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EPA “May” Start Testing Dimock, PA Water in 2 Weeks

yes no maybeEarlier this week, MDN reported that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency prone to overstep its legal authority, is once again nosing around Dimock, PA (see this MDN story). After writing to tell Carter Road residents in the Dimock area that their drinking water was just fine on Dec. 2 of last year, they reversed course last week and expressed concerns over “gaps” in water testing data. Now it seems that the EPA themselves will conduct their own tests of water in Dimock.

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WV Legislator Offers Forced Pooling for Higher Severance Tax

In December of 2011, West Virginia passed new Marcellus Shale drilling laws raising certain fees and putting new requirements in place (see this MDN story). The drilling industry, while saying it was not a perfect law, in the end supported it. But there was on thing the new law did not address that the industry wants to see: forced pooling. That issue is once again being discussed for possible action in the legislature this year.

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Southern NJ Refinery May Reopen Thanks to Shale Fracking

A closed refinery in West Deptford Township (Gloucester County), NJ may soon reopen thanks to hydraulic fracturing. The refinery, owned by Sunoco, is looking at two possibilities: Refine oil from the Bakken Shale region of North Dakota; or convert the refinery into a processing plant to move and store ethane from the Marcellus Shale region.

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