April 2023 - News - lists.frackcheckwv.net

Hydrogen Could Find More Uses, But Isn’t Practical as Our Primary Energy Medium
by Frack Check WV: Diana Gooding 30 Apr '23

30 Apr '23

# [Hydrogen Could Find More Uses, But Isn’t Practical as Our Primary Energy Medium](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/30/hydrogen-could-find-more-us… but-isn%e2%80%99t-practical-as-our-primary-energy-medium/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/B61B463E-6529-4170-8745-D80CC6282C38-300x200.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/04/B61B463E-6529-4170-8745-D80CC6282C38.jpeg) Shell Oil Co. has this REFHYNE facility in Germany to produce hydrogen. **Is hydrogen a miracle solution for climate, or the new** From an [Article by Ivy Main, Virginia Mercury](https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/04/25/is-hydrogen-a-miracle- solution-for-climate-or-the-new-ethanol/), April 25, 2023 **The hydrogen gold rush is on. Spurred by the urgency of the climate crisis, and attracted by generous incentives in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, companies ranging from oil majors to small start-ups are pouring money into the Next Big Thing in energy: a fuel that is flexible, transportable and carbon-free.** Is hydrogen a critical piece of the decarbonization puzzle that needs floods of new funding, or a[n over-hyped, not-ready-for-prime-time financial boondoggle? At this point the answer seems to be both](https://www.virginiamercury.com/2023/04/25/is-hydrogen-a-miracle- solution-for-climate-or-the-new-ethanol/). In his 2022 Energy Plan, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin touted hydrogen as “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reimagine Virginia’s future and meet energy needs through an abundant, dispatchable, and zero-emission fuel source where water is the only required input.” This statement has its problems, including the fact that water is actually not the only required input. Making hydrogen from water requires a lot of energy, which must come from some other fuel. Therein lies the rub. [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/DAC105E4-0035-453F-82BC-43D3402EA734-300x163.png)](… content/uploads/2023/04/DAC105E4-0035-453F-82BC-43D3402EA734.png) (Click on image to enlarge it) **DIAGRAM ~ How the Department of Energy believes clean hydrogen could help decarbonize the U.S. economy. (U.S. Department of Energy)** One way to make hydrogen — and the method everyone is talking about — is using electricity to split water (H2O) into its components, hydrogen and oxygen, through electrolysis. Energy is lost in the process, so there is no point in using hydrogen for anything that can plug into the grid. Hydrogen is also more expensive and less efficient than battery storage, which explains why automakers are focusing on electric vehicles rather than ones that run on hydrogen fuel cells. Yet some kinds of transportation (aviation, long-haul trucking) and many industrial processes are hard or impossible to electrify, at least for now. Hydrogen, ammonia and other products can often replace fossil fuels for these uses, and perhaps also play a role in long-term energy storage for grid power. **Recognizing this potential, last year’s Inflation Reduction Act included a range of incentives to spur investment in so-called green hydrogen, defined as hydrogen made from renewable energy. Growing the supply of green hydrogen will require a massive buildout of wind and solar as well as years of technological refinement, but airlines, steelmakers and other customers are already either starting to use green hydrogen or say they want it for their operations.** **Unfortunately, any time the government dangles a subsidy, some businesses will look to exploit any opening to grab free money, even if the result is contrary to the whole point of the subsidy. Those businesses do find champions among politicians who are more interested in generating economic activity than in making sound public policy (or maybe they just confuse the two). But getting the rules right is critical for the climate, and for making sure customers get the carbon-free product they sign up for.** **Hydrogen is already used in many industrial processes and in the manufacture of fertilizers but today it is mostly made from methane gas, at half the cost of green hydrogen. Oil companies like Chevron have urged that to build the market quickly, making hydrogen green is “secondary” to making it affordable. This is all wrong. The great promise of hydrogen is the potential to make it from renewable energy once wind and solar have scaled up so much that there is a glut of cheap, emissions-free power.** **That is not the situation today.** Nationally, fossil fuels make up 60% of electricity generation, with all renewables together representing 21.5%. The regional grid that serves Virginia includes less than 10% wind and solar in the generation mix. Renewables are growing fast while coal shrinks, but few states have so much renewable energy that some of it occasionally goes to waste. California has experienced this under ideal conditions, and is likely to be the first to have surplus renewable energy on a predictable basis. **The challenge is that a company that invests in the capital costs of a hydrogen production facility may not want to run it only when there is surplus wind and solar. These companies will make the most money by running their systems around the clock; profitability might even depend on it. Their choices are to build new renewable energy and battery storage for their own purposes and cut back production when they have to, or manipulate the rules.** So as the U.S. Treasury Department writes the rules around eligibility for green hydrogen incentives, corporate America is asking for loopholes. NextEra, the world’s largest renewable power generator, wants to be allowed to use fossil fuels to fill in whenever there isn’t enough wind or solar energy on the grid, without losing the “green” designation and all the subsidies that accompany it. The company proposes buying carbon credits as an offset. The proposal makes climate advocates very uneasy. We have seen this movie before. When the federal government first offered subsidies for ethanol made from corn in the 1970s, the idea was that blending American-made ethanol into gasoline would reduce our dependence on foreign oil and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Forty years later, the program still consumes some 30 million acres of corn every year, and is estimated to have cost taxpayers billions of dollars, all while actually harming the climate. But just try scaling back ethanol subsidies today. Any politician who proposes such a thing gets their head handed to them by the powerful farm lobby. **That makes it really important that rules set into place today for hydrogen and other “green” fuels do not compromise on the requirement that they be made from carbon-free sources. Make an exception once, and we’ll never close the loophole.** ### URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/30/hydrogen-could-find-more-uses- but-isn%e2%80%99t-practical-as-our-primary-energy-medium/>

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WVU Schedules Drilling for Geothermal Research Well in Morgantown Industrial Park
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 29 Apr '23

29 Apr '23

# [WVU Schedules Drilling for Geothermal Research Well in Morgantown Industrial Park](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/29/wvu-schedules- drilling-for-geothermal-research-well-in-morgantown-industrial-park/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/1820A1CB-62E8-4362-8A6A-3FC5FCB48669-300x200.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/04/1820A1CB-62E8-4362-8A6A-3FC5FCB48669.jpeg) **NNE Marcellus Well Pad @ Morgantown Industrial Park** ~ Drilling for the new WVU geothermal data-collection well is set to begin during the second week of May. **WVU announces drill date for first geothermal & carbon dioxide storage research well in West Virginia** . . [From the WVU News Service, Morgantown](https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2023/04/28/wvu-announces-drill- date-for-first-geothermal-carbon-capture-and-storage-data-collection-well-in- west-virginia), April 28, 2023 . . **Drilling will start on the West Virginia University geothermal and carbon capture data-collection well during the second week of May, marking a significant step forward in clean energy research in West Virginia.** The well is located at an existing well pad operated by Northeast Natural Energy in the Morgantown Industrial Park. Core samples at shallower depths will be collected to study the potential for underground carbon dioxide storage. [This will be the first-of-its-kind geothermal study in West Virginia and will collect core samples and temperature data down to a depth of 15,000 feet, critical to testing the potential of geothermal energy in the region. Data also will be gathered on the potential for underground carbon storage in the Appalachian basin — another scientific first in the state.](https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2023/04/28/wvu-announces-drill-dat… for-first-geothermal-carbon-capture-and-storage-data-collection-well-in-west- virginia) The project is a collaboration first spearheaded by the WVU Energy Institute with WVU faculty and experts at Northeast Natural Energy LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy, with support from the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey and Hewitt Energy Strategies. **The DOE provided approximately $9.1 million in funding from the Geothermal Technologies Office and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management. Northeast Natural Energy, WVGES and WVU contributed $2.76 million in cost- share funding.** “The successful partnership between DOE, industry and academia to test the potential of both geothermal and carbon sequestration in the state is a significant step towards creating new economic opportunities in clean energy diversification,” said Shikha Sharma, geology professor in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and the project’s principal investigator. **Drilling will be located at an existing well pad at the Morgantown Industrial Park operated by Northeast Natural Energy, a West Virginia-based energy company.** “It’s exciting for Northeast Natural Energy to be able to use its scientific and operational expertise to help better understand the geothermal energy and carbon capture potential of our great state,” said B.J. Carney, vice president of Geoscience and Innovation at Northeast Natural Energy. **This is the second drilling research project that Northeast Natural Energy has partnered on with WVU. The first was the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory for which WVU coordinated with academia, government and industry partners that started in 2015. MSEEL scientists used multiple Northeast Natural Energy wells near Morgantown to research new technologies to improve well production and minimize environmental impacts during unconventional natural gas development projects.** “We look forward to partnering with the researchers at WVU and the DOE to lead the way in the Appalachian Basin toward establishing additional clean energy sources,” Carney said. “We are also eager to understand the feasibility of capturing and storing CO2 in the subsurface to ensure a sustainable future for our vast natural gas resources already in place. These types of projects fit with Northeast Natural Energy’s focus on providing energy of all types to serve our communities and improve their quality of life,” Carney added. “To be clear, instead of producing energy, this well will produce data,” said Sam Taylor, assistant director of Strategic Partnerships and Technology at the WVU Energy Institute. “The goal is to gather enough data to decide if geothermal reservoirs in the region can be a cleaner energy source for parts of West Virginia and mid-Appalachia, along with collecting data on possible carbon storage.” “We’re excited that the test well will provide WVU students with hands-on experience in the field, working with industry professionals while collecting data, providing them with invaluable, real-world experience as a part of their academic studies at WVU,” Sharma said. House Bill 4098 was passed in 2022 and gave the Department of Environmental Protection regulatory oversight on geothermal energy. Taylor was invited to provide expert testimony to state delegates when the bill was reviewed. “This project is a significant milestone in the testing of geothermal energy potential, not only in the state, but also in 70% of the U.S. where lower subsurface temperatures have prevented its use,” Sharma said. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/29/wvu-schedules-drilling-for- geothermal-research-well-in-morgantown-industrial-park/>

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Mountain Valley Pipeline ~ A 303 Mile “Uniquely Risky” & Unnecessary Experiment
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 28 Apr '23

28 Apr '23

# [Mountain Valley Pipeline ~ A 303 Mile “Uniquely Risky” & Unnecessary Experiment](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/28/mountain-valley- pipeline-a-303-mile-%e2%80%9cuniquely-risky%e2%80%9d-unnecessary-experiment/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/5BE0EFB3-D0B1-4BFB-B63C-3AC90D27D1C0-300x168.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/04/5BE0EFB3-D0B1-4BFB-B63C-3AC90D27D1C0.jpeg) PHOTO ~ MVP pipe in water near a home in Franklin County, VA: according to a local landowner, this pipe was left in a trench that sometimes filled with water up to 2 feet high, for more than a year, until the trench was dewatered ~ Source: Preserve Bent Mountain **Mountain Valley Pipeline: "Uniquely Risky" Due to Plastic Coating & Multiple Other Reasons** . . [Article by Amy Mall, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)](https://www.nrdc.org/bio/amy-mall/mountain-valley-pipeline-uniquely- risky-0), November 3, 2022 . . **Steel pipelines used to transport fossil fuels are prone to corrosion.** Contaminants in oil or gas, such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, can cause corrosion on the inside of the pipes. Rain and dew can cause corrosion on the exterior of pipes when they are stored outdoors. Soil constituents and groundwater can cause corrosion on the exterior of pipes when they are buried beneath the surface, with wet areas more susceptible to corrosion than dry areas. **Corrosion in a pipeline is extremely dangerous, leading to catastrophic explosions and death. Indeed, corrosion problems are the second greatest cause of pipeline failures.** Fortunately, coatings can be applied to pipes to help protect against corrosion. Ideally, pipes are coated both internally and externally to protect from both types of corrosion. Unfortunately, federal regulations only require external coatings for oil and gas pipelines. And pipe coating is not permanent or indestructible. It has to be carefully maintained to retain its protective qualities. If coated pipes are stored outdoors and exposed to the elements, the pipe coating can degrade due to rain, wind, and—especially—ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight. As coating degrades, its protective function also diminishes. Even a tiny imperfection in the coating can create a concentrated area of accelerated corrosion. The rate and extent of coating degradation will vary by the particular circumstances at a site, but according to the National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators: “Above ground storage of coated pipe in excess of 6 months without additional Ultraviolet protection is not recommended.” A 2020 study found that coated pipes that were not provided with additional protection and were exposed to UV rays for many years beyond the recommended six-month maximum “completely failed to retain their original properties and attributes” and were “no longer fit for purpose." (Ref. 1) **Mountain Valley Pipeline coatings not reliable** Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is a partially completed pipeline that would have high explosive risk if it is completed and enters operation. Its large diameter and high pressure are enough to make it a higher risk pipeline than most other gas transmission pipelines. This risk is further increased by the steepness of the Appalachian mountain slopes it would traverse for long distances. MVP is designed to traverse 75 miles of the steepest slopes in Appalachia and more than 200 miles with “high landslide susceptibility,” which places it at higher risk for explosions. This has never before been attempted for a large gas pipeline. **Taking all of this into consideration, MVP is perhaps the riskiest new pipeline construction project in the country. Indeed, it’s been called “uniquely risky” by an environmental hydrologist. This is not a hypothetical risk. MVP has already caused dozens of “slips” where a slope has become unstable, including slopes outside of the pipeline’s right-of-way. And, in 2019, MVP itself reported that a landslide along the pipeline route “progressed to the point where a residence directly downslope is unsafe to be occupied.”** **PHOTO in Article** ~ MVP construction on a steep slope in the Adney Gap area of Franklin County, VA, with a home below ~ SOURCE: Preserve Bent Mountain **Pipes for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) were purchased years ago. From company testimony in a 2018 court hearing, it appears that they were ordered before the project had even obtained a certificate of approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ref. 2). The pipes are primarily coated with 3M Scotchkote Fusion Bonded Epoxy (FBE) 6233 coating. Many are still being stored outdoors throughout the pipeline route in Virginia and West Virginia; some are sitting in trenches in the ground and some are stacked in storage yards. Each separate pipe is stamped with the “date of coating.”** **MVP pipe has coating date stamps from as long ago as December 2016 — six years ago. Local citizens report they have not come across any pipe dated later than 2017**. **PHOTO in Article** ~ MVP pipe with 2016 date stamp in Franklin County, Virginia ~ Source: Preserve Bent Mountain **According to the Pipeline Safety Trust, “There are significant concerns about the effectiveness of the FBE epoxy coatings on the pipeline segments that have been exposed to sun and weathering for far longer than recommended by the manufacturer.” MVP’s coated pipe has been exposed to the elements for up to six years because of the pipeline owner’s bullish decision to purchase and coat the pipes before resolving outstanding issues regarding the unlawfulness of its design and permits issued by federal agencies during the Trump Administration.** MVP claims that they will inspect the pipe and repair any damaged coating or thin spots on exposed pipe before installing it in the ground. But there aren't any federal regulations that specify standards for repair. According to the Pipeline Safety Trust, “The regulations are written to largely allow the operator to determine if the coating is appropriate as opposed to prescribing exactly what would make a coating safe or unsafe.” When pipes for the proposed (and now cancelled) Keystone XL pipeline were stored outdoors for approximately six years due to delay, a company representative stated that any pipe determined to need recoating would have to be transported back to a plant to be stripped and recoated. That requires time — and money. Given that MVP is already more than $3 billion over budget and more than five years behind schedule, the company has incentive to cut corners. **Leaving pipeline inspection and repair up to the pipeline company is simply wrong.** The communities along the route need to able to sleep at night with confidence that their lives and those of their loved ones are being considered — perhaps the most important purpose of the coatings. These pipes are sitting on private property that belongs to real people who live in what is known as the “blast zone”— the distance from an explosion where death or serious injury is likely. And they won’t be able to sleep at night knowing that a pipeline company that has been fined millions of dollars for hundreds of state alleged violations is allowed to decide how to address the risks associated with deteriorating pipe coating that has been exposed to the elements for far too long. Reference #1. Keith Coulson, James Ferguson, and David Milmine, “Study of stockpiled fusion bond epoxy coated pipe,” in Corrosion Management, Institute of Corrosion, January/February 2020. Reference #2. Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, Plaintiff, vs. Sharon Simmons, et al, Defendants, Civil Action Number: 1:17CV211, Proceedings had in the Motion Hearing on January 23, 2018. ### URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/28/mountain-valley- pipeline-a-303-mile-%e2%80%9cuniquely-risky%e2%80%9d-unnecessary-experiment/>

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U.S. Secretary of Energy is Misguided on Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)
by Frack Check WV: admin 27 Apr '23

27 Apr '23

# [U.S. Secretary of Energy is Misguided on Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/27/u-s-secretary-of-energy-is- misguided-on-mountain-valley-pipeline-mvp/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/E9EBED77-1927-4976-AFED-0AA34CBA40B7.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/04/E9EBED77-1927-4976-AFED-0AA34CBA40B7.jpeg) One of the rallies over the last eight years opposing the 42” MVP …. **Despite Environmental Justice Pledge, Pres. Biden Disrespects People Like Me in Path of Fracked Gas Pipeline** From the [Article by Maury Johnson (Monroe County, WV), Common Dreams](https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/biden-administration-disrespec… mountain-valley-pipeline-impacted-communities), 4/26/23 **Secretary Granholm 's letter cheerleading the Mountain Valley Pipeline came the day after she promised to meet with me, a landowner impacted by Senator Manchin's pet fossil fuel project.** I am saddened by the depths that proponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) will go to advance a false narrative and spread inaccuracies. This time it is Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm who on Friday, April 21, 2023 wrote a cheerleader's letter rooting for the MVP, Joe Manchin's pet project. It is very ironic and even a bit disturbing that she wrote this letter one day after she appeared before the Senate Energy Committee and the very next day after she told me personally that she (or her staff) would meet with me in the next week or two. I am currently in Washington, D.C. where I attended the Senate Energy Committee meeting on Thursday, April 20. I spoke to the Secretary at the conclusion of the hearing and asked her to meet with me. She indicated that a meeting could be arranged this week or next. But in what appears to be a hastily prepared letter — even possibly dictated by the fossil fuel lobby — she expressed her desire to exert political pressure on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and other federal agencies. **The Secretary apparently decided that she did not need to talk to those most affected by the project or even entertain an opposing viewpoint.** Like many agencies, she did not talk with or listen to any affected landowner and totally continued to perpetrate the social, racial, and environmental injustice concerns that President Joe Biden had just a few hours before expressed that his administration would take seriously. **You can 't have it both ways**: You either listen to impacted communities or you don't. This letter appears to be written to appease Senator Manchin and others in the MVP camp. It is also strange that this letter was filed just before Equitrans Midstream Corporation — the company behind the pipeline — had its shareholder meeting on Monday morning, April 24. You can't have it both ways: You either listen to impacted communities or you don't. **The MVP project is not necessary to support the nation 's energy security and energy supply.** Just because they say it is so, doesn't make it true. It actually would do just the opposite. It would lock us into decades of methane and carbon pollution that the nation or the planet can ill afford. As the lead federal agency for the project under the FAST-41 framework, I feel that the FERC has failed in its regulatory duty to be an independent agency by submitting to inappropriate industry-generated political pressure similar to that which is reflected in Secretary Granholm's letter. It appears to me to be an attempt to intimidate the commission. **In a letter I just completed and sent to the FERC, I requested that they do their job and follow their charter as an independent agency:** to evaluate all projects on their merits and with regard to their impact on climate change and to resist the political pressure placed on them by politicians like Senator Manchin, who would build more pipelines, mine more coal, drill for more oil and gas, despite the fact that it would put us on a fast track to total environment destruction. I do not believe that the MVP project would help ensure the "reliable delivery of energy that heats homes and businesses, and powers electric generators that support the reliability of the electric system," despite what Secretary Granholm may state in her letter. **This is a 42-inch diameter interstate transmission line which is most likely slated to transmit gas for export.** Infrastructure such as MVP destroys communities, pollutes water, harms our environment, and has no role to play in the clean energy transition. Unproven technologies such as "carbon capture" facilitated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act are not something you should rely on to fix our climate emergency. With the severe problems we are facing, these proposals are too little, too late. No new pipeline infrastructure is needed. The rapid growth of hydrogen as an emissions-free fuel is also a misnomer, especially if the hydrogen is produced as a byproduct of more drilling. The transport of carbon dioxide through a pipeline might be the most dangerous thing we could ever do. I believe Secretary Granholm herself knows better than what she stated in her April 21 letter. As extreme weather events continue to put strain on the U.S. energy system, we must quickly transition to green energy and continuing to build pipelines cannot be part of that transition. The MVP project would, if completed, lock us into decades of climate-busting greenhouse gas emissions as it destroys communities and property across its entire route. **The MVP project would, if completed, lock us into decades of climate-busting greenhouse gas emissions as it destroys communities and property across its entire route.** **Now here is the hardly disguised, hard-hitting core message embedded in a (not so funny part of) Granholm 's letter:** _" While the Department takes no position regarding the outstanding agency actions required under federal or state law related to the construction of the MVP project, nor on any pending litigation, we submit the view that the MVP project will enhance the Nation's critical infrastructure for energy and national security. We appreciate the Commission's prompt actions to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities regarding natural gas infrastructure under the Natural Gas Act, and the interagency coordination it provides as the lead federal agency for the project under FAST-41. We look forward to continuing to work with FERC to ensure consumers have access to reliable, cost-effective, and clean energy."_ **That was a very strong armed tactic, if I ever saw one. I believe it is totally inappropriate to write such a letter, especially when just one day before she said she would meet with me and the president issued the Executive Order Revitalizing Our Nation 's Commitment to Environmental Justice for All on the morning before she wrote her letter to the FERC. The president said all executive branch agencies have a duty to pursue environmental justice. Apparently Secretary Granholm did not get the message.** Meanwhile, I am still in Washington D.C. waiting to hear from Secretary Granholm. Personally, I don't understand her rush to write her letter cheering for the MVP. It is also typical of how most government leaders have treated landowners and other citizens in the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/0ACD60AA-63B0-4B8D-BB39-431A6FAF1191-150x150.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/04/0ACD60AA-63B0-4B8D-BB39-431A6FAF1191.jpeg) Maury Johnson inspected a section of the plastic coated pipe here >>> Maury Johnson is a southern West Virginia landowner, whose organic farm has been impacted by the Mountain Valley Pipeline. He is a member of Preserve Monroe and the POWHR (Protect Our Water, Heritage, & Rights) Coalition, both have been fighting the MVP and other harmful projects across WV/VA&NC for 8 years. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/27/u-s-secretary-of-energy-is- misguided-on-mountain-valley-pipeline-mvp/>

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Our Methane Opportunity and Our Responsibility ~ Control Natural Gas ASAP — Part 2
by Frack Check WV: admin 26 Apr '23

26 Apr '23

# [Our Methane Opportunity and Our Responsibility ~ Control Natural Gas ASAP — Part 2](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/26/our-methane-opportunity-and- our-responsibility-control-natural-gas-asap-%e2%80%94-part-2/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/568EFB2E-2EA6-4B62-907E-156AB8AFACE4.jpeg)](https:/… content/uploads/2023/04/568EFB2E-2EA6-4B62-907E-156AB8AFACE4.jpeg) When fracking is done just for petroleum, the excess gas is flared **Getting companies to cut methane emissions is the challenge** Continued [Article by Jim Krane (Rice University), Yahoo! News](https://news.yahoo.com/why-fixing-methane-leaks-oil-132702814.html), 11/17/22 **Motivating U.S. producers to act has been the big hurdle.** ~ The Biden administration is aiming for an 87% reduction in methane emissions below 2005 levels by the end of the decade. To get there, it has reimposed and strengthened U.S. methane rules that were dropped by the Trump administration. **These include requiring drillers to find and repair leaks at more than 1 million U.S. well sites.** **The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 further incentivizes methane mitigation, including by levying an emissions tax on large oil and gas producers starting at $900 per ton in 2024, increasing to $1,500 in 2026.** That fee, which can be waived by the Environmental Protection Agency and doesn’t affect small producers or leaks below 0.2% of gas produced, is based on the social cost to society from methane’s contribution to climate damage. Customers are also putting pressure on the industry. Regulatory indifference by the Trump administration to U.S. methane flaring and venting led to cancellation of some European plans to import U.S. liquefied natural gas. Reducing methane isn’t always straightforward, though, particularly in the U.S., where thousands of oil companies operate with minimal oversight. A company’s methane emissions aren’t necessarily proportional to its oil and gas production, either. For example, a 2021 study using data from the EPA found Texas-based Hilcorp Energy reporting nearly 50% more methane emissions than ExxonMobil, despite producing less oil and gas. Hilcorp, which specializes in acquiring “late life” assets, says it is working to reduce emissions. Other little-known producers have also reported large emissions. Investor pressure has pushed several publicly traded companies to reduce their methane emissions, but in practice this sometimes leads them to sell off “dirty” assets to smaller operators with less oversight. In such a situation, the easiest way to encourage companies to clean up is via a tax. Done right, companies would act before they had to pay. **Using technology to keep emissions in check** ~ Unlike carbon dioxide, which lingers in the atmosphere for a century or more, methane only sticks around for about a dozen years. So, if humans stop replenishing methane stocks in the atmosphere, those levels will decline. **A review of methane leaks in the Permian Basin shows the big impact that some regions can have.** ~ Researchers found that gas and oil operations in the Permian, in west Texas and New Mexico, had a leakage rate estimated at 3.7% in 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic. A 2012 study found that leakage rates above 3.2% make climate damage from using natural gas worse than that from burning coal, which is normally considered the biggest climate threat. Methane leaks used to escape detection because the gas is invisible. Now, the proliferation of satellite-based sensors and infrared cameras makes detection easy. **Companies such as GTI Energy’s Veritas, Project Canary and MiQ have also launched to assist natural gas producers in reducing emissions and then verifying the reductions. At that point, if leaks are less than 0.2%, producers can avoid the federal fee and also market their output as “responsibly sourced” gas.** >>> This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Jim Krane, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/26/our-methane-opportunity-and-our- responsibility-control-natural-gas-asap-%e2%80%94-part-2/>

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Our Methane Opportunity and Our Responsibility ~ Control Natural Gas ASAP — Part 1
by Frack Check WV: Dee Fulton 25 Apr '23

25 Apr '23

# [Our Methane Opportunity and Our Responsibility ~ Control Natural Gas ASAP — Part 1](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/25/our-methane-opportunity-and- our-responsibility-control-natural-gas-asap-%e2%80%94-part-1/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/7AF06D55-D86F-43EF- BF56-F54FA0C513B9-300x168.jpg)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/7AF06D55-D86F-43EF-BF56-F54FA0C513B9.jpeg) OMG! Flaring adds carbon dioxide directly to the earth’s atmosphere **Why fixing methane leaks from the oil and gas industry can be a climate game-changer – one that pays for itself** From an [Article by Jim Krane (Rice University), Yahoo! News Service](https://news.yahoo.com/why-fixing-methane-leaks-oil-132702814.html), 11/17/22 **What’s the cheapest, quickest way to reduce climate change without roiling the economy? In the United States, it may be by reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.** Methane is the main component of natural gas, and it can leak anywhere along the supply chain, from the wellhead and processing plant, through pipelines and distribution lines, all the way to the burner of your home’s stove or furnace. **Once it reaches the atmosphere, methane’s super heat-trapping properties render it a major agent of warming. Over 20 years, methane causes 85 times more warming than the same amount of carbon dioxide. But methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere for long, so stopping methane leaks today can have a fast impact on lowering global temperatures.** That’s one reason governments at the 2022 United Nations climate change conference in Egypt focused on methane as an easy win in the climate battle. So far, 150 countries, including the United States and most of the big oil producers other than Russia, have pledged to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas by at least 30%. China has not signed but has agreed to reduce emissions. If those pledges are met, the result would be equivalent to eliminating the greenhouse gas emissions from all of the world’s cars, trucks, buses and all two- and three-wheeled vehicles, according to the International Energy Agency. **There’s also another reason for the methane focus, and it makes this strategy more likely to succeed: Stopping methane leaks from the oil and gas industry can largely pay for itself and boost the amount of fuel available.** **Capturing methane can pay off** ~ Methane is produced by decaying organic material. Natural sources, such as wetlands, account for roughly 40% of today’s global methane emissions. But the majority comes from human activities, such as farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants – and fuel production. Oil, gas and coal together make up about a third of global methane emissions. In all, methane is responsible for almost a third of the 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) that global temperatures have risen since the industrial era. Unfortunately, methane emissions are still rising. In 2021, atmospheric levels increased to 1,908 parts per billion, the highest levels in at least 800,000 years. Last year’s increase of 18 parts per billion was the biggest on record. Among the sources, the oil and gas sector is best equipped to stop emitting because it is already configured to sell any methane it can prevent from leaking. Methane leaks and “venting” in the oil and gas sector have numerous causes. Unintentional leaks can flow from pneumatic devices, valves, compressors and storage tanks, which often are designed to vent methane when pressures build. Unlit or inefficient flares are another big source. Some companies routinely burn off excess gas that they can’t easily capture or don’t have the pipeline capacity to transport, but that still releases methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. **Nearly all of these emissions can be stopped with new components or regulations that prohibit routine flaring.** **Making those repairs can pay off.** Global oil and gas operations emitted more methane in 2021 than Canada consumed that entire year, according to IEA estimates. If that gas were captured, at current U.S. prices – $4 per million British thermal unit – that wasted methane would fetch around $17 billion. The IEA determined that a one-time investment of $11 billion would eliminate roughly 75% of methane leaks worldwide, along with an even larger amount of gas that is wasted by “flaring” or burning it off at the wellhead. **The repairs and infrastructure investments would not only reduce warming, but they would also generate profits for producers and provide direly needed natural gas to markets undergoing drastic shortages due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.** **See Part 2 tomorrow.** >>> Jim Krane is a Fellow for Energy Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy & Lecturer, Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University in Houston, TX URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/25/our-methane-opportunity-and-our- responsibility-control-natural-gas-asap-%e2%80%94-part-1/>

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Pollution Incidents from Shell Cracker Plant are Recurring Problems
by Frack Check WV: Duane Nichols 24 Apr '23

24 Apr '23

# [Pollution Incidents from Shell Cracker Plant are Recurring Problems](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/24/pollution-incidents-from- shell-cracker-plant-are-recurring-problems/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/A755C990-9BD3-4296-9FD7-250806D916B1-300x157.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/04/A755C990-9BD3-4296-9FD7-250806D916B1.jpeg) The Ohio River valley in Pennsylvania continues its challenging ways (Click image to expand) **Pennsylvania investigating Odor Events at Shell ethane cracker & cited for 3 separate violations** From an [Article by Reid Frazier, State Impact Penn.](https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2023/04/14/state- investigating-odor-event-at-shell-ethane-cracker/), April 14, 2023 The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is investigating a release of odors from Shell’s Beaver County ethane cracker this week. Shell reported on Wednesday the odor came from its wastewater treatment facility, and said the smell could be detected outside of the facility’s boundaries. “Depending on wind direction, the odor was detected in certain areas offsite as well. We are working to resolve this matter as quickly as possible,” the company said. **Under the facility’s state air permit, the plant is not allowed to release “malodorous air contaminants” outside of the company’s property line.** Curtis Thomas, a spokesman for the company, said this happened after the company drained a tank for scheduled maintenance during a plant shutdown. As a result, he said, “a watery oil mix” entered the facility’s wastewater treatment plant, causing the release of odor. The company added water to the oily mix “with the goal of minimizing the odor,” Thomas said. The area nearby was closed off, he said, “and normal work that would have been done in the area was paused.” Contrary to statements on social media, there was no plant-wide evacuation, and no release of the carcinogen benzene, Thomas said, in an email. **Smells “like burning gas and maple syrup”** ~ Lexy Stawick of the nearby town of Beaver said her 7-year-old daughter first smelled the odor when she went outside before school on Wednesday morning. “She just went out in the backyard to get her shoes and she came in and told me it smells really bad outside,” Stawick said. “And she asked me to come outside to smell it, and it smelled like someone had come into our backyard and just like, doused it in gasoline. It reeked of gas.” Rosemary Rush, of Brighton, said her 8-year-old son first alerted her to the smell when she rolled the windows down while driving him to school in Beaver Wednesday morning. “He was like, ‘Mom, what is that smell? It smells so bad.’ And I didn’t really think anything of it at first, but we literally could not keep the window down,” she said. “I was like instantly nauseous, instantly had a headache.” Rush said she drove to different spots in Beaver to see if the smell, which she described as “like burning gas and maple syrup mixed together” was still present, and it was. “It was like this heavy, thick, almost like a cloud of something that I was breathing in that I could feel in my throat,” she said. **PA- DEP responds ~** DEP spokeswoman Lauren Camarda said agency personnel were at the plant Wednesday and Thursday investigating after getting numerous reports from the public and from Shell about the event. The DEP staff documented “on-and-offsite odors, which Shell reports were caused by oil entering its wastewater treatment plant,” Camarda said. Camarda said Shell had reported higher than normal readings for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at the company’s fence line air monitors, and that local ambient air pollution readings reported higher than normal levels of particulate matter. But Camarda said these levels did not exceed federal health-based air standards. Camarda said the agency “has no evidence to date of any unpermitted materials being discharged to a waterway” from the plant. **Problems at the plant not new ~** The event follows a rocky few months of operations at the plant, which began in November, and includes a state notice of violation in December for high levels of flaring during startup operations. Three other recent violations in April were for visible emissions from flaring in February; exceeding its 12-month limit of nitrogen oxide emissions in January; and exceeding its 12-month emissions limits of both nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions in February. In March, a compressor failure led to another bright flaring event at the plant. Stawick said she is worried about the overall impact of the plant’s emissions on her children, 5 and 7. “It seems like Shell is having an issue almost monthly. So I worry about what that’s doing to our air, what our kids are being exposed to,” she said. The plant, which makes plastic out of ethane, a component of natural gas abundant in the Utica and Marcellus shale, opened in November and received a $1.65 billion Pennsylvania tax credit, the largest in state history. URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/24/pollution-incidents-from-shell- cracker-plant-are-recurring-problems/>

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Air Pollution Fines from Natural Gas Processing @ $9 Million Dollars
by Frack Check WV: S. Tom Bond 23 Apr '23

23 Apr '23

# [Air Pollution Fines from Natural Gas Processing @ $9 Million Dollars](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/23/air-pollution-fines-from- natural-gas-processing-9-million-dollars/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/4E46125A-2321-41CA- BAE8-ACC1B21E46F21-231x300.jpg)](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/4E46125A-2321-41CA-BAE8-ACC1B21E46F21.jpeg) (Click to expand image) ~ Meet the Author ~ Michael Barrick to present book entitled ‘Fractured Sanctuary’ **Regional natural gas companies agree to more than $9 million in air quality fines** . . From an [Article by Logan Smith, Newsbreak, CBS Denver](https://www.newsbreak.com/news/3001608774822-regional-natural-gas- companies-agree-to-more-than-9-million-in-air-quality-fines), April 22, 2023 . . **Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday settlements with three natural gas processing companies for their alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act.** **The settlements total $9.25 million that will be shared among the federal agency, six states (Alabama, Colorado, Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming), and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. This includes $346,500 for Williams Companies facilities in Marshall County, WV.** **The agreements also require improvements to be made by the companies at 25 gas processing plants and 91 compressor stations across 12 states and two Tribal communities.** The settlement with one company is notable for its plants' proximity to the Denver metro area. WES DJ Gathering LLC, formerly known as Kerr McGee Gathering, LLC, operates three adjacent processing plants comprising the Fort Lupton Complex located 35 northeast of Denver. To resolve the allegations of state and federal clean air requirements at those facilities, WES DJ Gathering is paying the state and the EPA $1.75 million each. "The area where the Fort Lupton Complex is located does not meet EPA's 8-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ground-level ozone and is designated as 'severe' nonattainment," the EPA stated in its press release. Ground-level ozone has adverse affects on human health, according to the EPA. Methane, one of the primary components of natural gas, "substantially" contributes to greenhouse gases and climate change, the agency claims. The EPA and the Colorado Department Public Health and Environment filed a complaint about the Fort Lupton Complex violations on July 1, 2020. As part of the settlement, WES DJ Gathering agreed to replace older equipment with low- emission valves and connectors; repair leaking equipment; implement a leak detection and repair quality control program; use newer gas imaging technology to improve monitoring and detection of leaks; and improve equipment at a nearby Frederick Compressor Station, including the removal or replacement of two pre-1981 engines. "When fully implemented," the EPA's press release claimed, "the settlement will reduce ozone-producing air pollution in northern Colorado by an estimated 162 tons per year and greenhouse gases by 17,433 tons per year of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), including methane." A second settlement agreement was made with Williams and Harvest Four Corners (The Williams Companies, Inc.), the EPA announced Thursday. Williams is required to pay $3.75 million civil penalty due to alleged failures to control volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from natural gas processing plants. The penalty will be divided between the EPA ($2,227,500), the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in southwestern Colorado ($307,500) and the states of Colorado ($298,875) and Wyoming ($142,500). Williams is also required to strengthen its leak detection and repair (LDAR) practices at 15 natural gas processing plants, including those near Parachute, Rifle and Ignacio, Colorado, and Wamsutter and Opal, Wyoming. Williams must also perform leak monitoring and repair at 80 natural gas compressor stations across the U.S., including 10 throughout Wyoming. A third settlement agreement was announced with MPLX LP addressing noncompliance and strengthening air pollution controls at seven natural gas processing plants and three compressor stations in North Dakota, Wyoming, and the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah. **The consent decrees for the WES DJ, Williams, and MPLX settlements are available at U.S. Department of Justice websites. The public has 30 days to comment.** Congress passed the Clean Air Act in 1970. Major revisions were made to it in 1977 and 1990. #######+++++++#######+++++++######## **See Also:** [Book ‘Fractured Sanctuary,’ about the Grassroots Response to the Fracking Industry](https://appalachianchronicle.com/2023/02/28/book- fractured-sanctuary-a-chronicle-of-the-destructive-fracking-industry-in- appalachia-now-available/), **Now Available** – [The Appalachian Chronicle](https://appalachianchronicle.com/2023/02/28/book-fractured- sanctuary-a-chronicle-of-the-destructive-fracking-industry-in-appalachia-now- available/) URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/23/air-pollution-fines-from- natural-gas-processing-9-million-dollars/>

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West Virginia Ranks #8 in Drilling & Fracking Nationwide
by Frack Check WV: admin 22 Apr '23

22 Apr '23

# [West Virginia Ranks #8 in Drilling & Fracking Nationwide](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/22/west-virginia-ranks-8-i… drilling-fracking-nationwide/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/BAFC6764-CF61-4D9E-91C6-38AB86E2DD21-231x300.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/04/BAFC6764-CF61-4D9E-91C6-38AB86E2DD21.jpeg) (Click to enlarge) Open meeting on West Virginia community struggles with drilling & fracking **How prevalent is fracking in West Virginia?** [Update from the Stacker Service, Apr 10, 2022](https://www.wowktv.com/news/west-virginia/how-prevalent-is-fracking-i… west-virginia/) **Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is a means of gas extraction that requires blasting large volumes of water, sand and chemicals into subterranean rock to drive out and capture natural gas. The first fracking occurred in the U.S. in the 1860s, followed almost a century later by what we recognize today as modern fracking.** Natural gas is significantly more productive than other fossil fuels, with a 92% efficiency rate between wellhead to home compared to 32% for coal. But opponents of fracking cite numerous environmental and health threats, from poisoned groundwater and the destruction of habitats to heightened ground- level ozone that can increase the risk of asthma and other respiratory issues. Stacker analyzed data from FracFocus, a national hydraulic fracturing chemical registry, to rank states with the most fracking wells. States are ranked by 2020 data, the most recent complete year available. Additional data on natural gas withdrawals from the Energy Information Administration is also provided, however, data on gas production exclusively from fracking is not available. On average, a fracking well can produce for 20 to 30 years, with some wells producing for far longer. During a fracked well’s lifetime, output often drops in the first few years from more than 1,000 barrels a day to 100 barrels. That dropoff means new wells have to be dug regularly to maintain supply. This constant demand can lead to boom towns left with rampant unemployment, wells running dry, and potential health and environmental hazards. Water contamination and air pollution, and even heart attacks and reduced fertility, have all been linked to fracking, studies have shown. **Between 2000 and 2015, the number of hydraulically fractured wells in the United States leaped from 23,000 to 300,000, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. These fracking wells represented about 67% of natural gas production and 51% of crude oil production across the nation.** **#10. Wyoming** – Number of wells, 2020: 4,701 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 1,655 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 3.6% Two of Wyoming’s biggest regions for fracking are the gas sand reservoirs in the Greater Green River and Powder River basins. Since 2010, the state has required disclosure of fracking chemicals by companies. Statewide polling data from the Petroleum Association of Wyoming in 2020 found a full 86% of Wyoming voters approve of oil and natural gas production there. Wyoming’s gas boom has provided plenty of power—over 2 million cubic feet of natural gas by 2013—but at the cost of its air quality. The state’s smog in 2011 was rated worse than Los Angeles. **#9. Ohio** – Number of wells, 2020: 6,741 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 2,245 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 2,190.9% Natural gas was extracted via fracking from more than 80,000 oil and gas wells in Ohio between the years 1952 and 2014, with natural gas production there ballooning more than 2,200% between 2012 and 2019. Much of the fracking in Ohio occurs along the central-eastern portion of the state over the Marcellus Shale and Point Pleasant-Utica Shale regions. A report released in February 2021 found that investments into the Ohio River valley to support the oil and gas industry instead resulted in 22 counties throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia experiencing documented job losses. Seven of those counties are located in Ohio; they collectively saw a net job loss in excess of 8% and a more than 3% drop in population. **#8. West Virginia** – Number of wells, 2020: 6,741 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 3,098 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 882.3% As coal mining loses steam in West Virginia, fracking has spread throughout the state. The natural gas boom began in 2011, with the state experiencing a 50% increase in extraction every year since. The Energy Information Administration reported that in the first half of 2021, 34% of dry natural gas production in the United States came from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. When mining operations were done with steam or even horses, the use of “split estates”—when landowners agree to relinquish their rights to the minerals below ground while maintaining ownership of everything at ground level—was widespread. As technology advanced, these old contracts have come to light as energy companies constructed wells and infrastructure for fracking sites in the otherwise remote countryside and towns. #7. Louisiana – Number of wells, 2020: 8,515 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 4,771 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 114.8% Oil and gas companies have long been drawn to Louisiana for its expansive tax incentives, with fracking primarily concentrated in the Haynesville Shale region in the northwestern part of the state. Natural gas is also extracted from the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale in central Louisiana. In 2014, St. Tammany Parish voted to ban fracking; in 2015, a state judge ruled that the town could not use zoning regulations to block fracking. In March 2017, new regulations in Louisiana stipulated that fracking operators must provide a chemicals list for their fracking processes—however, like in other states, those chemicals considered to be “trade secrets” do not have to be disclosed. #6. Oklahoma – Number of wells, 2020: 15,787 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 7,788 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 72.8% Oklahoma has seen a sharp rise in earthquake frequency—most of which are due to “wastewater disposal,” in which liquid waste from gas and oil production is shot deep underground. Roughly 90% of this injection in Oklahoma is to get rid of waste from oil extraction, not fracking. The oil and gas division within the Oklahoma Corporation Commission requires that fracking companies report any potential seismic effects of injecting fluids into wells. Oklahoma’s largest-known fracking-induced earthquake was a magnitude 3.6 in 2019. **#5. Pennsylvania** – Number of wells, 2020: 17,441 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 7,828 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 4,759.9% A historic measure was passed in February 2021 by the Delaware River Basin Commission as all four basin states (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) voted to permanently ban fracking in northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New York, citing evidence of polluted surface, ground, and drinking water. The vote affected two counties in northeastern Pennsylvania that comprise part of the Marcellus Shale. #4. New Mexico – Number of wells, 2020: 20,015 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 9,749 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 19.6% Oil and gas extraction has been touted as essential to the New Mexico economy, with proponents arguing that fracking has been conducted in the state for half a century without a single incident of groundwater contamination. Opponents to fracking made headway in 2021 with a bill that would put a four-year moratorium on new fracking contracts, claiming oil and gas extraction could cause irreparable damage to ecosystems and human health. #3. North Dakota – Number of wells, 2020: 20,364 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 9,533 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 1,663.3% Much of North Dakota’s oil and natural gas production occurs in the western part of the state, in the Bakken and Three Forks formations. In 2012, the state surpassed Alaska and became the #2 oil-producing state in the U.S., a rise in status widely attributed to its fracking operations. Many landowners got big payouts by signing property over to natural gas extraction, but they now face a sobering reality of potential water contamination that could affect farms, livestock, and residents. #2. Colorado – Number of wells, 2020: 20,955 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 14,509 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 164.5% One of the first large-scale American fracking operations began in 1973 in Colorado’s Wattenberg Gas Field. That field, located between Denver and Greeley and discovered in 1970, is the Colorado site where the most oil and gas extraction to date has occurred to date. Over the last half-century, wells have dried up and more have been dug, creating a patchwork of drill sites across rural Colorado that creeps ever closer to higher-density residential areas. Today, drillers have their sights set on populated areas north of Denver, queueing up heightened anxiety toward fracking regulations. **#1. Texas** – Number of wells, 2020: 136,342 – Number of wells, Jan.- Aug. 2021: 82,763 – Change in natural gas gross withdrawals, 2000-2020 (from both fracking and other extraction methods): 79.8% Texas is situated over parts of numerous basins (Anadarko, Palo Duro, and Permian) and shales (Barnett, Eagle Ford, and Haynesville-Bossier). At the end of the 20th century, when natural gas was giving Texas its second oil boom, Anadarko Basin provided the largest output of natural gas anywhere in the U.S. **Today, fracking is primarily done around Eagle Ford Shale. The first fracking ban in Texas was passed in 2014 in Denton, located along the northern edge of the Barnett Shale. The largest fracking-related earthquake in U.S. history took place in 2018 in Texas and was a magnitude 4.0.** URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/22/west-virginia-ranks-8-in- drilling-fracking-nationwide/>

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The West Virginia Hills & Valleys have Become ‘Fractured Sanctury’
by Frack Check WV: admin 21 Apr '23

21 Apr '23

# [The West Virginia Hills & Valleys have Become ‘Fractured Sanctury’](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/21/the-west-virginia-hills- valleys-have-become-%e2%80%98fractured-sanctury%e2%80%99/) [![](https://www.frackcheckwv.net/wp- content/uploads/2023/04/3017A998-CE42-44AE-B5BC-C78E883163A9-300x135.jpg)](… content/uploads/2023/04/3017A998-CE42-44AE-B5BC-C78E883163A9.jpeg) Drilling and fracking on large Marcellus well pads continues in WV **Public lecture on grassroots activism in West Virginia** From the [Announcement by Betsy Lawson, Sierra Club](https://appalachianchronicle.com/), April 17, 2023 _Join us for this open presentation and discussion: “Fractured Sanctuary”_ **What** : Michael Barrick will discuss his new book; ‘Fractured Sanctuary’ **Where** : The public meeting room, Church of the Brethren, 464 Virginia Avenue (Wiles Hill), Morgantown. (COVID-19 masks are optional.) **When** : 3 pm, Sunday, April 23rd Our speaker Michael Barrick will describe reluctant citizen activists providing grassroots resistance against fracking, pipeline construction etc… in WV and beyond. Telling our stories helps encourage, empower and heal one another. Community preparedness and emergency management will be described to meet the threats to our communities from fracking, flooding or a major spill of hazardous chemicals, as recently happened in East Palestine, Ohio. Michael Barrick holds a postgraduate Certificate in Community Preparedness and Emergency Management from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. He has extensive experience in these areas. He was born in Clarksburg and is a graduate of Glenville State. The co-sponsors of this event are the WV Sierra Club, WV Interfaith Power & Light, Morgantown Church of the Brethren, Morgantown Friends (Quaker) Meeting and the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Refreshments will be provided. Celebrate Earth Day by joining us. We hope to see you there, on Wiles Hill in Morgantown. >>> _Betsy Lawson, Secretary, Monongahela Group, Sierra Club_ **See also:** [The Appalachian Chronicle](https://appalachianchronicle.com/) ~ [appalachianchronicle.com](https://appalachianchronicle.com/) URL: <https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2023/04/21/the-west-virginia-hills-valleys- have-become-%e2%80%98fractured-sanctury%e2%80%99/>

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