Drexel University researchers: Methane emissions rising in PA's Marcellus Shale region

On May 19, a team of researchers from Drexel University in Philadelphia released findings of a two-month mobile air quality monitoring campaign in the southwest and northeast parts of Pennsylvania where shale gas drilling is taking place. Among the study's more significant findings is that methane emissions were higher than reported in previous studies.

The Drexel team employed a mobile laboratory with sampling instrumentation affixed to the outside and computers inside. They obtained measurements downwind of each drilling region as they did not have direct access to the sites. Measurements were obtained around well pads and compressor stations.

Photo credit: WCN 24/7 via Flickr Creative Commons

This study adds to the growing body of evidence that methane, a potent greenhouse gas with warming potential 84 times greater than carbon in the first 20 years after its release, is leaking into the atmosphere at alarming rates. As temperatures rise, we experience the accelerated formation of ground-level ozone, or smog, that leads to increased asthma attacks and lung and heart disease. Absent action, the specter of increased methane emissions could quickly undo any perceived benefits of a coal-to-gas switch.

Pennsylvania must move quickly to directly regulate methane emissions from natural gas operations. The Drexel study once again makes clear that voluntary efforts aren't working. The time to act is now.

Elaine Labalme is Strategic Campaigns Director for PennFuture and is based in Pittsburgh. She tweets @NewGirlInTown.

Methane emissions: A short, easy to understand video on a climate killer

The conversation around how to deal with methane emissions is quickly heating up in Pennsylvania. As the fastest growing gas producing state in the nation, the rate of methane emissions and leaks being generated by our natural gas industry could quickly put us into climate disaster territory.

Natural gas itself is largely methane -- a potent greenhouse gas that accelerates the warming of our atmosphere and leads to more ground level ozone, or smog, which contributes to asthma attacks and lung and heart disease. Affordable technologies exist today that will allow natural gas drillers to capture and sell a great deal of the methane that's currently leaking -- and the cost is mere pennies per thousand cubic feet of gas. This is a problem that already has a solution, yet drillers refuse to act in a meaningful way. It's why we're calling for the direct regulation of methane emissions in Pennsylvania.


Methane Matters: PA Needs to Know from PennFuture on Vimeo.

The above video explains clearly what methane emissions are and why Pennsylvania must address them. Now. The health of our families, and planet, cannot afford to wait. Please share this video far and wide!

Elaine Labalme is strategic campaigns director for PennFuture and is based in Pittsburgh. She tweets @NewGirlInTown.

Needed: Both state and federal methane standards

From Bloomberg:

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering rules that would force oil and gas producers to cut methane emissions, its chief said, stepping up efforts to curb the most potent greenhouse gas linked to climate change.

Gina McCarthy, the EPA administrator, told investors at a New York forum today the agency will decide this year whether to issue regulations mandating emission cuts, or to rely only on voluntary steps.

“We are looking at what are the most cost-effective regulatory and-or voluntary efforts that can take a chunk out of methane in the system,” McCarthy said. “It’s not just for climate, but for air quality” reasons, she said.

Methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and climate advocates have said that without curbs on emissions from the oil and gas industry, President Barack Obama will fall short of his goal to cut climate-change emissions. The administration’s plan to cut methane, issued in March, said the EPA would decide whether to regulate the industry. Rules, if issued, would take effect in 2016, the government said.

The threat of methane emissions from natural gas drilling has been coming into clearer focus this year, and there is palpable momentum for action. Some states aren't waiting for the feds.

• In February, Colorado enacted a comprehensive suite of methane regulations for oil and gas operators – including an LDAR (leak detection and repair) program that requires the bulk of operators to perform quarterly inspections and even requires monthly inspections at the largest well sites.
• Right next door, Ohio recently revised its general permit that requires drillers of unconventional oil and gas wells to conduct quarterly LDAR inspections – in contrast to the once-a-year requirement for Pennsylvania well operators to qualify under Exemption 38.
• Last fall, Wyoming also implemented a new presumptive BACT requirement that includes quarterly inspections and repairs.

So, what is Pennsylvania doing? Not nearly enough. Pennsylvania's methane rules fall far short of what other states are doing -- and what is needed. The potential for federal methane rules is a big step in the right direction. This strategy has the potential to deliver the federal regulatory oversight that is needed to complement state efforts and make sure that all of the oil and gas industry meets basic, common-sense standards to deploy readily available technologies. But federal rules don't replace the need for state action. As the fastest growing natural gas producer in the country -- and a state that emits nearly a full percent of the world's greenhouses gases -- Pennsylvania can't afford to wait.

Andrew Sharp is PennFuture's director of outreach and is based in Philadelphia. He tweets @RexBainbridge.

Pennsylvania way behind on methane regulations

It's a big week for air quality in the Keystone state. 

Governor Tom Corbett has declared this week Air Quality Awareness Week. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a regulation requiring some states to limit pollution that contributes to unhealthy air in neighboring states. And the American Lung Association (ALA) released its annual “State of the Air” report on Wednesday. 

The ALA report found that 47 percent of U.S. residents live where the air is often too unhealthy to breathe, an increase from the previous year, and Pittsburgh and Allegheny County still find themselves on a list on which you're not itching to appear -- the Top Ten Bad Air List. 

Think our air quality is bad? Well, it could get worse. In Pennsylvania, methane leakage associated with natural gas drilling is harming air quality and threatens to undo any of the potential climate benefits from using natural gas in place of other fossil fuels. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas that is 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it’s released.

So what is Pennsylvania doing to address methane leakage and air pollution from natural gas development?

While Pennsylvania has put in place new requirements that exceed minimum federal standards, a closer look shows that Pennsylvania is not doing nearly enough. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection deserves credit for requiring, as criteria to meet Exemption 38, LDAR (leak detection and repair) programs to address “fugitive emissions” at well sites and, under GP-5, at compressor stations. It’s a step in the right direction. But Pennsylvania's rules fall far short of what other states are doing -- and what is needed. 

Some examples:

• In February,  Colorado enacted a comprehensive suite of methane regulations for oil and gas operators – including an LDAR program that requires the bulk of operators to perform quarterly inspections and even requires monthly inspections at the largest well sites.

• Right next door, Ohio recently revised its general permit that requires drillers of unconventional oil and gas wells to conduct quarterly LDAR inspections – in contrast to the once-a-year requirement for Pennsylvania well operators to qualify under Exemption 38.

• Last fall, Wyoming also implemented a new presumptive BACT requirement that includes quarterly inspections and repairs. 

While Colorado has in place a comprehensive regulatory framework to address methane emissions and Ohio recently revised its general permit for unconventional oil and gas wells to include quarterly leak detection and repair requirements (LDAR), Pennsylvania is lagging in placing mandatory controls on natural gas drilling. 

Pennsylvania should require a mandatory and rigorous permitting process. Instead of being in Ohio's rear view mirror, we should be leading the charge by going one step further and directly regulating methane emissions in the name of cleaner air and public health. 

Andrew Sharp is PennFuture's director of outreach and is based in our Philadelphia office. He tweets at @RexBainbridge. 

Coking? Make that choking.

On April 30, 2014 the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) will present its Consent Agreement with Shenango Coke Works at a public meeting from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Avalon Borough Building. 

On April 8, 2014, the Allegheny County Health Department reached a consent agreement with Shenango Coke Works. The agreement aims to curb the facility's persistent, illegal, toxic emissions. Over more than three decades, the Neville Island plant has consistently violated air quality regulations despite numerous similar agreements established in the past. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette outlines the litany of agreements and fines levied over the years. 

Despite past corrective actions, Shenango violated air quality standards on 330 out of 432 days between July 26, 2012 and September 30, 2013. The health consequences of the company's pollution are severe. In March 2014, a group of 36 environmental organizations (including PennFuture), local businesses, and residents delivered a letter to the Allegheny County Health Department asking for specific actions to protect the health of residents living in Shenango's shadow. The letter cited a Pennsylvania Department of Health finding that "children in the Northgate School District, downwind of Shenango, have the highest incidence of asthma in the state - more than double the state average." The health problems are not limited to asthma. The EPA points out that coke oven emissions can lead to digestive problems and, yes, cancer.  

Will the 2014 agreement bring the air quality improvements promised? Doubtful. PennFuture has been reviewing the agreement and we have serious concerns about the lack of objective standards included, which would ensure that the end result is healthy air. Additionally, without more transparency regarding how the penalty was calculated, it is also possible that this agreement will fall short, simply enabling the company to pay-to-pollute rather than clean up its act. 

Clear your throat, then speak up, on April 30. Community members are encouraged to attend and to ask questions. Please join us and let the County know that an agreement is only the beginning. Shenango must stop polluting the air we breathe.

Valessa Souter-Kline is western Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture and is based in Pittsburgh. She tweets @ValessaSK.

Toxic overload

As Allegheny County air quality monitors edged into the red, unhealthy zone on Tuesday, the Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP) and members of a multi-group collaborative (including PennFuture) prepared for a press teleconference about air pollution. The teleconference was aimed at stopping Shenango's Neville Island Coke Works from continuing to dump toxic chemicals into the air. The facility is one of the region's biggest polluters and, thus far, efforts to hold the plant responsible for its illegal emissions have failed to protect the many residents who live in Ben Avon, Avalon, Bellevue, Emsworth and beyond.

Source: www.airnow.gov

Coke oven emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes coke oven emissions as "among the most toxic of all air pollutants." The plants dump known carcinogens into the air along with unhealthy particle pollution that can lead to asthma and other severe health problems.

Enough is enough. 

Shenango Coke Works violated air quality regulations on 330 of the last 432 days. On February 6, GASP issued Shenango a 60-day notice of intent to sue under the Clean Air Act.

The notice, along with the teleconference and press release issued today, make it clear that citizens and environmental organizations won't sit back while pollution prevention laws are broken and the air we breathe makes Allegheny County residents sick.

Valessa Souter-Kline is western Pennsylvania outreach coordinator for PennFuture, based in Pittsburgh.