Marcellus Drilling News

Crime | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wastewater

Illegal Wastewater Dumping in Greene County, PA?
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

A disturbing bit of news. Officials in Waynesburg, PA (county seat of Greene County, in the very southwestern tip of PA) say about 4,000 gallons of a “gray, milky substance” flowed through the local sewage treatment plant and that the plant’s flow meters spiked up when it happened. In other words, someone, somewhere dumped something down a manhole and that something got processed by the plant and ultimately discharged into Ten Mile Creek. The disturbing bit is that the plant’s operators, along with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), think the substance dumped may have been frack wastewater…
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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | WPX Energy

WPX Marcellus Assets Being Shopped in “Controlled Auction”
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

As MDN has pointed out for some time now, Elvis, er um, WPX has left the building. Meaning WPX, although finishing up wells already permitted and started in the Marcellus–will not drill any new wells in the Marcellus. Does that mean landowners should be concerned that WPX will sell their already-drilled (and producing) wells in the Marcellus? In February, WPX spokeswoman Susan Oliver told MDN the company is definitely not selling their already drilled wells–100 of them or so (see WPX Gives MDN an Update on Their 2014 Marcellus Plans). However, an analysis by a trusted energy analyst has us wondering…
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Industrywide Issues | Research

EIA Report: Marcellus Exceeds 16 Bcf/d, Produces 37% of Shale Gas
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

Yesterday the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released the latest monthly Drilling Productivity Report (DPR)–our favorite government agency and our favorite report. The October report, which makes predictions of volumes for November, shows the Marcellus Shale’s output of natural gas pushing by 16 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d), which is more than twice the output of any other shale play (the next highest is the Eagle Ford producing just over 7 Bcf/d). Another amazing number: the output from the Marcellus represents 37% of all shale gas output in the U.S. Below is the full October DPR…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Erie County (NY) | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Potter County | Statewide PA | Tioga County (PA)

MDN Prediction Comes True: Anti Criticizes Bills Sale to Fracker
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

Just last week, with respect to the sale of the Buffalo “Marcellus” Bills to East Resources CEO Terry Pegula, we said the following tongue-in-cheek: “What’s interesting to us is that there’s zero talk about how Marcellus “blood money” has purchased the Bills. No talk that Pegula is an evil, nasty fracker….The talk, universally, is of a really great guy with a big heart that’s whip smart and committed to the Buffalo region (he previously bought the NHL Buffalo Sabres team). Where are the crazies and their loony toons criticisms? Where are the protesters? Nowhere to be found” (see Buffalo “Marcellus” Bills – Team Sold to Fracker for $1.4B). Well, such a loon has now been found, and a Wilkes-Barre newspaper published his rantings…
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Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Shale Jobs Make Slight Increase, Wages Up Avg $2,400/Year
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

According to the 2011 West Virginia Horizontal Well Control law, the Dept. of Commerce’s Workforce West Virginia agency is required to file an annual report detailing the number of jobs created (or lost) in the shale drilling industry in the state. The report is due by Nov. 1 each year. Last year, the 2013 report showed a big jump of 20%, with wages going up $5,500 in just one year–to $75,580 (see Looking for a Job in the Marcellus? Think WV). A lot of WV’s employment is tied to building pipelines. The report for 2014 is fresh out. What does it show? It shows 1,100 more people found jobs in the industry this year–however, many pipeline projects ended and with them, jobs working on those pipelines. In the end, according to the report, only 69 net new jobs were created throughout the industry over the past year when you add the new workers and take out the temp jobs now ended. However, the average wage for all workers in the oil & gas sector in WV went up again–another $2,400 per year…
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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Statewide NY

Cornell’s Dr. Cathles to Discuss Methane Migration on Radio Program
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

Mark your calendar now. MDN is happy to announce “Another Good News Table Talk” radio program, coming to you on Nov. 2 from 7-8:00 pm on Binghamton’s WNBF (AM) Radio 1290 (also available online at WNBF.com). Two Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) Field Directors, Victor Furman and Frank Cherenga (both MDN subscribers, by the way), will interview Cornell Professor Dr. Larry Cathles about methane migration and other issues related to shale drilling. Please tune in to this one-hour interview to hear the facts presented! You may recall MDN has reported on Dr. Cathles a number of times…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Statewide VA | Statewide WV | Virginia | West Virginia

Trout Unlimited Volunteers to Watch GWNF for Fracking Effects
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

Two anti-drilling groups with benign-sounding names, Trout Unlimted and Wild Virginia, are training volunteers to monitor streams for effects from (so far) non-existent shale drilling in the George Washington National Forest. Trout Unlimited has been doing this sort of training/testing for years in places like the Delaware River Basin (see TU: Just Eyeball Those Streams, You Know What Shouldn’t Be There). Testing, testing, testing. And what have they found from all of their testing? An environmental holocaust from fracking shale wells? Some mild environmental impacts? Nope. They’ve found nothing. Zero. Nada. But they keep on testing…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Chemung County | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | New York

NY Anti Drillers Apoplectic Over Soil in Chemung Co. Landfill
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

A bunch of ~~former hippies who are now~~ anti-drilling activists in the Twin Tiers area of New York (Elmira/Corning area) protested at the Chemung County legislature meeting last night. Protesting what? That the Chemung County landfill, which has been accepting drill cuttings from PA shale drilling for something like two years now, is considering expanding the landfill to make more money from PA’s drillers. Accepting drill cuttings is the only way New Yorkers currently make money from the shale drilling revolution (thank you Gov. Ditherer). Once again protesters are claiming area residents will start glowing in the dark–any time now…
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Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Oct 15, 2014
October 15, 2014October 15, 2014

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