Area residents weigh in on EPA's role in drilling

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August 1, 2011

By Jake Palmateer Staff Writer The Daily Star Mon Aug 01, 2011, 03:30 AM EDT

With the Environmental Protection Agency eyeing emissions from the natural gas drilling process, a local voice for drilling said it could be beneficial for the industry.

Meanwhile, a local opponent of hydraulic fracturing said such emissions are an environmental threat, adding that he hopes the EPA's actions are motivated out of concern for that.

The EPA issued a proposal Thursday to control air pollution at oil and gas wells, as well as storage tanks, transmission pipelines and other equipment.

Anna Marie Lusins-McLachlan, a proponent of drilling, said the proposed regulations seemed to be aimed at states where there is concentrated, heavy extraction of natural gas.

"I think we are really lucky in many ways, because we are learning a lot from the mistakes of other states," Lusins-McLachlan said.

The EPA's proposal is the result of a 2009 lawsuit filed by environmental groups.

In March, pollution from natural gas drilling in the Upper Green River Basin in western Wyoming triggered levels of ground-level ozone _ the main ingredient in smog _ worse than those recorded in Los Angeles, one of the smoggiest cities in the U.S. In Dish, Texas, a rural town northwest of Dallas, the state's environmental regulators detected levels of cancer-causing benzene, sometimes at levels dangerous to human health, likely coming from an industry's 60 drilling wells, gas production pads and rigs, a treating facility and compressor station, the Associated Press reported.

The Marcellus Shale formation underlying this region of New York is believed to be rich in natural gas.

"We haven't really begun (to extract natural gas)," Lusins-McLachlan said. "(The EPA) is going to make suggestions as to where we should be going."

At the same time, a state study in Pennsylvania of air quality near Marcellus Shale drilling sites in four counties found no emissions at levels that would threaten the health of nearby residents or workers, the Associated Press reported.

The emissions issues seen in other areas often come from the "blow off" from gas wells, Lusins-McLachlan said.

The drilling industry could save $30 million a year if they are forced to collect the gas that escapes, according to the EPA. "The blow off from gas wells is certainly not our problem at this point," Lusins-McLachlan said.

Adrian Kuzminski of Sustainable Otsego said he hopes the EPA proposals are motivated by or take into account some of the findings of Cornell University biology professor Robert Howarth, who has studied a new Russian pipeline.

"They came up with some findings that certainly are disturbing," Kuzminski said.

The pipeline leaked large quantities of methane into the atmosphere through leaking wellheads, valves, seals and compressor stations, according to Kuzminski.

"Methane is a worse greenhouse gas than CO2," he said. "The methane emissions, as part of the production process, may outweigh any benefits. There is nothing clean about natural gas."

The EPA has until February 2012 to finalize the rules.