling process. The industry often fails to offer up-to-date research proving the validity of their claims. Gas drilling leases are often deceptive; offering vague wording concerning how long a lease runs for, what exactly the industry can do with leased land, how much money will be gained, and what the landowners legal rights are. In a 2009 article in the Corning Leader by Derrick Ek in Horseheads, N.Y., gas company Fortuna Energy used deceptive and misleading tactics in negotiating natural gas drilling rights with landowners, according to a recent investigation by the state Attorney Generals Office

Lally 3 Attorney General Andrew Cuomo in a prepared statement Many of these companies use their size and extensive resources to manipulate individual property owners who often cannot afford to hire a private attorney. This land-grab practice must stop. (Ek, 2009). The gas industry often does not offer information about real estate and land value after drilling happens, nor do they offer information for how a sustainable economy will be achieved once the natural gas has run dry and the industry no longer has interest in the area. With big industry deceiving communities, a red flag is raised concerning how much regulation will be placed upon their actions. The claims made by the fossil fuel industry are dissected, examined, and compared with opposing facts and viewpoints. As long as the public is unaware of the reality of the situation behind hydraulic fracturing, the industry can maintain this deceptive process in order to make involved companies wealthier. The industrys wealth comes with the cost of thousands of lives and the health of the environment and economy in general. The fossil fuel industrys process of deception and persuasion is something the public must be made aware of before making important decisions about leases and public policies. This paper will explore how the oil and gas industries have taken advantage of Americans to extract dirty fossil fuel in the midst of an ecological and economic crisis in this country, and why we must not immediately believe industry claims. The claims are important to explore because regulations and policies looking out for public and environmental health are influenced by the oil and gas industry. Through exploring the truth behind natural gas, we will realize how important strict rules and regulations are in order to protect the people of Pennsylvania.

Lally 4 A major part of the process of extracting natural gas is hydraulic fracturing. The following explanation is from research performed by Shaleshock.Org, an environmental organization. This is used to show how damaging hydraulic fracturing is, each step of the way. Unlike conventional gas reserves, the gas in Marcellus Shale is trapped and dispersed throughout the shale in tiny pores, and must be released in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking (Drilling 101, 2011). Fracking is an unconventional process for acquiring gas pockets under the ground in the Marcellus Shale region, which spans West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. Because of the new technology and process, most studies on fracking are yet to be concluded and released, and long-term effects are unknown. Because the results of fracking are still an open-ended sentence, updated facts must be used to drive any further decisions regarding the process. This gives the gas industry a prime opportunity to manipulate the system of environmental regulation by discouraging communities and individuals from pushing for regulations and moratoriums. Without restrictions of regulation the gas industry can easily deny and ignore harmful effects as they appear in the beginning stages of fracking usage, and continue to compromise public safety while extracting dangerous fossil fuel sources. In each fracking, 2-9 million gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals are forced through the well into the formation at high pressure to fracturethe shalethe water can be withdrawn from lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, ponds, and wells. Because the water becomes contaminated, it may never be returned to the watershed. (Drilling 101, 2011). Water should be left alone to preserve the natural order of the bioregion and to provide drinking water to local residents. Instead, the water is being used for fracking,

Lally 5 rendering the resources unsuitable for drinking and sustaining the ecosystem, therefore stripping local residents of a vital life-sustaining resource. There is no accounting for the source of the water being taken to complete these processes, how much of the fluid is water, and where and in what condition it is returned to the watershed. (Chemicals in Natural Gas Operations: Overview, 2011) is reported by The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, a nonprofit based in Colorado with the purpose of researching the human health and environmental threats of endocrine disruptors and other such industry by-products. A lack of accountability on the part of the gas industry offers opportunities to pull water from whatever local sources appear most convenient. There is no need to report how much water is used, or the ratio of what is being put into the ground is water versus chemicals, nor is there accountability of ensuring the water returned into the ecosystem is free of toxicity. Toxic chemicals are used at every stage of development to reach and release the gasa combination of toxic and non-toxic substances, are used to drill the well, (Chemicals Used In Natural Gas Operations: Overview, 2011). Due to such large usage of chemicals in the process of fracking, in addition to lack of accountability regarding water usage, a clear cradle-tograve picture is drawn of unregulated water contamination throughout fracking. Stricter regulations must be placed immediately upon the gas industry and high levels of accountability must be agreed to and executed on the industrys part to prove the alleged safety and responsibility of fracking. The gas industry keeps the chemical mixtures a secret from the public, using fluids harmful to human and non-human health. Tons of toxiccompounds, including benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene, etc., and a fugitive natural gas (methane), escape

Lally 6 and mix with nitrogen oxides from the exhaust of diesel-driven, mobile and stationary equipment to produce ground-level ozone. (Chemicals Used In Natural Gas Operations: Overview, 2011). Common sense hints at the danger of such chemicals being mixed into watersheds with no regard for accountability. Clean water and clean air restrictions must prevent the gas industry from polluting air and water at such a wild and uncontrolled rate, because fracking is endangering public health. The oil and gas industry claims there are no health defects created by these chemicals and the waste created and they are protected from seeping into ground water, but the research done by The Endocrine Disruption Exchange says otherwise. We must learn if gas industry claims are true or not, and how they actually affect public health. The result of fracking fluids forced into the ground is important to monitor. Earthworks, an environmental organization reports, According to the EPA study, and studies conducted by the oil and gas industry, between 20 and 40% of the fracturing fluids may remain in the formation, which means the fluids could continue to be a source of groundwater contamination for years to come. (Hydraulic Fracturing 101, N.d.). According to a University of Tulsa Legal Studies research paper compiled by Hannah Wiseman in 2010, studies done by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1988 determined that regulation of oil and gas wastes as hazardous wastes was unwarranted (p.224). As reported in the same study, in more recent years of fracking in the Marcellus Shale, waste water sampled in Pennsylvania and West Virginia appeared to exceed EPA maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) allowed in drinking water for each of those constituentsThe sampled flow back water also contained high concentrations (as compared to acceptable drinking water concentrations) of chemicals not described by

Lally 7 EPA in its 1988 report, such as antimony and thallium. (p.278). The 1988 study guided legal regulations in the fracking process, but it is clear how much the process has changed since then. The gas industry must come forward at a national level to announce the chemicals used, and from there the EPA must do updated studies before allowing fracking to continue. The lack of water usage accountability, the lack of reporting upon what chemicals are used, and the amount of chemical and water mixture remaining in underground watersheds is an alarming formula. The gas industry continues to run unchecked while Pennsylvanians are being used as test subjects to see how this whole thing works out. There is no time for human test subjects: the government and official agencies must step up to prevent such a dangerously questionable recipe remaining in watersheds, contaminating the entire life cycle of water. Continuing fracking as unchecked as it is now will facilitate the release of deadly contamination into drinking water up and down the northeastern United States While almost half of the fracking fluids remain underground, the rest comes up considered industrial waste to be disposed or recycled. According to the research of Earthworks, the method of disposal or recycling can mean to be stored in pits on the surface. Often these pits are unlined. But even if they are lined, the liners can tear and contaminate soil and possibly groundwater with toxic chemicals. (Hydraulic Fracturing 101, N.d.). Animals and children may have contact with these pits, not knowing the threat of the poisons in the water. The synthetic linings are subject to tearing. When punctured, unknown dangerous substances are sent into the ground of highly populated areas. This is a recipe for public health disaster, and if fracking is not stopped, regulators need to step in and work with the gas industry to create a much more responsible form of

Lally 8 waste storage. The oil and gas industry promises the waste is not harmful and is legally and safely disposed of, but personal stories of residents have said otherwise. In an article from TIME magazine about the boom in shale gas drilling, The Burnett family of Bradford County, PA spoke of living with a drilling operation on the land adjacent to theirs. Bonnie Burnett said It used to be heaven hereDid it ruin my life? asks a tearful Bonnie. Id have to say yes. (Walsh, 2011). The actual findings of residents within the frack fields must be compared with oil and gas industry claims to uncover the truth. Each well may be fracked up to ten times during the sites productive life, leaving the land poisoned, devastated, and unfit for future farming use. Fracking poses an extreme risk to the health of our water, land, and air while the industry poses many green washed (Friedland, 2010) claims such as clean fuel that is made in America and creates American jobs and being the best substitute for foreign oil [and] dirty coal. (Fueling Americas Future, 2009). These claims are the main talking points the oil and gas industry uses to convince rural landowners to sign leases for drilling and fracking on their land. The claims are easy to believe without investigation, especially in regions with poor economic health such as Appalachia. In a recent study conducted and peer reviewed by Cornell University scientists including fracking expert Anthony Ingraffea, PhD, a conclusion was reached proving fracking is far more dangerous than the gas industry admits. Some industry marketing claims were proven wrong when scientific research found The [greenhouse gas] footprint for shale gas is greater than that for conventional gas or oil when viewed on any time horizon, but particularly so over 20 years. Compared to coal, the footprint of shale gas is at least 20%

Lally 9 greater and perhaps more than twice as great on the 20-year horizon and is comparable when compared over 100 years. (Howarth, Santoro, & Ingraffea). From here, at least one claim is scientifically proven wrong; natural gas is not cleaner burning than coal. While America currently needs a source of energy to bridge towards more sustainable lifestyles, natural gas must not be posed as a cleaner alternative. What natural gas should be posed as is a marketing scheme played up by the oil and gas industries at the cost of American citizens and the ecosystems supporting us. The facts about fracking must be explored and reported upon widely in order to dissect industry claims, and decisions about fracking must be made based upon findings updated since the 1988 EPA study. Signing leases based solely on industry claims has left Pennsylvania in a state of wreckage. Claims of poisoned drinking water and streams, contaminated farmlands, and economically devastated real estate are now plaguing the region. Before settling on promises of riches for signing leases, one must examine all aspects of natural gas drilling to realize potentially harmful effects and where it has left us in the current state. Instead of a clean energy savior, shale gas is another greentinged diversionand the only promising future that it holds out is for a profit-lined one for the big gas and drilling companies. (Leggett, 2011). A major response has come from residents affected by fracking, as well as environmental organizations doing much more close monitoring than the government has been responsible for. The response is based on the deceptions of Americans for the financial interests of oil and gas executives. People should not be deceived by corporate interest. Government organizations created for the purpose of protecting the environment must do their job to protect the people and

Lally 10 life-supporting ecosystems in this country. As long as watersheds are poisoned for the interests of finance, America is setting itself up for a dismal future. Since the Bush-Cheney administration, the natural gas industry has been exempt from government regulations such as the Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, and has remained mostly unstudied. In a 2009 study published in 20 Fordham Environmental Law Review 115, Hannah Wiseman reports, The EPA commenced a study to determine whether the Safe Drinking Water Act should apply to fracing. Several industry groups encouraged the EPA to conclude that it should not apply and lobbied Congress to exempt fracing from the Act, while environmental groups argued for federal regulation. Ultimately, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 exempted all fracing with the exception of dieselin Section 1421 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. (p. 22). This has given the industry clearance to frack and drill in whatever ways afford them the most time and money, disregarding the health of living creatures around the operation sites. Digging deeper into analysis of the issue, one must wonder why the Environmental Protection Agency allowed their decisions about fracking regulations to include industry lobbyists, and not public claims of health defects and water contamination. The gas industry is weighing heavily upon the American government, silencing citizens and putting them at risk. A 2010 research study conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency stated Public concerns have focused recently on the impacts of the hydraulic fracturing process used during natural gas productions from shale and coal bed methane formations. Potential risks to surface and underground sources of drinking water might occur at various points in the hydraulic fracturing process. The likelihood of those risks causing

Lally 11 drinking water contamination will be valuated during the EPA hydraulic fracturing study. (Environmental Protection Agency, 2010). In a study conducted by The Endocrine Disruption Exchange, peer reviewed and accepted for publication in the International Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, from September 2010, scientists released a document analyzing the implications of natural gas on public health. One of the main conclusions is that To protect public health, we recommend full disclosure of the contents of all products, extensive air and water monitoring, coordinated environmental/human health studies, and regulation of fracturing under the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act. (Colborn, Kwiatkowski, Schultz, & Bachran, 2010). The fact of the matter is, hydraulic fracturing is of dire concern to residents in the directly effected communities, but the gas industry, and even governmental agencies such as the EPA are using those communities as test subjects. Many people are working to uncover the truth behind the practice in order to push the government to keep stern regulations on, and in many cases against, fracking. Another major issue with fracking regards the economy and jobs. The industry promises an economic boom with hundreds of new jobs in a time when we are facing extreme economic collapse, especially in rural areas where jobs are hard to find. There are many gray areas with this promise. If we are to believe what the industry tells us, in 2-10 years when the gas has dried up, the economy of the Marcellus Shale region will see a crash in the job market and rising unemployment rates. In a time when rural areas are working to recover from economic collapse, another major challenge could take decades to recover from. We must focus on strengthening local sustainable industries and family businesses, which have always been, and always will be around. We must focus on

Lally 12 creating jobs in localized, community-run renewable energy sources. We must push local legislators to promote this by offering clear examples of the effects of false claims of jobs and support solutions proven to work. The main issue with the jobs and economies claims includes boom and bust economies, severance taxes, health and safety of workers on operation sites, the ecotourism industry, and property values. The natural gas industry is reminiscent of the boom and bust economy of the coal mining days. After violent miner union battles and ecological and economic destruction, Pennsylvania is in a recovery stage after having laid all of the economy into one industry, only to have seen that fossil fuel based economy leave when the resources had run dry. This leaves high unemployment rates, polluted rivers, and depressed towns. Immediately believing in the gas industry means taking a risk of running the cycle over again. Following a path already proven destructive doesnt make sense, so the gas industry must be heavily challenged to show their plan for continuing to support local economy when the gas has run dry. Many residents wonder what will be left of the economy when fracking is done. The mayor of Dish Texas, Calvin Tillman, brought up many issues of jobs and economy in an article from September 4, 2010. Dish is a town left ravaged from hydraulic fracturing over the past few years. Tillman, a public official who has been living with the corrosive effects of fracking, referred to boom and bust, With the economy based upon this one industry, the downturns were pretty severe on the local economies. (Tillman, 2010). This happened in Pennsylvania after coal mining quieted down, and could happen again should we allow gas drilling to continue unchecked and unquestioned. According to Tillmans report, after the boom, the bust came and left everyone scrambling to find

Lally 13 another job. People had already scrambled to find promised, yet scarce, jobs in the drilling industry. He reported, In the bust, there were not many jobs to be found. This resulted in many of the small rural towns to simply dry up, with people moving away to find work. (Tillman, 2010). When the oil and gas industries left, no jobs were to be found. This resulted in rural towns becoming ghost towns, drying up with people moving away to find paychecks. Again, if the natural gas industrys promise of economic boom is correct, they must be challenged to answer how they will provide a sustainable solution, instead of leaving another bust behind them. Gilbert Armenta, a New Mexico rancher featured in gas drilling documentary Spilt Estate; a film which displayed the negative effects of living with fracking, said he spent his entire life living with the boom and bust cycle in a part of the country where oil and gas were the predominant industries. He reported, As the industry has cooled over in the last year or twothere was 12 percent unemployment in that area (Tillman, 2010). This same article reported crime levels increase particularly during the bust cyclesthe crime that increased the most was robbery, which can likely be attributed to the lack of money people have to afford what they need in a region with such high unemployment levels. Industry claims must be challenged, and local legislators and communities must offer healthy and permanent solutions for avoiding job loss and destruction. A new society must be created in which everyone gets what everyone needs. It is more important for small communities to be self-sufficient, working together through support and mutual aid to lead healthy lives and not be dependent upon temporary, destructive, outside industries without the needs of the community in mind. The Texas City of Forth Worth has the largest number of natural gas activity in

Lally 14 the world, yet financially is by far the worst in the area, having a 73 million dollar shortfall this year. Part of this expenditure is a $600,000 air study to determine if the exploration activities is harmful to public health (Tillman, 2010). Events like this will continue around the state. So while Pennsylvania falls for the idea of economic boom from oil and gas, the state is suffering with skyrocketing tax rates in order to protect public health. State governments promise economic protection for their constituencies, yet the Pennsylvania government is accepting the gas industry into the region. Based on prior events, these two decisions clash, and PA legislators face a challenge in balancing their gas industry welcomes with economic protection for citizens, unless strict new regulations are enacted. Perhaps the regulations would be to disallow fracking in the region if history hints at repeating itself. Potentially false but attractive promises give the gas industry leverage to demand tax breaks and loose regulations by threatening to pack up and leave, and take jobs with them if they dont get their way. Although industry abandonment is only a threat, local officials are held hostage. So the officials may feel pressured to give in to cutting regulations with promise of economic wealth. This practice of cutting corners allows the industry free reign to put ecosystems at extreme risk, which must be exposed, challenged, and stopped. Calvin Tillman warned, For someit is too late to build a diverse economy, there will be booms and busts, it will be feast or famine. However, for some of you out there this does not have to be the case. Look ahead and do not let this industry take over your economy and hold you hostage like it is doing in many other parts of the country. Be very careful of what you wish for. (Tillman, 2010). Again, demanding stricter

Lally 15 regulations upon the gas industry should and would protect citizens from devastation and deception. This should serve as a dire warning for Pennsylvanians supporting, unquestioning, or even only mildly skeptical of the gas industry. The southwestern United States where fracking has happened full force has already experienced life-threatening illnesses from the contamination of their drinking water. In late 2010 Colorado resident Chris Mobaldi died of pituitary tumors, which can be related to frack operations. When her doctor was Asked if he agrees with Steve Mobaldis assertion that the symptoms are in some way related to exposure to gas drilling activities, [Dr. Kendall] Gerdes said simply, I do. (Colson, 2010). Lives are also being threatened by drill site accidents and blowouts from volatile compounds and machinery running constantly. A Dimock, PA resident came home on New Years Day last year to find her well had exploded after being contaminated with methane from a drilling operation, as reported in the fracking documentary Gasland released in 2010 (Fox, 2010). With these extreme risks of blowouts and fires, one would assume local emergency responders have contingency plans. In a news report on the Pittsburgh Channel from 17 November 2010, there is no requirement for drillers to provide the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania fire marshal with plans for handling emergencies. Local responders are there for backup (Parsons, 2010), and have reported, 'We just dont know what to do, we were never trained to take that kind of a fire. (Parsons, 2010). If fracking is going to happen, small rural emergency response departments must absolutely be equipped, trained, and funded to handle the accidents happening as fracking continues. Pennsylvania residents potentially risk higher taxes to pay for new hospital wings, new emergency response trainings and equipment, and more policing on the roads

Lally 16 where truck traffic is drastically taking over. The claim of drilling being good for the Pennsylvania economy is very hard to believe and accept when looking at the lack of industry accountability, putting Pennsylvanians at risk of paying their own way through the ill effects of fracking. Businesses in power consistently disregard rural voices to further economic and industrial expansion. This must be stopped. Along with the gas industry, claims of suffering have been emerging in what used to be peaceful, beautiful, and quiet tiny mountain villages and valleys. Once pure and clean well water is starting to contain cancer causing chemicals and endocrine disrupters. Two opposing sides are exposing themselves; those sides are the gas industry and government regulators, and citizens and independent scientists. People have been deceived to sign gas leases, and now must work to protect themselves with little government support. This can be viewed as a fight for lives and rural culture. Natural gas drilling is an attempt at breathing the last gasp of fossil fuels and many are moving to stop it. Pushing the government to regulate the industry is one way to regain control, but many people who live in the valleys and mountainsides directly affected by gas drilling and fracking are starting to realize fracking must be stopped immediately by any means necessary. In a time of extreme ecological crisis, hydraulic fracturing for natural gas is too deadly of a risk to ever be practiced. Fracking must immediately be put to a halt while the Environmental Protection Agency conducts updated studies on a national level and publicly releases the unbiased results. In the meantime, communities on the Marcellus Shale must work towards projects offering sustainable and localized solutions to the climate and economic crisis. If we believe the oil and gas industries claims, fracking

Lally 17 will continue to compromise clean drinking water, will put Pennsylvania economies in a vulnerable state, and will continue to feed Americas addiction to fossil fuels; making a clean energy transition too late.

References

Lally 18

Anderson, D. (Director). 2009. Split Estate [Documentary]. United Stations: Red Rock Pictures. Chemicals in Natural Gas Operations. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.endocrinedisruption.org/chemicals.introduction.php Colborn, T; Kwiatkowski, C; Schultz, K & Bachran, M. (2010). Natural Gas Operations from a Public Health Perspective. International Journal of Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 2. Colson, J. (17, November 17). Post Independent. Woman who lived near gas field dies. Retrieved from http://www.postindependent.com Drilling 101. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://shaleshock.org/drilling-101/ Ek, Derrick. (2009, November 25). Corning Leader. Fortuna used deceptive tactics. Retrieved from http://www.the-leader.com/news Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, June). Hydraulic Fracturing Research Study. EPA/600/F-10/002. Fox, J. (Director). 2010. Gasland [Documentary]. United Stations: International WOW Company. Friedland, J. (2010, November 17). Halliburton Tries to Greenwash Fracking. Retrieved from http://news.change.org Fueling Americas Future. 2009. Retrieved from http://www.chk.com/NaturalGas/ Governor of Pennsylvania. Natural Gas Severance Tax Stalls In Pennsylvania. GovMonitor. Retrieved from http://www.thegovmonitor.com Howarth, R.W., Santoro, R., & Ingraffea, A. (2011). Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations: A letter. Climactic Change. Retrieved March 17, 2011 from http://www.Springerlink.com Hydraulic Fracturing 101. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.earthworksaction.org Leggett, M. (2011, March 22). Dangers of fracking go beyond poisoned water supplies and Earthquakes. Retrieved from http://www.earthtimes.org Parsons, J. Team 4 Investigation: Marcellus Shale Emergency Plans. The Pittsburgh Channel. Retrieved from http://www.wtae.com Tillman, C. (2010, September 4). Drilling wont necessarily bring local jobs. The Daily Star. Retrieved from http://thedailystar.com

Lally 19

Walsh, Bryan. (2011, March 31). Could Shale Gas Power The World? Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/health Wiseman, H. (2011). Regulatory Adaptation in Fractured Appalachia. Villanova Environmental Law Journal (University of Tulsa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2011-03. Retrieved April 11, 2011 from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1743595. Wiseman, H. (2009). Untested Waters: The Rise of Hydraulic Fracturing in Oil and Gas Production and the Need to Revisit Regulation. Fordham Environmental Law Review. Retrieved April 11, 2011 from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1595092.