Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Public Opinion

WV Editorial: By All Means Study Marcellus Drilling, But Keep on Drilling in the Meantime
April 6, 2011April 6, 2011

A balanced and common sense editorial running in today’s The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register makes the point loud and clear that the government and environmental groups should conduct all the studies they want about hydraulic fracturing and drilling in the Marcellus Shale. But please, in the meantime, don’t advocate that all drilling should stop until those studies are completed (which will take years). The editorial says, in part:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Goes on Offense Against Drilling in the Marcellus Shale
April 5, 2011April 5, 2011

The latest group to oppose drilling in the Marcellus Shale is the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (“CBF”), a private environmentalist organization that claims to be the largest such entity dedicated to preserving the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Their stated mission is to “Save the Bay,” defined as attaining and maintaining clear water that is free of pollutants, and promoting oxygen levels in the Bay that support growth of underwater vegetation which in turn provides a habitat for sea creatures. The CBF’s concern is that drilling in the Marcellus Shale, much of which sits in the Chesapeake Bay watershed area, is already contributing and will continue to increase pollutants that flow into the Bay.

The CBF has gone on the offensive. CBF attorney and spokesperson Amy McDonnell wants to ensure Marcellus Shale drilling does not harm the Bay.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Obama Talks about Shale Gas in Energy Speech – MDN Analyzes His Remarks & His New Energy Plan
April 1, 2011April 1, 2011

In a speech on Wednesday delivered at Georgetown University, President Obama outlined his Administration’s “Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future” (download a PDF copy of the Blueprint here). While a good deal of Obama’s solutions to America’s energy needs uses the heavy hand of the federal government to limit freedom and force people to make certain choices, he at least pays lip service to shale gas. Early on in his speech he said this:

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Bradford County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Sen. Bob Casey Wants Feds to Investigate PA House Explosions in Bradford Township
March 30, 2011March 30, 2011

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (Democrat, Pennsylvania), keeps wanting to get the feds involved in gas drilling in his state, and he looks for any excuse to do so. The latest excuse involves two house explosions in Bradford Township, PA, one on Dec. 12, the other on Feb. 28. Casey claims both explosions are due to natural gas drilling in the area, even though the state police fire marshal is still investigating and has not yet come to that conclusion.

In a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Sen. Casey pins the blame on migrating methane gas from nearby wells.

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Allegheny County | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh Jobs Up, Housing Prices Up, Bankruptcies Down – Why? Hydraulic Fracturing
March 30, 2011March 30, 2011

Although the entire U.S. remains mired in slow growth, perhaps even a double-dip recession, there are places in the country that are seeing rapid job and economic growth. One of those places is the Bakken Oil fields of North Dakota. Another place is Pittsburgh. Why have those two areas seen such growth and economic prosperity? Hydraulic fracturing. In the case of North Dakota, it’s hydraulic fracturing of oil wells. In the Pittsburgh area, it’s hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus Shale gas wells.

Below is an recent email sent by PittsburghTODAY speaking about Pittsburgh’s economic comeback:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | Wastewater | West Virginia

West Virginia’s Policy on Disposing Marcellus Drilling Wastewater: Injection Wells
March 29, 2011March 29, 2011

West Virginia’s policy on the wastewater produced from hydraulic fracturing is to dispose of it by pumping it into injection wells.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Penn State Looking for PA Landowners with Private Water Wells Near Marcellus Drilling for Research Study
March 25, 2011March 25, 2011

Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences wants owners of private drinking-water wells located near completed natural-gas wells in the Marcellus shale region to participate in a study of the impact of gas development. The study will assess the potential impacts of Marcellus gas drilling on rural drinking water wells, according to Bryan Swistock, extension water resources specialist. The data collected from the study is for research purposes and for the education of each homeowner.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Motives of Anti-Drilling Groups Exposed in NY Post Editorial
March 24, 2011March 24, 2011

The headline of a recent editorial in The New York Post says “Frack, baby, frack!” in a play on the oft-quoted phrase “drill, baby, drill.” It is a short but good piece, summarizing where New York stands on drilling in the Marcellus Shale. It encourages newly elected Gov. Andrew Cuomo to either lift the drilling moratorium immediately, or let it expire in July, so drilling can (finally) go forward.

One of the interesting points made in the editorial is that the motives of environmental groups in opposing drilling are not 100 percent pure as the wind-driven snow, which is what they want you to believe. The truth is, opposing Marcellus drilling is “good for business.”

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Allegany County | Garrett County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Statewide MD

Maryland Governor Makes Surprise Visit to Allegany County, Shows Interest in Marcellus Drilling Using Alternative Method
March 22, 2011March 21, 2011

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley surprised Allegany County commissioners Sunday evening when he showed up at a meeting to discuss Marcellus Shale drilling in Maryland.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | West Virginia

Major Water Withdrawal for Gas Drilling from the Moundsville, WV Reservoir Concerns Local Officials
March 22, 2011March 21, 2011

City officials in Moundsville (Marshall County), WV had a scare recently, and with good cause.

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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Dunkard Creek Fish Kill Mystery Solved – And it Had Nothing to Do with Marcellus Drilling
March 22, 2011March 21, 2011

There was a lot of speculation in 2009 about a fish kill over a 30-mile stretch of Dunkard Creek in West Virginia. We now know that the cause was leakage from coal mines. But early on, wild theories were being spun. Our favorite was that the algae killing the fish, which grows only in salty water and is not native to any place in West Virginia, somehow hitchhiked to the area on Marcellus Shale drilling rigs coming from Texas and Oklahoma. Science has finally won out over fairytale, and now CONSOL Energy will pay:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Wastewater

How to Test Your Own Water if You Live Near Gas Drilling
March 21, 2011March 21, 2011

Sage advice for those living close to where gas drilling takes place has been to test your water. Be sure to test it before drilling begins, and then again once drilling is underway. Only if a homeowner tests prior to drilling can there be an airtight case if water should become contaminated. MDN points out that among the many thousands of gas wells drilled, there have been no known documented cases of well water chemical contamination from hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale. (Note: If you know of any, please send the information to us so we can make it known. Further Note: The well water contamination in Dimock, PA was due to methane/natural gas leaking into water supplies and not from fracking fluid chemical contamination.)

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

How Many “Large Ponds” Does it Take to Frac All of the Marcellus Gas Wells Drilled in PA in 2010? Hint: You Can Count it on One Hand
March 17, 2011March 17, 2011

In a letter to the editor of the Times Observer (Warren, PA), letter writer Dave White makes a plea for common sense and balance in the discussion of drilling in the Marcellus. In particular, he makes a few statements of interest about the volume of water resources used, and disposed of, in the drilling process in PA:

My goal here is to bring a realistic picture of the real magnitude of fracturing water… First Energy tells us the reservoir 800 feet up on Jakes Rocks Road holds 2 billion gallons of water. How much is 2 billion gallons of water? In one large pond in Warren County lies enough water to frac almost all of the Marcellus wells drilled to date in Pennsylvania. First Energy probably pumps a billion gallons of water up there every night. And they drop it back down every day. In forty years I’ve never noticed a ripple on the Allegheny "recreational" river.

The next item to bring into reality, 2.8 million barrels of treated frac water being released into eight rivers. How much is that? When the river is flowing as it is today, 2.8 million barrels goes under the Hickory Street Bridge every 13 minutes. The Allegheny River share of eight rivers would pass under the bridge in 1.6 minutes. Keep in mind this is all the treated fracture water to date.(1)

Read More “How Many “Large Ponds” Does it Take to Frac All of the Marcellus Gas Wells Drilled in PA in 2010? Hint: You Can Count it on One Hand”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Sen. Bob Casey Re-introduces Bill Transferring Control of Marcellus Drilling to the Federal Government
March 15, 2011March 15, 2011

Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey has re-introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate that would strip away states’ rights, including his home state of Pennsylvania, to manage and protect their own land and natural resources, and instead concentrate that power at the federal level under the Environmental Protection Agency. He calls the legislation “The FRAC Act”—Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals. The bill, if passed (which seems unlikely in the current Congress), would place the practice of high volume hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

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Broome County | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Meetings | New York | Regulation

Sizable Crowd Gathers in Binghamton to Hear Hear Expert Panel Discuss Marcellus Drilling’s Potential Impact on New York
March 7, 2011March 8, 2011

MDN, along with about 200 other people, attended a meeting titled “Marcellus Shale in Our Community: What’s in it for All of Us” on Friday evening March 4th at the West Middle School auditorium in Binghamton, NY. The audience was, for the most part, composed of landowners and those generally in favor of drilling in the Marcellus Shale in New York. The meeting was sponsored by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY).

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

NY Times Keeps Up the Vendetta Against Drilling in the Marcellus Shale with Another Article in the Series
March 2, 2011March 3, 2011

The New York Times continues its vendetta against drilling in the Marcellus Shale—it sells papers and God knows they sell far fewer today than they did even a year ago. MDN wonders what made-up quotes pulled from past public statements adorn this new article? The theme of the new article: “Yes, yes, drilling companies say they’re recycling more wastewater (some even approaching 100 percent), but not all of them do! And even recycling produces nasty stuff that pollutes water supplies anyway. So pay no attention to all that recycling talk.” And of course, Pennsylvania continues to be the whipping boy.

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