Staff writer
The natural gas boom in Pennsylvania has prompted environmental regulators to make the permitting process more consistent across the state while putting a greater burden on drilling companies to protect nearby water sources that are used in the process.
The state Department of Environmental Protection announced last week the changes will streamline the application process and ensure lakes, rivers and streams are not adversely affected.
Drillers use large quantities of water to drill and fracture, or frac, the wells in the Marcellus Shale and usually pump it from nearby watersheds. The changes in the permitting process require the companies to register through the DEP how much they use and where it comes from.
The gas drillers must provide to the DEP information about the well's location, how much land will be disturbed by drilling, the water source to be used for the well fracing, the size of water impoundment facilities and the location of treatment facilities after the water is used in the fracing.
"This addendum to the permit application requiring a water management plan will reduce administrative delays for the drilling industry while helping us to determine what demands will be placed on our natural water resources," said Cathleen Curran Myers, DEP deputy secretary for water management.
The changes are in response mainly to concerns with the Susquehanna and Delaware river basins in the eastern part of the state. Each has a commission overseeing water usage and required the drillers to request approval from them before using the water.
The situation came to the public's attention in May and June when the DEP said it found violations that threatened some of the state's watersheds. The DEP hosted a summit in June involving the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the state Fish and Boat Commission, the two river basin commissions and several drilling companies.
DEP spokesman Tom Rathbun said the drilling companies expressed some confusion in which agency should grant the approval, so the new application falls strictly under the environmental agency and is expected to simplify the process.
"The concern here is that there were so many people they had to get permits from, so DEP is saying that here are consistent standards statewide," Rathbun said. "If you're going to be drawing water from streams or will have an impact on a stream, you have to have it registered and allow us to review it."
The new application format goes into effect in October.
A large quantity of water is used in drilling to the Marcellus Shale, which is about a mile below the surface, and it has prompted companies to transport water or build impoundments to store it.
Last summer, Range Resources, a Texas-based energy company drilling gas wells in Washington County, built the first of several large water impoundment facilities near one of its drill sites in Mt. Pleasant Township and pumped water from Cross Creek Lake. The lined pits holding thousands of gallons of water drew concerns from residents and local officials suggesting that the DEP was not properly regulating water consumption.