DEP revokes permits for natural gas companies Ultra, Fortuna after Chesapeake Bay Foundation files appeal

The state Department of Environmental Protection has revoked three erosion and sedimentation control general permits previously issued to Ultra Resources Inc. and Fortuna Energy Inc. due to technical deficiencies, and has sent notice of violation letters to the three licensed professionals who prepared the applications.

According to DEP, the agency "took this action because of numerous technical deficiencies discovered after our approval of the permits," said DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell.

The permits were appealed to the state Environmental Hearing Board by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in August and September, prompting DEP officials to re-examine the permits to determine if they met the regulatory requirements.

Matt Royer, Pennsylvania staff attorney for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said they had listed a number of objections to DEP's action in granting the permits initially.

"This spring, DEP announced that they were going to strip the review authority away from county conservation districts to review applications for these permits for all natural gas activity 5 acres or greater and we were shocked at that," Royer said, adding that the foundation felt the conservation districts "do a pretty good job at reviewing plans and keeping them away from wetlands."

Instead, DEP said it would review the permits in an expedited manner, but it no longer reviewed them for technical details, Royer said.

"As long as it was submitted by the drilling company's paid consultant they weren't going to open up the plans and look at them," Royer said. Once that started and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation began reviewing some permits issued under the "expedited process," DEP was using, it found "some problems with them not having the right best management practices in place or having projects run through wetlands that were supposed to be protected."

Royer said as a result, the foundation filed litigation to stop "the three most egregious cases, and all three were in Tioga County."

Two of the projects belonged to Fortuna and one to Ultra Resources, Royer said.

"One was a pipeline in Jackson Township, another was in Ward Township on Armenia Mountain in the area of Tioga State Forest Land and the third was to Ultra Resources in Gaines Township," he said.

The Gaines Township permit was issued for more than 350,000 acres, Royer said.

"Some of the permits are being issued in phases. They come in and say they will disturb the first 10 acres for a well pad and then do the rest piece by piece," he said.

According to Dan Spadoni, community relations specialist with the DEP, the technical deficiencies in both permits included inaccurate calculations, failure to provide best management practices where required, and lack of proper technical detail.

"They now have to obtain a standard permit involving submission of a new complete application that we would review as a standard 60-day review," Spadoni said.

According to Spadoni, some of the permits cover different stages of projects.

"There are sites in six different municipalities and two different counties. Fortuna's involved nine wells three impoundments and the Mountain Ridge Pipeline Extension, gathering lines to transport the gas to larger transmission lines.

Ultra had four different locations, he added, but could not provide an individual breakdown.

Royer said best management practices are those that must be put in place on the site to minimize the accelerated run off of erosion and sedimentation from the site.

Practices include drainage swails and filters.

"They make sure storm water runoff will not send muddy water into neighboring creeks and wetlands. They also control the increase in storm water runoff that happens when you change the landscape as you change it from forest land to an active drilling pad," Royer said.

Sediment is one of the major pollutants to local waterways and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay, which has been federally mandated to be cleaned up, Royer said.

"The EPA is working on a total maximum daily load plan that will carry clear mandates to start reducing sources of sediment and nutrients causing problems in the bay. Some legislation was just introduced that clarifies what each state must do to clean up their waterways that empty into the bay," he added.

Though the cleanup is expected to be costly, Royer said, "from our perspective, there are serious costs in not addressing the pollution from the higher cost to treat drinking water from polluted streams to flooding problems and dealing with that.

"We know what the industry is projecting from the Marcellus Shale and the need to develop an important economic resource, but I don't know if anyone is looking at the cumulative impact of all this once we really get rolling."