A primer on the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD)

PennFuture and four other environmental groups - the  Group against Smog and Pollution, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Clean Air Task Force and Environmental Defense Fund - have endorsed a set of fifteen environmental protection standards developed with several large shale gas producers in the Marcellus region: Chevron, Shell, EQT and CONSOL. At the core of the nascent Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD), these standards were the result of two years of collaboration that included research assistance from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ICF International, both world experts on oil and gas environmental risk management. The initial effort was funded by two foundations, the Heinz Endowments and William Penn Foundation, as well as participating gas companies.

The initial fifteen standards - eight concerning water and seven air  - are intended to be more stringent than current federal and state standards in the Appalachian Basin. Examples include:

• zero discharge of wastewater to surface and ground waters until a safe treatment standard has been developed;
• a 90 percent wastewater recycling requirement within two years;
• eliminating the use of open pits at well pads within two years;
• operators must characterize area geology, perform a risk assessment to protect against fluid migration, and ensure surface and ground water quality is not impacted;
• use well casings and cement to prevent migration of fluids and contamination of ground water;
• use of green completions to substantially eliminate flaring of well head gas by January 2014; and
• compliance with tight air emission standards for all diesel engines used in drilling and any trucks servicing a well pad.

CSSD's members have committed to regularly review existing standards, and will develop additional standards to protect air, land and water.

PennFuture joined in developing and endorsing these standards because it is our mission to protect the environment, and we believe these standards will advance that mission. It is important that four of the major gas producers in Pennsylvania have agreed to meet these standards because it shows that tougher environmental standards for gas drilling in Pennsylvania are economically feasible.

These standards are not a substitute for improved federal and state laws, or for rigorous enforcement of existing laws. That is why PennFuture will continue to advocate for tough, common sense standards to protect our land, air and water - including no drilling in Pennsylvania's State Parks - and take action to enforce existing laws when the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) does not.

PennFuture understands that some environmental organizations categorically oppose the extraction of unconventional gas, in part on the theory that more gas leads to greater air pollution and climate change. Certainly, natural gas should not be the only way we produce power in the United States. However, while the data is still unclear on the benefits of natural gas over coal as far as climate change is concerned, there can be no doubt that gas offers a better alternative when it comes to acid mine drainage, mercury and sulfur emissions.

Coal, oil and gas still comprise about 82 percent of U.S. energy demand. PennFuture works hard to reduce that percentage by advocating for energy conservation and use of renewables. But so long as the nation relies on fossil fuels for electric power, it is our obligation to protect the environment while those non-renewable resources are being extracted.

These new standards could play an important role in minimizing the harm caused by continued reliance on fossil fuels.  That is why PennFuture participated in the process.