Fracking Innovations

David Wethe of Bloomberg Buisnessweek reports on some of the innovations that are being developed to make fracking of natural gas-bearing shale strata more  environmentally-friendly.  The new approaches generally fall into one of two camps - ways to frack without water, or ways to clean up water that has been used to frack.

The article  notes that the fracking wastewater has been linked to surface water pollution, but I don't believe that is true in West Virginia.  The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has had a zero discharge limit for flow back and  produced fluids for years, which  effectively prohibited the discharge of frack water  brought up from downhole. There were a few municipal wastewater treatment plants that took frack water, but not many, and West Virginia has been ahead of the curve on preventing frack water from getting into state streams.

EPA Enters Into Consent Agreement with West Virginia Company

           PHILADELPHIA (Nov. 29, 2012) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has entered into a Clean Water Act (CWA) administrative consent agreement and final order (CAFO) with PDC Mountaineer, LLC (PDCM) to resolve violations involving construction activities at Marcellus Shale gas extraction facilities in northern West Virginia.

The settlement requires PDCM to pay a penalty of $177,500. Also, the company is restoring and/or completing mitigation projects at four sites pursuant to three separate CWA administrative orders incorporated into the CAFO.  

EPA conducted two site inspections on December 11, 2011, and March 28, 2012 at the D’Annunzio Well Pad and the Hudkins Well Pad in Harrison County, W. Va. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act requires persons wishing to discharge fill material into wetlands or streams to obtain a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In this case, the company failed to apply for or receive a Section 404 permit. In addition, information subsequently provided by the company revealed more violations along the course of two pipelines which will ultimately transport gas extracted by PDCM.

Unpermitted activities included the filling, relocating and placement of culverts in streams and the filling of wetlands. The violations at the four sites resulted in adverse impacts to nearly an acre of emergent and forested wetlands. There are permanent impacts to more than 1,500 linear feet of stream, and temporary impacts to more than 3,000 linear feet of streams. Mitigation for the wetland and stream impacts includes a combination of restoration, mitigation, and the purchase of wetland credits from a mitigation bank. The affected wetlands and streams ultimately flow into the West Fork River, which is part of the Monongahela River Basin.

            Wetlands are a scarce resource in West Virginia, occupying less than 0.4 percent of West Virginia’s land surface area. Since 1780, over 24 percent of West Virginia’s wetlands have been lost.   Wetlands are vital to protecting the integrity of our rivers and estuaries by providing a natural filtration system for pollution before it gets into rivers, lakes and ponds, and by preventing flooding after storms. They also provide important fish and wildlife habitat. While progress has been made in recent years to reverse the trend, wetlands continue to be threatened.

The streams involved in this case were mostly headwater streams, the small creeks and streams that are the origin of most rivers. Headwater streams function to store floodwater, reduce sediment, and provide an important source of freshwater dilution to downstream waters.

PDCM is headquartered in Bridgeport, W.Va, and is a joint venture between PDC and Lime Rock Partners, L.P., a private equity firm. It was formed to explore and develop Marcellus Shale gas deposits.

As part of the settlement, the company did not admit to violating the CWA.

West Virginia DEP Offers Free Wildflower Calendars

West Virginians already looking forward to the sights of spring and summer can get some early satisfaction by ordering an Operation Wildflower 2013 “Roadsides in Bloom”

calendar from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The free calendar is sponsored by the DEP and the state Department of Transportation. It includes the 13 best photos -- as judged by state officials -- of West Virginia wildflowers, photographed by West Virginia citizens and others. The calendar features photos of flowers growing naturally along state roads or in Operation Wildflower beds planted by the state Division of Highways. Twelve winning photos were selected to represent the months of the year and a grand prize winner’s photo is displayed on the calendar cover.

David Arroniz, of Kearneysville, is this year’s grand prize winner for his photo of cherry blossoms growing along Childs Road in Jefferson County.

Other winners include: Ann Walker, Hillsboro; Lynn Carr, Cool Ridge; Penny Johnson, Charleston; Gladys Mullins, Elkview; Kathryn Davis, Hambleton; Savannah Cantrell, Alkol; Cheryl Dalonges, Ridgeley; Raymond Harr, Franklin; Pamela Manning, Culloden; Eugene Walker, Hillsboro; Gary Bolt, Beckley; and Randy Timm, Webster Springs.

To order a calendar, go to:

http://www.dep.wv.gov/dlr/reap/ow; call 1-800-322-5530; or email dep.aah@wv.gov. If you call and get voicemail, please leave your name and address on the mailbox.

West Virginia’s Operation Wildflower beautification program is a joint effort between the DEP and the DOH. It includes more than 250 acres of wildflowers grown along West Virginia’s roadways.

US Supreme Court Could Require Permits for Urban Runoff

On December 4  the US Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether municipalities will be required to obtain NPDES permits for the pollutants that run off from their streets and buildings through their municipal separate storm  sewer systems, orMS4s, into nearby rivers. The case,  Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense  Council,  is an appeal from a decision of the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals  in which the City (County?) of Angels  was ordered to obtain permits for its discharges of runoff into the Los Angeles River. Roderick Walston has a great analysis of the case and the legal issues involved, and I invite you to check it out to learn more about them.

Legalities aside, this is a tough nut to crack  politically.  MS4s can be major contributors to water quality violations, but requiring  NPDES permits for this type of runoff will  likely result in higher taxes to pay for the  treatment needed to meet discharge limits.

WV Supreme Court Rules On Surface Owner's Right to Object to Gas Drilling Permit

In a decision that was closely watched in West Virginia, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has ruled that surface owners do not have a right to  object to the issuance of an oil and gas drilling permit.  In Martin v. Hamblet, 11-1157 (Nov. 21, 2012) the court ruled that the statutory right to object was  given to the operator of a coal seam the well would run through, not the owner of the land on which the well was located.

The Circuit Court of Doddridge County had certified the following question to the Court:

Does the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeal’s [sic] opinion in State ex rel. Lovejoy v. Callaghan, 576 S.E.2d 246, 213 W. Va. 1 (2002) interpret the relevant statutes, when read in para materia, to permit a surface owner to seek judicial review of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Oil and Gas’s issuance of a well work permit for a horizontal Marcellus well?

Syllabus Point 6  expressed the Court's conclusion:

6. The right of judicial review with regard to the issuance or refusal of a well work permit as provided by W. Va. Code § 22-6-41 (1994) (Repl. Vol. 2009) does not extend to owners of the surface rights of the property upon which the proposed well is to be drilled. To the extent that State ex rel. Lovejoy v. Callaghan, 213 W. Va. 1, 576 S.E.2d 246 (2002), indicates otherwise, it is overruled.

The Court also addressed Mr. Hamblet's  Due Process and Equal Protection arguments, even though they weren't part of the certified question, and found no public action to condemn.  Mr. Hamblett, having entered into a lease with EQT that allowed it access to his land for the purposes of drilling a well, was adversely affected by that agreement, not the issuance of the well permit.

Mr. Hamblet's constitutional arguments are premised upon the notion that surface owners have an unrestricted right to enjoyment in their property. A surface owner's rights, however, are subject to the mineral owner's rights. A mineral owner generally has the right to utilize the surface for "purposes reasonably necessary for the extraction of the minerals." Buffalo Mining Co. v. Martin, 165 W. Va. 10, 14, 267 S.E.2d 721, 723 (1980).  In other words, "'[t]he owner of the mineral underlying land possesses as incident to this ownership the right to use the surface in such manner and with such means as would be fairly necessary for the enjoyment of the mineral estate." Squires v. Lafferty, Pt. 1, Syl., 95 W.Va. 307, 121 S.E. 90 [(1924)]." Syllabus, Adkins v. United Fuel Gas Co., 134 W.Va. 719, 61 S.E.2d 633 (1950). Here, EQT has a legally binding lease that grants it explicit rights of access to the oil and gas underlying Mr. Hamblet’s property. It is this contractual obligation burdening Mr. Hamblet’s surface estate that deprives him of an unrestricted right to enjoyment of his property, not the issuance of the well work permit at issue. As such, the constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection do not apply. Article III, § 10 of the Constitution of West Virginia “protects the individual from deprivations by the State, but not from actions of private persons.” Queen v. West Virginia University Hospitals, 179 W. Va. 95, 103, 365 S.E.2d 2d 375, 383 (1987).

Counties REAP Benefit of DEP Recycling Grants

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, today, awarded grants worth $1.452 million to 32 recipients through the agency’s REAP Recycling Assistance Grants program.

DEP Cabinet Secretary Randy Huffman presented the 2013 grants during a ceremony at the DEP’s Charleston headquarters. Grants were awarded to state solid waste authorities, county commissions, municipalities, private industries and nonprofit organizations.

Funding for the Recycling Assistance Grants Program is generated through the $1 assessment fee per ton of solid waste disposed at in-state landfills and is provided by WV Code 22-15A-19(h) (1). REAP is the DEP’s Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan program.

Following are the grant recipients:

BERKELEY COUNTY

Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority $125,750 

To assist with site improvements and storage containers for the ongoing county-wide program.

BRAXTON COUNTY

Braxton County Solid Waste Authority      $128,521   

To assist with personnel and to purchase a box truck, a forklift, and assist with the ongoing county-wide program. 

CABELL COUNTY

Cabell County Solid Waste Authority $47,600    

To assist with personnel, and expand current mixed media recycling and educational media campaign for the county- wide program.

Goodwill Industries of KYOWVA Area $33,092 To purchase recycling containers, fuel for recycling trucks, shrink wrap and baling wire for the ongoing program.

FAYETTE COUNTY

Fayetteville, Town of $40,000

To assist with personnel and fencing for the recycling area for the ongoing town program.

     

GREENBRIER COUNTY

Alderson, Town of $45,535

To assist with personnel and to purchase a flatbed truck and indoor office recycling containers for the town’s recycling program.

Greenbrier County Solid Waste Authority $45,000 To purchase a baler for the ongoing county-wide program.

HARRISON COUNTY                          

Harrison County Recycling Center $75,000 

To purchase a horizontal baler for the ongoing program.

Harrison County Solid Waste Authority $16,244 To purchase recycling containers for classrooms and hallways for the ongoing county-wide program.

Nutter Fort, Town of $10,600

To purchase a sideload triple recycling system, household recycling bins and to assist with the ongoing town program.

JACKSON COUNTY

Jackson County Solid Waste Authority      $90,980

To purchase an electric forklift, a van truck and a heavy duty pick-up truck for the ongoing county-wide program.

KANAWHA COUNTY

Charleston, City of $60,060

To purchase a dump truck with lift gate for the ongoing city-wide program.

Recycling Coalition of WV $48,000

To assist with WV Recycles Day educational inserts and promotional ads for the statewide recycling advertising campaign.

LEWIS COUNTY

Lewis/Gilmer Solid Waste Authority $28,593 To purchase a roll-off container and educational materials for the ongoing county-wide program.

LINCOLN COUNTY

Lincoln County Solid Waste Authority      $14,010

To purchase school recycling bins and to assist with personnel for the ongoing county-wide program.

LOGAN COUNTY

Vance Recycling $26,875

To purchase a forklift for the ongoing program.

MERCER COUNTY

Bluefield, City of $20,542

To assist with personnel and operational expenses for the ongoing city-wide program.

 

Mercer County Solid Waste Authority $59,167    

To purchase a skid steer loader, a baler and to assist with

personnel for the ongoing county-wide program.

     

MONONGALIA COUNTY

PC Renewal $25,000

To purchase a forklift for the ongoing electronics recycling operation.

Westwood Middle School $14,041.50    

To purchase hook-lift recycling bins and recycling bags for the school’s recycling program.

NICHOLAS COUNTY

New River Trading $48,049.90

To purchase a fork truck and storage building for the ongoing program.

PRESTON COUNTY

Preston Tire and Recycling $25,698

To assist with the purchase of a canopy cover for the ongoing recycling operation. 

Terra Alta, Town of $15,000

To assist with personnel for ongoing town program.

RALEIGH COUNTY

Raleigh County Solid Waste Authority      $150,000   

To purchase a horizontal baler for the ongoing county-wide program.

RITCHIE COUNTY

Ritchie County Solid Waste Authority      $20,000

To purchase forklift roll guard cage replacement, a cantilever gate for chain link fence, two utility trailers, and assist with the ongoing county-wide program.

ROANE COUNTY

Roane County Solid Waste Authority $75,700 To purchase a recycling box truck, a vertical baler, a forklift and assist with personnel and insurance for the truck for the ongoing county-wide program.

WAYNE COUNTY

Wayne County Commission $47,300

To assist with roof replacement and to purchase portable loading dock for the ongoing program.

Wayne County Solid Waste Authority $26,964.36 To assist with personnel and fuel for the recycling trucks for the ongoing county-wide program.

     

WETZEL COUNTY

Zanesville Welfare Organization/Goodwill $15,000 To purchase an electric forklift for the ongoing program.

WOOD COUNTY

Parkersburg, City of $31,907

To purchase recycling bins, cardboard containers and assist with personnel for the ongoing city-wide program.

WVU at Parkersburg      $15,450

To purchase a three-bin recycling trailer and to assist with the ongoing program.

WYOMING COUNTY

Wyoming County Commission $17,315

To purchase a high density vertical baler for the ongoing program.

Watts UP With That Responds to Al Gore Hysteria

I'm a little late getting this up, but the following is a press release from Anthony Watts, the man  with the most-viewed blog on global warming on the internet.  He is providing some counter-programming to an Al Gore 24 hour media event.   It will be interesting to see who does better  with viewers.

WUWT-TV to debut on November 14th to counter Al Gore’s “Dirty Weather Telethon” on November 14th and 15th starting at 8PM EST (5PM PST)

Al Gore is forming another 24 hour media event on November 14th, focusing on “dirty energy=dirty weather”, which you can read about here.

WUWT Editor Anthony Watts says:

It is yet another example of what has been called “Tabloid Climatology” trying to use the once forbidden “weather is not climate” meme. Now almost any weather event seems to be used as “proof” of a global warming influence where just a few years ago the idea was laughed at by climate activists.

Journalists should take note that the largest and most prestigious scientific journal in the world, Nature, has come down squarely against the kind of claims Mr. Gore is making in his previews saying:

Better models are needed before exceptional events can be reliably linked to global warming.

Source:  http://www.nature.com/news/extreme-weather-1.11428

Mr. Gore’s program is yet another transparent politically based attempt to link climate and weather, and to make people fearful of common weather events that we’ve seen all throughout history. WUWT hosted a 24 hour counter event last year, thanks to the talents of our contributing cartoonist, Josh.  You can review that here.

Last year, during his “24 Hours of Climate Reality”, Mr. Gore created a video called “Climate 101” in which he purported to show a laboratory experiment showing the warming effects of CO2. Unfortunately it was discovered that Mr. Gore fabricated the experimental results using video post production techniques. You can read about it and see the evidence here:

Video analysis and scene replication suggests that Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project fabricated their Climate 101 video “Simple Experiment”

and

Replicating Al Gore’s Climate 101 video experiment shows that his “high school physics” could never work as advertised

Due to Mr. Gore broadcasting fabricated and impossible to replicate science experiments, and then failing to correct the video even when glaringly obvious falsifications were pointed out, and partly due to WUWT’s founder Anthony Watts recent interview (and backlash) on PBS Newshour, a donor has stepped forward and offered to equip WUWT for professional Live TV over the Internet and has purchased a complete web enabled TV studio setup for use this year, seen here.

It includes two cameras, live video over net input, and live graphics/slideshow input.

It has been tested and has succeeded a 24 hour live web broadcast burn in period. When in production, the WUWT-TV web channel will have all of the elements of a professional TV production. While it won’t match the well-funded technical quality of Mr. Gore’s CurrentTV operations, it will offer a wide variety of viewpoints to counter the claims that “weather is now climate” that Mr. Gore is making.

During the live event Wednesday and Thursday, WUWT-TV will be able to conduct live video interviews via Skype online video, plus will feature simultaneous PowerPoint presentations run in high quality HD to go with the live interview, while the guest narrates. These can be full screen or split screen depending on the setting.

Guest presentations will be pre-loaded into the live on-air system, and to facilitate remote control, WUWT has engineered a remote ‘web clicker’ that allows guest presenters to control their presentation from their end, using a web page with a forward and back button on it.

WUWT-TV has invited a number of individuals to give presentations. A list follows.

SCHEDULED TO APPEAR:

Andrew Montford (Author of The Hockey Stick Illusion)
Richard Lindzen (Alfred P. Sloan professor of Meteorology, MIT)
Marc Morano (Climate Depot)
John Coleman  (Founder of the Weather Channel, now at KUSI-TV)
Chris Horner (Senior Fellow, Center for Energy and Environment, CEI)
Steve McIntyre (editor of ClimateAudit.org)
Dr. Ross McKitrick (University of Guelph)
Dr. Roy Spencer (co author of UAH global temperature dataset)
Joe D’Aleo (Certified Consulting Meteorologist, WeatherBell)
Joe Bastardi  (Lead forecaster, Weatherbell)
Senator Jim Inhofe (retiring from Senate EPW )
Bob Tisdale (author of Who Turned on The Heat?)
Dr. Ryan Maue (meteorologist, Tropical storm specialist, Weatherbell)
Burt Rutan, (Engineer and Aviation Pioneer)
Dr. Sebastian Lüning  (co-author of Die kalte Sonne)
Harold Ambler (Author of Don’t Sell Your Coat)
Donna Laframboise (Author of The Delinquent Teenager)
Pat Michaels (former State climatologist of Virgina, fellow of the Cato institute)
Pete Garcia (Producer of the movie The Boy Who Cried Warming)
Christopher Monckton (SPPI)
Dr. Timothy Ball (climate scientist, commentator)
John Kehr (Author of the book, The Inconvenient Skeptic)
Dr. David Evans (Author of The Skeptics Case)
Dr. David Stockwell (Climate Modeller)
Mike Smith (Certified Consulting Meteorologist)
Steve Mosher and Tom Fuller (authors, The CRUtape Letters)
Kenji (member – Union of Concerned Scientists)

###

For Questions – Contact WUWT-TV staff here: http://wattsupwiththat.com/about-wuwt/contact-2/

A schedule for speakers will be posted on WUWT the day of the event, along with important updates. Check www.wattsupwiththat.com for details.

Bromide Levels Return To Normal In the Monongahela River

A couple years ago, there was concern about Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS, in the Monongahela River.  There was call for the development of a water quality criterion for TDS, and talk about imposing controls on disposal of brine from oil and gas operations.  In response, the Pennsylvania DEP asked, and oil and gas operators voluntarily agreed, that no one dispose  of brine through wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs).  The plants weren't constructed to remove dissolved solids, and therefore they were essentially being dumped untreated into Pennsylvania rivers.  (The West Virginia DEP had not generally allowed brine disposal through WWTPs, and therefore the oil and gas industry in WV  wasn't contributing to the problem.)

The fix appears to have worked.   According to an Associated Press report in the Charleston Gazette, levels of bromides, a constituent of TDS and a problem for municipal drinking water supplies, have dropped significantly.

 Jeanne VanBriesen said Thursday that preliminary data from tests this year showed that levels of salty bromides in the river have declined significantly when compared to 2010 and 2011. In many cases the bromides were at undetectable levels this year, and in general they returned to normal levels.  "These are very nice, low bromide levels, where we would like them to be,'' VanBriesen said of the 2012 test results, which were presented at a water quality conference in Pittsburgh.

Water Quality Standards Meeting November 8

      This is a reminder that the West Virginia Department of Environmental

Protection's Water Quality Standards Program will conduct a public meeting from

1:30 to 3:30 p.m., on Thursday, Nov. 8, at WVDEP headquarters in Charleston.

The meeting will take place in the Coopers Rock Conference Room. 

Staff from the WVDEP will discuss comments received during the recent

solicitation of public input on potential revisions to the state's water

quality standards, which will be under review as part of the 2014 Triennial

Review process. Submitted comments have been posted on the Water Quality

Standards 2014 Triennial Review webpage.

For more information, please contact Kevin Coyne at (304) 926-0499, ext. 1110,

or via email at Kevin.R.Coyne@wv.gov.

WV DEP Division of Air Quality to Provide Air Inventory Reporting Training

John Pitner, the West Virginia Manufacturers Association's Air Team Leader, provides a heads-up that the WV  Division  of Air Quality has finalized plans to train the regulated community on the new web based “State and Local Emissions Inventory System” (SLEIS).  This application will be used to submit  annual emission inventory information for reporting year 2012, due by March 31, 2013.

Please save the following date to your calendar:

Tuesday, December 4, 2012  from  10 am  to 3 pm. It will be held in the WVDEP offices in the  Coopers Rock Training Room or you can attend online via a GoToWeb internet meeting.  The WVDAQ will send out a formal announcement containing details of the training in the next few weeks.

Contact Bob Betterton, WV Division of Air Quality, 304 9260499 for more information. 

WV Office of Oil and Gas Horizontal Well Presentation Material Now Available

Last week (October 24) the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection held a seminar in Flatwoods to explain how it was implementing rules regulating horizontal drilling, which is occurring principally in the Marcellus Shale area. The PowerPoint  presentations and other material from from that meeting  can be found here.

The Weather Isn't Getting Worse

Global warming doomsayers have seized upon Hurricane Sandy as proof of the increasing intensity of storms that is supposed  to occur as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. It's clear, though that any greater  losses due to hurricanes are a result of  increased business development and pricey homes near coastal areas.  Roger  Pielke Jr., a professor of environmental studies at the University of Colorado,  responds to  passions with fact in a Wall Street Journal online op-ed:

In studying hurricanes, we can make rough comparisons over time by adjusting past losses to account for inflation and the growth of coastal communities. If Sandy causes $20 billion in damage (in 2012 dollars), it would rank as the 17th most damaging hurricane or tropical storm (out of 242) to hit the U.S. since 1900—a significant event, but not close to the top 10. The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 tops the list (according to estimates by the catastrophe-insurance provider ICAT), as it would cause $180 billion in damage if it were to strike today. Hurricane Katrina ranks fourth at $85 billion.

While it's hardly mentioned in the media, the U.S. is currently in an extended and intense hurricane "drought." The last Category 3 or stronger storm to make landfall was Wilma in 2005. The more than seven years since then is the longest such span in over a century.

It's not just that major hurricanes that are occurring  less frequently, so are droughts, tornadoes and floods:

Flood damage has decreased as a proportion of the economy since reliable records were first kept by the National Weather Service in the 1930s, and there is no evidence of increasing extreme river floods. Historic tornado damage (adjusted for changing levels of development) has decreased since 1950, paralleling a dramatic reduction in casualties. Although the tragic impacts of tornadoes in 2011 (including 553 confirmed deaths) were comparable only to those of 1953 and 1964, such tornado impacts were far more common in the first half of the 20th century.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that drought in America's central plains has decreased in recent decades. And even when extensive drought occurs, we fare better. For example, the widespread 2012 drought was about 10% as costly to the U.S. economy as the multiyear 1988-89 drought, indicating greater resiliency of American agriculture.

So losses may be greater  now, but that's due to inflation and increased building, not storm intensity.  Something to think about next time you hear that the new paradigm is increased storm ferocity due to global warming/climate change/climate disruption.