MVCAC May 2015

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Drexel Researchers First to Detect Air Quality Effects of Natural Gas Extraction in Marcellus Shale Region | Lab Manager
by Duane 22 May '15

22 May '15

http://www.labmanager.com/news/2015/05/drexel-researchers-first-to-detect-a… Drexel Researchers First to Detect Air Quality Effects of Natural Gas Extraction in Marcellus Shale Region An Overview Article from Drexel University, May 22, 2015 Using an Aerodyne Research, Inc. Mobile Laboratory and fence line tracer-release protocol, the team was able to measure emissions without having direct access to the sites. Photo courtesy of Drexel University While there have been a number of studies focusing on water quality impacts related to natural gas extraction in shale regions across the country, few have looked at the effect on air quality. In a paper recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, Peter DeCarlo, PhD, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences, and J. Douglas Goetz, a doctoral researcher in the Drexel Air Resources Research Laboratory, present the findings of a two-month mobile air monitoring campaign in several counties in the northeastern and southwestern Pennsylvania. The team looked specifically at gaseous chemicals and particulate matter released into the air from natural gas extraction. They compared levels of carbon monoxide, methane, ethane, nitrogen oxides and other volatile organic compounds to those found in other shale formations across the country where natural gas was being extracted. According to DeCarlo, air emission studies of shale gas extraction facilities in this region have thus far focused solely on the release of methane due to its impact on the climate system. DeCarlo’s research has a broader scope and is the first to also test for air pollutants that could pose a more immediate and local health hazard. The most significant findings of the research include: Relatively small increases in chemicals that affect air quality, such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic chemicals compared to other monitored regions. This indicates that these types of emissions cannot be generalized for all oil and natural gas extraction regions. The number of ultrafine particles originating from compressor stations was elevated, although the total particulate mass was not significantly increased. Ultrafine particles, though not regulated in the U.S., are thought to have health impacts. Methane emissions observed were generally higher than those reported in previous studies. DeCarlo’s team collected the data in collaboration with Aerodyne Research, Inc., using its Mobile Laboratory vehicle that looks something like a moving van with several sampling inlets affixed to the roof and instruments and computers for data processing inside. The Electric Power Research Institute funded the study and its air quality scientists helped guide the research concept and design plan. The team took air quality measurements using Aerodyne Research, Inc.'s Mobile Laboratory. Photo courtesy of Drexel University The research focused on two distinct regions of the Marcellus Shale formation where hydraulic fracturing is being used to extract natural gas. Bradford and Susquehanna are two counties in Northeast Pennsylvania that are part of the region known for producing “dry gas”—gas that is predominantly methane. The team spent two weeks in the summer of 2012 in the region before performing similar sampling in the southwestern part of the state, which is known to produce “wet gas.” Wet gas contains higher levels of hydrocarbons including ethane, propane and butane, which can be separated and sold or used in other chemical processes. Despite not having direct access to the sites, the group was able to use a fence line tracer-release sampling protocol. This allowed them to make downwind measurements with the mobile laboratory and provide an accurate assessment of site emissions and potential air quality impact. The team collected air quality data from four types of sites associated with the extraction and processing of natural gas: drilling sites—where the wells are being created; completion sites—the end of the drilling and hydraulic fracturing process when wells are prepared for continuous natural gas extraction; production sites—where natural gas is actively being extracted; and compressor stations—where the natural gas is pressurized for transport. The research included emissions samples from a variety of sites involved with natural gas extraction in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania. Photo courtesy of Drexel University "In looking at a cross section of sites, we identified compressor stations as one of the larger long-term emission sources,” DeCarlo said. Completion sites were another large source of pollutants, although these emissions are transient. “In terms of persistent impacts to local air quality, compressor stations and other post-extraction processing are major sources of pollutants that have the potential to affect downwind air quality.” DeCarlo sees these findings as the first step toward a better understanding of the impact of natural gas extraction on the environment, which will allow leaders and citizens to make more informed choices and policies regarding the practice and energy policy as a whole. “It’s important not only to understand the impact of natural gas extraction on local and regional environments,” DeCarlo said. “But this information also fills in part of a bigger picture of the overall air quality and climate-relevant emissions from the entire life cycle of shale gas compared to other sources of electrical power including nuclear, renewables and other fossil fuels like coal.” Sent by Duane Nichols, www.FrackCheckWV.net

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MUB and energy company settle most of their disputes
by Duane 13 May '15

13 May '15

Morgantown Utility Board Agrees to Disagree with Northeast Natural Energy over New Gas Wells MUB and energy company settle most of their disputes From an Article by David Beard, Morgantown Dominion Post, TheDPost.com, May12, 2015 Morgantown, WV -- Morgantown Utility Board (MUB) and Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) have largely resolved their differences over water safety issues related to three planned horizontal gas wells at the Morgantown Industrial Park. MUB General Manager Tim Ball said in an email Monday, May 11, “MUB and NNE have discussed the planned drilling at MIP, and have resolved all the technical details.” Two matters remain unresolved. MUB had wanted Northeast to provide a $1 million bond payable to MUB to cover potential disruptions of the water supply, and wanted Northeast to list MUB as an additional insured on its insurance coverages. Those issues were unresolved and have been left at an “agree to disagree” status, Ball said. Northeast President Mike John and Northeast’s Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Brett Loflin echoed that. “We’re confident we have everything in place” to protect the water and the environment, John said. Because the well pad is immediately upstream of MUB’s Monongahela River water intake, MUB began discussions with Northeast back in October over several safety concerns, primarily well casings, berms and liners, water testing and the composition of the drilling fluid. “Subsequent discussions,” Ball said, “have clarified that secondary containment and impervious liners will be provided to the same standard as was used in 2011. Those discussions also persuaded us that the details proposed by NNE regarding casing pipes and grouting thereof were appropriate.” On Monday, John said, “We feel pretty good about the project. There will be a lot of opportunities for folks to get a good look” at the operations. Ball had been concerned that synthetic drilling fluid might pose more harm than water-based, in case of a spill. But email exchanges with WVU’s professor Tim Carr, Marshall Miller professor of energy, assured him that the synthetic fluids are biodegradable and eco-friendly. NOTE: The schools near the well pad(s) as well as the businesses in the Morgantown Industrial Park are still at substantive risk from air pollution excursions from these extra high pressure drilling and fracking operations. Leaks, fires or explosions are not uncommon with such operations. Duane Nichols, Mon-Valley Clean Air Coalition. See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Natural Gas Wells Are Increasing & Traveling Far Downwind
by Duane 03 May '15

03 May '15

http://www.itbusinessnet.com/article/Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-from-Natural-… Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Natural Gas Wells Are Increasing & Traveling Far Downwind College Park, MD (PRWEB) May 01, 2015 Emissions linked to hydraulic fracturing, the method of drilling for natural gas commonly known as fracking, can be detected hundreds of miles away in states that that forbid or strictly control the practice, according to a new paper published in the journal Atmospheric Environment. The study, conducted at the University of Maryland (UMD), is among the latest data presented in the ongoing debate over frackings long-term effects on the environment. The team used years worth of hourly measurements from photochemical assessment monitoring stations (PAMS) in the Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D.C., areas to identify the sources of organic carbons in the regions air. Starting in 2010, the data didnt seem to make sense. While theres been an overall decline in non-methane organic carbons and improvement in air quality since 1996, the atmospheric concentration of ethane, one of the components of natural gas, rose 30 percent between 2010 and 2013, says Sheryl Ehrman, professor and chair of UMDs Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the papers corresponding author. Methane accounts for 80-95 percent of the makeup of natural gas, and it is thought to have a global warming potential roughly 30 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. However, until recently, monitoring it has not been a priority. Ehrman and her team could not acquire enough long-term methane data for the study, so they instead tracked other tracer species (molecules) such as ethane, the second most abundant compound in natural gas, and indicative of emissions associated with natural gas drilling, production, and transport. Preliminary research revealed that there was nothing happening in Maryland that could account for the steep increase. Maryland does not currently permit fracking, but when Ehrmans team compared the rise in ethane to the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus shale play in neighboring states, they found a month-to-month correlation. After running a wind rose analysis a tool used by meteorologists to track the wind direction, distribution and speed in a specified area they felt even more confident that Maryland was receiving the tail end of emissions originating from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Two thirds of the time the Baltimore region was downwind of the Marcellus shale play, Ehrman says. The question you start to ask yourself is, if ethane levels are going up this much, and its only a small percentage of all natural gas, how much methane and other, more reactive emissions are escaping from these wells? says Ph.D. student Tim Vinciguerra, the papers lead author. Following the fracturing process, the well undergoes completion venting to clear out fluid and debris before production. A substantial amount of hydrocarbons are emitted as a result of this flowback procedure. And harmful emissions dont necessarily have to come from the well to be a byproduct of fracking, he adds. The diesel engines running the trucks and drilling equipment over long periods of time emit additional pollutants such as nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and larger hydrocarbons that also affect air quality. Over the course of the project, Ehrmans group ruled out other possible sources of ethane that did not produce enough of the gas to explain the change. These included vehicles, natural gas pipeline losses, and natural gas storage fields in Garrett County, Md., located 155 miles away from the area covered by the study. When the team performed the same ethane analysis for Atlanta, Ga., which is located in a region without new and widespread natural gas operations, they did not see the same spike in ethane concentrations. This study shows the potential contribution of shale gas extraction in Pennsylvania to air quality in downwind states, and the need to consider interstate transport when formulating environmental regulations for particulate matter and ozone control, says R. Subramanian, a research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University's Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies, whose own research has shown that ethane is a unique marker for methane emissions from the natural gas system. The strong correlation between Marcellus shale gas production and ethane concentrations in Maryland in particular is a very intriguing result. Weve seen a statistically significant difference in the air quality on the days the wind passed over areas heavy in natural gas production versus the wind coming from areas with no known production, says Ehrman Group member Alexa Chittams, a Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering sophomore currently performing detailed wind trajectory analyses that could provide quantitative evidence that the ethane in Maryland came from neighboring states. This suggests that areas of natural gas production contributed to the ethane increase trends. What these results mean to me is that weve got strong indications that its a regional issue, says Ehrman. What we want to do is bring this to peoples attention, advocate for long-term methane monitoring, and promote regional cooperation in monitoring and reducing emissions from natural gas production. These new findings on natural gas emissions also are consistent with established findings by University of Maryland scientists showing westerly winds can carry power plant emissions and other pollution from states like Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania to the Washington, D.C., region and elsewhere on the East Coast of the U.S. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Maryland Department of the Environment, and NASA. For More Information on the study: Timothy Vinciguerra, Simon Yao, Joseph Dadzie, Alexa Chittams, Thomas Deskins, Sheryl Ehrman, and Russell R. Dickerson. 2015. Regional Air Quality Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale Natural Gas Activity: Evidence from Ambient VOC Observations. Atmospheric Environment 110 (April): 144-150. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.03.056 See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

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Plant flares emit more pollutants than previously thought, the EPA reports
by Duane 01 May '15

01 May '15

http://powersource.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2015/04/27/Flares-emit… Plant flares emit more pollutants than previously thought, the EPA reports From an Article by Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, April 27, 2015 A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formula for calculating the amount of pollutants released by flares at refineries and chemical plants nationwide shows that those emissions are four times higher than previously thought. The EPA said last week that the court-ordered update of a decades-old method used by the government and individual industrial facilities to calculate pollution releases will provide more accurate estimates of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds released by the flaring or burning of waste gases at those facilities. The change was triggered by a 2013 lawsuit against the EPA by Environmental Integrity Project, a Washington, D.C., environmental enforcement advocacy organization. The EPA said the new formula does not apply to, and should not be used by, the expanding oil and gas development sector, a grouping that encompasses thousands of wells and compressor stations that occasionally flare gases, or gas processing facilities that regularly flare. An example of the latter is an ethane “cracker” that Shell Chemical Appalachia, a division of Royal Dutch Shell, is considering building along the Ohio River in Monaca, Beaver County. The Environmental Integrity Project said it was disappointed by the exclusion of the oil and gas sector and is considering further legal action. According to the lawsuit, EPA studies show that flaring releases pollutants at much higher levels than those used in an outdated guideline, which was based on 30-year-old data and hadn’t been updated every three years as the Clean Air Act requires. Calculations based on the new formula, according to Environment Integrity Project, indicate that an estimated 500 flares at approximately 100 refineries nationwide could be releasing up to 52,800 tons of volatile organic compounds annually instead of the 13,200 tons estimated by the EPA under the old formula. It also means that the public health toll from smog producing VOCs, which can cause respiratory problems and include carcinogens, is likely more than $120 million a year instead of the $30 million estimated under the old formula. “The VOC air pollution plume from flares is four times larger than we thought, and that’s too big to ignore. It multiplies their contribution to health problems,” said Eric Schaeffer, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project. Two industry trade groups, the American Chemical Council and the American Petroleum Institute, declined to comment on the new guideline, but during the public comment period on the new formula they expressed concerns it could produce emissions estimates that exceeded facility permit limits and could result in requirements to control emissions under federal and state operating permits. Mr. Schaeffer, a former head of the EPA’s enforcement division, said the new emissions estimates likely will mean that more refineries and chemical plants will be required to obtain air pollution control permits and limit emissions. He also said oil and gas facility flares could emit even more pollutants because of combustion inconsistencies. “If the pollution released by petrochemical plants is four times higher, the flaring pollution from oil and gas operations is not going to be lower,” he said. “They’re going to be higher because they don’t get a clean burn.” The EPA declined to say when it would establish a new emissions factor for the oil and gas industry. Bob Schell, who heads the EPA group that developed the refinery flare emissions factor based on field tests in Texas and Arkansas, said he is not aware of any oil and gas facility test data under consideration by the EPA. Susan Rickens, a state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman, said the new emissions factor will provide the state regulator with better estimates of chemical plant and refinery pollutant releases from flaring, and the state will begin using the new formula in its emissions inventories and permitting process. “Changing the emission factors will have an impact on the calculation of actual emissions from these units that have not had [individual] emission testing done on them,” Ms. Rickens said. “The owners and operators of the affected units must demonstrate compliance with the existing regulatory standards.” According to the DEP, there are 182 industrial facilities in Pennsylvania classified as either chemical plants or refineries, and 68 industrial flares. Some of those facilities operate multiple flares. Sixteen chemical or refinery operations are in Allegheny County, but none regularly flare waste gases. According to the EPA, its emissions factors are used by industrial facilities to estimate and report their emissions, but facilities can also use actual emissions stack testing to report their emissions. The EPA, in turn, uses those industry emissions reports to calculate local, regional and national emission inventories that identify and quantify individual pollution sources and establish emissions control targets. Emissions from flaring can contain carbon particles, also known as soot, unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sometimes sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds. How much of those pollutants are emitted depends on the degree of combustion efficiency. Properly operated flares achieve at least 98 percent combustion efficiency, but Mr. Schaeffer said petrochemical facility flares have an average combustion efficiency of 92 percent. Duane Nichols, www.FrackCheckWV.net

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MVCAC May 2015