Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

USGS: Marcellus/Utica Among Biggest Water Users in US Shale Plays
July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is out with a new study on how much water is used to drill and frack shale wells across the United States. The report is titled “Hydraulic fracturing water use variability in the United States and potential environmental implications” and has been accepted for publication in the journal Water Resources Research. Sorry, we don’t have a full copy of the report, but we do have a summary of the report below which says that the heaviest water use is in shale plays like the Marcellus/Utica, which sits in an area with abundant water supplies (good for us). What the report fails to do is provide perspective–that the volume of water used in drilling and fracking shale wells is minuscule compared to the volumes used in electric power generation and agriculture. More water is used for golf courses than it is to drill shale wells! So while the study is no doubt interesting, it has (in our opinion) limited value…
Read More “USGS: Marcellus/Utica Among Biggest Water Users in US Shale Plays”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

Let the lawsuits begin! Yesterday the anti-drilling, anti-fossil fuel head of the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Joe Martens, did his master’s bidding (his master being Lord Andrew Cuomo, Earl of the Hamptons) by imposing an official, TEMPORARY (not permanent) ban on hydraulic fracturing in the Empire State. The document issued yesterday by Martens is called a Findings Statement (full copy below) and it provides the DEC’s official rationale for the action they are taking in not granting permits for high volume fracking in the state. News coverage is blaring the trumpets that New York has “banned” fracking. Well, yes, in a sense that’s true. But the implication is that it’s a permanent ban–which is not true. Far from it. Martens uses profoundly weak arguments in the Findings Statement to justify his political action. One of his central arguments is what fracking “may” do to water supplies. A few weeks ago the federal EPA, after four years of intense study, found fracking is perfectly safe for water supplies (see EPA Draft Report Says Fracking Doesn’t Pollute Groundwater Supplies). We’d be embarrassed to try and peddle this horse manure if we were Martens–but he’s shameless. One thing is for sure: landowners and their lawyers, who have had their property rights illegally stripped away by Cuomo and Martens, are reading the Findings Statement and preparing lawsuits even now…
Read More “It’s Official: Cuomo Bans Economic Opportunity & Prosperity in NY”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Last Minute Change in PA Budget Stops DEP’s New Drilling Rules
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

How can we put this gingerly? Pennsylvania Democrats (and Democrats in general) like to do the screwing, but they don’t like to get screwed. That about sums up what’s happening with the Pennsylvania budget and some last minute legislation slipped into a budget-related bill that will tie the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection’s hands on proposed new drilling rules. The 2012 Act 13 law required the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to update sections of the older 1984 PA Oil & Gas Act (see Rewrite of 1984 PA Oil and Gas Act Underway). That process was pretty much done and dusted under PA Gov. Tom Corbett. But then Tom Wolf won the governor’s race and installed John Quigley to head up the DEP. Quigley re-opened a closed process to change drilling rules for both conventional and unconventional (shale) drillers (see PA DEP Sec Quigley Pulls a Fast One, Changes Drilling Rules). That is, Quigley did some screwing of the drilling industry. Over the weekend the PA House introduced and passed an amendment that would require the DEP to go back and start over with respect the rules they plan to adopt. That is, Quigley has now gotten screwed. And he doesn’t like it…
Read More “Last Minute Change in PA Budget Stops DEP’s New Drilling Rules”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Quigley Not Just Creating New Registry, He’s Dumping FracFocus
June 30, 2015June 30, 2015

Two weeks ago MDN told you that the PA PennFuture Sec. of the Dept. of Environmental Protection, John Quigley, has decided he wants to start his own version of FracFocus in Pennsylvania (see PA DEP Sec Quigley Creating His Own FracFocus; SRBC in Crosshairs). What we didn’t know or understand at the time is that Sec. Quigley, who continues to be antagonistic toward the shale industry, isn’t just creating a PA version of FracFocus–he now arrogantly intends to dump PA’s participation in FracFocus…
Read More “Quigley Not Just Creating New Registry, He’s Dumping FracFocus”
Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Research | West Virginia

Drilling for WVU/OSU’s $11M Study Gets Underway in Morgantown
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

In November 2014 MDN told you that West Virginia University and Ohio State University received an $11 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy for a joint five-year study of Marcellus/Utica fracking and shale drilling (see WVU/OSU Get $11M Grant to Study Shale Energy Best Practices). The research project promptly got under way with baseline measurements and monitoring at the Morgantown (WV) Industrial Park where a new first-of-its-kind Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory will be located. With baseline measurements for air, noise, light and water at the site complete, it’s now time for the drill bit to start chewing away at rock and dirt…
Read More “Drilling for WVU/OSU’s $11M Study Gets Underway in Morgantown”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Northwestern U Prof Proposes Tweaks to Make Fracking Better
June 26, 2015June 26, 2015

A researcher at Northwestern University, Dr. Fengqi You, believes he has found a way to make fracking more environmentally friendly by making some tweaks in the way things are done. Dr. You says first you need to remove trucks from the equation and use pipelines to get water to and from fracking sites. Second, You says don’t drill all of the wells at once in the same place–spread it out over time to reduce the impact on the environment. Finally, You says to recycle frack wastewater instead of trucking it to injection wells. Do those things, says Dr. You, and fracking is A-OK. There doesn’t seem to be anything particularly earth-shattering or new in You’s research. Or did we miss something?…
Read More “Northwestern U Prof Proposes Tweaks to Make Fracking Better”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Syracuse U Prof to Defend Methane Migration Research (Sun. Night)
June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) and JLC United will air another live session of the Good News Table Talk Radio Show this Sunday, June 28 from 7-8 pm on WNBF Radio 1290 in Binghamton (listen online at: www.wnbf.com). Bob Williams, JLCNY Vice President and an environmental consultant with over 40 years experience, along with JLCNY board member Rob Rano, will interview and chat with acclaimed Syracuse University Earth Science professor, Dr. Donald I. Siegel. Dr. Siegel is the lead author of a Syracuse University study published earlier this year that found, after evaluating data from over 11,000 well water tests (34,000 samples) in Pennsylvania, that a water well’s proximity to fracking operations has no bearing on whether or not methane is found in that water well. In other words, fracking does not cause methane migration into water wells (see Syracuse U Study: Fracking Doesn’t Cause Methane in PA Water Wells). Radicalized environmentalists brook no dissent from their religious-like claims that fracking is the ultimate evil, so they immediately launched a smear campaign and personal attack against Dr. Siegel (see Syracuse Prof Targeted in Effort to Discredit Drilling Research). Tune in Sunday night to learn the truth–about water quality, methane migration, fracking fluids, and (yes) even about Dimock, PA…
Read More “Syracuse U Prof to Defend Methane Migration Research (Sun. Night)”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box
June 23, 2015June 23, 2015

Yesterday MDN brought you the story of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association’s (PIOGA) third request to intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit decided by the PA Supreme Court (see PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13). The point of PIOGA’s request is to make the DEP follow PA law when it comes to granting shale drilling permits. Our headline and some of the language we used in that article was not completely accurate–we’d like to admit that right up front (although our inaccuracy was not intentional). The headline states that the DEP has denied permits based on portions of the Act 13 lawsuit tossed out by the PA Supreme Court. In researching the issue and speaking with those knowledgeable about PIOGA’s request to the Supreme Court, we’ve not found a specific instance where the DEP has denied a permit based on the tossed out Section 3215(b)-(e). But while denying permits based on rejected portions of Act 13 is not taking place, something far more subtle and insidious IS going on–with the same result as if the DEP were denying permits based on tossed-out portions of Act 13. Let us explain…
Read More “More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13
June 22, 2015June 23, 2015

Please see this MDN follow-up story for an important clarification/update: More on PIOGA Request to Keep DEP in its Regulatory Box

This story is why you pay MDN the “big bucks”–to break down complex issues into an easy-to-understand report. Last Friday the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (PIOGA) filed paperwork with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking for permission to, once again, intervene in the Act 13 lawsuit brought by seven selfish PA townships that resulted in portions of the Act 13 oil and gas drilling law to be struck down. Twice before PIOGA, which represents the companies directly affected by the Act 13 law, has filed to intervene and both times it was (incredibly) prevented from doing so. Apparently the people most affected by a lawsuit don’t have “standing” to defend themselves in PA courts–such is their system of “justice.” At any rate, PIOGA’s third attempt may succeed where the first two attempts failed, and that has the anti-drilling selfish towns, along with the Wolf administration, nervous. Why might PIOGA succeed this time? That’s where it gets complicated. In a nutshell, the zoning portions of the Act 13 law (Section 3304) were not the only sections to be struck down by the PA Supremes…
Read More “PIOGA Asks Supreme Court to Stop DEP Denying Permits Using Act 13”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Talk of Upstate NY Seceding & Joining PA Comes Roaring Back to Life
June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

This story comes right from MDN’s own backyard–in the Town of Windsor, NY. Following Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to temporarily ban shale drilling while he’s in the governor’s chair, there was talk that some New York towns along the border of Pennsylvania are considering seceding from NY State and joining PA (see 15 NY Towns Consider Seceding from NY, Join PA Due to Frack Ban). It was certainly good for a few headlines–the story actually got international play for a while. But then it all seemed to simmer down. The “secession” story has now come roaring back to life with a proposal by a Windsor man (and MDN acquaintance) who is pushing a plan to split NY in two–and have all of upstate NY join Pennsylvania–not just a few towns. He’s even got a proposed platform and he’s working to organize a secession convention! Is this for real? Or is it a stunt–a clever way to focus attention on the abuse of upstate residents at the hands of a corrupt governor? You decide…
Read More “Talk of Upstate NY Seceding & Joining PA Comes Roaring Back to Life”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA

More on that RMU Poll that Shows PA Residents Love Fracking
June 17, 2015June 17, 2015

Yesterday MDN highlighted a Robert Morris University poll on fracking (see Poll: 56% of Americans & 74% of Pennsylvanians Support Fracking). We mentioned at the time that only a few media outlets were reporting the results for this poll which had been conducted in early May. RMU themselves hadn’t reported it on their own website, even though other polls taken since (in June!) were listed. Apparently our chiding worked, because after our story RMU did posted an update on the poll on their website with this headline: “Fracking Enjoys Strong Support from Pennsylvanians”…
Read More “More on that RMU Poll that Shows PA Residents Love Fracking”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

EPA Begins Campaign to Discredit Their Own Fracking/Water Study
June 16, 2015June 16, 2015

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is furiously backpedaling after releasing a draft of their four-year study of fracking and water supplies with the conclusion that, “Hydraulic fracturing activities in the U.S. are carried out in a way that have not led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources” (see EPA Draft Report Says Fracking Doesn’t Pollute Groundwater Supplies). Of course those of us who have long known this is the case have celebrated and pointed out the good news to the masses. Apparently the EPA, beholden to Big Green, either ideologically or financially, wasn’t prepared for the flood of stories saying “EPA says fracking is safe for water.” What to do, what to do? It’s obvious–they have to discredit their own research. Run away from it. So the EPA has begun to work with sycophantic members of mainstream liberal media, like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, to play up the “maybes, mights, could be’s and possibly’s” in the nearly 1,000-page report. In addition, the EPA has reactivated some of the retired dinosaurs from the agency to pitch stones at the research and paint nightmare scenarios. It’s like Jurassic World came to life at the EPA…
Read More “EPA Begins Campaign to Discredit Their Own Fracking/Water Study”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

Pitt. Post-Gazette Affirms AMA Lie re Frack Chemical Disclosure
June 15, 2015June 15, 2015

Shale drillers already full disclose the relative thimbleful of chemicals used in fracking solutions. They do so by listing them on the FracFocus.org website–well by well for each well they drill. Recently the American Medical Association, either through ignorance or (more likely) an intentional desire to mislead the American public voted to adopt a resolution calling for the full disclosure of chemicals used in fracking (see American Medical Assoc Votes for Full Disclosure of Frack Chemicals). Makes no difference that this already happens. The point is to further the myth that it doesn’t happen. Just to ensure low information headline readers are 100% brainwashed on this issue, the editorial writers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette come along to affirm the AMA’s lie…
Read More “Pitt. Post-Gazette Affirms AMA Lie re Frack Chemical Disclosure”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

FrackFeed Site Uses Pop Culture to Spread Truth about Fracking
June 15, 2015June 15, 2015

An edgy new pro-fracking website has sprung up that deserves your attention. It’s called FrackFeed.com and it’s designed along the lines of BuzzFeed, a news and entertainment site aimed at Millennials. FrackFeed, like BuzzFeed, contains short, “pithy” articles–but in FrackFeed’s case the articles respond to and expose the lies peddled by anti-drillers–using humor. The format is meant to be easily “consumed” on a smart phone–and shared with others. Of course the “cool, hipster” anti-drilling nutters are flustered that pro-drillers are turning one of their own tools against them–exposing them for the humorless mind-numbed robots they are. We love it when someone figures out how to get under their skin! Example: categories on the site include Quizzes, Memes and something called “Listicles”. FrackFeed uses the image of the fictional Ron Burgundy (actor Will Ferrell) of the Anchorman movies with the superimposed statement: “You Have Fracking Questions? I Have Fracking Answers!” Love it!…
Read More “FrackFeed Site Uses Pop Culture to Spread Truth about Fracking”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Research

Harvard Study: Fracking is Safe, Profitable, Good for Environment!
June 12, 2015June 12, 2015

Wow–who woulda thought Harvard University would publish a report that says fracking is a good thing (when done right) and that it will create 3.8 million new jobs by 2030 AND lower carbon emissions? The report, titled “America’s Unconventional Energy Opportunity” (full copy below) outlines “a strategic, fact-based approach to developing America’s new energy advantage to increase U.S. competitiveness and drive much-needed job and economic growth, to reducing environmental impacts, and to accelerating progress on climate change.” The authors say that with some tweaks to regulations and by using know best practices, hydraulic fracturing is safe–and an economic bonanza for America–AND good for the environment (reduces nasty carbon dioxide which causes mythical global warming)! It’s important to note the study was self-funded and published by the Harvard Business School. No outside money was involved from the likes of the Park Foundation or Heniz Endowments or William Penn Foundation–virulent anti-drilling Big Green organizations that routinely purchase “scientific” studies with pre-determined outcomes. This time is different. The authors were not beholden to big money benefactors. They are smart people tackling tough issues with an open mind–and the conclusion they come to is the same conclusion reached by millions of people who bother to research the issues: fracking is safe…
Read More “Harvard Study: Fracking is Safe, Profitable, Good for Environment!”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

New Bill Allows Drillers to Use Acid Mine Water for Fracking in PA
June 12, 2015June 12, 2015

An idea whose time has come–in fact is long overdue–is that of re-using acid mine water (AMW) for fracking. The Old Forge borehole was drilled years ago near Scranton, Pennsylvania to alleviate the problem of water seeping into abandoned coal mines in the area, contaminated mine water that was threatening the water table. Old Forge was drilled to channel that water out–and into the Susquehanna River. Some 60-100 million gallons of acid mine water comes out of that hole every single day! It is the largest single source of pollution for the Chesapeake Bay. In 2013 money was allocated to begin a pilot project to clean up the acid mine water at Old Forge, using money from the impact fee assessed on Marcellus drillers in the state (see Specifics on Marcellus $ Helping to Clean Chesapeake Bay Pollution. While that’s a great plan, what’s even better is that drillers are ready and willing to use AMW for fracking operations–except for liability laws. The current laws on the books say “if you touch it, you own it” and drillers are afraid if they begin using AMW, litigious lawyers for Big Green groups like Food & Water Watch will take them to court and try to bankrupt them–claiming the AMW, even if treated, is causing negative environmental and health issues…
Read More “New Bill Allows Drillers to Use Acid Mine Water for Fracking in PA”