THIS IS SICKENING

dont start this dude, its gonna turn to sh*t 

Just remember FRACKING is BAD in all aspects.

The Deetz

You need to read what the drillers have to say, then read what the enviromentalists have to say, try to determine where the truth lies(probably somewhere in between). Then determine if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks(EX. $100 monthly gas bills vs $300 month gas bills, or perhaps no gas vs having gas, sending money to our enimies vs keeping it here, jobs vs no jobs, etc. Everything in life is trade offs and this is no different. It would suck losing land to drilling but would also suck not having the money to get there or for hunting equipment. As for fracking, they have been doing it with chemicals in Pennsylvania for over a hundred years although not without some negative effects to go along with the jobs it created.

The fact that they can do this and still not have to disclose what chemicals are used in the fracking process is appalling.

Part of the problem with disclosing this that is often different companies have developed their own blend of fracking components and some are better than others. It's the same as in many other industries that try to keep their formulas or processes secret. In this case where all citizens may be affected I tend to agree with you.

I thought the return rate of frack water on the Marcellus is quite low, and that some companies are re-using the frack water?

PA Brine Co. in Franklin has permits with DEP and EPA

No assertions here. The amount of waste produced by the shallow wells is a drop in the hat compared to what the Marcellus wells produce. Think about it, "drilling" several thousand feet vertically vs. 6-8000+ vertically + horizontal drilling. It generally takes less than 200,000gal to frac a typical shallow well, whereas a horizontal Marcellus well can consume close to 10,000,000gal.

I thought the return rate of frack water on the Marcellus is quite low, and that some companies are re-using the frack water?

PA Brine Co. in Franklin has permits with DEP and EPA

Some companies are reusing the water, I think Atlas Resources reuses most of theirs. As time goes on and the pressure stays on them, more of them will probably go that way. It will be a matter of economics and public pressure. One thing that will be interesting to watch play out is the situation on the state forest. A large part of the deer herd reduction was done at the insistance of the enviromentalists who under the Forest Stewardship Council were preparing the forests for conversion to Ecosystem Management and increasing the old growth forests to 50% of the area. Pitting the enviromentalists and their money against the hunters,the hunters were on the losing end. Pitting the enviromentalists against the State with the amount of money involved in the gas under the forests is another matter. I don't think it's possible to increase the old growth forests and have Ecosystem Management along side a gas well and the resulting roads, tanks,pollution, etc. Rendell has already leased out a large part of the forest and my guess Corbett won't stop the process.

what is the public sentiment about this in pa? favorable, not? a portion of the known reserves extend into ohio, but there has not been much said about it, other than the treat of polluting private wells (water).

PA is a tax ****.....They will allow big business to do whatever it wants as long as the state gets paid off...I know, as I am in the trash business in PA.....Marcellus fracking will continue.

"a portion of the known reserves extend into ohio, but there has not been much said about it, other than the treat of polluting private wells (water)."

Rich,

We ran a horizontal well along 224 from NC to Poland, and are TAKING your share of the reserves.

We're also pumping the extracted fracking water into the Cuyahoga river. It's not like the Clevelandites would know the difference. And it might actually be an improvement.

Here are some of the highlights of the revised regs regarding disposal/treatment of frac water:


Taken from 25 Pa. Code 95.10 **LINK**

.....

(b) Operations with wastewater resulting from fracturing, production, field exploration, drilling or completion of natural gas wells shall comply with the following requirements:

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), there may be no discharge of wastewater into waters of this Commonwealth from any source associated with fracturing, production, field exploration, drilling or well completion of natural gas wells.

(2) A wastewater source reduction strategy shall be developed by the well operator by August 22, 2011, and submitted to the Department upon request. The source reduction strategy must identify the methods and procedures the operator shall use to maximize the recycling and reuse of flow back or production fluid either to fracture other natural gas wells, or for other beneficial uses approved under Chapter 287 (relating to residual waste management—general provisions). The strategy shall be updated annually and include, at a minimum, the following information:

(i) A complete characterization of the operator’s wastewater stream including chemical analyses, TDS concentrations and monthly generation rate of flowback and production fluid at each natural gas well.

(ii) A description and evaluation of potential wastewater source reduction options through recycling, reuse or other beneficial uses.

(iii) The rationale for selecting the source reduction methods to be employed by the operator.

(iv) Quantification of the flowback and production fluid generated by each well which is recycled or reused either to fracture other natural gas wells or for other approved beneficial uses.

(3) New and expanding treated discharges of wastewater resulting from fracturing, production, field exploration, drilling or well completion of natural gas wells may be authorized by the Department under Chapter 92 (relating to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permitting, monitoring and compliance) provided that the following requirements are met:

(i) Discharges may be authorized only from centralized waste treatment facilities (CWT), as defined in 40 CFR 437.2(c) (relating to general definitions).

(ii) Discharges may not be authorized from a POTW, as defined in § 92.1, unless treatment at a CWT meeting all of the requirements of this chapter precedes treatment by the POTW.

(iii) The discharge may not contain more than 500 mg/L of TDS as a monthly average.

(iv) The discharge may not contain more than 250 mg/L of total chlorides as a monthly average.

(v) The discharge may not contain more than 10 mg/L of total barium as a monthly average.

(vi) The discharge may not contain more than 10 mg/L of total strontium as a monthly average.

(vii) The discharge complies with the performance standards in 40 CFR 437.45(b) (relating to new source performance standards (NSPS)).

Everyone talks about the jobs. If 16 guys are hired to drill a well. 14 or 15 are from Texas or out of state.  What a joke. In some places the rents went up 350%. The locals can't even afford to rent anymore. You really think companies from Texas care about our state's natural resources? They already destroyed their own state. Doesn't anyone remember what the coal companies did to the environment?? 

red sky at night, shale gas burnin' bright.

ORIGINAL: Rtom45

You can go online and sign a petition at this website:
www.sosinpa.org
The petition requests that a moratorium be put on drilling until the facts and risks can be determined.
Also, the drilling is closer than many think. Just recently a well was put in at Cross Creek country club. Thats just a hop, skip, and jump from Oil Creek.

 
 
 
 
The Cross Creek well was a shallow gas, not Marcellus
 
 

Maybe they can add prohibiting introduction of non-native species to Pa. waterways... Like steelhead!

ORIGINAL: Rtom45

You can go online and sign a petition at this website:
www.sosinpa.org
The petition requests that a moratorium be put on drilling until the facts and risks can be determined.
Also, the drilling is closer than many think. Just recently a well was put in at Cross Creek country club. Thats just a hop, skip, and jump from Oil Creek.