Fossil fuels are really just fossilized sunlight, harnessed by prehistoric plants and stored underground — until people started mining and drilling within the last few centuries. These fossil fuels are a finite resource, as it takes millions of years and precise conditions underground to create more. As a society, we are rapidly running out of easily accessible oil and gas deposits, pushing the extraction industry to drill deeper and to employ riskier methods of extraction. Even fracking, one of the newest technologies, may only provide another 10 to 15 years worth of gas.

Frack water, a solution used in the fracking process, includes water, lubricants, corrosive chemicals to dissolve bedrock, and substances to hold open the pipes. Frack water may leak out through fissures in the rock, contaminating peoples’ well water and the sources of our drinking water. The effects of fracking are not well studied or understood.

So, what can we do if we don’t support fracking? The first step is to use less. Use less electricity, drive less, and purchase fewer consumer goods. We can learn to live within the current solar budget of our planet, using only energy that is clean and renewable. Additionally, we can be politically active and encourage changes we support. Lastly, we can recognize that we can’t have our cake and eat it, too.

Learn more about natural gas drilling with these resources.

It would be illogical for the DRBC to lift its moratorium before the results of the EPA study are known. There should also be a review of the impact in this watershed. The most sensible course for the 15 million people who depend on clean drinking water in the Delaware River watershed is for the DRBC to extend its ban on drilling for now.

Go read the whole thing here! And, if you feel strongly about gas drilling in our area, consider writing your own letter to the editor. You can send it to: inquirer.letters@phillynews.com.

1. Advanced notification of accidents and spills relating to Marcellus Shale (i.e., a commitment by all dischargers, facilities and transporters of wastewater from fracturing to join the Delaware Valley Early Warning System).

2. Baseline monitoring to observe long‐term impacts with funding support
from the gas industry.

3. No discharges of wastewater from fracturing above Philadelphia’s intakes on the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers.

4. Restoration and reforestation of all lands that are impacted by gas drilling and related activities, including access roads, when drilling is complete, as required on state game lands and forests.

5. A cumulative impact study of the long‐term implications of natural gas drilling for Philadelphia’s drinking water supply.

6. A task force to help guide items 1‐5. The task force should represent a diversity of stakeholders including the gas industry.

7. A commitment by DEP and DRBC to consider the recommendations from the cumulative impact study and to update regulations accordingly.

We are thankful for the serious consideration that PWD is giving to this very important issue!

Read all of our blogging on natural gas drilling here and check out our natural gas drilling resources here.

Here is the main reason why you should read it. From the article:

For many Philadelphians, natural-gas drilling and its attendant ills might seem a distant matter. Of the 2,400 new wells, the nearest to Philadelphia is in Columbia County, 90 miles away. Few city dwellers have likely heard of drilling towns like Towanda, Wilcox or Ward. Yet the Delaware Watershed covers the state’s urban southeast as much as its rural northeast, and gas extraction in the latter could ultimately impact both.

ProPublica reports:

The request was part of a set of recommendations in a report approved by the city council asking federal and state authorities to tighten drilling regulations. The report also urges the city-owned utility to avoid buying gas that comes from the Marcellus Shale, the layer of rock that stretches under much of Pennsylvania and is considered one of the world’s largest gas fields.

But the vote was largely symbolic. The utility doesn’t buy any Marcellus Shale gas and has no plans to — and new drilling in the Delaware River Basin is already on hold. The idea was to send a message, said Michelle Wilson, a spokeswoman for Curtis Jones, Jr., the councilman who sponsored the report.

“Philadelphia is a major city and we’re hoping that behind this push, that we can use it for leverage,” Wilson said.

The report cites the uncertainty around the environmental and economic impact of hydraulic fracturing—in which drillers use millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals to extract gas—to argue for a cautious approach to drilling. The Delaware River Basin Commission, the interstate authority that must authorize drilling permits in the watershed, has already suspended approving new wells until it adopts a set of regulations [1] covering gas drilling. That process will take months, said a spokeswoman for the commission. The city council asked that the ban be extended until an EPA study of hydraulic fracturing is completed, which isn’t expected until next year.

Upon returning home, I found this article waiting for me:

44,000 Barrels of Tainted Water Dumped Into Neshaminy Creek
In 2009 and part of 2010, energy company Cabot Oil & Gas trucked more than 44,000 barrels of well wastewater to a treatment facility in Hatfield Township, a Philadelphia suburb. Those liquids were then discharged through the town sewage plant into the Neshaminy Creek, which winds through Bucks and Montgomery counties on its way to the Delaware River.

Read more about the incident here and here.

Gas drilling feels like it is getting a little too close to home for me. Please contact your legislators and let them know that you are committed to clean waterways in Eastern Pennsylvania and they should be, too! TTF is compiling a database of natural gas drilling resources. We will soon be adding a complete list of government representatives in the TTF watershed. Until then, you can search for Pennsylvania legislators here.

So, what made City Council adopt this resolution? TTF staff were at the hearing all day, taking notes on all the testimony in order to understand this issue more fully. In the interest of getting the information out in a more timely manner, we’ll just highlight some of it here. (If you want an even more concise summary, check out this PhillyNow blog post from Nick Powell.

The day consisted of five panels of experts providing testimony.

Panel 1 included Dr. David Velinsky from the Academy of Natural Sciences, Dr. Joseph P. Martin of Drexel University and Dr. Michel C. Boufadel of Temple University (who you can see at next week’s AWRA talk.) Velinsky noted that while the Academy of Natural Sciences does not have an official position on the advantages and disadvantages of the shale, however, he argued for the need for more environmental studies in order to understand the long term effects of drilling. He remarked on several potential issues: “First, water withdrawal could have impacts locally on the quantity of water available for natural processes. Second, there could be impacts on water quality. This could happen from accidental spills, treatment of withdrawn water, or other, as yet, poorly understood processes.” Martin, on the other hand, argued for more industry-based regulation in order to prevent environmental damage, arguing that “the quality of the frack water is not the public’s problem, it is the problem of the producer.” Boufadel presented a great deal of scientific information, noting that there is a lack of objective scientific research on this topic, and arguing that we should look at the shale issue with the precautionary principle in mind. (Basically, this means that we should prove natural gas drilling will not harm the public or the environment before going forward with it.) He asserted that the industry must prove that toxic fracking waste left underground in the hundreds of millions of gallons will be safe for 10,000 years. He also pointed out that endocrine disruptors are feminizing fish in many rivers.

Panel 2 consisted of Kathryn Klaber from the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Bernard Brunwasser from the Philadelphia Water Department and Craig White from Philadelphia Gas Works. Klaber argued on behalf of the drilling industry, maintaining that the chemicals used in the fracking process are becoming more transparent and that Pennsylvania’s laws are among the strictest in the nation. She claimed that methane that had been found in rural wells is naturally occuring, pointing to a private study conducted by the Center for Rural PA. Brunwasser asked the crowd not to “mistake [PWD's] vigorous scientific research for nonchalance.” He discussed research and monitoring steps that PWD is taking in order to track chemical levels in the water supply, mentioning the Delaware Valley Early Warning System in particular. White discussed Philadelphia Gas Works’ perspective on the Shale, noting that PGW is under a mandate to buy the least expensive gas possible, which at this time, due to existing pipelines, is Gulf Coast gas. PGW has no plans to purchase Marcellus Shale gas. During this panel, written testimony from Shawn Garvin, Regional Administrator for the EPA was also read aloud. This testimony argued for further studies that are transparent, objective, and peer-reviewed.

Panel 3 included Bill Walsh, a representative for Congressman Joe Sestak, Denise Dennis, a historic farmland owner, Iris Marie Bloom from Protecting our Waters, and Dr. Frederic Murphy from Temple University. Congressman Sestak’s representative argued for greater transparency, accountability, accessibility and increased scientific studies. He noted that there is “a risk when industry is allowed to police itself.” He also pointed out that most of the jobs that will be opening up for gas driller will go to highly-trained out-of-state workers, and pushed for training Pennsylvanians instead. Bloom began her testimony by explaining her long career as an activist and how “homeland security never tracked [me] until I began advocating for clean water” — a reference to this scandal. Bloom came prepared with facts about degrading water quality and air quality. She also refuted claims about new jobs for Pennsylvanians, claiming that the only new jobs will be for environmental lawyers. She noted that the Upper Delaware is the #1 most endangered river in U.S. already (according to the River Network) and asked for a “moratorium until science, not cash, can guide policy.” Murphy looked at the Shale issue from an economic perspective, concluding that the job numbers we’ve heard are probably inflated, and considering damages that drilling may create for other industries (e.g. fishing). Murphy noted that Pennsylvania has traditionally been a boom-and-bust state for natural resources, and that it would be better to have “1000 jobs for 100 years than 10,000 jobs for 10 years.” His conclusion was that we can afford to be more cautious, as this resource has been there for millions of years, and will still be there after more thorough studies have been conducted.

The star of the entire day was Denise Dennis, who got a standing ovation for her testimony, which argued that the natural gas industry is behaving like Big Tobacco by trying to suppress scientific information. Dennis also pointed out that shale investors so far are not American but multinational corporations (some whose home countries will not allow fracking): “The largest American-only gas company, Devon, has not invested in the Marcellus Shale because they think it is too risky.” She also noted that with the planning of a Pennsylvania to Canada pipeline, the gas “won’t stay in Pennsylvania and lower our bills, it won’t even stay in the U.S.” She finished her testimony by pointing out that the shale has been here for millions of years, “so we can afford to wait for the EPA and/or cumulative impact studies.”

Panel 4 included Carol Collier from the Delaware River Basin Commission, Scott Roberts from the PA Department of Environmental Protection, and Matthew Klayman from the Energy Coordinating Agency. Collier discussed finding the right level of regulation in order to fill in the current regulatory gaps. Roberts talked about how the DEP is making stricter requirements for hydrofrackers. Klayman made some interesting arguments about how the focus on natural gas is taking away from the real need to move away from finite fuel resources, arguing that “it is absolutely critical that Pennsylvania reduce its demand for energy as deeply and as quickly as possible in order to be able to withstand the relentless economic pressure of rising energy prices.” He noted that energy prices will be higher than ever once the shale resource is depleted.

Panel 5 consisted of Maya von Rossum from Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Brandy Russel from Clean Water Action (whose testimony we somehow missed — sorry!), Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark from the St. Joseph Sustainability Center at Chestnut Hill College, Rabbi Arthur Waskow from the Shalom Center, a representative for Roberta Winters of the League of Women Voters of PA, Shireen Parsons from Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, and Margery Stein Schab from NYH20. Von Rossum discussed the burgeoning eco-tourism industry on the Delaware River and how it might be affected by gas drilling. She argued that allowing gas drilling is counter-productive to the city’s watershed restoration efforts, noting that “every dollar invested in watershed protection can save a community between $7.50 and $200 in costs for new water treatment facilities.” Rabbi Waskow said that the shale issues are not different from historial issues, and relayed a religious parable about pausing to let the earth rest. If humans don’t pause to let the earth rest, he cautioned, then the earth will rest on us. Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark called for a moratorium on drilling until all health-related concerns have been investigated through objective studies. Parsons said that we don’t have a fracking problem, “we have a democracy problem,” in that people are held subordinate to corporate interests by our legislators and that current fracking regulations permit harm. The League of Women Voters expressed their support for a severance tax and for extending the moratorium on drilling. Stein Schab argued against the drilling, asking, “Have we come to a point of such utter callousness that we must compromise the rights of millions to clean water and air for the possible benefit of money and jobs?”

After the long day of testimony, Councilman Jones said that the day had given much for Council to think about regarding the need for environmental studies before drilling takes place. He quoted his fellow Councilmember, Marion Tasco, saying, “Act in haste, and repent in your leisure.”

To learn more about the issues with drilling in the Marcellus Shale, please visit these resources:

Documents:

• Oil and Gas At Your Door
• Drilling Around the Law

Organizations:

• PennFuture
• Clean Water Action
• Delaware RiverKeeper
• Protecting our Waters

Newsletters:

• PA DEP’s Marcellus Shale Examiner
• PennEnvironment’s Marcellus Shale Newswire: Marcellus Shale Newswire

Video:

• What You Need to Know About Natural Gas Production

A preliminary study by Academy of Natural Sciences researchers suggests that even without spills or other accidents, drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania’s rich Marcellus Shale formation could degrade nearby streams.

The researchers compared watersheds where there was no or little drilling to watersheds where there was a high density of drilling, and found significant changes.

Water conductivity, an indicator of contamination by salts that are a component of drilling wastewater, was almost twice as high in streams with high-density drilling.

Populations of salamanders and aquatic insects, animals sensitive to pollution, were 25 percent lower in streams with the most drilling activity.

Read the rest of this article here.

“Although half of the source for Philadelphia’s drinking water is underlain by Marcellus Shale,” [Philadelphia Water Department Deputy Commissioner of Environmental Services] Neukrug testified, “we recognize that the extraction of natural gas is an activity that can be performed with low risk to natural resources if there is good enforcement of existing regulations, inspection of drilling sites, and restoration of sites to their pre-drilling state.”

Neukrug said that the city’s chief concern about Marcellus development was deforestation and soil compaction – conditions associated with any development. The runoff from lawns contains much more nitrogen, dirt, and fecal coliform than runoff from forests, he said.

“Preventing forest loss is fundamental to the long-term quality of Philadelphia’s drinking-water supply,” Neukrug testified.

In an interview last week, Water Department officials said they had worked quietly with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Delaware River Basin Commission to strengthen drilling regulations. They said they would not be shy about raising alarms if they saw a threat.

“The Marcellus Shale is just another issue we’re dealing with,” said Kelly Anderson, the department’s source-water protection manager.

Go read the article and check back here later for highlights from today’s City Council hearing!

The film is thought-provoking and at times, quite disturbing. For example, some people who live near natural gas drilling sites are suddenly able to light their water on fire, straight from the tap. Nearby residents and pets are getting sick,  losing their hair and losing weight. The chemicals used in the fracking process don’t have to be disclosed due to an exemption in the law — and this means that hundreds of unknown (and some well-known and proven unsafe!) chemicals end up in our waterways.

After the screening, filmmaker Josh Fox stayed for a Q-and-A session. In it, he noted that “the culture of convenience is leading us down this path.” It was heartbreaking to hear that we are sacrificing our water quality and air quality in large part to manufacture disposable plastic products.

You can find a screening of Gasland here or catch it on HBO and HBO On Demand. Fox told us there will be a theatrical release in the fall and a big screening in Philadelphia in late September. The DVD will be released in December, but you can watch the trailer here:

The Gasland website includes many ways to take action. The Delaware Valley River Basin Commission will be holding a public meeting regarding the Marcellus Shale next Wednesday, July 14, at 1:00 p.m. at the West Trenton Volunteer Fire Company in West Trenton, NJ. Many citizens will be there to call for a complete moratorium on natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Watershed. For more information, visit Delaware Riverkeeper.

But the movie here: Gasland