Lessons of Coal Industry Apply to Natural Gas Rush, Too
Washington PA Observer Reporter
13 December 2009
By George R. Carter Jr.
More than a hundred years ago, men such as B.J. Tuit, J.V. Thompson,
G.L. Hibbs and J.E. and J.R. Barnes traveled from farm to farm in
Southwestern Pennsylvania acquiring the mining rights to the Pittsburgh
coal seam. They amassed great fortunes in mineral wealth, compared to
the pittance they paid to the landowners. Still, the farmers were
generally quite pleased with the money in their pockets, and many
probably were convinced they "got the best of the city slickers"
because the coal would "never be mined."
Jump forward to the 1960s, when the mining of the coal and the spread
of suburban development came into ever-increasing conflict. Mine
subsidence began to affect not just isolated individuals in rural
areas, but whole communities of people with the financial and political
power to bring about a change. As a result, new law was enacted to
limit the mining rights of the coal owner and provide guidelines for
the protection of certain surface structures. Then, in the 1990s, the
law was re-written, removing some of the mining restrictions imposed in
1966 in exchange for the assumption of responsibility for water
replacement and compensation for subsidence damages. To this day, there
are still serious flaws in the system of mining regulations which allow
social injustice and environmental harm to occur all to frequently. I
could go on, but that is not my real point.
Today's Tuits and Thompsons are agents of Atlas, Chesapeake, CNX,
Range, et al., and their prize is the Marcellus Shale. Like the farmers
of old selling their Pittsburgh coal, too many landowners are getting
so excited about the "wealth" they are being promised that they fail to
see the negative aspects of this boom.
It took nearly 60 years after the birth of the modern coal industry for
the public and politicians to recognize the problems it created and to
begin to take corrective action. With the Marcellus boom, we cannot
afford to wait that long. The first Marcellus well was drilled in
Washington County in 2003. The Department of Environmental Protection
reported 64 new Marcellus Shale natural gas wells started in the
commonwealth (22 between Greene and Washington counties) during the
first two weeks of November!
Already the flaws in the regulatory system are evident. Thirteen
residential water wells in the Susquehanna basin were contaminated by
methane from Marcellus drilling, and DEP - after the fact - required
the driller involved to submit a well-casing plan before a new permit
will be issued. Why is this not a requirement of every drilling permit?
Forty-three miles of Dunkard Creek in West Virginia and Pennsylvania
are now devoid of aquatic fauna from a toxic bloom of algae, which
exploits water with characteristics common to Marcellus Shale
discharge. Who is responsible for tracking the millions of gallons of
water involved in each Marcellus well and assuring proper disposal?
With the new horizontal drilling technique, Marcellus gas can be
produced from shale thousands of feet from the surface well location.
Who monitors the placement of these wells to assure that the well
operator has the leasehold right to the gas being extracted?
Sure, the Marcellus represents jobs, and I'm all for that. A little bit
of personal wealth can come in handy, too. But let's not let the
current "gas rush" create the kind of problems we have seen with the
coal industry. Speak out. Urge your legislators to put some brakes on
the boom until an appropriate legal framework is in place.
George R. Carter Jr. lives in Jefferson and retired in 2007 after a
career in the coal industry in production, engineering and consulting.
He is a past president and active member of the Harry Enstrom (Greene
County) Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America.