Marcellus Drilling News

Alternative Energy | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Regulation | Statewide NY | Tompkins County

MDN Calls on NY Towns to Ban Windmills; Boycott Cooperstown
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

They’re noisy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They use rare earth minerals in their manufacturing process and endanger Chinese workers who have to mine the toxic metals from the ground. They kill bald eagles and bats and all manner of birds. No one wants to live next to one going whup whup whup 24/7 (drives the neighbors insane). We’re talking of commercial windmills of course. Today MDN kicks off a campaign to get 170 New York townships to ban windmills. Oh, and while we’re at it, let’s also have town boards ban big solar farms too…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Reaction to NY High Court’s Ill-fated Decision to Allow Town Bans
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Yesterday MDN brought you the sad news that New York’s highest court has sided with towns giving them the right to completely ban shale drilling (see Shale Drilling in NY is Over – High Court Upholds Town Bans). Today we bring you reaction from several New York pro-drilling groups, along with quotes from others, both for and against drilling. This is a really bid deal–a “10” on the news scale. So we need to devote some time to reactions to the court’s ill-fated decision…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Budget Passes House & Senate with No Severance Tax
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Hats off to the Republican-controlled House and Senate in Pennsylvania. They passed a budget on time, before the midnight deadline last evening, and that budget contains just one new tax. Fortunately, it’s not a Marcellus Shale severance tax. So, kudos! However, the budget was not signed by PA Gov. Tom Corbett, also a Republican. He didn’t sign not because it because it didn’t include certain pension reforms he wants. One thing that the Democrats really wanted and the Republicans were only too happy to grant them: A new $2 per pack tax on cigarettes sold in Philadelphia, which is supposed to raise $80 million for Philly schools. Wait til they figure out everyone is fleeing to the suburbs to buy cheap cigs and the new tax fails!…
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Energy Companies | Rice Energy

SEC Investigates BlackRock over Dan Rice “Situation” 2 Years Ago
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Some stories have a sad ending, and some stories have a happy ending. This is one of the later. Just over two years ago MDN told you the news that BlackRock, a big-time multinational investment firm, fired the single most successful mutual fund manager in the U.S. for ten years running–Daniel Rice III (see BlackRock’s Screw-up with Dan Rice & Rice Energy). Dan was the manager for five energy-related funds at BlackRock, making the company beaucoup bucks. Dan went to his bosses and told them he was helping his boys start up a new northeast shale drilling company–Rice Energy. He made full and timely disclosure of his extracurricular activities. His bosses did nothing–they kept quiet–and when “the market” learned of Dan’s potential conflict of interest by investing in (or withdrawing investments from) companies that may be competitive with Rice Energy, his bosses fired him. Now, two years later, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating…
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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Portage County | Regulation | Wastewater

Anti-Drillers Try to Close Portage County, OH Injection Well
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Two anti-drilling groups–Concerned Citizens of Ohio and the the Virginia-based Center for Health, Environment and Justice–have filed a reckless complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleging an injection well in Portage County, OH has been illegally accepting millions of gallons of frack wastewater. The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) disagrees. Here’s a breakdown of the situation and the claims and counter claims…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Roads | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Another Supply Chain Success Story: Flagger Force
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

The ingenuity of small business people never ceases to amaze us–especially that of small businesses finding ways to serve, and profit from, the Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry. In business circles it’s called the “supply chain”–those companies who find ways of profiting from drilling. The latest company to do so is Flagger Force–a company based in Lancaster County, PA that sends out flaggers (to control traffic) in many surround states beside Pennsylvania. Flagger Force is also a major vendor for drillers in PA…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Jul 1, 2014
July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

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