Williamsport, Pa., used to be most known for housing the Little League World Series. Now it's known for Marcellus shale drilling. Back in October, we sent a crew there to find out how the drilling industry has affected all aspects of life since it first hit nearly five years ago. Our hopes were to show the Valley what it might expect as gas companies begin leasing and drilling our own Utica shale formation.
You can find out about what we learned and read the personal stories of Williamsport residents in the series of articles under the Living with the Gas Rush Tab. There's also an extensive list of other stories, video and images featuring anything from leasing and the environment to the economy and transportation on this Shale News webpage.
Many in Williamsport credit the Marcellus shale industry with filling shopping centers and industrial parks, growing businesses and the job market and even helping the area dodge the recession.
Many also say those benefits aren’t worth the consequences.
The drilling method is new, and there have been reports of spills, well blow-outs and water contamination.
Gas companies are leasing state forests, parks and game lands for industrial uses, and the countryside the area prides itself on is undergoing a visual face lift all in the name of economic growth and prosperity.
“This is not the Pennsylvania I know and love any longer,” said Barb Jarmoska, an activist with Responsible Drilling Alliance in Lycoming County. “If we take the money, then we are going to give up the rest of it.”
Jarmoska, Drake Saxton and Carmalene Churba are just a handful of RDA's members, each of whom have their own reasons for getting involved in the group, which focuses on studying and educating the public about the pros and cons of shale drilling. Meanwhile, Anadarko, one gas company operating in the Lycoming County area, said every action possible is taken to minimize environmental impacts.
They would not comment specifically on specific RDA claims and concerns.
"Instead of hearing water trickling and birds chirping, I hear jack brakes being thrown and the roar of trucks.” -- Lycoming County resident Barb Jarmoska.
Barb Jarmoska
In 2006, Jarmoska cashed in a large part of her retirement and moved to 20 acres of land in the Loyalsock State Forest. Also a natural health consultant, she built a woman’s retreat and area for kids to connect with nature.
It was going to be her retirement. But soon after, a well pad was built down the road. The road became a thoroughfare for the resulting truck traffic, which increased by nearly 3000 percent, she said.
“My dream was shattered by the gas companies,” she said. “To have that claimed by such an industrialized process is just such a shock. Instead of hearing water trickling and birds chirping, I hear jack brakes being thrown and the roar of trucks.”
Jarmoska said each well involves 2,400 trips by water hauling trucks alone. Then there’s the issue of water quality. Jarmoska said the concrete wells that store untreated frac water have a life of about 100 years, according to estimates by gas companies. Each well holds six million gallons, she said.
“So by the companies’ own admissions … those wells are going to fail in 100 years,” she said. “It is not a matter of if it’s going to happen. It’s a matter of when it’s going to happen.”
Her children who lived about 10 minutes away moved to a different state due to their concerns with air and water quality with their new, industrialized surroundings. Jarmoska would move herself, but she promised her elderly parents she would stay in the area as long as they were alive.
“With the lure of ‘the easy money now,’ it’s easy to minimize the risk, because nobody who’s alive now is going to see that,” said Jarmoska.
“They now have invaded our home." -- Drake Saxton, Lycoming County resident.
Drake and Andrea Saxton
Drake and Andrea Saxton live in a Muncy, Pa., home they’ve spent the last 25 years upgrading.
The barn was hauled to their property from 45 miles away. Every room in their house has an artifact from the old one they tore down. She was general contractor, he installed the electric. They operate a bed and breakfast right next door.
And their well water is contaminated with methane.
“They told us we can drink this water, that it wouldn’t hurt us. But I don’t view it that way,” said Saxton. “Our house can blow up. Will the next thing be toxic chemicals? You can’t bathe? You can’t do laundry?”
Shortly after a gas well was drilled on another property a half mile from their home, the couple was told that a casing deficiency led to the leak. Testers hired by the company enter their home twice a week to test the air quality.
“They now have invaded our home,” said Drake.
It could be worse, they said. Their neighbors living at the end of the lane have a well that’s gurgling and hissing with gas. But they also said the company wants to do seismic testing on their property, which could lead to more wells – and more problems -- down the road.
“We’re fearful we could suffer further complications, and if we lose our water, we can’t live here,” said Saxton.
The two signed a lease, but they said it’s not for the money. It’s for protection. While they are paid a 15 percent royalty fee, they also included stipulations like how far the company must stay from their home and where the pipelines can be installed.
“By the time we found out what was going on, it was too late,” said Saxton. “We had a rather lengthy addendum, but truly, it was insufficient.”
During the initial drilling phase, they said their road was used as a parking lot by construction vehicles. Mud was six inches deep at times, they said, and when it was dry, the dust on the road was so thick they couldn’t see to drive.
They’re afraid the chemicals used in fracing and that are emitted from compressions plants will cause cancer and other diseases and that the area’s landscape will be pockmarked with industrial features. They say their property value has already gone down.
“We have a great deal of ourselves invested here,” said Drake. “We feel that this company … has damaged our lives. They’re in it for the profit, while people like us risk losing our property.”
“I can’t burn tires in my backyard, but my neighbor can have a well pad" -- Carmalene Churba, Lycoming County resident.
Carmalene Churba
Carmalene Churba, her husband and their two sets of twins – ages nine and five -- moved from the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia to 550 acres in Loyalsock Township in 2006.
“We moved to be closer to his family,” said Churba, also a member of RDA. “We really wanted the help and we thought this was a wonderful place. He grew up here. I just thought this would be a better way of life for me and my children.”
Now, she’s not sure how long she wants to stay.
“Now that we’re in the middle of this shale play, it’s always in the back of my mind,” she said. “Down the road, we’re not going to really know exactly, but five or 10 years from now, we don’t know if my daughters will develop asthma. It’s changed quite a bit.”
Before the move, she didn’t know a thing about Marcellus shale or the drilling of it. Right after, they were approached by gas men.
“Of course, I went right home and Googled it,” she said. “I was just horrified.”
Luckily, there is lime under the shale on their property, so the company did not want to drill. But she said there are metering stations and compressor stations being installed in the area. The air quality is already poor, she said.
Dr. Ted Stroter, who has a degree in chemistry and engineering, is also an RDA member. He’s part of an ozone transportation committee with the Pennsylvania DEP, and studies the Marcellus shale drilling activities and consequences.
Having one compressor station, used to increase gas pressure for transportation, is the same as having 4,813 cars running in one neighborhood, said Stroter.
“When you start emitting nitrogen oxide and methane, into the air, all the VOCs are just going to sit in here, and it definitely will affect air quality,” said Churba.
So she’s done her homework, studying up on states like Texas and Wyoming, where shale drilling has been happening for years. That’s also concerned her. She said in Texas, set-back distances from homes are 1,500 feet in most areas. In Loyalsock, she said it’s 300 feet.
In heavily-drilled areas in Texas, she said asthma rates are 25 percent higher than in the rest of the state.
“I feel like there should be more limits,” she said. “I can’t burn tires in my backyard, but my neighbor can have a well pad?
If you stay in a residential area, it should stay residential. It should be industrialized for people to make money.”
“It’s all about energy independence." -- Mary Wolfe, government relations liaison with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.
Anadarko Petroleum Company officials did not want to comment specifically on the RDA members’ claims or about issues with contaminated water and air.
But they said there are a number ways they try to ensure their work doesn’t hurt the environment.
Brian Cain, Anadarko spokesperson, said his company tries to build water impoundments close to drilling sites to decrease water hauling truck traffic. He said they’ve tried to be innovative with pipeline construction and scheduling to also help with emissions.
The company uses three layers of steel protective pipes or casings underground and then surround with cement. Before drilling, the company said it also samples all fresh water sources within 2,500 feet of drilling locations, and they try to use solar panels for energy generation.
Brims are built around gas wells to help prevent any spillage. There’s also technology to detect any leaks, he said.
Officials said fracturing activities are extensively regulated by agencies like the U.S. Department of Transportation, OSHA and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Mary Wolfe, a government relations representative with Anadarko, said that cooperating with landowners, government officials and regulatory agencies is key to successful and environmentally safe operations with one main goal in sight.
“It’s all about energy independence,” she said.
The video on the bottom left player is that of the countryside from a highway in Lycoming County, Pa. The video on the left was taken on an access road cleared of trees at a drilling site in the Tiadaghton State Forest.
We also visited several farmers and landowners who lease their properties for shale drilling operations. Learn about their sides of the story by clicking on the link below:
