| | | | | |

Grant Twp, PA Calls DEP “Chicken $h*t” re Injection Well Permit

potty mouthGrant Township in Indiana County, PA has a problem: They’ve hired a potty mouth lawyer to represent them who has a HUGE conflict of interest. Grant’s town attorney is also the lawyer for (and executive director of) the litigious and extreme left-wing group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF), a group committed to ending the use of fossil fuels. We’ve written plenty about the antics of the CELDF, including their lawsuit on behalf of an ecosystem (see It Speaks! An “Ecosystem” has Filed to Join a Lawsuit in PA). CELDF/Grant Twp. attorney Thomas Linzey is calling the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) “chicken shit” for their decision to delay a decision on whether to grant a permit for an non-controversial injection well in the township…
Continue reading

| | |

EQT Looks to Drill on Abandoned Golf Course in Pittsburgh Suburb

for vs againstIs Marcellus drilling about to come to a suburb of Pittsburgh? It appears the answer to that is a resounding, “Yes!” EQT, according to a landman that works for the company, plans to put a mega drill pad with up to 14 wells on an abandoned golf course in the eastern burbs of Allegheny County. EQT has approached neighbors surrounding the property, attempting to sign them to leases. Predictably, some of the neighbors are for it, and some are against it…
Continue reading

| | | |

Ineos Gets Ready to Begin Ethane Exports from Marcus Hook, PA

Ineos Shale Gas for Manufacturing
Click image for larger version

As MDN told you in June, exporting of Marcellus/Utica ethane from the Marcus Hook facility near Philadelphia will become a reality later this year when Ineos Olefins & Polymers, one of Europe’s largest petrochemical companies, begins loading two Large Gas Carriers (LGCs) with ethane bound for Norway and Scotland (see Marcellus/Utica Ethane to be Exported to Europe Starting This Year). We get an update on that €600 million ($671 million) Ineos export project from the Financial Times, along with a very interesting tidbit we’ve not heard before: ethane from Marcus Hook will also head to an ethane-powered electric generating plant in Panama…
Continue reading

| | | | |

Northern Supply Access Proj. Expands OH to Gulf Pipeline Capacity

Texas Gas Transmission Northern Supply Access project map
Click map to view larger version

Last week MDN told you that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had approved a project by Boardwalk Pipeline Partners to reverse the flow on their Texas Gas Transmission pipeline to haul natural gas from the Utica/Marcellus to the Gulf Coast (see FERC Approves Important Utica-to-Gulf Coast Pipeline Reversal). We have word on a second project, called the Northern Supply Access Project, also related to the Utica/Marcellus and the Texas Gas Transmission pipeline. FERC recently announced they will conduct an Environmental Assessment (EA) on the Northern Supply Access Project…
Continue reading

| | | | |

Phila. Gas Works: Will Take 45 Years to Upgrade Unsafe Pipelines

tortoiseNatural gas customers in Philadelphia could have had all of the outdated and unsafe pipes belonging to the aging Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) pipeline network replaced within 5-10 years, paid for by UIL Holdings Corporation, a Connecticut-based gas and electric utility holding company that offered to buy PGW in a deal brokered by Democrat Mayor Michael Nutter. But the corrupt Philadelphia City Council torpedoed the deal (see Philly City Council Kills the Phila. Gas Works $1.86B Deal). Now PGW ratepayers are going to see an increase–instead of a decrease–in their utility rates in order to “speed up” the pace of replacing unsafe natural gas pipes throughout the city. What does “speed up” mean for a government-owned utility?…
Continue reading

| |

Study Says Universities Divesting Fossil Fuel Stocks Lose Big $

loserA researcher with the California Institute of Technology has taken a close look at what would happen if five major universities–Harvard, Yale, MIT, Columbia and NYU–heeded the siren call of anti-fossil fuel nutters to divest their considerable endowments from holding any fossil fuel-related stocks. Just those five universities would lose a combined $200 million of value in their stock portfolios should they divest from fossil fuel stocks. Such efforts have been going on for some time. Not long ago Syracuse University divested all fossil fuel stocks, which will lead to losses in their endowment fund (see Syracuse U Divests from Fossil Fuels, NYU Says “Irresponsible”). The California Institute of Technology report, titled “The Divestment Penalty: Estimating the Costs of Fossil Fuel Divestment to Select University Endowments” (full copy below) is a cautionary research report to prevent mistakes like SU’s from being repeated…
Continue reading

| | | | | |

Judge Grants NEXUS Pipeline Survey Access in Wayne County, OH

judge rulingThe NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline, a $1.5-$2.0 billion natural gas pipeline that will carry Utica and Marcellus Shale gas spanning 11 counties in Ohio, 3 counties in Michigan, and eventually connect to the Dawn Energy Hub in Canada, has had to take some Ohio landowners to court simply to gain access to their property survey for potential routes. Sometimes county judges rule against NEXUS (see Summit County, OH Judge Denies NEXUS Request to Survey Properties). Most of the time county judges rule in favor of NEXUS (see NEXUS Pipeline Sues for Survey Access, Wins Most of the Time). Another place NEXUS has just won is in Wayne County, where a county judge has ordered two property owners to allow NEXUS access to their property…
Continue reading

| | | | |

Orange County, NY Marcellus-Fired Electric Plant OK’d by Judge

James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane
James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane

Several weeks ago MDN told you about local opposition in Orange County, NY to a proposed clean-burning natural gas-fired electric generating plant (see Star Trek Actor with Upstate NY Home Speaks Against Power Plant). We were disappointed that “Zefram Cochrane” (actor James Cromwell) lent his voice to the Luddites of Orange County in opposing the project. No matter. The judge in the case dismissed a lawsuit brought by those opposing the plant. It’s now full warp speed ahead…
Continue reading

| | | |

Statement from 2nd Company Working on Belmont, OH Ethane Cracker

crowingLast week the CEO of Thailand chemical giant PTT Global flew to Belmont County, OH to announce his company is spending $100 million over the next 9-12 months on preliminary work to build an ethane cracker plant in the county (see PTT Announces 2 Contractors Working on Belmont Cracker Plant). During the announcement, CEO Supattanapong Punmeechaow said his company had awarded contracts to two companies to work on designs for the plant: Fluor Corporation and Bechtel Enterprises. In last week’s article we ran the Fluor “hey, we’re one of the winners” press release. Below is Bechtel’s version of crowing about the project…
Continue reading

| |

NY Landowner Coalition Hosting Clam Bake on Sunday in Broome Co.

Clam BakeClam Bake! It’s time to wind down summer with some fun, and some learning, and to help support the ongoing effort to overturn the frack ban in New York State. The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) and its education arm JLC United is hosting a Clam Bake this Sunday, September 13 in Vestal, NY from 1-6 pm. Come on out and support a great cause. Tickets are just $55 each $50 each for all of the great food you can eat, and beverages you can drink (including adult beverages). Details below…
Continue reading