[PA] Reported Violations at Pa. Drilling Sites Saw Drop in 2011

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
9 February 2012
By Don Hopey

State inspectors found 1,178 violations of state environmental regulations at Marcellus Shale gas drilling and development sites in 2011, according to a review released Wednesday by PennEnvironment.

That number of violations is down slightly from 2010, but the violations per well drilled has declined significantly, from .836 violations per well drilled in 2010 to .591 violations per well drilled in 2011.

The statewide environmental advocacy organization's review of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection violations records did not analyze whether the decline in violations was the result of better gas drilling operations, altered inspection procedures or changed record-keeping.

The PennEnvironment review shows that for the four years -- 2008 through 2011 -- the DEP recorded 3,355 violations at 4,596 Marcellus well drilling operations and identified 2,392 of those as likely posing an environmental threat or risk. The rest were classified as reporting or paperwork violations.

"Our analysis shows that Marcellus Shale gas drilling companies are either unable or unwilling to comply with basic environmental laws," said Erika Staaf of PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center. She added that the organization is asking for a halt in shale gas extraction until gas operators can demonstrate it can be done in a way that is protective of public health and the environment.

Steve Forde, Marcellus Shale Coalition vice president of policy and communications, said new environmental, health and safety provisions in Marcellus Shale gas legislation passed by the Legislature Wednesday will ensure continued environmental protection.

"Natural gas development, which supports nearly 229,000 jobs in the Commonwealth, is aggressively and tightly regulated," Mr. Forde said in a statement released by the coalition. "Suggesting otherwise may grab a headline or two, but such claims are simply not supported by the facts."

PennEnvironment's release said the state violations numbers are "conservative" and that because of the limited number of inspectors and the rapid expansion of drilling operations, additional undetected violations are likely.

"This report does not look at the reasons for the trends," Ms. Staaf said. "Without digging into the number of inspectors on the ground and their activities, which this report doesn't aim to do, it's difficult to know whether the industry is actually getting environmentally safer or whether there were fewer violations detected because of inadequate enforcement staff."

DEP spokeswoman Katy Gresh did not respond to a request to comment on the report or about whether its gas well inspection staff is able to review operations at the rapidly expanding number of wells in the state.

The PennEnvironment review found that the greatest number of violations -- 625, or 26 percent of violations likely to impact the environment -- involved improper erosion and sedimentation controls at well drilling sites. Such violations could be related to runoff into streams. The second-biggest category -- 550 violations, or 23 percent of the total -- were for faulty pollution prevention techniques.

The review also broke down the state violations data by individual drilling companies and number of wells drilled. The drilling companies with the most violations over the four years were Cabot Oil & Gas, with 412; Chesapeake Appalachia LLC, with 393; Chief Oil & Gas LLC with 313; and Talisman Energy USA Inc. with 303.

Cabot also had the most violations in 2011, with 161, and Chesapeake was second with 139.

J-W Operating Co. had the most violations per well for companies drilling at least 10 wells in the state, with 53 for 10 wells or 5.3 per well. XTO Energy Inc. had 159 violations and 53 wells for an average of 3.0 per well. Cabot's 213 wells recorded 412 violations, or 1.93 per well. Chesapeake operated 576 wells and had 393 violations, an average of 0.68 per well.

Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.