Posted on 09/19/2014 5:19:03 AM PDT by thackney
Chevron has become the first energy company to meet a new set of voluntary shale gas drilling standards that aim to go beyond existing state laws in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, the Pittsburgh-based Center for Sustainable Shale announced Thursday...
Chevron’s pledges to recycle drilling fluids, not use open waste pits and to reduce methane leaks address “very big” concerns for many people, said Davitt Woodwell, president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. Chevron also says it now discloses all of the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process in the region. Woodwell said his group hopes other drilling companies take similar actions....
When the Sustainable Shale project was announced in early 2012, some energy companies said they realized they needed to do more to reassure the public about the safety of fracking. Some environmentalists said they joined the Sustainable Shale project after coming to the conclusion that hundreds of billions of dollars in oil and gas is going to be extracted one way or another and that working with the industry is the quickest path to making the process safer....
(Excerpt) Read more at fuelfix.com ...
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE SHALE DEVELOPMENT (CSSD)
https://www.sustainableshale.org/about/
Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the CSSD is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to support continuous improvement and innovative practices through performance standards and third-party certification. Focused on shale development in the Appalachian Basin, the Center provides a forum for a diverse group of stakeholders to share expertise with the common objective of developing solutions and serving as a center of excellence for shale gas development.
Funded by philanthropic foundations and participating energy companies, CSSD is intended to promote collaborative efforts by industry and its stakeholders called for by the Shale Gas Production Subcommittee of the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board.
Social License to Operate (Powerpoint Presentation)
https://www.sustainableshale.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CSSD-presentation-10.21.13.pptx
Groundwater Protection Standards
- Zero discharge of wastewater until adoption of a treatment standard.
- Wastewater recycling – > 90%.
- Closed loop containment of drilling fluids.
- Double-lined impoundments with leak detection.
- Pad specific Area of Review and risk analysis.
- Groundwater monitoring– pre and post operation.
- Casing and cement standards.
- Disclosure of well stimulation fluids.
- Well pad design –minimizing risk to water sources.
- Spill response and public notification plans.
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