Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Archives - RKR Hess

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) announced this month draft amendments to its plan and regulations to better provide for the planning, conservation, utilization, development, management and control of the basin’s water resources in connection with the hydraulic fracturing of shale and other hydrocarbon-bearing formations.

In December 2010, the DRBC drafted and published environmental protection regulations for the watershed that were open for public comment until April 15, 2011. After reviewing these comments, the DRBC then published a revised version on November 8, 2011; however, the special meeting to consider adoption of the revised regulations was postponed until now.

The revised draft rules prohibit high volume hydraulic fracturing in hydrocarbon-bearing rock formations within the Delaware River Basin. In addition, the rules reinforce the commission’s current policies that discourage the importation of wastewater and exportation of water, and include rules to address the inter-basin transfer of water and wastewater related to hydraulic fracturing.

The rules include provisions confirming that the treatment and disposal of produced water from hydraulic fracturing does not impair or conflict with the preservation of the waters of the basin for uses in accordance with the DRBC comprehensive plan.

A full text of the draft rules, related materials, and information on the public input procedures can be viewed on the commission’s website here.

The DRBC has not set a timeline for voting on final regulations. Until the commission approves the regulations, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will not issue drilling permits.

The DRBC is holding the following public hearings in 2018:

1. Jan. 23, 2018, 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Ladore Camp, Retreat and Conference Center’s Performing Arts and Recreation Center (PARC) Pavilion, 287 Owego Turnpike, Waymart, Pa. Register to attend at: http://bit.ly/2ApxOB1.
2. Jan. 23, 2018, 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Ladore Camp, Retreat and Conference Center’s Performing Arts and Recreation Center (PARC) Pavilion, 287 Owego Turnpike, Waymart, Pa. Register to attend at: http://bit.ly/2AgHtsV.
3. Jan. 25, 2018, 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Airport, 4509 Island Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. Register to attend at: http://bit.ly/2AIPh7P.
4. Jan. 25, 2018, 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Philadelphia Airport, 4509 Island Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. Register to attend at: http://bit.ly/2ip6Pyn.

Advance registration, which is required to attend, will remain open until 5 p.m., Dec. 31, 2017. Those who have registered to attend will be afforded an opportunity to request speaking time.

The public also has an opportunity to submit written comments on the draft regulations. Written comments may be submitted until 5 p.m., Feb. 28, 2018. Written comments and attachments should be submitted through the commission’s online comments webpage at http://dockets.drbc.commentinput.com/. Written comments will not be accepted through other methods, such as email, fax or hand delivery, unless an express exception has been granted based on lack of access to the web-based system. Requests for exceptions may be addressed to: Commission Secretary, DRBC, P.O. Box 7360, West Trenton, NJ 08628.

The DRBC is a regional body with the goal to oversee management of the Delaware River system across state boundaries. It was created in 1961 as an interstate compact in response to a 1954 Supreme Court decision to settle water use disputes among Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. The DRBC consists of governors from the four states and the Division Engineer of the North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The DRBC employs a staff of engineers, biologists, geologists, and other specialists.

A group of Pennsylvania senators is joining in an ongoing lawsuit that questions the authority of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to place a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the river basin.

Senators Lisa Baker, Joseph Scarnati and Gene Yaw have filed to join a lawsuit brought by a landowners’ group called the Wayne Land and Mineral Group, LLC (WLMG), according to The River Reporter. The original lawsuit by the landowners sought to reverse a decision by the DRBC not to issue a permit for an exploratory well.

The senators’ motion to intervene questions whether the DRBC has the authority to prevent hydraulic fracturing in the basin. In a motion to join the suit, the senators claim the DRBC has worked around existing Pennsylvania state laws (specifically Act 13), according to the Pocono Record.

The DRBC is a regional body with the goal to oversee management of the Delaware River system across state boundaries. It was created in 1961 as an interstate compact in response to a 1954 Supreme Court decision to settle water use disputes among Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and New Jersey. The DRBC consists of the governors from the four states and the Division Engineer of the North Atlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The DRBC employs a staff of engineers, biologists, geologists, and other specialists.

In 2010, the DRBC voted to postpone well drilling in the basin until the commission could adopt further regulations.  Proposed regulations were released in 2010, and revisions were published in 2011; however, the DRBC has not voted on final regulations and has not set a timeline for doing so. Until the DRBC approves the regulations, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) will not issue permits for drilling.  Earlier this year, the commission announced that it would hold public hearings in response to public safety concerns surrounding construction of a pipeline that would potentially carry natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation to interconnects near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Mercer County, New Jersey.

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) also filed to join the landowners’ lawsuit, citing a need to ensure that health and safety issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing would be addressed. The DRN is a nonprofit organization created to protect rights to “pure water, clean air and a healthy environment,” according to its website.

The suit is entering the discovery stage, according to the Pocono Record, but a timeline for the process has not been published.

A new Pennsylvania Senate bill introduced in June would allow Marcellus Shale developers to use treated coal mine water in oil and gas development.

The Treated Mine Water Act, approved by the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, looks to create more opportunities for the oil and gas industry to find reliable sources of water to drill, complete, and hydraulically fracture conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells while conserving freshwater supplies. To do this, the bill seeks to limit liabilities for both the coal mine operator and the drilling operator in oil and gas development.

Rainwater and groundwater can collect in the underground voids created by coal mines. While there, the water can pick up minerals from the surrounding rocks. In Pennsylvania, these minerals frequently make the water acidic. In active mining operations, this water is pumped to the surface, treated, and discharged in accordance with permit standards established by state and federal governments.

However, when the coal mine is abandoned, the water continues to collect but is no longer pumped or treated. The water can fill the mine and overflow into streams, carrying the minerals picked up while underground. If untreated, this water can kill invertebrates and fish in the streams and reduce the pH of the stream.

Some environmental groups have begun setting up treatment systems to address acid mine drainage from abandoned mines. Building and maintaining a treatment system can cost between $100,000 and $10 million, depending on the volume of water to be treated and the complexity of the system. Based on data from Datashed.org, approximately 350 treatment systems have been set up in Pennsylvania.

As defined in the new bill, treated mine water is water from an active or closed coal mine that is treated by a mine operator under a permit issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The water must meet federal standards for discharge to the surface waters of the United States. A prior bill would have limited the liability for drilling operators who used untreated mine water.

Oil and gas industry lawyers were concerned that the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law would make companies liable for cleaning the mine water in perpetuity even though the drilling operator was not the one who originally operated the mine, according to NPR’s State Impact.

Also according to NPR’s State Impact, an average natural gas well uses 4.4 million gallons of water. Supporters of the bill argue that using treated mine water for oil and gas development would aid in the cleanup of polluted mine water by providing funding for treatment systems. Opponents argue that removing the water could damage the natural flow of streams by reducing the volume of water available and cause damage to the environment through spills during transportation or discharge into clean drinking water aquifers from leaks in the well casings.

The proposed Treated Mine Water Act would not necessarily override regulations created in the Clean Streams Law, and oil and gas developers would still be liable in the event of a spill or leak. The Pennsylvania DEP published a white paper outlining options for the use of mine-influenced water in fracking.

Historically, anthracite coal was mined in an area of about 485 square miles, spanning nine counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania, according to the Mining History Association. Based on data from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there are approximately 45 abandoned anthracite mines in this region. In total, there are approximately 145 abandoned coal mines statewide.

Currently, unconventional drilling is not authorized in the Delaware River Basin. The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has yet to vote on natural gas drilling and fracking regulations originally proposed in 2010 and revised in 2011. So, any mine water from these mines to be used in fracking would need to be transported outside of the Basin. That transfer would also require DRBC approval.