Editorial: Excitement over airport drilling masks its viable harms

Western Pennsylvania has always been a fracker’s paradise.

Since the Corbett administration took office in Harrisburg, fracturing — or fracking — shale rocks to release the precious natural gas inside has been highly celebrated in Pennsylvania, as demonstrated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP)  relatively lenient regulations regarding the “cutting-edge” technique.

Inevitably, the Corbett administration’s preferred method of energy extraction has spread to Allegheny County, and more recently, the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Even though the drilling of county-owned land near the airport technically began on Aug. 15, it wasn’t until this past Monday that Consol Energy President and CEO, Nick Deluliis, and Gov. Tom Corbett, along with other state politicians, gathered at the site to commemorate the “project kickoff.”

Politicians, Consol Energy and the Pittsburgh airport seem to be very excited about this project, and for good reason. Consol expects that it will bring more than $1 billion to the region, $50 million to the Allegheny County Airport Authority — including 18 percent in royalties over the next two decades — and $500 million in capital spending by Consol itself.

This project undoubtedly presents benefits for Consol and for the airport — which has been in fiscal dire straits as of late — but the benefits for the actual region might not go past the airport or the large energy company. In fact, the project has the potential to spread more harm than tangible good to the people of Allegheny County.

First, the amount of money that the public stands to gain from this drilling is not as high as it looks on its face. Yes, Consol expects that the project will generate funds to the region, but a substantial portion seems to be focused on alleviating the airport’s debt. 

The actual economic benefits this project will bring the average Allegheny County resident will most likely not be as dramatic as Corbett and Consol have insinuated. And seeing that Pennsylvania does not charge a severance tax on oil companies — if you haven’t been listening to Tom Wolf’s attack ads against Corbett , we’re currently the largest gas-producing state that doesn’t — much of the money to be gained from the drilling will be out of the public’s hands.

In actuality, the harm caused by this project is potentially much more dramatic than the economic benefits for Allegheny County citizens. This is mainly because of the project’s proximity to highly populated areas within the county and to the water supply of its residents.

Steve Hvozdovich, the Marcellus Shale campaign coordinator for the national environmental lobbying organization, Clean Water Action’s Pittsburgh office, said, “I think our greatest concern is [the project’s] ability to impact local water and air supplies.”

He cited the way in which companies dispose of the excess wastewater from the fracking process as the reason for his concern.

The wastewater could either be “taken into an underground injection well,” which could leak into drinking water aquifers, “taken to a public water treatment facility and then discharged into rivers and streams” or the wastewater could be “recycled and taken to another site for use,” Hvozdovich said.

All potential options pose long-term problems, but the last — the recycling of the wastewater — is the best “short-term” option, according to Hvozdovich. But that option only moves the wastewater to a different plant. It doesn’t get rid of it.

The least Consol can do, seeing that the negatives have the potential to outweigh the benefits, is to make the actual process apparent to local residents.

“There has been some issue with transparency,” said Hvozdovich, “people don’t understand how close this is to populated areas and where wastewater is going to be disposed.”

This responsibility falls on the state government. Pennsylvania citizens, and in this case, Allegheny County citizens have a right to know about possible threats to their quality of life — specifically, when and how these threats occur. So it is up to regulators to keep a sharp eye on this dangerous extraction of natural gas and to promote openness in companies’ processes.

“The more that [fracking companies] don’t put out there, the more people are left to guess what is being done and the more people are left to trust their government,” Hvozdovich said.

As of right now, politicians and Consol have only addressed the possible benefits of the Pittsburgh Airport drilling project. It’s time they address the possible threats as well.