salmonoid
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2007
- Messages
- 2,707
Back in April, I posted a thread about pH meters, and included a blurb about a potential gas well leak that I found with my brother, while fishing an EV headwater stream in the Allegheny National Forest. I did end up reporting the leak to the DEP and even though my GPS died, I was able to bracket the location by matching timestamps of tracks on the GPS with timestamps on photos, so I figured they had enough info to investigate if they wanted to. I also added my $0.02 about sediment loading in the headwater streams.
Being somewhat of a cynic, I hardly expected a response, and so it didn't surprise me that, other than the automated email acknowledgment, I didn't hear anything for about three weeks. At that point, an employee sent me an email, apologizing for her lack of response, but stating that their computer system was out of commission due to a worm, and she was only getting around to following up with issues that were reported during that time frame. She noted she had sent the info on to the local DEP office. I figured that would be the end of things; they would note the complaint and move on.
Therefore, I was surprised when I returned from my Potter County trip in the middle of June, and found a certified letter from DEP. The letter stated that two DEP employees had visited the site in May and found the reported leak. They confirmed that it was explosive gas leaking from the location and were researching records for the area, to determine the potential source or operator that was responsible.
On the issue of the sediment loading, they blamed it on the steep banks of the stream in the section the leak was located in, due to numerous trees falling into the stream, and that they had visited the stream after 1/2" rain had fallen, the one day, and it was running clear. I think they are a bit off, because the four streams I've fished in that area all have a general north/south flow and are first or second order streams, and they are loaded with sediment from mouth to headwater. In the headwaters, there is generally flatter land, with no steep gorges and I maintain the source of the sediment is road building and well site creation.
I do not believe the gas leak I found is Marcellus related, and the roads and well sites in that region are also pre-Marcellus drilling. However, I do count it as a small victory to report something and actually get a response. It does a small bit to restore a bit of faith in those permitting and watching over some of the natural resources.
For anyone who feels that their observations of drillers' potential wrongdoings will go uninvestigated, I urge you to report the info anyway. You might be surprised and find out you make a difference. It certainly didn't win the war, and in terms of battles, I consider it one battle won for the leaking gas, and one battle lost for the sediment situation, but a draw is better than being at negative one...
Being somewhat of a cynic, I hardly expected a response, and so it didn't surprise me that, other than the automated email acknowledgment, I didn't hear anything for about three weeks. At that point, an employee sent me an email, apologizing for her lack of response, but stating that their computer system was out of commission due to a worm, and she was only getting around to following up with issues that were reported during that time frame. She noted she had sent the info on to the local DEP office. I figured that would be the end of things; they would note the complaint and move on.
Therefore, I was surprised when I returned from my Potter County trip in the middle of June, and found a certified letter from DEP. The letter stated that two DEP employees had visited the site in May and found the reported leak. They confirmed that it was explosive gas leaking from the location and were researching records for the area, to determine the potential source or operator that was responsible.
On the issue of the sediment loading, they blamed it on the steep banks of the stream in the section the leak was located in, due to numerous trees falling into the stream, and that they had visited the stream after 1/2" rain had fallen, the one day, and it was running clear. I think they are a bit off, because the four streams I've fished in that area all have a general north/south flow and are first or second order streams, and they are loaded with sediment from mouth to headwater. In the headwaters, there is generally flatter land, with no steep gorges and I maintain the source of the sediment is road building and well site creation.
I do not believe the gas leak I found is Marcellus related, and the roads and well sites in that region are also pre-Marcellus drilling. However, I do count it as a small victory to report something and actually get a response. It does a small bit to restore a bit of faith in those permitting and watching over some of the natural resources.
For anyone who feels that their observations of drillers' potential wrongdoings will go uninvestigated, I urge you to report the info anyway. You might be surprised and find out you make a difference. It certainly didn't win the war, and in terms of battles, I consider it one battle won for the leaking gas, and one battle lost for the sediment situation, but a draw is better than being at negative one...
