Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board to review updated oil and gas drilling regulations
Friday, January 29, 2016
Update: Environmental Quality Board passes updates to oil and gas drilling regulations
HARRISBURG, Pa. — On February 3, 2016, Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB), an independent board responsible for adopting environmental regulations, will review the Department of Environmental Protection’s updates to the oil and gas regulations.
The “Environmental Protection Performance Standards at Oil and Gas Well Sites” (Chapters 78 and 78a) rulemaking modernizes and strengthens the environmental controls employed by both the conventional and unconventional industries to assure the protection of public health, safety, and the environment.
The regulatory language has been formulated with the input of more than 25,000 Pennsylvania residents. The meeting is open to the public and will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson State Office Building, 400 Market St., Harrisburg, PA at 9 a.m. It will also be broadcast live online.
“These updated regulations have been carefully crafted to both provide improved public health and environmental safeguards to the men, women, and children of Pennsylvania, and provide needed certainty for the industry. The changes are incremental and appropriate, protecting public health while enabling responsible drilling to proceed,” said DEP Secretary John Quigley.
In addressing surface activities at well sites, the amendments improve protection of water resources, add public resources considerations, protect public health and safety, address landowner concerns, enhance transparency, and improve data management.
To view the EQB meeting live online, please visit http://pacast.com/players/live_dep.asp.
“This meeting is an important step towards finalizing these regulations, which have been in the works for more than four years,” said Quigley.
The rules will be delivered to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission and the House and Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committees, following adoption by EQB.
WHAT:
Environmental Quality Board hearing to review Ch. 78/78a revisions
WHEN:
9 a.m. on Wednesday, February 3, 2016
WHERE:
Room 105
Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market St., Harrisburg, PA 17105
LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE at http://pacast.com/players/live_dep.asp.
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.