| | | | | |

Judge Overturns Morgantown, WV Fracking Ban

Gavel fallingFor some time now, MDN has covered the hydraulic fracturing ban passed by the city of Morgantown, West Virginia (see list of articles here). In a surprise move last Friday, the Monongalia County (WV) Circuit Court Judge Susan Tucker overturned Morgantown’s fracking ban, clearing the way for Northeast Energy to continue drilling and fracking operations about a mile outside of Morgantown city lines. Judge Tucker’s “summary judgment” is embedded below.

Continue reading

| | | |

New Interstate Pipelines Mean Thousands of Jobs in PA

Hundreds of miles of new interstate gas pipelines are on the way in Pennsylvania, and new pipeline construction is providing thousands of jobs in the state. The volume of Marcellus gas flowing from the Marcellus is projected to rise from a current 3 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day to 7 or 8 bcf per day in the next five years, which means more large interstate pipelines are required to get the gas to market.

Continue reading

| | | | | | |

Williams’ Pipeline Project in Northeast PA Hits Opposition

Williams is attempting to complete a pipeline that will at one end join to the Transco interstate gas pipeline in Dallas Township, PA, and at the other end join to the Tennesee Gas Pipeline near Springville (in Susquehanna County), PA. But local opposition from Dallas Township residents to the pipeline means Williams’ target completion date of October may be delayed.

Continue reading

| | | |

Marcellus Areas See Increase in Drunk Driving, Lesser Crimes

A statistical certainty is that as the population of an area grows, there’s bound to be more drunk driving arrests and more crime in general—one of the “hazards” of an increasing population. And so it is in Bradford County, PA and other regions in the Marcellus Shale where the Marcellus drilling boom is happening. The increase in crime is not caused by drilling, according to law enforcement officials, but is a simple fact that where there’s more people there are bound to be more criminal incidents. It’s one of the negatives of drilling, like industrialization of rural areas (more trucking, more noise, more traffic) that must be recognized and if possible, mitigated or at least anticipated.

Continue reading