Agency Wants to Keep Watch Over Waterways
Stations to assess impact of gas drilling
Centre Daily Times (Penn State area)
12 November 2009
By Ford Turner, The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News
Dead fish float in a once-pristine stream. Algae thrives. Lovers of the
outdoors are heartsick, and everyone wants to know what happened.
The scenario is playing itself out this autumn on the Pennsylvania-West
Virginia border, and a Harrisburg-based agency wants to be ready in
case the same scenario unfolds in its jurisdiction.
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission wants to put 30 real-time,
water-quality monitoring stations on streams and creeks across the part
of the Susquehanna Basin where natural gas companies are drilling into
the Marcellus Shale formation.
Mike Brownell, chief of water resources management at the commission,
said other industrial uses such as golf course care and snowmaking at
ski areas use more water from the basin. But drawdowns for Marcellus
Shale drilling occur in some of the state’s most sensitive and
environmentally coveted waterways.
The monitoring stations would be placed along streams and creeks in
Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna and nearby counties.
“Some of the best parts of the basin,” Brownell said. “Where people’s
hunting cabins are. Where streams are small.”
In September, fish and other aquatic wildlife died and algae growth was
found to have increased in a 30- mile stretch of Dunkard Creek, a
waterway on the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border.
Although the investigation of the fish kill is continuing, some suspect
a link to drilling-tainted water. The Marcellus Shale Committee, a
coalition of oil and gas companies, said in a statement posted on its
Web site that it was “irresponsible and premature” to speculate on the
cause of the fish kill.
“As residents of the commonwealth, we are also eager to learn more
about this incident,” the statement said. “We are working with the
appropriate regulatory agencies to help determine the cause and source,
including active participation in collecting and analyzing water
samples from the creek.”
Danielle Boston, a spokeswoman for the Independent Oil and Gas
Association of Pennsylvania, said the industry welcomed networks such
as the one proposed by SRBC.
Among other things, she said, it could improve the timing and extent of
industry water withdrawals.
Brownell said the network would speed up the investigation of water
quality problems.
“The whole Dunkard Creek issue was, something died and then they had to
go back and figure out what killed it,” he said. “There was no system
in place like we are proposing here.”
The network would have 30 stations in Pennsylvania and New York. They
would continuously monitor temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, water
depth and other characteristics.
They would be placed in waterways with a maximum flow of 300 cubic feet
per second. For comparison, the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg had a
flow rate of 25,800 cubic feet per second early this week, and the
Yellow Breeches Creek on the West Shore had a flow rate of 232 cubic
feet per second.
Each upstate monitoring station would have a data-gathering device and
a platform powered by a solar panel.
Observations could occur as frequently as every minute.
“As the demand for water from smaller rivers and streams increases,
particularly from the natural gas industry, so does the amount of
wastewater that is generated,” said Paul Swartz, commission executive
director. “It is important to monitor these smaller, remote waterways
to verify whether or not they are being impacted by certain pollutants.”
Swartz estimated the cost of the network at $750,000. The commission’s
board will be asked to approve an expenditure of $100,000 on the first
four stations.
The agency has started a search for partners to share the remaining
cost.
The Northern Tier counties have been a prime focus in Marcellus Shale
natural gas exploration. Through September, 575 of the 1,340 Marcellus
Shale drilling permits issued by the state this year were for sites in
Susquehanna, Bradford and Tioga counties.
By The Numbers
- 161 surface-water-withdrawal applications from the
natural-gas industry have been received by the Susquehanna River Basin
Commission since April 2008.
- 128 applications have been received from all other
industries since April 2000.
- 154 million gallons of water have been used to prep
natural-gas wells in the basin since June 2008.
- Less than 3 million gallons were put to same use from June
2007 to June 2008.
Source: Susquehanna River Basin Commission