Smart Shale

This blog will provide information on the Marcellus Shale and extracting natural gas from this shale. It will address the benefits and impacts of drilling on the environment, communities, and economy.

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Loss of Forests

Most of the wells drilled in the Marcellus Shale are located in very rural areas. This means that in addition to constructing the well pads, access roads and pipelines must also be built, and acres of forests will need to be cleared to do so. 

Each well pad is 3 to 5 acres, and it is predicted that over 60,000 wells will be drilled within the next twenty years in Pennsylvania. This means that 38,000 to 90,000 acres of forests will be cleared for well sites and another 60,000 to 150,000 acres could be cleared to construct pipelines.

If these large amounts of forest are lost, it will create drastic changes in wildlife habitat. Animals that live in clearings and along forest edges will thrive while the populations of animals that rely on forest habitat will decline. The large loss of forest will also leave the area more susceptible to invasive species such as multiflora rose. Since these invasive species have no natural predators, they will thrive and quickly kill native species.

Multiflora Rose

The loss of forest will have an impact on waterways as well. The forest provides shade that keeps the water from becoming too warm and having low amounts of dissolved oxygen. The construction of roads and well pads can create increased sediment that will be detrimental to organisms in the streams.

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In Dimock, Pennsylvania the water wells of 18 families were found to be contaminated with methane. Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation was sued by 11 of these families and forced to provide them with drinking water. Now, Cabot has received permission to discontinue the deliveries of water because the well water has been deemed safe for the residents to drink.

Cabot's wells drilled in Dimock were found to have improperly cemented well casings that allowed methane to migrate into the drinking water supplies of nearby residents.

Diagram of a well casing.

Cabot denied responsibility, claiming that the methane was already in the water. The families do not believe their water is safe to drink and will be taking Cabot Oil and Gas Corporation back to court in an attempt to get Cabot to continue the water deliveries.

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A Severance Tax is Unnecessary

The article Gas lease, royalty income taxes top $100 million by Timothy Puko argues that Marcellus Shale drillers should not have to pay a severance tax or impact fee because they already pay millions of dollars each year in leases and royalties to landowners who then pay income taxes on the money they receive. 

The article states that "more than 50,000 taxpayers a year collected oil and gas revenue between 2007 and 2009" and "the state [has] so far tallied $102.7 million in such tax revenue [income taxes] for 2010."

Since drillers are already paying landowners, why should they have to pay taxes as well? Will the revenue generated by income taxes be enough to pay for the extra road repairs, inspectors, and environmental damages? 

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When drilling in the Marcellus Shale began, videos such as this one made people fear hydraulic fracturing and natural gas drilling. People are able to light their tap water on fire because of the presence of methane in their water, and many people blame fracking for this methane. 

While there have been some cases of well contamination, such as in Dimock, PA, fracking is not always the culprit. In some areas, methane can migrate into wells whether or not there is natural gas drilling nearby. 

Most people never have their water tested for methane, so they cannot prove that natural gas drilling is responsible for the methane in their water. Currently, studies are being conducted to determine whether or not fracking increases the likelihood of methane migration.

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Range Resources vice president of engineering Joseph H. Franz, Jr. discusses his company's activity and impacts in the marcellus Shale in this interview.

Franz talks about Range Resources water use for fracking as well as what the company hopes to accomplish in the future. He states that "Range pioneered a water recycling program in Pennsylvania and is nearly at a 100% recycling rate for the water used in hydraulic fracturing." He also talks about his company's hopes for the future of fracking, stating that Range Resources plans on "reducing the size of our treatments, which reduces our water and chemical additives, water recycling, and truck traffic." Franz also points out that Range Resources "was the first company to disclose the components of the fracking fluid for each well in Pennsylvania on its website" and says that "the more people that understand the actual hydraulic fracturing process and all of the science and research that goes into it, the more comfortable they become with the operations and safety precautions taken. 

Range Resources, along with many other natural gas drilling companies, struggles with publicity issues. As residents continue to hear stories of people who are able to light their tap water on fire and huge spills of fracking fluid that kill hundreds of aquatic species, they become more opposed of fracking. Hopefully, everyone can be educated so they understand that with proper regulations fracking can be done safely and will benefit Pennsylvania. 

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Recent Academic Article

The academic article "Corbett Shale Policy Fails to Adequately Address Needs of Citizens, Communities, and Environment" (2011) published in States News Service addresses the concerns of Pennsylvania politicians on the shortcomings of Governor Corbett's impact fee plan. The article contains the responses of several politicians and there concerns of the lack of funding for road repairs and environmental protection. The article states that the "the governor's impact fee proposal would send "75% of fee revenue to local municipalities where drilling occurs. It is expected to generate $120 million in the first year. If so, Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation would get $21 million; DEP $3.15million; and counties $32.4 million." Several politicians are concerned that the impact fee will not provide enough money to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and argue that drillers should be responsible for maintaining roads. 

State Environmental and Energy Committee Democratic Chairman John Yudichak states "'The governor's county-assessed fee approach will create a fragmented patch work of 'have and have-not' communities across Pennsylvania. It completely overlooks countless communities across Pennsylvania that have road, water system, and other infrastructure demands placed upon them.'" Yudichak brings up an important concern; if some counties are not receiving any money from the impact fee but still have demands placed on their infrastructure by the Marcellus shale, how will the Marcellus shale drilling ever benefit them?

Many politicians feel that Governor Corbett's impact fee is too focused on creating jobs and does not adequately address environmental and infrastructure concerns. As State Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa says, "'We only get one shot at this - and if we don't protect our water and our land, then we have learned nothing from our history.'"

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Frack Fluid Disposal

After fracking is completed, 10-40% of the water flows back to the surface within two weeks. This water contains chemicals such as hydrochloric acid, and may even contain traces of radioactive elements. In addition, the wastewater contains very high levels of total dissolved solids (TDS). TDS includes "carbonates, chlorides, sulfates, nitrates, sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium" (Hydraulic fracturing). Many wastewater treatment plants cannot handle high levels of TDS, and in April 2011 only 15 sewage treatment plants in Pennsylvania were accepting flowback water. Even these wastewater treatment plants were only able to accept a small amount of flowback water, forcing drillers to find alternative options for disposal. 

One method is to pump the untreated brine into a very deep well that is bounded by impermeable rock. These wells, known as deep injection wells, have been very successful in Texas, which currently has about 7,000 such wells. The geography of Pennsylvania prevents these deep injection wells from being successful, so drillers are forced to truck the flowback water to an well in Ohio, New York, or West Virginia. Even these states have a very limited number of deep injection wells available, and it is very expensive for drillers to have the water trucked to these out-of-state locations. 

Diagram of a deep injection well. 

Another option for drillers is to reuse the fracking water. This method is successful, and the Department of Environmental Protection estimates that 70% of the flowback water is recycled. However, the water cannot be reused after it contains a certain level of TDS. 

Currently companies are working to develop new methods to treat the wastewater. Some proposed ideas involve evaporation or crystallization of salts. Companies hope that a method will be developed that will be inexpensive and allow water to be treated on-site.

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Energy: Natural Gas

Energy: Natural Gas by Gene Whitney is an excellent resource to learn more about natural gas and drilling for natural gas. The book explains what natural gas is and how it is formed. In addition, it gives a background on natural gas production in the United States, including the estimated stores of natural gas, storage and pipelines, and factors that affect the prices of natural gas.

This book also explains how the natural gas is extracted through hydraulic fracturing and the dangers of fracking to the environment. In addition, the book provides comparisons of the leases and royalties paid to landowners in different shales throughout the United States.

Energy: Natural Gas by Gene Whitney is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn more about natural gas. It provides very detailed information in a way that makes it easy for anyone to understand.

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FRAC Act

The Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act, or FRAC Act, was introduced to Congress in June 2009. This act would close the Halliburton Loophole and give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing as well as require all drilling companies to make hte chemicals they use in hydrualic fracturing available over the internet.

Congress did not act on the FRAC Act, during the 111th session, but it was recently reintroduced in the 112th session. Meanwhile, in April 2011, companies began releasing the types of chemicals used in fracking. Range Resources was the first company to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing at each well. These reports can be found on their website. 

The drilling companies continue to claim that hydraulic fracturing is safe because the chemicals make up only a small percentage of the total fluids used in fracking. While this is often true, fracking typically takes 3 to 9 million gallons of water. This means that even if a chemical makes up .01% of 3 million gallons, the frack fluid contains 300 gallons of that chemical.

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Academic Article: EPA Tackles Fracking

The article EPA Tackles Fracking by John Manuel explains why the Environmental Protection Association (EPA) study on fracking is necessary. Manuel mentions that natural gas consumption in the United States is expected to increase, and due to this natural gas companies are searching for new sources of natural gas. Many of these new sources, like the Marcellus shale, "lie beneath watersheds that supply drinking water to millions of people" (Manuel). 

There have been many claims of drinking water contamination due to hydraulic fracturing and natural gas drilling, but there is often a lack of proof. Ofter, better regulations could prevent contamination but these regulations do not exist because in 2005 fracking was exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act. 

This exemption, often referred to as the Halliburton Loophole, was created by Vice President Dick Cheney. When Cheney, the former CEO of the gas drilling company Halliburton, created this loophole, it made the EPA unable to regulate any aspect of fracking. This means that the EPA cannot regulate which chemicals are used in fracking or the amounts of chemicals used. 

Natural gas companies have finally released the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, but there still need to be more and better regulations. For example, the well should be encased in steel and concrete to protect drinking water, but these casing are often faulty and not regularly inspected. Flowback water (the water that returns to the surface after fracking) is usually stored in a large pit "which, depending on state regulations, may or may not be lined" (Manuel). 

Hopefully this EPA study will provide conclusive results as to whether or not fracking is contaminating drinking water; and hopefully these results will lead to better regulations that will protect not only the environment and water, but also our health. 

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The Friendly Fracosaurus

Awhile ago I stumbled across a very interesting coloring book published by Talisman Energy. 

The coloring book, called "Talisman Terry's Energy Adventures," uses "Talisman Terry, the Friendly Fracosaurus" to portray the process of drilling and fracking as environmentally friendly and beneficial. The coloring book features various steps of the drilling process, and each is explained in simple terms. For example, one page explains how geologists search for natural gas, and big equipment will be brought in to drill the well. Of course the coloring book has a page showing that the land will look the same after drilling. In fact the land seems improved because there is now a beautiful rainbow. Another page explains that natural gas is used to heat our homes and cook our meals, and the illustration is a happy family sitting around a table eating dinner. It seems as if every page is filled with smiling wildlife and a sun, happy people, or beautiful trees.

It is very interesting that Talisman Energy would come out with this sort of propaganda that is geared towards children. It is very obvious that the coloring book was designed to create a more positive view of natural gas drilling and not just as a fun book for children to color in. Most children have no idea what fracking is, let alone know how drilling for natural gas works. Talisman Energy was criticized by by many people for publishing this coloring book, and in July the energy company discontinued the coloring book. 

Click here to view the entire coloring book. Unfortunately since it is no longer available I was unable to find a better version so I apologize that the pages are out of order and some are upside-down.

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The article "Corbett plan a step in the right direction but falls well short" (2011) published in the Reading Eagle states that Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett is finally making a good decision in imposing a fee on the Marcellus shale drilling companies but his plan is far from solving any of Pennsylvania's budget problems. The article states that

...an impact fee of up to $160,000 per well paid over 10 years to help pay for the cost to regulate the drilling and fix any environmental damage.

Corbett estimates that the plan would generate up to $120 million in the first year and up to $195 million by the sixth year, which hardly would register in a state budget of $27.15 billion.

Corbett refuses to impose a severance tax on natural gas drillers because during his campaign he vowed that he would not institute any new taxes nor raise taxes in Pennsylvania. He also claims that if he were to tax natural gas drilling companies that they would move their operations to other states. However, Pennsylvania is the only state that does not have a severance tax, and drillers would not leave Pennsylvania because it is the center of the Marcellus shale. 

Former Governor Ed Rendell wanted a 5% severance tax and $.047 per thousand cubic feet of natural gas, a tax very similar to West Virginia's. It was estimated that this would generate $160.7 million in the fiscal year 2010-2011 and $475.5 million in the 2014-15 fiscal year. This tax would be low compared to most states, and yet the benefits to the state of Pennsylvania would be enormous.

The severance tax could be used to repair and improve Pennsylvania's infrastructure, fund emergency response services for the Marcellus shale, repair environmental damages, and benefit other state programs. Corbett is refusing to impose a tax even though his new budget has made major cuts to education programs in Pennsylvania. 

Governor Corbett's refusal to impose a severance tax on drillers is only hurting Pennsylvania. As Pennsylvania struggles with the budget and cuts funding for education, natural gas drillers are able to extract a very valuable resource from Pennsylvania without compensating the state. The drilling is causing damage to Pennsylvania's infrastructure and environment; damages that must be repaired using tax money. Regardless of whether or not Corbett refuses to impose a tax because he promised he would not raise taxes or because natural gas drilling companies funded his campaign, it is the wrong decision. A decision that will only cause more harm, controversy, and budget troubles in Pennsylvania.

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The Marcellus Shale Coalition

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) is an organization comprised of the drilling companies and other industries involved in extracting natural gas from the Marcellus shale. The MSC advocates for the safety and benefits of drilling in the Marcellus shale:

Founded in 2008, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) is an organization committed to the responsible development of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale geological formation and the enhancement of the region’s economy that can be realized by this clean-burning energy source.

The members of the coalition work with our partners across the region to address issues with regulators, local, county, state and federal government officials and communities about all aspects of producing clean-burning, job-creating natural gas from the Marcellus Shale.

-The Marcellus Shale Coalition

Their website provides information on the MSC's commitment to the community, the opportunities drilling will bring to residents, and the safety and benefits of drilling. In addition, the MSC provides a large variety of articles discussing topics such as the enormous job growth due to the Marcellus shale, the benefits of clean-burning natural gas, and the gas companies' investments of millions of dollars in roads. Their website is geared for people who are concerned with the safety of drilling or whose lives have been impacted by the Marcellus shale. The purpose of the MSC is to create a more positive view of Marcellus shale drilling companies. Almost all of the companies that are involved in the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale are members of this organization. 

Drilling companies have joined the Marcellus Shale Coalition in an attempt to reduce some of the bad PR associated with extracting natural gas from the Marcellus shale. No matter how many conferences and events the MSC holds to educate the public on the advantages of drilling, the protesters still seem to outnumber the attendees.

For example, protesters crowded around the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on September 7 and 8. They were protesting the Shale Gas Insight 2011, "a best-in-class conference that will offer abundant opportunities for industry stakeholders to gain insight into techniques to advance best practices and shape public policy." The MSC invited several politicians and many companies to this conference in order to convince them to support drilling in the Marcellus shale. As more people learn about the Marcellus shale and as more people's lives are directly impacted by drilling, the more negative the view of drilling becomes. No matter how hard the MSC and drilling companies tries to convince people that drilling in the Marcellus shale can actually be done safely, the horror stories of drilling projects gone wrong causes even more anxiety.

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Hydraulic Fracturing

While horizontal drilling allows gas companies to extract natural gas from several vertical fractures of the Marcellus shale, there is still a lot of gas trapped within the pores of the shale. A process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, allows even greater quantities of natural gas to be removed from the Marcellus shale. During this process, millions of gallons of water containing sand and chemicals are pumped into the well at an extremely high pressure. This causes artificial fractures to form in the shale, and the sand holds the fractures open, allowing natural gas to flow into the well.

A well drilled next to the Beaver Run Reservoir.

Hydraulic fracturing seems like an excellent process. With some water, sand, and a few chemicals, drilling companies are able to extract a lot more gas; natural gas that can be used to heat our homes and generate electricity. The problem is that each well will require three to nine million gallons of water to fracture the shale, and many wells will require the fracking process numerous times. Trucking in that enormous quantity of water would be extremely expensive. It would be much easier to pump the water from a nearby stream or river directly into the well. 

Pennsylvania, the heart of the Marcellus shale play, has over 85,000 miles of waterways. So why not use water from the streams and rivers of Pennsylvania to secure the energy we so desperately need? The problem is that removing millions of gallons from a stream would disrupt the stream's ecosystem.

After a well is fractured, only 45 percent of the water is recovered. This water cannot be returned to the water cycle because the chemicals used during the fracking process, such as hydrochloric acid and biocides, are deadly to all organisms in a stream. In addition this flowback water often contains heavy metals and oils and may even be radioactive. The water must be treated before it is returned to the water cycle, but most wastewater treatment plants are not equipped to handle this level of contamination. 

Many drilling companies have begun reusing their flowback water, but companies are still exploring new methods of disposal. I will address some of these methods as well as more environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing and drilling in upcoming posts.

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In the blog "Pennsylvania: Never ending bad news about natural gas operations" (2011) Amy Mall asserts that the natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania is causing harm and needs to be regulated. She supports her claims by using compelling stories of the problems caused by drilling in the Marcellus Shale. Mall's purpose is to persuade readers to educate themselves on the dangers of drilling for natural gas as well as take action to prevent drilling from harming people and the environment. The technical language of her blog verifies that it is written to a well-educated audience that understands the process of natural gas drilling.

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Drilling for Profits

Companies have been drilling for natural gas for many years in the United States. So why is the Marcellus shale suddenly the focus of so many drilling companies? It is because the Marcellus shale is different from most other shales found throughout the United States, and until recently companies were unable to profitably extract the natural gas found in the Marcellus shale.

In most shales, the fractures containing the natural gas are horizontal. This means that a conventional, vertical well would be able to intersect several fractures of the shale and extract the natural gas from all of these fractures. However, the fractures of the Marcellus shale are vertical, requiring one vertical well to be constructed for every fracture. Even though the Marcellus shale holds enormous profits for drilling companies, it would be much too expensive to construct one well for every fracture. 

The first drilling technology that made extracting natural gas from the Marcellus shale profitable is known as horizontal drilling. Horizontal drilling allows a vertical well shaft to be turned ninety degrees so it can intersect several vertical fractures of the Marcellus shale. 

A horizontal well. Photo courtesy of NY DEC.

Even though horizontal drilling makes it possible to extract more natural gas from the Marcellus shale, there is still a lot of gas trapped within smaller fractures and pores of the shale. It is another drilling technology that makes drilling in the Marcellus shale profitable, but this technology poses even greater danger to the environment.

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What is the Marcellus Shale?

Approximately 380 million years ago, during the Devonian period, sediment containing organic matter fell to the bottom of the ocean floor. Over millions of years, the sediment was compressed and heated until it formed a solid rock known as shale. The extreme compression and heat cause the organic matter to turn into a very precious resource, natural gas. Today this sedimentary rock, known as the Marcellus shale, lies thousands of feet below New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and other neighboring states.

The extent and depth of the Marcellus Shale. www.geology.com

While geologists have known about the Marcellus shale for a long time, it was not until the development of two new drilling technologies that this gas could be extracted. Now that the natural gas is accessible the rush to drill the Marcellus shale has begun.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Marcellus shale may contain up to 489 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This means that it could take approximately one hundred years to deplete the supply of natural gas found in the Marcellus shale. The possibilities are endless, and natural gas companies are rushing to Pennsylvania and New York to claim their portion of the Marcellus shale. 

Several years ago, everyone seemed to be concerned with green sources of energy. People argued about whether or not global warming was true, and if we would have enough oil to fuel our energy needs. Regardless of whether or not you believe in global warming, the need to find a green source of energy is real. One day, we will run out of oil because it is a non-renewable resource. No one knows exactly when that day will come, but when it does come we need to be prepared. The Marcellus shale provides the United States with a very unique opportunity. According to Dr. Terry Engelder, a Pennsylvania State University geologist, "it would take nearly 100 years to deplete this supply of gas," (Youker 2010). The U.S. could use this natural gas for many years instead of depending on unreliable foreign sources. During this time, the U.S. could focus on developing a sustainable, green source of energy. 

While the Marcellus shale could provide huge economical benefits to the United States, the environmental impact could be disastrous. In order to truly benefit from the Marcellus shale, we must ensure that our environment is not harmed.