Toxic Contamination From Natural Gas Wells

To explore map visit:  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/27/us/natural-gas-map.html

Source:  NYTimes (2/27/110)  Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers

Response to NYTimes Article

See former Secretary of PA DEP, John Hanger response at http://johnhanger.blogspot.com/2011/02/statement-regarding-sunday-nyt-february.html

Insights to Pennsylvania Marcellus Wastewater Treatment (Penn State University -- Marcellus Edu & Outreach Center)

http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/news/2011/03/insights-to-pennsylvania-marcellus-wastewater-treatment

Pa.'s attempts to track gas drilling waste flawed / Wall Street Journal  (3/10/12)

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP846de77b9e4c41dbb94ddb76dca74dd6.html

 

 

View Horizontal Drilling Animation

Marcellus gas wells can be drilled using 21st century vertical or horizontal technologies. Vertical wells are sometimes first drilled in an area to obtain information valuable for planning the drilling of more costly and technically demanding horizontal wells. Marcellus Shale natural gas wells in Pennsylvania are drilled horizontally because it offers access to a larger quantity of natural gas, while disturbing a smaller area on the surface. Both vertical and horizontal Marcellus Shale wells produce marketable quantities of natural gas.

Sources (same animation):
Marcellus Shale Coalition | http://marcelluscoalition.org/marcellus-shale/production-processes/drilling/
Louisana Oil & Gas Association |  http://www.loga.la/drilling.html

Creator: John Perez Graphics & Design who specializes in multimedia exclusively for the oil and gas industry.

Extracting Natural Gas From Shale Animated Graphic
A look at the process and hazards of hydraulic fracturing.

Source:  New York Times | http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/02/27/us/fracking.html

Source: The Earth Institute at Columbia University, Urban Design Lab (Urban Design Research Seminar/2009)

View of Versailles from across the Youghiogheny River during the peak drilling period (from M. E. Johnson, 1929).

Versailles, PA, circa 1920 (Photo courtesy of Mrs. Josephine Cindric).

[ Source ] National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Methane Emissions
Project

http://www.netl.doe.gov/newsroom/versailles/Versailles%20Methane%20Emissions%...

The Nature Conservancy Pennsylvania Energy Impacts Assessment Report (2010) Press Release
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/pennsylvania/news/news3...

*Interactive Energy Analysis Map*  See http://maps.tnc.org/paenergy/
Look for existing and projected Marcellus Shale natural gas activity and projected Wind Turbines in your area.

Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of Toxic Chemical Exposure in the United States
The stories of residents of low-income communities across the country who took action when pollution from heavy industry contaminated their towns.

By Steve Lerner 
MIT Press / September 2010

 As Marcellus Shale activity sweeps Western Pennsylvania, a new University of Pittsburgh database reveals that approximately 7 percent of Allegheny County’s land has been leased for drilling and extraction since 2003. In addition, the number of properties in the county leased for oil and gas exploration increased by 322 percent between 2008 and 2009.

Researchers in Pitt’s University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) used leases filed with the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate to create an interactive map of the more than 2,000 parcels in Allegheny County leased for oil and gas exploration between 2003 and May 2010. The map also indicates the people or companies that bought the leases. The map is available on UCSUR’s Web site through the Pittsburgh Urban Blog, or the PUB, a new service established by UCSUR to make research on regional statistics and trends readily available. It was created by the Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System (PNCIS), Pitt’s online database of statistical maps.

Sabina Deitrick, codirector of UCSUR’s urban analysis program, said the oil and gas leases reveal a rapidly expanding pursuit of drilling and exploration rights in the county. New oil and gas leases taken out by parcel increased steadily from 30 in 2003 to 273 in 2008. In 2009, the number of leases rocketed to 1,153, one-and-a-half times more than the previous six years combined. The number of leases filed by May 2010 was 475, on pace with last year. Figures showing the increase in filed leases since 2003 as well as the leading companies in terms of leases and acreage held are below.

Oil and Gas-Related Leasing Activity by Parcel in Allegheny County, 2003-2010*

Lease Type	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010*	Total parcels
*Through May 2010
1Provides the right to extract oil and gas from a property. Lease terms can include provisions for drilling activity, pooling of adjacent parcels, exploration, road construction, pipelines, the use of non-domestic water sources, and storage of oil and gas.
Oil and Gas1	30	66	141	92	141	273	1,153	475	2,371

Only a few companies dominate in terms of number of leases held and the amount of acreage claimed. For instance, the company Dale Property Services/DPS Penn holds a lease on 1,654 parcels in the county, nearly half of all properties leased for oil and gas since 2003; the company, an affiliate of the Dale family companies of Dallas, is a leasing agent whose Web site cites a “strategic alliance” with Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy. At the same time, Monroeville-based Huntley and Huntley Inc. can claim the most land area under lease with 10,990 of the 35,393 acres leased in the county since 2003

 

Top Companies By Lease and Acreage Held

By Number of Leases Held		By Acreage Held
1 Leasing agent allied with Chesapeake Energy of Oklahoma City.
2 Affiliated with the Dale family companies of Dallas.
3 Purchased in 2004 by Range Resources of Fort Worth.
Source: Compiled by UCSUR from Allegheny County Department of Real Estate.
Dale Property Services/DPS Penn1, 2	1,654	Huntley & Huntley Inc.	10,990
Huntley & Huntley Inc.	798	Dale Property Services/DPS Penn	7,646
Sylvan Energy	270	Great Lakes Energy Partners	3,175
Everest Exploration Co.	184	Everest Exploration Co.	3,175
Kriebel Resources Co.	135	Kriebel Resources Co.	2,997
Principal Energy Resources	105	Range Resources	2,527
Range Resources	88	BLX Inc.	1,723
Penneco	83	Patriot Exploration	917
Great Lakes Energy Partners3	80	Principal Energy Resources	675
BLX Inc.	63	Dorso	661
Other (45 companies and individuals)	288	Other	907
TOTAL	3,748	TOTAL                                   35,393

Bob Gradeck, research project manager for PNCIS, said that as companies lease such parcels as cemeteries—Calvary Cemetery in Hazelwood and St. Mary’s in Lawrenceville are both held by Huntley and Huntley—municipalities should consider how to manage the infrastructure a drilling operation needs. Those considerations include approximately 5 acres of land for a drill pad and refuse pond, emergency response management, road capacity to accommodate heavy trucks, water use and treatment, and the effect of pumping water into the ground—a process called hydrofracking—to extract the natural gas. “These operations are not just someone drilling a hole. When the scale of this activity is considered, it becomes clear that at the local level there needs to be effective planning,” Gradeck said. “There’s not a lot of history or experience with planning in many of the municipalities where the industry is operating, but these operations are here and people need to be ready.”

Instead of today's corporate monoliths, Jimmy Stewart is the face of offshore oil drilling in the 1953 sleeper, "Thunder Bay". His dreamer/schemer stops at nothing 'til he hits the big gusher. Some things never change. When things go bad, the blow out preventer doesn't work. While you wait for BP to 'plug the damn hole', get a glimpse of Hollywood's version of how drilling in the Gulf of Mexico all began...