Co. Pleads Guilty, Fined $2M for Marcellus Truck Emissions Scam
In September 2018, MDN brought you the news that six men had been charged with conspiring to illegally alter emissions systems on 30+ trucks with heavy-duty diesel engines, trucks used to haul water and wastewater to and from Marcellus Shale wells (see 6 Charged with Bypassing Emissions Controls on Marcellus Trucks). All six eventually pleaded guilty (see Man Pleads Guilty to Bypassing Emissions Controls on Marc. Trucks). The company involved in the scandal, Rockwater, has now pleaded guilty and will pay a $2 million fine.
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Anti-fossil fuel zealots are certainly persistent in their holy mission to destroy the use of all fossil fuels. None more so than the extremists at the National Resource Defense Council (NRDC). The NRDC rounded up a group of 60 equally radicalized groups and sent a joint letter to a bunch of sympathetic radicals working in the Biden administration (Sec. of Interior, EPA Administrator, Sec. of Agriculture, among others) encouraging them to shut down a multi-billion natural gas pipeline that is 92% built and in the ground: Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
State legislators in Pennsylvania are attempting to restore some sanity to overregulation inflicted by unelected bureaucracies in the state, like the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). Republicans have introduced and are pushing along a couple of bills that will reign in the DEP (and other overzealous agencies) in PA. One bill requires the legislature to approve any new regulation that impacts a regulated community by more than $1 million. Another bill allows third parties to assist the DEP in reviewing and approving certain permits. The DEP can’t seem to get its act together and there are always loooong delays in approving new permits.
All three M-U states received permits to drill new shale wells last week. Pennsylvania received a whopping 17 new permits spread across various counties and drillers. Ohio received just 2 new permits last week, both for Ascent Resources on the same pad. And West Virginia received a big 12 new permits split between two drillers: Antero Resources and Tug Hill Operating.
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: EQT board member passes away unexpectedly; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Legendary natural gas trader sees ‘seismic shift’ in Houston’s oil patch; NATIONAL: Collins joins Democrats in bid to undo Trump methane emissions rollback; Clean Energy Fuels soars 27% on a deal with Amazon to supply renewable natural gas; Joe Biden’s EV dreams are just another government boondoggle; INTERNATIONAL: World Bank: natural gas unlikely to play leading role in cutting maritime emissions; Why natural gas won’t be replaced anytime soon.