MDN Weekly Update – Apr 17, 2011
MDN attended a meeting of the Central New York Landowner’s Coalition on Saturday, April 9th in New Berlin, NY. Look for stories coming in the near future that detail what was discussed at the meeting. The CNY Coalition held two sessions that day, one in the morning for part of the members of the coalition, and another identical meeting in the afternoon. The coalition is so big it requires two sessions to handle all the members.
The crowd in the morning session, which MDN attended, numbered around 400 in the audience. The Evening Sun reports the crowd in the afternoon session was about 600 people. The meeting in the morning was orderly and uneventful. But it seems MDN missed the “fun” in the afternoon session:
An otherwise civil gathering of about 600 members of the Central New York Landowners Coalition at Unadilla Valley Central School Saturday turned ugly as protesters erected ‘no frak’ signs out in front of the school, took photos of cars and, later, defamed a coalition’s leader’s ‘Pass Responsible Gas Drilling’ banner located on the lawn of his Route 8 home.
CNYLC Steering Committee member Steve Gage said the perpetrators were taking photos of business decals on automobiles so people also opposed to drilling would know not to patronize those businesses. He said he called the police to his home to investigate his banner which had a swastika painted on it in red along with a racial slur.*
MDN has previously written about anti-drilling protestors who have broken the law by disrupting meetings and shutting down workplaces. To be fair, not all those who oppose drilling resort to these tactics—it’s a small minority. However, these incidents seem to be happening with more frequency.
Below you’ll find the “top 5” lists and this week’s calendar listings.
Happy reading,
Jim Willis, Editor
*Norwich Evening Sun (Apr 11, 2011) – Protesters target gas landowners meeting (PDF format)
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From time to time I hear from readers who say something along the lines of, “Hey Jim, I really like the news you deliver about Marcellus drilling, but lose the attitude and color commentary.” As you must know by now, I am an advocate of safe drilling. And those who disagree with my viewpoint get irritated by my occasional comments. They want “just the facts please.”
MDN is pleased to announce that our latest headlines (with links to the full articles) are now available at the 
Coming tomorrow: A new special report exclusively from MDN titled: Will There Be Marcellus Shale Drilling Near Me? Subtitled, Drilling Permits for Marcellus Shale Gas Wells from January 2010 to February 2011. This new report, created by MDN, shows how many permits have been applied for or issued by county and in most cases by local municipality for New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The report not only details the number of well permits, but also lists the numbers by drilling company. Leases are being signed in many locations—landmen are on the move. Although signing a lease can yield a good source of income now, the real money is when an energy company drills on or near your property. You need a permit in order to drill, so permits are a good barometer of the intentions of drilling companies. If you’re a landowner, you can use this special report to see who’s “serious” about drilling near you. If you’ve already signed a lease, use this report to see if drilling may be coming in your area in the near future. Many other interested parties will use this report as well, to see when and if drilling is happening in their communities (local business owners, government officials, residents concerned about traffic, etc.). Note: A slight delay in the release of this special report—apologies! But we think you’ll like the end result. Visit MDN on Monday to find out how to get your copy.
Thank you to everyone who has asked when MDN would resume publication. Starting January 31, we’re back! The purpose of MDN (Marcellus Drilling News) is to bring news, resources and commentary that is of interest and benefit to landowners in the Marcellus Shale region of the U.S. That is, for those people who are potentially affected by drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale—which is just about everyone in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. But in particular, it is for landowners in the Marcellus—those who stand to gain (or lose) by leasing land for natural gas drilling.