Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wednesday, Oct 26, 2011

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

Drilling boom brings surge in crime to small towns
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Gas and oilfield worker’s trucks fill a majority of parking spots at the Candlewood Suites hotel in Williamsport, Pa.

Man charged in frackwater-drinking incident
The Citizens’ Voice
After a man unknowingly drank treated frackwater out of a water jug at a Dimock worksite in June, he immediately became nauseous and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.

Forest service denies ‘contempt’ claim in northwest Pa.
Star-Gazette
The U.S. Forest Service contends it is not in contempt of a federal court order reversing a ban on natural gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest, despite claims to the contrary by a pro-drilling group.

How to Save Lives and Much More
EagleSpeak
For over 100 years, the removal of salts from water required high pressure, large factories, metal parts susceptible to corrosion and massive amounts of electricity.

Foreign buyers lift U.S. energy sector
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Foreign interest in the American energy sector — and particularly in gas development in the Appalachian region — helped the value of oil and gas deals jump 135 percent in the third quarter, according to the latest report from the analysis arm of New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC.

Former EPA Official: States Should Take Lead on Shale Gas Regulations
WVNS Channel 59
If the states don’t draft strict regulations regarding horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, federal regulators will do it on their own, and those regulations probably won’t match local needs.