Gas Well Blowout In Clearfield County [PA]

The BP offshore oil rig blowout is a disaster of catastrophic proportions, it is obvious and impossible to ignore; however, accidents happen onshore with disturbing frequency and get very little attention.
There has been a gas well blowout in Clearfield County Pennsylvania. Officials say it took sixteen hours to get under control after spewing an approximate one million gallons of hydraulic fracturing fluid and unknown amounts of wet natural gas. An entire mile wide evacuation has been put in place for nearby residents. An EPA spokesperson stated that none of the polluted drilling water reached waterways in the area. Though who knows if that statement can be accurately made yet. One million gallons of fracturing fluid contains massive amounts of chemicals though. I expect that there will probably be more long-term environmental issues from this blowout than we will really hear about.
For more information, visit Bluedaze Drilling Reform for Texas.
Or The PittsburghChannel.com

Center for Biological Diversity to Sue EPA

For Immediate Release, June 2, 2010

Contact: Andrea Treece, Center for Biological Diversity, (415) 378-6558; atreece@biologicaldiversity.org

Lawsuit Seeks Full Disclosure of Dispersant Impacts on Gulf's Endangered Wildlife

SAN FRANCISCO— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed an official notice of its intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for authorizing the use of toxic dispersants without ensuring that these chemicals would not harm endangered species and their habitats. The letter requests that the agency, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, immediately study the effects of dispersants on species such as sea turtles, sperm whales, piping plovers, and corals and incorporate this knowledge into oil-spill response efforts.

“The Gulf of Mexico has become Frankenstein’s laboratory for BP’s enormous, uncontrolled experiment in flooding the ocean with toxic chemicals,” said Andrea Treece, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The fact that no one in the federal government ever required that these chemicals be proven safe for this sort of use before they were set loose on the environment is inexcusable.”

Dispersants are chemicals used to break oil spills into tiny droplets. In theory, this allows the oil to be eaten by microorganisms and become diluted faster than it would otherwise. However, the effects of using large quantities of dispersants and injecting them into very deep water, as BP has done in the Gulf of Mexico, have never been studied. Researchers suspect that underwater oil plumes, measuring as much as 20 miles long and extending dozens of miles from the leaking rig, are the result of dispersants keeping the oil below the surface.

On May 24, EPA Administrator Jackson expressed concern over the environmental unknowns of dispersants, which include the long-term effects on aquatic life. Nonetheless, the federal government has allowed BP to pump nearly 1 million gallons of dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico.

“Pouring dispersants into vital fish nursery grounds and endangered species habitat simply trades one evil for another. Had the government first examined dispersants before the disaster, we would not be left wondering what sort of havoc BP is wreaking on the ecosystem just so it can make the oil less visible,” added Treece. “We cannot and will not allow this to happen again.”

Studies have found that oil dispersed by Corexit 9527 damages the insulating properties of seabird feathers more than untreated oil, making the birds more susceptible to hypothermia and death. Studies have also found that dispersed oil is toxic to fish eggs, larvae, and adults, as well as to corals, and can harm sea turtles’ ability to breathe and digest food. Formulations of the dispersants being used by BP, Corexit 9500 and 9527, have been banned in the United Kingdom due to concerns over their impacts on the marine environment.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 260,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
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Oil and gas drilling still going strong in New Mexico

There has been a lot of trash talking about the pit rule and its "negative" impacts on oil and gas development in New Mexico. I think the following press release from Governor Bill Richardson clearly shows that is not the case. So, protective regulations an economy killer, or simply conducive to human and environmental safety?



For Immediate Release Contact: Jodi McGinnis Porter
May 19, 2010
505.476.3226

Governor Bill Richardson Announces Oil and Gas Drilling Activity in New Mexico Is Strong
Environmental regulations are not driving business away
SANTA FE, NM - Governor Bill Richardson today announced that New Mexico's drilling activity has more than doubled this year according to the Baker Hughes rig count with 63 operating rigs reported on May 14, 2010, compared to 31 operating rigs a year ago on May 15, 2009. The number of oil- and gas-producing wells in New Mexico remains constant with new environmental regulations balancing our energy needs while protecting New Mexico's precious ground water and our environment.
"New Mexico's pit rules have shown that protecting our health and water resources are good for industry and the environment," said Governor Richardson. "The BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a sobering reminder that preventing environmental contamination is always less expensive than cleaning it up."
Activity in southeastern New Mexico's Permian Basin is especially strong. Apache Corporation, an independent energy exploration and production company, recently announced it expects to drill in excess of 200 new wells during 2010 in the Permian Basin. Of the 200-plus wells, 100 will be drilled in New Mexico, which will represent the most wells drilled by Apache in the state in any year.
"We can produce oil and gas in New Mexico in an environmentally sound manner that works for industry and protects our natural resources." said Jon Goldstein, Cabinet Secretary for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. "Drilling activity closely follows the price of oil and gas. As commodity prices rise, drilling activity increases."
The price of a barrel of oil was in the mid $30 range in 2009. Current prices in the $60-$70 range are driving healthy activity in New Mexico's southeastern oil fields. Unfortunately, natural gas prices have not increased to the same extent keeping activity at a lower level in the gas fields of the San Juan Basin.
The price of oil and gas fluctuates, but companies can find and produce oil and gas more safely, efficiently and with increased environmental protections using new technologies, such as directional drilling, reusing existing well pads for new wells and using closed loop systems to manage their waste.
Earlier this week, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar followed New Mexico's lead and announced that the Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management is reforming its oil and gas program to improve environmental protection of important natural resources on U.S. public lands while aiding in the orderly leasing and balanced development of the nation's energy supply.
View press release index

Gulf of Mexico Oil Well Approved

While it is quite true that to err is human, if we do not learn from our mistakes, we really are doomed to repeat them.


By STEPHEN POWER
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators approved the first new Gulf of Mexico oil well since President Barack Obama lifted a ban on drilling in shallow water last week, angering environmentalists even as business groups urged his administration to relax a moratorium on new deepwater projects.

The Minerals Management Service said on its Web site Wednesday that it had granted a permit sought by Bandon Oil and Gas, LP to drill at a site about 50 miles off Louisiana's coast and about 115 feet beneath the water's surface.

Mr. Obama announced last week that the Interior Department would extend a moratorium on wells in more than 500 feet of water. At the same time, the administration said it would allow drilling projects to continue in less than 500 feet of water, provided they satisfy new safety and environmental requirements identified in a report that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave to Mr. Obama last week.

Environmental groups criticized the MMS, however, saying a 2007 study by MMS of all wells drilled between 1992 and 2006, found that most blowouts occurred in water less than 500 feet.

"This is like putting a drunk back in the driver's seat after handing him a cup of coffee," Mike Gravitz, a spokesman for Environment America, said.

At the same time, a group that represents the nation's offshore oil and gas operators said Wednesday that the administration's continuing moratorium on deepwater drilling warned will result in tens of thousands of job losses. The National Ocean Industries Association said the moratorium would halt work on 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

"At a time when the spill is already causing economic stress for key industries in the region, the president's action will make things much worse by putting more Gulf citizens out of work," Burt Adams, the group's chairman, said.

An Interior spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for a response to the industry group. In announcing details of the new restrictions this week, Mr. Salazar said they are a "prudent" step that will provide the government time to implement new safety requirements while a recently-appointed presidential commission investigates the cause of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon accident.

Write to Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com
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U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess calls on Texas AG to investigate state's environmental agency

I have heard a lot of reassurances from oil and gas industry representatives. The most common is in regards to a lack of need for county-based regulations. This comes in the form of a statement like "there are already regulations and entities that enforce them, so why on earth would you want unnecessary regulations that will negatively impact business?" Well, I think the article below is a clear illustration of why counties need to take responsibility for their own well being.

11:57 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 1, 2010
By PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE / Denton Record-Chronicle
pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess has called on the Texas attorney general to investigate the state's environmental agency, following an audit report that showed agency officials may have withheld information about toxic compounds found near natural-gas facilities.

"They have a credibility problem now," Burgess, R-Lewisville, said of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. "That's what's so disturbing. It calls into question virtually everything else they have done so far. You don't like to be treated dismissively."

Burgess had asked for a briefing on the TCEQ's air quality work, which the agency provided in late April. At the time, he wasn't as concerned about findings in Fort Worth as much as he was the Denton County findings, but no mention was made of the TCEQ audit. He said he was troubled that agency officials were sitting on the information.

The call for a full investigation could help restore confidence in the agency, Burgess said.

"We continue to work with both the public and elected officials to keep them informed of TCEQ's air quality activities in the Barnett Shale area," agency spokesman Terry Clawson said in a prepared statement.

The TCEQ audit followed a Feb. 3 complaint sent by e-mail to the agency's fraud division. According to the audit report, dated March 25, leadership in the TCEQ compliance division knew early on that, during a December air quality study of natural-gas facilities in Fort Worth, inspectors used equipment that was not sensitive enough to detect toxic compounds, including the carcinogen benzene, at long-term screening levels. More>>>

Panel's makeup in dispute

Luckily Drilling Santa Fe has been keeping up with the local news. Anyways, onwards with today's news.

Las Vegas Optic
31 May 2010
Headlines
Panel's makeup in dispute
By David Giuliani

Some are alleging that San Miguel County’s new task force on oil and gas regulations is heavily weighted toward the industry.

Of the 10 members, four of them have ties to oil and gas.

In April, the County Commission formed the panel to make recommendations for an ordinance that would deal specifically with oil and gas drilling. No requests for drilling are pending, but officials said they wanted to be prepared.

Both the county and the city of Las Vegas have enacted moratoriums on any drilling until they can enact new regulations.

For its task force, the county has divided the members into four groups — oil and gas industry, environmental and educational, citizens and county representatives.

The oil industry members consist of Karin Foster, an attorney with the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico, and John Michael Richardson of the Petroleum and Mineral Land Services firm.

The environmental and educational members are Jeffrey Mills of the state Environment Department and Ken Bentson, a forestry professor at Highlands University.

The citizen members are general contractor J. David Blagg, retiree Ernesto Borunda and resident Larry Webb.

The county representatives are County Commissioner Nicolas Leger, County Manager Les Montoya and Planning and Zoning Supervisor Alex Tafoya.

Besides Foster and Richardson, both Webb and Mills are linked to the oil and gas industry.

In March, Webb urged the County Commission to do away with the moratorium. He said he had leases with companies for oil and gas drilling on the county’s east side. The moratorium, he said, was taking away his private property rights without just compensation.

He lists a Newkirk, N.M., address, which is in Guadalupe County. It’s not clear whether a citizen member can live outside San Miguel County.

Mills, an environmental member, said he is not on the task force as a representative of the Environment Department. Rather, he said he was there to provide his expertise because of his years of work in the oil and gas industry.

Mills acknowledged that he had discovered oil in the Gulf of Mexico and is a beneficiary of oil and gas royalties in Texas and Louisiana. He has worked for the Environment Department since 2001.

Mills praised the county for being “proactive” in its approach to possible oil and gas drilling. He said he is not affiliated with any oil and gas interests in New Mexico.

He said that when he wrote the county about his interest in a task force position, he focused on his experience in the industry, not as an employee of the Environment Department.

Pat Leahan of the Las Vegas Peace and Justice Center said she is concerned that the task force isn’t representative of science and community concerns.

“We can have industry people on the task force. But we need to have balance,” she said.

She said she and 13 others applied to belong to the task force and that none of them were pushing for a complete ban on drilling. More>>>

Our "good neighbors"

While polished executives are getting cozy with your county commission, their companies are practicing a different kind of business.