The initial response to the EPA’s new 588 pages of rules governing hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas well drilling (see this MDN story) was lukewarm from both pro- and anti-drillers—at least in the Pittsburgh area.
In response to a court order, the federal Environmental Protection agency has issued a set of new rules (i.e. laws) that will govern air pollution standards at oil and gas drilling sites throughout the country, in particular at wells sites that use hydraulic fracturing. A copy of the 588 pages of new rules is embedded [...]
If proposed new EPA air emissions regulations go into effect later this year as proposed, the number of wells drilled using hydraulic fracturing will drop by half, according to a study commissioned and just released by the American Petroleum Institute (a copy of the study is embedded below). The Obama administration has given lip service [...]
Washington County is the most active county in southwestern Pennsylvania for Marcellus drilling, including most numbers of wells drilled, pipelines to transport the gas and compressor stations to power the pipelines. Word has just leaked that last September the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a “multi-media” probe into drilling in Washington County. A multi-media [...]
The Clean Air Council, an anti-drilling environmental group, has set its sights on preventing new compressor stations from being built in the Marcellus Shale as one way to slow down or stop new drilling. Compressor stations remove moisture and pressurize natural gas to move it through pipelines. The two biggest concerns most people have with [...]
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is asking for public comments on a draft permit that controls air emission standards for shale gas drilling. The new standards do not affect the actual drilling and fracking activities because those are regulated by federal rules. The Ohio permit would regulate emissions from generators, dehydration systems and other [...]
The Pennsylvania anti-drilling group Clean Air Council is suing the federal EPA in an effort to force the EPA to clamp down on Marcellus drillers who the Clean Air Council says are creating too much ozone during drilling.
MDN has chronicled the attempt by Morgantown, WV to ban drilling up to one mile outside of the city line—a saga that spanned many months. In the end, a judge struck down the ban and two wells were drilled and fracked. The main concern was that fracking might somehow contaminate the city’s water supply, which [...]
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which oversees oil and gas drilling in the state has issued new guidelines for evaluating air pollution sources from oil and gas operations. Specifically, the new guidelines clarify when operations should be considered a single source, and when operations will be considered separately, thereby facing stricter permit requirements. [...]
There was a public hearing held in Pittsburgh yesterday on new air pollution rules from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will affect gas drillers across the country. And it appears there’s some common ground between the drilling industry and environmental groups.
Being “forced” by a lawsuit, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) drafted new rules and regulations for oil and gas drillers that use hydraulic fracturing. The new rules require drillers to use new or improved processes and equipment (at great expense) in an attempt to cut the level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other [...]
At the prompting of the federal EPA, and perhaps to preempt any action from the EPA, state officials in the Marcellus region are looking closely at air pollution issues that may be caused by shale gas drilling. For example, permits are likely on the way for drillers in Ohio for a whole list of commonly [...]
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