In the Shadow of the Marcellus Boom

8/3/2019 In the Shadow of the Marcellus Boom

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In the Shadow o theMarcellus BoomHow Shale Gas Extraction Puts

Vulnerable Pennsylvanians at Risk


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May 2011

Written by:

Travis Madsen and Jordan Schneider, Frontier Group

Erika Staa, PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center

In the Shadow othe Marcellus BoomHow Shale Gas Extraction Puts

Vulnerable Pennsylvanians at Risk


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PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center thanks Dr. Conrad Daniel Volz andSamantha Malone at the Center or Healthy Environments and Communitiesat the University o Pittsburgh Graduate School o Public Health, and Dr. JohnStolz at the Center or Environmental Research and Education at DuquesneUniversity or their review o drats o this document, as well as their insightsand suggestions. We are additionally grateul to the Center or Healthy Environ-ments and Communities or providing online data and visualizations o naturalgas extraction impacts at www.ractracker.org. Tony Dutzik at Frontier Group

and David Masur at PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center providededitorial assistance.

PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center thanks the Claneil Foundation, theColcom Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, the Laurel Foundation and theGeorge and Miriam Martin Foundation or making this report possible.

The authors bear responsibility or any actual errors. The recommendationsare those o PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. The views expressedin this report are those o the authors and do not necessarily reect the views oour unders or those who provided review.

2011 PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center

PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. We arededicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces. We investigate problems,crat solutions, educate the public and decision-makers, and help the publicmake their voices heard in local, state and national debates over the quality oour environment and our lives. For more inormation about PennEnvironmentResearch & Policy Center or or additional copies o this report, please visit

www.pennenvironment.org/center.

Frontier Group conducts independent research and policy analysis to support acleaner, healthier and more democratic society. Our mission is to inject accurateinormation and compelling ideas into public policy debates at the local, state

and ederal levels. For more inormation about Frontier Group, please visitwww.rontiergroup.org.

Cover photo: Mark Schmerling

Layout: To the Point Publications, www.tothepointpublications.com

Acknowledgments


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Table o Contents

Executive Summary 4

Introduction 8

Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction Risks Pollution o PennsylvaniasAir and Water 10

Extracting Natural Gas rom Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Impacts o Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Reports o Health Impacts Near Gas Extraction Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction Is Happening in Close Proximity toVulnerable Pennsylvanians 30

Children are Particularly Vulnerable to Chemical Exposures rom GasExtraction Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction Sites Are Widespread. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Marcellus Well Sites Exist in Close Proximity to Vulnerable Pennsylvanians . . . . . . . . 33

Policy Recommendations 36

Gaps in State Policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Gaps in Federal Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Methodology 41

Sources o Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Calculating Distances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Appendix 44

Notes 46


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4 In the Shadow o the Marcellus Boom

Executive Summary

Hydraulic racturing with horizon-tal drilling a orm o naturalgas extraction rapidly spreading

across Pennsylvania poses serious po-tential or harm to our environment andour health. Gas companies are injecting

water, sand and chemicals at high pres-sures deep beneath the earth, racturingthe underground Marcellus Shale rockormation to extract the gas trapped

within. Blowouts and fres can occur atwell sites, and drilling and extraction cancontaminate the states air and water.

These impacts put the health o Penn-sylvanians at risk especially childrenand other vulnerable populations.

From Pittsburgh to Scranton, gascompanies have already drilled morethan 3,000 hydraulic racturing wells,and the state has issued permits orthousands more. Permitted well sitesexist within two miles o more than

320 day care acilities, 67 schools andnine hospitals statewide.Federal and state regulations have

not kept up with the speed at which gascompanies have deployed into Penn-sylvanias communities. Governmentsshould require gas companies to take

greater precautions to protect citizenshealth and environment.

Marcellus Shale drilling and gasextraction is happening in closeproximity to many vulnerablePennsylvanians.

Gas companies have already drilledmore than 3,000 hydraulic ractur-

ing wells in Pennsylvanias MarcellusShale (as o April 2011). During2010, the state Department oEnvironmental Protection (DEP)issued permits to gas companiesto drill or deepen nearly 3,450additional wells. So ar in 2011, theDEP has issued more than 10 wellpermits per day, on average. In abroad strip rom southwest o Pitts-burgh to northeast o Scranton, veryew places in the region are located

arther than 10 miles rom permittedwell site. (See Figure ES-1.)

Children are likely more vulner-able to the impacts o gas extractionbecause they are still developing.

The sick and diseased, meanwhile,


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Executive Summary 5

have ewer deenses against pollutionexposure. Across the state, MarcellusShale well sites exist within twomiles o more than 320 day care

acilities, 67 schools, and 9 hospitals providing a limited snapshot o theproximity o gas extraction to these

vulnerable groups. (See Table ES-1.)

The DEP recorded 241 violationso environmental regulations at

Marcellus wells within two miles oa day care acility, and 40 violations

within two miles o a school, romJanuary 2008 to June 2010 alone not including trafc saety violationsby tanker trucks.

With industry projecting on theorder o 50,000 new wells over thenext two decades, gas extractionactivity is likely to move into evengreater proximity to more vulnerablepopulations across the region.

Blowouts and fres at well sitescreate immediate health threats.

In April 2011, a well in BradordCounty blew out during the

hydraulic racturing process.Thousands o gallons o chemicalsspilled, contaminating nearbyarm felds and Towanda Creek.Emergency ofcials evacuated at leastseven amilies.

Table ES-1: Proximity of Vulnerable Populations toPermitted Well Sites

Facility Type Number WithinOne Mile of a

Well Site

Number WithinTwo Miles of a

Well Site

Day Care 104 320

School 14 67

Hospital 2 9

Figure ES-1 Hospitals, Schools and Day Care Facilities within Two Miles of aPermitted Well Site


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In June 2010, a well blew out inClearfeld County, northeast oPittsburgh. The well spewed gas anddrilling uid 75 eet into the air or 16hours.

In 2007, gas rom an improp-

erly sealed well in Ohio infltrateda nearby home, where it exploded,seriously damaging the structure.

In April 2010, a tank and open pitstoring wastewater rom a well inHopewell Township, WashingtonCounty, caught fre, sending a plumeo black smoke across the nearbycountryside. And in February 2011,our chemical storage tanks explodedat a Chesapeake Energy well site in

Washington County, injuring threeworkers and spewing pollution intothe air or three hours.

At every stage in the process,Marcellus Shale gas extractioncreates risks or water pollution.

The DEP recorded more than 1,000violations o regulations intended toprotect water quality and the environ-ment at gas extraction sites between

2008 and August 2010.

Spills or leaks can pollute rivers, lakesor groundwater with chemicals usedin hydraulic racturing uid, some o

which have ties to acute and chronichealth impacts ranging rom neuro-logical damage to cancer. Amongthem are chemicals including dieseluel, benzene, toluene and 2-butoxy-ethanol.

Additionally, the well drilling andracturing process releases naturallyoccurring metals and salts rom theshale ormation, many o which canthreaten human health, includingarsenic, barium, chromium, lead,strontium and radioactive materialssuch as radium. These substances

could contaminate water suppliesthrough underground leaks, suracespills or improper disposal at watertreatment plants.

Gas has been documented to contami-

nate aquiers up to seven miles roma well site, suggesting that pathwaysexist or contaminants to travel longdistances underground.

Extracting gas rom the MarcellusShale also creates hazardous airpollution.

Gas felds can become major sourceso health-threatening smog. Forexample, gas extraction and processingactivities in the Barnett Shale regiono Texas generate 70 percent as muchsmog-orming pollution as all motor

vehicles operating in the nine-countyDallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan area.

Wyomings Sublette County, home tothousands o gas wells but only 9,000people, has suered rom unhealthylevels o air pollution more commonlyassociated with big cities since adrilling boom that began in 2005.

In addition to smog, well operations

produce a variety o hazardous airpollutants, including diesel soot romthousands o truck trips and pumpengines operating 24 hours a day,gases vented rom wells, contaminantsrom processing the substances thatcome up out o the well, and umesevaporating rom wastewater ponds,including benzene, methanol andormaldehyde. These substances poserisks or acute and chronic healthimpacts, rom dizziness to rashes tocancer.

Anecdotal reports suggest that livingnear gas extraction sites can causehealth impacts, although little ormalscientifc study has been completed todate. For example:


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Executive Summary 7

Fiteen residents o Dimock, PA,fled a lawsuit against Cabot Oil& Gas in 2009, alleging that thecompanys gas extraction activitiespolluted their water supplies andharmed their health. The suit cites

health problems including neuro-logical illnesses and gastrointestinalproblems. It also alleges that onepersons blood showed toxic levelso the same metals ound in drilling

wastewater. The DEP has also takenlegal action against Cabot in thiscase.

Residents o western Colorado andTexas communities near hydraulicracturing gas extraction opera-

tions have reported strange odorsand health problems includingnose bleeds, rashes, burning eyes,breathing difculty, asthma, dizzi-ness, atigue, nausea, muscle aches,severe headaches and blackouts.Several residents have developed rarecancers.

In a small town called Dish in theBarnett Shale region o Texas, testshave ound a variety o hazardous

pollutants related to gas extractionand processing in the air, in wellwater and in samples o residentsblood.

Government at all levels mustprotect Pennsylvanians health andenvironment rom gas extraction.

The Commonwealth should desig-nate pristine places and locationsnear where people live or work

o-limits to gas extraction. Thisshould include areas near day careacilities, schools, hospitals and other

vulnerable populations.

The Commonwealth should ensuregas companies pay the ull cost ogas extraction and clean-up through

higher bonding requirements,impact ees and higher mandatorypenalties or companies that breakthe law, pollute the environment, orput public health at risk.

Additionally, the state should

strengthen clean water laws, haltthe use o toxic chemicals in thehydraulic racturing process in avoro saer alternatives, increase theresources available to state regula-tors or enorcing the law, revokedrilling privileges or the worstoenders, and return erosion andsedimentation review authority toPennsylvanias County ConservationDistricts to help manage the gas well

permitting process.

The state should require gas compa-nies to report important inorma-tion to the general public as well asthe DEP, including the types andamounts o chemicals used duringdrilling and racturing and thecomposition and disposal o waste-

water, in a timely ashion and on awell-by-well basis.

Federal law exempts gas extraction

rom regulation under key elementso the Sae Drinking Water Act, theClean Air Act, the Clean Water Act,the National Environmental Policy

Act, and the Resource Conservationand Recovery Act. Additionally, theindustry aces no ederal obligationto account or quantities o poten-tially toxic chemicals let under-ground, or to report toxic emissionsto the Toxic Release Inventory. The

ederal government should endthe special treatment or the gasindustry and apply the nations corepublic health and environmentallaws to gas extraction just as it wouldregulate any potential threat topublic health or the environment.


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Introduction

Pennsylvania is no stranger to energybooms and busts. Nor are Pennsyl-

vanians strangers to the long-lastingenvironmental, economic and publichealth consequences o energy extractiongone wrong.

Pennsylvania ueled Americas in-

dustrial revolution with coal. From therise o the railroads in the 1800s, to theconstruction o large power plants in the1900s, Pennsylvania provided more than10 billion tons o coal to the Americaneconomy.1 Pennsylvania was also hometo the nations frst oil boom during thelate 19th and early 20th century indeed,the Keystone State produced hal o the

worlds oil until 1901.2

Pennsylvanians are still paying theprice or ossil uel extraction that, in

some cases, occurred more than a centuryago. In ormer coal mining regions othe state, large piles o coal waste litterthe landscape, leaching heavy metals andacid mine drainage into local waterways.3

More than 2,400 miles o Pennsylvaniastreams remain polluted with acidic,

toxic, orange-tinted water draining romold mines, killing stream lie and making

water supplies undrinkable.4 The Penn-sylvania Department o EnvironmentalProtection has estimated that addressingall o the impacts o acid mine drain-age in the Commonwealth would cost

roughly $16 billion.5

Meanwhile, overthe past century and a hal, more than250,000 oil and gas wells were drilledin Pennsylvania primarily in thenorthwestern Pennsylvania oil patch.

Many older oil and gas wells were simplyabandoned when production ceased,creating a series o environmental risksincluding the leaking o oil to the suraceand the contamination o groundwater

with methane or brine.6

Today, Pennsylvanians ind them-

selves in the midst o another energyboom the extraction o natural gasrom the Marcellus Shale. And again thanks to ineective regulation byboth state and ederal authorities Pennsylvania runs the risk o paying asevere price in environmental degrada-


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Introduction 9

tion and health damage rom ossil uelextraction.

Hydraulic racturing o wells drilledhorizontally into the Marcellus Shale isrelatively new, and there is much aboutits environmental and public health

impact that we dont know. Thanks todecades o science linking dischargeso toxic chemicals in the air and waterto human health problems as well asthe persistent toxic legacy o ormerossil uel booms in Pennsylvania weknow ar more than our ancestors didabout the potential costs o ossil uelextraction. We know more than enough,in act, to be concerned about the im-pact that poorly conducted hydraulicracturing operations in the MarcellusShale are having on the health o nearbyresidents particularly the most vulner-able Pennsylvanians, including childrenand the sick.

In this report, PennEnvironmentResearch & Policy Center explores thepossible consequences that expandedgas extraction in Pennsylvanias Marcel-

lus Shale could bring. We explore howrapidly the gas boom is expanding, andhow close permitted well sites are to daycare acilities, schools and hospitals.

The philosopher George Santayanawrote that those who cannot rememberthe past are condemned to repeat it. Asnatural gas extraction in the MarcellusShale accelerates, Pennsylvanians mustremember the lessons o our past. Thehealth o our people and our environ-ment depends on it.

The Marcellus Shale is a hugegas feld. It may seem like thereare a lot o companies up herenow, but there really isnt yet. Kristi Gittins, spokeswoman or Chie Oil & Gas,in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, June 13, 2010.7

Photo: Mark Schmerling


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Natural gas companies are ood-ing into Pennsylvania in the 21stcentury equivalent o a gold rush

staking claim on vast deposits o gastrapped in an underground rock orma-tion called the Marcellus Shale.

To reach the gas inside the shale, gas

companies are employing techniquescalled horizontal drilling and hydraulicracturing. The process involves drillinga deep well into the ground vertically,turning the drill bit horizontally into the

Marcellus Shale rock ormation, injectinga solution o sand and chemicals to rac-ture the rock and extract the gas trapped

within, and then processing and shippingthe gas to market.

Gas extraction in the Marcellus Shaleposes threats including the acute risk o

blowouts and fres; the risk o pollutingwater supplies with chemicals used in hy-draulic racturing, or with chemicals andradioactive minerals dislodged rom deepunderground; and the risk o exposure toair pollution rom diesel exhaust pipes,chemical ponds, gas aring or accidental

fres. Anecdotal reports suggest thatliving near well sites can cause healthimpacts.

Extracting Natural Gasrom Pennsylvanias

Marcellus Shale The Marcellus Shale stretches be-neath 60 percent o Pennsylvanias landmass, at depths o 5,000 to 9,000 eet.8

The gas industry estimates that the rockormation could contain enough energyto power the entire world economy ornearly three years making it poten-tially the second-largest gas feld onearth.9

For decades, the gas industry pursuedcheaper resources, believing that the gas

trapped in the Marcellus Shale was toodifcult to extract economically. How-ever, with rising energy prices, and thedevelopment o more eective hydraulicracturing techniques, the gas industrydiscovered that Marcellus Shale gascould be extracted at a proft. Industry

Marcellus Shale Gas ExtractionRisks Pollution o PennsylvaniasAir and Water


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Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction Risks Pollution o Pennsylvanias Air and Water 11

ofcials and observers alike have calledthis discovery a game changer.10

The gas industry has moved quickly todevelop Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale.Gas companies drilled the frst test wellinto Marcellus Shale in 2004.11 Gas ex-traction began in earnest in 2007. Sincethen, the number o state-issued permits

or Marcellus Shale wells has been grow-ing at a rate o more than 200 percent per

year.12 (See Figure 1.) Today, more than80 companies are actively developing thisresource in Pennsylvania.13

The leading player is ChesapeakeEnergy, which controls more than 1,000permitted well sites.14 Other majorplayers in the industry include RangeResources, Atlas Resources, Anadarko,EOG Resources (ormerly Enron),

Talisman Energy, Ultra Resources, East

Resources, Cabot Oil & Gas, Chie Oil& Gas and Fortuna Energy.

These companies joined by majorinternational players including Exxon

Mobil and Statoil are planning a mas-sive expansion o drilling to capture theresources in the Marcellus Shale.15 Gas

production in Pennsylvania could expandnearly 40-old in the next decade.16

Hydraulic Fracturing

The gas in the Marcellus Shale istrapped within microscopic cracks inthe rock. The gas is inaccessible with

conventional drilling techniques, whichare better suited or tapping consolidatedpockets or reservoirs o oil or gas under-ground. In order to release the gas romthe shale, gas companies have deployedtechnology known as hydraulic ractur-ing sometimes called racking orshort.

The process o hydraulic racturingwidens cracks in the shale, allowing gastrapped there to escape and ow intothe well. First, a gas company drills a

vertical well into the shale ormation.Then, drilling operators cut horizon-tal branches into the shale, radiatingoutward as much as 5,000 eet to reachsections o rock away rom the central

well and increase the ability o the wellto produce gas.18

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

2007 2008 2009 2010

NumberofPermitsIssued

Figure 1: The Shale Boom: The State Is Issuing an Increasing Number of Permits forMarcellus Shale Wells Each Year17


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Once the wells are drilled, operatorspump water containing sand and a mix-ture o chemicals into the ground at highpressure. The water orces its way intocracks in the rock, widening them, andthe sand holds those cracks open wide

enough or gas to escape. (See Figure 2.)Ater drilling a well, operators can repeatthe process o hydraulic racturing toboost gas production anywhere rom a

year to 10 years ater the well beginsoperation.19

The oil and gas industry has beenusing racturing and horizontal tech-niques or years. However, usingthese techniques in combination is

a relatively new development. Thistechnology has helped make gasextraction in the Marcellus Shale aproftable enterprise.

!

!

!

$ $ $ $ $ $ $34$5&-67#&,89&+9074(%-$

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

$ $ $ $ $$ $

Figure 2: Anatomy of a Hydraulic Fracturing Well


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Vast Fortunes at StakeThe gas trapped in the Marcellus Shale

is potentially worth trillions o dollars.Gas companies have a clear fnancial in-terest in extracting as much o the gas aspossible, and they have already investedmore than $10 billion in developingPennsylvanias Marcellus Shale.21 Somerural landowners have also cashed in on

-

Once the wells into the Marcellus Shale are drilled, operators pump water containing sandand a mixture o chemicals into the ground at high pressure. The three wellheads in thisphoto, owned by Fortuna Energy, are undergoing preparation or the racturing process.

Photo: New York Department o Environmental Conservation, 2009 20

the shale gas boom, accepting paymentson the order o thousands o dollars peracre plus the promise o productionroyalties in exchange or allowing drill-ing to proceed on their land.

However, the price o Marcellus Shalegas extraction extends beyond money. Italso includes exposure to the risk o ac-cidents and pollution.


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The Impacts o Marcellus

Shale Gas ExtractionAt every stage in the process, extract-

ing gas rom the Marcellus Shale posessignifcant risks, including blowouts, andair and water pollution.

Accidents at a well site immediatelythreaten the well-being o anyone in thearea. Gas migrating into a water supplycan create the risk o explosions withinnearby buildings. Spills or leaks can con-taminate water supplies with chemicals

used in hydraulic racturing uid, or withnaturally occurring toxic metals and saltsrom the shale ormation. Documentedincidents o gas contamination o under-ground aquiers suggest that gas and po-tentially other contaminants can travelunderground at least one mile and up toseven miles or more rom a well site.23

Further, improper disposal o waste-water could result in contamination oPennsylvanias surace water supplies.

Exhaust rom thousands o trucks and

diesel-ueled equipment operating 24hours a day, smoke rom ares or fres plus hazardous chemicals evaporatingrom the well, rom wastewater or romgas processing or transport equipment could contaminate local areas withunhealthy levels o air pollution.

Blowouts, Fires and ExplosionsBlowouts and fres at well sites, or in

nearby homes with contaminated watersupplies, create immediate health threatsor anyone in the area including burns,

smoke inhalation or exposure to espe-cially high concentrations o air pollution.Several high-profle incidents in the pastseveral years in Pennsylvania and neigh-boring states illustrate the risk.

Blowouts and Fires

In April 2011, a well on the MorseFarm in Leroy Township, outsideCanton in Bradord County, blewout during the hydraulic racturingprocess. The well, owned by Chesa-peake Energy, spilled thousands ogallons o chemicals, contaminat-ing nearby arm felds and TowandaCreek, a tributary o the Susque-hanna River. Emergency ofcialsevacuated at least seven amilies.24

In April 2010, a tank and open pitstoring waste well uid in Hopewell

Township, Washington County,caught fre, sending ames 100 eetinto the air and spewing a plume o

black smoke across the countryside.25Kyle Lengauer, a nearby resident,told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette thatthe explosion came ater days osmelling gas odors. We actually letour house on Sunday because theumes were so bad and we were sonauseated, he said.

In June 2010, a well owned by EOGResources (ormerly Enron) inLawrence Township, in Clearfeld

County northeast o Pittsburgh, blewout. The well spewed gas and drillinguid 75 eet into the air or 16 hoursbeore crews were able to bring itback under control.26 In a situationeerily similar to the BP Macondo

well disaster in the Gul o Mexico,

We are witnessing the industrial-ization o rural Appalachia and noone is ready or it.

Victoria Switzer, Resident o Dimock, Pennsylvania,speaking to the Globe and Mailin 2010.22


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EOG had installed a broken blowoutpreventer with no backup system,allowing the pressure o the earth toblast the contents o the well up andout.27

In January 2011, a blowout accident

happened at a well owned byTalisman Resources in Tioga StateForest, near Blossburg.28 And inFebruary 2011, our chemical storagetanks at a Chesapeake Energy wellsite in Avella, Washington County,exploded, injuring three workers andspewing pollution into the air orthree hours.29

Home Explosions

Gas is ammable and explosive. Whengas escapes rom a well into the surround-ing groundwater, it can infltrate homesthrough drinking water wells and waterpipes. I the gas builds up to a sufcientconcentration, and a spark or source oame ignites the gas, an explosion willresult. This has already happened severaltimes in Pennsylvania and neighboringstates. For example,

In 2007, a home in Cleveland, Ohio,

exploded ater gas built up in thebasement. State ofcials blamedaulty construction in a nearbyhydraulic racturing gas well, whichallowed gas to seep into an under-ground aquier and into the homes

water system.30 Fortunately, theresidents were not home, but theexplosion severely damaged thestructure. Twelve days beore theexplosion, gas had reached the watersystem o the local police department

nearly a mile rom the gas well.31In 2009, Norma Fiorentino, aresident o Dimock, PA, came hometo fnd that the building housing herdrinking water well had exploded.

The state theorized that gas romnearby hydraulic racturing opera-tions contaminated the aquierbeneath her home, built up in her

well, and caused an explosion whenthe water pump activated.32

Water PollutionFracturing a Marcellus Shale well

requires on the order o 2 to 8 milliongallons o uid or a single well.33 Thatis vastly more luid than required todrill a conventional gas well providingproportionally more opportunities tocontaminate local water resources.

Surace spills o uels, racturing uids,or wastewater can contaminate soils and

local groundwater supplies. Improperlysealed wells can allow drilling uids ornaturally-occurring contaminants toleak into groundwater. Finally, disposalo wastewater can contaminate Pennsyl-

vanias rivers and streams ater impropertreatment.34 Pennsylvania is the only statethat allows gas companies to use surace

waters rather than deep undergroundinjection wells as the primary receptacleor drilling waste water.35

An accident at a well site near buildings, such as this welllocated between several homes in Bradord County, could createimmediate health threats or anyone in the area.



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Potential Contaminants

Gas extraction in the Marcellus Shalecan contaminate water supplies withpollutants including methane gas, drill-ing uid, hydraulic racturing uid, ornaturally occurring contaminants orcedup through the well. Many o thesesubstances have toxic properties and cancause both acute and long-term healthimpacts.

Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid

Many companies have been unwillingto identiy all o the specifc ingredientsused in racturing uid, claiming someas trade secrets. In particular, the largestsupplier o racturing services, Hallibur-

ton, has resisted requests rom ederal andstate environmental agencies to disclosethe chemical composition o some o itsproducts in order to protect its competi-

tive advantage.38 In Pennsylvania, drill-ers have to report to the DEP the typeso chemicals used at racturing sites andtheir concentrations. However, the lawprevents DEP rom disclosing inorma-tion designated as trade secrets.39

From this reporting, we know thatracturing uid contains many chemicalsthat would be problematic i they con-taminated water supplies.40

In general, racturing uid containsabout 90 percent water, nine percentsand, and one percent chemical additives,by weight.41 Although the chemical ad-ditives are a relatively small raction othe racturing uid by volume, becauseracturing requires huge volumes o

water, this represents a large amount ochemicals. A well that requires three mil-lion gallons o uid would require on theorder o 250,000 pounds o chemicals.42

Chemical additives destined or use at a hydraulic racturing gas well.

Photo: New York Department o Environmental Conservation36


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Given that the industry expects to drillas many as 50,000 Marcellus wells, thatcould require introducing more than 10billion pounds o chemicals into Penn-sylvanias environment.

The chemical additives give the uidthe ability to carry grains o sand deepinto cracks in the shale, propping openractures. Fracturing chemical additivesinclude acids, riction reducers, surac-tants, gelling agents, bacterial growthretardants, corrosion and mineral de-posit inhibitors, and clay stabilizers.43 Gas

companies customize the exact contentso a racturing uid based on the charac-teristics o the rock ormation where thegas deposit lies.

In 2010, in response to requests romNew York state regulators, a subset o

gas companies submitted a list o morethan 200 dierent chemicals that can beused in racturing additives to the stateDepartment o Environmental Conser-

vation. The Pennsylvania DEP has asimilar listing on fle.44 These chemicalsinclude:

Amides, including ormamide andacrylamide;

Petroleum distillates, includ-ing diesel uel, mineral spirits, andrelated solvents;

Aromatic hydrocarbons, includingbenzene, toluene and xylene; and

Other chemicals, including 1-4dioxane, 2-butoxyethanol and tarbases.

Trucks delivering racturing water (above) and hydrochloric acid (below) to a well site.

Photo: New York Department o Environmental Conservation37


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Doctors and health scientists have as-sociated many o these pollutants with a

wide variety o acute illnesses and long-term diseases, including cancer, asthmaand liver, kidney or central nervous sys-tem problems.45 Evolving understanding

o long-term exposure to small amountso these types o contaminants suggeststhat contaminants rom gas extractioncould have serious impacts on publichealth, especially near well sites.46

The New York Department o Healthprovided an overview o the health e-ects o dierent types o chemicals usedin hydraulic racturing to the statesenvironmental regulators. Among theirfndings: 47

Breathing or ingesting diesel ueland petroleum-derived solventscan harm the central nervous system.

Benzene and related aromatichydrocarbons can be ound inpetroleum-derived solvents. Theycan harm the nervous system, liver,kidneys and blood cell-ormingtissues. Benzene increases leukemiarisks in workers who inhale relativelylow levels o the chemical over long

periods o time. Exposure to xylenedamages the unborn ospring olaboratory animals, and evidencepoints to human harm as well.48Ingestion or inhalation o naphtha-lene damages red blood cells. Overlonger periods o exposure, naphtha-lene damages respiratory tissuesand increases the risk o respiratorysystem cancers.

Acrylamide can cause nervoussystem damage and cancer in labora-tory animals. Formamide harmsthe reproductive system in emalelaboratory animals. Formaldehydeis a carcinogen and can cause asthma.Laboratory animals exposed to 1-4dioxane through drinking waterdeveloped liver cancer.

Naturally Occurring Contaminants

The process o drilling and ractur-ing a Marcellus Shale well releases largequantities o naturally occurring chemi-cals, which could also contaminate watersupplies. These contaminants include:

High levels o salt. The Marcel-lus Shale developed rom an ancientocean, and the process o hydraulicracturing causes high levels o salt tomobilize in the racturing uid.

Heavy metals. A limited analy-sis o owback water rom wellsin Pennsylvania ound a varietyo hazardous metals, includingarsenic, antimony, barium, cadmium,

chromium, cobalt, copper, iron,lead, molybdenum, nickel, silver,strontium, thallium and titanium.49

Arsenic causes cancer.50 Very lowlevels o lead exposure have beenlinked to kidney damage, learn-ing difculties, mental and physicaldevelopmental problems and behav-ioral changes.51

Radioactive elements. In owbackwater samples rom eight Marcel-

lus wells reviewed by the NewYork Department o Environmen-tal Conservation, scientists oundradioactive components, includingradium, 100 percent o the time.52Radium levels were as high as 267times the limit sae or dischargeinto the environment and thousandso times the limit sae or people todrink.53 In February 2011, theNewYork Timespublished an investigationo previously unreleased feld reports

rom the U.S. EPA and the Pennsyl-vania DEP, dated between 2008 and2009, which ound that 42 wells inPennsylvania produced wastewater

with radium levels higher than eder-al drinking water standards in somecases almost 20,000 times higher.54


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Long-term exposure to even lowlevels o radioactivity can increasethe odds o developing cancer.

How Contaminants Reach WaterSupplies

Contaminants can reach water suppliesthrough aulty well construction, throughsurace spills, or through improper waste-

water disposal.

Faulty Well Construction

In their irst thousand eet, all gaswells pass through a layer o earth thatcontains aquiers, or underground res-ervoirs o water. Many people rely uponthese underground supplies or drinking

water especially in more rural areas othe state, where municipal water suppliesmay not be available.

Thousands o eet o rock separatedrinking water aquiers and the Marcel-lus Shale.55 However, the act o drillinga well creates a conduit that could carrycontaminants into groundwater.

To protect groundwater supplies,Pennsylvania requires gas companies touse metal casing pipes and cement to seal

wells.56 The casing pipes are intended to

isolate the well rom non gas-bearing rocklayers and allow gas and uids to pass intoor out o the well without contaminatingdrinking water supplies. Casing occurs instages, with the inner casing reaching allthe way to the bottom o the well, andintermediate and outer layers extendingto progressively more shallow depthsbelow the groundwater layer.

Between 65 and 90 percent o any hy-draulic racturing uid injected into a wellmay stay underground indefnitely.57 Ithe well casings do not unction properly,this uid could contaminate groundwatersupplies. Any errors in casing could pro-

vide a pathway or contaminants to escapethe inner well, migrate upward along the

well shat, and eventually contaminateunderground water supplies. During

racturing, operators increase the pres-sure inside the well to as high as 10,000pounds per square inch pressure thatcould orce contaminants through anyimproperly sealed gaps in the casing.58

Ater racturing, the pressure o the earthcould potentially orce anything in the

well up into groundwater layers throughany poorly sealed gaps in the casing.

Surface Contamination at the WellSite

Spills caused by tank ruptures, wastewater impoundment ailures, overillsor accidents or by sloppy handling odangerous substances can contaminatenearby soils, groundwater, streams or

wetlands. States have documented thou-sands o instances o water contamination

resulting rom surace spills at gas wellsites. For example:

In March 2010, Talisman Energyspilled hundreds o gallons odiesel uel at a gas well in Armenia

Township, Bradord County, PA.To clean the spill, Talisman had to

Surace spills o uels, racturing uids, or wastewater rom gasextraction can contaminate soils, streams, rivers and groundwater

supplies.



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excavate 3,800 tons o soil and collectand treat more than 100,000 gallonso contaminated water.59

In November o the previous year,Talisman spilled more than 4,000

gallons o contaminated owbackwater rom a hydraulic racturingoperation into a tributary o WeiberCreek in Bradord County.60

In September 2009, Cabot Oil andGas caused three spills in Dimock

Township in less than a week,dumping 8,000 gallons o racturinguid components into Stevens Creekand a nearby wetland.61

In May 2010, a racturing wastewater

pit owned by East Resources leakedinto a arm feld. The state Depart-ment o Agriculture quarantined 28cattle exposed to the uid to preventany contaminated meat rom reach-ing the market.62

The 2010 EOG well blowout inClearfeld County spilled 35,000gallons o wastewater, some o whichreached the Little Laurel Run, astream that eeds the SusquehannaRiver.63

In the state o Colorado, where hy-draulic racturing has become increas-ingly common since 2003, regulatoryoicials have documented more than1,500 spills. In one case, a waste pitleaked 1.6 million gallons o racturinguids near the western Colorado towno Parachute. The waste was particularlyobvious because groundwater currentscarried it to a large cli, where it ormed

an unusual 200 oot rozen waterall.64

In New Mexico, then-Governor BillRichardson passed tougher regulationsor wastewater storage pits ater a studyrevealed 400 incidents where leaks, seep-age or pit overflling contaminated thestates water resources.65

Wastewater Disposal

The impacts o shale gas extraction on water supplies extend beyond the wellsite. In particular, there are no problem-ree methods or disposing o drilling

wastewater.Ater the pressure o hydraulic ractur-ing is released on a well in the Marcellusormation, on the order o 9 to 35 percento the racturing uid ows back up to thesurace totaling between 200,000 and 3million gallons per well.66 The waste uidcontains racturing chemicals, salt, andother substances rom the rock ormationthat have been liberated by the drillingand racturing process, and any resultso chemical reactions happening in the

well. Waste uid can contain radioactiveminerals as well.

Gas companies in Pennsylvania typi-cally collect the wastewater and store itin lined pits or closed tanks, beore eitherminimally treating it and re-using it orracturing, hauling it o to a public orprivate water treatment plant or disposal,or selling it to another entity or usesincluding roadway de-icing.

Wastewater Treatment PlantsUp until recently, Pennsylvania gas

companies primarily disposed o drill-ing wastewater by sending it to publicor private wastewater treatment plants.

These plants processed the waste andthen discharged it to local waterways,

which orm the drinking water source ormillions o Pennsylvanians and residentso other nearby states.

Unortunately, Pennsylvanias water

treatment plants are not equipped to deal with the contaminants oten ound inracturing wastewater. Treatment plantsare designed to treat biological contami-nants coming rom human waste butnot chemical salts, industrial toxicants,or radioactive minerals. Treatment


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plants merely dilute and then dischargethese materials into the states rivers andlakes.

According to an investigation pub-lished by theNew York Timesin February2011, More than 1.3 billion gallons o

wastewater was produced by Pennsyl-vania wells over the past three years, armore than has been previously disclosed.

Most o this water enough to coverManhattan in three inches was sent totreatment plants not equipped to removemany o the toxic materials in drilling

waste.67In 2008, workers at a steel mill and

a power plant along the MonongahelaRiver noticed that water rom the river

was corroding their equipment. Nearbyresidents ound that their dishwashersstopped working, and plates were let

with mineral deposits. The PennsylvaniaDepartment o Environmental Protectionconcluded that drilling wastewater, dis-charged through an upstream treatment

plant, had raised the mineral content othe river to the point where downstreamusers noticed and complained.68 Drainagerom old coal mines in the area could havealso contributed to the problem.69

The DEP chose to dilute the pollution,

opening upstream dams. It also requiredgas companies to spread out the locationo their wastewater disposal sites so as notto overburden a single waterway.70

Pennsylvania DEP does not considertotal dissolved solids the ofcial nameo the contaminant that caused problemsalong the Monongahela River in 2008 to be a health threat. However, manyother contaminants in drilling wastewatercould increase the risk o health eectsor users downstream.

For example, the chloride and bromidesalts in the wastewater can combine withorganic materials in the water to createtrihalomethanes, chemicals that can causecancer and increase the risk o reproduc-tive or developmental health problems.71

A tanker truck loading racturing wastewater rom a storage pit or disposal at a sewage plant.

Photo: www.marcellus-shale.us


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Pennsylvania public water utilities down-stream rom waste treatment plants ac-cepting hydraulic racturing wastewaterhave experienced difculty in keepinglevels o trihalomethanes below healthstandards.72

Jim Riggio, water system manager inBeaver Falls, Beaver County, told thePittsburgh Post-Gazette in March 2011,We went rom non-detectable levels obromide to increased levels a couple o

years ago. When I see the whole rackwater thing taking o and the same timewe start to have problems, well, until youcan tell me dierent, thats what I assumeit is. And it seems like a lot o the watersuppliers on the Beaver and Mon rivershad similar problems to what we did.73

Total dissolve solids can also includeradioactive materials, which can alsocause cancer.74

In part because o these concerns, theDEP adopted tougher standards or theemission o total dissolved solids rom

water treatment plants in 2010.75 By2011, only 15 treatment plants in the stateaccepted drilling wastewater. In April2011, the DEP asked these treatmentplants to stop.76

Reusing WastewaterIn place o trucking wastewater to

ar-ung water treatment plants, manygas companies have begun recycling

wastewater to use in new racturing op-erations.77 TheNew York Timesreportedthat in the last 6 months o 2010, welloperators reused about 65 percent o their

wastewater.78Two problems remain with reusing

wastewater. First, gas companies may

have to add more chemicals to the uid tocreate the appropriate properties neces-sary or racturing. Second, since so mucho the wastewater remains underground,this practice is eectively the same asusing injection well disposal, albeit by adierent name. Injection well disposal

is tightly regulated by the EPA underthe Sae Drinking Water Act. However,injection well disposal achieved throughhydraulic racturing is eectively un-regulated.

Moreover, once the recycled water

becomes too contaminated to use inurther racturing operations, drillingoperators have continued to dispose oit at local sewage treatment plants thatare not equipped to remove all o thecontaminants.79 In the last six monthso 2010, well operators disposed o 260million gallons o wastewater enough tofll tanker trucks lined up end to end romNew York City to Richmond, Virginia at waste treatment plants, and ultimatelyinto local rivers.80 Once Pennsylvaniaplants stop accepting wastewater, gascompanies may fnd willing recipients inother nearby states.

Alternatively, well operators sell thewastewater to townships that spread it onroadways because o its high salt content,

which helps melt ice and keep down dust despite the act that any contaminantsrun o into aquiers, rivers and streamsater snowmelt or storms, or dry out andblow away on particles o dust.

According to aNew York Timesanalysiso state records, a gas company calledUltra Resources sold more than 150,000gallons o wastewater to nine Pennsylva-nia towns or use in dust suppression in2009. The water contained radium aradioactive contaminant at levels closeto 700 times higher than health standardsor drinking water.81

Incidents of Water Pollution

From 2008 through August 2010, the

Pennsylvania Department o Environ-mental Protection recorded more than1,000 violations o regulations intendedto protect water quality, according to areport by the Pennsylvania Land Trust

Association.82 Improper casing and aultyblowout preventers resulted in 54 viola-


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tions. More than 370 violations were oraulty pollution prevention or improper

wastewater containment, and more than150 violations were or illegal dischargeo industrial waste.83

The analysis did not include trafc

violations by chemical, water, or wastehauling trucks, which can also pose saetyand environmental hazards. For just oneindication o how common these are,the Pennsylvania Land Trust Associationreported that a 3-day trafc enorcementblitz in June 2010 resulted in 669 trafccitations and 818 written warnings to

wastewater haulers.84

Nationally, an investigation by thenon-proft investigative journalism or-ganization ProPublica identifed morethan 1,000 cases over an 18-month span

where gas extraction operations harmed water supplies. The incidents includedsurace spills o racturing uid waste,cracking o underground cement and wellcasings meant to enclose the racturingprocess, and methane gas traveling largedistances underground through aults andractures.85

For example:

State tests revealed contamination

in nine separate wells in Dimock,a town in northeastern Pennsyl-

vania where Cabot Oil & Gas hadbeen drilling and racturing wellsin the Marcellus Shale. Test resultsincluded high levels o aluminum andiron signals that racturing uidscould have invaded the aquier.86

The Department o Environmen-tal Protection blamed the problemon aulty well construction, whichallowed contaminants to escape the

well into groundwater.87

Water contamination has occurred inother states as well. For example:

In July 2008, a ederal scientistdiscovered benzene a carcinogen

in a drinking water well in SubletteCounty, WY, at levels 1,500 timeshigher than health standards meantto protect people rom diseasessuch as leukemia.88 While no directevidence linked the contamination

with gas extraction, the drinkingwater well was near a large naturalgas well feld, where companieshad been using hydraulic racturingtechnology. Further tests revealedthat the underground benzene plumestretched or more than 28 miles.89

In 2009, U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency scientists oundchemicals used in hydraulic ractur-ing, including 2-butoxyethanol, in

11 o 39 drinking water wells testedin a Sublette County neighbor-hood near natural gas extractionactivity.90 In 2010, agency scientistsound additional chemicals, includ-ing metals, benzene, naphthalene,phenols and methane. Governmentofcials warned residents not todrink their water, and to ventilatetheir homes well to avoid the risko explosion.91 Tests defnitivelyshowed that the methane came rom

the ormation being drilled ratherthan an unrelated shallow source,although researchers could not ruleout previous oil extraction activity asa cause.92

Nationwide, more than 1,000incidents where gases rom nearbyracturing operations contami-nated home wells demonstrate thatcontaminants can travel throughunderground fssures. In one case,

experts at Isotech Laboratoriesdocumented that gases that led to anexplosion at a business in Hutchin-son, Kansas, were rom a gas storage

well that was seven miles away much urther than industry ofcialshave said should be possible.93


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Methane is likely the most mobilecontaminant coming rom a gas well. Imethane is reaching an aquier, it couldindicate that a pathway exists or othercontaminants rom gas extraction toiniltrate underground water supplies

as well.A study commissioned by the govern-

ment o Garfeld County, CO wherehydraulic racturing has been occurringin earnest or a decade ound that meth-ane in some area drinking water wellscame rom the same deep undergrounddeposits where hydraulic racturing wasoccurring, and not rom shallowly buriedorganic matter, a possibility oten sug-gested by the natural gas industry.94 Thestudy ound that the levels o methane gasand chloride salts in the groundwater in-creased in parallel with the amount o gasextraction activity in the region.95 Testso methane in water supplies o Dimockresidents also showed that the methanecame rom a deep layer o shale, ratherthan rom a shallow source o gas.96

The Garield County studycouldnt pinpoint whether the gas

was migrating through cracks in theground or leaking rom poor seals inthe well. However, Judith Jordan, aGarfeld County ofcial and ormer

lawyer or the Pennsylvania Depart-ment o Environmental Protection,told ProPublica that the study chal-lenges the view that natural gas []is isolated rom water supplies by itsextreme depth. Our concern is that[methane gas is] a sort o sentinel, andthere are going to be worse contami-nants behind it.97

Air Pollution Risks

Gas production rom the Marcel-lus Shale also creates air pollution.From the diesel exhaust produced bytrucks and equipment to gases ventedrom wells, condensers or wasteponds, this air pollution poses risks tothe health o nearby residents.

Gas production rom the Marcellus Shale creates air pollution, including diesel exhaustproduced by trucks and equipment as well as gases vented rom wells, condensers orwaste ponds.



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Smog-Forming Emissions

Gas extraction creates large amountso smog-orming pollution. Accordingto estimates by the New York Depart-ment o Environmental Conservation,constructing and operating a single wellgenerates more than 140,000 pounds osmog-orming emissions in the frst yearo operation.98

Studies in Texas, Colorado and Wyo-ming provide a good illustration o thetypes and scale o smog-related impactsthat may be occurring or may occurin the uture in the Marcellus Shaleregion.

Hydraulic racturing has beenunderway in the Barnett Shale region

o Texas or more than a decade.The fve-county region north oDallas-Fort Worth where the shaleis located now has more than 7,000active gas wells.99 Dr. Al Armendarizat Southern Methodist Universitystudied the air pollution impacts ogas extraction in this area in 2009.He estimated total smog-ormingemissions rom the operation ocompressor engines and drilling rigs,plus pollution escaping rom conden-sate tanks, wells, gas transmissionlines and gas processing stations. Intotal, Dr. Armendariz estimated thatgas extraction activities produced70 percent as much smog-ormingpollution as all motor vehiclesoperating in the nine-county Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan area.100

This amount o pollution morethan 13 billion pounds per year issignifcant in an area which already

ails to meet ederal health-based airquality standards or smog.101

In Colorado, the Department oPublic Health and Environmentconcluded that smog-ormingemissions rom Colorados oil andgas operations exceed motor vehicle

emissions or the entire state.Colorado regulators have enactedprogressively tougher rules to reducethe role o gas extraction in theregions persistent and unhealthybrown cloud.102

Wyomings Sublette County is one othe least-densely populated places inthe United States, with a populationo less than 9,000 but it is home tothousands o gas wells. Due to thegeography o the area, air pollutionrom the wells tends to get trappedin valleys in the winter, allowing thesun to bake it and transorm it intosmog. Since 2005, the region hassuered rom unhealthy levels o air

pollution more commonly associatedwith big cities.103

The experience o these states couldbe a preview o how increased shale gasextraction could worsen air quality inPennsylvania. Counties in and around thePittsburgh and Philadelphia metropolitanareas are already in violation o ederalhealth standards or smog.104

Hazardous Air Pollutants fromTrucks, Equipment and Gas Flaring

Gas extraction operations produce a variety o hazardous air pollutants, in-cluding diesel soot rom trucks and pumpengines, contaminants rom processingthe substances that come up out o the

well, and umes evaporating rom ractur-ing water waste ponds.

Diesel Soot

Trucks and engines, oten runningon diesel uel, operate throughout the

drilling and racturing process. Theseengines produce sooty exhaust, packed

with dangerous and toxic chemicals.Drilling a well takes between 15 and 30days. During the entire period, dieselengines on the drilling rig operate 24hours a day.105


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Ater drilling, gas companies racturethe shale with millions o gallons o water,sand and chemicals. Transporting all othe equipment and material to the wellpad, and then trucking away the waste,requires on the order o 900 to 1,300

truck trips per well.106 At that rate, to drillthe 3,000-plus Marcellus Shale wells nowpresent in Pennsylvania required on theorder o 3 to 4 million truck trips.

Additionally, injecting the racturinguid into the well and pressurizing thesystem requires the operation o pumps,typically powered by diesel engines.107

Diesel particulate exhaust can remainsuspended in the air or weeks. Theparticles can travel through buildingshells and conventional heating and airconditioning flters. When inhaled, theyare able to penetrate deep into the lung.

The chemicals delivered into the body byinhaled particulates are very dangerous.Some o them cause cancer, some cause

irritation to lung tissues, and some causechanges in the unction o the heart.108 Asa result, particulates cause and aggravatea host o health problems, including lungcancer and cardiovascular disease.

Particulate pollution can cause irre-

versible damage to children, interering with the growth and development othe lungs. For example, researchers atthe University o Southern Caliorniaollowed the health o over 1,000 ten-

year-olds until they reached 18. Childrenwho lived in areas with higher levels oparticulate pollution were less able tobreathe with normal capacity.109

Particulate pollution is also deadly,killing upwards o 50,000 Americansacross the country every year. In act, ac-cording to the largest study o the eectso particulates on mortality, breathingsooty air at the levels ound in major U.S.cities is about as dangerous as living or

working with a smoker.110

A gas are near a home in Hickory, Pennsylvania.



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A gas are at night.

Gas Flares, Venting and Blowouts

The drilling process itsel can punctureunderground pockets o gas, which return

to the surace in drilling uid, and can bevented into the atmosphere, creating airpollution. A well blowout produces thesame impacts but at a higher volume.For example, the 2010 EOG well blowoutin Clearfeld County injected an untoldamount o pollution into the air as gasesand racking water blasted 75 eet into theair over a span o 16 hours.111

Once a well is ractured, wastewater,oten containing gas, returns to the sur-

ace. Gas companies oten dispose o theextra gases by simply lighting them onfre, creating a are. (See photo). Incom-plete combustion o the waste gas resultsin air pollution.

Ater the wastewater has stoppedowing out o the well, gas companies

connect the gas ow to a pipeline. Be-ore the gas can be shipped to market, itmust be cleaned o impurities, including

water and larger hydrocarbon molecules.The Pennsylvania Department o En-vironmental protection detected somelarger hydrocarbon molecules, includingbenzene and methyl mercaptan, near twogas compressor stations in Greene and

Washington Counties.112 Gas process-ing units typically vent impurities to theatmosphere as air pollution.

Oten the pressure rom the weighto the earth is enough to move the gas

through the initial stages o the pipeline.However, to transport the gas rom thewell on to market, gas companies oper-ate compressor stations, typically withinour to six miles rom a group o wells.113

These compressor stations are typicallypowered by combustion engines ueled



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by raw or processed natural gas, whichgenerates pollution-laden exhaust.114

According to estimates by the NewYork Department o EnvironmentalConservation, in the nearby vicinity oa Marcellus Shale well, the process o

drilling, well completion, dealing withowback gas, and fnally producing gasrom the well or a year produces theollowing emissions:115

195,000 pounds o carbon monox-ide;

12,000 pounds o sulur dioxide andcombustion soot; and

1,000 pounds o toxic air pollutants,such as benzene.

Hazardous Air Pollutants fromFracturing Wastewater Ponds

When wastewater is stored in anopen-air pit, chemicals used in the rac-turing uid can evaporate into the air,creating pollution.

The New York Department o Envi-ronmental Conservation estimates thatthe owback water rom a single wellcould emit 6,500 pounds o methanol

into to the air rom a storage pit.116Other compounds o concern thatcould evaporate rom a owback pit inharmul amounts include ormaldehyde,acrylamide, naphthalene, glutaralde-hyde and other chemicals that evaporateeasily.117

Overall, the agency determined thata owback water storage pond could bedefned as a major source o hazardousair pollution.118

Reports o Health ImpactsNear Gas Extraction Sites

Anecdotal reports suggest that livingnear well sites can cause health impacts,

although little ormal scientifc study hasbeen completed to date.

Gas drilling and extraction in theMarcellus Shale oers many possibleopportunities or human exposure tohazardous chemicals either through

spills o racturing chemicals, the releaseo substances rom deep underground,or the operation o the heavy equipmentused to produce, process, condense andtransport natural gas and waste products.News reports o people near well sitessuering ill-eects give ample reason orconcern. For example:

Residents o western Coloradocommunities located near active gasfelds have complained o symptoms

including nose bleeds, burningeyes, breathing problems, rashesand blackouts. Other residents havedeveloped rare cancers, blaming theillness on exposure to gas extractionactivity.119

Fiteen residents o Dimock, PA,fled a lawsuit against Cabot Oil& Gas in 2009, alleging that thecompanys gas extraction activitiescontaminated their water suppliesand harmed their health. The suitcites health problems includingneurological illnesses and gastro-intestinal problems. It also allegesthat one persons blood showed toxiclevels o the same metals ound indrilling wastewater.120

In a Texas town called Dish,residents live near gas extractioninrastructure above the BarnettShale ormation. In 2009, airsampling revealed hazardous pollu-

tion including benzene and relatedcompounds in the town at levelsexceeding state saety guidelines.121Further testing ound many o thesesame contaminants in residentsblood.122 In a survey, town residents


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reported strange smells appearingas oten as two times a day, associat-ing them with nearby compressorstations, wells and gas processingplants. Residents reported morethan 130 dierent medical condi-

tions 61 percent o which couldbe at least partially caused byexposure to the types o toxic chemi-cals identifed in the air.123 Healthissues included difculty in breath-ing, asthma, chronic eye irritation,dizziness, atigue, requent nausea,muscle aches, severe headaches, sinusproblems, throat irritation and aller-gic symptoms. In a press release, theauthor o the survey, Wilma Subra, achemist on the board o the organi-

zation Earthworks, said, What ismost revealing is that the commu-nity is reporting health symptomsthat overlap signifcantly with theknown health eects o chemicalsalready detected. We are seeing

not only respiratory ailments andheadaches, but brain disorders,pre-cancerous lesions and impair-ment o motor skills.124

Without adequate saeguards, thesetypes o impacts could become morerequent in Pennsylvania as gas extrac-tion prolierates in the Marcellus Shale,especially given the close proximitybetween well sites and places where

vulnerable people live.


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Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction IsHappening in Close Proximity toVulnerable Pennsylvanians

To gain a deeper understanding o

just how closely gas extraction ishappening to the most vulnerable

people in Pennsylvania, PennEnviron-ment Research & Policy Center con-

ducted a study o where permitted wellsites are located in relation to day careacilities, schools and hospitals.

The results show that gas companieshave already drilled more than 3,000

Marcellus Shale wells, and the state hasissued permits or thousands more. Per-mitted well sites exist within two miles

o more than 320 day care acilities, 67schools and 9 hospitals. (See Table 1.)

A breakdown o the number o day carecenters, schools and hospitals within oneor two miles o a well site by county can

be ound in the appendix on page 44.

Children are ParticularlyVulnerable to ChemicalExposures rom GasExtraction Activity

We looked at day care acilities andschools in particular because children areespecially vulnerable to health damagerom exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Children are rapidly growing and de-veloping, and their respiratory, immuneand nervous systems are susceptible todamage rom toxic chemicals. Childrenare also more likely to play outdoors,

where their exposure to dangeroussubstances in the air would be relatively

Table 1: Proximity of Vulnerable Populations toPermitted Well Sites

Facility Type Number Within

One Mile of a

Well Site

Number Within

Two Miles of a

Well Site

Day Care 104 320

School 14 67

Hospital 2 9


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Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction Is Happening In Close Proximity to Vulnerable Pennsylvanians 31

higher than an adult. Finally, childrenhave less ability to detoxiy dangerous

chemicals compared to adults.125Short-term exposure to hazardous

pollutants could cause acute distress,with higher exposures leading to moresevere symptoms. Symptoms could in-clude difculty breathing, wheezing, wa-tery or itchy eyes, rashes and headaches.

Very high exposures could cause nausea,vomiting, lack o coordination or moreserious impacts.126

However, children are ar more likelyto be exposed to sustained, low levels

o mixtures o dierent chemicals overlong periods o time which may notproduce obvious symptoms right away.Exposure to low levels o many o thechemicals used in or generated by gasextraction activities could contributeto a variety o health eects, including

asthma, cancer, birth deects, damage tothe reproductive system and impaired

brain development.127The results o this analysis provide a

conservative and limited snapshot o theexposure o vulnerable populations tothe risks o Marcellus Shale gas extrac-tion. In particular, they do not considerthe location o residences, nor the loca-tion o gas processing or transportationinrastructure. (See Methodology onpage 41.)

Marcellus Shale GasExtraction Sites AreWidespread

Gas companies have already drilledmore than 3,000 hydraulic racturing

wells in Pennsylvanias Marcellus Shale

Figure 3 Very Few Locations Between Southwest of Pittsburgh and Northeast ofScranton are Farther than 10 Miles from a Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction Site


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Figure 5: Pennsylvania Schools Within Two Miles of a Marcellus Shale Well Site

Figure 4: Day Care Facilities Within Two Miles of a Marcellus Shale Well Site


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(as o April 2011).128 That number is cer-tain to increase. During 2010, the stateDepartment o Environmental Protec-tion issued permits to gas companies todrill or deepen nearly 3,450 additional

wells.129 So ar in 2011, the DEP has is-

sued more than 10 well permits per day,on average.

In a broad strip rom Pittsburgh toScranton, very ew places in the regionare located urther than 10 miles rom anactive or permitted hydraulic racturingsite. (See Figure 3.) Wells are particu-larly concentrated in Bradord, Tioga,Greene, Washington, Susquehanna andFayette counties.

Marcellus Well Sites Existin Close Proximity toVulnerable Pennsylvanians

Day CaresPennsylvania licenses more than

8,600 day care acilities across the state,including both day care centers andamily-run day care acilities in privatehomes. Almost 2,000 o these acilities

are located in the broad swath o landbetween southwestern and northeasternPennsylvania where most MarcellusShale gas extraction is happening.

Across the state, permitted hydraulicracturing well sites exist within one mileo 104 day care acilities. Within twomiles o existing wells or permitted leases,there are more than 320 day care acili-ties. (See Figure 4.) The closest day careacility is 400 eet rom a well site.

Nearly our million Pennsylvaniansrely on private well water or drinking.130Children at day care acilities that rely on

well water drawn rom aquiers near gas

extraction sites are particularly at risk orwater pollution exposure. All children atacilities in close proximity to wells are

vulnerable to air pollution.

SchoolsThere are about 1,750 schools in Penn-sylvania where children rom kindergartento 12th grade go to learn and prepare orlie in the larger world. About 480 o theseschools are located in the broad swath oland between Pittsburgh and Scranton

where Marcellus Shale gas extraction isunderway. Children at school acilitiesthat rely on well water are particularly

vulnerable to gas extraction-related watercontamination. All children at schools in

close proximity to well sites are vulnerableto air pollution exposure.

Fourteen o these schools are withinone mile o a permitted well site and 67are within two miles o a well site. (SeeFigure 5.) The closest school is 900 eetrom a well site.

HospitalsChildren are not the only vulnerable

population to be concerned about. People

who are already suering rom illnesssevere enough to require hospitalizationare particularly ill-suited to handle theeects o acute exposure to air or waterpollutants.

Pennsylvania has 268 hospitals. Morethan 70 o those acilities are located inthe general swath o Marcellus Shale gasextraction activity between the southwestand northeast corners o the state.

Two hospitals are within one mile o awell or a permitted well site. Within twomiles o such a site, there are nine hospi-tals. (See Figure 6.) The closest hospitalis one hal-mile rom a well site.


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The Proximity o DEP ReportedViolations to Vulnerable

PennsylvaniansFrom January 2008 through June

2010, the Pennsylvania Departmento Environmental Protection recordedmore than 1,000 violations o regulationsintended to protect water quality and theenvironment, according to a report by thePennsylvania Land Trust Association.132

A violation implies that a gas companybroke any relevant rule, indicating aspill, leak, erosion, improper construc-tion, poor waste disposal, or other rule

violation associated with gas extraction,and that an ofcial with the Departmento Environmental Protection caught the

violator. Trafc and road saety violationsby chemical, water and waste haulers

are not included in these fgures. Thenumber o unrecorded rule inractions

is unknown.The leading violators during this pe-

riod were Cabot Oil & Gas, Chie Oil &Gas, and Turm Oil each with an averageo more than two recorded violations per

well.133

Mapping experts at the University oPittsburgh were able to plot the locationso more than 1,100 o these events. (SeeFigure 7.) Many were in close proximityto vulnerable Pennsylvanians:

241 violations were within 2 miles oa day care acility;

40 violations occurred within 2 mileso a school; and

5 violations happened within 2 mileso a hospital.

Figure 6: Pennsylvania Hospitals Within Two Miles of a Marcellus Shale Well Site


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ConclusionGiven how closely Marcellus Shale

gas drilling and extraction is occurringto day cares, schools and hospitals, manypossible opportunities exist or childrenor the sick to be exposed to hazard-ous chemicals. Any impacts o spills o

racturing chemicals, the release osubstances rom deep underground, orthe operation o the heavy equipmentused to produce, process, condense andtransport natural gas and waste prod-ucts are likely to impact these groupsmost severely.

Figure 7: Marcellus Wells Found in Violation of State Regulations (January 2008 -June 2010) and Day Cares, Schools and Hospitals Within Two Miles131


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Policy Recommendations

Federal and state regulations have notkept up with the speed at which gascompanies have deployed hydraulic

racturing in Pennsylvanias communi-

ties. Governments at all levels shouldrequire gas companies to take greaterprecautions to protect citizens healthand environment.

Gaps in State PolicyPennsylvanias constitution states that

its citizens have a right to clean air,pure water, and to the preservation othe natural, scenic, historic and aesthetic

values o the environment.134 With all

the holes in ederal policy governing theoperations o oil and gas companies (seebelow), the Commonwealth is let toensure that resource extraction does nottake away those rights.

Over the past year, Pennsylvania hastaken several signifcant steps orward.

For example:

New laws require gas companiesto prevent groundwater contami-

nation with better well casing,cementing, testing and monitoringprocedures.

Gas companies are now requiredto use blowout preventers to avoiduncontrolled discharge o welluids and gas into the atmospherein the event o an accident.

New rules require wastewatertreatment plants accepting drill-ing wastewater to meet euent

standards or some contaminantsincluding total dissolved solids,chlorides and sulates.

In April 2011, the DEP askedwastewater treatment plantsaccepting drilling wastewater tostop altogether.


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In 2009 and 2010, the DelawareRiver Basin Commission, which ischarged with protecting the water-shed o the Delaware River, deter-mined that any shale gas well drillingrequired its approval, and has applied

a moratorium on shale gas explora-tion or production in the watersheduntil it crats rules.

However, these new protections do notgo ar enough. Instead o enabling moreand aster gas extraction, state leaders andthe Pennsylvania Department o Envi-ronmental Protection should increaseoversight o gas companies and hydraulicracturing. Among needed improvementsare:

The Commonwealth shoulddesignate pristine places andlocations near where people liveor work o-limits to gas extrac-tion. This should include areas nearday care acilities, schools, hospitals,and other vulnerable populations.Existing law allows gas extraction tooccur as close as 200 eet to a build-ing or structure, which is too close.

Additional areas that deserve protec-tion include the remainder o stateorests that have not been leased togas companies; state parks; areas thatsupply drinking water to downstreamcommunities; sensitive or threatenedecosystems such as wetlands; andimportant habitat or threatened orendangered species.

Pennsylvania should strengthen itsclean water laws. Needed improve-ments include expanding the protec-

tive buer zone around streams,rivers and drinking water suppliesbeyond 100 eet; requiring pre-drill-ing surveys o waterways near aproposed gas well; setting report-ing requirements on discharges and

wastewater disposal; setting water

withdrawal limits rom rivers andstreams; and requiring the state toaccount or the cumulative impactso natural gas exploration rommultiple drilling sites when permit-ting new wells. Additionally, the state

should presume that a gas companyis liable or the contamination o any

water well within 2,500 eet o a gaswell within one year o drilling ormodiying a gas well current lawpresumes liability or contamination

within 1,000 eet i gas drilling activ-ity has occurred within six months.135

Pennsylvania should require gascompanies to halt the use o toxicchemicals in the hydraulic ractur-

ing process. Saer alternative chemi-cals can be substituted in or themost dangerous materials in hydrau-lic racturing, and the state shouldrequire gas companies to deploythose alternatives.136 Using saeralternatives can reduce the hazard ohauling racturing chemicals and theconsequences o spills.

The state should recognize thepublics right to knowby requir-ing gas companies to report to thegeneral public as well as the DEPthe types and amounts o chemicalsused during drilling and racturingand the composition and disposalo wastewater, in a timely ashionand on a well-by-well basis. Theinormation should be easy to obtainand easy to read. Additional report-ing should include the process usedto extract gas rom underground,

where the water or racturing comes

rom, and emergency response plansdetailing steps to be taken to protectpublic health and the environment inthe event o a worst-case accident.

Pennsylvania should increasethe resources available to stateregulators or enorcing the law.


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Ater years o budget cuts, undingor crucial state agencies such as

the Department o EnvironmentalProtection, Department o Conser-vation and Natural Resources, andthe Fish and Boat Commission isinadequate to keep pace with gasindustry growth. For example,as o April 2011, DEP estimatesthat it employs only 70 inspectorsto monitor oil and gas extractionactivities.137 DEP regulators havetestifed in a lawsuit that they spendas little as 35 minutes reviewing well

permit applications, that they giveno additional scrutiny to permitsor drilling in the vicinity o pristinestreams, that they do not considerimpacts on protected watersheds, andthat they do not consider whether

wells comply with municipal or

regional zoning laws.138 Moreover,the DEP has rejected less than

one-hal o one percent o drillingpermit applications.139 Accordingto theAssociated Press, The staersstatements indicate that the stateregulators are overburdened andpossibly ignoring environmentallaws as they struggle to deal withan unprecedented drilling boom.140Regulatory agencies need theresources to properly oversee the gasindustry and enorce state policies.

Additionally, the agency is approv-

ing gas company spill response plansthat oten appear to be in violationo the law and do not taken intoconsideration cumulative impactsand multiple points o exposure.141

To improve the permitting process,authority or erosion and sedimenta-

Federal and state regulations have not kept up with the speed at which gas companies havedeployed hydraulic racturing in Pennsylvanias communities. Governments at all levelsshould require gas companies to take greater precautions to protect citizens health andenvironment.



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tion review should be returned toPennsylvanias County Conserva-tion Districts to help manage thegas well permitting process, andtheir budgets should be increasedaccordingly.

The Commonwealth shouldincrease bonding requirementsor gas companies. Current lawrequires oil and gas companies topost a bond to provide a fnancialincentive or companies to avoidcausing water quality problems,to reclaim gas well sites, andto plug wells when they are nolonger useul. Any company thatails to comply with regulations

oreits its bond. However, thebond is capped at $2,500 per well,or $25,000 or all wells owned byone company in the Common-

wealth.142 These amounts are artoo low to provide a meaningulfnancial incentive or gas extrac-tion companies to behave respon-sibly, and they should be increased

with no cap. Additionally, thestate should retain some o thebond unds to pay or cleaning up

any abandoned wells or pollutionproblems that occur long ater gasextraction has ended.

The DEP should revoke drillingprivileges or the worst oend-ers. The companies with the worstrecords in terms o rule violationsper well should not be allowed tooperate in Pennsylvania.

Gaps in Federal PolicyFederal law exempts Marcellus

Shale gas extraction rom regulationunder six key environmental poli-cies that typically apply to industrialactivities:143

The1. Sae Drinking Water Actis meant to protect the quality odrinking water in the United States,

whether in surace rivers or under-ground aquiers. In 2005, Congressamended the law to exempt gasextraction through hydraulic ractur-ing rom all o the provisions o thelaw, except when diesel uels areinjected underground.

The2. Clean Water Actis the keylaw protecting Americas rivers,streams and lakes rom industrialdischarges and runo. For decades,all runo rom oil and gas extrac-tion or production acilities has beenexempt rom regulation, except or

sediment runo caused by construc-tion activity. In 2005, Congresspassed the Energy Policy Act, whichremoved the Environmental Protec-tion Agencys authority to regulateeven sediment runo rom oil andgas-related construction sites.

The3. Clean Air Actis the corner-stone tool or ensuring that all

Americans have healthy air tobreathe. The law treats oil and gas

wells and oten pipeline compres-sors and pump stations as individu-al and separate sources o pollution.By ailing to aggregate these sourceso emissions by company and indus-try, the law ails to require operatorsto adequately control their pollutingemissions allowing the industryto pollute the air with ew ederalrestrictions.

The4. National EnvironmentalPolicy Actensures that all brancheso government consider the impactso any activity they undertake on thehealth and well-being o people andtheir air, land and water. In 2005,the Energy Policy Act allowed theoil and gas industries to carry out


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a variety o activities without thethorough environmental reviewnormally required by the NationalEnvironmental Policy Act, insteadallowing a more limited review undera designation called a categori-cal exclusion. For example, thecategorical exclusion allows a compa-ny to drill new wells in an existinggas feld, or add a new pipeline toan existing corridor, without newenvironmental review, even i theoriginal review did not consider thatlevel o development. This categori-cal exclusion puts the burden on thepublic to show that harm is occur-ring, rather than on the oil and gas

company to prove that their plans aresae.

The5. Resource Conservation andRecovery Actincludes provisionsgoverning hazardous waste manage-ment. Congress exempted wastesrom oil and gas felds rom regula-tion under this law. As a result, theEnvironmental Protection Agencyallows wastes produced rom oil andgas wells which can include cancer-causing chemicals such as benzenethat are regulated when used inother industries to contaminate theenvironment and risk public health.

The6. Toxics Release Inventory which is authorized under theEmergency Planning and Commu-nity Right-to-Know Act compiles

inormation rom a wide variety oindustries about their discharges ohazardous chemicals to air, water andland. However, the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, which imple-ments the law, exempts the oil andgas extraction industry rom report-ing emissions. This leaves the publicin the dark about the amounts ochemicals emitted into the air or

water or let underground aterhydraulic racturing operations arecomplete.

The ederal government should elimi-nate these exemptions and apply thenations core public health and environ-

mental laws to the hydraulic racturingindustry just as it would regulate anyother potential threat to public health orthe environment. In particular, hydraulicracturing should be covered under theunderground injection provisions othe Sae Drinking Water Act.

In addition, the ederal governmentshould increase transparency and over-sight o the hydraulic racturing processby requiring well operators to disclose toregulators and to the public the specifc

identities o chemicals and their quanti-ties used at each and every well site. Inthe case o a medical emergency, opera-tors should be required to disclose theamounts and ormulation o chemicaladditives in hydraulic racturing uidsto medical proessionals, even i they areconsidered trade secrets.


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Methodology 41

Methodology

We used ESRI ArcMap geographicinormation system sotware toplot the locations o permitted

well sites, day care acilities, schools andhospitals, and we used the sotware tocalculate the distances between the di-erent points.

Throughout the calculations, wemaintained all data layers in the NAD1983 State Plane Pennsylvania Northprojected coordinate system, with unitsin United States eet, to ensure accuratedistance calculation.

Sources o Data

Locations and Identitieso Well Sites

We obtained inormation about thelocations o permitted well sites and de-tails about the companies that applied or

permits rom the Pennsylvania Depart-ment o Environmental Protection, withassistance rom the Center or Healthy

Environments and Communities othe University o Pittsburgh Gr

Documents

In the Shadow of the Marcellus Boom