PA Environment Digest

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CNX: 'Natural Gas Development Is Safe And Poses No Public Health Risks,' Based On CNX Air Quality Monitoring From 14 Sites, Most For Just 4 To 24 Weeks

On August 14, CNX Resources issued a press release announcing the preliminary results of air emissions monitoring at 14 sites it said "indicate that CNX natural gas development poses no public health risk."

Eleven of the sites were monitored for as little as just four weeks up to 24 weeks or less. No site was monitored for more than nine months.

In the announcement, CNX CEO Nick Deiulitis said, "The initial results and ongoing monitoring from our Radical Transparency program indicate that natural gas development done the CNX way is safe and inherently good for the communities where we operate.

"We call on our industry peers to join us in these important efforts to ensure that public policy in Pennsylvania is driven by directly-measured data and facts instead of agendas and speculation.

"Our findings also expose the flawed nature of the oft-cited University of Pittsburgh Health Study and its highly suspect results that are used by NGOs to spread unchecked disinformation about natural gas development.

"While these are only the initial results, and the data collection is continuous and ongoing, we can say definitively that Radical Transparency is the superior path forward when setting public policy.

"Because of an already robust regulatory framework in Pennsylvania, our unique collaboration with state government, and CNX development practices, we are producing the most responsibly sourced natural gas molecule anywhere in the world right here in southwestern Pennsylvania.

"Better yet, residents now have direct and real-time access to measured environmental data from sites, rendering reliance on third-party innuendo obsolete."

CNX said the key findings of the data it collected were--

-- Particulate Matter (PM2.5) concentrations were below NAAQS standards at all sites and were well below levels observed within regional urban environments.

-- Measured concentrations of BTEX are well below minimum risk levels at all sites.

-- While other studies, including the Pitt Health Study, have used loose and highly dubious statistical associations collected miles from gas operating sites, CNX's Radical Transparency program collects on-site data (500' perimeter to the wellbore), which would be the most concentrated reading of any air emissions from the site, as emissions decrease with distance due to dispersion.

Deiuliis concluded, "With over 100,000 on-site measured data points accumulated to date, the true impacts of responsible natural gas development on the local environment are becoming clearer to all, and initial indications are very promising.

"But we are just getting started and more needs to be done; Pennsylvanians deserve more data and more locations to be included within the Radical Transparency framework.

"Success is defined by three simple goals: Radical Transparency is the accepted standard for the natural gas industry; residents and communities have direct access to measured data; and energy policy follows the data from the effort. Achieving these goals renders speculation, innuendo, and guesswork obsolete."

Background

CNX reported on air monitoring from two monitors at each site-- one upwind and one downwind-- for a limited number of parameters-- Particulate Matter 2.5 and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes), according to its Transparency webpage.

No information from CNX correlated well development, waste handling, spills or unanticipated air pollution releases or other activities at any of the well pads or other sites.

There was no water quality or drinking water monitoring completed and no human health data collected and analyzed from nearby residents or workers.

No monitoring was done for radioactivity known to be present in wastewater and drill cuttings at the sites.

During the air monitoring of the NV110 shale gas well pad in East Finley Twp., Washington County, DEP began an investigation of several complaints of contamination of nearby drinking water supplies by gas operations in February and March of this year. [Read more here. Read more here.]

DEP also issued CNX violations for withdrawing over 1.8 million gallons of water for fracking operations in Greene and Washington counties without permission. [Read more here]

Since the voluntary agreement between CNX and Gov. Shapiro on November 2, 2023, CNX natural gas production and pipeline companies were issued approximately 80 new or continuing notices of violation for various environmental infractions at multiple locations, according to DEP’s Oil and Gas Compliance Database.

The 14 sites CNX began to monitor under a voluntary "Statement of Mutual Interests" agreement with Gov. Shapiro in November 2023 included these sites. The dates indicate how long CNX monitored air pollution from the site as of August 14.

-- Allegheny County

-- ACAA4 Well Pad (Allegheny County, Pittsburgh International Airport)

PM2.5, BTEX: 2.6.24 to 8.7.24 (6 months)

-- Greene County

-- RHL 37 Well Pad (Richhill Twp., Greene County)

PM 2.5, BTEX: 1.22.24 to 7.25.24 (7 months)

-- Morris Compressor Station (Richhill Twp., Greene County)

PM 2.5, BTEX: 12.22.23 to 8.13.24 (8 months)

-- Buckland Compressor Station (Richhill Twp., Greene County)

PM 2.5, BTEX 7.17.24 to 8.13.24 (less than 1 month)

-- MOR9 Well Pad (Morris Twp., Greene County)

PM 2.5, BTEX: 11.13.24 to 8.13.24 (9 months)

-- Washington County

-- NV110 Well Pad (East Finley Twp., Washington County

PM2.5, BTEX: 10.27.23 to 4.27.24. (6 months)

-- WFN12 Well Pad (West Finley Twp., Washington County)

PM2.5, BTEX: 5.7.24 to 8.13.24 (3 months)

-- NV113 Well Pad (Morris Twp., Washington County)

PM2.5, BTEX: 4.30.24 to 8.13.24 (4 months)

-- Westmoreland County

-- BP6 Well Pad (Bell Twp., Westmoreland County)

PM2.5, BTEX: 3.11.24 to 8.14.24 (5 months)

-- MAM15 Well Pad (Bell Twp., Westmoreland County)

PM2.5, BTEX: 3.23.24 to 8.13.24. (5 months)

-- MAM16 Well Pad (Bell Twp., Westmoreland County)

PM2.5, BTEX: 2.28.24 to 8.14.24 (6 months)

-- MAM14 Well Pad (Washington Twp., Westmoreland County)

PM2.5, BTEX: 4.7.24 to 8.14.24 (4 months)

-- Mamont State Gas Dryer/Compressor (Washington Twp., Westmoreland County)

PM2.5, BTEX: 3.4.24 to 8.24.24 (6 months)

-- WDTN18 Well Pad (WV, Monongalia County)

PM 2.5, BTEX: 6.18.24 to 8.13.24 (2 months)

At the November 2023 announcement with Gov. Shapiro, CNX CEO Nick Deiulitis said this about the air monitoring program--

“First, when you are the tip of the spear, it comes with both an opportunity as well as a responsibility. We're going to learn a lot with radical transparency, and when we see something unexpected or atypical, we're prepared and committed to acting in a way where we engineer and design our way to even better performance.

“Radical transparency in the data provides, inevitably makes the process of natural gas manufacturing better, and it is definitely going to be a catalyst for continuous improvement.

“Second, final thought, imperative for us, is CNX to be able to use radical transparency to make the recent rhetoric speculation, any sensational headlines, to basically make them obsolete.

“To definitively confirm, for all stakeholders, that there are no adverse human health issues related to responsible natural gas development, and to confirm what we already know, that the natural gas industry is essential, it's responsible, and it's inherently good for society.” Read more here.

The air emissions data and other information on the monitoring is available on the CNX Radical Transparency webpage.

Reaction To Announcement

The Clean Air Council, PennEnvironment, Protect PT, the Center for Coalfield Justice and the FracTracker Alliance issued this joint statement on the CNX announcement--

“Of the thousands of chemicals released in fracking, CNX hand-selected six to monitor for in the air. The report did not acknowledge the significant increases in those pollutants its monitors identified downwind of its facilities.

“The report also did not attempt to address the science demonstrating that there is likely no safe level of cancer-causing pollutants such as benzene, which CNX’s data showed that its sites sent into the atmosphere.

“CNX’s “no public health risks” conclusion is contradicted by more than 100 studies identifying the toxic air pollution from fracking and public health studies such as that done last year by the University of Pittsburgh for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which showed strong evidence of increased illnesses in patients living near fracking wells. CNX’s report stems from a 2023 partnership with Governor Shapiro’s administration.”

“CNX’s radically dishonest and irresponsible fracking report fails the fundamental tests of scientific integrity,” said Alex Bomstein, Executive Director of Clean Air Council. “The Shapiro administration should immediately disavow the report and distance itself from this propaganda.”

“There are mountains of evidence showing that from cradle to grave, fracking poses a significant risk to the public’s health,” noted David Masur, Executive Director for PennEnvironment. “Some of the glaring errors and misinformation announced today are just the tip of the toxic iceberg when it comes to harmful discharges into our air and water from fracking.”

“People in the Commonwealth are suffering and this blatant disregard for the real world hurt done for over a decade is unconscionable,” said Gillian Graber, Executive Director of Protect PT. “Governor Shapiro should know that we are not buying the snake oil, the people of Pennsylvania are too smart for that.”

“CNX has a lot of nerve to suggest that their self-collected and self-reported data can disprove a series of studies that looked at the very real, very heartbreaking impacts that children across nine counties experience living near fracking,” said Sarah Martik, Executive Director of Center for Coalfield Justice. “Governor Shapiro needs to wake up to the damage he is perpetuating by continuing in this partnership and by failing to acknowledge Pitt’s state-sponsored, peer-reviewed research.”

“CNX's August 14th press release appears to be an attempt to dupe investors, operators, and decision makers into adopting the faulty Radical Transparency methodology across the Commonwealth in order to shape Pennsylvania's energy policy. This is an extremely misguided idea, given ample evidence showing the health risks associated with fracking,” said Shannon Smith, Executive Director of FracTracker Alliance. “Furthermore, their data is opaque. For example, CNX does not disclose all of the chemicals used in its operations, because the disclosures contain trade secrets.”

PennFuture issued this statement--

“We are greatly concerned with CNX’s radical overstatement regarding their fracking operations in Pennsylvania.

“CNX representatives’ claim that operating for nine months with “no sustained high levels” of five specific dangerous air pollutants at a selected number of sites proves fracking is “inherently good” for communities, is not just wrong, it is ridiculous.

“Their claim that their levels of dangerous fine particulate matter upwind from a major metropolitan area are lower than concentrations in more urban regions suggests that their operations are “safe” is another example of this overreach.

“Many urban areas, especially our Environmental Justice communities, have been demonstrably overburdened by pollution for generations.

“Our priority should be on providing all Pennsylvanians a clean and healthy environment, instead of holding these pollution levels as a benchmark to aim for.

“National Ambient Air Quality Standards are intended to limit levels of selected air pollutants across an entire region, not to ensure people are protected at individual industrial sites.

“The fact that one site is not exceeding this standard should be the absolute minimum expectation and is hardly data worth celebrating.

“While voluntary industry measures to reduce pollution are not inherently problematic, they are no substitute for strict regulation and enforcement of standards to protect public health and the environment.

“ Furthermore, those standards must be significantly more broad than the selected pollutants touted in this study.

“Emissions of methane, which makes up more than 80 percent of fracked gas and is a potent greenhouse gas, need to be held to the absolute minimum.

“After the industry’s opposition to strict controls on methane, maybe it isn’t surprising it was not included in this study.

“We also find it curious that CNX is taking its independent monitoring data and drawing conclusions through a press release as opposed to independent study by health experts.

“If CNX were truly as safe as advertised, they would not have been the subject of multiple violations and fines over the last six years.

“Perhaps a detailed accounting of those failures should be a key element of Radical Transparency.”

Tonyehn Verkitus, Executive Director of the Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania--

“The concept of ‘radical transparency’ seems to me to be quite a bit of a misnomer considering the fact that it's the fox in the hen house watching the eggs.

"With the monitoring that we do, we're going to put more than two monitors around any location that we're interested in at varying distances.

"And we're not going to trust the information that we gather in just three months. Can we see patterns? Sure. But I don't think it tells a full story."

"We just can't trust the person who's creating these toxic emissions to monitor themselves. And just based on what they're reporting, they aren't doing an appropriate job. There should be many more monitors over much longer time periods to get quality results.”

Karen Feridun, of the Better Path Coalition, issued this statement on the CNX announcement--

‘Today, CNX told investors that it has demonstrated since implementing the Radical Transparency program it developed with the Shapiro administration that natural gas development is safe and poses no public health risks.

“CNX would have its investors believe its preposterous assertion that data collected for a few months from a total of 14 sites, three of which are designated as “archived,” refutes decades’ worth of peer-reviewed scientific research, government data, and investigative reports on a multitude of documented harms.

“The company’s press release specifically calls out the state-funded University of Pittsburgh study, referring to the research team’s findings as “unchecked disinformation” and “innuendo.”

“The University of Pittsburgh actually conducted three studies that found an increased risk of lymphoma in children living in proximity of drilling, asthma exacerbations in people of all ages living up to ten miles from drilling sites, and low birth weight in babies whose mothers lived near drilling during their pregnancies.

“Their findings correlate with those of peer-reviewed papers that are among the thousands published over the past two decades showing harms to human health and the environment.

“The public is, indeed, demanding answers regarding the harmful effects of fracking. But what we’re being given instead are hastily-derived, cherry-picked data points disguised as ‘science.’ It’s a sad day in Pennsylvania,” said Karen Elias, co-founder of No False Solutions PA, “when our very real concerns are dismissed as ‘rhetoric’ out of a clear desire to remove the toxins from an industry that’s rife with them, and declare it safe.”

“Innuendo. Rhetoric. We are in dangerous territory when a self-serving private interest and the Governor of Pennsylvania are working from the same script,” said Karen Feridun, Co-founder of the Better Path Coalition.

“Independent researchers from many sites outside, as well as inside Pennsylvania have documented the existence of harms to health from exposure to fracking. Now in its 9th edition, the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure tracks the research,” said B.W. Brandom, MD, MS (Public Health) and member of Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania.

NewsClips:

-- Inside Climate News - Kiley Bense: After Partnering With Pennsylvania To Monitor Itself, CNX Shale Gas Company Declares Its Fracking Operations ‘Safe’

-- Investing.com: CNX Resources Stock Downgraded As Natural Gas Price Outlook Dims

-- MarketBeat.com: CNX Resources Downgraded By piper Sandler To ‘Underweight’

Resource Links - CNX:

-- Gov. Shapiro, CNX Natural Gas Company Sign Statement Of Mutual Interests To Monitor Air Emissions At Drill Sites, Extend Safety Setbacks While Data Is Being Collected; DEP To Move Ahead With Some Reg Changes [11.2.23]

-- TribLive Editorial: Is Shapiro's Voluntary Agreement With CNX The Right Move For Gas Well Safety? 'We Do Not Trust Foxes To Guard Henhouses' [11.6.23]

-- Physicians For Social Responsibility PA: Gov. Shapiro's Announcement With CNX Does Not Go Far Enough In Protecting Public Health And The Environment From Natural Gas Development [11.8.23]

-- FracTracker Alliance: Not-So-Radical Transparency - An Ineffective And Unnecessary Partnership Between Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro And The Shale Gas Company CNX [5.2.24]

-- Natural Gas Pipeline Pigging Facility Malfunction Dec. 27 Released 1.1 Million Cubic Feet Of Natural Gas; Same Facility Plagued Community With Blowdowns 3 Times A Day, 7 Days A Week For Nearly 10 Years Until Criminal Charges Brought Against CNX [4.10.23]

-- CNX Resources Begins Disclosing General Information On Fracking Chemicals, Air Monitoring Results Online At 2 Shale Gas Well Pads [12.18.23]