Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

MD Fracking Commission Casts First Vote – in 15 Months!
December 3, 2012December 3, 2012

Fifteen long months after it was created, Maryland’s Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission, set up by Gov. Martin O’Malley, has cast its first formal vote. The vote came in western Maryland at a regularly scheduled meeting of the group.

The vote by the Commission proposes four broad principles revolving around (surprise!) money. Maryland legislators are making noise about passing new laws concerning the future of drilling during the next legislative session (due to meet in January), and the Commission apparently wanted to get out in front of some of the ideas being tossed around with their opinion.

Read More “MD Fracking Commission Casts First Vote – in 15 Months!”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Files for 90-Day Extension on Fracking Rules
November 30, 2012November 30, 2012

Yesterday the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) applied for a 90-day extension to the rulemaking process with respect to new rules for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). As MDN has endlessly chronicled, the DEC faced a deadline of yesterday (Nov. 29) to either release revised new rules, not release them and start the process all over again, or file for a 90-day extension. They opted for Door #3.

As part of filing for the extension the DEC is required to release a “substantially revised” set of proposals which must be opened to public comment for a 30-day period. The DEC posted 11 documents on their website yesterday (see this page) as part of filing for the extension. The AP did some digging (and perhaps knows someone inside at DEC) and provided this brief analysis of the differences in the new rules from the previous draft, changes that are new and public for the first time with this release:

Read More “NY DEC Files for 90-Day Extension on Fracking Rules”
Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lenape Resources | Litigation | Livingston County | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Lenape Sues Avon, NY & DEC over Fracking Ban – Seeks $50M
November 30, 2012November 30, 2012

The residents of Avon, NY will have to come up with $50 million if a local driller wins a lawsuit filed earlier this month. Lenape Resources, a small, independent conventional (vertical) natural gas driller in western New York sued Avon, NY and the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) because of a broad-based ban on fracking and natural gas activities in the township passed in June.

Avon, in a misguided attempt to ban fracking, drafted and passed a new zoning law so broad it affected not only unconventional shale drilling but also conventionally drilled (vertical) gas wells. At the time, Lanape’s president John Holko threatened to sue both the town and the DEC if the ban was not rescinded (see this MDN story for background on the ban and Holko’s threat of a lawsuit). The ban stayed, the DEC has refused to enforce a 1981 state law that says only the DEC has the power to regulate drilling, so Holko has sued. He’s asking for compensation to reimburse him for the millions the company has invested in wells and other infrastructure in the township, and for lost revenue because he’s had to shut it all down.

Way to go Avon! Three town board members have just bankrupted your township.

Read More “Lenape Sues Avon, NY & DEC over Fracking Ban – Seeks $50M”
Accidents | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | PDC Mountaineer | Regulation | West Virginia

EPA Fines PDC Mountaineer for Clean Water Act Violations in WV
November 30, 2012November 30, 2012

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the guise of the Clean Water Act (CWA), is poking it’s unwanted nose into Marcellus Shale gas drilling—again. Yesterday the EPA announced a settlement with PDC Mountaineer for what they say are violations of the CWA at four locations (for two gas wells). The company will pay a fine of $177,500, in addition to paying big bucks to restore problems they created while drilling two wells in Harrison County, West Virginia.

What was PDC’s environmental crime? They drained a one-acre swamp (euphemistically called a “wetland”) without getting permission. Even though PDC has agreed to pay the fine and restore the swamp (if they can), as part of the deal they did not admit to any violations of the CWA.

Read More “EPA Fines PDC Mountaineer for Clean Water Act Violations in WV”
Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Pays $480/Hour to Health Expert for Fracking Review
November 30, 2012November 30, 2012

Included in part of a Gannett story about the New York DEC’s release of revised portions of proposed drilling regulations, we got word of how much New York State is paying three outside “experts” to give an assist to State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah in his review of the DEC’s proposed fracking rules with an eye on their impact on public health.

The hourly amount paid to John Adgate makes me think I’m in the wrong profession:

Read More “NY DEC Pays $480/Hour to Health Expert for Fracking Review”
Allegany County | Garrett County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Marcellus Drilling #1 Priority for Western MD Legislators
November 30, 2012November 30, 2012

With strong headwinds against shale drilling from both Maryland’s Democrat governor, Martin O’Malley, and from Washington, D.C. area Democrat Maryland legislators, the legislators from western Maryland who want to see Marcellus Shale drilling face an uphill climb.

Nevertheless, when the next session of the Maryland legislature meets, western MD reps will make Marcellus drilling their top priority:

Read More “Marcellus Drilling #1 Priority for Western MD Legislators”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

New MIT Study on Fugitive Methane Discredits Cornell Study
November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

A new peer-reviewed study by MIT (see below) obliterates the findings and false claims made in a previous Cornell University study by Robert Howarth and Tony Ingraffea. The Cornell study tried to make the case that natural gas is actually worse for the environment than burning coal because of so-called greenhouse gas emissions from “fugitive methane” escaping into the atmosphere during the gas drilling process (see this MDN story).

A new study published in Environmental Research Letters by MIT researchers has done some actual—instead of theoretical—measurements and has found that “fugitive emissions” of methane are much smaller than Howarth and Ingraffea stated. Smaller by orders of magnitude—like only 22% of what the Cornell study theorized them to be. Oops. Paging Howarth and Ingraffea—the dean wants to see you in his office NOW.

Read More “New MIT Study on Fugitive Methane Discredits Cornell Study”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Athens County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Wastewater

OH Protesters Ejected from Injection Well Open House
November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

Oh gee, what a surprise. Anti-drillers behaving badly…once again. This time in Athens, Ohio:

Read More “OH Protesters Ejected from Injection Well Open House”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research | Wastewater

DOE Funds Projects to Make Shale “Environmentally Acceptable”
November 29, 2012November 29, 2012

The massive federal government will not leave shale energy alone—that’s a given. Not because they think they can protect citizens, but because they want to control it. The latest attempt is by funding 15 research projects addressing what they consider “technical challenges to environmentally acceptable shale gas development.” The very concept is repugnant. Big-brother government choosing how an industry will do its job—what technologies it will be “allowed” to use. Welcome to Obamaland, Alice.

Yesterday the Dept. of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy announced 15 projects (“winners”) that they will fund over the next two years with $28 million of your tax money to research shale energy and ways to control it minimize it’s impact on the environment. Three of the 15 “winners” are located in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. Here’s the announcement listing who got what from the government gravy train:

Read More “DOE Funds Projects to Make Shale “Environmentally Acceptable””
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Files for 90-Day Fracking Rules Extension, What Now?
November 28, 2012November 28, 2012

It’s official: The New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) will file for a 90-day extension on the rulemaking process for fracking. Although it would be better for the DEC to just release the new rules now, before tomorrow (Nov. 29), at least the process is still alive, albeit now delayed. Still, given the current climate in New York, MDN takes it as good news for landowners and a signal that drilling may indeed yet come to the Empire State.

Here’s how it all came down yesterday, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitting to reporters that the DEC will “have to” file for an extension:

Read More “NY DEC Files for 90-Day Fracking Rules Extension, What Now?”
Elk County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ensign Drilling | Forest County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (PA) | Lycoming County | McKean County | Pennsylvania | Seneca Resources

Second Seneca 100% LNG-Powered Drilling Rig Goes Online
November 28, 2012November 28, 2012

MDN recently told you about Seneca Resources, the first Marcellus driller to convert a drilling rig to run on a 100% liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine, a rig they now use for drilling in Lycoming County, PA (see this MDN story). Seneca has just completed the conversion of a second 100% LNG-powered rig and uses it for drilling in Forest, Elk, Jefferson and McKean counties in PA.

Stands to reason the company that makes the engine would want to crow about it, and sure enough they now have. General Electric is the manufacturer of the Jenbacher J320 turbocharged natural gas engine, and they issued this press release yesterday about their innovative new engine being used by Seneca:

Read More “Second Seneca 100% LNG-Powered Drilling Rig Goes Online”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC New Permit System for Large Water Withdrawals
November 28, 2012November 28, 2012

In order to comply with the Great Lakes Compact, the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation yesterday instituted a new permitting system for large water withdrawals from NY bodies of water. The new system impacts any industry or user withdrawing more than 100,000 gallons per day. It also helps pave the way for natural gas drillers who use fracking—when and if new fracking rules are released in the state.

Read More “NY DEC New Permit System for Large Water Withdrawals”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Marcellus Shale Production Up 72% in One Year
November 28, 2012November 28, 2012

A few facts and figures about the Marcellus Shale and it’s immense importance to the energy picture in the United States, from a recent U.S. Energy Information Administration report:

Read More “Marcellus Shale Production Up 72% in One Year”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Groups Launch New Ad Campaign – End Fracking Delays Now
November 28, 2012November 28, 2012

The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY), Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) and a number of other landowner and business groups announced yesterday they have launched a new public relations advertising campaign that calls on Gov. Cuomo and state leaders to end the delays in allowing safe natural gas drilling in the state.

From the press announcement:

Read More “NY Groups Launch New Ad Campaign – End Fracking Delays Now”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus is “Global Superstar” of NatGas Plays
November 27, 2012November 27, 2012

An opinion-editorial piece in today’s Harrisburg Patriot-News co-written by PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Sec. Michael Krancer and Gov. Tom Corbett’s energy executive Patrick Henderson touts Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale as the “global superstar of natural gas formations.” Referring to recently released reports from the IEA and S&P, here’s what else they said about the mighty Marcellus:

Read More “PA Marcellus is “Global Superstar” of NatGas Plays”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York

Tests Show No Impact from PA Drilling on Binghamton Water
November 26, 2012November 26, 2012

Binghamton, NY’s failed mayor, Matt Ryan, now has the answer to his question direct from the laboratory he hired (with taxpayer money) to test Binghamton’s water: Drilling in Pennsylvania has had zero impact on Binghamton’s water supplies which come from the Susquehanna River.

Even with irrefutable scientific evidence that drilling doesn’t pollute the Susquehanna, don’t expect Ryan, an ideologically-driven leftist, to shut up on the topic of fracking. He won’t let something like science get in the way of a good political issue.

Read More “Tests Show No Impact from PA Drilling on Binghamton Water”