Groups Rally for Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling Restrictions
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
22 September 2010
By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Susquehanna County resident Victoria Switzer came to an
anti-Marcellus Shale gas drilling rally here Tuesday, and she was angry.
Since 2003, Ms. Switzer has lived in the small town of Dimock, in the
state's northern tier between Scranton and the New York border. In the
summer of 2009 -- after deep underground drilling for natural gas began
in her area -- she said the water that came from her well turned
"bubbly, smelly and foamy" and was undrinkable.
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., which is drilling in dozens of locations in
the county, insisted it didn't cause the problem. But Ms. Switzer said
Cabot did start trucking in bottled drinking water last October for her
and 22 other families whose wells also were fouled. Ms. Switzer said
that in her opinion, there has to be some connection between the
underground drilling and the "methane migration" that has ruined so
many water wells in the area.
And lately, she added, other chemicals, such as ethyl benzene, xylene
and toluene have shown up in her water. She thinks the "fracking"
process used to extract natural gas, where chemicals are mixed with
large amounts of water and pumped underground to force out the gas, is
responsible.
"How did these chemicals get into my water?" she said. "I didn't have
this problem before the drilling started."
She got a lot of support from the dozens of environmental groups who
rallied at the Capitol in support of several Marcellus-related bills --
one that would impose a tax on gas extracted from the hundreds of wells
around the state, another that would direct state environmental
officials to more closely monitor the effect of drilling on streams and
underground water, and a third bill that would impose a one-year
moratorium on drilling any new wells.
The activists demanded that the Legislature act on the bills before
leaving in mid-October to go home and campaign for the Nov. 2 election,
but time for action is growing short. So far legislators haven't been
able to agree on specifics for a gas severance tax, which could
generate $100 million to be split among state agencies and
municipalities that are facing higher costs related to gas drilling.
In a statement Tuesday, Cabot denied that its drilling is causing water
problems for Susquehanna County residents. In its fracking process,
Cabot said, it hasn't used any of the chemicals that Ms. Switzer
complained about.
Cabot said it has examined water samples taken from the area in 2008,
before drilling began. "These sample results confirm the presence of
many of the chemicals in water samples taken [from Dimock properties]
prior to gas well drilling in the area," Cabot said. The firm said it
"remains committed to safe and secure operations in Susquehanna County."
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a group of natural gas producers, also
released a statement by Department of Environmental Protection official
Scott Perry, who said, "A lot of folks relate the problem in Dimock to
a fracking problem. I just want to make sure everyone's clear on this
-- that it isn't. We've never seen an impact to fresh groundwater
directly from fracking."
At the rally, the environmentalists released their "platform of state
action" with 13 demands, such as a Marcellus Shale gas severance tax
and "a moratorium on further drilling on both private and public lands"
so regulations can be developed to "fully protect our environment,
health and communities."
The groups also want the Legislature to prohibit what they called
"forced pooling." If pooling is allowed, one landowner who refuses to
sign a lease for drilling under his property could be forced to do so
just because all the nearby property owners have signed such leases.
The groups also want distance requirements between wells, so they can't
be clustered together.
"There should be reasonable laws and best practices put in place during
the drilling into Marcellus Shale," said Rep. Phyllis Mundy, D-Luzerne,
a moratorium proponent. "People are frustrated, confused and flat-out
angry about the [drilling] accidents that have occurred and about the
lack of [General Assembly] action to protect them."
The environmental groups at the rally, who chanted "No Free Pass for
Oil and Gas," included Clean Water Action, the Sierra Club, the Gas
Accountability Project, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Penn
Environment.
Also at the rally was Josh Fox, creator of the controversial
documentary film "Gasland," which is critical of the gas drilling
industry.
Also Tuesday, another critic of gas companies, Gene Stilp of
Harrisburg, brought his 25-foot-high, inflatable pink pig back to the
Capitol, where he had used it in 2005 to protest legislative pay
raises. This time he hung a banner on it reading "Rendell Fire Powers."
He was calling for Gov. Ed Rendell to fire James Powers Jr., director
of the state Office of Homeland Security, who had distributed
"anti-terrorism bulletins" that warned law enforcement agencies against
a number of protest groups, including those opposed to gas drilling.
And in yet another action Tuesday, House Republicans unveiled a
four-part plan to promote the use of natural gas instead of gasoline.
They called on state agencies to "transition" the 16,000
gasoline-powered vehicles in the state fleet to vehicles that run on
natural gas. That would "reduce the commonwealth's reliance on oil and
create a tremendous demand for the natural gas available right here in
Pennsylvania," said Rep. Stan Saylor, R-York.
Republicans also called for tax credits for companies that convert
their fleets to natural gas and for financial incentives to local
governments and mass transit agencies that do the same. Those three
changes would cost about $60 million, they estimated.
The GOP also called for building natural gas stations at every other
service station along the Pennsylvania Turnpike so it's easier for
drivers to refuel their gas-powered cars.
Bureau Chief Tom Barnes: tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 1-717-787-4254.