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Politics & Government

Altmire Leads Discussion on Marcellus Shale

Industry experts answer questions about Marcellus Shale drilling, water-quality issues and taxing the industry.

An educational forum on drilling for Marcellus Shale in Western Pennsylvania barely got underway Tuesday in the North Hills before a sunglasses-wearing protester interrupted.

The event, hosted by Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, at the Community College of Allegheny County’s North campus in McCandless, featured a panel of experts from the drilling industry. Altmire attempted to calm the protester, but college security officers finally led the man away as he shouted, “Why are you shipping our gas to China?” 

The unidentified man's question was the first of other tough inquiries posed by attendees at the forum.

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Tuesday's panel included representatives from oil companies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection. Altmire said he held the forum to answer questions about Marcellus Shale drilling from top industry experts and to shed light on issues including water quality, air quality, job opportunities for Pennsylvanians and taxes on the industry.

Panelists received questions in advance to answer at the forum but also fielded additional inquiries from the audience.

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They spent much of the evening discussing water quality and whether the drilling process called hydro-fracturing, or fracking, contaminates local drinking water supplies. The fracking process pushes a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into wells at high speeds to increase the flow of natural gas.

Panelist Rodger Keith, a member of the Marcellus Shale Education team from Penn State University, said many chemicals used in the fracking process are commonly found in other household products.

“We tend to fear what we don’t know,” Keith said. “Once we do know more about what we are working with, it will be better.”

In response, a number of the roughly 50 audience members who attended the event spoke up and said they believe fracking does result in contaminated drinking water.

 “We aren’t afraid of the unknown,” one person said in retort to Keith’s statement. “We fear what we know.”

Several of the panelists said they believe local water sources are at greater risk of contamination from improper disposal of wastewater left after drilling rather than during the fracking process. They said they believe the disposal process should be more heavily regulated to reduce that risk.

Alex Eichler, a representative with the Department of Environmental Protection, said wastewater removal after drilling is more of a concern than the chemicals used during fracking because of the substances released from the ground into the water.

“Not one documented case [of fracking contaminating drinking water] has been found in over 10,000 wells in Pennsylvania,” he said. “The issue is when the water is brought to the surface and disposed.”

EPA environmental scientist Troy Jordan said some municipal water treatment plants previous accepted and treated wastewater generated and hauled from Marcellus Shale drilling sites. Because of complaints and questions about possible contamination, however, those plants no longer treat or reuse water from drilling, he said.

In several states, frack wastewater is injected into injection wells in the ground. Anthony Andrews, a specialist in energy and defense policy for the Congressional Research Service, said that option is not available in Pennsylvania because its ground composition is not appropriate for that disposal method.

“It’s a geology issue,” Andrews said. “Pennsylvania does not have the geology that [other states] have to make it possible for injection.”

Oil and gas companies in other states with major drilling operations also pay a severance tax, which would provide money to the local municipality in which the company is drilling. Pennsylvania does not require drilling companies to pay a severance tax, and proposals to enact fees or taxes on drilling have been controversial.

Kevin West, managing director for the Pittsburgh-based EQT Corporation, said he supports the concept of a severance tax. His company pays the tax in the three other states where EQT drills, he said.

“My company has always supported a tax that goes back to the localities providing the gas,” West said, generating applause from the audience.

In the final question of the night, one person in the audience asked the panelists if drilling companies can be trusted to put the needs of Pennsylvanians over profits.

West offered a simple answer.

“If we let methane escape [into air or water], it would be like a dairy farmer throwing milk away,” he said. “We have a financial incentive to control it.” 

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