PA Environment Digest Blog

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

PA Soil Health Coalition Learning Challenge - 'Soil Your Undies' To Learn More About Soil Health

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has joined the Pennsylvania Soil Health Coalition, undergarments brand “The Big Favorite,” and other organizations to launch a brief campaign challenging everyone to learn about the health of their soil and neighborhood microbes, by planting underwear.

A series of digital activities will invite anyone with a field (row crop or grazing), backyard garden, or lawn to plant a pair of 100 percent cotton underpants.

Once the undies are planted, microbes in the soil will feast for 60 days before participants dig the undies back up and report their findings to organizations, and document them on social media.

Based on the level of decomposition, the challenge partners will share tips on how to improve soil quality.

The bottom line is the more the underwear decomposes, the healthier the soils are.

Also leading the “Soil Your Undies” challenge is the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, All Together Now PA, Pasa Sustainable Agriculture, Stroud Water Research Center, and Lancaster Water Week.

The planting campaign continues through early June leading up to Lancaster Water Week, held June 5-11.

“The ‘Soil Your Undies’ campaign is a fun way for people to see if their soil has a healthy population of microbes that do amazing work,” said Kelly O’Neill, CBF Agricultural Policy Analyst in Pennsylvania. “In addition to breaking down fabric, some microbes work to recycle dead plant material into nutrients that the plants can use, to reduce crop fertilizer needs. Others form networks among plant roots, to hold soil and nutrients in place. This keeps them where needed and prevents nutrients and soil from polluting local waterways.”

“As we improve our soils, it changes the way that water flows across the land,” said Lisa Blazure, Soil Health Coordinator at Stroud Water Research Center. “Healthy soils soak in more water, allowing plants to thrive, adding to the groundwater, and keeping local streams flowing with clean, cool water.”

“Soil Your Undies” challenges have been taken worldwide, from the United States to Australia.

CBF and partner organizations organized the campaign to reinforce the collective goal of educating communities on the importance of soil health and emphasizing its connection to ecosystems and clean water.

For more information, visit the Soil Your Undies Campaign webpage.

Take Action Now!

-- Tell Your Legislator NOW To Set Aside $500 Million From Federal American Rescue Funds To Support Local Environmental, State Park & Forest Projects

-- Guest Essay: Pennsylvania's Lawmakers Must Invest More In Outdoor Recreation, Cleaning Up Polluted Waters, Restoring Habitat - By Alexandra Kozak, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership [PaEN]

[Posted: May 31, 2022] PA Environment Digest

PA Interfaith Power & Light, Jewish Earth Alliance June 15 Webinar - Proposed EPA Rule Reducing Oil & Gas Methane Emissions

The PA Interfaith Power & Light and Jewish Earth Alliance are hosting a June 15 webinar on EPA proposed regulation reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations starting at 7:00 p.m.

Methane emissions from the oil and gas industry threaten the climate and waste natural resources. For over a decade, the Environmental Defense Fund has researched O&G methane emissions and advocated for strong regulations and other solutions to reduce emissions.

John Rutecki and David Lyon from EDF will provide an overview of EPA’s proposed methane rule that would regulate hundreds of thousands of existing sites, plus a summary of EDF’s recent research into the detection, quantification, and mitigation of emissions.

The inspirational speaker will be Arthur Gershkoff.

The goal of this program is to encourage citizens interested in this issue to contact federal officials to support this initiative.

Click Here for more information and to register.

Visit the PA Interfaith Power & Light and Jewish Earth Alliance websites to learn more about their initiatives, programs, upcoming events and how you can get involved.

[Posted: May 31, 2022] PA Environment Digest

DEP Advises 18 Municipalities Where Road Dumping Of Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater Is Occurring The Practice Is Illegal And Considered Waste Disposal

On April 13, the Department of Environmental Protection advised 18 municipalities in four counties the road dumping of conventional oil and gas drilling wastewater is illegal and considered waste disposal.

DEP’s letters were advising the municipalities because they were locations where conventional drilling operators reported they disposed of their wastewater by indiscriminately dumping it on dirt and gravel roads.

DEP said coproduct determinations submitted by CRS Energy, LLC, DJR Well Services, Energy Resources of America, Inc., Robert Heiter, Howard Drilling, JMB Energy, JMG Energy, LLC, L&B Energy, LHS Production, McComb Oil and Vista Resources, Inc. failed to meet the requirements in the Residual Waste Regulations and the production wastewater dumped on the roads in these townships must be considered waste and waste disposal.

“Disposal of waste without approval from DEP is unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act, Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, as amended, 35 P.S. Sections 6018.101-6018.1003,” the letter said.

The townships provided this information by DEP include--

-- Athens Twp., Crawford County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling

-- Fairfield Twp., Crawford County: CRS Energy, JMG Energy, Vista Resources

-- Greenwood Twp., Crawford County: Vista Resources

-- Union Twp., Crawford County: Energy Resources Of America

-- Venango Twp., Crawford County: Energy Resources of America

-- Vernon Twp., Crawford County: CRS Energy, JMB Energy, Vista Resources, Energy Resources of America

-- Wayne Twp., Crawford County: DJR Well Services, JMB Energy, McComb Oil

-- Union Twp., Erie County: L&B Energy

-- Venango Twp., Erie County: Robert Heiter

-- Fairview Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy, Vista Resources

-- French Creek Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling, JMG Energy

-- Greene Twp., Mercer County: Vista Resources

-- Lake Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy

-- New Vernon Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy

-- Perry Twp., Mercer County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling, McComb Oil

-- Canal Twp., Venango County: Howard Drilling

-- Cranberry Twp., Venango County: Howard Drilling

-- Richland Twp., Venango County: CRS Energy, Howard Drilling, LHS Production

DEP said, “This letter is provided for your information and is neither an order nor any other final action of DEP. It neither imposes nor waives any action available to the DEP under any of its statutes."

PA Environment Digest obtained copies of the letters through a Right To Know request.

Basic Text Of DEP Letter

The text of DEP’s letter providing information to these 18 townships on the illegal practice of road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater follows--

“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) recently completed its review of information submitted by CRS Energy, LLC, JMG Energy, LLC and Vista Resources, Inc. in support of their coproduct determinations dated April 12, 2021, December 19, 2019 and February 11, 2020, respectively, for the use of produced fluids from conventionally drilled oil and gas wells (aka “Brine”) as a dust suppressant for road application in Vernon Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

“Additionally, the DEP has requested information on multiple occasions from Energy Resources of America, Inc. in support of their coproduct determination and to date has not received any information.

“Based on information received by DEP, your Township may have received and/or applied this Brine to roads within your Township for dust suppression.

“Please be advised that, at this time, the DEP has not concurred with the coproduct determinations of CRS Energy, LLC, Energy Resources of America, Inc., JMG Energy, LLC and Vista Resources, Inc.

“DEP has requested more information to support CRS Energy, LLC’s, Energy Resources of America, Inc’s, JMG Energy, LLC’s and Vista Resources, Inc.’s claims that their Brine is a “coproduct” as defined in 25 Pa Code Section 287.8.

“Brine that does not meet the definition of coproduct is still considered a “waste” and the application of waste on roads or land is “disposal” as those terms are defined in 25 Pa Code Section 287.1.

“Disposal of waste without approval from DEP is unlawful conduct under the Solid Waste Management Act, Act of July 7, 1980, P.L. 380, as amended, 35 P.S. Sections 6018.101-6018.1003.

“Further, in accordance with 25 Pa Code Section 287.8(c), a person claiming that a material is a coproduct is required to provide documentation that supports the coproduct determination to persons selling, transferring, possessing, or using the material.

“Absent documentation that sufficiently supports the coproduct determination, persons selling, transferring, possessing, or using the material should be managing the material as a waste.

“This letter is provided for your information and is neither an order nor any other final action of DEP. It neither imposes nor waives any action available to the DEP under any of its statutes.

“If you have any further questions about coproduct determinations, please do not hesitate to contact DEP’s Kevin Beer by telephone at 717.787.6051 or by email at kbeer@pa.gov.

“Thank you.

"Sincerely, Christina S. Wilhelm, Program Manager, Waste Management Program"

84 Townships Listed As ‘Waste Facilities’

DEP has listed a total of 84 townships as “waste facilities” where road dumping of conventional oil and gas drilling wastewater has occurred. Read more here.

Wastewater Exceeds Health Standards

In addition to the practice of road dumping conventional oil and gas wastewater presently being illegal, a new study released by Penn State University demonstrates runoff from road dumping exceeds human health and environmental standards and does not work as a dust suppressant.

On May 26, Penn State University and the Department of Environmental Protection released a new study of spreading conventional oil and gas wastewater on unpaved roads by Penn State researchers, who found the wastewater running off the roadways after spreading contains concentrations of barium, strontium, lithium, iron, manganese that exceed human-health based criteria and levels of radioactive radium that exceed industrial discharge standards. Read more here.

-- Millions Of Gallons Of Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Spread Illegally On Dirt Roads, Companies Fail To Comply With DEP Waste Regulations [12.13.21]

-- DEP Lists 84 Townships As ‘Waste Facilities’ Where Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Has Been Disposed Of By Road Spreading; Municipalities Need To Do Their Due Diligence [12.27.21]

-- New Penn State Study Finds Runoff From Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumped On Unpaved Roads Contains Pollutants That Exceed Human-Health, Environmental Standards [5.27.22]