FALL 2014 | VOL. 4 | ISSUE 4
TRANSPARENCY
BOOST
The DEP publishes documents on well water pollution. // Page 14
FALL 2014 | VOL. 4 | ISSUE 4
puBlisHer’s NotE
12 // Power plant pickle
Senate asks how to meet new federal rules.
A
s an agency of the state, the department of Environmental Protection is beholden to its customers — the taxpayers who keep the lights on. A recent inspection by the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s office found the department was seriously lacking in transparency to those the agency protects. more than once, Auditor General Eugene dePasquale said no one person is to blame, rather the industry simply moved too fast for the department to keep up with manpower, budgets and technology. // it seems the department got the message loud and clear. Within weeks of the audit report, the department published a rolling list of its confirmed water contamination cases revealing its agents have, in fact, been pursuing complaints and enforcing the law when drillers are at fault. // At the NEPA Energy Journal, we think this leap toward transparency is a victory for the citizenry, but also a call for reflection as we ask why the department took years to publish determinations made as early as 2008. // With the possibility for a new governor in the coming weeks, we hope the administration will continue to seek new ways to give its shareholders the tools they need to live wholesome, healthy lives amid an industry that shows no sign of slowing.
our tEAm EXECUTIVE EDITOR George Spohr PROJECT EDITOR dan Burnett REPORTER Jon o’connell DESIGnER tina murdock PHOTOGRAPHERS Amanda dittmar | Bill tarutis clark van orden | Jon o’connell ADVERTISInG EXECUTIVE trish Roe | 570-704-3955 | proe@civitasmedia.com
18 // Water woes unexplained
couple deal with bad water, few answers
24 // Reaching urban labor
Big cities want slice of the job market pie
03 // Radio man swaps mic for a protractor
06 // Lycoming County judge blocks new well
10 // Students share their
own take on fracking
14 // The DEP reaches new level of transparency
16 // Studies lift blame from fracking 20 // Marcellus Shale news briefs 27 // Guest op-ed: maximize labor opportunity
2 // NEPA Energy Journal
Bill tarutis | For NEPA Energy Journal
Former radio personality Dale Mikolaczyk, left, says it’s Linde Corp. veterans like site superintendent Jerry Corrigan, right, who help sustain the company with a solid work ethic, attention to detail and concern for fellow crew members.
The right place at the right time JOn O’COnnELL | JocoNNEll@civitASmEdiA.com
Dale Mikolaczyk may be the industry’s most interesting man You might know him better as Rusty Fender. And oldies music fans know him as Shadoe Steele. Nowadays most of his colleagues at Linde Corp. just call him Dale, and they know him by his orange hardhat and wide grin rather than his snappy radio voice. Dale Mikolaczyk, of radio fame for the 26 years he went by pseudonyms for
Pittston-based WKRZ radio station and others, last year made the kind of career move fitting for a kid in his late 20s. But at 58, Mikolaczyk finds he is fitting in as a field engineer for Linde, a pipelinebuilding firm headquartered in Pittston Township. But before you drop your day job for a promising career in pipeline engineering like his, there’s a little more to his story, including an extensive background that has nothing to do with media. engineering BaCkground Mikolaczyk went to the University of Scranton and Duke University. He holds a degree in aerospace systems engineering and a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He started his career as a production
engineer at WBRETV in Wilkes-Barre linde Corp. overseeing the Started in 1979 by technical side of Scott linde as a the daily news, but utility contractor. soon he was called up to the local affiliate’s national network, NBC in New York City. At 23 years old, the Duryea native was controlling NBC’s 36 satellites, orbiting thousands of miles above the surface of the earth. Using remote controls, Mikolaczyk, along with his team, operated thrusters attached to the satellites to keep them inside what he called a 40-cubic-mile box, or 2 longitudinal degrees. If a satellite See MIKOLACZYK | 4 transparency Boost // 3
Mikolaczyk From page 3 drifted outside its box, it could result in signal loss for customers, or worse. “They’ve had satellites what you call walk into graveyard orbit,” Mikolaczyk said. “That’s a $2 billion loss,” he said, explaining further that trillions of dollars were at stake because each satellite handled up to 80 channels, many of which represented multi-billion dollar contracts. Aerospace technology has changed dramatically since then, and there’s no longer scores of engineers guiding satellites from earth. “Now it’s handled by a couple of $400 Dell computers,” Mikolaczyk said shrugging. Home Hearkens Even while he worked in New York City, he found he was spending a lot of cash commuting from his home in the Philadelphia suburbs, and the high cost of living in the name of an exhilarating career was growing. “You make huge money in the big city, but you pay it all out,” he said. “I paid more in taxes every year than my salary ever was at the radio station.” He had been traveling to the Wyoming Valley every weekend to host the long-running highly-rated “Saturday Night Live at the Oldies with Shadoe Steele,” and when KRZ proposed to break new ground in 1990 with the region’s first-ever live-from-the-sky traffic reporting. Mikolaczyk was all in. The station sought sponsors to lease aircraft, but, in hindsight, the program was doomed from the start, he said. “It was even a money-loser in those days,” Mikolaczyk said. “I think we used to make $300 in the morning and spend $400 to fly.” The program took a nosedive not long after it started, but Mikolaczyk stayed with the station to provide daily traffic updates as Rusty Fender for the next decade, and playing host for the Saturday night oldies show. It was February last year when KRZ’s owner, Entercom Communications, decided to drop Rusty Fender and the oldies show. But it was his radio job that helped lay the groundwork for his current job. What some might perceive as an abysmal circumstance – a work schedule that allowed for about three hours of sleep each night — turned out to be the thing that kept him sharp and prepared him for a massive career switch. “It’s funny how things work out in life, because I never wanted to teach,” Mikolaczyk said. “But because of that horrible, awful, terrible shift, the split shift I had at the radio station … in between that window, I had about six hours that I would teach either two, three or four courses at Wilkes University.” Teaching a few science and engineering
4 // NEPA Energy Journal
Bill tarutis | For NEPA Energy Journal
Before drillers enter the well pad, welders install piping to carry gas that will be harvested from the Friedland Farms well pad in Lenox Township, Susquehanna County.
classes each year kept him connected with the latest technology trends, the promise for work in the industry and folks who already were working in it every day. new gig At the Friedland Farms well pad in Lenox Township, Susquehanna County, one of Mikolaczyk’s latest projects, he watched intently as an excavator operator started on a pipe trench making way for new a new connection line that will carry gas away from the well to compressor station. The site foreman, near-20-year Linde veteran Jerry Corrigan, hiked up the slope to greet his colleague. Mikolaczyk said it’s guys like Corrigan who make Linde such a terrific place to work. Look around you, he said, you don’t see a bunch of scruffy kids driving these machines, he said, These are seasoned workers, the best in their field. “You gotta want to,” Corrigan said. “If you’re not here to work, then don’t come in.” Leaving Corrigan to oversee his crew, Mikolaczyk walked along the pipeline right where it hugged a treeline on the edge of expansive farmland. He nodded a greeting toward a team of welders connecting pieces of piping together. Stepping out into the open air after 26 years at a desk was one of his greatest changes, he said. “I went from working in New York where, you know, the smell of the day was souvlaki and chestnuts to the smell of diesel fuel and cow manure,” Mikolaczyk said letting out a belly laugh. “That’s been the biggest change in my career.”
gulf spill fiXer It was late one evening in 2010 when Mikolaczyk was sitting on the couch watching TV coverage of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. His longtime girlfriend, Barbara Aversa, suggested he submit a solution to stop the free-flowing gusher of oil a mile below the surface. It was a his suggestion to use a locking plug on the leaking borehole that allowed crews to slow the flow to a trickle, enough to to apply the “static kill,” a combination of mud and cement that ultimately stopped the massive leak, he said. The local headlines gave the man mostly known for his radio presence a good dose of credibility that his knowledge base spreads much further than flying satellites and watching traffic trends. And his experience with the TV networks gave him the confidence that he could successfully map out hundreds of miles of gas pipes to carry gas from well to main pipeline. “Nothing more is complicated than me flying satellites in ionospheric orbit for 20 years over the equator, you know, 22,397.5 miles up,” Mikolaczyk said. “But this is a complicated business; it really is.” Now the former radio man spends his days working side by side with guys like Corrigan to design pipelines where each mile demands careful consideration figuring effects on the environment, cost to the company and maintaining good gas flow. “There’s no book to go to for this job,” he said. “We’re writing it page by page as we go.” n
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Welders from Linde Corp. connect pipes to carry gas from the Cabot Oil & Gas Friedland Farms Pad 1, Lenox Township, Susquehanna County, which now is under construction.
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County judge says no fracking in residential zones The judge says local leaders and a drilling company failed to show drilling would leave pastoral setting unharmed
er Quak ad Ro State
Inflection Energy had already begun building the well pad off Quaker State Road in Fairfield Township.
220
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but about 125 homes within A natural gas well pad, 3,000 feet including a housonce completed, might be as ing development called Pines benign as as pole barn, but one Development, the judge’s opinLycoming County judge ruled ion says. in August that the process to The residents had proven the put it there simply doesn’t fit estimated two to three years of some local land-use rules. work in the neighborhood, with In a case that pitted Fairfield thousands of trucks passing in Township residents against and out of the site, as well as their municipal supervipossible excessive noise from sors, county Judge Marc F. hydraulic fracturing machinery Lovecchio decided township officials and those from Denver- Williamsport Sun-Gazette photo and well flaring could disturb the “serene, pastoral setting,” based Inflection Energy did not Lycoming County Judge Marc F. Lovecchio Lovecchio said. In the end he offer enough proof a proposed reversed the township’s condigas well fit requirements for an tional approval. area zoned residential/agricultural. “This would be less of a concern, and perEnvironmentalists are counting the decihaps not a concern at all, in a commercial or sion as a win and a sign that perceptions on industrial area where people aren’t trying to just what is natural gas drilling is beginning sleep,” Lovecchio said. to shift. “What industry wanted everyone to think is many ‘unCertainties’ that it’s just like any other construction activity,” Mark Szybist, attorney for the environHe said the defense had skirted around specifics and offered no precise answers to his mental group PennFuture, said. “We’ve been living with it long enough to know that that is questions. “The actual proposed use is fraught with not the case.” significant uncertainties,” Lovecchio said in Szybist was part of the legal team arguhis opinion. Of those, he said Inflection failed ing on behalf of Brian and Dawn Gorsline to explain: and Paul and Michelle Batkowski, Fairfield • How many wells would be drilled on the Township residents who live near Inflection’s pad. proposed site. Fairfield Township supervisors had granted • How much water would be needed. • Whether water would be trucked in or conditional approval Dec. 2 for Inflection’s well pad. The township’s zoning ordinance brought in by pipeline. says residential/agricultural property may be • What type of electricity would be used. used for “no-impact” businesses only like day • How long the site would be under construccares or group homes. tion. • Under whose property the horizontal boreThere was only one home situated within holes would pass. 1,000 feet of Inflection’s proposed pad,
6 // NEPA Energy Journal
The property is situated about one mile east of state Route 87, just a few minutes drive northeast of downtown Williamsport. Fairfield Township Secretary Ron Springman said he wouldn’t be surprised if Inflection appeals the judge’s decision, but he couldn’t say for sure. “They did have a lot of work on the pad,” Springman said. “The pad was basically done.” Fairfield did not stand to gain financially from the deal, but some of its residents already had signed leases. “As far as the township is concerned, there’s really no revenue lost,” Springman said. “It’s just the benefits of the people from wherever they were going to be drilling.” pa. ruling Cited In wrapping up his opinion, the judge called on last winter’s landmark state Supreme Court ruling that slashed part of Pennsylvania’s revised oil and gas law, Act 13 of 2012. In a majority decision, the Supreme Court said blanket zoning rules violated the Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and water in a case brought before the courts by officials from Robinson Township in Allegheny County. The judge said neither Inflection nor the supervisors explained how natural gas production is compatible with the zone’s permitted uses, further saying the board’s testimony was not supported by real evidence, and some of it was even out of line with factual evidence. “Judge Lovecchio didn’t decide the case on the basis of Robinson Township,” Szybist said. “But Robinson Township was the animating principle of the decision.” n
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Gettysburg University students weigh
Fracking Pros and Cons Students traveled region gathering data to render their own decision on controversial drilling method After a week traipsing through gas territory this past spring, college student Emma Okell said she no longer is wholly against fracking, but part of that might have to do with the terminology. “People (use the word) fracking to talk about drilling and sending the gas,” Okell said. “But the word ‘fracking,’ it all depends on how they use it.” Okell, 20, of Sharon, Connecticut, along with three colleagues from Gettysburg College, Brian Burrows, Eric Glass, and Ashley Lookenhouse, spent a week in May taking an up-close look at what natural gas production is all about. The students, coming from different backgrounds and hometowns, met with the state Department of Environmental Protection, an NPR State Impact reporter, a renowned anti-fracking professor and homeowners living in the heart of Pennsylvania’s gas fields. “By the end of it, we were asking ‘Is fracking itself the problem?’ or ‘Is it the abuses that are the problem?’” Okell said. “To be honest, I don’t think most people know what fracking is unless it’s happened in their area.” Glass started the trip with strong feelings against the industry, and what he found along the way solidified his opposition to the cause, he said. A 22-year-old senior from Wilton, Connecticut, Glass hopes one day to work as a linguist for the United Nations. On the side, he’s an environmental activist, he said.
10 // NEPA Energy Journal
Jon O’Connell | joconnell@civitasmedia.com
Submitted photo
Students from Gettysburg College gather outside the Bradford County Courthouse in the spring after meeting with county commissioners there. From left to right, Emma Okell, Brian Burrows, Ashley Lookenhouse and Eric Glass toured the Marcellus Shale region to become better informed so to draw their own conclusions about the effectiveness and safety of hydraulic fracturing.
Horror stories A visit to residents living near the Chapin Dehydration Station in Beaumont, Wyoming County, left the deepest impression, he said, where he learned how incessant trembling, low-level noise and frequent emergencies at the site have left neighbors feeling distraught. “It really revealed how much, especially for those that have been affected by this that are directly across from the drilling pads, that are suffering from the decisions made from the political level in their towns,” Glass said. In the last two and a half years, emergencies like an earsplitting valve blowout the morning after Thanksgiving in 2012 and a series of smaller systems malfunctions earlier this year have prompted a lawsuit against the company that runs the plant. “They can’t just get up and leave,” Glass said of the those who live there. “They’re bound to their land because no one’s going to buy it.” Glass admitted most of the folks they met along the way carried angst for the industry, instead of pointing out the benefits of harvesting natural gas. Given his predisposition toward the controversial energy source, he said he didn’t mind.
Conclusions collide They stopped to chat with the Bradford County Commissioners, he said, where the trio of government officials praised the smooth paved roads, the fat royalty checks and impact fees the industry brought along with it. Hearing such wanton adoration from the commissioners disturbed the student, he said. “I almost left the room for how uncomfortable I was,” Glass said. Lookenhouse, who wrote in her blog that she remained “pretty neutral” on the subject, left Bradford with a different impression from Commissioner Daryl Miller. “Not only did he think that the economy and community were positively impacted, but he also cited how the country could benefit from the drilling of natural gas,” Lookenhouse said. “In one year, 800 wells in production have produced enough gas for one million homes for fifteen years.” During their stop at DEP offices in Lycoming County, Glass said they, too, had pushed the idea that gas drilling “was the way to go.” DEP officials said they regulate the industry with more scrutiny than most states, Glass said.
The immersion trip was through the Gettysburg’s Center for Public Service, an outfit that aspires to give students gain information needed to make educated decisions relating to social justice and community change. Transparency, scale The students traveled with their instructor, William Lane, a writing teacher at the college. He embarked with a clean slate, hoping to consider the good with the bad. “I guess in my older years, I tend to be a knee-jerk moderate … a little resisting of extremes,” Lane said. “I was prepared to understand hydraulic fracturing as a complicated matter and that there’d be some kind of truth on both sides, and that’s what I found.” Lane said he’s been kicking around two words since the trip this spring: transparency and scale. It’s unfortunate, Lane said, that it appears the industry tends to sugar-coat problems that eventually will come out in the wash anyway. It was during a session with Cornell University’s Dr. Anthony Ingraffea when Lane realized production now underway is merely a whisper compared to what is coming down the pipe. “He said we’re about 2 percent into the planned drilling in Pennsylvania,” Lane said. “What that means is bringing in an industrial process to large areas of rural Pennsylvania. With all that entails, it’s a very big deal.” Lane, like Okell, said it seems unless there’s hydraulic fracturing nearby, folks tend to be oblivious to the true scope of the matters at hand. “We’re in our own little world here, and it’s hard to keep a sense of what’s going on in other parts of Pennsylvania,” Lane said. “Honestly, a lot of what goes on in Pennsylvania, you might as well be in New Mexico.” n
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THE GREAT POWER PLANT SHUFFLE Industry leaders worry new EPA rules could shutter coal-fired power plants
When your state has some of the dirtiest coal-fired power plants in the country, news the president wants to slash your carbon emissions by 30 percent is enough to send you reeling. Under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Clean Power Plan signed by EPA Secretary Gina McCarthy on June 2, each state must develop its own plan to meet the national standards — a 30-percent reduction in carbon emissions by the year 2030. Pennsylvania stands uniquely poised as one of the country’s largest suppliers of energy, according to Electric Power Generation Association President Jake Smeltz. The state ranks No. 2 in electricity production, behind only Texas. It also has the second most nuclear plants in the country behind Illinois. “Given Pennsylvania’s unique position, we will be disproportionately impacted,” Smeltz said. It’s no question Pennsylvania has its work cut out for it in slimming down pollution. Its combined power plants rank third in carbon dioxide emissions and second in nitrogen dioxide (also a troublesome greenhouse gas) emissions. States have until the end of next June to present their own
12 // NEPA Energy Journal
Submitted photo
Pennsylvania Sen. Gene Yaw, left, and fellow state Sen. John Yudichak chair a hearing Aug. 21 in a Wilkes University conference room to gather input on what to do about the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed power plant regulations designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
plans on how to meet the EPA’s requirements. There still are a few things that could prevent the EPA’s new regulations from being implemented — Congress or the U.S. Supreme Court could shut them down, for example — but states around the country are now sifting through the 600-plus-page document to find a fitting plan. Following an August state Senate hearing on the matter inside a Wilkes University conference room, Sen. Gene Yaw, a Lycoming County Republican who chairs the senate natural resources committee, said he felt the industry was on board with the proposed rules but worried about the timelines. “What I did hear is a lot of conversation about the way that the schedule is to be implemented, ‘We can’t live up to it; it’s too much too soon,’” Yaw said. Sen. John Yudichak,
“Right now we’ve managed the downswing on demand through energy efficiency and building codes and things like that, and at the same time, we’ve had a remarkable increase in supply. But I can tell you from experience, that model is not sustainable.” — Art olson, director of Utility Program Business development, SmartWatt Energy D-Plymouth Township, who is the committee’s minority chair, said legislators must work closely with the state Department of Environmental Protection to interpret the rules into law in a way that satisfies federal officials, while keeping Pennsylvania’s dozens of coal plants on the grid. Because Pennsylvania is part of the Mid-Atlantic grid, a network of 13 states, Yudichak believes lawmakers should
consider working on a regional solution to meet the EPA’s rules, because electricity travels freely among all the states. gas takeoVer Natural-gas-fired power plants seem to be where the industry is headed; they produce few emissions, and Pennsylvania has a ready supply of cheap fuel. But building a plant is expensive, as is retrofitting old coal plants to burn gas.
Five years ago, Pennsylvania produced 50 percent of its electricity with coal. Coal now makes up only 33 percent, and natural gas has picked up nearly all of the slack. A margin has gone to renewable sources like wind and solar. Christina Simeone, a director with the environmentalist group PennFuture, said her organization believes gas offers a cleaner solution for making electricity; however, close government scrutiny is imperative to best protect the environment. “I’m not saying that we would oppose pipelines, but I’m also not saying that we would support a blanket waiver and expedite permit costs,” she said. Simeone said any new legislation also must consider the real and potential environmental impacts of natural gas drilling and be drafted accordingly. Need for efficiency While many are looking to natural gas as an inexpensive one-way ticket to EPA compli-
ance, some say the current low price of gas can’t last for ever. “Right now we’ve managed the downswing on demand through energy efficiency and building codes and things like that. And at the same time, we’ve had a remarkable increase in supply,” said Art Olson, utility coordinator for the efficiency consulting company SmartWatt. “But I can tell you from experience, that model is not sustainable.” SmartWatt, based in New York and with offices in Moosic, helps its clients to use less electricity. Arguably, a man who sells electricity-saving solutions is going to say using less power is the way to go. But Olson also explained that less consumption might bring benefits through reducing output by dirty plants. That could help the coal plants meet the new EPA rules, which in turn keeps employees on the books. Reduced output would mean reduced impact on the environ-
ment, and less demand also means the price for power stays down. Using less energy means the potential bust the booming natural gas industry could face might be put off as the country relies on a more diverse portfolio of generation sources, Olson said. Climate change In September, the World Meteorological Organization reported in 2013 the atmosphere held more greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – than any other year since 1984. In a strongly worded news release, the WMO warned that the greenhouse gases last year had increased such that their combined effect on global warming grew by 34 percent in 14 years. “We know without a doubt that our climate is changing and our weather is becoming more extreme due to human activities such as the burning
of fossil fuels,” WMO Secretary Michel Jarraud said in the news release. About the source of climate change, there remains dissenting opinion on both sides of the table. Most have accepted the earth is on a warming trend, and largely due to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the air. The Clean Power Plan is part of President Barack Obama’s Climate Action Plan, a series of executive actions to reduce carbon emissions. Jackson Morris, a director with the Natural Resources Defense Council said, because the earth’s climate is now on an unstoppable course, our options now must be to mitigate and adapt. “We’ve already reached levels of (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere that are going to render climate-change impacts for the next century. We can’t stop that,” Morris said. “It would be inaccurate to imply that the EPA plan is going to stop climate change in its tracks.” n
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DEP lists water supplies
SPOILED by gas drilling JOn O’COnnELL | JocoNNEll@civitASmEdiA.com
“I think it’s very important that the public knows where contamination has occurred and what contaminants are involved.” thomas Au, Sierra club’s Pennsylvania conservation chairman
14 // NEPA Energy Journal
T
o the satisfaction of many, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in August published a long-awaited rolling list of documents for cases in which it has confirmed natural-gas production has harmed private water supplies. “I think it’s very important that the public knows where contamination has occurred and what contaminants are involved,” said Thomas Au, the Sierra Club’s Pennsylvania conservation chairman. “We’ve been meeting with the DEP for over a year to try to get at this data.” The documents follow sharp criticism that made national headlines when state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Eugene the department lacked DePasquale transparency in how it handled contamination Pennsylvania Auditor General issues. In short, the auditor general said the department simply wasn’t prepared for the veritable blitz from all corners of the nation to tap vast gas reserves in Pennsylvania. DePasquale applauded the department’s move to make the complaints public, and he claimed some of the victory for the agency he oversees. “I don’t think this would have been happening if it had not been for our report,” DePasquale said. “I think this is a step in the right direction. This is at least a sign that the department understands the importance of transparency, and we’re hopeful that this trend is going to continue and improve.” Declining complaints Department spokeswoman Morgan Wagner said drillers have been held to standards that are among the most comprehensive and transparent in the nation under the Corbett administration. “Although the department firmly believes that one impact is one too many, the numbers show we are on the right track,” Wagner said. Total complaints the department receives have been sailing downward since 2012. Complaints don’t mean department inspectors proved gas drilling has impacted water supplies. They mean only that residents or landowners asked the department to investigate possible contamination. Between 2009 and 2012, complaints against oil and gas development for impacted water supplies more than tripled. There were nearly 500 water-related complaints to the department in 2012; however, the following year, they dropped to about 290.
Most recent numbers show there have been about 180 complaints so far in 2014. Of the confirmed cases released Aug. 29 by the DEP, the majority stem from investigations in the department’s eastern region, which includes counties from Bradford County eastward. There are 243 total linked documents but many of them represent several water supplies impacted by the same well pad or operator. Scanned letters to homeowners and operators, with the landowners’ personal information blacked out, are linked to the online list. The letters detail department investigations and how inspectors found that drilling did, in fact, affect water supplies either by way of adding contaminants into the wells and springs or reducing water pressure. Out of 29 recommendations made by the Auditor General’s office in its report, DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo disagreed with only eight of them. Posting the determination letters online was one of those contention points that it seems he warmed up to. Abruzzo argued that the letters fail to present the “complete picture” of the impacted water supply. All documents relating to investigations, including the determination letters, are available to just about anyone in public who requests a file review, Abruzzo said in his response letter to DePasquale.
Other letters simply say the department was aware the driller was working to rectify the problem and would monitor accordingly. Many of the documents are simple notes to residents advising them that, while their water supplies had once contained naturally occurring, yet harmful substances like manganese, methane and benzene, which certainly was caused by nearby drilling, further testing showed that those substances had since returned to normal conditions with no further action needed. One of the most recent letters dated July 25 is correspondence between the department and a Westmoreland County resident that explains after a series of sample collections over the course of three years, the department concluded the “impacts caused by nearby oil and gas operations” had polluted the home water supply. In comparing pre-drill test results, the department said a long list of contaminants including chlorides, barium, iron, magnesium, manganese and strontium had increased due to drilling nearby. The letter said the drilling operator, which was not named in the letter, already should be supplying the home with potable water. “The Department will keep you apprised of future developments, which may include actions to permanently restore your private water supply,” the letter says.
The letters The letters, dating as far back as the first week in January 2008, explain how the department was working with drillers to fix the problems. The department’s solutions include: • Temporary potable water delivery • New water wells drilled • Home water treatment systems • Plugging gas wells or treatment to gas well casings to prevent further trouble
More work to do Before they were collected and placed online, the complaints had been only paper documents filed in the department’s three regional offices around the state. “This interactive spreadsheet represents the first statewide effort to create a dynamic, comprehensive list of all private water supply impacts from oil and gas activities,” Wagner said. The data made public is a start, but the Sierra Club continues to ask the department to be more thorough. When the department receives a complaint that drilling may have caused water pollution, it takes water samples and looks for a boilerplate set of contaminants; Au called them “suite codes.” “These suite codes are not comprehensive,” Au said. “They don’t test for everything that could potentially be in the water.” DePasquale echoed the sentiment. He doesn’t believe the department should face stiff deadlines, only persist in trying to enforce effective policy and growing increasingly transparent, he said. “As long as the drilling is going on, the department should always be seeking to improve,” he said. “There is no timeline. They should always be striving to do it.” n
READ THE LETTERS The state Department of Environmental Protection’s correspondence to landowners and drilling operators can be found on the department’s website, www.depweb.state.pa.us. Find the document, “Water Supply Determination Letters,” among other documents in the website’s Oil and Gas Reports.
Transparency Boost // 15
Studies:
Fracking not directly linked to ruined water supplies JOn O’COnnELL | JocoNNEll@civitASmEdiA.com
16 // NEPA Energy Journal
One report shows water pollution is more often due to failed well casings, not fracking The argument that hydraulic fracturing has no impact on private water supplies now has at least three solid legs supporting it. Within a week of each other, Penn State University, a peerreviewed journal and the U.S. Department of Energy published three independent reports that show gases and liquids that pollute water wells more than likely came from human error closer to the surface — not the violent fracturing that happens a mile underground. The consensus between all three groups points to the slim chance substances will flow upwards following natural pathways. Instead, it’s more likely contaminants will seep through upper levels of the earth’s crust after they escape through poorly-
constructed well casings as one report shows. Natural gas wells are drilled mostly between one and two miles below the surface of the earth. An unconventional well happens in two stages: drilling and fracking. • Horizontal drilling is the process of grinding out a borehole straight down into the ground and turning gradually so it eventually moves horizontally. • Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, happens when the drill rig pulls out and and operators use between 2 million and 6 million gallons of water mixed with sand and some chemicals at high pressure to blast apart rock formations surrounding the horizontal part of the borehole. Drillers install a casing made of several layers of cement and
steel to protect the environment by stopping fluids and gas from seeping into the soil around the well. Casings vary in depth depending on depths of the earth’s layers, but generally they extend downward a few hundred feet. The reports For a Sept. 15 report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, five researchers studied about 150 water wells in the Marcellus Shale region and also the Barnett Shale field in northern Texas. They concluded methane — the main fuel component of natural gas — more than likely found its way into private water supplies through faulty well casings near the surface, not from fractures in shale that happen much deeper in the earth. “In general, our data suggest that where fugitive gas contamination occurs, well integrity problems are most likely associated with casing or cementing
issues,” the report says. The researchers, who hail from Duke University, Ohio State University, Stanford University, Dartmouth College and University of Rochester, said they found no evidence that methane released by the deepearth fractures made during fracking could creep through the earth’s layers that sit on top of the Marcellus Shale formation. Also on Sept. 15, the U.S. Department of Energy, published a report by contractor National Energy Technology Laboratory, written to find if fluids and gases migrated because of hydraulic fracturing. The department’s conclusions were similar: fractures did not extend upward beyond the Marcellus Shale formation and “there has been no detectable migration of gas or aqueous fluids … during the monitored period after hydraulic fracturing.” Revenue from oil and gas royalties to the federal government paid for the study which focused on a single Greene County com-
munity in Pennsylvania’s southwestern corner. The 47-page document concludes with a caveat: while they found hydraulic fracturing had no readable impact on the rock formations immediately above the Marcellus, there’s one limestone formation — the Tully Limestone formation, which is very near the surface — that has been considered a barrier to hydraulic fracturing deeper down where they recorded very small seismic vibrations. The researchers suggested energy had followed fault lines or fissures to cause reactions near the top; however, no liquids or gas made the trip. Regardless of these little vibrations, the groups found no evidence gas had crept along through those faults to reach fresh water aquifers that feed private water wells. Water stays underground About 30 percent of the water and chemicals used during fracking follows the flowing gas back
to the surface. The rest remains underground, and the fear is that water laden with metals, salts and harmful chemicals can crawl upward and soak into water supplies. Penn State’s research published Sept. 10 says the opposite. In his report titled “The Fate of Residual Treatment Water in Gas Shale,” which was published in the “Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources,” Penn State professor Terry Engelder found the porous Marcellus Shale tends to retain water and the chemicals it contains underground. “The practical implication is that hydro-fracture fluids will be locked into the same ‘permeability jail’ that sequestered over-pressured gas for over 200 million years,” Engelder said in a news release. “If one wants to dispose of fracking waters, one could probably not choose a safer way to do so than to inject them into a gas shale.” n
Phone: (570) 746-6262 • P.O. Box 741, Wyalusing, PA 18853 Fax: (570) 746-2075
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Transparency Boost // 17
Couple wants well water restored JOn O’COnnELL | JocoNNEll@civitASmEdiA.com
Amanda dittmar | NEPA Energy Journal
A few ounces of water from Gerri Kane and Kenny Macialek’s well show sediment they say had never appeared before natural gas drilling began near their Auburn Township home.
18 // NEPA Energy Journal
Susquehanna County residents say water still runs dirty after lab tests showed it is safe AUBURN TWP. — A series of water tests by private and government laboratories show Gerri Kane’s well water is safe to drink, but the homemaker contends her health issues and poor water quality say otherwise. Nestled in an isolated rural Susquehanna County town, Kane has watched natural gas development unfurl into a boom since 2008. There are six well pads within walking distance from her doorstep where she lives with her longtime partner, Kenny Macialek, in the home he bought in 2002. Up until around 2011, Kane, 61, and Macialek, 56, could drink, bathe in and clean with the water, unfiltered, from the tap. “It was so icy cold and pure,” Kane said. “We had friends come by just to get the water.” Kane believes a surge of activity following drilling at one of perhaps three wells near their home has stirred up contaminants in the water table below. A trio of filters now intercepts the water as it enters their home, filters that must be changed or cleaned weekly. There’s an initial catch tank, a simple two-foot tall vat that retains solids as water passes through it. The water then goes through a fiber mesh filter. It costs about $7 for a pair of them, and Kane said they must be changed weekly. Next is a carbon filter, used to catch any dissolved metals. They cost about $10 for two. Those last about a week each, as well. Even with filters in place, Kane says they still have been advised by a professor from Duke University not to drink the water. To demonstrate, Macialek removed the catch tank, and the water inside appeared slightly brown in color. He poured a little into a Mason Jar, and Kane brought out a magnet. Gliding the magnet along the bottom of the jar, the particles reacted sluggishly and followed where she moved the magnet. test results Unfiltered water samples pulled from a hose in the base-
Amanda dittmar | NEPA Energy Journal
Gerri Kane stands with her 8-year-old boxer, Maxwell, who in September died of complications from a large tumor that developed on his shoulder. Kane believes it was substances in her well water and particles in the air, put there by the natural-gas industry, that caused the tumor.
ment show Kane believes a surge about a dozen other substancfluctuating of activity following es in the water. levels of harmdrilling at one of perOn two sepaful substances like benzene, haps three wells near rate occasions, the DEP inveslead and barium their home has stirred tigated Kane’s in the water, up contaminants in the complaints starting when that the well Macialek had water table below. water quality baseline testing deteriorated; completed in once in May 2011 shortly after 2010. No tests show those subthe water turned, and again in stances exceeded the federally August 2013. set safety limit. In the department’s 2011 At this point, production report, investigators said no subalready had begun at three well stance contained in the water pads less than 1.5 miles away exceeded federally set safety from their home, according to state records. The baseline tests thresholds. In 2013, the response letwere completed by Benchmark ter said, “At this time, the Analytics, a firm in Sayre, Department’s investigation does Bradford County, and showed not indicate that gas well drillnegligible amounts of these and
ing has impacted your home water supply.” Testing, however, showed higher levels of aluminum than recommended, the department said. At trace levels, aluminum is harmless, and the EPA recommends a maximum solution of 0.2 milligrams per liter. Kane’s water contained more than 1 milligram of aluminum per liter in 2011, which probably caused discoloration and an odd taste; however, it has since receded to near-undetectable levels, most recent reports show. The 2013 report shows trace levels of acetone, about 4.4 micrograms per liter. Acetone occurs naturally, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says industrial processes contribute more to acetone in the environment than natural processes. The CDC says on its website that humans must consume large amounts of concentrated acetone before feeling side effects. Carrie Davis, quality control officer for Benchmark Analytics, said the DEP had not contacted the Benchmark labs following the second and third water tests. She did not speak to Kane’s specific case, but explained tiny changes in substance levels occur naturally. “You’re going to see differences in values; your numbers will fluctuate,” Davis said. “And that might not have anything to do with safety.” On the other hand, her lab has seen evidence to show larger changes occurred because contaminants in the earth surrounding and perhaps already in the water have been jostled around due to drilling. “Sometimes what we’ve seen is what we wouldn’t call ‘direct contamination,’” Davis said. “We’ve seen some indirect changes due to drilling … because they’re disturbing the underground.” Because Kane’s water sample reports show what appear to be natural and minuscule changes, it’s still difficult to explain what has caused the water to appear See WATER | 22 transparency Boost // 19
SHALE NEWS PENNSYLVANIA
1.94 trillion cubic feet of gas produced in 2014 Numbers reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection show gas production in Pennsylvania exceeded 1.94 trillion cubic feet between January and June this year. There are 7,707 active wells in the state, though not all of them produced gas during that time period. In fact, about 2,300 of them produced no gas at all. The five top-producing wells in the state are owned by Cabot Oil & Gas. The company’s top well, the Molnar 1 in Brooklyn Township, Susquehanna County, on its own produced 4.83 billion cubic feet of gas during that time period, or on average 26.7 million cubic feet per day. Chief Oil & Gas’ Kaufman Unit 1H well ranks sixth producing 3.19 billion cubic feet dur-
ing the time period. The Wilmot Township, Bradford County, well produced about 17.6 million cubic feet of gas per day. Only about 390 wells carried the brunt of production, pumping out more than 1 billion cubic feet. Of the top-producing counties, there were: • 1,130 active wells in Bradford County • 960 in Susquehanna County • 821, Tioga County • 821, Lycoming County • 741, Greene County
HARRISBURG
Grants top $4 million for natural gas vehicles In the most recent distribution of grants for alternative fuel vehicles, about $4 million was granted to 33 local governments, non-profit organizations and companies making the switch to compressed natural gas, propane or
electric fleet vehicles. “These important grants allow Pennsylvania to make the most of our abundant natural resources, edging us closer to energy independence while also helping to improve our air quality,” Gov. Tom Corbett said in a news release. “This funding makes it possible for many local governments, organizations and companies to convert their lighter-weight vehicles to natural gas or other alternative fuels.” The grants, awarded through the Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants program, will help pay for the conversion or purchase of 274 natural gas vehicles, 261 propane vehicles, and 23 plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles. An estimated 24 new fueling stations and 35 existing stations will be supported by these vehicles. AFIG grants are an annual solicitation, providing financial incentive for a variety of transportation projects with the result of reducing air emissions in Pennsylvania. This year, AFIG
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grants focused on the conversion or purchase of natural gas vehicles weighing less than 26,000 pounds, as well as the conversion or purchase of electric, propane or other alternative fuel vehicles of any size. Applications were also accepted for innovation technology projects that include research, training, development and demonstration of new applications or next phase technology related to alternative transportation fuels and alternative fuel vehicles. The Department of Environmental Protection awarded $1.8 million in AFIG funding to four innovative alternative fuel technology projects. The AFIG fund was established under Act 166 of 1992, and is administered by the Department of Environmental Protection through its Office of Pollution Prevention and Energy Assistance.
LUZERNE COUNTY
PennEast Pipeline starts scoping process for Transco connection Plans to construct a 100-mile natural gas pipeline extending from northern Luzerne County to New Jersey were unveiled Aug. 9 by PennEast Pipeline Company LLC. The pipeline is being built to transport Marcellus Natural Gas to the Mid-Atlantic region, fueling Pennsylvania and New Jersey homes and businesses while offering consumers lower cost energy and gas transportation savings. The PennEast Pipeline, which will be managed and operated by UGI Energy Services, is estimated to carry enough natural gas to fuel 4.7 million homes, up to one billion cubic feet per day. The proposed pipeline route is to begin near the Luzerne-Wyoming County border,
though the specific route has not been determined yet, officials say. It is to extend through Carbon County east of Jim Thorpe, between Bethlehem and Easton in Northampton County, across the northern tip of Bucks County and into Hunterdon, New Jersey and end at the Transco’s Trenton-Woodbury interconnection in Mercer County, New Jersey. A map is posted on the project’s website, www.penneastpipeline.com. The project’s three-year timeline starts this year with notifying property owners and prefiling an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In 2015, PennEast Pipeline will file a formal application with the FERC. Pending the application approval and the acquisition of the required municipal permits by 2016; construction is to begin in 2017. n
Transparency Boost // 21
Water From page 19 brown and laden with floating particles, Davis said. DEP regional spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said the department stands behind its water sample tests and determination that natural gas drilling has not caused Kane and Macialek’s water to be impacted. Connolly said if Kane were to bring new evidence showing gas development brought harm to their water supply, the department then could decide whether to take another look. HealtH proBlems Since drilling began, Macialek said he has developed rashes on his skin that never were there before, but that’s about all that has affected him. Kane spent several months last summer in Mayo Clinic Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, to have gangrene and E. coli removed from her abdomen. Cysts also grew on her head and body that had to be surgically removed. “And they’ve started again,” she said explaining she believes something in the water continues to make her sick. “We’ve all been told crazy stuff up here,” Kane said. “But my hope is people maybe will think about what they’re drinking, at least for their children.” The couple’s dog, an 8-yearold boxer named Maxwell, developed a melon-sized tumor on his shoulder, one that started as a cyst about a year ago and took his life in the first week of September. More recently, Kane and Macialek have noticed a burn-
Amanda dittmar | NEPA Energy Journal
Gerri Kane holds up water filters used to scrub well water before it reaches the tap. The filters are supposed to last several months, but Kane says filters become useless after about one week, like the one on the right.
ing sensation on their faces after showering and discolored splotchy skin. “I don’t know, we may have the best acid peel in the world,” Kane said chuckling. “You gotta laugh about it. It is what it is.” A daughter of a U.S. Marine, Kane grew up on military bases. She lived on a military base near Camp Lejeune in North Carolina for three years starting around 1968, she said. That camp has been the subject of a federal study after it was discovered that toxic chemicals polluted the drinking water from the 1950s until 1985. Thousands of military families at Camp Lejeune may have been affected with benzene, vinyl chloride and other dangerous substances called volatile
organic compounds that apparently caused about 100 birth defects and childhood cancer cases, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is unclear whether some of Kane’s most recent health problems were spurred during her childhood at Camp Lejeune or resulted from water that went bad around the same time natural gas wells nearby went online. She believes that what may have been started on the military base has been exacerbated by the same kinds of things in the well water, she said. drinkaBle air The couple now use an atmospheric water generator in their kitchen for cooking and drink-
ing. The device cost about $3,000 and works much like a dehumidifier, pulling moisture out of the air and turning it to potable water. Macialek did not lease any of his 12-acre property to drillers. But when they realized installing a well filtration system and the water generator would cost thousands of dollars, he signed a lease with Chesapeake Appalachia, a drilling company that operates most of the gas wells in Auburn Township. The first lease payment from Chesapeake helped install water filters in the basement and the water generator in the kitchen. Since then, Macialek has not received royalty checks because there is no drilling under his property now, he said. The device has an air filter on the back made of wiry mesh, much like a furnace air filter. Those filters, too, require nearweekly changing. Kane said they’re supposed to last up to six months. Kane believes, like the brown gritty water, the heavy industrial activity is pumping pollution into the air. She was careful not to blame the drilling companies, the rig workers or even DEP inspectors. “They’re just trying to do their job,” she said. Rather she blamed the officials in Harrisburg who control the DEP, as well as laws giving drilling companies too much freedom without understanding or preventing the risk. “I’m not mad at the gas drillers,” Kane said. “It’s the government that’s allowing all this to happen. We have man-made chemicals that should never be in our groundwater, that should never be in the aquifer.” n
“We have man-made chemicals that should never be in our groundwater, that should never be in the aquifer.” - Gerri Kane, Auburn Township resident
22 // NEPA Energy Journal
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“But if they can go there and make $60,000 to $80,000 a year. That is a high motivator, and I think that we can work with people here in the city.” John linder, mayor of chester JOn O’COnnELL | JocoNNEll@civitASmEdiA.com
Community leaders from Southeastern Pa. ask how to bring diversity — and their struggling work force — to work in northern gas fields DIMOCK — People move from rural regions to the big city looking for work all the time. Who’s to say it couldn’t work the other way around? About 25 business and community leaders from southeastern Pennsylvania traveled one sunny day in August to Susquehanna County to see if there’s a slice of opportunity there for unemployed laborers living in the urban south. There is an unemployment crisis in Philadelphia, Anthony Ross, an urban workforce developer from the city, said. “There’s no question there’s a need,” Ross said, while walking across Cabot Oil & Gas’ sprawling Hawk 4-H well pad in Springville Township, not too far south of Dimock. The group first visited the site where workers puttered around a drilling rig that slowly and deliberately spun a shaft more than 8,000 feet down below the earth’s surface. White-collar employers have dominated as of late over the blue-collar job makers in the southeastern region, and now unemployment rates, especially for black people, remain high. Ross said blacks outrank whites in unemployment threeto-one. About 6.8 percent of Philadelphians are unemployed, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics — about 1 percentage point higher than the statewide average. Wilkes-Barre is at 7 percent unemployment; Scranton is at 6.7 percent.
24 // NEPA Energy Journal
DIVERSIFYING THE SHALE PLAY
Jon o’connell | NEPA Energy Journal
John Linder, mayor of Chester City outside Philadelphia, center, listens as Cabot Oil & Gas workers explain how motivated laborers can use entry-level positions to lay solid building blocks for a long career in the industry.
John Linder, mayor of Chester, near Philadelphia, said unemployment in his city soars above the state average between 10 percent and 12 percent. A host of other problems, specifically crime, tags along behind joblessness. “It really drives a lot of the other issues we’re dealing with as a society,” Ross said. About a dozen organizations were represented by local officials and business leaders from Philadelphia and Harrisburg. The tour was organized by American Petroleum Institute (API) and hosted by Cabot and Lackawanna College. The inquisitive group asked about training requirements, work-to-personal-time ratios and the industry’s interest in seeking laborers — most of whom probably would need to
be trained from the bottom up — from the big cities. Ultimately, they were looking to answer two questions: • Is there room in the Marcellus Shale industry for ambitious laborers from Southeastern Pennsylvania? • Are more jobs on the way for workers who want to stay in their hometowns? It seemed the answer to both was a resounding “yes.” market growtH needed There’s going to be a lot of jobs in the ‘downstream’ part of it,” API of Pennsylvania Executive Director Stephanie Wissman said of the gas’ final stop. Downstream refers to the end user, be it a home furnace, a chemical factory that breaks down the gas to make plastics, or a school district that decides
to heat its halls with gas instead of oil or electricity. Wissman said corporations near Philadelphia are eyeing natural gas as a cheaper energy supply, and as factories and chemical plants look to tap into the local supply, they’re likely going to create jobs by hiring their own employees and, through increased demand, add workers to keep distribution and utility pipelines running. Nancy E. Mifflin is the Mid-Atlantic regional director for American Association of Blacks in Energy with an office in Philadelphia. It was a conference in April that connected her with Wissman and Bill desRosiers of Cabot, at a time when she was contemplating the dramatic shift in energy production. She was often asked, “Where are the jobs?”
So they organized a tour to find out, she said. “How can we tell them about it if we haven’t seen it ourselves?” Mifflin said.
Jon o’connell | NEPA Energy Journal
Harrisburg-area businesswoman Wendy Jackson-Dowe asks a question of Cabot Oil & Gas company man Jeremiah Howell, right, about how gas is transported from wellhead to pipeline and then on to market during a tour of a Cabot well site in August.
on heading home to Philly or Harrisburg for the weekends, Linder said, but considering the average wage the industry pays, more are likely to consider.
“But if (they) can go there and make $60,000 to $80,000 a year,” Linder said. “That is a high motivator, and I think that we can work with people here in the city.” n
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said. “I think the challenge is going to come for us in gaining support for training programs,” Linder said. Any other job might not work for a worker who plans
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plowing forward Since the bus trip, Linder already has huddled up with municipal leaders from his county. The mayor has reached out to officials from Delaware County Community College as well as Widener University, which is in his city. While on the tour, the group visited Lackawanna College School of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Lightbulbs flickered over the visitors’ heads as they walked through classrooms, labs and a large work area where students put their hands on real equipment used by the industry. “I’ve been talking with council about building or renovating a building that’s similar to the training center we saw in Lackawanna College,” Linder
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Amanda dittmar | NEPA Energy Journal
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26 // NEPA Energy Journal
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dimocK tWP. — the Friday before school began at Susquehanna career and technology center, cabot oil & Gas and linde corp. of Pittston donated four truckloads of piping to the school’s new and blossoming welding program. the piping, worth between $30,000 and $40,000, will be cut in sections as needed for the growing class of about 70 students from ninth grade up to the school’s adult learner program. Shown in this photograph are welding instructors Heather charles, originally of Wilkes-Barre, and Ray ingaglio of Hop Bottom. the two bring real industry experience to their students at the Elk lake school and help to whet students’ interest for a career now in high demand and offers a generallyhigh salary. School Principal Alice davis said tech-school training helps students test drive a trade with no risk attached. the piping was a gift from cabot, and linde gave up seven of its drivers for two days to deliver the materials that will keep student welders in pipe for about five or six years. n
Able-bodied workforce must rise to the occasion
Wendy M. Jackson-Dowe contributing columnist
I
n early August, I traveled with members of the Philadelphia chapter of American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE), American Petroleum Institute (API) and Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) to tour Cabot Oil & Gas Hawk J well pad. We also toured the Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas. Our tour highlighted three major areas: field operations – from upstream to downstream, supplier chain outreach and education. These areas are integral to our ability to harness this emerging energy source and ultimately change the outlook of our communities long-term. In addition to the highlighted areas on our tour, there are competitive challenges that are of even greater importance: lack of predictability and certainty and the dire need for infrastructure buildout in the Northeast Pennsylvania takeaway. I mention predictability and infrastructure because these challenges need to be resolved in order to keep operators working. When operators are working, they employ supply-chain vendors in greater numbers. Supply chain outreach and significant engagement is of great importance to minority business owners. Not only do we need to be active and engage our elected officials we also need to create opportunities. We should examine the industry, break it down and get in where we fit in. This is where the will, the work ethic and the “what if?” come into play. So what if you owned a truck with a trailer and leased it to a major carrier who in-turn hired you to drive it? This reduces liability and you begin to build a business relationship. What if your minority firm specializes in electronics? Couldn’t you supply and maintain the pointto- point microwave relay switches that monitor and manage the gas separators? Are you a Realtor? Couldn’t you transfer those skills into those of a landman? Find where you fit in and create the opportunity. These are the kinds of conversations that I’ve had with other
African American business owners and those vested in the industry. These conversations are not uniquely ours. What is uniquely ours, to a certain degree, is our interest in work force development for urban youth. There is an absence of awareness and exposure of the industry in many urban communities. Infrastructure build out will create downstream job opportunities and regenerate the manufacturing base. This is where there is a more concentrated African American population. Accessibility to the jobs and/or going to where the jobs are is challenging for some. So where is that happy medium? For these reasons, our tour group was particularly interested in seeing Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas. We were given an overview of the history and background of the school, the four different associates in science degrees offered and a tour of the labs. We were able to see first-hand how the lean curriculum met the needs of employers hiring the graduates. With a 90 percent job placement rate, the collaborative efforts of Cabot Oil & Gas and all others involved is certainly something to be proud of. I can say that these types of best practices are what many on our tour hope to replicate in other parts of the state. This is a journey that I am hopeful those empowered to effect change will support, because we have been provided such an abundant resource in natural gas. So let’s find the will, maintain the work ethic and always ask … what if? So the perspective I offer as an African American woman who happened to work in the petrochemical industry some years ago is one that may not differ from others when considering the opportunities. Where I may have a different opinion is on the pathway in which each of us obtain our level of success within the industry. n Wendy Jackson-dowe is president of Jackson dowe Strategies llc, a firm specializing in stakeholder engagement, business development and awareness campaigns in the energy and transportation business sectors.
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