Gas Shale

Rush: A Guide
to the Legal
Issues
Community and Environmental
Impacts

Water Law Clinic Final

Presentation
November 30, 2009
Alexis Saba
 Outline
Expected Impacts

- Noise
- Air pollution
- Road damage and traffic disruption
- Land conversion and visual impacts
- High water use and aquifer depletion
- Stress on wastewater treatment facilities

Unexpected Impacts

- Groundwater contamination
- Surface water contamination
- Careless operation procedure
 Expected Impacts
- Noise

- Air pollution

- Road damage and traffic disruption

- Land conversion and visual impacts

- High water use and aquifer depletion

- Stress on wastewater treatment

facilities
Noise

- 24 hours a day during the

drilling phase, about 4-5 weeks

- Multi-well pad may take 3 years

-Sources:
• Drilling rig operations
• Pipe handling
• Compressors
• Operation of trucks,
tractors and cement mixing

- 200-300 trucks traveling per

day in some instances
Air Pollution

DISH, TX air quality

investigation

- 2009 NOx and VOC

emissions from all
Dallas-Fort Worth area
airports = 16.6 tons per
day (tpd)

- Summer 2009 NOx

and VOC emissions from
compressor engines in
the Barnett Shale area
= 65 tpd
 Road Damage
Denton, TX NYS dSGEIS
in the Barnett Shale Estimates
- About 592 one-way truck trips - 890-1340 truck trips for the
per day per well life of a well
- Some weighing 100,000 lbs
 Regulations
- Municipalities can
influence drilling by
regulating local roads

- Road system integrity

study + fees for
maintenance

- Road use agreement or

trucking plan, which can
include:
• Route selection
• Upgrades and
improvements
• Advance public
notice
Land Conversion
- Area cleared is around 5
acres, or more for multi-well
pads

- Pipeline easements:
• ~ 30’ wide for gathering
lines
• ~ 60’ wide for
transmission lines

- Seismic lines
• 18-27’ across
• Run for miles
• 300-1200’ apart
 Regulations
- Gathering line concerns: high environmental impact, little regulation

- NY Public Service Commission (PSC) regulates gathering lines

- PSC environmental review & community

notification

- DEC controls
• Stream Disturbance Permit
• Article 15 permit

- Direct DEC regulation

• < 125 pounds per square inch (psig)
pressure = siting in environmentally sensitive areas
• > 125 psig = permitting

- Municipalities generally preempted

 Visual Impacts

Drilling rigs:
• ~ 140’ tall
• ~ 170’ tall for multi-well pads

Other visual features:

• Construction equipment
• Trucks
• Compressors
• Pipe racks
• Temporary work sheds
• Lined pits
• Tank trucks holding fluids
 Visual Impacts cont…
Long-term impacts:
• Wellhead valves
• Meters
• A dehydrator
• A gas-water separator
• A brine tank
• A small fire-suppression tank
Water Use & Aquifer Depletion
- About 2.4 to 7.8 million gallons of
water per treatment

- Dried up streams in PA

- Withdrawals in NY are unknown

Impacts of uncontrolled withdrawals:

• Reduced stream flow
• Degradation of aquatic habitat
• Ecosystem disruption
• Damage to wetlands
• Aquifer depletion
 Stress on
Wastewater Treatment Facilities

- Fracking wastewater can include:

• Brines
• Heavy metals
• Radionuclides
• Organics

- PA estimates: 19 million gallons of

wastewater per day in PA by 2011

- Trouble accommodating waste in

NY

- Radioactive sludge?
 Regulations
- Municipal sewage Other disposal methods
treatment facilities = - Private wastewater
publically owned treatment facilities
treatment works
(POTWs) - Disposal wells
- Must have DEC- - Out-of-state
approved industrial treatment
pretreatment plants
program
- Road spreading for
- Must have a State brine
Pollution Discharge
Elimination System - Reuse
(SPDES) permit
Unexpected Impacts

- Groundwater contamination

- Surface water contamination

- Careless operating procedure

Groundwater Contamination

- Low probability of
contamination?

- Aquifers in NY often within

500’ to 1500’ of the shale
formation

- 3 million gallons of water

used produces about 15,000
gallons of chemicals in the
wastewater
Groundwater Contamination cont…

Contamination can occur by:

• Improper well construction and

casing

• Pipe corrosion

• Poor cementing

• Improper disposal

• Migration of fracking fluid

beyond the fracture zone
 Groundwater Contamination cont…
Methane Migration in Pennsylvania

- Methane has been - Caused by poor

found in private water casing and
wells cementing around
the well pipe
- Methane requires
water treatment and - Migration
can cause violent indicates links
explosions between gas wells
and water
- Full-time inspector systems
in PA
 Surface Water Contamination
- Cause by spills and careless operating

- Dunkard Creek die off

- High TDS levels point to drilling

wastewater as cause

- Elevated TDS levels in the

Monongahela River

- Reduction in wastewater at PA
sewage treatment plants by 90-95%
Careless Operating Procedures
“There are risks associated with . . . accidents every step of the way, from leaky
pumps and seals, to faulty well casings” - Tom Wilber, Binghamton Press & Sun-
Bulletin

- PA Department of Environmental
Preservation (DEP) cease and
desist order to U.S. Energy
Development Corporation

- Complaints in Wyoming

- Health problems in Colorado

- Exxon-Mobil Migratory Bird Treaty Act

violation
Careless Operating Procedures cont…
Leaks & Spills - Dimock, PA

- Sept. 16, 2009: Two lubricating fluid leaks

- Sept. 22, 2009: Third spill

- At least two diesel spills since 2008

- PADEP well deactivation and testing

- Sept. 25, 2009: PADEP orders Cabot

to halt operations

- Oct. 16, 2009: Cabot resumes

operations
Careless Operating Procedures cont…
Explosions – Smyrna & Lebanon, NY

- Jan. 1, 2009: gas well exploded in Smyrna, NY

- Mar. 18, 2009: gas well exploded in Lebanon, NY

- Flames and black smoke visible for 2 miles

- Well area burned for

10 hours
Careless Operating Procedures cont…
Coos County, OR

-Early 2009: MasTec Inc. ordered to pay $1.5

million in penalties

- Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

faulted as well
 Regulations
Closing and Plugging Drill Sites

- DEC issues plugging

permit

- DEC inspector present at

plugging

- Detailed plugging
requirements:
• Cement plugs
• Fill for interval
between plugs

- Companies provide
financial security
 Regulations
Recent Legislative Developments
SDWA & 2005 Energy Act
- Underground Injection Control (UIC) program

- 2005 Energy Act amendment to SDWA – exempt hydraulic fracturing from

definition of underground injection and UIC program

- Underground storage of flowback fracking fluid = not exempt

FRAC Act
- Senate and House versions – both in committee

- Repeals hydrofracking exemption

Interior Environment Appropriations Bill

- EPA to fund study on fracking and drinking water