PA Environment Digest Blog: House Bill Would Expand Safety Zones Around Oil/Gas Wells, Infrastructure To Reduce Adverse Health, Environmental Impacts As Recommended By AG Shapiro’s Grand Jury Report

On April 13, House Bill 170 (Otten-D-Chester) was introduced to expand safety zones around oil and gas wells and related natural gas infrastructure to help reduce their adverse impacts on public health and the environment.

On June 25, 2020 Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced the findings and recommendations of Pennsylvania’s 43rd Statewide Investigating Grand Jury report on the unconventional oil and gas industry. Read more here.

The Grand Jury’s two-year investigation uncovered systematic failure by government agencies in overseeing the fracking industry and fulfilling their responsibility to protect Pennsylvanians from the inherent risks of industry operations.

“This report is about preventing the failures of our past from continuing into our future,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “It’s about the big fights we must take on to protect Pennsylvanians — to ensure that their voices are not drowned out by those with bigger wallets and better connections. There remains a profound gap between our Constitutional mandate for clean air and pure water, and the realities facing Pennsylvanians who live in the shadow of fracking giants and their investors.”

The Grand Jury made eight recommendations to create a more comprehensive legal framework that would better protect Pennsylvanians from the realities of industry operations.

One of the Grand Jury’s recommendations was to expand the safety zones around shale gas well pads and related natural gas infrastructure.

The recommendation said--

“Everything we’ve seen confirms that all the impacts of fracking activity are magnified by proximity. The closer you live to a gas well, compressor station or pipeline the more likely you are to suffer ill effects. Yet the state law minimum “set-back” for well construction is only 500 feet. That is dangerously close. An increase in the setback, to 2,500 feet, is far from extreme, but would do a lot to protect residents from risk.”

The Closer You Are, The More Health Risks Increase

The experts in groups like the Environmental Health Project have also recommended increasing the safety zones around natural gas facilities saying, “data collected and research completed by the SWPA Environmental Health Project (EHP), the Grand Jury Report presented clear evidence that shale gas development is a direct threat to public health, and associated health impacts are significantly increased nearer shale gas facilities.” Read more here.

A presentation by Nicole Deziel PhD MHS, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health at the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Shale Gas & Public Health Conference in November concluded the same thing-- living near oil and gas facilities means higher health risks, the closer you live, the higher the risk. Read more here.

A new University of Chicago study examining Medicare claims found older adults living near fracking sites in [Bradford, Susquehanna and Tioga counties] Pennsylvania were more likely to be hospitalized for cardiovascular diseases than those who lived in nearby New York state, where fracking is banned.

The research was published March 6 in The Lancet Planetary Health.

“Our study connects nearby fracking activity to real, serious human health outcomes, suggesting it’s not just a matter of economics or environmental sustainability-- but that policymakers and residents alike should start prioritizing the health of citizens, whether drilling new wells or plugging old ones,” he said. Read more here.

Expanding Safety Zones

House Bill 170 would adopt new safety zones in law--

-- Building/Water Well: Conventional Oil/Gas Well: No change, 200 feet from building or water well;

-- Building/Water Well: Unconventional Shale Gas Vertical Well: from 500 to 2,500 feet from building or water well. It repeals the ability of landowner to waive this distance;

-- Water Well/Water Intakes: Unconventional Shale Gas Vertical Well: From 1,000 to 2,500 feet from water well, surface water intake, reservoir or other water supply extraction point used by a water purveyor. It repeals the ability of landowner to waive this distance;

-- Request For A Waiver: The owner of oil and gas rights may submit a request for a variance from the distance restriction if it would deprive the owner of those rights the right to produce the tract. Previous language would have given the oil and gas rights owner an automatic waiver;

-- Well Site: Conventional shale gas wells or well site may not be prepared within 100 feet [no change] from any “solid blue lined stream, spring or body of water” on a topographic map.

-- Well Site: Unconventional shale gas wells or well site may not be prepared within 2,500 feet [was 300 feet] of a vertical well bor or 100 feet from the edge of the well site, whichever is greater, from any “solid blue lined stream, spring or body of water” on a topographic map.

-- Well Site Disturbed Area: Unconventional shale gas well site disturbed area must be 2,500 feet [was 100 feet] from any “solid blue lined stream, spring or body of water” on a topographic map.

-- Wetlands: Unconventional shale gas well must be 2,500 feet [was 300 feet] from any wetlands greater than one acre and the end of the disturbed area of any well site must be 2,500 feet [was 100 feet] from the boundary of the wetlands.

-- School, Hospital, Long-Term Care Facility, Child-Care Facility Or Other Care Facilities cannot be within 5,000 feet of a compressor station, a pit, impoundment or tank related to drilling operations;

-- Other Buildings, Water Well or Water Supply cannot be within 2,500 feet of compressor station, a pit, impoundment or tank related to drilling operations; and

-- The Department of Environmental Protection may not waive the distance restrictions.

The bill was referred to the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Rep. Greg Vitali (D-Delaware) serves as Majority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7647 or sending email to: gvitali@pahouse.net. Rep. Martin Causer (R-Cameron) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-5075 or by sending email to: mcauser@pahousegop.com.

All Natural Gas Infrastructure

While House Bill 170 includes the recommendations of the Grand Jury report, but it does not cover every part of the oil and gas infrastructure that poses the same kinds of health and environmental impacts as those covered in the bill.

Natural gas processing facilities, like the Energy Transfer Revolution Cryogenic Plant in Washington County that suffered an explosion and burned for 11 hours on Christmas Day, 2022, should obviously be included. Read more here.

It also does not cover underground natural gas shortage areas like the Equitrans Rager Mountain Storage Area in Cambria County that suffered an uncontrolled venting of an estimated 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas in November, 2022. Read more here.

The bill should also include natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines and the over 2,800 pipeline “pigging” cleanout facilities that frequently suffer blow downs and release large quantities of natural gas and other chemicals during their operations.

Emergency Response Recommendations

In addition to setbacks, emergency officials and residents of oil and gas areas have been recommending for years that there should be a complete vulnerability assessment done on all segments of oil and gas infrastructure as part of regular county and state hazard mitigation emergency planning. Read more here.

It is not a question of “if” something will go wrong with natural gas and oil infrastructure and facilities, it’s “when” it goes wrong, how will local and state officials prevent deaths, injury, health and environmental impacts?

If nothing else, the Energy Transfer Plant explosion, the Equitrans Storage Facility venting and the Norfolk Southern train derailment should prove that. Read more here.

Other Grand Jury Recommendations

The other recommendations made by the Grand Jury include--

-- Chemical Disclosure: Requiring fracking companies to publicly disclose all chemicals used in drilling and hydraulic fracturing before they are used on-site;

-- Gathering Pipelines: Requiring the regulation of gathering lines, used to transport unconventional gas hundreds of miles;

-- Assess Air Quality: Adding up all sources of air pollution in a given area to accurately assess air quality;

-- Safe Transport Of Waste: Requiring safer transport of the contaminated waste created from fracking sites;

-- Comprehensive Health Response: Conducting a comprehensive health response to the effects of living near unconventional drilling sites;

-- Limit Revolving Door: Limiting the ability of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection employees to be employed in the private sector immediately after leaving the Department;

-- Direct Criminal Jurisdiction: Allowing the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General original criminal jurisdiction over unconventional oil and gas companies.

Click Here to read the entire Grand Jury report.

Oil & Gas Citizens Hotline

When Attorney General Shapiro announced the results of the Grand Jury report, he also announced a new hotline citizens can use to report environmental issues with oil and gas drilling in Pennsylvania-- 507-904-2643 or send an email to: fracking@attorneygeneral.gov.

(Photos: Top- Washington County Natural Gas Facilities in 2004, and 2022 (Cat Lodge); 2018 Energy Transfer Revolution Pipeline explosion, Beaver County; Middle- Energy Transfer Cryogenic Gas Processing Plant explosion/fire Washington County; Repairing damaged caused by explosion; Natural gas pipeline fire in McKean County; Bottom- Construction fluid spill into Marsh Creek State Park Lake, Chester County; Equitrans natural gas storage facility uncontrolled venting from space; Burning flares at Shell Petrochemical Plant in Beaver County after plant malfunction.)

-- AG Shapiro: Grand Jury Finds Pennsylvania Failed To Protect Citizens During Natural Gas Fracking Boom [PaEN]

-- Environmental Health Project: Setback Distances And The Regulations We Need To Protect Public Health From Oil & Gas Facilities [PaEN]

-- Shale Gas & Public Health Conference: Living Near Oil & Gas Facilities Means Higher Health Risks, The Closer You Live, The Higher The Risk [PaEN]

-- Presentations Now Available From Shale Gas & Public Health Conference In Nov. Hosted By PA League Of Women Voters & University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health [PaEN]

-- DEP Ongoing Explosion/Fire Investigation: Energy Transfer Reported An Uncontrolled Release Of Ethane For 9.5 Hours From Its Revolution Natural Gas Processing Plant In Washington County [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Orders To Equitrans To Plug Additional Wells At Cambria County Underground Natural Gas Storage Facility, Bring Other Wells Up To Current Casing Standards And Take Other Actions [PaEN]

-- Guest Essay: Counties, PEMA Need To Include A Complete Vulnerability Assessment Of All Natural Gas Facilities In State, County Hazard Mitigation Emergency Plans - By Cat (Cathy) Lodge, Washington County Resident [PaEN]

-- Ohio/PA Train Derailment, Pipeline Explosions, Uncontrolled Releases Put Spotlight On Public Health, Safety Threats Posed By Petrochemical, Natural Gas Industrial And Pipeline Infrastructure In PA [PaEN]

-- EDF: Conventional Gas Wells In Allegheny National Forest Leaked Over 6 Billion Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas In 2019; Conventional Operators Seek To Block Methane Limits [PaEN]