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DEC commissioner: Gas spill reports misleading
The commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation has asserted that reports of accidents related to natural gas drilling in New York have been overblown and taken out of context.
In a letter to Assemblyman William Parment, D-150th, a member of the Environmental Conservation committee, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said that of the 270 incidents highlighted by an Ithaca researcher, more than half have nothing to do with natural gas drilling -- and they occurred while the DEC was overseeing 10,400 wells.
Walter Hang, president of Ithaca-based Toxics Targeting, responds that the incidents -- some of which have not been cleaned up decades after being reported -- are indicative of an understaffed agency incapable of handling its current regulatory workload, let alone the rush expected to accompany permitting in the Marcellus Shale.
In November, Hang released a list of 270 files, compiled from the DEC's own spills database, documenting cases of contamination and ecological damage related to natural gas production in New York over the past 30 years.
The incidents don't accurately reflect the state's drilling oversight because of the 270 reports, 106 were problems at oil production sites; 53 were unrelated to oil or gas production, such as lightning strikes and vehicle accidents; and 40 were incidents at abandoned wells drilled before modern
regulations went into place, Grannis wrote.
Hang responded Monday that the incidents are relevant because oil and gas drilling are largely regulated by the same rules, and of the 40 abandoned wells with documented problems, only 11 have been cleaned up.
One of the most disturbing incidents found in the DEC's database occurred in Freedom, Cattaraugus County, in 1996, when an uncontrolled well spread natural gas up to 1 1/2 miles away and resulted in 12 families being evacuated from their homes.
The problem occurred when drillers encountered a flow of gas too strong to control, 2,600 feet below the ground, and they activated equipment to "'kill' the well, according to Grannis' letter. The operator "violated basic engineering procedures" and shut down the well before it had been stabilized, causing the "methane from the deep underground formation to find other routes to the ground surface. Manifestations included a pond and residential water wells in the area," he wrote.
DEC staff, local first responders, and state Emergency Management Office staff all responded, the 12 families were evacuated, and the well was brought under control within a day, he wrote. All but one of the families returned to their homes by the third day and the Cattaraugus County Supreme Court awarded damages to the affected individuals in 2005, Grannis wrote.
The Freedom incident is "an aberration," Grannis said -- it's the most recent of its type to have occurred in New York, even though 3,300 similar wells have been drilled in 13 years since, he said.
"While no regulatory program can completely eliminate equipment failure, human error or the possibility of accidents, I think it is clear that when put into the proper context and perspective the reported information shows that the incidence of spills and other pollution events at modern natural gas well sites is exceedingly low and, in fact, the very data Walter cites support a conclusion that New York's regulatory program is highly effective," Grannis wrote.
Hang responded that DEC's reporting requirements and regulatory databases are inadequate to capture all the problems that have occurred.
For example, Seneca County resident Laurie Lytle suffered damage to her drinking water well in 2007, the morning after a nearby Chesapeake drilling operation, according to both Lytle and Chesapeake. When contacted by this newspaper about the incident last month, a DEC spokesman said DEC had no record of damage to Lytle's well.
"The question is, how many other water-quality impacts associated with natural gas drilling have escaped DEC's regulatory scrutiny?" Hang said. "You basically don't have an adequate regulatory program. New York City says that, EPA says that, practically every major environmental group in the state says that."
The recipient of the Dec. 30 letter, Parment, is the self-described "resident expert on natural gas" in the Assembly.
Parment was planning director and director of public works for Chautauqua County when that area underwent a drilling boom in the 1970s and 1980s, he said. He helped develop the same kinds of road protection bonding mechanisms being considered by Southern Tier communities now.
Parment said he was encouraged by Grannis' letter that "New York state's body of law and regulation is substantial and has produced a reasonable outcome for both the environment and for property owners."
Grannis' assessment of previous natural gas drilling efforts as tightly regulated, with few problems, is "consistent with my observation," Parment said.
"Having lived through a drilling boom in my own county, I would tell people they should be concerned because it's a new and potentially disruptive thing that will take place," he said. "But I think there is reason to believe that the state has significant and sufficient, both statutory authority and regulatory authority to prevent major damage to the environment."
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Ignitable Water Compilation
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Tioga County man blames nearby gas drilling for polluting his well
Candor, NY -- Fred Mayer holds a lighter to his faucet, lets the water run, and — pow — the flow ignites into a small fireball. “I can wash my dishes and poach an egg at the same time,” he joked.
But it’s no laughing matter. Mayer’s faucets spew natural gas. The gas has polluted his water supply, forcing Mayer to buy bottled water to drink. If enough gas builds up in his faucets or walls, scientists warn, Mayer’s house could explode.
Outside, the stream where Mayer once caught trout, minnows and crayfish bubbles and spurts, Mayer said. The stream is belching gas. The fish are mostly dead, he said.
Mayer, 59, a disabled Vietnam veteran, lives in Candor, a rural town in Tioga County, between Ithaca and Binghamton. He has lived in the same house since 1962. He has used the same drinking water well since 1966. The problems with his water started about three years ago, he said.
Mayer blames his flammable faucet on natural gas drilling near his home. Fortuna Energy Inc., the largest natural-gas company in New York, began drilling in Tioga County in late 2003, company lawyer and spokesman Mark Scheuerman said.
“I never had a problem,” Mayer said. “The gas wasn’t here before. Then all of a sudden the drilling starts happening and wham, bam.”
Fortuna denies any link between Mayer’s water problems and the company’s drilling. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, although it never visited Mayer’s home, concluded the gas was naturally occurring and decided no investigation was needed. Independent scientists say the cause of the gas might never be known.
Natural gas trapped in shale formations buried deep underground can seep into pipes and homes naturally, said William Kappel, a hydrogeologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. But there have been documented cases where drilling has released gas that has migrated into wells and bodies of water miles away, he said.
“There’s no smoking gun either way on this,” Kappel said. “It’s very difficult to assess cause and effect. The potential for gas migration (from drilling) is generally pretty small ... but it’s not impossible.”
There’s no drilling on Mayer’s property or even next door. The closest gas wells are 5 and 7 miles away, according to the DEC. The one 7 miles away has not yielded any gas since it was drilled in 2006, said Yancey Roy, who speaks for the DEC. “It is highly improbable that other wells located more than 7 miles away caused Mr. Mayer’s problem,” Roy said.
Scheuerman said Fortuna operated “many successful wells” near Mayer’s home from 2004 to 2008, including in the Spencer and Owego areas. Spencer is about 8 miles west of Candor; Owego is about 10 miles south.
All of the wells tapped into the Trenton-Black River Formation. Scheuerman said his company used horizontal drilling to unleash the gas, but the DEC said no hydrofracking was used in the two wells closest to Mayer’s house. Fortuna has since stopped drilling in Spencer and into the Trenton-Black River Formation. No more wells are planned, Scheuerman said. “We are focused exclusively on development of the Marcellus Shale,” he said.
The DEC has prohibited drilling in the Marcellus Shale until an environmental review is complete. That is likely to be months away. But environmental advocates fear that without strict regulations on gas drilling and enough regulators to oversee the process, incidents like Mayer’s will become more common.
“I think he is an indication of the shortcomings of the regulatory situation,” said Walter Hang, of Toxics Targeting, an environmental group based in Ithaca. “When people report these problems, they don’t get the response the public would normally expect.”
Mayer called the DEC to report his ignitable water Jan. 26, 2009. He told agency officials he was concerned about natural gas drilling taking place near his home, according to a DEC report. The DEC told him to vent his well, the report says.
Mayer said the DEC never came to his house to investigate. Roy said the agency decided no investigation was needed because of the distance between Mayer’s house and the drilling, the timing of the complaint and the fact that no other residents closer to the drilling reported well contamination.
Roy said the DEC received a complaint about gas in a water well in Newark Valley, about 8 miles east of Candor, in July 1999. There was no natural-gas drilling taking place then in Tioga County or neighboring Broome County, he said. “This could indicate that the methane occurrence in Mr. Mayer’s well is not unique to his property or area,” Roy said. “Natural gas in water wells commonly occurs throughout the state.”
Roy said the DEC has received no other reports of gas contamination in the area of Mayer’s home, although he noted that the DEC would be aware of problems only if residents report them.
Officials with the Tioga County Health Department said they have received no complaints about well contamination.
The group Tioga Investigates Natural Gas — made up of representatives from the county Legislature, Council of Governments and several other civic, business and environmental agencies — notes on its Web site that “there is a community concern that private wells may be affected by the natural gas drilling.”
Kappel, of the USGS, said it’s possible for different wells to react differently to natural gas because of geology and water levels across an aquifer. Gas could seep into one well, while keeping clear of a neighboring well, he said. He also pointed out that changing water levels could cause more gas to evolve than when a well was drilled, leaving the door open to the possibility that Mayer’s gas problem is naturally occurring.
Mayer said he also complained to Fortuna. The company referred him to the DEC, he said.
Scheuerman said Fortuna records show that Mayer called in January but complained about lease payments, not water quality. Mayer’s father had signed a drilling lease with Fortuna before he died.
There has been no drilling on Mayer’s 97-acre property, but Mayer receives rental payments from Fortuna. Mayer said he renegotiated the terms in January to bump his payments from about $400 a year to about $57,000 a year.
Mayer said he was trying only to secure payments that fall in line with his neighbors’. He insists he complained to Fortuna about his water, as well.
Without spending thousands of dollars to fingerprint the gas in his well, Mayer will likely never find where it came from. But even answers, he said, wouldn’t calm his frustration and anger. “It’s very disheartening to me,” Mayer said, “knowing that the environment that I grew up in is going to pieces.”
Upstate New York man finds his kitchen faucet spews flames
CANDOR, N.Y. - Fred Mayer has a special feature in his kitchen: a faucet that spews fire.
Mayer says that about three years ago the well supplying water to his home in Candor became polluted with natural gas.
Explosive vapors now run from his tap along with the water.
The Vietnam veteran demonstrates by holding a lighter to the running water and igniting it with a flash.
Mayer jokes that he can wash his dishes and poach an egg at the same time.
But it's no joke. Experts say the house could explode if the faucet emits enough gas.
State environmental officials say the gas was created and released by nature, but Mayer suspects that drilling by an energy company is to blame.
The natural-gas company Fortuna Energy denies any link to the problem.
Feds splash water on state drilling plan; Fears that toxic chemicals could seep into drinking water
The feds are backing City Hall's battle to stop the state from drilling for natural gas near precious upstate water reserves.
The city Department of Environmental Protection fears the drilling in the energy-rich Marcellus Shale Formation could unleash toxic chemicals in the drinking water.
The Environmental Protection Agency's ruling pressures Gov. Paterson to reverse course.
"EPA has serious reservations about whether gas drilling in the New York City watershed is consistent with the vision of long-term maintenance of a high quality unfiltered water supply," the agency wrote the state.
Acting city DEP Commissioner Steven Lawitts warned a $10 billion water filtration system would be needed to combat any contamination from drilling - a project that would sock taxpayers with a 30% increase in their water bill.
City Hall spokesman Marc La Vorgna praised the feds' response, arguing Paterson's plans don't "adequately address the risks to the city's drinking water."