Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Mar 15, 2012

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

Whitehall officials discuss Marcellus shale concerns
PittsburghLive.com
Whitehall officials are doing their homework to determine if they should join with other Pennsylvania municipalities and pursue a lawsuit challenging a state law that takes away local rights to restrict natural gas drilling through Marcellus shale, the borough manager said last week.

Dominion Project Is On Its Way Up
Wheeling News
Driving along W.Va. 2 south of Moundsville, one will notice the Dominion Resources natural gas processing plant springing up on one side of the road, with multiple stacks of pipe on the other side.

Conference explores shale potential
Charleston Daily Mail
The first-ever West Virginia Marcellus to Manufacturing Ethane Development Conference, scheduled next Wednesday and Thursday at the Civic Center, is aimed at attracting companies that can use the resources made available by the natural gas-rich Marcellus shale.

Landowners pay to have Trumbull records digitized
Tribune-Chronicle
A group negotiating oil and gas mineral agreements for Trumbull County landowners is about to put up more than $250,000 to make centuries-old property deeds more accessible to the public.

Most of Pa. Marcellus gas drilling in 11 counties
Star-Gazette
Data from the state show that many counties don’t have any gas drilling wells tapping into the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation and may never have any despite the proliferation of them elsewhere.

Who’s Taking Rental Space?
Wheeling News
Marcellus Shale gas drillers may be patronizing local lodgings, restaurants and stores, but their presence could cause concern for Section 8 residents.

Butler County intends to collect millions in drilling fees
Valley News Dispatch
Butler County commissioners Wednesday approved an ordinance that will allow the county to collect millions in fees from Marcellus shale gas drilling.

At the EPA, environmentalism isn’t a ‘spectator sport’
The Daily Caller
Lisa Jackson’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is at it again. Already having been called out on flawed science for its ground water studies in Wyoming in the fight over the practice of hydraulic fracturing, the agency is now clashing with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.