Erosion Control at Oil and Gas Sites

Aug. 25, 2015

In an effort to expand their businesses, many erosion and sediment control contractors have turned to providing services to the oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing sites. Services can include dust control on unpaved access roads, sediment control, revegetation of disturbed areas, and other measures to protect habitat and wetlands.

While all erosion and sediment control jobs require correct product use for the given application, attention to safety, and adherence to regulations, these factors are often amplified at oil and gas drilling sites. The work also can be subject to market and seasonal fluctuations.

In an effort to expand their businesses, many erosion and sediment control contractors have turned to providing services to the oil and gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing sites. Services can include dust control on unpaved access roads, sediment control, revegetation of disturbed areas, and other measures to protect habitat and wetlands. While all erosion and sediment control jobs require correct product use for the given application, attention to safety, and adherence to regulations, these factors are often amplified at oil and gas drilling sites. The work also can be subject to market and seasonal fluctuations. [text_ad] A significant amount of drilling and hydraulic fracturing takes place in Pennsylvania, including in the Marcellus Shale region. Pennsylvania’s Code for environmental protection includes a chapter, Chapter 102, dealing with earth-disturbing activities. These regulations are used by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Oil and Gas Management for regulating construction of oil and gas well sites, access roads, and other facilities. The permit is similar to an NPDES permit for stormwater, but tailored for the oil and gas industry, explains Stephen Brokenshire, environmental group manager for the office’s Bureau of Planning and Program Management. There are two different types of oil and gas sites. One involves conventional vertical well drilling on sites that are usually less than 5 acres. The other is the newer, unconventional shale drilling site, horizontal drilling operations that usually take place on sites larger than 5 acres. The first action an operator must take is obtaining a well permit, “because they cannot start building well pads everywhere and plan on drilling on them sometime in the future,” says Brokenshire. “They have to get the well permit first before they can do anything.” The well permits have specific notification requirements, notes Brokenshire. “They have to notify anybody who has a water well or water supply within a certain perimeter. They also have to notify the hosting municipality and adjoining municipalities to that site.” In conjunction with the permit, the operator gets an ESCGP-2 permit. Any construction activity that encroaches on any surface water or wetlands also requires a Title 25 PA Code Chapter 105 general permit, a permit for activities such as putting a temporary bridge over a stream, placing wood matting to move equipment across wetlands, or installing culverts in a stream or a pipeline crossing under a stream. The ESCGP-2 is all-encompassing, says Brokenshire. “They have to do the Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory [PNDI] search, an inventory of all of the state or federal endangered species and threatened species, a Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program search for historical sites, and they have to map the soils and surface waters. They have to do a complete search of the area that they plan to disturb. They have to notify municipalities of their activities and develop an erosion and sediment control plan and a post-construction stormwater management/site restoration plan,” he says. Companies also must have a Preparedness, Prevention, and Contingency (PPC) plan, emergency response plan, and containment plan. “In our Oil and Gas Act of 2012, there are requirements that they have to take containment measures for specific industrial products and waste products. They also have to employ erosion and sediment control best management practices,” says Brokenshire.

A significant amount of drilling and hydraulic fracturing takes place in Pennsylvania, including in the Marcellus Shale region. Pennsylvania’s Code for environmental protection includes a chapter, Chapter 102, dealing with earth-disturbing activities. These regulations are used by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Oil and Gas Management for regulating construction of oil and gas well sites, access roads, and other facilities.

The permit is similar to an NPDES permit for stormwater, but tailored for the oil and gas industry, explains Stephen Brokenshire, environmental group manager for the office’s Bureau of Planning and Program Management.

There are two different types of oil and gas sites. One involves conventional vertical well drilling on sites that are usually less than 5 acres. The other is the newer, unconventional shale drilling site, horizontal drilling operations that usually take place on sites larger than 5 acres.

The first action an operator must take is obtaining a well permit, “because they cannot start building well pads everywhere and plan on drilling on them sometime in the future,” says Brokenshire. “They have to get the well permit first before they can do anything.”

The well permits have specific notification requirements, notes Brokenshire. “They have to notify anybody who has a water well or water supply within a certain perimeter. They also have to notify the hosting municipality and adjoining municipalities to that site.”

In conjunction with the permit, the operator gets an ESCGP-2 permit. Any construction activity that encroaches on any surface water or wetlands also requires a Title 25 PA Code Chapter 105 general permit, a permit for activities such as putting a temporary bridge over a stream, placing wood matting to move equipment across wetlands, or installing culverts in a stream or a pipeline crossing under a stream.

The ESCGP-2 is all-encompassing, says Brokenshire. “They have to do the Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory [PNDI] search, an inventory of all of the state or federal endangered species and threatened species, a Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program search for historical sites, and they have to map the soils and surface waters. They have to do a complete search of the area that they plan to disturb. They have to notify municipalities of their activities and develop an erosion and sediment control plan and a post-construction stormwater management/site restoration plan,” he says.

Companies also must have a Preparedness, Prevention, and Contingency (PPC) plan, emergency response plan, and containment plan.

“In our Oil and Gas Act of 2012, there are requirements that they have to take containment measures for specific industrial products and waste products. They also have to employ erosion and sediment control best management practices,” says Brokenshire.
About the Author

Carol Brzozowski

Carol Brzozowski specializes in topics related to resource management and technology.