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Dominion 2Q Update: The Battle to Build Atlantic Coast Pipe

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Dominion Energy, a huge company with its fingers in many energy pies (pipelines, LNG exports, power generation, utility company) issued its second quarter update yesterday. Although the company is large and yesterday’s update spanned many different initiatives, there was no escaping the fact that much of yesterday’s conversation revolved around the company’s stalled Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project.
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OH Court Says Internet Search to Find Mineral Owners Not Required

How much “due diligence” must a landowner engage in when it comes to locating a long lost mineral rights owner in Ohio? According to Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act (ODMA), the landowner who wants to reclaim mineral rights that were severed must (a) send a certified letter to the last known address of the rights owner, and (b) if that doesn’t work, publish a notice in local newspapers to try and find the long lost rights owner. After that, the landowner can reclaim the mineral rights (an oversimplification, but you get the idea).
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New Mahoning Injection Well Online Soon; OEPA Issues Violation

In March MDN reported that work has restarted, after eight years, to complete an injection well in Mahoning County, OH (see Work Restarts at 8-Year Dormant Youngstown, OH Injection Well). The Ohio EPA, ever vigilant as they are, recently issued the project a notice of violation…but not for any work related to the injection well itself.
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PA Gov Magically Finds $ to Fix Philly Schools w/o Severance Tax

In March, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf traveled to an elementary school in South Philadelphia with the message that only a severance tax on Marcellus Shale production stands in the way of cleaning up lead paint problems that are poisoning the little kiddies at the school (see Gov. Wolf’s Campaign of Lies re Severance Tax Continues in Philly). We were, rightly, incensed. If children are being poisoned by lead paint in Philly schools, find the money somewhere and fix the problem–NOW. It seems we weren’t the only ones thinking that way. Wolf has magically found $4.3 million to fix the problem…without a severance tax.
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Tenaska’s Westmoreland Gas-Fired Plant – Generating Power & Money

We love happy endings, and this story has one. Despite claims by anti-fossil fuelers that the Tenaska Westmoreland Generating Station in southwestern PA would spread disease and death if it got built, it’s been up and running since last December–producing power and generating money for both its builders and the community–and everyone is just fine. Cue the Pete Seeger song “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” and replace “Flowers” with “Antis”…
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New Study Claims PA Fracking Stops Hikers from Having Good Time

Yet another cockamamie “study” (i.e. propaganda) about the negatives of fracking–this one done by the University of New Hampshire claiming a few hikers and outdoor enthusiasts in Pennsylvania will have to find someplace else to hike and enthuse…because of evil Marcellus fracking. The thing that really angers us is that Pennsylvania taxpayers paid for this “study”!
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Steel Nation CEO Pushes Back on Post-Gazette Cancer Stories

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues to get a lot of negative reaction to its grossly irresponsible series of stories attempting to connect shale drilling to several cases of childhood cancer in southwestern Pennsylvania (see Response to Pittsburgh Newspaper Smear Campaign re Child Cancer). The founder and CEO of Steel Nation, a company deeply involved in the Marcellus/Utica shale industry, is the latest to push back against the Post-Gazette‘s irresponsible series.
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Shale Energy Stories of Interest: Thu, Aug 1, 2019

MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PUCO threatens to shut down natural gas company; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: U.S. Department of Energy approves LNG exports from Gulf LNG; Bakken gas muscling out Western Canadian supply from Chicago market; NATIONAL: Rystad Energy finds employment is shifting from shale to offshore; Hurricane Barry knocked 700,000 barrels of oil per day offline and hardly anyone noticed; Bill improving natural gas pipeline safety advances in Congress; INTERNATIONAL: Google’s celeb-obsessed search for climate change answers is a hypocritical joke.
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