In the words of one regulatory agency staffer, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and Ohio may "have a tiger by the tail!" These states contain potentially-recoverable natural gas reserves in the Devonian Marcellus Shale Formation.
Formerly viewed as a marginal target for gas development, the Marcellus became prominent when hydrofracturing (i.e., using water and additives under high pressure to fracture rock) proved to be successful in the similar Barnett Shale in Texas. Penn State Professor Terry Engelder and SUNY Professor Gary Lash estimated that the available gas in the Marcellus might be on the order of approximately 50 trillion cubic feet (TCF). For perspective, the US now uses about 23 TCF of natural gas per year. Additional work to refine the estimate of potentially available gas based on production data boosted the estimate of potentially available gas to over 363 TCF.
What's new? The hydrofracturing technology has been around for some time. New, more efficient hydrofracture additives have been developed that make the process more efficient. A major technological advace has been the use of directional drilling. A gas well formerly penetrated the gas-bearing strata vertically, which meant that the gas-yielding portion of a borehole that passes through a 200-foot thick gas-bearing rock unit might be no more than 200 feet. With the ability to steer the drilling process and to turn the drilling to 90 degrees (i.e., horizontal boring at a target depth, or boring parallel to bedding planes), a borehole can now be developed that encounters thousands of feet of productive rock. In addition, directional drilling is allowing the drilling to occur on relatively small, 5-acre pads that can contain 6 boreholes, each radiating away from the pad.
Land leasing has been proceeding at a feverish pace in northcentral Pennsylvania, and the number of permit applications for new wells has increased exponentially over previous years. PADEP has taken on new staff, even at a time when State budgets are being cut and members of PADEP staff in other programs have been laid off.
Yes, there is a potentially "dark" side to Marcellus gas development. Some of the borings have been improperly sealed, and the briny water from depth can be forced to the surface, which can be disastrous for the shallow groundwater aquifers that many of the small, northern tier communities use for drinking water supply. New York State is completing a study on the environmental impacts of Marcellus development, since much of the desirable land is in the water supply area for New York City. The quantity of water that can be required to hydrofrac one well can be enormous: 1 million gallons or more. Of this, only a percentage is returned to the surface, but that water is heavily laced with deep bedrock minerals such as sodium, chloride, barium, and other exotic minerals. As a result, the use of water for hydrofrac'ing gas well is considered to be "consumptive", and use of groundwater or surface water to ‘frac wells is now regulated by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which underlies approximately 72 percent of the Susquehanna River Basin. In addition, treatment of the "return" water is presenting an engineering challenge.
These are challenging times, with boundless enthusiasm for gas development from the economic development perspective, and with concern for the potential adverse environmental effects of the gas development from others.
The Converse State College, PA Office is involved with a number of water providers in Northcentral and Western PA who seek authorization of the SRBC to provide water to the gas developers.
Some references for further reading:
PA DCNR Bureau of Topographic and Geologic Survey "Pennsylvania Geology" (Vol 38, No. 1)
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/pub/pageolmag/pdfs/v38n1.pdf
Susquehanna River Basin Commission
http://www.srbc.net/programs/projreviewmarcellus.htm
PADEP:
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/oilgas/new_forms/marcellus/marcellus.htm
U.S. Department of Energy "Shale Gas Primer 2009"
http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/publications/naturalgas_general/Shale_Gas_Primer_2009.pdf
USGS "Water Resources and Natural Gas Production from the Marcellus Shale"
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2009/3032
The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) California region held it's annual Conference this week in Sacramento, combining the Conference, Engineering Excellence Awards Banquet and Legislative Visit Day into one issues-packed week.
The Conference, with the theme Back in Black: Paving the Road to Economic Recovery kicked off on Monday morning with the General Session breakfast and an inspiring keynote speech by U. S. Senate Candidate Carly Fiorina. At lunch we were given an overview of the California Forward's principles and plans for pursuing nonpartisan government reform by Jim Mayer, the Executive Director of California Forward.
The roundtable discussion, breakout sessions and panel topics included GIS, Water, Transportation, Healthcare, Labor Law and Marketing.
The hallmark of the Conference is always the outstanding networking opportunities, timely topics and interesting speakers. The staff of ACEC, led by Jenny Devine, routinely does an exceptional job organizing and putting on these events.
Converse Consultants is an active member of ACEC CA and several of our senior staff and principals are members of various committees.
A nationwide coalition is undertaking the task of repairing, restoring and, in some cases, saving the Great Waters of our nation.
The America's Great Waters Coalition is an alliance of more than 30 national, regional, state, and local organizations working to protect, preserve, and restore America's Great Waters, which include, but are not limited to, the Chesapeake Bay, Coastal Louisiana, the Everglades, Great Lakes, Gulf of Maine, Long Island Sound, Mississippi River, Puget Sound, San Francisco/Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The goals of the America's Great Waters Coalition are to:
- Make the restoration of our country's great waters a national priority
- Secure sustainable dedicated funding for restoration
- Enact and ensure sound implementation of restoration projects
According to Jennifer S. Vey, fellow, Brookings Institution in this article in Waterworld, "Research has found that cleaning up the Great Lakes and its waterways -- by improving water and sewer infrastructure, restoring and preserving wetlands and coastal habitats, and cleaning up toxic areas -- would create jobs and inject billions of dollars into the regional economy....This indicates that directing public investments toward improving the health of all of the nation's Great Waters -- from the Chesapeake to the San Francisco Bay -- simply makes good economic sense."
A complete list of coalition members can be found here.
See the full size map here.
This effort can result in a widespread investment in our national infrastructure which, in turn, can give a boost to the A/E/C industry. The water/wastewater treatment plants, surface and groundwater resource management and transportation systems in our country can be upgraded to be more efficient and ecologically sound.
Converse Consultants is ready to assist in this effort to improve our Great Waters and our infrastructure.
SOCIETY FOR MARKETING OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
44 Canal Center Plaza, Suite 444
Alexandria, VA 22314
http://www.smps.org/
Contact: Christine Chirichella, Marketing Manager
800.292.7677, x227, or christine@smps.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2009
BETH GEORGE ACHIEVES CERTIFED PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MARKETER DESIGNATION
Redlands, CA-Beth George, Director of Business Development for Converse Consultants, earned the designation of Certified Professional Services Marketer in November, 2009. She is among a growing number of professionals to be certified by the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), which advocates for, educates, and connects leaders in the design and building industry.
Certified Professional Services Marketers (CPSMs) are recognized as having the experience and knowledge to generate profitable business in the architectural, engineering, and construction marketplace. To achieve this designation, certification candidates must meet educational and experience requirements, pass a rigorous written examination, and pledge to abide by the CPSM Code of Ethics. The process validates the individual's mastery of and ability to apply critical business development knowledge in an industry that values certification.
SMPS Chief Executive Officer Ronald D. Worth, CAE, FSMPS, CPSM, observed, "Pursuing certification demonstrates a professional's commitment to life-long learning and to building the firm's business. Certification is truly an investment in one's career, the profession, and the industry."
To learn more about SMPS and the certification program, contact Marketing Manager Christine Chirichella at 800.292.7677, x227, or christine@smps.org, or Certification Manager Kevin Doyle, x232, kevin@smps.org. Information also is available at http://www.smps.org/.
The Society for Marketing Professional Services (www.smps.org) was created in 1973 by a small group of firm leaders who recognized the need to sharpen skills, pool resources, and work together to create business opportunities. Today the association supports 7,000+ members as they tackle the day-to-day complexities of marketing and developing business for architectural, engineering, construction, and related specialty services firms in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Converse Consultants is an industry leader in the fields of geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, groundwater sciences, GIS, and materials testing and inspection services. With 11 offices in 5 states, Converse provides expertise nationally for complicated transportation, water resources, water storage and conveyance, educational and governmental projects, as well as commercial, retail and industrial developments. For more information please contact Beth George at bgeorge@converseconsultants.com or 909-796-0544.
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Rich Pugliese, Converse's GIS Manager spent a day at Western High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, speaking to over 180 students and faculty to help promote GIS awareness.
Demonstrations on how GIS (geographic information systems) is used to help solve daily problems for water resources, geotechnical and environmental engineering were part of the program. A series of maps was also provided for display at the Clark County Government Center.
GIS Day is a grassroots educational event that enables users and vendors to open their doors to schools, businesses, and the general public to showcase real-world applications of GIS. The event is held on the Wednesday of Geography Awareness Week, which is the third week of November. Click here for more information on the event.
Organizations all over the world that use or are interested in GIS participate by holding or sponsoring an event of their own. The first GIS Day occurred in 1998.
The events principle sponsors are the National Geographic Society, Association of American Geographers (AAG), University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), United States Geological Survey (USGS), Library of Congress and ESRI.