The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently responded to a report put out by the Clean Air Council (CAC) of Philadelphia, which had alleged high emissions from the Barto compressor station in Penn Township, Lycoming County. Real data, however, show emission levels far below federal requirements.

In January, the Heinz-funded and Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council released a modeling report of projected emissions from the Barto compressor station, located about three miles up the road from my house. The model compared one hour of NO2 emissions with the one hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). According to the CAC, which has been traveling from Philadelphia on a regular basis to oppose compressor stations across the Marcellus, the projections are way over the federal standard. DEP responded to this accusation with a letter explaining in detail the reality of the emissions level at the Barto station and others in the region: levels continue to be well below the NAAQS and there is continued monitoring to ensure this remains the case.

DEP is in the process of completing an analysis of the modeling done by CAC, but they are awaiting access from CAC to the data figures used in the modeling. In the meantime, they sent a letter to the organization explaining some basic flaws in the project and informing them the state will conduct week-long monitoring at the Barto site as a part of their analysis. You can read the entire DEP letter here, but below are some key excerpts from it (emphasis added):

DEP is surprised by the results of this modeling analysis,  because existing ambient NO2 monitors located in the vicinity of the Barto Compressor Station and other compressor stations in the Commonwealth have not measured any exceedances of the 1-hour NO2 NAAQS.

Vincent Brisini — the DEP official who penned the letter — goes on to explain the current monitoring, including the only exception areas not in compliance with the NAAQS: urban Philadelphia, where the CAC is located, and Pittsburgh.

With the exception of the large urban areas of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, DEP is monitoring NO2 concentrations that demonstrate compliance with the NAAQS standard for NO2 at every other monitoring site within the Commonwealth. It is noteworthy that the NO2 monitor site in Tioga County has four compressor stations located within five miles of the site and these facilities have combined NOx emissions over 100 TPY (expressed as NO2) and that monitor is measuring concentrations well below the NO2 NAAQS.

Additional the NO2 monitor sited as part of DEP’s long-term Marcellus study is also measuring concentrations well below the NO2 NAAQS. While the Houston Processing Plant is one of the very few natural gas facilities in the state that utilizes electric compressor engines, the facility reported 47 tons of NOx emissions (expressed as NO2) for 2012. Actual NO2 monitoring data collected near other compressor facilities in the state does not support the report modeled results.

DEP then identifies some preliminary issues with the report modeled by CAC, which could be the cause of such a large discrepancy between the CAC projections and the reality of what’s occurring with air quality in near the Barto station.

Read more at http://eidmarcellus.org/marcellus-shale/dep-to-clean-air-council-co...