On January 20, the final meeting of the Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force (PITF), a 48-person committee designed to discuss Pennsylvania's future natural gas pipeline development, took place at the Department of Environmental Protection in Harrisburg. Department Secretary John Quigley stated that “we're about to enter Phase 2. Assessing these recommendations, analyzing them further, seeing which ones can be implemented and which ones cannot be done by current law. This is the start of a longer conversation on pipeline infrastructure."
Over twenty people came to the hearing in opposition to the consideration of pipeline growth. This group encompassed the People’s Task Force, which included Pennsylvania Sierra Club activist Justin Wasser. "The task force has said they could see an expansion of 30,000 miles of pipeline in Pennsylvania," he said. "That affects the health, quality of life, and economy of local communities."
Wasser mentioned the concern about the potential of pipeline explosions and the public safety risk it could cause.
"We fundamentally believe the DEP, Governor, and any public servant should be putting the citizens of Pennsylvania before industry and before private gain," Wasser said.
Governor Tom Wolf (D-PA) has recently disclosed to Pennsylvania residents his stance on combatting the rampant methane emissions crisis that continues throughout the state and nation. Methane is the second-most toxic greenhouse gas and a leading cause of pollution, most notably in Los Angeles’ Porter Ranch neighborhood, which recently suffered the worst natural gas disaster in US history, leaking over 80,000 metric tons of methane from late October 2015 to February 18.
Wolf’s reduction plan is in keeping with the new national standards imposed by the EPA this year, which call for a reduction in methane pollution by at least 20 percent by the year 2025, as well as strengthening the requirements of oil and gas drillers to find and stop gas leaks. “The plan is designed to protect the environment and public health, reduce climate change, and help businesses reduce the waste of a valuable product by reducing methane leaks and emissions from natural gas well sites, processing facilities, compressor stations and along pipelines”, says Jeffrey Sheridan, Wolf’s press secretary.
With Pennsylvania ranking second to Texas in natural gas production, the need for stronger emissions reductions has never been greater. Current EPA estimates reveal 114,000 metric tons of methane were spewed in 2014 alone, with over 35 percent more warming potential than CO2. These emissions have proven to increase cancer and asthma outbreaks, with children and frontline communities at a notably higher risk. According to the National Institutes of Health, methane reduces the oxygen supply and can lead to headaches, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting and loss of coordination.
Recent trends in the EPA’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2013 indicate that CH4 emissions from anthropogenic sources in the country decreased from 29,820 kilotons in 1990 to 25,453 kilotons in 2013. Primary source categories of total CH4 emissions in the GHG emissions inventory include the following categories: enteric fermentation from domestic livestock (25.9%), natural gas systems (24.7%), landfills (18%),coal mining (10.2%), manure management (9.7%), petroleum systems (4.0%), wastewater treatment systems (2.4%), rice cultivation (1.3%), stationary source combustion (1.3%), abandoned underground coal mines (0.98%), and forest fires (0.92%). These source categories accounted for 99.4 percent of the nation’s total CH4 emissions in 2013.
In 2012-13 shale gas emissions in Pennsylvania decreased by nearly 13 percent from previous years, from 124,000 to 108,000 tons. The following year, they rose back up to 115,000 tons, with gas drilling and midstream processors cited as the culprit.
The state’s current methods of regulating methane emissions from new natural gas well pads have proven to be archaic and ineffective. A recent draft update from the state’s climate change action plan reads, ‘’The current system does not require methane monitoring, leak detection, or leak control measures at rapidly expanding networks of natural gas gathering, transmission and distribution pipelines.” Additionally, wells drilled before August 2013 are not required to comply with state rules for preventing and fixing methane leaks.
The governor will adopt a similar set of principles to the ones that the EPA has currently outlined. The new rules will have four parts. From the official announcement:
- To reduce leaks at new unconventional natural gas well pads, DEP will develop a new general permit for oil and gas exploration, development, and production facilities, requiring Best Available Technology (BAT) for equipment and processes, better record-keeping, and quarterly monitoring inspections.
- To reduce leaks at new compressor stations and processing facilities, DEP will revise its current general permit, updating best-available technology requirements and applying more stringent leak detection and repair (LDAR), other requirements to minimize leaks. A new condition will require the use of Tier 4 diesel engines that reduce emissions of particulate matter and nitrous oxide by about 90%.
- To reduce leaks at existing oil and natural gas facilities, DEP will develop a regulation for existing sources for consideration by the Environmental Quality Board.
- To reduce emissions along production, gathering, transmission and distribution lines, DEP will establish best management practices, including leak detection and repair programs.
The American Petroleum Institute complained that new rules could limit natural gas development that has slowed because of low prices. Companies drilled 40 percent fewer shale wells in the state last year compared to 2014 as gas prices dropped by more than 50 percent.
Gretchen Dahlkemper, the national field director for Moms Clean Air Force, spoke with Wolf’s Secretary of Policy and Planning John Hanger following a rally at the Capitol pushing for more stringent air pollution controls from oil and gas.
“This is a good first step,” she said. “It will directly regulate methane and it also has co-benefits in eliminating those harmful volatile organic compounds, like benzene, that are really the most impactful to pregnant women, children in utero and young children.”
Wolf announced the rules would cost companies “a fraction of a percent of industry revenue in Pennsylvania,” though his administration did not release an estimate.
“We are uniquely positioned to be a national leader in addressing climate change while supporting and ensuring responsible energy development, creating new jobs, and protecting public health and our environment," he said in a January 2016 statement. "These are common sense steps that Pennsylvania can take to protect our air and reduce waste for industry”.
Sources:
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/01/environmentalists_shale_coalit.html
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/01/gov_wolf_issues_new_rules_to_o.html
http://fox43.com/2016/01/20/protesters-interrupt-pipeline-task-force-meeting/