1 / 37

Deep-Shale Drilling

Deep-Shale Drilling. Windfall, Pitfall, or Something in Between?. Trent Dougherty, Director of Legal Affairs Ohio Environmental Council. May 23, 2012. The Ohio Environmental Council. Advocacy, non-profit Legislative initiatives Legal action Science and policy

toby
Download Presentation

Deep-Shale Drilling

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Deep-Shale Drilling Windfall, Pitfall, or Something in Between? Trent Dougherty, Director of Legal Affairs Ohio Environmental Council May 23, 2012

  2. The Ohio Environmental Council • Advocacy, non-profit • Legislative initiatives • Legal action • Science and policy • Network and partnerships

  3. Potential for serious impacts to...public health, environment, quality of life

  4. Proposed Ohio Moratorium The Ohio General Assembly should immediately issue a moratorium ordering the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to withhold approval of new well permits involving high volume, horizontal hydraulic drilling, exploration, or extraction until such time as drilling practices are demonstrated to be safe for the environment and human health, and are properly regulated.

  5. QUNNIPIAC POLLJanuary 2012 Economy Environment 3:1 Ohio voters says stop fracking until further studies reveal its impact. • 2:1 • Ohio voters say the economic benefits of drilling outweigh environmental concerns HOWEVER…

  6. Other states have already taken measures to address these same issues: • New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie placed a one-year moratorium on fracking Aug. 26 • Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley issued a three-year moratorium June 6. • North Carolina Governor Bev Purdue maintained a ban on fracking in the state • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo placed a two-year moratorium along with a ban on fracking in the watersheds supplying NYC and Syracuse • Vermont Latest state to pass a mortatorium

  7. Safe & responsible development

  8. 14 47 17

  9. Risks to air quality • Colorado School of Public Health: • “Our data show that it is important to include air pollution in the national dialogue on natural gas development that has focused largely on water exposures to hydraulic fracturing,” said Lisa McKenzie, Ph.D., MPH • “We also calculated higher cancer risks for residents living nearer to the wells as compared to those residing further [away],” the report said. “Benzene is the major contributor to lifetime excess cancer risk from both scenarios.” http://attheforefront.ucdenver.edu/?p=2546

  10. Risks to land & wildlife • Habitat fragmentation

  11. Risks to land & wildlife Temporary Open Pit Storage – threat to wildlife; risk of spills and leakage

  12. Risks to land & wildlife Stream sedimentation Ex. of stream sedimentation

  13. Risks to water quality….water consumption

  14. Risks to water quality….water contamination • Cornell University study • “An uncontrolled health experiment on an enormous scale” • Duke University study • Found methane concentrations 17X higher in drinking water wells closer to natural gas wells • Akron Beacon Journal • 1 million pounds of chemicals used at a single well site

  15. Class II Brine Injection Wells of Ohio

  16. SEISMIC ACTIVITY Youngstown, OH “When you operate one of these wells, you have to monitor it more carefully and see when it begins to cause earthquakes. If you shut it down, you are much more likely to prevent a damaging earthquake that would come later.” • John Armbruster, seismologist, Columbia University

  17. Recent Seismic Activity • Deep injection well in Youngstown, Ohio • Well site - Northstar No. 1 • 1.7 miles underground • Well in operation since Dec 23, 2010 • 11 earthquakes in area, recorded since March 2011 • Largest one on Dec 31, 2011 – 4.0 quake • Well shut down on Dec 30, 2011

  18. Injection Well Recommendations • STRENGTHENED PUBLIC NOTICE • STRENGTHENED PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY • STRENGTHENED PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT BY LOCAL JURISDICTIONS • OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC HEARING • RIGHT TO KNOW+ CHAIN OF CUSTODY: ANALYSIS OF WASTEWATER

  19. Injection Well Recommendations • STRENGTHENED SEISMIC ACTIVITY STUDY BEFORE PERMITTING OF INJECTION WELLS • EXPANDED SEISMIC ACTIVITY MONITORING AT ALL CLASS II WASTEWATER INJECTION WELLS • STRENGTHENED BUDGET AND STAFF FOR THE ODNR DIVISION OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY • REQUIRE GROUNDWATER MONITORING WELLS NEAR CLASS II WASTEWATER INJECTION WELLS • REPEAL CURRENT OHIO LAW THAT RESTRICTS ODNR FROM ADOPTING ANY STANDARD MORE STRINGENT THAN FEDERAL STANDARDS FOR CLASS II WASTEWATER INJECTION WELLS • REQUIRE DRILLERS TO RECYCLE WASTEWATER; EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE USES OF WASTEWATER

  20. The difficulty of doing this right • As of Dec. 31, 2011, Pennsylvania had 2,200 active fracking wells. • These wells combined for 1,927 regulatory violations. • Chesapeake, the largest owner of oil and gas rights in Ohio, has 191 active wells in PA, which caused 208 violations and $1,157,087 in fines. • Blake Run Falls, WV – Federal criminal investigation into CWA violations.

  21. What precautions should we take?

  22. Precautions…air quality • O&G Industry accounts for 4% of all US GHG emissions and 40% of all US methane emissions. • Ohio EPA has issued general permit for air emissions • Only covers the production stage of the process • Does not include clearing the land, the drilling phase or well completion phase (fracking) • USEPA – First federal standards for HF

  23. Precautions…land & wildlife • Notify local authorities – especially flood plain managers • Ensure that drillers don’t use the streams or wetland as a water source • Work with Ohio DNR to monitor impacts to streams and wetlands through life of the drilling operation • AVOID then MINIMIZE, then MITIGATE

  24. Precautions…water quality • Require baseline water quality testing • Require post drilling water quality testing • Protect public water sources • Bonding & financial insurance

  25. US EPA study EPA’s study plan focuses on the water cycle in hydraulic fracturing. • To assess whether hydraulic fracturing can impact drinking water resources • To identify driving factors that affect the severity and frequency of any impacts • Initial results – 2012 • Completed by 2014

  26. How many horizontal wells to come to Ohio?? • End of 2011: 8 • End 2012: 100-150* • 2013-2014: 1,400 – 1,600* *Ohio DNR estimates

  27. Accountability • More inspectors • Strengthened penalties • Impact fees & taxes (externalities) • Mandatory treatment & recycling of waste fluids • Restore local control • Ohio needs Citizen Rights Amendment • Right to know • Right to comment • Right to appeal

  28. Proposed Ohio Legislation • Fracking Moratorium Bill – SB213, HB345 • Fracking protections Bill – SB212, HB351 • Injection Well Moratorium Bill – HB 418 (Hagan) • Injection Well Protection Bill HB474(Goyal) • Oil and Gas Land Professional Disclosure HB493 (Okey, Fedor) • Governor’s Energy bill - SB 315 (Jones)

  29. Governor Kasich’s 21st Century Energy Plan • Shale gas is 1st Pillar of 10 Pillar Energy Plan • “Health and environmental regulations must be updated to account for changes in Ohio’s new shale industry, and must strike a critical balance between needed protections and creating a job friendly environment”

  30. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine • Strengthened penalties • Full disclosure of chemicals • Landowner rights

  31. SB 315 • Includes definitions for horizontal well and allows for greater rule making authority. • Requires disclosure of source and amount of water used for horizontal wells, update water use information, volume and rate of withdrawal • Requires Road Use Maintenance Agreements. • Predrilling water samples within 1500 feet of HZ. • Requires notice to ODNR during well pad construction (SB 165 added cementing, fracking) • Disclosure of type and volume of chemicals used to drill and frac the well (within 60 days)

  32. SB 315 cont’d • Need not disclose proprietary chemicals • Chief must post all MSDS sheets and yearly chemical lists on website. • Owner of well must disclose all proprietary chemicals to medical professionals (sort-of). • Increases logging responsibilities for transporters and brine injection well owners. • Mandates $5M insurance coverage and environmental damage rider.

  33. Issues Not Addressed in SB315 • Citizens Rights – public notice, public comment, appeal rights. • Modernize Penalties – Increase per day assessments and remove economic motivation • Limit drilling on sensitive lands – 3,000 ft from wellheads, sole source aquifers, GW recharge areas, 100 yr. floodplain • Pre-permit disclosure of chemicals • Remove no more stringent provisions • Post drilling water quality testing

  34. Thank you! Trent Dougherty, Esq. Trent@theOEC.org 614-487-7506 Ohio Environmental Council

More Related