Marcellus Drilling News

Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Meigs County | Ohio | Regulation | Wastewater

GreenHunter Opens Brine Injection Well in Meigs County, OH
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

GreenHunter Water’s newest brine injection well has begun operation in Meigs County, Ohio. The well is located close to the Ohio River and GreenHunter hopes to, at some point, receive brine wastewater via barge and pump it directly from barges to the well for disposal, reducing truck trips. GreenHunter now has eight active saltwater (brine) injection wells in the Utica/Marcellus region, five of which are located in Ohio.

Management says they are excited to “be the first to implement a barging program…” However, as far as we know, the Coast Guard (and the White House and a variety of other agencies) have still not given the green light for barge shipments of fracking wastewater, which includes brine (see The Long (Federal) Road to Approve GreenHunter’s Barge Terminals).
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Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH | Williams

Bluegrass Pipeline – Possible Map & Route Through Ohio ID’d
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

We’re now narrowing in on the proposed route for the Bluegrass Pipeline–a natural gas liquids pipeline coming from Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners that will repurpose some existing pipelines and build new sections. The pipeline will run from the Marcellus/Utica region all the way to the Gulf Coast–to carry NGLs to the Gulf for processing (see Williams, Boardwalk Announce Marcellus-to-Gulf Coast NGL Pipeline).

Williams and Boardwalk have not released a map of the proposed official route, but using several recent articles and a site set up by lawyers who want to represent landowners whose property the pipeline will cross, we’ve got a map of the proposed route through Ohio and a pretty good idea of where, in certain counties, the pipeline will cross…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Statewide NY

Latest Q Poll Results – NY Support for Fracking Trends Up
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

It’s been a while since MDN has covered the polls numbers in New York State–how many NYers are for or against shale gas drilling and fracking. The latest Quinnipiac University statewide poll numbers were released yesterday and show that while the state remains fairly evenly divided as a whole (46% in favor, 44% against), if you look at the trend information, you notice the number of those who favor drilling are trending up, and the number against is trending down. Which will no doubt cause more angst among the hippie protester crowd who thought they were winning the debate by using lies and fear tactics.
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

OH Gov Kasich Latest Frack Tax Plan – Third Time’s the Charm?
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is trying to make his plan to hike severance taxes on oil and gas drilling in the fledgling Utica Shale a little more palatable with a ~~bribe~~ plan to kick back 25% of the taxes raised to the eastern Ohio counties most affected by drilling. The other 75% would, of course, be spent on lowering everyone else’s income taxes a tiny fraction–instead of making the tough choices of cutting obscene government spending. Typical political sleaze–and shameful coming from a so-called conservative Republican.

This is the third such tax increase plan Kasich has tried to push through. Here’s the details of the latest plan, such that they are, being floated by Kasich’s office:
Read More “OH Gov Kasich Latest Frack Tax Plan – Third Time’s the Charm?”
Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation

EPA to Investigate Itself on Methane Leaks from Pipelines
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just keeps trying to do what they Constitutionally are not allowed to do: regulate oil and gas drilling. Their latest effort to do so comes from the EPA’s Inspector General office, which announced plans to investigate whether the EPA is taking enough action to reduce methane leaks from natural gas pipelines. Kind of like a person kicking himself in his own rear-end…
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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | PVR Midstream | PVR Partners

PA DEP Slaps PVR Gathering with $150K Fine for Illegal Discharges
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

PVR Marcellus Gas Gathering, a PA-based midstream company, was fined $150,000 this week by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection for four episodes of “discharge violations” that happened while PVR was constructing the Coal Mountain pipeline in Lycoming County, PA in 2011. The DEP slapped them hard because, says the DEP, the company kept repeating the same violation–discharging bentonite (impure clay) into a local creek. PVR Marcellus Gas Gathering is a subsidiary of PVR Partners (formerly Penn Virginia Resource Partners).

The DEP announcement:
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Alternative Energy | Industrywide Issues | Research

New Report: NatGas + Renewables = Lower GHG Emissions
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) has just published a new report titled, “Leveraging Natural Gas To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” The 116-page report (full copy embedded below) looks the recent success of using natural gas and at how it can be used in conjunction with other energy sources to cut the use of greenhouse gases even further. Former Secretary of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Hanger, is practically orgasmic in his effusive praise of the study, primarily because it mirrors his own philosophy of regulate natural gas drilling a lot more (but still do it), and at the same time work hard to develop renewable sources like wind and solar (see John’s comments here).

The C2ES posts this helpful overview and summary of the study on their website:
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Landowner Says Chesapeake Trespassed, Court Decides for Chessy
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

In yet another case of “be careful how you word your lease,” the Valley Rod & Gun Club (in Pennsylvania) leased land to Chesapeake Energy for drilling. The two disagreed over where the drill pad should be located and Chesapeake moved forward with a site they wanted against the wishes of the landowner. The landowner sued saying Chesapeake trespassed in building the pad. Earlier this week U.S. District Court in PA ruled…
Read More “PA Landowner Says Chesapeake Trespassed, Court Decides for Chessy”
Broome County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Laser Northeast Gathering | New York | Pipelines | Taxation | Williams

More Good News for Windsor, NY Taxpayers from Shale Gas Pipeline
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

Last October, MDN told you about the Town of Windsor (where we write from!) in Broome County, NY, along the border of Pennsylvania. Windsor saw a new 9-mile section of natural gas pipeline and a compressor station go online, and the tax revenue from that small project was enough to lower the property and school taxes for everyone in the town. We asked/continue to ask the question–when was the last time you heard about school and property taxes in any NY community going down? Yeah, we’ve never heard of it either.

Well, more good news for those of us fortunate enough to live in the Town of Windsor: A regional gas distribution company is building smaller pipelines locally and by 2014, the local high school, one of the local elementary schools and the town hall will all be hooked up and heating with natural gas. Estimated savings to taxpayers: $350,000 per year. Thank you Marcellus Shale and the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. And thank you pipelines and compressor plants…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jun 7, 2013
June 7, 2013June 7, 2013

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jun 7, 2013”