Please read below article from the Press Sun Bulletin in Binghamton. I have no idea where these streams are that they mention, or if they are even trout streams, but once thing is for sure: there will be an unquenchable thirst for water once natural gas drilling starts in the Catskill region. Where will they be getting all this water?????? From Delaware Watershed? From the spawning tribs?????
Water-usage permits OK'd for natural gas drillers
Operators get warnings on violating regulations
By Tom Wilber and G. Jeffrey Aaron
Press & Sun-Bulletin
After issuing a stern warning discouraging energy prospectors from helping themselves to regional streams and rivers, regulators began granting water permits to a very thirsty industry moving into the Susquehanna River Basin.
Fortuna Energy, of Big Flats, and East Resources, of Warrendale, Pa., will be allowed to pull a combined 672,000 gallons daily from two rivers and one creek for natural gas drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale formation.
Five other water permit requests from the two companies were tabled and could be reconsidered in the future, said Susan Obleski, communications director for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. The SRBC oversees water resources in the Susquehanna River basin that spans New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The issue of water consumption has been a critical aspect of extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale. Wells are drilled horizontally through the bedrock and require high pressure blasts of a million gallons of water or more to fracture the bedrock and release the gas. The process is called hydraulic fracturing, or "frac'ing."
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection shut down several drilling operations in Lycoming County after officials determined they illegally diverted water from small streams.
On Friday, DEP members met with 150 representatives from the oil and gas companies to make sure they understood the rules for drilling.
Some of the largest firms, including those securing leases in Broome County, are Chesapeake, of Warren, Ohio, and XTO Energy, of Texas.
Most of the water in frac'ing is lost during the process. What is retrieved is often contaminated with brine, hydrocarbons and metals, which means it can't be recycled unless it is treated to remove the impurities. However, there are no adequate treatment facilities located within the Susquehanna River Basin, the commission said. There also are concerns about loss of wildlife habitats.
Obleski said the risks are greatest at well sites near small creeks that can be "sucked dry" by well operators taking shortcuts to the regulatory process.
Drawing water from the main stems of the Susquehanna poses less risks but still must be watched and approved on a case-by-case basis.
Chemung and Tioga counties have been developed with vertical wells to tap the Trenton Black River formation. The Marcellus extends over a much larger area, including Broome County and parts of Chenango and Delaware counties, and south through Pennsylvania.
The permits approved by the SRBC will allow Fortuna to draw up to 101,000 gallons a day from the Catatonk Creek in the Town of Spencer and up to 250,000 gallons daily from the Chemung River in the Town of Chemung. The permits approved for East Resources allow the company to take up to 107,000 gallons per day from the Chemung River in Big Flats, and up to 214,000 gallons a day from the Tioga River in Lawrence Township in Clearfield County, Pa., and Richmond Township in Berks County, Pa.
In return, the companies will have to pay the commission 14 cents for every 1,000 gallons taken from the waterways.
Obleski said there is no limit to how many days the companies can use their permits, but in practice they stop when drilling is finished. That usually takes about 25 days.
Fortuna spokesman Mark Scheuerman said with the water use permits now in hand, the company will continue to evaluate the opportunities for exploring the Marcellus Shale formations for gas.
"We have some projects in New York and Pennsylvania and will continue to go through the regulatory process," Scheuerman said. "The water permits are one of the first things that need to be approved, and it's a serious first step, something that needs to be done."
Water-usage permits OK'd for natural gas drillers
Operators get warnings on violating regulations
By Tom Wilber and G. Jeffrey Aaron
Press & Sun-Bulletin
After issuing a stern warning discouraging energy prospectors from helping themselves to regional streams and rivers, regulators began granting water permits to a very thirsty industry moving into the Susquehanna River Basin.
Fortuna Energy, of Big Flats, and East Resources, of Warrendale, Pa., will be allowed to pull a combined 672,000 gallons daily from two rivers and one creek for natural gas drilling operations in the Marcellus Shale formation.
Five other water permit requests from the two companies were tabled and could be reconsidered in the future, said Susan Obleski, communications director for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. The SRBC oversees water resources in the Susquehanna River basin that spans New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
The issue of water consumption has been a critical aspect of extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale. Wells are drilled horizontally through the bedrock and require high pressure blasts of a million gallons of water or more to fracture the bedrock and release the gas. The process is called hydraulic fracturing, or "frac'ing."
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection shut down several drilling operations in Lycoming County after officials determined they illegally diverted water from small streams.
On Friday, DEP members met with 150 representatives from the oil and gas companies to make sure they understood the rules for drilling.
Some of the largest firms, including those securing leases in Broome County, are Chesapeake, of Warren, Ohio, and XTO Energy, of Texas.
Most of the water in frac'ing is lost during the process. What is retrieved is often contaminated with brine, hydrocarbons and metals, which means it can't be recycled unless it is treated to remove the impurities. However, there are no adequate treatment facilities located within the Susquehanna River Basin, the commission said. There also are concerns about loss of wildlife habitats.
Obleski said the risks are greatest at well sites near small creeks that can be "sucked dry" by well operators taking shortcuts to the regulatory process.
Drawing water from the main stems of the Susquehanna poses less risks but still must be watched and approved on a case-by-case basis.
Chemung and Tioga counties have been developed with vertical wells to tap the Trenton Black River formation. The Marcellus extends over a much larger area, including Broome County and parts of Chenango and Delaware counties, and south through Pennsylvania.
The permits approved by the SRBC will allow Fortuna to draw up to 101,000 gallons a day from the Catatonk Creek in the Town of Spencer and up to 250,000 gallons daily from the Chemung River in the Town of Chemung. The permits approved for East Resources allow the company to take up to 107,000 gallons per day from the Chemung River in Big Flats, and up to 214,000 gallons a day from the Tioga River in Lawrence Township in Clearfield County, Pa., and Richmond Township in Berks County, Pa.
In return, the companies will have to pay the commission 14 cents for every 1,000 gallons taken from the waterways.
Obleski said there is no limit to how many days the companies can use their permits, but in practice they stop when drilling is finished. That usually takes about 25 days.
Fortuna spokesman Mark Scheuerman said with the water use permits now in hand, the company will continue to evaluate the opportunities for exploring the Marcellus Shale formations for gas.
"We have some projects in New York and Pennsylvania and will continue to go through the regulatory process," Scheuerman said. "The water permits are one of the first things that need to be approved, and it's a serious first step, something that needs to be done."
