CONSOL Energy is a long-time coal producing company and now the third largest player (by acreage) in the Marcellus Shale after buying Dominion Resource’s gas exploration and production division (for $3.5 billion). So what’s next for CONSOL? Water! CONSOL already traps and treats millions of gallons of water from the coal mining operations they have. [...]
A Pittsburgh startup company formed at the Pittsburgh Allegheny-Singer Research Institute believes it has developed a better solution than current alternatives for treating wastewater from drilling Marcellus Shale gas wells. Frac Biologics Inc. was founded by physicians, so it’s no surprise the technology comes from the medical community: “The idea for the company came from [...]
MDN notes with some amusement how news is manufactured—and is thankful blogs are around to help set the story straight. Case in point: A few days ago the Associated Press ran a single story about the “raging debate” over gas drilling in Northeast Pennsylvania. While the drilling debate is certainly ongoing, and there are plenty [...]
The Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), John Hanger, released a press statement yesterday expressing concerns over Marcellus drilling wastewater being released into PA waterways. From the DEP website: HARRISBURG — High levels of total dissolved solids pollution from natural gas drilling and other sources pose a real threat to Pennsylvania’s streams [...]
The City of Watertown, NY has voted to continue accepting wastewater (flowback) from hydraulic fracturing—but it’s not wastewater from the Marcellus Shale. This wastewater comes from a driller in Central New York—Gastem—who is drilling Utica Shale gas wells using hydraulic fracturing. Utica Shale is much deeper than Marcellus Shale and uses much less water to [...]
Nearly one week ago, on March 31, MDN attended the kickoff meeting of New York Residents Against Drilling (NYRAD) at the Vestal Public Library in Broome County, NY. No, MDN is not anti-drilling! We attend to listen and learn. The drilling debate is increasingly political in tone. Those of us who support drilling need to [...]
MDN finds it necessary to periodically post disclaimers such as the following: We think drilling can be done safely, but we must remain vigilant. The more we know about drilling, the more we are convinced it is a good thing for the economy and the nation’s energy future. We are not anti-science, we’re not blind, [...]
An interesting radio segment from WNYC Public Radio. Leonard Lopate conducted an interview with three Upstate landowners. From the program description: We’ll look into the controversy over drilling for natural gas in Marcellus shale in Upstate New York, and discuss the challenges landowners face when deciding whether to lease their land to gas companies, the [...]
As Marcellus Drilling News previously noted, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission is in the process of placing 30 monitoring devices to track the effects of Marcellus drilling wastewater that enters area waterways. We now learn the program is being funded by the drilling industry itself: The commission used a $750,000 grant from natural gas company [...]
The Pennsylvania State Department of Environmental Protection has issued a permit for a new Marcellus drilling wastewater treatment facility to begin operations in April in western PA. Stephen Frobouck, a partner in Reserve Environmental Services Inc., said the treatment facility at the former American Video Glass plant in East Huntingdon, Westmoreland County, is ready for [...]
Recent Comments