The Charter for the Fracking Committee

Transcription

1 Town of Barrington Assessment of Expanded Gas Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing in the Barrington Area and Recommendations to Protect the Residents and the Environment

2 The Charter for the Fracking Committee Study the potential occurrence of large scale drilling and hydraulically fracturing the Marcellus in Barrington. Provide the Town Board and town residents a summary of technical information that was reviewed. Assess the economic and social impacts of fracking on the town & its residents if the NYS DEC approves hydraulic fracturing. Recommend what the Town should do to be prepared for future fracking activity.

3 Barrington Fracking Committee The Committee is a mixture of town residents Lake vs Hill people Pro-fracking and anti-fracking advocates People willing to work with minimal bias until the facts are collected and assessed Sue Lange, (Chairperson) Linda Petro Tim Acomb Paul Danielson Kent Foster Ira Goldman Leo Kenyon Rob Louden

4 Issues For Town Residents Will the Gas Companies be coming back? What Are The Land Uses Drilling Sites Pipelines Environmental Concerns Water Contamination Risks Air Pollution Noise Pollution Social Concerns

5 What Drilling & Hydraulic Fracturing In Barrington Could Look Like

6 Researching Hydrofracturing Research Notes based on primary source documentation with no newspaper or gas industry source (unless they are the original data source and express no bias regarding local fracturing) Primary Researcher: Tim Acomb Bachelors & Masters Degree in Environmental Geology; SUNY (Potsdam) and University of Vermont 32 years in oil & gas exploration Amoco Production Co BP , Consultant

7 Marcellus Shale & Utica Shale Geology and Gas Productivity

8 Subsurface Geology Marcellus Shale Outcrop

9 Geologic Stratigraphy Column Mahantango Fm New York GEIS,

10 How depths are reported All depths to geologic formations and drilling depths are reported in feet below sea level or sub-sea depth The actual depth a drill rig would drill to the Marcellus Fm. below the Town hall is: = 2820 Barrington Town Hall Elev. = 945 ft. Keuka Lake Elev. = 714 Sea Level 0 ft. SS Marcellus Fm ft. SS

11 Extent of Marcellus Shale Barringto n Approx. 95,000 sq. miles largest gas field in the USA

12 Depth to the Marcellus Shale Keuka Lake Marcellus Center, Pennsylvania State University

13 Marcellus Shale Gas Production Limitation Boundaries Marcellus Thermal Maturity 1.5 to 3.0 (dry gas potential that will be preserved in reservoir) Marcellus is deep enough (>2000 ft.) (1) to have adequate reservoir/por e space pressure and (2) to drill w/o special permits Northern Limit of Marcellus (O ft. thickness) Marcellus = 75 ft. Marcellus is thick enough to produce economic volumes of gas (greater than 75 ft.) Organic Content in whole area exceeds 5% TOC (not a production economic issue in Barrington) New York SGEIS, 2009

14 Economic Limit of Marcellus Shale Barringto n

15 Depth to Utica Shale Barringto n Alpha Geoscience, 2009

16 Utica Shale Economic Fairway Barringto n Economic Fairway Alpha Geosciences, 2009 Utica Shale TOC Limits

17 Drilling Operations

18 Similar to Silk well Fundamental Difference Between Horizontal Wells & Vertical Wells A horizontal well will penetrate many times the thickness of a formation compared to a vertical well (3000 ft. versus 75 ft.) Hydraulic Fracturing Stages (4 to 12 Stages in horizontal wells versus only 1 in a vertical well) John Perez, copyright

19 Drilling Rigs A Top Drive, Single Stack Drilling Rig This rig can lift only one 30 ft. drill pipe joints without disconnecting the pipe

20 Drilling Rigs Double Drilling Rig ( 80 ft. tall) This rig can lift two 30 ft. drill pipe joints before having to disconnect the pipe this reduces the total drilling time

21 Schematic of multiple horizontal wells drilled from a single pad Above: Close-up showing the individual wells on a well pad, wells would be 15 to 25 ft. apart. Left: Drilling unit with the approx. subsurface drill paths shown Map vs Xsection Views of Well Bore

22 A Projected Drilling Unit Size 1600 ft. 800 ft. fracture radius from well bore ft. Well Site Pad (approx. 5 acres) 3000 ft. well lateral 9000 ft. Limit of hydro-fracture Halo around wells Approx acres (1.55 sq. mi.) Assumption: Gas companies will not want individual well drainage zones to interfere (overlap) and will assume a fracture limit is 600 to 800 ft. from well bore.

23 Theoretical Maximum Number of Pad Well Sites in Barrington To w n o f B a rrin g to n, N Y - S lo p e s Map 6 The estimated number of well pad sites on 1000 acres drilling units that are oriented in a NNW-SSE direction to optimize fracture intersection and that will fit into Barrington with well pads on slopes < 15%: 24 well sites Drilling Pad 5 acres Drilling Unit 9000 x 4800 ft. = 1000 acres B E JO N GR EN R Town Hall/ Highway Dept. O n ta rio Geneva Ya tes P e rc e n t S lo p e C ay u g a % % Barrington S te u b e n Dimock > 25% Ith a ca S c h u y le r Miles

24 Typical Well Casing & Cementing Design Casing Placement Surface to 50Ft Surface to 75ft or below deepest fresh water zone Required by new dsgeis with depths determined by individual permit Bottom of well to surface EnCana

25 Casing Zones & Cement Programs

26 Casing Failure Rates The multiple layers of steel casing and cement provide a very significant protection barrier between the gas in the production tubing and fresh water source behind the conductor casing. Failure Rates: 1980 s & 1990 s Ohio 12,000 wells total 12 wells with casing failure = 0.1% failure rate Texas 134, wells with casing failure = 0.01% failure rate Decline in Failure Rates in Ohio Sourced: Groundwater Protection Council,

27 How Drilling Probably Causes the Presence of Methane In Groundwater 0 1. Gas moving in the uncased borehole-very possible Groundwater Zone Very Shallow Gas Zone Very Slow Upward Gas Migration Methane in Groundwater 100 A porous & permeable strata Gas moving short distance behind casing due to poor cement job- very 3. Gaspossiblemoving long distance behind casing due to poor cement job- unlikelymarcellus Shale 2000

28 Possible Well Site Timeline - Single Well Days Site Construction Impoundment & Inspection Site + Impoundment construction = 5-10 days Drilling time with 3000 ft. lateral = days Drill & Set Conductor Casing "Big" Rig Mobilization & Setup Drill 1st well Rig Demobilization Hydrofracturing Setup Hydrofracturing 1st Well Well Completion Note: These are only Pit Closure & Partial Site Restoration Hydrofracturing = 1-3 days / well Well completion = 2-3 days / well very rough estimates that are reliable only +/- 25%

29 Possible Well Site Timeline -6 Wells On Single Well Pad Da 1 y Site Construction Drill Wells 1-6 Hydrofracturing Operation Completion Oprn & Site Restore Note: (1) These are only very rough estimates that are reliable only +/- 25% (2) Assumption is that continuous operations are logistically possible or desirable by gas company

30 Drill / Fracturing / Production Average Statistics in PA Cost: Drill Time: $1.5MM to $3.5 MM 30 days * Horizontal Length: 4000 ft. Development Cost: $1.12 per thousand cubic ft. Fracture Program: 4-5 stages (1 per 1000 ft.) Estimated Recovery Rate: 20%-40%** Risk Factor of Economic Success: * 75% These are wells that are 2 to 3 times deeper than Harper Barrington & Koselnik, 2011

31 Hydraulic Fracturing Operations

32 A Typical Marcellus Drilling Site with Hydraulic Fracturing Operation Sites usually cover 6 to 9 acres depending on slopes and access Picture of Frac Operation Billman, 2009

33 Hydraulic Fracturing Operation Fluid Holding Tanks Total volume of tanks 3 to 5 million gals. of fresh water and/or flowback fluids ALL Consulting,

34 Hydraulic Fracturing Operation Pumps Mixing Containers Chemical Truck Injection Line to Well XTO Energy

35 Fracture Propagating from Small Borehole Image taken from a mine Fisher & Warpinski, Fracture Types

36 An Example of Single Stage In A Sequenced Hydraulic Fracture Treatment The key to a successful fracturing stage is the volume of fluids that can be injected The injection pressure is whatever is necessary to achieve the fluid volume and volume rates. Pressures of up to 10,000 psi are used in PA. A typical single stage fracturing program in a well will have 17 individual fluid injection sequences An average fracturing sequence will: Use 20,000 to 50,000 gals. of fluids Will inject proppants (very fine grain sand) at 0.1 lbs. per gallon in 15 of those sequences Perforating Rock Fm All Consulting,

37 Marcellus Fracture Lengths At 5,000 depth, fractures average 200 to 500 length Fracture Barriers Fisher & Warpinski, Pinnacle,

38 Composition of Fracturing Fluid

39 Summary of Fracturing Solutions PA Dept. of Environmental Protection,

40 Flowback Fluids 3 to 5 million gallons of water are used in the fracturing fluid plus 5000 gals. of chemicals per 1million gallons of water several tons of sand proppants. 50% to 30% of the original injected fluids will return as flowback fluids. The majority of the flowback will occur in the first 2 weeks Flowback fluids will include not only the original injected fluids but also contaminants from the formation: Brine Metals iron, magnesium Harper & Koselnik

41 Gas Production

42 Natural Gas Systems encompass wells, gas gathering and processing facilities, transmission pipelines and gas storage facilities. All of these components could exist in Barrington. Adapted from AGA & EPA Nat. Gas STAR

43 Field Based Compressor used in Marcellus Operation

44 A hypothetical estimate of the number of miles of pipelines to connect well pad sites with 1000 acres drilling units Well Pad Location Gathering Line pipe = 35 miles trenching = 28 miles Transport Line trenching = 6 miles Gathering / Boosting Station Pipeline locations attempt to avoid year-long flowing streams, make minimal road crossings, and avoid locations where residential housing or farm infrastructure might be located.

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46 Social Issues The development and operation of a large gas infrastructure will have an impact on the local population Traffic Noise Air pollution

47 Hydraulic Truck Traffic Estimates Fracturing Operations -Per 1 Well- Fresh or Recycled Water 3.0MM gals. / 11,600 gals per truck * = 258 truck trips Chemicals 12,000 gals / 2000 gals. per truck = 6 truck trips * = 10 truck trips * Fracturing Proppants 40 tons of sand / 4 tons per truck Flowback Fluid Removal 3.0MM gals. x 40% recovery / 11,600 gal = 103 truck trips * Tanks + Equipment Miscellaneous = = 120 truck trips * 50 truck trips *

48 Noise Pollution Noise levels are are measured in decibels (db) by measuring sound wave pressures. A weighted decibels measurement (dba) are sound measurements that are weighted to match human ear response. The US EPA considers a noise level of 55 dba to be the maximum sound level that will not adversely affect, in the long term, public health and welfare by interfering with speech or other normal activities in outdoor areas A suburban environment has an average

49 Drilling Rig Noise Distance Ambient From Rig Noise Level Increase over Normal 100 ft dba 21 dba 200 ft dba 15 dba 500 ft dba 2 dba +20% 800 ft dba 0 dba???? +210% +150% Study done in Fort Worth (500 ft. is the NYS min. distance to a residential property) Texas

50 Use of Barrier Wall to Deaden Noise

51 Use of Insulating Blankets to Deaden Noise

52 Air Pollution Volatile compounds from drilling operations methane, benzene, toluene, and xylene escape at various amounts (mostly from open pits) and mix with nitrogen oxides from diesel exhaust (from generators, pumps and truck traffic) to produce ground level ozone. Air quality levels of ozone can reach as high as many urban areas when mixed with very fine particulate matter (creating Smog). The air pollution can spread out over 200 miles under correct conditions. Ozone can be a human health risk and also a risk to conifers, forage and some crops. Monitoring air quality in Texas found that levels of benzene were high enough to cause immediate health concerns at two sites in the Barnett shale region where high density drilling was ongoing.

53 End of Drilling and Hydrofracturing Technical Presentation

54 Conclusions and Recommendations from the Barrington Fracking Committee

55 Fracking Committee Conclusions (1) The development of gas does have risks, both environmentally and socially. These risks should be manageable with proper regulations and oversight. Town will have to bear some up front costs before enhanced revenue would be available.

56 Fracking Committee Conclusions (2) In our opinion, the current town Steep Slopes law should result in the limitation of well head location and other industrial activity in the 2000 foot band from Keuka Lake already in the DEC proposed regulations, as well as an additional distance where slopes are steeper than 15%. After discussion with Avon DEC Minerals Division Linda Collert, it is possible that the town's Steep Slopes law may not apply to drilling operations as it may be considered to be regulating gas drilling. If Linda is correct, the town may need to defend the Steep Slopes law if either a gas company or a property owner challenges it. The law applies to all industry, commercial and residential property owners and does not restrict development, but rather suggests construction placement to protect slopes, creeks and property owners. An analysis of the land within the town that would satisfy the NYS rules (no closer than 2000 from the lake) and the town s 15% steep slope restriction, suggest that a maximum of 24 well pads could be built in the town with a maximum of 6

57 Fracking Committee Conclusions (3) The impact of the disruption caused by heavy industry will likely be concentrated in a relatively brief period (perhaps as little as two to three years) before it returns to normal activity if the number of wells is small in the immediate area The reports of water well contamination from Pennsylvania and other locations where drilling and High Volume Slick Water Fracturing (HVHF) have occurred are indeterminate since no pre activity testing was done to verify the starting quality of those wells. The NYS rules will require such testing to verify the quality of the water before drilling and HVHF take place

58 Fracking Committee Conclusions (4) The issue of potential environmental contamination due to spills or pit leakage of HVHF fluids and flow back is expected to be mitigated by the NYS requirement that such fluids be contained in tanks rather than holding ponds. In addition, the steep slopes law will give the town CEO some control over where those tanks are located and their proximity to streams flowing into the lake in the event of a spill. Any Ad Valorem tax revenue that accrues to the town will lag the exploration and production activities by several years. Hence the town will incur costs for permitting, inspections and public services ahead of when any compensating revenue will be received. In particular, fire charges will increase immediately upon the beginning of drilling.

59 Fracking Committee Conclusions (5) Based on a discussion of the town s new road law with Highway Superintendent Steve Wheeler, it appears that this will adequately protect and compensate the town for any damage incurred to local roads. What is not clear is whether the town would be able to require the companies to compensate us for future maintenance of roads that were improved (widened) only to meet their, gas company, short term needs. A Host Community Agreement (HCA) is a voluntarily negotiated agreement between the industrial (gas) company and the town that provides a tool by which the town can request reimbursement for costs as well as other specific modifications of the normal drilling process. For example specific HAZMAT training of area first responders, training of the town's CEO, the specifics of how leased land will be reclaimed once gas companies' activities are complete, water withdrawal, waste disposal, site plan review, noise and light and other specific areas of concern yet to be determined.

60 Fracking Committee Conclusions (6) The opinion of the town assessor, Tony DeStephen, is that the data he has does not show a reduction in property values when oil and gas infrastructure has been installed. He does not have an opinion on the impact of nearby activities on the lake residential property values, but ad hoc data suggests that these properties have been flat for the last few years while some of the off lake property values have increased. The impact of more gas and oil production in the town would likely shift the balance of assessed value somewhat more towards the producing properties. In areas where substantial temporary industrial activity has taken place, the need for worker housing has driven up the price and driven down the supply of local and recreational housing. Given the rural character of Barrington, reasonable zoning rules to accommodate temporary worker housing may be a better alternative

61 Fracking Committee Conclusions (7) With Chesapeake Appalachia leaving NYS, area leaseholders who do not currently have wells, storage, etc. on their land should be made aware of opportunities to negotiate better leases in the future if they want drilling on their property with special consideration of land restoration, well pad siting, etc. The State's current moratorium on HVHF has no effect on existing wells, conventional well drilling, new pipelines or gas storage.

62 Fracking Committee Conclusions (8) The results to date in current legal cases support local home rule when it comes to zoning, such as Barrington's Steep Slopes law. Those cases include: Anschutz v. the Town of Dryden, and Lenape Resources v. the Town of Avon. And, the Aukema v. Chesapeake Appalachia case which deals with the force majeure clause in relationship to lease expiration and the current NYS moratorium.

63 Fracking Committee Recommendations (1) The town should consider circulating the committee s conclusions as they appear above, posting them on the town website, and conducting public information meetings. After residents have had the opportunity to learn more about HVHF, as they requested in the town's initial HVHF survey, the town should follow up with a new HVHF survey. At such time as NYS approves HVHF in Barrington, the town should budget sufficient additional funds and personnel for legal services, CEO inspections and the Road Superintendent's time to enable them to negotiate an HCA and monitor the additional industrial activity. Just looking at the CEOs time, HVHF will result in a substantial increase in workload requiring significant overtime and possibly the need for a second enforcement officer.

64 Fracking Committee Recommendations (2) The town should proceed to finalize the revised zoning code with particular attention to the rules governing temporary worker housing, site plan review procedures, waste disposal, temporary off site storage of equipment, trucks etc., post operation land restoration, noise and light pollution, water withdrawal, etc

65 A Worst Case Scenario How Can Fracturing Fluid Leak Into Keuka Lake?

66 Barrington Hill Elev S. Pultney Elev Cross-Section of Keuka Lake Keuka Lake (surface) Elev Weathered & Isostatic Rebound Zone Keuka Lake (bottom) Elev. 565 Keuka Lake Valley (bottom) Elev. 223 Sea Level Keuka Lake Fault Approx. position? Connected induced fractures & enhanced natural fractures -500 Vertical Exaggeration 6:1 Tully Limestone Mahantango Fm Shales Marcellus Shale mile 1 mile 0 1 mile 2 mile

67 Required Fluid Migration Circumstances Require to Leak Fracturing Fluids into Keuka Lake Individual Risk Assessments High Low Adequate permeability through Lake bottom sediments 70% 30% Keuka Lake fault exists close to eastern edge of Keuka Lake 25% 25% Adequate continuous permeability exists along the upper 10% 1% portion of the Keuka Lake Fault gouge Fractures exceed thickness of Marcellus Fm. 50% 25% If Marcellus cap fractured, Fractures exceed the designed 20% 5% 300 foot length radius If a significant number of fractures exceed the 300 ft. limit, 5%.01% some fractures will exceed 1800 feet; breach Tully Limestone A pre-existing fluid conduit exists from longest induced 5% 1% fracture across to the Keuka Lake Fault Risk of a Fluid Conduit Reaching Keuka Lake.0004% % The Fracturing Crew does not note that the injection.01% volume greatly exceeds model predictions 1%

68 Extra Explanation Sides

69 Geologic Economic Limits for the Utica Shale4 Western extent of marginal organic rich Indian Castle Member of Utica Shale Barrington Limit of moderate thermal maturity Western Economic Limit of Utica Shale? Utica Shale Fairway Extent of high organic rich Dolgeville and Flat Creek Members of Utica Shale New York SGEIS, 2009

70 Dimock PA well Pads 63 Wells (approx. 2 wells per pad) spacing 0.5 x 0.5 miles mile location Well ½Pad

71 What is pore size? Harper & Kastelnik

72 Views of A Horizontal Well Bore Hole Map View Well Site Pad (approx. 5 acres) 3000 ft. well lateral Cross Section View Well s Curved Section Well s Horizontal Section 3500 ft. Well Pad Schematics 3500 ft. Well s Vertical Section

73 Ohio Dept. of Mineral Resources Mgmt. Regulated Activity Incident Trends -Groundwater Contamination-

74 Hydraulic Fracturing Operation

75 Picture of perforated rock using shaped charges Perforation channels 27 to 37 in length

76 Overlying Rock Barriers to Fracture Migration Harper & Koselnik, 2011

77 Fracture Types Fisher & Warpinski,

78 Benzene Emissions By Source (1999)