Author: John Krohn, Energy In Depth

The Scranton Times Tribune published an investigative article with the inflammatory headline “Drilling Killing Water.”  Of course, a review of the article itself and the data underlying it show a much different set of circumstances than the Times-Tribune headline would lead you to believe.

Over the weekend the Scranton Times-Tribune ran an investigative story with a headline that declared in big bold letters “Drilling Killing Water.”  Yikes.  Of course, reading the actual story provides a much more sober reality than the hyperbolic headline suggests.  In fact, the story notes that over the course of five years (2008 through 2012) nearly 80 percent of water contamination claims levied at natural gas development were, upon investigation, determined to be unfounded. Of the remaining sliver of cases, many occurred before Pennsylvania updated its well casing regulations, others were “temporary” (the impacted water supply returning to baseline conditions in a short time period), and still more were unrelated to, you know, the actual drilling of natural gas wells.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the story, shall we?

Failure to Account for Updated Regulations/Other Variables

The Times-Tribune review notes that, over the course of five years, oil and natural gas development impacted 161 private water supplies. But digging deeper into the data we find that a significant percentage of these incidents occurred before the state updated its casing regulations (finalized in February 2011), which had not been updated since 1989.  The updated regulations required oil and natural gas companies to ensure, among other items, that centralizers, special cement, strict pressure testing and multiple layers of protection were used to protect groundwater during the oil and natural gas development process.

A cursory review of a large sample of the cases highlighted by the Times shows that 82 of the incidents occurred before the standards were updated.  This points to a trend referenced by a DEP representative, who when interviewed for the story informed the paper “that the most recent trends suggest that the improvements are working.”

Indeed, since Pennsylvania updated its casing standards, incidents of groundwater impacted by oil and natural gas development have absolutely plummeted.  In fact, based on information included in the article, the number of “contamination” cases fell by more than 70 percent between 2011 and 2012. Granted, an incident rate of anything above zero still leaves room for improvement, but the dramatic decline in cases is noteworthy in that it shows the efficacy of strong state regulations, as well as the legitimate commitment on the part of the industry to reduce its environmental footprint.

Presumption of Liability Doesn’t Mean Causation

Read more at http://eidmarcellus.org/marcellus-shale/digging-deeper-on-the-times...