Water Wells

MUNCY, Pa. - State environmental officials are investigating new instances of methane contamination in residential water wells and a northern Pennsylvania stream near a Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling operation. The Department of Environmental Protection found the flammable gas in seven water wells in Lycoming County and gas bubbling into nearby Little Muncy Creek. That prompted XTO Energy Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp., to stop operations in the county and provide the well owners with bottled water.

A Duke University study has found that methane levels in private water wells are, on average, 17 times higher when within 1,000 yards of a natural gas drilling site. Of 60 wells that the researchers tested for methane in northeastern Pennsylvania and New York, they found the gas in 85 percent. When they fingerprinted the methane - comparing the chemistry of the methane in the wells with that from natural gas wells in the region - "the signatures matched," said Robert Jackson, a professor at Duke and a study author.

In the new movie Promised Land , Matt Damon plays an energy worker in rural Pennsylvania who has a crisis of conscience about the environmental risks of the drilling method known as fracking. But the reality is much more promising than Promised Land suggests. If regulated effectively, fracking can contribute enormously to U.S. growth and energy independence while combating climate change. The United States has massive deposits of natural gas and oil in shale formations, much of them in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale and elsewhere in the Northeast.

On the heels of penalizing one natural gas operator $240,000 for contaminating water wells, Pennsylvania's top environmental official Thursday urged the industry to immediately adopt proposed new drilling standards rather than waiting for them to be formally enacted. John Hanger, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, summoned industry representatives to Harrisburg to discuss new construction standards for wells drilled to tap natural gas reserves. The new guidelines are designed to reduce the chance of incidents such as the one that has contaminated 14 water wells in the Susquehanna County town of Dimock.

Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection fined a Marcellus Shale operator $240,000 Thursday, ordered it to plug three gas wells, and banned it from drilling for one year in a Susquehanna County community that has been plagued with contaminated water wells. DEP Secretary John Hanger said Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. of Houston had failed to correct problems that caused gas to migrate to 14 residential water wells in Dimock Township. One water well exploded last year, an incident often cited by activists who are seeking a moratorium on drilling.

Pennsylvania's experience with shale-gas drilling has given the Delaware River Basin Commission plenty of reason to take a long and careful look before letting the rigs set up shop in the region's most important watershed. Gas wells bring up millions of gallons of water that carries high levels of radioactivity. Air pollution builds up as drilling rigs and diesel trucks and huge gas-pumping compressors proliferate. Pipelines spread across the land, even where landowners don't want them to cross.

IN THE REGION Delta completes refinery buy Delta Air Lines on Friday finalized its purchase of the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer and will begin to bring back about 400 employees who were laid off last year when the plant was idled. A Delta spokesman said that its subsidiary, Monroe Energy L.L.C., will start a turnaround at the Delaware County refinery after the July 4 holiday with the aim of resuming fuel production this fall. The airline paid $180 million for the plant, with the Corbett administration chipping in $30 million on the condition that Monroe maintain 400 employees for five years.

On the heels of penalizing one natural gas operator $240,000 for contaminating water wells, Pennsylvania's top environmental official Thursday urged the industry to immediately adopt proposed new drilling standards rather than waiting for them to be formally enacted. John Hanger, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, summoned industry representatives to Harrisburg to discuss new construction standards for wells drilled to tap natural gas reserves. The new guidelines are designed to reduce the chance of incidents such as the one that has contaminated 14 water wells in the Susquehanna County town of Dimock.

Chester County's building slowdown is causing some belt-tightening at the Health Department. Income from applications for licenses for new sewer systems dropped significantly during the first half of the year, forcing the department to lay off some employees and streamline some offices. Revenue from other types of permits partially offset the decline. The department has eliminated one supervisory position and frozen three full-time jobs and two part-time jobs, said John Maher, the Health Department's director.