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Fayette County Adopts Illegal Wastewater Injection Well Ban

Fayette County, PA

Is Fayette County in southwestern Pennsylvania, with some 333 drilled and active shale wells as of the end of last year, turning against the Marcellus industry? Perhaps. And perhaps drillers will want to give the county a pass for future development following an unnecessary and illegal ban against wastewater injection wells passed last week by the three county commissioners — two Republicans (Scott Dunn and Dave Lohr) and one Democrat (Vincent Vicites).
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Anti-Marcellus RINO Intros Bill to Block All PA Injection Wells

Pennsylvania State Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa (Republican In Name Only from Fayette County) has turned against the Marcellus industry. Yesterday, Krupa introduced legislation, House Bill (HB) 1656, that bans drilling new wastewater injection wells in the state, making it much harder to drill new shale wells. Companies end up drilling fewer wells without a place to dispose of the naturally occurring water that comes from shale (and conventional) wells for years after an oil or gas well comes online.
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SWPA Republican Rep. Sells Out, Turns Against Marcellus Industry

PA State Rep. Charity Krupa

We’re naming names. Pennsylvania State Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa (Republican from Fayette County) has turned against the Marcellus industry. She is introducing legislation that would ban drilling new wastewater injection wells in the state, making it much harder to drill new shale wells. Companies end up drilling fewer wells without a place to dispose of the naturally occurring water that comes from shale (and conventional) wells for years after an oil or gas well comes online. Was Krupa always anti-drilling? Or has she recently lost her way? Either way, she needs to be vigorously opposed in this effort–and someone needs to primary her in the next election. She needs to go.
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G2 STEM Withdraws Injection Well Application for Fayette County, PA

On July 11, the federal EPA held an online hearing to accept comments on a draft permit it intended to issue allowing G2 STEM to drill a proposed new wastewater injection well in Fayette County, PA (see G2 STEM Proposes Wastewater Injection Well in Fayette County, PA). Many people in Fayette County, including local officials, attended to express their strong opposition. They can rejoice. Just coming to light now, G2 STEM notified the EPA on August 4th that it is withdrawing the application and canceling the project.
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G2 STEM Proposes Wastewater Injection Well in Fayette County, PA

Nicholson Township

This is the first time a proposed new wastewater injection well in Fayette County, PA, is appearing on our radar screen. G2 STEM, a Virginia-based company, filed an application in June 2022 with the federal EPA to construct and operate a wastewater injection well in Nicholson Township. The EPA recently held an online hearing (July 11) to accept comments on a draft permit it intends to issue allowing this new injection well. Plenty of people in Fayette, along with local officials, attended to express their opposition.
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39 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 26-Jul 2

New shale permits issued for Jun 26 – Jul 2 in the Marcellus/Utica saw a dramatic increase, thanks to a bump in Pennsylvania’s numbers. There were 39 new permits issued last week, way up from 11 issued the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 30 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and just 1 new permit in West Virginia. Coterra Energy scored the most new permits with a whopping 12 issued in Susquehanna County, PA (for two well pads). Range Resources had the second most new permits, with 7 permits issued in Washington County, PA (for one pad).
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21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 12-18

New shale permits issued for Jun 12-18 in the Marcellus/Utica gained one. There were 21 new permits issued, up from 20 the previous week. Last week’s permit tally included 12 new permits in Pennsylvania, 6 new permits in Ohio, and 3 new permits in West Virginia. Snyder Brothers scored the most new permits, with 9 issued in Armstrong County, PA. INR had the second most new permits, with 4 permits issued in Carroll County, OH.
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26 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 8-14

New shale permits issued for May 8-14 in the Marcellus/Utica rose from the prior week. There were 26 new permits issued last week, up from 20 in the prior week (and 18 the week before that). Last week’s tally included 13 new permits for Pennsylvania, 10 new permits for Ohio, and 3 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was CNX Resources, with 7 permits issued (5 of them in Westmoreland County, PA, and 2 in Greene County, PA). Encino Energy, showing up as EAP Ohio in the report, had the second-highest tally with 5 permits (issued in Harrison County, OH).
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18 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Apr 3-9

New shale permits issued for Apr. 3-9 in the Marcellus/Utica dropped again from the prior week. There were 18 new permits issued in total last week, down from 21 in the prior week (and down from 32 the week before that). Last week’s tally included 13 new permits for Pennsylvania, 0 new permits for Ohio, and 5 new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was EQT with 7 new permits (6 in Fayette County, PA, and 1 in Washington County, PA). Two companies tied for #2 with 4 permits each–Coterra (Susquehanna County, PA) and Northeast Natural Energy (Monongalia County, WV).
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21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 27-Apr 2

New shale permits issued for Mar. 27-Apr. 2 in the Marcellus/Utica dropped quite a bit from the prior week. There were 21 new permits issued in total last week, down from 32 in the prior week. Last week’s tally included 15 new permits for Pennsylvania, 6 new permits for Ohio, and no new permits in West Virginia. Last week the top receiver of new permits was Ascent Resources with 6 new permits, 5 in Jefferson County, OH, and 1 in Harrison County, OH. Chesapeake Energy took the #2 slot with 5 new permits in Bradford County, PA.
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SWPA Landowners Settle Class Action Lawsuit with Chief for $5.5M

It took us a while to track down this story, but we finally have details about the settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by roughly 60 landowners in Fayette County, PA, against Chief Exploration and Development, the former drilling arm of Chief Oil & Gas (now called Cyprus Exploration and Development). The lawsuit alleged that in 2008, Chief and its landman had cut a deal to lease the landowners’ property and then never paid the stipulated signing bonus. The lawsuit sought $7 million. The landowners ended up settling for $5.5 million earlier this month.
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PA DEP Fines Trucking Co. $600K for Dumping Drill Cuttings No Permit

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced a consent order assessing a $600,000 fine against a trucking company that hauled drill cuttings from West Virginia and dumped them (without a permit) at several sites owned by the trucking company in Fayette County, PA. The unsanctioned dumping happened between the years 2012 and 2015.
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Fayette County, PA Landowners Get $5.5M Settlement from Chief

A group of roughly 60 landowners located in Fayette County, PA, have received a $5.5 million settlement from what was Chief Exploration and Development (now called Cyprus Exploration and Development) to compensate the landowners for leases signed in 2008. The landowners filed a class action lawsuit in 2011, claiming bonus and rent payments were not made.
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20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 30-Jun 5

Two weeks ago a pathetically low six new permits were issued to drill shale wells across Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia (see 6 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 23-29). Last week the number improved–with 20 new permits issued. PA had 13 permits with Range Resources, Olympus Energy, and Pennsylvania General Energy all scoring three permits each. OH issued six new permits with the state’s two most active drillers, Ascent Resources and Encino Energy, collectively grabbing five of the six. WV issued just one new permit–to Antero Resources.
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24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Mar 28-Apr 3

Last week Pennsylvania issued 14 new shale well permits, with EQT Corp. grabbing eight (seven of them on a single pad in Fayette County), and Coterra Energy (formerly Cabot Oil & Gas) receiving three (all on the same pad in Susquehanna County). Ohio issued ten new permits last week, with three going to a relative newcomer, Utica Resource Operating (same pad in Guernsey Count) and three for Encino Energy (same pad in Harrison County). West Virginia got skunked and shows no new shale permits issued last week. Pity.
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Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Aug 30-Sep 5

Last week only Pennsylvania issued new permits for new shale well drilling–14 of them scattered around the state. Both Ohio (for the seventh week in a row) and West Virginia did not issue new shale permits last week.
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