What to Know About Shale Development and "Polluted" Water Wells in PA

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has released details on 243 cases in which regulators determined that oil and gas drilling polluted or diminished private water supplies.

The development of the Marcellus Shale overshadows conventional well drilling in the state. But E&P companies drill and frack far more conventional wells in Pennsylvania. Those conventional wells are also cited in the list of contamination cases, and the majority of contamination cases were determined to be associated with conventional wells.

A more interesting fact is that the number of complaints of water well contamination have declined as shale development has increased (43 cases of incidences of pollution in 2010, 4 so far in 2014). Since 2008 0ver 20,000 wells have been drilled in PA (12,000 conventional and 8,000 shale). So there have been a relatively small number of cases of water well contamination, and in many of those cases poor water well construction ( such as no well casing in the water well) was cited as a contributing factor.

It is important to note what the definition of pollution is. In many cases this was a temporary condition such as turbidity or migrating methane. Many were diminished volume of water, also temporary in many cases.

In perspective - 20,000 oil/gas wells drilled and fracked; 243 incidences of polluted or diminished water well supplies, many being temporary conditions).

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Permalink Reply by Trapper on September 7, 2014 at 6:24am
1.2%.....the odds of getting struck by lightning can't be much lower than that! Lol
Permalink Reply by Trapper on September 7, 2014 at 6:28am
I checked. Statistically you have a 1 in 3000 chance of being struck by lightning in your lifetime. .03 % ;-)
Permalink Reply by Barry D on September 7, 2014 at 6:55am

Trapper,

...and as of the date of the release of the information the number of incidences was dropping so that percentage will change.

Also, if you look at the details of each of the 243 incidences noted you find how much smaller the true effect of shale development truly is.

I always liked the statistics classes in college. The end result of any report/study is how the numbers/info is manipulated.

For example: a study of causation. Every time the leaves on the trees shake the wind blows; therefore the shaking of the leaves causes wind.

Now we all know that is silly because we are familiar with the other factors involved in the equation. But give just the facts as presented how would you dispute the conclusion.

So it is with the issue of the relationship between shale development and incidences of water well disturbance. The anti crowd manipulates certain information and leaves out other information to fit a preconceived conclusion.

However, when all info is examined we see the truth,

Permalink Reply by Trapper on September 7, 2014 at 7:37am
Absolutely , Barry.
The lefty crowd are experts at the old "figures lie and liers figure" game! I could go on and on about that subject but will refrain and give you back your thread! Lol!
Permalink Reply by Barry D on September 7, 2014 at 1:03pm

Trapper,

Once I post a thread it belongs to the site.

So as far as I am concerned you are welcome to expound on the subject to your heart's content.

Permalink Reply by Jack Straw on September 7, 2014 at 2:05pm

RE: "A more interesting fact is that the number of complaints of water well contamination have declined as shale development has increased (43 cases of incidences of pollution in 2010, 4 so far in 2014)."

Obviously, this suggests that something has changed.

What I would suggest is that one BIG change could explain matters.

The last few years, the O&G companies have been testing the quality of nearby water wells BEFORE drilling; and they have discovered that many of the water wells are polluted BEFORE drilling.

The types of problems: leaking underground (or aboveground) gasoline or diesel tanks, Farmer Bob (and his father and grandfather before him) always drained the crankcase oil onto the ground (behind the wagon shed), septic tank uphill from well, all that oil put on Straw Lane (to keep the dust down in summer; extra oil in front of the house), dumped or run-off from agricultural chemicals, thin coaly seams not cased off in water well, contamination in the pump house, nearby drycleaner who poured chemicals down the drain into leaky piping, etc.

I believe that many of the pre-2014 complaints of drilling related water contamination were not due to drilling related water contamination. What I suspect is that once drilling commenced, people finally got their water tested ... and blamed the drilling operations for unrelated preceding issues.

All IMHO,

                  JS

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on September 7, 2014 at 2:16pm

Over the decades, there have been many studies of water wells in Pa and these studies consistently find that 40-45% of all water wells fail to meet recommended standards.  There are no regs covering private water well drilling, construction, maintenance, or operation in Pa.

Permalink Reply by Barry D on September 7, 2014 at 4:23pm

Jim,

So just because there was shale development nearby it was "assumed" that it was the development causing well water problems.

Permalink Reply by Jim Litwinowicz on September 8, 2014 at 6:10am

Barry;   

I don't believe it was assumed so by the state or by the E & Ps but it was so by the 'news' media and the antis.  I know of several cases of people that had well problems for many years tried to claim the drilling/fracking ruined their wells. Research showing past complaints that pre-dated drilling often ended the claim.

Permalink Reply by Jack Straw on September 8, 2014 at 10:19am

With respect to ‘polluted’ water wells; I believe that there are two types of false accusations – one due to stupidity and one due to cupidity.

 

Some people have their (long term) polluted wells tested (for the first time) after nearby drilling and find out (for the first time) that their water is tainted, These people honestly believe that the drilling was responsible for an existing problem of which they had not earlier been aware.

 

Then there are the people who knew that they had water quality issues and knew that their water quality problems predated the drilling; yet wished to ‘extort’ monies from the O&G Operators (see Dimmock, PA).

 

Ignorance can be forgiven; fraud should result in arrest and court proceedings.

 

All IMHO,

                  JS

Permalink Reply by Barry D on September 8, 2014 at 12:01pm

JS,

Wow!

Talk about hitting the proverbial nail on the head !

That should be the final word of this discussion.

Permalink Reply by Barry D on September 8, 2014 at 3:22am

Leaves shaking on trees causes wind.

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