State Reps Visit LMSD's Natural Gas Station

State Reps. Greg Vitali (D-166) and Tim Briggs (D-149) visited Harriton High School on Monday to take a look at one of Lower Merion School District's two natural gas fuelling stations. The district began the transition from petrol in the mid-'90s, and now 59 of their 113 buses run on compressed natural gas, of which Pennsylvania is one of the nation's largest producers.

While the buses generate less pollution than their diesel counterparts, Vitali praised them for charting a route to energy independence.

"America imports a full 70 percent of its oil from foreign counties—some of them hostile to us—and that puts our country in a vulnerable position," said the Delaware County representative. "Pennsylvania has an abundance of natural gas, and initiatives such as this one by the Lower Merion School District could reduce our reliance on imported oil."

The freedom comes at a cost though. Though the district's expenses were offset by a $220,000 grant from the state Energy Office and a $315,000 Alternative Fuel Transportation Grant, Lower Merion's two compressed gas fueling stations cost a million dollars to build and each of the 59 buses they service cost $135,000—$35,000 more than a conventional bus.

There are also costs associated with the extraction of the natural gas itself. Done largely by hydraulic fracturing (known as fracking)—a process whereby an admixture of water, compressed gasses, and chemical additives is shot into a wellbore at sufficient pressure to crack the surrounding rock and allow access to the natural gas reserves below—natural gas extraction is thought to contaminate well water and diminish air quality around the site.

While no dispositive analysis has been performed on these claims, Pennsylvania has begun a study on what, if any, effects a new drilling site in the northeastern part of the state will have on health of residents, the results of which will be available next summer.

Despite these complications, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection maintains natural gas is, on balance, an upgrade over its alternatives.

"The EP certainly supports the conversion of fleets that formerly ran on diesel into cleaner fuels, natural gas obviously being one of them" said EP representative Kevin Sunday. "Natural gas has a much cleaner emissions profile than diesel, and we hope that it continues to be a large part of the state's energy profile going forward."

Rep. Briggs echoed the EP's position, but sounded a note of caution.

"Lower Merion School District’s natural gas fueling station is a great example of how Pennsylvania’s environment can benefit from our own state’s natural resources," Briggs said. "But we have to make sure that the natural gas is extracted responsibly so that Pennsylvania’s citizens benefit from what is being taken from their own back yards."