From Penn Future…

Time is running out to register for a free clean water breakfast near you. Join PennFuture and our partners to learn about Pennsylvania’s commitment to clean water here at home and downstream in the Chesapeake Bay. The first of the series is less than a week away.

This is an event you won’t want to miss. Officials from the Department of Environmental Protection will outline the plan to limit the amount of pollution in the region (technically known as a total maximum daily load or TMDL) and Pennsylvania’s approach to meeting pollution reduction goals. Learn more about innovative stormwater solutions. And even better, find out about federal efforts to provide additional resources for local governments.

Clean water starts here — Pennsylvania provides half of the freshwater to the Chesapeake Bay, so clean water starts with the creeks, streams and rivers here at home. Speakers will discuss the impact our clean water commitments will have on local water quality and what local government officials and citizens can expect as we move forward.

This process cannot happen without your input. Join us for a FREE breakfast, and learn how you can be involved.

admin Chesapeake Bay, Events ARRA, Chesapeake Bay, clean water, Clean Water Act, PA DEP, stormwater best management practices, TMDL, US EPA, water quality, watershed protection

EOG Resources Well Released Fracking Fluid, Natural Gas for 16 Hours

June 4, 2010–Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger has said that his agency intends to investigate aggressively the circumstances surrounding a blowout at a Marcellus Shale natural gas well in Lawrence Township, Clearfield County, and take the appropriate enforcement action.

At approximately 8 p.m. on Thursday, June 3, the operators of the well, which is owned by EOG Resources, Inc., lost control of it while preparing to extract gas after hydrofracturing the shale. As a result, the well released natural gas and flowback frack fluid onto the ground and 75 feet into the air. The well was eventually capped around noon on June 4.

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C.C. Forbes Ordered to Produce Records, Witness Names

June 9, 2010–The Department of Environmental Protection today ordered C.C. Forbes, of Washington, PA, to suspend all post-hydraulic fracturing activities on Marcellus Shale wells in the state immediately as it continues its investigation into a June 3 well blowout in Clearfield County.

DEP Secretary John Hanger said EOG Resources-the company that owned the well in Lawrence Township-hired C.C. Forbes as a contractor to provide post-hydrofracturing services at the site.

Hanger said DEP’s order also requires C.C. Forbes to provide site and equipment records specific to the well, including any written, photographic and video documentation.

The company must also furnish the names of its employees who were working at the site or have knowledge of the equipment used there. The secretary said those employees must be made available to the department for questioning.

“We need to fully investigate the equipment used by this company to ensure that other sites in Pennsylvania are not in danger of experiencing similar blowouts that could place the public or our environment at risk,” said Hanger. “This was a serious incident that could have resulted in the loss of life or significant damage to our natural resources and the department is prepared to use all means necessary to find the cause of the blowout.

“It is imperative that C.C. Forbes provide all records related to the equipment it used, as well as access to its employees that were present when the incident occurred.”

The order requires C.C. Forbes to cease its operations until receiving DEP’s written consent to resume.

Read More>>

admin Announcements fracking, gas drilling, gas well, Marcellus Shale, PA DEP, water quality, watershed protection

PADEP has completed its preparation of the final regulations concerning Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater Management and has submitted the rulemaking to the Environmental Quality Board for consideration at its May 19, 2010 meeting.

You can find the rulemaking package on DEPs Website here.

Included is a comment/response document, which offers PADEP responses to comments received during the public comment period.

For a hard copy of this rulemaking package or for any other questions/requests regarding this or other rulemaking, contact Michele Tate, Regulatory Coordinator at mtate@state.pa.us or by phone at 717-783-8727.

admin Chapter 102 Regs Chapter 102, erosion and sediment control, PA DEP, stormwater legislation, stormwater runoff, water quality

Update: The Pennsylvania Manual Revision Committee (now renamed Pennsylvania Stormwater Technical Workgroup) met formally for the third time on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at the PADEP Lab in Harrisburg, including approximately 30 attendees.  Dr.Rob Traver, director of the VUSP chaired the meeting, as he has done in the past, with PADEP SE Region stormwater chief, Domenic Rocco, acting as chief note taker. Although PADEP regional office staff were well represented, PADEP Central Office/Headquarters staff are not participating.  The Workgroup has been divided into nine sub-groups focusing on major technical/substantive issues in the existing Stormwater BMP Manual.

Previous meetings had been devoted largely to organizational/administrative issues of the group  - how to make decisions, Workgroup eligibility criteria, formation of a Leadership Board or board of directors, etc..  After a quick vote of confirmation by the Workgroup members, Sub-Groups launched into their progress reports.  Although some Subgroups had not been able to meet and make much progress, several Subgroup reports were both substantively detailed and powerful.  From Infiltration to Water Quality to Methods to Control Guidelines, sub-group reports included impressive data gathering from other states, other sources, typically expanding on existing Manual content. Some highlights:

There was an especially detailed report from Infiltration (Russ Losco, soil scientist) on better soil testing methods, demonstrating that an enormous amount of progress in thinking/understanding has occurred since similar discussions/arguments occurred in the Rachel Carson Bldg yrs ago when the current Manual was being prepared.

Michele Adams talk about Methods Subgroup discussions, reflecting once again the progress in stormwater “science,” including use of continuous simulation modeling, focus on smaller storms, and the like.

Frank Browne and Shirley Clark talked about complexities which the Water Quality Subgroup is wrestling with, again an impressive discussion which suggests a need for making Manual guidance more sophisticated, more complex.  A major issue affecting Manual revisions here seems to be PADEPs revisions to Chapter 102 which, for good or bad, are providing some sort of “anchor” for stormwater management in Pennsylvania municipalities.

There’s much more to add.  Subgroups were directed to review the existing Manual and provide any editorial changes by the end of May.  By the end of June, Subgroups should provide a scope of work which provides an outline for the changes to the technical provisions of the Manual.  Although the Subgroups continue to meet on a monthly basis, the next workgroup meeting will be on July 14 at Villanova University.  Of course, the huge challenge facing the Workgroup will be moving from development of critically good ideas into readable Manual form which is so time consuming and challenging for a volunteer effort…

admin BMP Manual Revision BMPs, Chapter 102, control guidelines, infiltration, PA BMP Manual, PA DEP, soil testing methods, water quality

Guest Commentary, submitted by

Mindy Lemoine,
Watershed Programs Manager
Pennsylvania Environmental Council

Implementing a sediment TMDL is a challenge because of the high cost of control measures and the weak legal mechanisms that drive implementation. When the sediment originates in stormwater runoff from numerous land developments and other municipal sources, as in the case of the Wissahickon Creek sediment TMDL, implementation can be particularly complex.

PADEP’s PAG-13 draft permit for MS4 municipalities requires that each MS4 in a TMDL watershed prepare a Stormwater TMDL plan. The draft permit provides some guidance on how to prepare an adequate plan, stating that two of seven recommended control measures should be implemented in the five-year permit period. The draft permit also states that “the Stormwater TMDL Plan shall demonstrate that the required pollutant load reductions will be achieved to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with the TMDL.”  That’s where municipalities get nervous. Neither EPA nor PADEP guidance tell them what is considered maximum extent practicable.

Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) obtained funding from EPA to design a market-based approach to implementing the sediment TMDL in the Wissahickon. PEC believes that employing market mechanisms will support municipalities in achieving the  environmental objectives of the TMDL at the least cost.

PEC’s approach relies on two key assumptions. First, volume is an appropriate surrogate for sediment in urban stormwater. Second, a specific volume of stormwater retention must be established in the MS4 permit as the trigger for trading, and to give municipalities confidence that they can achieve compliance. This volume defines maximum extent practicable in the first five year cycle.

Ideally, a regulatory agency would  establish the level of control required, in this case, PADEP. As PEC’s report was released, PADEP was not prepared to set a number for the required level of control. In the absence of PADEP guidance, PEC examined how aggressively reductions could be obtained.  PEC has estimated the cost of fully implementing the sediment TMDL in the Wissahickon Creek to be between $106 and $230 million.  In the absence of very significant federal or state funding, it is unrealistic to expect municipal taxpayers to shoulder that burden in only one or a few 5-year NPDES permit cycles. Consequently, PEC sought to develop a reduction target that the municipalities and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) could both embrace. The report recommends that 267,064 cubic feet (also referred to as sediment credits) of new stormwater retention volume be used as the target for the first five-year cycle. PEC envisions that this capacity would create a quantifiable sediment load reduction within the first permit cycle.

The target volume is allocated to municipalities according to their percentage of the total WLA as determined in the TMDL. For example a municipality that contributes 17% of  the total WLA would be responsible for 17% of 267,064 cubic feet, equaling 45,428 cubic feet. That municipality would commit in its stormwater plan to identify a site and to design, construct and maintain 45,428 cubic feet of permanent retention. In each permit cycle, PADEP would assign a new target volume number.

PEC also recognized that stormwater retention is less expensive in some municipalities within the watershed than in others.  By allowing trading contracts between the municipalities, it would be possible for a municipality with high costs to purchase sediment credits from a municipality with low costs i.e. to implement stormwater retention within a neighboring municipality’s boundaries.  This market mechanism approach would reduce the overall cost of sediment reduction, and may encourage municipalities to work more formally.

The Wissahickon Creek Municipal Credit System is an innovative approach to controlling sediment loading carried by stormwater runoff.  PEC will be working with the Wissahickon municipalities to help them implement the system.

PEC’s report on the Wissahickon Creek Municipal Credit System was issued in January.
You can Download it Here or visit PEC’s site for more information.

Mindy Lemoine is one of PEC’s two Watershed Program Managers in the Philadelphia office. Mindy is “on loan” to PEC for about two years from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency though an Interagency Personnel Agreement. In her work at EPA, Mindy coordinated local government partnerships for the Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division, the Chesapeake Bay Program and the Delaware Estuary Program. Mindy also worked as Regional Environmental Officer for the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, and as Natural Resources Specialist and Regional Coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Zone Management Program.

Mindy leads PEC’s Wissahickon Roundtable project, which will seek consensus from municipalities, developers and other stakeholders on land use practices that help manage stormwater. She will also manage PEC’s nutrient trading project in the Wissahickon and PEC’s multi-municipal stormwater project in the Pennypack watershed.

admin Guest Commentary, NPDES / MS4 MS4, PA DEP, sediment control, stormwater legislation, stormwater runoff, stormwater standards, TMDL, volume control, watershed protection