Among the strictest in the nation, Pennsylvania’s regulatory oversight of the unconventional shale industry has been cited as a model for other energy producing states.
It’s a testament to the industry’s innovative nature, dedication to continuous improvement, and collaborative approach that we are producing and transporting the energy that powers modern life while adhering to world-class standards.
In fact, natural gas operators have supported significant fee increases to fund additional oversight by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), transparently disclosed chemical use prior to it becoming law, adhered to stricter setback requirements, and pioneered innovative water recycling and reuse practices, to name a few.
And MSC member companies repeatedly carry a 98% environmental compliance rate, underscoring the industry-wide commitment to responsible operations.
These commitments, coupled with natural gas’ low-emitting characteristics, are why Appalachia has among the lowest methane emission intensity of all major oil and natural gas basins in the country.
“Natural gas is the sharpest tool that we have to solve climate change,” MSC President Dave Callahan said on WPHT Philadelphia’s Labor-Energy show.
Indeed, Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry is leading the way in safer, more efficient energy production and transportation.
Whether air or water, public health or land conservation, years of academic research and independent analyses confirm the safe and responsible nature of Pennsylvania’s natural gas production.
Public Health
-- Berkeley Lab: Halfway to Zero: Progress towards a Carbon-Free Power Sector (April 2021)
“Switching from coal to natural gas for power generation played a big role in lowering carbon emissions. Natural gas generation grew rapidly, driven by the shale gas revolution and low fuel prices.”
In addition to carbon dioxide emission reductions, sulfur and nitrogen pollutants also declined and improved public health. The researchers estimate premature deaths fell from 38,000 in 2005 to 3,100 in 2020 (a 91% decrease).
“Not only did the nation significantly reduce its carbon footprint, but it did so while also reducing total energy bills and health burdens.”
-- National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER): Inexpensive Heating Reduces Winter Mortality (March 2019)
“The drop in natural gas prices in the late 2000s, induced largely by the boom in shale gas production, averted 11,000 winter deaths per year in the US.”
-- Health Effects Institute: Potential Human Health Effects Associated with Unconventional Oil And Gas Development (September 2019)
“Studies tying shale development to negative public health impacts used imprecise measures, failed to consider other possible factors, and, in some cases, were poorly designed.”
-- Pennsylvania Dept. of Health & Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (June 2019)
“There are conflicting findings across studies resulting in either mixed or insufficient evidence of adverse birth outcomes associated with living near ONG operations during pregnancy.”
-- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection: TENORM Study (January 2015)
“There is little potential for harm to workers or the public from radiation exposure due to oil and gas development.”
“There is little or limited potential for radiation exposure to the public and workers from the development, completion, production, transmission, processing, storage, and end use of natural gas.”
Air Quality
-- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Annual Greenhouse Gas Inventory (April 2022)
At the same time natural gas began to produce 40% of all power generation in the United States, power sector emissions dropped by 39%.
“The decrease in coal-powered electricity generation and increase in natural gas and renewable energy electricity generation contributed to a decoupling of emissions trends from electric power generation trends over the recent time series.”
-- Clean Air Task Force, CERES: Benchmarking Methane and Other GHG Emissions of Oil & Natural Gas Production in the United States (June 2021)
Despite being the largest producing region of natural gas in the country, Appalachia has among the lowest emission intensity of all major oil and natural gas basins in the country.
-- Rystad Energy: A gas boom is coming in the US; a closer look at Haynesville and Appalachia (April 2021)
Rystad Energy’s analysis reveals that the Appalachian Basin was America’s best-in-class in 2020 when it comes to CO2 emissions intensity
“Such a level of CO2 intensity performance brings Appalachia to the top quartile among all oil and gas fields globally. As the basin becomes more mature and modern ESG best practices are implemented, we anticipate Appalachia to improve further in its CO2 intensity dimension in the next three to four years.”
-- U.S. Energy Information Administration (March 2021)
Pennsylvania had the highest absolute decline of energy-related CO2 emissions of any other state between 1990 and 2018.
-- Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission: Summer 2021 PJM Reliability Assessment (May 2021)
Power sector emissions in the PJM Interconnection declined 11% in a one-year span.
Natural gas makes up 44% of the PJM interconnection’s total capacity
-- Penn State University: Quantifying methane emissions from natural gas production in north-eastern Pennsylvania (April 2017)
“Our results clearly suggest that [natural gas] is a clean source of energy. And on top of that, we can suggest a lot of gas with a very low leakage overall from the infrastructure.”
Water Quality
-- Yale School of Public Health & the Environment: Assessing Unconventional Oil and Gas Exposure in the Appalachian Basin: Comparison of Exposure Surrogates and Residential Drinking Water Measurements (January 2022)
“Correlations between inorganic chemicals and metrics were limited. Limited associations between metrics and chemicals may indicate that UOG (unconventional oil and gas)-related water contamination occurs rarely/episodically.”
“The low detection frequencies and concentrations of organic chemicals are consistent with other groundwater monitoring studies in the area in that, to our knowledge, no study to date has found widespread contamination attributable to UOG activity.”
-- U.S. EPA, Yale School of Public Health & the Environment: Drinking water vulnerability and neonatal health outcomes in relation to oil and gas production in the Appalachian Basin (August 2020)
“Instances in which concentrations of one or more chemicals exceeded available health-based or aesthetic standards were rare, and most of these exceedances were associated with analytes that have natural source.”
-- Royal Society of Chemistry: Groundwaters in Northeastern Pennsylvania near intense hydraulic fracturing activities exhibit few organic chemical impacts (January 2022)
“Following dozens of correlation analyses with distance-to-well metrics and inter-chemical indicator correlations, no statistically significant correlations were found.”
“The observations and modeled results suggest a low probability of systematic groundwater organic contamination in the region.”
-- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yale School of Public Health & the Environment: Groundwater Methane in Northeastern Pennsylvania Attributable to Thermogenic Sources and Hydrogeomorphologic Migration Pathways (December 2021)
“No statistically significant correlations were observed between the groundwater methane level and various UOG geospatial metrics, including proximity to UOG wells and well violations. The methane-to-higher chain hydrocarbon signatures suggested that the elevated methane levels were not attributable to UOG development.”
-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission (June 2019)
“Natural gas development has had no discernable impact on water quality in the Susquehanna River Basin.”
-- Pennsylvania State University: Bradford Co. water quality improves; impacts rare near shale gas wells (June 2018)
“The most interesting thing we discovered was the groundwater chemistry in one of the area’s most heavily developed for shale gas – an area with 1400 new gas wells – does not appear to be getting worse with time and may even be getting better.”
-- University of Cincinnati: Monitoring Concentration and Isotopic Composition of Methane in Groundwater in the Utica Shale Region (May 2018)
“Our data do not indicate any intrusion of high conductivity fracking fluids as the number of fracking wells increased in the region.”
For more information, visit the Marcellus Shale Coalition website.
Upcoming Event:
Thursday, June 2 - 1:00: Senate Democratic Policy Committee holds a hearing on health impacts of shale gas infrastructure. Community College of Allegheny County, Boyce Campus Auditorium, 595 Beatty Road, Monroeville. Click Here to register to watch online. Click Here for more on the agenda.
Related Articles:
-- Middle Susquehanna RiverKeeper: May 24 Accident Kills Driver, Spills 4,620 Gallons Of Natural Gas Drilling Wastewater
-- PA’s Experience With New Pipeline Construction Shows State Laws Not Strong Enough To Prevent Environmental Damage, Protect Public Safety
-- Dept. Of Health Visits Communities And Families Impacted By Shale Gas Development, Hears Firsthand Accounts Of Health Harms
-- Shale Gas Development In PA Increases Exposure Of Nearby Residents To Air Pollutants, Setback Policies Not Effective
-- Environmental Health News: Public Health In PA Ignored During Fracking Rush - Report
-- Now On Demand: Physicians For Social Responsibility-PA Host Virtual Conference On Health Hazards Of Oil & Gas Industry In Pennsylvania
-- Now On Demand: Videos From 2021 Shale Gas & Public Health Conference; Including Preliminary Results Of A Penn State Study On Health Risks From Road Spreading Conventional Drilling Wastewater
-- Physicians For Social Responsibility Release 8th Compendium of Scientific, Medical, Media Findings On Risks, Harms Of Fracking And Oil & Gas Infrastructure
-- Earthworks, FracTracker Alliance Release New Online Oil & Gas Threat Map; Find Natural Gas Facilities, Wells Near You
-- 35 Senate, House Democrats Urge Gov. Wolf To Investigate Health Impacts Associated With Natural Gas Fracking
-- Dept. Of Health Awards $2.5 Million Contract To University of Pittsburgh To Research Health Effects Of Hydraulic Fracturing In PA
Responsibly Sourced Natural Gas Certification:
-- EQT Natural Gas Announces Commitment To Seek Independent Natural Gas Certification Under Equitable Origin, MiQ Standards For 200 Wells In Greene, Washington Counties
-- Project Canary, Chesapeake Energy Announce Partnership To Produce Certified Responsibly Sourced Natural Gas
[Posted: June 1, 2022] PA Environment Digest
