Drilling Down

Petroleum engineer Michael Pokalsky came to set the record straight.
But on questioning, Pokalsky acknowledged the state’s existing laws on natural gas drilling are inadequate to protect the environment.
Abington Council of Governments (ACOG) members have expressed concerns ever since the discovery of the Marcellus Shale deposit locally that gas drilling could pollute the water table.
To protect the ground water, gas drillers are required to surround the bore hole with a seamless tube of cement.
During a recent ACOG meeting, Abington Township William White said gas drillers know how to fake the cementing of a gas drilling pipe into the ground so it looks good to a state inspector.
“You really can’t fake cementing,” Pokalsky said last Thursday.
White was not at the meeting.
Pokalsky went into technical detail concerning proper drilling and cementing. If there is mud in the bore hole, spacers are used to flush the well so the cement does not come into contact with the mud.
Because cement is pumped around the casing under pressure, it reaches  25,000 psi compression strength in 24 hours, Pokalsky said.
After the cement is set, a sonic tool is used to test for the presence of cement around the pipe. “If it (the pipe) thumps, there’s cement behind it,” he said.
Drilling operators are required to file daily logging reports, he said.
Hydrofracking (“fracking”) and cementing are the two most important parts of natural gas well drilling, he said. Fracking refers to pumping chemicals under pressure into the gas-rich shale to bring the gas to the surface.
Because it is so expensive, fracking fluid is used over and over, Pokalsky said. He said he has worked on rigs in the Gulf of Mexico where there has been “zero discharge.”
The chemicals in fracking fluid are not proprietary, he said. According to federal law, fracking fluid must be accompanied by a material safety data sheet. “Disclosure of chemicals is a non-issue,” he said.
However, he acknowledged after a question from Lee Jamison that the existing Pennsylvania laws are not adequate to protect the environment. He referred to several state bills that would expand drilling laws. “The state seems to be on the right track,” he said.
While not advocating for himself, Pokalsky said that currently, the only way for a landowner to ensure the environment is not harmed by drilling is to write protections into the lease and hire an engineer to be the owner’s representative at the drilling site.     
Pokalsky is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and is a founder of the Northeast Pennsylvania Landowners Association.
Jamison later said he is not opposed to gas drilling if it protects the environment. He himself has a gas lease in Wyoming County. But, he said, “You only have one shot at doing it right.”

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