Legislature Adopts Anti-Fracking Law - Ulster (USA)

ULSTER COUNTY DISPATCH

Legislature Adopts Anti-Fracking Law

By Paula Sirc

KINGSTON — Supporters of a resolution prohibiting hydraulic fracturing on any county-owned lands lauded the efforts of Legislator Susan Zimet, D-New Paltz, during last week's legislative session for sponsoring the legislation.The majority of speakers during public comment period urged the legislature to enact the legislation without delay.
The legislature then unanimously adopted the resolution prohibiting the leasing of any county-owned land for high-volume and chemical slick water hydraulic fracturing to extract natural gas.
Hydraulic fracturing, or hydro-fracking, is a process that drills horizontal fractures in rock formations using highly pressurized, chemical-laden fluids to increase the rate and recovery of natural gas.
The Marcellus Shale formation, part of which lies in the western Catskills, is attractive to drilling supporters, who view it as an ample source of natural gas and conducive to hydro-fracking.
Opponents of the technique say the process endangers the quality of groundwater. Supporters contend the technique is reliable and that no contamination of groundwater has been directly linked to the practice.
During the public comment period, speaker after speaker railed against the controversial drilling process. Ulster County resident Nancy Basinger urged the legislature to adopt the resolution "so we can continue to enjoy our safe drinking water."
Basinger said that the regulations imposed by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) were written for existing small vertical wells. She explained that a horizontal hydro-frack in a tight shale formation is from 10 to 100 times larger than the fracks put on small vertical wells. "The existing DEP well regulations are grossly inadequate to regulate hydro-fracked wells," she said.
She explained that the volume of fluid in one hydro-frack can exceed 3 million gallons and "contain chemicals that would be illegal to use in warfare under the rules of the Geneva Convention."
Basinger said that the state should wait for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue its new guidelines on horizontal hydro-fracking on shale gas wells and that the state should wait for Congress to "close the Halliburton loophole in the Clean Water Act so that such wells are once again brought under federal jurisdiction that they were before the 2005 Energy Act exempted them from regulation."
Also addressing the legislature on the matter was Linda Schwab-Edmundson, of Frackfree Catskills, who warned of the "many devastating risks New York stands to face if gas drilling utilizing hydro-fracking were greenlighted."
Schwab-Edmundson cited a recent report regarding 200 gas wells in Pennsylvania, where hydraulic fracturing has been implemented. The report noted that "radioactive wastewater resulting from hydro-fracking has been dumped into rivers, streams and lakes at levels that are 1,000 times greater than what the EPA considers safe."
The speaker noted that of the 200 wells producing waste water, more than 179 indicated high levels of radiation, with at least 116 reporting levels of radium or other radioactive materials 100 times higher than the required federal drinking water standards.
"Once introduced," she said, "there's no way to remove the gas or the chemicals from our drinking water."
Speaker Joan Walker exhorted the legislature to prepare for "the scale of change that is about to hit" the state when the moratorium on hydro-fracking expires in June.
"We are expecting 80,000-100,000 gas wells west of here, she said. "Yet, the DEP has only 19 people in the mining and mineral department to regulate those wells."
Legislator James Maloney, R-Lake Katrine, commended Zimet on the resolution and asked why it limits the ban to only county-owned property.
Zimet replied that the resolution is merely a starting point and that "it's easier to take a small step first and then we can build and build and build."
Legislator Dave Donaldson, D-Kingston, said the legislature is restricted in what it can do because of home rule. "Towns would have to pick it up and deal with it through their zoning laws because it's a matter of home rule," he said. "All we can do is to encourage towns to enact laws prohibiting it."
The town of Woodstock in Ulster County has recently taken the first step toward that end. Last Tuesday, they voted to adopt a resolution that would even prohibit transporting extracted material through its municipality.

DA: Halt to Karoo gas exploration

March 25 2011 at 04:52pm 

Comment on this story

---

REUTERS

An rig prepares to drill.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for a moratorium on the granting of rights to explore for shale gas in the Karoo.

On Thursday, DA shadow environmental minister Gareth Morgan said he would be writing to Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu not to approve any rights currently and saying there was no need to rush the process.

Shale-gas exploration involves a controversial process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in which water and sand are pumped into a well in order to get the gas that is contained in soft rock to flow freely. While the prospect of exploiting such a resource may go someway in securing the country's energy supplies, it can lead to pollution of the underground water system and may affect land use for years.

The Petroleum Agency of SA is considering seven applications to explore parts of the ecologically sensitive Karoo.

After the agency's presentation in Parliament on Wednesday, MPs from the DA and African National Congress (ANC) said they sensed that the first approval, that of US-based company Falcon Oil & Gas, was imminent.

Among the exploration requests are those by international petroleum groups Shell and Bundu.

Morgan contends that another reason for the moratorium is that the Petroleum Agency is too small and underfunded.

“This small agency, with a miniscule staff and possessing a budget which, by its own admission, will not see it adequately through the next two years, is not in a position to make a considered decision on applications that to date cover a landmass of SA in excess of 200,000 square kilometres,” he said.

Morgan said that, by Molewa's own admission, in a reply to a DA parliamentary question last year, there was no policy on fracking in SA.

He said the Mineral and Petroleum Resource Development Act provides in general terms for an applicant to demonstrate its technical ability to conduct exploration in line with best industry practice.

Morgan claimed that the Petroleum Agency was tasked with ensuring that operators had the required means, skills and understanding of any exploration activity.

“These provisions set off a number of alarm bells. The agency has no experience of regulating fracking, nor does it have the environmental compliance officers who are required to monitor the process if deployed,” he said.

Morgan also contended that, in approving any application, the Petroleum Agency became the de facto land-use arbiter of these extensive areas, with implications for the democratically approved integrated development plans of affected municipalities.

“In effect, the spatial planning framework for SA yet to be released by the National Planning Commission (under the directorship of National Planning Minister Trevor Manuel) is rendered useless,” he said. - I-Net Bridge

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Shell fracking application in Karoo ‘illegal’

EMP garners stern opposition from Karoo residents and landowners

SUE BLAINE

Published: 2011/03/25 06:32:35 AM

LAWYERS for Karoo residents and landowners, including businessman Johann Rupert and Dutch Princess Irene, say the draft environmental management plan (EMP) submitted as part of petrochemical giant Royal Dutch Shell’s application to explore the Karoo for shale gas does not comply with mining law.

The Petroleum Agency of SA (Pasa) will use the draft EMP to make recommendations to Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu on whether she should allow Shell exploration rights that will lead to its using the controversial hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technique to determine whether the Karoo’s shale gas reserves are worth exploiting. Ms Shabangu is expected to make a decision in August.

At issue for the thousands of people who have asked Graaff- Reinet lawyer Derek Light to oppose Shell’s application — which covers 90000km² of the unique Karoo biome — is that they have been asked to comment on a draft document, and that environmental consulting group Golder Associates is to publish a final EMP only on April 14, a week after the public comment deadline.

This does not comply with the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Mr Light said yesterday.

If Pasa did not allow time for comment on the final document, the group, which was joined yesterday by AgriSA, would consider using the legal appeal process , or the high court, he said.

Citizens were entitled to a fair and reasonable administrative process, and that meant they were entitled to information and an opportunity to comment on that information, Mr Light said. The EMP produced was also "worthless" because it did not describe what fracking chemicals, waste disposal methods and other procedures would be used.

"How do you comment on a document you haven’t seen? In our objections (to be submitted by the comment deadline) we will alert Pasa to this and ask that we be allowed to comment on the final document ," said Mr Light.

Shell SA chairman Bonang Mohale said recently the company would defend such actions.

Golder Associates environmental assessment practitioner Brent Baxter said the law required that an EMP be submitted 120 days after an application was accepted. That would be April 14. After that Pasa had 120 days in which to assess the final EMP .

The final EMP would be published on its website and would show where and how the draft had been changed, Dr Baxter said. Citizens could comment directly to Pasa in this time.

Pasa CEO Mthozami Xiphu said the agency would assess Shell’s EMP when it was published on April 14.

Fracking was "one technique among others". It was not necessary, as the Democratic Alliance has suggested was prudent, to delay a decision on fracking until it had a hydraulic fracking policy, and until the US Environmental Protection Agency’s study on the effects of fracking is published next year, Mr Xiphu said.

He said Pasa could not delay assessing Shell’s application until after the US research was published because the law said a decision had to be made within 120 days of filing an EMP.

The Department of Mineral Resources said the minister could not use the pending results of a study in another country as a reason for not making a decision she was legally required to make.

blaines@bdfm.co.za

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=138185

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Wales (NY) Considers Outlawing Hydro-Fracking

Rachel Kingston Reporting rkingston@entercom.com Wales, NY (WBEN) -- The Town of Wales is poised to adopt a law banning the controversial gas-drilling technique of hydraulic fracturing, more colloquially known as hydro-fracking. The concern is that hydro-fracking could inadvertently lead to the contamination of the town's water supply. "The Town of Wales relies 100 percent on well water. We have no public water available to us," explains town Councilman Michael Simon, who helped write the proposed legislation. Simon says he didn't know very much about hydro-fracking until recently, when he started doing some research. The more he learned, the more worried he became. "My understanding of it - and I'm not an expert - my understanding is that certain liquids and semi-solids are inserted into the [gas] well at such high pressure that it fractures the shale that contains the gas. The fractures actually release the gas, and the companies have a way of controlling the release of the gas back up through the well. What we're concerned about is the injection of these substances into the ground," Simon tells WBEN. "Statistically, my understanding is that only 20 to 30 percent of what's injected is actually removed, and taken out of the ground. So these substances that are actually injected, for the most part, stay there," he says. Simon says he, co-sponsor of the law Councilwoman Jude Hartrich, and other supporters of the ban aren't so much concerned about the natural gas as they about the chemicals used to break the shale. It's the chemicals that they worry could end up contaminating their well water, rendering it unusable. Proponents of hydro-fracking insist the technique is safe, and that the risk for such contamination is minute. Simon admits, in his research, he's found no instances of cases where contamination happened. But just because it hasn't happened yet, he notes, doesn't mean that it never could. New York is currently imposing a moratorium on hydro-fracking, while state environmental officials study the risks and benefits of the practice. But that moratorium is scheduled to end late this summer. "The DEC is getting pretty close to completing their environmental impact study on the practice," Simon explains. "From what I've heard, there's the expectation that Governor Cuomo is going to lift the ban. So we just want to be in a position where we're protected, in the event that the ban is removed." The proposed Town of Wales law reads, in part: ...this local law then bans the commercial extraction of natural gas and oil, using the process commonly known as hydraulic fracturing, and further bans horizontal gas well drilling within the Town of Wales, because those forms of extraction violate the civil rights of Town of Wales’ residents by posing a direct and immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of residents within the Town of Wales; It further states: Permitting the activity of commercial gas or oil extraction utilizing hydraulic fracturing and/or horizontal gas well drilling violates the rights of residents and endangers their health, safety, and welfare by allowing the intentional deposit of toxins into the air, soil, water, environment, and the bodies of residents within our Town. The activity poses a threat to some if not all of the natural water supply upon which the Town of Wales relies as its sole source of water. Contamination of ground water, risks to air quality, the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, the inability to recover injected fluids and chemicals, and the potential mishandling of waste, are all potentially adverse impacts that may occur. The potential costs associated with possible environmental clean-up processes, loss of land value and human and animal health concerns are undetermined. Fracturing fluid used far below the earth's surface can pollute fresh water zones, contaminate surface or near-surface water supplies, impact the rock shelf causing seismic events or lead to surface subsidence. Also, water-related pollution events that occur from hydraulic fracturing are on, or relatively-near, the surface. With the transport, handing, storage and use of chemicals, and chemical-laden water, on sites, accidents that release materials into the environment may occur. A public hearing on the proposed law was held Tuesday night. Simon estimates that of the 100 or so residents who attended, about 95 percent were in favor of passing it. The Town Board is scheduled to vote on the law at its regular meeting on April 12, and Simon expects that the legislation will pass at that time. However, even if that happens, the well water supply still won't be completely protected. "What's interesting is that, with horizontal drilling, theoretically... somebody in the town of, for example, Holland could drill a well, use the horizontal drilling process, and actually drill under the Town of Wales, and not necessarily be in violation of our local law," Simon explains. "Which is the reason that we believe that it will be important for other localities to get on board with us and pass similar bans." "I believe this is a situation where, there's strength in numbers. Just because of the physical capabilities of this type of drilling, we're not 100 percent protected just by prohibiting the practice within the town limits." "We're hoping that our town will get out in front of it, and then maybe, set the example for other towns," Simon says. Wales would be the first municipality in New York State to impose a permanent, legal ban on hydro-fracking. http://www.wben.com/Wales-Considers-Outlawing-Hydro-Fracking/9464614

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MPs expect Karoo gas exploration to get nod soon

MPs on the mineral resources committee say they sense that Falcon Oil & Gas will be the first company permitted to begin oil shale extraction in the Karoo, and that this could happen within weeks rather than months.

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  Gas off southern Cape will cost $1bn, says PetroSA
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  Shell's shale gas plans stir controversy 

The MPs also said their primary consideration was the utility of extracting shale gas, providing environmental management met international standards.

Their comments follow a presentation given on Tuesday by the Petroleum Agency of SA, the regulating body responsible for issuing exploration permission.

In her presentation, Jennifer Marot, the Petroleum Agency's manager for frontier geology, outlined why shale gas needed to be extracted using a controversial process called "fracking", in which a million litres of water could be used to sink a well in order to fracture rock so as to extract gas.

Shale is compressed rock that is made up of fine-grained material such as clay and silt and has low permeability, meaning the gas does not flow easily.

Marot pointed out that potential gas shale was found throughout the world and may allow countries to achieve energy independence.

"Gas is a much cleaner energy source than coal - carbon emissions are 50% lower, which can help combat global warming and is lower in other pollutants," she said.

Marot told the committee that gas power stations could be switched on and off easily and so gas was a useful foundation fuel for the development of renewable - but unreliable - energy such as wind and solar power.

She also emphasised that shale gas extraction was clean, could create potentially cheap electricity and help stimulate jobs in rural communities.

However, environmental concerns included the fact that shale gas was still a fossil fuel; that it could cause groundwater contamination; the large surface footprint created by the drilling, dust and noise pollution; the release of naturally occurring radioactive material; and the large amount of water used in the initial exploration process.

"Mitigation (of the environmental concerns) is usually possible, but expensive," Marot said.

While the Petroleum Agency's presentation gave no indication of where it stood on the issue of fracking in the Karoo or how far it was in its process of granting permission, the politicians said they sensed that exploration could begin soon.

"I have a definite sense that the first permission will be granted to Falcon Oil & Gas within weeks," said the Democratic Alliance's shadow mineral resources minister, Hendrik Smit. "I believe that was the first of the applications and so it makes sense to believe it would be the first to be granted permission."

ANC MP Faith Bikani said that if it was true that the permission was about to be granted, then the Petroleum Agency must give Parliament more information about the budget and the jobs that would be created.

"Our priority here is seeing how many jobs would be created by developing this industry. Secondly, would this industry help secure our energy supplies and, thirdly, how would the local communities benefit," she said.

Bikani said that the environmental concerns could be managed easily, but that she did expect strict adherence to the regulations and stipulations that may be imposed on the companies wanting to explore.

Smit said that he would not oppose the exploration and the method used if the environmental management met international criteria.

"Essentially it means that that the Department of Environmental Affairs must be happy that all the environmental planning considerations are in place," he said.

Falcon Oil & Gas is a US company listed in Canada. It has applied for permission to explore a 10,0000 hectare zone from Ceres to Aberdeen.

Global petroleum group Shell has applied to explore a 95,000 hectare area stretching from Dordrecht to Sutherland and has indicated that it expects a decision from the Petroleum Agency in August.

Another company, Bundu, has applied to explore for gas in a 30,000 hectare area near Graaff-Reinet.

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Good reading, let us stand together

Municipality pledges to probe fracking

http://www.weekendpost.co.za/news/article/959

 

Get out the Karoo, farmers tell Shell

http://www.weekendpost.co.za/news/article/958

 

Farmers stress key role of groundwater

http://www.weekendpost.co.za/news/article/960

Cameos of the Karoo: A journey into the heartland

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION Geraldine Bennett*| 22 March 2011 12:46

Moneyweb gets up-close and personal with the inhabitants of the Great Karoo.

RICHMOND, NORTHERN CAPE  - “We see the light at the end of the tunnel and now Shell is going to put it out”.  These are the words of Richmond emerging farmer, Clive Bruce. 

In a Moneyweb interview at the Caltex garage in Richmond, Northern Cape, Bruce, and another emerging farmer, Derrek “Wha” Olifant, said that this is what they have been working toward for three years …and now Shell Exploration, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell has muscled its way into their lives. 

Shell didn’t knock and it wasn’t invited, but ever since its notification of an application to explore for shale-gas in the South African heartland, the People of the Great Karoo have been forced out of their comfort zones if opposed to the petrochemical giants mammoth upstream advances. 

Land of Windmills

Twenty eight members of the Richmond Emerging Farmers Cooperative Ltd (Richmond Opkomende Boere Kooperasie Bpk), who have waited almost three years to get up and running, now run the risk of having their R1.5m loan declined.

For the past three years the 28 members, whose participation in a proposed sheep, lucerne and vegetable operation on the farm Merweville, have funded their running costs from the income of the pensioners who are also members in the scheme.  These pensioners, although not actively involved in the day-to-day operations add their tuppence-worth by contributing financially to the livelihoods of the rest of the members while the co-operative farming venture takes shape. 

Daan van der Merwe, a retired deciduous fruit and livestock farmer from Ceres, Koue Bokkeveld, has been appointed mentor for this project via consultants Ethics and Leadership Institute, or ELI Group.  In conjunction with the active members he has drawn up a business and production plan together with a budget.   

Big names, Standard Bank, Absa, Department of Agriculture and the Landbank have been approached.

“We are also speaking to Khula Bank,” says Van der Merwe. 

This is the ‘light’ that Bruce speaks of. 

“For three years we have struggled, but we have not given up, and now with a mentor teaching us the ropes we see the light via a R1.5m loan …and just as we breath again Shell and its billion dollar slush fund has the potential to strip away our dream.” 

“The farm was purchased by the Ubuntu Municipality in 2007 and the emerging farmers cooperative has a ten year rental contract. The fact that they do not own the land makes funding challenging as they are not in a position to offer security”, says Van der Merwe.   

The funds are required to ‘stock’ up and implement self-sustaining options such as their own grazing and the cultivation of vegetables for local sale and consumption. 

“This initiative touches the lives of around 100 people,” says Olifant. “And we want to add to that by contributing to employment opportunities in the area”.

Bruce reckons, from his perspective in the local Richmond ‘township’ Sabelo, that unemployment is as high as “95%”. “If we can contribute just 10% to that by employing and training locals to farm again, then many more families will have food on their plates”.   

“…en nou hie kom Sjell en hulle siddi ligte af”

Olifant and Bruce are two of the 28 members of the Richmond emerging farmers cooperative project willing to speak about their dreams, which they say have been shattered and rebuilt so often over the past three years.

Derrek Wha Olifant (L) & Clive Bruce (R)

There is a quiet pride in Olifant and a determination in Bruce as they talk about their plans once this funding is finally approved.

“We want to build this farm into a success for our children”.  We are old and our lives are lived, but what of our children whose future stretches before them?” 

Says Olifant, “All that we hope to achieve for ourselves is the promise of a future for our children”.

Olifant, the elder of the two, and referred to in the colloquial as Bra Wha has four children, and Bruce three. 

“This fracking application by Shell will definitely have a detrimental effect “nadelige impak” on our dream”, says Bruce. “What about our camps and our grazing?”

Bruce is the more informed of the two about Shell’s fracking application.  For them, the 90 000 square kms sounds serious but of more worry is the fact that investors close to a decision on a R1.5m loan could become jittery at the possibility of medium term water scarcity and contamination. This carries the risk of non-repayment since underground water in this arid landscape is absolutely essential for survival and fracking is highly water intensive.

“If they poison our water with chemicals, or they use it all up, our big plans are going to fail”. This possibility worries them.

Funding is necessary to buy 500 sheep and 15 rams for sale as lamb, mutton and wool; plant seven hectares under lucerne for grazing, and four hectares of vegetables. The latter will be sold into the local community.   

“If our farming venture is allowed to become a reality, we can offer jobs as well”, says Olifant. “If we can contribute 10% to Richmond jobs, then just imagine the difference this will make to many families in the area. 

Put your lights off

Asked whether he believed that Shell would offer jobs to the local community, both Bruce and Olifant in unison said that this would not be the case. “We’ve heard this line before!”

Citing the recent Eskom activity in the area, they say that although Eskom had offered a few locals some work, in the main they had brought in labour from the Far East. Bruce says the worst is that Eskom “paid the locals R2 000.00 a month, but [Eskom] paid the foreigners, who came and left sickness and disruption amongst our local community, R30 000.00 per month.”

Olifant and Bruce who are members of the community don’t believe that Shell can offer anything that they can’t. It’s their opinion that at the end of the day “a person can’t eat petrol”.  

No Water no Life

Besides the possibility of water depletion in this already arid area, lucerne cannot be cultivated if there is excessive acidity or salts in the water source. 

Hydraulic fracking is notably water intensive and the fracking mix contains chemicals, which if spilled would contribute to rising acidity in the fragile and complex aquifer system.

Equally, excessive salts will have an adverse effect on crop production, and in this respect, the option mooted by Shell of using “seawater in the fracking mix” should also be avoided.

Roland du Toit, a Beaufort West farmer, has 40 water wells on his 16 000 hectare family farm. He says that 95 percent of his water supply comes from below ground. 

“The farmers in this area are entirely reliant on underground water for their survival.  If there is the remotest possibility of contamination it spells disaster.” 

Du Toit, a merino, angora goat, cattle, game and lucerne farmer has no idea of what other possible source of water would be provided should underground water become contaminated, or depleted.

Du Toit can’t say what the impact of acid in water will be on his lucerne, because he says “We’ve never had to worry about that”. “The Karoo water is brackish but still drinkable, but additional salt into the system would make our drinking water impossible to drink, and would have a negative impact on lucerne growth”. 

A Soekor investigation in 1967, undertaken by Port Elizabeth drilling consultant and ex-Soekor employee, Andre Els, revealed evidence that a drilling fluid spill can, and did, emerge almost 40 km’s from the drill site in just 30 days. See In Solidarity with the heartland.

Karooland

In the meantime 2010 multi-award winning fracking documentary, Gasland, is being passed around to much emotional reaction in the Karoo.   

Academy nominated, this documentary reveals disturbing evidence of inflammable water coming from household taps; exploding wells in back-gardens; creeping disease in humans and animals, and suggestion of internal energy cover-ups. 

One hundred and sixteen authorities in the USA have placed a banning, or moratorium on fracking and this is increasing in countries as far a-field as France and Canada; with the most recent anti-fracking petition tabled in Nova Scotia in opposition to Petroworth Resources’ fracking application.  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-fracking-in-nova-scotia/

The documentary Gasland is a sobering expose of US natural gas production via hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. 

For those in the Karoo opposed to the oil and gas giant’s advances it is not yet too late to take a stand against Shell and its cronies. 

The draft EMP is available still for public comment until 5 April 2011.

*Geraldine Bennett, a former high profile television anchor and energy sector executive, keeps an eye on environmental issues for Moneyweb. She can be reached via editor@moneyweb.co.za

Disclaimer: Part of Bennett’s fuel is being sponsored by Craig Elstob; accommodation by Peet & Hannah van Heerden; Roland & Lizelle du Toit, and Dr Peter Baker.  The TKAG (Treasure the Karoo Action Group) donated R1 000 towards her costs of covering this series.

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