Twenty:One Ratio my Keister

   
The comments and e-mails have been coming in fast and furious lately. In response to my Republican Rape post, I received an e-mail from a fellow watershed advocate ( Thanks, Michael! ) with a link to a gas industry newsletter  (Independent Oil & Gas Association of Pennsylvania) from 2005 that contained the following comments:

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt producers a setback in our efforts to overturn EPA’s
interpretation of the Stormwater discharge rules under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

And this:

We have reported repeatedly over the last several years the importance of resolving the NPDES Stormwater issue. The impact on Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry will be devastating if we cannot resolve EPA’s “power grab by interpretation”. Nationally, a DOE study projects the prevention of development of as much as 3.9 billion barrels of oil and 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. There is little wonder why IOGA has expended so much time, effort, and money to overturn EPA’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act Oil and Gas Exemption.

IOGA will continue to work with the other state cooperating associations and IPAA to seek resolution to this issue. In addition to the litigation, efforts continue to work with EPA to develop a stormwater management approach that protects the environment while reducing the negative impact on oil and gas development. We will also continue to work towards Congressional clarification of the 1987 provisions of the Clean Water Act.

So if you were wondering why PA Senators Mary Jo White and Lisa M. Baker sponsored SB 305...now you know. Considering the number of visits I've had from Harrisburg lately, I'm sure at some point they might even try to eliminate the requirement to post pending legislation online...

Is it recall time yet?

In other news, check out Another Monkey's post about the elimination of funding for the USGS stream gauges on the Susquehanna. Pure and simple, this is plain old stupid. The Susquehanna is one of the most flood prone watersheds in the country. The USGS gauges provide an excellent early warning system to monitor stream flow and predict river crests.  In reading some of the quotes in DB's post, I will offer that I think the 20:1 benefit/cost ratio is way too light. Seriously - according to the articles I've read, it costs $2.4 million to maintain the gauges in the Susquehanna watershed. At 20:1, that means that we'd only save $48M in potential losses and/or insurance payouts if we had funding to maintain the gauges?  In 1972, Hurricane Agnes cost $1.7 Billion. In 1999, Hurricane Ivan caused $6 Billion in damages on the East Coast. The June 2006 flood was estimated to have caused $100 million in damages to Susquehanna County alone!

In today's $, I think the benefit/cost ratio of the USGS stream gauges is more in the range of 200:1, at minimum. The funding should be approved, post haste. If anyone wants some suggestions on other programs hatched in Washington to cut...send me the proposed legislation and I'll make some recommendations. I'm sure there are quite a few pet projects ( f/k/a earmarks) buried in there.

In closing today's post, I'll share a few pics from a family gathering yesterday in northeastern PA. My father-in-law is turning 83 in a few days, and as 4 out of 5 of his children could get together...the party was on.

Sto lat, Benedict D.!

Above: Glazed Donut on Steroids

Below: Zero Calorie - Zero Carb Sour Cream Apple Pound Cake  

Below: The Birthday Boy

Who needs a flash with those smiles?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

    

Sto lat, Aleksander!

       

As a kayaker, I am truly humbled by Aleksander Doba and his accomplishment of paddling across the Atlantic from Africa to South America...at the ripe "old" of age of 64.

My daughter sent me a link to this article with the following comment: "Don't get any ideas."

I started training yesterday.

Aleksander Doba

Here's one of his favorite quotes:

‘It is better to live one day as a tiger, than 100 days as a sheep’

I like this guy.

Read more about him here.   

 

            

Isostatic Disequilibrium and Fracking

     

Say what?

Before I move forward, here's a quick overview on this topic.

Folks, I don't have a lot of time this morning, as I'm being interviewed @ 5 a.m. by a reporter from the UK who has been visiting this blog for the better part of the last six months. BTW, before I forget it, I'm up to getting regular pageviews from 34 countries on a rolling 30 day average. Outside the US, Saudi Arabia, Canada and the UK top the list right now.

As I've offered many times in many different ways, the geology of the northeast contains some very highly folded and fractured bedrock. In other words, it ain't Texas. In addition to the plate tectonic thing and the collision of Africa and North America a few hundred million years ago, we also have the aftermath of a more recent event, the last Ice Age & post-glacial rebound, throwing a whole 'nother factor into the complexity of the earth under our feet.

Trust me, the oil & gas industry geoscientist-types know damn well this is an issue, but of course, they need their jobs like everyone else so they keep their mouths shut and their fingers crossed.

You don't need a science degree or a whole lotta smarts to get this. Think about it for a moment. As covered in a prior post, there is no such thing as 100% impermeable or unfractured bedrock. Throw glacial rebound into the mix, and then start fracking thousands of square miles of bedrock a mile or two underground...well, I think you get the potential picture. And if you don't...trust me - eventually and unfortunately we all will.

For anyone interested, here's an online quiz that may be of interest.

Maybe.

Time flies when you're having fun, and it's 4:44 a.m. and I've got to sign-off now. If you get nothing else from this post, I hope you'll remember that the next time you think you felt the earth move...you probably did.

Have a good weekend.

     

If Penn State says it...

         
 ...and it has anything to do with the environmental impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling, disregard every syllable.

Here's the latest from another PSU Professor as they attempt to discredit GASLAND:

But Michael Arthur, a Penn State professor of geosciences, countered that most of the evidence taken from the film were from shallow coalbed methane systems in Wyoming and Colorado, where there is potential for groundwater contamination from fracking.

“That potential does not exist in Pennsylvania,” Arthur said.

Really? Does NOT exist?

Anyway, read The Daily Collegian Online's article here, including comments attributed to Dr. Terry Engelder.

As I've offered previously on this blog, I highly recommend that the administration of Penn State University muzzle these folks from making any statements related to the exploitation of the Marcellus Shale. There is no question in this blogger's mind these guys are intimately and inappropriately connected to the natural gas drilling industry and their various coalitions at many levels.

None.

To that end, with the written permission of the program's host, I recorded a presentation by Dr. Engelder in early 2010. If I can figure out how to upload the entire video to my Vimeo site, I'll post it over the weekend. If  you have any malingering questions after viewing it as to who any of the speakers actually works for, they should all be finally put to rest.

 

Senate of PA: Get Back to Work!

        
For the follow-up visitors I get today, and for the record, I've been registered as a Republican for the past ~23 years, although I rarely have voted that way for the last ~15 years. I'm seriously considering switching to the Green or Libertarian party...but as I get invited to Republican events from time to time, I just might stay where I am in case I get p-o'd enough to attend one of their fundraisers and share some thoughts face-to-face with some of these "leaders". Maybe I can even get one of them to cry. That would definitely not be pretty.

BTW - if you didn't get a chance to check out Another Monkey's post on HB 305, take a few minutes to check it out here. HJ - you are one of the few NEPA bloggers that clearly grasps the magnitude of the threat. Thanks for adding your voice to the growing and organizing din.

Anyway, as expected, the oil & gas folks have ramped up their efforts to discredit GASLAND and its nomination for an Oscar. Check it out here and in the New York Times here. You should also check out the gas industry's 8 page letter to the Academy here. Seriously...eight pages? There is nothing I enjoy more - save paddling on the Susquehanna before the sun comes up - than watching people who think they are brighter and better than everyone else shoot themselves in the foot and then wonder what the hell just happened as they bleed on the floor.

Now that I think about it, "dumb as a brick" might be giving them too much credit.

Susquehanna @ Wysox, PA - August 2004

Leading up to the event itself on Sunday, February 27th, the next few weeks should offer some great theater, folks. I'm actually already looking beyond the Super Bowl.

Looks like we've had one ugly ice storm overnight. Today should be fun.

P.S. - To all the public servants from Harrisburg that stopped by yesterday; you are wasting the taxpayer's money by spending time on the Internet - and definitely not on your lunch hour - reading my blog. Get back to work and do something productive with my tax dollars.

The Republican Rape of PA Begins

  

PA Senate Bill 305...sponsored by none other than PA's own environmental Antichrist, Senator Mary Jo White (R), along with disciples Senator Lisa M. Baker (R) and eight others (R).

Here's a link to the entire bill, and here's the pertinent text:

+  + +

Section 1. The act of June 22, 1937 (P.L.1987, No.394), known as The Clean Streams Law, is amended by adding a section to read:

Section 504. Permits relating to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. Except as otherwise provided under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (62 Stat. 1155, 33 U.S.C. § 1251 et seq.) or Federal regulation, the department shall not require, consistent with section 402(l)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (62 Stat. 1155, 33 U.S.C. § 1342(l)(2)), a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit for a storm water discharge associated with construction activity for oil and gas construction activity, unless the oil and gas construction activity contributes to a violation of water quality standards.

Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.

+ + +

In a nutshell, SB Bill 305 intends to amend The Clean Streams Law to eliminate the need to obtain a NPDES permit for oil & gas drilling related construction activity. They can spin it any way they want, but that's the bottom line. Here's a brief overview of why NPDES permits are important:

As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain permits if their discharges go directly to surface waters. In most cases, the NPDES permit program is administered by authorized states. Since its introduction in 1972, the NPDES permit program is responsible for significant improvements to our Nation's water quality.

I have no doubt whatsoever that brick-by-brick-by-brick, the so-called "leadership" of our commonwealth will try to dismantle any and all legislation designed to protect the quality of our lands and waters if those laws stand in the way of the natural gas industry that bought and paid for our new Governor. 

Tom Corbett was inaugurated on January 18th. Senate Bill 305 was introduced nine days later.

Folks, mark my words on this day...this is only the beginning of what they have been planning.

In case you were wondering...

Et tu, Senator Baker?

  

    

Only the beginning...