The Facts Behind EPA’s Dimock Two Step
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 | 4 Comments | Tagged in: Dimock, Lisa Jackson, Michael Krancer, PA DEP, U.S. EPA, Water
In Dec., EPA says water’s safe; in Jan, with no new data, it says it’s not – EID lays out what’s known and what’s not
Set aside all the stage props, backdrops and inflatable scenery deployed as part of the continuing saga known as Dimock, and you’re left with a pretty basic question – albeit one to which very few outside media have gone out of their way to find a legitimate, science-based answer. Quite simply: Is the water up there safe?
On Dec. 2, 2011, EPA declared that it was, sending an email to several Dimock residents indicating that the data it had reviewed from state-certified laboratories and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) “does not indicate that the well water presents an immediate health threat.” On Jan. 19, despite having no new data, EPA reversed its position, sending a letter to the agency’s hazardous site cleanup division demanding “immediate action” to protect public health and safety.
Predictably, those opposed to the development of affordable, clean-burning natural gas were quick to applaud the news — with ProPublica even declaring in a 38-point headline that EPA’s change of heart constituted “evidence of fracking contamination,” even though EPA never actually said that (and couldn’t have, since it gathered no data) and state experts consistently having shown it to be false. So once again, amidst all the pomp, circumstance and fanfare, we’re left with a couple questions: For starters, what do the data actually indicate is in the water? And second: Is there actually any evidence suggesting that any of it got there as a result of natural gas development?
In an effort to answer the first question, EPA released a series of memos and letters last week – the list is available here — laying out in specific terms what was found in wells tested by DEP on and near Carter Rd. But sift through the dozen or so documents posted on the website, and eventually you stumble across two memos of significantly greater value than the rest. The first is a memo written by technician Donna Ioven to Richard Fetzer, EPA’s “on-scene coordinator” in Dimock. The second is a 10-page letter from Mr. Fetzer to his bosses at EPA.
As you can see by clicking here, the Ioven memo is short, sweet and to the point: not even two pages in length, and almost all of it focused on identifying which specific components were found in which specific residential water wells. Of the eight wells for which DEP collected data, Ms. Ioven writes that four of them contained compounds of potential concern: Resident 4 had high levels of sodium and manganese; same for Resident 6; Resident 7 had manganese; and Resident 8, arsenic. These were the four households selected by EPA for water deliveries.
The Ioven memo is supposed to serve as the factual, technical basis for Mr. Fetzer’s letter to EPA’s Dennis Carney – capturing and reporting what is known and what isn’t, and passing that information up the food-chain for further consideration. But here’s the problem: Fetzer’s letter doesn’t look anything like Ioven’s memo. The latter, as mentioned, is a simple recitation of facts and figures. The former, unfortunately, reads more like a brief filed by a plaintiff’s attorney – attempting to defend EPA’s decision to intervene by going out of its way to link each of the components found in wells to drilling activity (and on several occasions, looking quite silly doing it).
Take, for instance, Mr. Fetzer’s explanation for how arsenic may have found its way into one private well: suggesting in his letter it could have gotten there from “the use and effects of drilling fluids.” But spend about 10 seconds researching the issue online, and you find that arsenic isn’t even used as a component of drilling and/or completing a well. So where did it come from? According to the U.S Geological Survey (4:00 of this video): “Overwhelmingly, the evidence that we have suggests that the arsenic we see in groundwater originates from natural sources.” Unfortunately, this overwhelming evidence appears to be news to Mr. Fetzer.
The Fetzer letter also makes sure to mention that “glycols” were found in one well, once again attempting to blame that on “drilling fluids.”
Glycols are a major ingredient of antifreeze, and much like other industrial processes, are sometimes used in very small percentages in an oil and gas context to prevent scale build-up in the pipe. Thing is, Cabot has already confirmed that it didn’t use any glycols when it drilled and completed its wells in the area more than two years ago. And actually, the one well in which glycols were detected came in at such low levels that EPA didn’t include that household among the four it chose to receive water deliveries. As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Tests also found glycol, which is used in antifreeze, at safe levels, and 2-methoxyethanol, a solvent, which does not have an established toxicity level. Those houses are not receiving shipments of water.”
So, after all that, apparently what we have is an issue with sodium and manganese. According to Mr. Fetzer, manganese is “known to be a constituent of some specialized drilling fluids.” Which fluids are those? And did Cabot actually use any of them in Dimock? Fetzer doesn’t say, probably because Fetzer doesn’t know. So we posed the question to the operator itself; the answer we got back was a resounding “no.” But, as we were reminded, neither sodium or manganese is considered a health hazard by EPA. In fact, EPA doesn’t even have what’s called a “maximum contaminant level” (or MCL) for either of those two. According to one federal report:
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So there you have it. Boil it all down, condense it, strain it, and reduce it to its irreducible parts, and what you’re left with is a decision by EPA to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars supplying water to people who don’t need it — a decision made less than two months after the agency deemed the water to be safe, using the same exact data that it cited last week in arguing the opposite. Of the four households set to receive water, three of them have elevated levels of two things that EPA itself doesn’t consider hazardous to health. And the fourth? According to federal scientists, that well has something in it of which “overwhelming evidence” indicates a natural origin. Not drilling a well.
But you know what really gets our goat? According to an updated study released by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania last year, more than 40 percent of private water wells tested in the state don’t meet basic health and safety standards for drinking water – for reasons that have nothing to do with oil or natural gas. Considering that more than three million folks across the state rely on wells for their water, that means more than one million Pennsylvanians could be drinking water today that’s unsafe.
All of which begs the question: If this thing weren’t about politics, why isn’t EPA supplying clean water to any of them?
READ MORE
- Video: Dimock residents tell Binghamton mayor “enough already”
- Guest post: Dimock residents lay out the true story of their town
- Flashback: EPA sends email to Dimock indicating water is safe
- Spreadsheet: Complete water testing data for Carter Rd. residents
Tags: Dimock, Lisa Jackson, Michael Krancer, PA DEP, U.S. EPA, Water
4 Responses
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Chris says:
Thanks for the comments, David. For starters, let me post again the link to the email that EPA Region 3 sent to Dimock residents in December (just in case the one above doesn’t work for you): http://eidmarcellus.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/EPA-message.pdf. The important point here — and one that’s not in dispute by anyone, best we can tell — is that EPA used DEP’s data to determine the water was safe in December, and then in January, used the same exact data to reverse its position and suggest the opposite. You agree that’s what happened here, yes? And you can see from a scientific perspective how that reversal is tough to reconcile/defend, right? Especially given that the agency drew on precisely zero new data to make that determination.
No disagreement whatsoever that arsenic is a serious contaminant. It’s also a common, naturally occuring one according to federal scientists. We didn’t link to all these USGS reports in the issue alert above, but here are a few documents you’ll be interested in taking a look at.
The first one (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1376) captures water quality data collected from northeast Pennsylvania in the late 1990s. As you’ll see, it shows that detectable amounts of total arsenic appeared in nearly one in five wells tested. These tests were conducted more than a decade before the first Marcellus well was drilled in PA. You’ll also want to give this JPG from USGS a gander: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2000/fs063-00/images/fs-063-00_fig3.jpg. As denoted in the chart, several NEPA counties rank among the places with the highest concentrations of naturally occuring arsenic in the county.
So again, if you can accept USGS’s findings with respect to arsenic in NEPA water wells — specifically, that it’s widespread and naturally occuring — and you accept that arsenic is a serious contaminant (as we do as well), then why isn’t EPA interested in supplying water to those folks? That’s the only question we’re asking here. Do you have an answer for that?
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John Trallo says:
Here are the questions that needs to be asked, and answered:
-If the water in the homes on Carter Road is safe to drink, then shouldn’t the EPA investigation show that?
-If Cabot’s activities are not responsible for the ground water contamination, wouldn’t the EPA investigation prove that?
-What is Cabot afraid of if their activities didn’t cause the problem?
*Comment:
Death row inmates have a right to clean, safe dribnking water. If you left a dog outdoors without water, you could end up with a hefty fine and/or jail time. All that considered, it is unconscionable to refuse, interfere, or block these people from receiving clean, safe drinking water, regardless of the circumstances, until an independent comprehensive investigation can be completed and the cause determined. If Cabot didn’t do it, they’re of the hook. If they did, then they should be, and need to be held liable and accountable. -
tom williams says:
JT, your rhetoric is irresponsible and inane. Everyone in Dimock knows that methane was present in the Carter Road wells long before any drilling or fracking occured. You fall in the category of an entertainer who should just “shut up and sing”
First off your statement is not true about the EPA email, if you read the email (which your link does not work) The email is based upon a cursory review of the information provided by the PA-DEP . This email does not have any data associated with it and states nothing about contamination levels.
Second the EPA also is examining the contamination of aromatic compounds found in one well by an independent testing laboratory. Which you neglect to mention in your article.
Third arsenic is a serious contaminant and it is the duty of the EPA to investigate and resolve this issue. Your attempt at negating this by stating that it comes from natural sources sidestepped the fact that it is in their well and that this needs to be mitigated. Unlike the PA-DEP which did nothing the EPA is taking steps to resolve this issue by providing water.
Lastly you state Center for Rural Pennsylvania last year, more than 40 percent of private water wells tested in the state don’t meet basic health and safety standards for drinking water. The report stated that the vast majority of issues were with regard to bacterial contamination (total coloforms and other tests for Bacterial contamination in drinking water) and not well chemistry. This is a classic case of a logical fallacy of correlation does not imply causation or in other words by saying that this study shows there is a problem with 40% of wells must mean that these wells have the same problems.