pa forest fragmentation from marcellus shale, wind turbines & transmission lines
DESCRIPTION
Overview of the habitat This is a captioned slideshow reviewing the fragmentation impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling, ridge-top wind development, and proposed new regional electricity transmission corridors to the forests of Pennsylvania.TRANSCRIPT
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Impacts on PA’s Environmentfrom Marcellus Shale Drilling,
Industrial Scale Wind Turbines, & New Transmission Corridors
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Greater than 60% of Pennsylvania is currently forested
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Percent Natural
CoverLandscape Blocks Color-coded by Percent of Natural Cover Collaborative Assessment by The Nature Conservancy and Western PA Conservancy
“Natural Cover” includes deciduous forest, coniferous forest, mixed forest, scrub-shrub, woody wetland, & emergent wetland types as defined by National Land Cover Dataset 2001.
Landscape BlocksCountiesBird Conservation Regions
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• Dissect previously large patches into smaller ones
• New edge habitat• Changes in microclimate• Tend to exist long term• Increased soil erosion• Increased human activity• Increased pollution• Invasive plant species
introduction• Barriers to species dispersal• Possible long term changes in
plant and animal communities
Edge Effect from Roads
>100 ft100 foot
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Increased Nest Predation and Parasitism
Veery
Wood Thrush
Veery nest with two white-speckled cowbird eggs
Raccoons, skunks, opossums, blue jays, crows, cowbirds
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Scarlet Tanager feeding baby cowbird hatched in its nest
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Pennsylvania has a global and continental responsibility for breeding populations of three
interior-forest bird species
Worm-eating Warbler
10% of world’s population
nesting in PA
Scarlet Tanager
Greater than 17% of world’s population nests in PA forests
Wood Thrush
9% of world’s population nesting
in Pennsylvania
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Breeding Neotropical Species Sensitive to Fragmentation and Edge Effect
Canada Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Acadian Flycatcher
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Blue-headed Vireo
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Hermit Thrush
More Sensitive Species
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Vernal Ponds/Pools
Marbled Salamander
Spotted Salamander
Jefferson Salamander
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Mountain Chorus Frog
Spotted Turtle
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Barriers to Dispersal
Spotted Salamander
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Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction
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Fortuna Energy Site, Tioga State Forest
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Drilling Site A
Drilling Site B
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Drilling Site A
Drilling pads are almost all less than 5 acres. PA exempts gas and oil well operations smaller than 5 acres from the sediment & erosion regulations of the Clean Water Act.
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Drilling Site
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Reservoirs
15 million gallons
8 million gallons
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15 million gallon reservoir
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Compressor StationPipeline Connector
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Compressor Station
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Pipelines
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Truck-mounted pumps and temporary storage tanks needed to fracture-treat the Marcellus Shale
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A network of roads is necessary for the steady flow of construction vehicles, and water trucks for each drill site, further fragmenting the landscape and potentially impacting local streams with increased runoff and sedimentation.
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476
1,948
5,200+Expected
2,252 as of 4/30/10
2008 2009 2010
Marcellus shale drilling permits issued by PA DEP
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“This Marcellus Shale gas drilling website is dedicated to providing photos, facts, opinions, stories and news about the Marcellus Shale gas play that you won't see other places. You'll find extensive photos of gas drilling sites, pipeline construction, well sites and compressor stations. News and opinion about hydraulic fracturing.”
www.marcellus-shale.us/
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Local Effects on Timber Resource
• Loss of timber revenue
• Damage to standing trees
• Soil compaction and root damage
• Reduced forest productivity
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Spread of Invasive Species
Multiflora Rose
Autumn Olive
Japanese Stiltgrass
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Disturbance of Sensitive Habitats
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Increase in Noise and Light Pollution
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Dimock
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WBNG-TV: Binghamton, New York Nov. 20, 2009
Dimock Neighbors Sue Cabot Oil & GasA natural gas drilling company has struck a lawsuit in Pennsylvania.
A group of homeowners in Dimock Township have filed legal action against Cabot Oil and Gas.
Residents have described an ordeal that began shortly after Cabot started drilling near their homes, saying the water that came out of their faucets suddenly became cloudy and discolored, and smelled and tasted foul.
A resident’s well exploded on New Year’s Day 2009, prompting a state investigation that found Cabot had allowed combustible gas to escape into the region’s groundwater supplies.
"I can't drink my water, my girls have had health issues, rashes and before they discovered the gas in the water. I just want to be able to drink my water and water my dogs and my garden and everything and not have to worry about it," said Victoria Hubert of Dimock.
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PA DEP Takes Aggressive Action Against Cabot Oil & Gas over Dimock Township Methane Contamination April 15, 2010
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is not happy with what it says is lack of progress on the part of Cabot Oil & Gas in the remediation of methane contamination of water supplies in Dimock Township, PA.
The DEP blames Cabot for the methane contamination. Cabot claims they really aren’t at fault and are being unfairly blamed for a naturally occurring phenomenon (migrating natural gas).
Today’s consent order from the DEP stipulates that Cabot must:
• Plug three wells believed to be the source of the migrating methane gas, within 40 days. • Install permanent water treatment systems in the affected 14 homes. • Pay $30,000 per month in fines, starting in May, until all obligations are met.
In addition:
• The DEP is immediately suspending reviews of any pending Cabot permits to drill elsewhere in the entire state. • Cabot is barred from drilling any new gas wells in Dimock Township for at least one year.
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DEP Orders Cabot Oil & Gas to Remove Hibbard Well Pad Reserve Pit in Susquehanna County
Company Ignored DEP’s Prior Written, Verbal Requests April 30, 2010
“DEP strongly advised Cabot to close and remove the reserve pit in an April 8 notice of violation letter and reiterated to Cabot’s senior management the same message a few short days ago,” said Yowell. “However, Cabot has not remedied the situation and its inaction demonstrates an arrogant disregard for Pennsylvania’s oil and gas regulations and proper protection of our environment.”
The department’s Oil and Gas Program staff responded to a report of black water in a ditch near the Hibbard well pad on March 22. The black water had impacted a private unused drinking water well, two springs and a wetland.
The water, soil and sediment sample results from DEP and Cabot’s contractor in the area, along with visible tears and holes in the reserve pit’s liner and local geology, led DEP to conclude that the black water is a mixture of groundwater and liquid waste from the reserve pit.
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Excerpts:
“ . . . more than 1,000 other cases of contamination have been documented by courts and state and local governments in Colorado, New Mexico, Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In one case, a house exploded after hydraulic fracturing created underground passageways and methane seeped into the residential water supply.
In other cases, the contamination occurred not from actual drilling below ground, but on the surface, where accidental spills and leaky tanks, trucks and waste pits allowed benzene and other chemicals to leach into streams, springs and water wells”
“Of the 300-odd compounds that private researchers and the Bureau of Land Management suspect are being used, 65 are listed as hazardous by the federal government. Many of the rest are unstudied and unregulated, leaving a gaping hole in the nation's scientific understanding of how widespread drilling might affect water resources.”
Buried Secrets: Is Natural Gas Drilling Endangering U.S. Water Supplies? by Abrahm Lustgarten November 13, 2008
www.propublica.org
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PA House approves compromise drill moratoriumBY ROBERT SWIFT (HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF) May 4, 2010
HARRISBURG - A compromise proposal to impose a three-year moratorium on additional leasing of state forest land for natural gas drilling won House approval Monday.
New York toughens rules, virtually bans gas drilling in Skaneateles Lake watershedBy John Stith/The Post-Standard
Syracuse, NY -- State environmental officials on Friday made it virtually impossible to drill for natural gas in the Skaneateles Lake and Catskills watersheds.
Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis said that applications to drill in the watersheds, which supply drinking water to nearly 9 million people in the Syracuse and New York City areas, would be considered on a site-by-site basis, separately from any regulations governing hydrofracking elsewhere in the state.
The Skaneateles Lake and Catskill watersheds provide water to the two cities, the only two places in the state allowed to use unfiltered water as a water source without expensive treatment.
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New Pa DEP Drilling Regulations proposed February 2010
• Bolsters well construction specifications
• Hold drillers responsible for restoring or replacing water sources contaminated by drilling operations to the standards set forth by the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Require drillers to promptly inform PADEP if wells are over-pressurized, if casings are defective or if gas has migrated into drinking water sources.
• Mandate quarterly checks on the integrity of existing wells in operation to ensure that there is no evidence of gas escaping from wells and to determine whether there is evidence of progressive corrosion or other signs of deterioration.
• Operators will be required to submit annual reports to PADEP identifying compliance status associated with these inspections.
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Waymart Wind Energy Center , Wayne County
Meyersdale Wind Energy Center, Somerset County
Industrial Scale Wind Development
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View of turbine base clearing during construction
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Construction of roads to move turbine parts up to ridges
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Example of Impacts to headwaters during construction
On Shaffer Mountain (PA-designated Exceptional Value Stream)
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Pennsylvania
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Location of Allegheny Ridge industrial scale wind project on the Allegheny Front IBA
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Locations of the 84 turbines at the Allegheny Ridge Wind Project
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Focus area of next slide
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Phase One Allegheny Ridge
Wind Project = turbine locations*
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Phase One Allegheny Ridge
Wind Project
Focus Area of next slide
= turbine locations*
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Before roads and turbines are installed in the Portage, PA area (part of Phase 1)
(SR – 160)(SR – 160)
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After roads and turbines are installed showing fragmentation
(SR – 160)(SR – 160)
Note: New turbine roads are nearly twice the width of SR-160
(SR – 160)(SR – 160)
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Aerial Photo of Same Location
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Interior Forest Impact based only on turbines in this image
40 turbines = impact of 970+ acres (does not include transmission lines) total project size to date is 84 turbines
Acreage Impact Calculations:
58,300 linear feet of turbine roads (in photo) X 65’ wide road = 3,789,500 or 87 acres of roads
About 2+ acres cleared per turbine pad X 40 turbines =~ 80+ acres for turbines alone
Add associated roads and infrastructure: Most severe edge effect to interior forest is 100 yards into the forest on either side of roads = 35,000,000 square feet, or 803 more acres of forest impacted.
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Less severe edge effect actually extends another 200 yards = 1,600 more acres of forest impacted (~2,400 acres total)
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Fragmentation analysis on same site by The Nature Conservancy
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Bat and bird fatalities due to direct collisions and barotrauma• 4,000 bats killed at this 44-turbine site during 2003
• Several thousand more killed at Myersdale (Somerset Co. PA)
Mountaineer industrial Scale Wind Facility
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Impacts on Birds & Bats from Industrial Scale Wind Facilities
Direct Effects (research needed on all of these)
• Bat and bird strike mortality
• Direct habitat loss/modification
• Loss of interior forest habitat
• Habitat fragmentation/edge effect
• Increased nest parasitism/predation
• Water quality impacts
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Secondary Effects (research needed on all of these)
• Reduced nesting/breeding density
• Loss of population vigor and overall density
• Habitat and site abandonment, increased isolation between and within patches
• Loss of refugia
• Effects on behavior including stress, interruption, and modification
• Disturbance, avoidance, displacement, habitat unsuitability
• Attraction to modified habitats
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Facts About Electrical Generation and Wind Power in PA
• 30% of all power currently produced in PA is exported out of state
• Annually wind generated power is about 20 - 25% efficient in PA
• Peak demand times for electric power occur in summer when wind power production is lowest in Pennsylvania
• Wind-generated power can’t be stored and must go directly into the grid
• Turbines pull power from the grid to get started
• CO2 is still being produced even when turbines are spinning (coal fired plants are scaled back but can’t be shut down)
• Since wind power is unreliable it can’t supply base or peak load like conventional power plants – “spinning” turbine reserve is usually greater than wind turbine contribution
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Problems in Pennsylvania and Other States
• Wind power development is driven by state renewable energy portfolio, not economics or science
• All current habitat protection guidelines are voluntary
• Siting of projects is primarily directed by wind, not ecology
• Industry data are proprietary and usually not shared
• Cumulative impact assessments are ignored
• Timing of pre and post construction bird surveys often out of sync with actual bird migration
• Limited breeding bird surveys are conducted, including for threatened & endangered species
• Endangered species presence at a site have been found to sometimes been removed from company reports to agencies
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New Transmission Corridor Proposals
Under the Corridor designation, PJM and transmission companies have moved to advance power line approvals
Yellow = in five year plan
Blue = PJM board-approved Green = state-approved
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Construction of additional transmission lines
500 kV line765 kV lines
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Examples of habitat types/communities throughout Pennsylvania susceptible to habitat loss, fragmentation,
and edge effect from energy development
• Shale Barrens• Heath Barrens• Vernal Ponds• Rock Outcrops and Talus slopes• Early Succession/ Shrub-Scrub• Deciduous Forests• Mixed Deciduous Forests• Conifer Forests
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Ridge Top Shale Barrens
Whip-poor-will
Golden-winged Warbler
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Ridgetop Heath Barrens
Barrens Buckmoth
Moosic Mountain
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Talus slopes and Rock Outcrops
Rock Vole
Allegheny Woodrat
Rock Shrew
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Mountain Earth Snake
Green Salamander Eastern Fence Lizard
Eastern Spotted Skunk
Timber Rattlesnake
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Pitch-pine Scrub Oak Barrens and Early Successional Habitats
Prairie Warbler
Appalachian Cottontail
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Species of Conservation Concern Found in High
Elevation or Upland Forests
Northern Flying
Squirrel
Swainson’s Thrush
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Rather than implementing an aggressive policy of energy conservation, politicians are supporting the exploitation of the resources of the mid-Atlantic Highlands for the needs of the eastern seaboard cities – with no regard for ecological or sociological consequences.
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Photo courtesy of Jackson’s Journeys
Wind Turbine and Habitat Slides courtesy of
Kim Van Fleet, Important Bird Area Coordinator
Audubon [email protected]
717-213-6880 ext.11