Rex Energy Stops Water Deliveries in Butler, Protests Begin
About 75 people picketed in front of Rex Energy’s offices in downtown Butler, PA yesterday afternoon. They were protesting the decision by the PA Department of Environmental Protection that allows Rex Energy to stop water deliveries to 11 families in Connoquenessing Township community (30 miles north of Pittsburgh).
The families claim that nearby Marcellus Shale drilling by Rex contaminated their water wells. Rex has been providing water to the families for the past year while the DEP conducted an investigation. The results of the investigation show that Rex’s drilling has not caused any water issues for those families.
Read More “Rex Energy Stops Water Deliveries in Butler, Protests Begin”

A second court case decision in New York, this one in Middlefield (near Cooperstown) has ruled that local municipalities have the right to ban shale gas drilling within their borders. On Friday, Feb. 24 Acting Supreme Court Justice Donald F. Cerio, Jr. ruled that a previously passed drilling ban in the Town of Middlefield in Otsego County, NY is legal. A copy of the judge’s decision is embedded below. (Note: Thank you to an MDN reader for providing this exclusive copy of the decision that comes direct from the judge’s chambers.)
Yesterday, Tompkins County (NY) Supreme Court Judge Phillip Rumsey handed anti-drillers a first, and likely short-lived, victory. He ruled that the Town of Dryden, located near Ithaca, has the right to ban shale gas drilling. As with many legal issues, this one is complicated, so let’s take a look at the case, Judge Rumsey’s decision, and what happens next.
The Town of Caroline in Tompkins County, New York is about to pass a one-year ban on hydraulic fracturing. The question is, is it legal to do so? Attorneys who understand New York State’s oil and gas law say no.
In November of last year, the
No public ceremony for the signing of historic legislation to regulate Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania. Monday evening, Gov. Tom Corbett’s office announced he had privately signed the new legislation into law. A detailed summary of the legislation is embedded below.