Pennsylvania shuts down two gas drillers

River basin commission enforces rules

By TOM KANE

LYCOMING COUNTY, PA - How many other gas drilling companies haven’t sought permission to withdraw water?

That’s a question that is still hanging in the air after the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) got the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to shut down two gas drilling companies on May 30 for withdrawing water from local lakes and streams without permission to do so.

It turns out that the action is a breach of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law.

The companies, Range Resource - Appalachia, LLC and Chief Oil and Gas LLC, have been drilling wells in Cogan House Township and Mifflin Township, exploring the location of natural gas in the Marcellus Shale deposit, which stretches from West Virginia, across Ohio and Pennsylvania and into New York.

Both companies were told by SRBC that they would receive civil penalties for their actions. If they do not immediately comply, each day will constitute a separate offense for which civil penalties may be assessed. The statement from SRBC did not mention the amount of the penalty.

Range Resources has withdrawn approximately 3,000,000 gallons from the Big Sandy Run Creek, a tributary of Hoagland Run. Chief Oil and Gas has withdrawn approximately 4,000,000 gallons of water from Mud Run, a tributary of First Fork Larry’s Creek.

The SRBC, as well as the neighboring Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), both require a permit if 100,000 gallons of water over a 30-day period are to be withdrawn from the watershed. Drilling companies have said that each well requires from two to three million gallons of water to fracture the shale some 6000 feet below the surface of the earth. For some wells, the rock must be fractured more than once.

Such large volume diversions could impair the existing uses of the waterways, SRBC said.

“Drilling for natural gas is a water intensive endeavor,” said DEP North Central Regional Office Director Robert Yowell. “In the course of their operations, neither Range Resources nor Chief Oil and Gas have taken the necessary precautions to protect nearby streams from pollution or impairment during the drilling process.”

“These orders will remain in effect until the department has received and approved a water management plan from both companies and each firm has obtained the necessary permits,” he said.

The plan will help ensure that drilling operations do not have an adverse effect on the nearby streams or water resources, he said.

Gas companies, seeking to drill in Wayne and Pike counties and Delaware and Sullivan counties in New York, can expect scrutiny soon from the DRBC.

“We are going to regulate the withdrawals in the Delaware River Watershed,” said Carol Collier, DRBC executive director. “We are working with the DEP to get best coordination on the withdrawals. We are sending letters to potential drillers, letting them know that they must come through us. Before the DEP gives a permit to withdraw, the companies must come to us first. They did not do that before.”

In New York, the DRBC will work with the Department of Environmental Conservation to coordinate the withdrawals.

This month, the DEP, SRBC, DRBC, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and the county conservation districts will host a meeting for current and prospective natural gas exploration operators and owners to discuss the state’s oil and gas industry, the industry’s future and the state’s environmental rules and regulations.

For more information visit www.depweb.state.pa.us and use the key words “oil and gas.”