Guest voice: Marcellus Shale regulators too cozy with industry
I have listened to all the talk about drilling in the Marcellus Shale and the assurances given regarding the impact of such drilling.
I have experience with the gas-well drilling industry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the old state Department of Environmental Protection. Several years back, a company drilled an injection well in Waterford Township. This well was actually drilled in violation of EPA and DEP regulations with full knowledge and permission of both agencies because of industry pressure to develop a less expensive method to dispose of the waste from gas drilling and extraction. We only became aware of this well when they requested public input upon its completion.
During our investigation, we obtained the logs of the geology and cementing procedures used on this well. We learned that no engineer would publicly state the problems found in the logs during the drilling and cementing of this well. We located an engineer to review the logs; this engineer gave me verbal information about poor cementing, voids and other areas not properly cemented, and identified problems with what is known as the packer, which seals the well casing and annulus.