Sunday, September 24, 2023

Clean Air Council, FracTracker Sept. 28 Webinar Updates Public On Efforts To Reduce Methane, Other Air Pollution From Oil & Gas Industry Infrastructure - Shale Gas & Conventional Wells

The
Clean Air Council is partnering with the FracTracker Alliance to update you on recent efforts to reduce methane, and other air pollution, from the oil and gas extraction industry during a September 28 webinar at 2:00 p.m.

Hear about several new developments that will significantly impact residents who live in gas extraction areas across the country.

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prepares to finalize methane pollution standards for new and existing oil and gas facilities it is vital that we understand how that rule is connected to other current state and federal actions.

Clean Air Council’s new Policy Advocate Alice Lu will discuss the EPA’s new standards for reporting methane pollution from the oil and gas industry, and how funds collected based on these emissions could fund the Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) passed within the federal Inflation Reduction Act.

You will also hear from Clean Air Council’s Russell Zerbo about a new federal funding opportunity for Pennsylvania to support the plugging of small, but functioning gas wells. If these wells aren’t properly plugged, they are at risk of being abandoned, adding to the hundreds of thousands of orphan and abandoned wells in Pennsylvania.

FracTracker Western Program Director Kyle Ferrar, MPH will discuss efforts in California to increase well-bonding costs for small wells that could be abandoned. 

Increasing the bonds required to purchase small wells, that create large amounts of air pollutants, ensures that governments have funds on hand to plug wells if they are abandoned by their owners. 

Recently, the Pennsylvania legislature froze well bonds for conventional wells at $2,500 while the Department of Environmental Protection estimates that the average well-plugging costs $33,000.   [Read more here.]

FracTracker Executive Director Shannon Smith will speak to efforts across the country to address numerous orphaned and abandoned gas and oil wells in various individual states. 

DEP released a report last year detailing that inspectors found more than 3,000 newly-abandoned wells over a recent 5-year period. [Read more here.] DEP has also documented over 25,000 abandoned wells in the state. 

Click Here to register and for more information.

(Photo: Methane leaking from Diversified Prod. Co. conventional gas well in Allegheny County, and video of methane leaks from Equitrans Steelhead natural gas compressor station in Washington County courtesy of Earthworks.)

Resource Link:

-- DEP Adopted Regulations Setting Emission Limits On Both Shale Gas and Conventional Oil & Gas Well Operations In April

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Sept. 16 to 22 -  2nd Abandoned Shale Gas Well Pad?  5 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; Failure To Comply With Order  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Issues NOVs To Roulette Oil & Gas LLC For Abandoning Another Conventional Well In Potter County; Roulette Applying For Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permit  [PaEN]

-- Petro Erie, Inc. Appeals 2nd DEP Order Requiring The Operator To Restore The Village Of Reno’s Water Supply Contaminated By A Spill Of Conventional Oil Well Wastewater In Venango County  [PaEN]  

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - September 23 [PaEN]  

-- DEP Posted 73 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In September 23 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]  

NewsClips:

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Senators To Introduce Bill To Increase Setbacks On Gas Drilling

-- Marcellus Shale Gas Coalition Lobbyist Responds To Health Concerns Raised In Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial - ‘Fracking Is Making Pennsylvanians Sick, Lawmakers Must Act

-- Tribune-Democrat Guest Editorial: Natural Gas Development Making Pennsylvanians Sick, Lawmakers Must Act

-- What It’s Like To Raise A Family In The Most Fracked County In PA - Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- Uncontrolled Natural Gas Emissions From Equitrans Steelhead Compressor Station, Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- The Allegheny Front: ‘Ezell: Ballad Of A Land Man’ Performance About Fracking And Belonging Coming To Pittsburgh

-- The Derrick - Makayla Keating: Petro Erie Appeals DEP July Order To Clean Up Conventional Oil Well Wastewater Spill That Contaminated The Village Of Reno’s Water Supply In Venango County  [PDF of Article]

-- Inside Climate News: EPA Approves Permit For Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Plum Boro, Allegheny County

-- TribLive Guest Essay: EPA/DOE Money Should Be Spent Wisely On Plugging Conventional Oil & Gas Wells - By Russell Zerbo, Clean Air Council

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: IFO Report: PA Natural Gas Prices Down, Shale Gas Drilling Falls

-- Reuters: US Energy Regulator Recommends Revising Reliability Standards For Natural Gas, Power Grid Infrastructure During Extreme Weather

-- Utility Dive: Record 13% Of Eastern US Electric Generation Capacity Failed - 63% Natural Gas-Fired During Winter Storm Elliott  [70% In PJM Were Natural Gas Failures]

-- PUC Responds To NTSB Actions Regarding Reading Factory Natural Gas Explosion

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: NTSB Kicks PUC Out Of Investigation Into Deadly Natural Gas Explosion At A Chocolate Factory In Reading

-- Reading Eagle: West Reading Chocolate Factory Explosion: Feds Demand PUC Hand Over UGI Inspection Reports

-- AP: NTSB Investigators Subpoena PUC Records Related To Reading Factory Natural Gas Explosion

-- PennLive: Lancaster County House Explosion Leaves 1 Man Dead: Police

-- MCall: Natural Gas Leak In Lehigh Valley Prompts Brief Shelter-In-Place Order Wednesday

-- The Allegheny Front: Ohio Commission Delays Vote On Shale Gas Fracking Under State Parks During Raucous Meeting

-- TruthDig - Justin Nobel: Abandoned Radioactive Oil, Gas Wastewater Treatment Facility Has Become A Party Spot In Marion County, West Virginia

-- WTRF: Marshall County, WV Emergency Director Confirms Oil Well Pad Fire Has Been Extinguished

Related Articles This Week:

-- Senators Santarsiero, Comitta To Introduce Bill Increasing Setback Safety Zones From Shale Natural Gas Drilling Sites From 500 To 2,500 Feet, Based On Latest Science  [PaEN]

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 8 Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawals - 1 In Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek, Home To The Hellbender  [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 34 Shale Gas Well Pad Water Use General Permits In  Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga Counties  [PaEN] 

-- Game Commission Board OKs More Shale Gas Drilling In Lycoming County, Home To The Hellbender, And Sullivan County  [PaEN]

-- EPA Approves Permit For Oil, Gas Wastewater Injection Well In Plum Boro, Allegheny County; 30 Days To File Appeal  [PaEN]

-- DEP To Increase Monitoring, Develop Surface Water Standard For PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' After Study Shows 76% Of Streams, Rivers Contained At Least One Of These Chemicals  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Widespread Presence Of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Fresh Water Leading Shale Gas Operators To Use Contaminated Water In Fracking Operations; DEP Doesn’t Require Routine PFAS Testing  [PaEN]

-- DEP Hears Concerns, Some Support From Water Resources Committee On Draft Reg. On Reporting Unauthorized Spills, Releases  [PaEN]

-- House Environmental Committee Meets Sept. 26 On Cryptocurrency Mining Moratorium Bill [PaEN]

-- Dickinson College Will Host An Evening With Environmental & Indigenous Rights Advocate Tara Houska On Her Groundbreaking Advocacy Work Oct. 4  [PaEN]

-- FracTracker Alliance Now Accepting Nominations For 2023 Community Sentinel Award  [PaEN] 

-- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, NERC Final Report On Winter Storm Elliott Says Legislative Action Needed To Establish Reliability Rules For Natural Gas Infrastructure  [PaEN]

-- PUC To Seek Public Comment On Proposed $100,000 Penalty Settlement With Mifflin Energy Corp. For Natural Gas Explosion Destroying Home/Business In Greene County  [PaEN] 

[Posted: September 24, 2023]  PA Environment Digest

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