Exclusive: First NY Marcellus Wells to be Drilled are Identified
NOTE: Please see the correction to this story on this page:
MDN Editor Jim Willis Corrects “First NY Marcellus Wells” Story.
An astute MDN subscriber sent us a tip that the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) updated their “Notices of Intent to Issue Well Permits” web page last night at 7:00 pm (Feb 14, 2013). In the list of well permits they “intend” to issue are 43 Marcellus Shale wells and 1 Utica Shale well.
Does this mean DEC Commissioner Joe Martens is getting ready to accept the SGEIS and issue permits? We believe it’s still too early for optimism on that front. However, if New York does decide to move forward and issue drilling permits “within 10 days” after accepting the SGEIS drilling rules, it stands to reason the wells in this list will be the very first wells to receive permission to drill.
We’ve harvested the information for all of the “Intent to Issue” wells, looking up each latitude and longitude and translating it into a street address. We’ve also rearranged the information in an easier to scan and understand format. You won’t find this information anywhere else but on MDN…
Read More “Exclusive: First NY Marcellus Wells to be Drilled are Identified”
PA State Rep. Jesse White, Democrat from Cecil, PA, is hosting a hearing next week in Western PA that will look at the state Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) policies in conducting water testing near shale drilling sites. The one organization that won’t be there? The DEP. They’re calling White’s hearing next week political theater, unproductive, unprofessional and a waste of time…
This is without a doubt the most difficult article MDN has had to author—on many levels. Yesterday, New York’s Commissioner of the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Joe Martens, announced he would not release the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS) today, Feb. 13, because of a delay he’s blaming on the state health department. We previously reported that if the SGEIS was not released today, final regulations would not be adopted by Feb. 27 to allow fracking to move forward. In a statement yesterday, Martens 
We won’t keep you in suspense. Run!—don’t walk—to attend a screening, watch on cable television or purchase a DVD of the new documentary FrackNation. This is hands down the most important documentary on an environmental topic made in the last decade or more. It exposes the fabrications found in the documentary Gasland, and tells the truth about what MDN calls the miracle of hydraulic fracturing.
A quick reminder that in spite of the impending snow storm which will be cleaned up by sometime Saturday, MDN editor Jim Willis will attend the 2pm Sunday, Feb. 10 screening of Phelim McAleer’s new documentary FrackNation at Regal Cinemas Binghamton 12 on Front Street in Binghamton. Phelim will be there! We’d like you to come along and watch it too (free). Here are the details:
In 2012, Beck Energy Corp. got a permit from the OH Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) to drill on property located in the City of Munroe Falls (Summit County), OH. Beck started drilling and the city slapped a Stop Work Order on them and took them to court, saying Beck was not in compliance with a number of local ordinances and necessary permits. The local trial court supported Munroe Falls’ position and ruled in their favor.