Hydraulic Fracturing

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    Erie County (Buffalo) NY to Vote on “Near-Ban” of Fracking

    The odious Food & Water Watch (FWW), a partisan anti-drilling organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., is behind a scare effort to get the Erie County (Buffalo), NY legislature to ban fracking on county-owned land, ban the treatment of frack wastewater, and ban the use of processed brine (sometimes erroneously called frack wastewater) as a deicer and dust suppressant throughout the county. Using processed brine–water from drilled gas wells with heavy minerals and anything harmful removed–as a deicer and dust suppressant has been happening safely across the country for years. Hey, if Erie residents want to double the price they pay for road salt (and they use a LOT of road salt for Buffalo winters), who are we to stop them?

    The full Erie County legislature will vote on the ill-advised proposed ban this week at its December 12th meeting:
    Read More “Erie County (Buffalo) NY to Vote on “Near-Ban” of Fracking”

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    IOGA of NY Dumps PR Consultant, Media Speculation Goes Wild

    This is an “inside baseball” kind of story–or in this case, inside New York oil & gas politics. The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY) recently underwent some belt-tightening. You look over your budget–the money coming in and the money going out–and you make decisions. That’s what companies, and organizations, do. The government doesn’t do that because they just take it from we citizens to pay for their voracious drunken spending habits. But that’s another story for another time.

    IOGA of NY looked at declining membership revenues because oil and gas drillers are leaving or staying away from New York over an ongoing five and a half year moratorium, and IOGA decided they could do without the services of their high priced PR consultant. Happens every day in thousands of companies and organizations across the world. But only in NY do the media try to fabricate a story out of it to say IOGA of NY is throwing in the towel…giving up…admitting defeat. We say it’s wishful thinking on the part of NY’s anti-fracking media. IOGA of NY is doing nothing of the sort…
    Read More “IOGA of NY Dumps PR Consultant, Media Speculation Goes Wild”

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    Pathetic Response to Threatened Lawsuit over NY Frack Regs

    On Monday, Tom West, an attorney for Norse Energy, sent a “demand” letter addressed to NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens with the not-so-subtle threat that unless Martens releases the fracking regulations (called the SGEIS), Norse will sue Martens, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah under Article 78 for not doing their jobs. That is, Norse (via West) will sue to force the release of the SGEIS (see Tom West Demands DEC Com. Martens Release the SGEIS – Soon). All three of the anti-fracking cabal (Cuomo, Martens, Shah) got the letter.

    So far Cuomo himself hasn’t had the guts to say anything about the letter or potential lawsuit. Neither has Joe Martens. Instead, they continue to let State Health Commissioner Shah catch the spears for it. At a public health forum in Manhattan on Tuesday, Shah addressed the issue by saying, in essence, Shazam! We done just got us some new informations in just the past few weeks (can ya’ll believe that?)! Ya’ll can’t rush this, ya know. To which we say, “pathetic”…
    Read More “Pathetic Response to Threatened Lawsuit over NY Frack Regs”

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    Must-See Video Sticks It to Hollywood Anti-Frackers

    Throwing their own words right back in their smug faces, a new video released on Tuesday by the Western Energy Alliance uses real people to tell the truth about fracking, and tells off the know-nothing Hollwood stars that appear in a recent anti-fracking video.

    A Washington Times story about the new video appears directly below, followed by the video itself. Please take time to give it a watch–it’s under one minute long and will put a smile on your face like it did ours…
    Read More “Must-See Video Sticks It to Hollywood Anti-Frackers”

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    More Global Warming Flummery – Latest Scare Report Issued

    A new report is out on the hazards of global warming…blah blah blah…fill in the blanks. If the warmers detect the general public doesn’t believe as fervently as they used to about global warming–if people are going a little bit squishy and starting to ask uncomfortable questions–it’s time to ratchet up the rhetoric and start talking about impending doom and a coming environmental holocaust. Trouble is, they keep doing it–decade after decade–and the environmental holocaust never seems to arrive. So they have to start blaming hurricanes and big winter storms–things we’ve had for, oh, millions of years–on global warming. Do they really think we’re that stupid?

    And so enters yet another shrill global warming flummery study from the left-leaning National Research Council–because the general population needs another good scare. The compliant New York Times does as good a job as any at trumpeting this latest false alarm. We learn that even though global warming hasn’t really caused any problems yet, when it does, baby it’s gonna happen “all at once” and be “really bad”…honest…
    Read More “More Global Warming Flummery – Latest Scare Report Issued”

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    Who Dat Sneakin’ Around my Well Pad…PA DEP?!

    We’re not quite sure what to make of this one… PA State Sen. Scott Hutchinson (Republican from Butler County) has introduced legislation to prohibit the state Dept. of Environment Protection (DEP) from using video surveillance cameras, some of them with “night vision”, to monitor and enforce environmental laws at oil and gas sites. DEP also uses “unmarked cars” in drive-by inspections and Hutchinson wants that fixed too.

    Is the DEP being shifty? Are they sneaking around? Should they better announce themselves? Or is this just a tempest in a teapot as DEP says it is? You decide…
    Read More “Who Dat Sneakin’ Around my Well Pad…PA DEP?!”

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    The “Flexible” (and Capricious) Ways of EPA Admin. McCarthy

    It used to be that the law (and regulations, which are based on and have the power of law) were “blind” and not a respecter of men nor companies. The law was designed to apply to all equally and without exception. But when you have a law-breaker–someone who flouts the law–as your president, you then get a situation where the law is twisted to the political whims of those in power. Don’t like a particular law because you oppose it? No problem–just ignore it and don’t enforce it. Don’t like the political blow back of enforcing laws and regulations you yourself passed? No problem–just be “flexible” with how you implement said law or regulation.

    The latest “flexible” Obama official is none other than newly minted EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, who is signaling she won’t enforce the draconian carbon regulations her agency recently established that are designed to kill coal. Instead of killing coal all at once, she’ll toy with it, like a cat with mouse…
    Read More “The “Flexible” (and Capricious) Ways of EPA Admin. McCarthy”

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    US Chamber to Obama: Don’t Let EPA Screw Up Fracking Miracle

    One of the finest organizations in America–the U.S. Chamber of Commerce–sent a warning to President Obama yesterday to put him on notice that if the Obama Environmental Protection Agency continues down the road of federal regulation of fracking (something that is unconstitutional by the way), it will kill the very jobs and economic success that Obama has had nothing to do with but takes credit for. OK, the Chamber didn’t use that exact language, but that’s our take on their sentiment.

    Chamber President Thomas Donohue essentially said “don’t go there” with respect to the EPA wanting to horn in with regulating fracking…
    Read More “US Chamber to Obama: Don’t Let EPA Screw Up Fracking Miracle”

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    Tom West Demands DEC Com. Martens Release the SGEIS – Soon

    just do your jobYesterday Tom West, lead attorney with The West Firm in Albany, NY, issued a “demand” letter to Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens (full copy of the letter embedded below). The hand-delivered letter (arrived around 12:30 pm we’re told) tells Martens that, as MDN revealed last week, The West Firm has been retained as legal counsel for Norse Energy (see Norse Energy Suing NY Gov Cuomo to Force Release of SGEIS). The letter asks (actually demands) that Martens inform West within the next two weeks of the “date certain in the near future” he plans to release the SGEIS drilling regulations…or else.

    The “or else” is not spelled out in the demand letter, but we know what it is: If Martens does not release the drilling rules promptly, West will file an Article 78 lawsuit to force Martens–and Gov. Cuomo and Health Commissioner Nirav Shah–to get off their rear-ends and just do their jobs. That’s what an Article 78 is–a citizen or company’s legal way of forcing recalcitrant and disobedient public servants (Martens, Cuomo and Shah) to do the job they were hired to do. So three cheers for Norse Energy and Tom West! Finally we should start to see a resolution to the 5 year, 4 month and 10 day old defacto ban (i.e. “moratorium”) on shale drilling in New York…
    Read More “Tom West Demands DEC Com. Martens Release the SGEIS – Soon”

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    Martin Sheen Pimps Himself for Anti-Frackers

    No one has ever mistaken actor Martin Sheen for someone who’s actually smart. He’s a good actor, but not that good! However, Sheen is pleasant enough to watch, especially as he ages. And he has a nice voice–perfect for voice over work. So Sheen supplements the long periods when the phone doesn’t ring by pimping himself out to liberal/loony causes. The latest “Martin for hire” work is playing now–an “expose” on fracking.

    Apparently the program airing the so-called expose is called Breakthroughs–a semi-regular series on PBS narrated by Sheen, who dutifully reads what is set before him–outright lies, big huge whopper lies, and smaller insidious lies–but all lies. Sheen doesn’t care he’s lying to you–he’s getting paid by whomever. For the fracking episode Sheen is being paid by the rabidly anti-drilling Environment America to pedal their pap to the snooty crowd that watches public television…
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    National Park Service Tosses Ingraffea Anti-Frack Comments Out

    Someone who used to work at the National Park Service (NPS) is probably in the unemployment line this week because he or she made the boss look bad. Last week the NPS had to retract negative comments inserted by an unnamed (and hopefully unemployed) NPS staffer about shale drilling in the official NPS position on fracking forwarded to the Bureau of Land Management. The BLM is formulating their own rules to regulate fracking on federal lands and wanted (intelligent) input from other agencies.

    As part of the official comments/views on fracking from NPS, some idiot unnamed staffer at NPS actually quoted the goofy Cornell professor Tony Ingraffea and his wild ideas (published in the compliant New York Times) about fracking being “a gangplank to more global warming.” Whatever Tony. NPS now says they don’t agree with those crackpot comments…
    Read More “National Park Service Tosses Ingraffea Anti-Frack Comments Out”

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    Don’t Know Much About Geology (or Fracking)

    A majority of Americans are clueless when it comes to fracking. They don’t know what it is! For those of us who have tracked and followed the issue for years, it’s beyond comprehension–but there is a wide swath of the American public that either doesn’t care, or hasn’t felt the need to tune in to the debate over their energy future.

    A recent survey of Americans found that 58% (!) don’t know anything about fracking–don’t know what it is, don’t know what it does–they just don’t know. It’s sad. However, it’s also a huge opportunity for those of us on the pro-drilling side of the debate to educate them on the objective truth–on the benefits of fracking and what it means for every single citizen in the country…
    Read More “Don’t Know Much About Geology (or Fracking)”

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    Coast Guard Wants Frack Wastewater Barges Tested – Every Load

    In late October MDN told you the good news that the U.S. Coast Guard has green lighted barge shipments of frack wastewater–good news for GreenHunter and their multiple barge facilities along the Ohio River (see Coast Guard Green Lights Barge Transport of Frack Wastewater). At the time the Coast Guard published their draft rules for a 30-day comment period. Those 30 days have come and gone as of last Friday, but still no official date for when barge shipments for frack wastewater will begin.

    However, from an article published by the reliably anti-drilling StateImpact Pennsylvania (NPR), we do find out that every shipment of frack wastewater via barge will first have to be analyzed by a state accredited laboratory before it can leave the dock. Why? Frack wastewater is not uniform–each batch varies in the chemical compounds found in that batch. The Coast Guard intends to keep a close eye on it. Of course analyzing every load will add a lot of time and expense to the process, but this precaution will reassure reasonable people that barge shipments of frack wastewater is safe…
    Read More “Coast Guard Wants Frack Wastewater Barges Tested – Every Load”

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    Lies, Damn Lies…and NY State Polls on Fracking

    Last week MDN brought you the news that the Marist College poll shows a slight change of public opinion in New York State with respect to whether or not the state should allow shale drilling/fracking (see Latest Marist NY Poll Shows Slight Increase in Frack Opposition). The Marist poll showed, roughly, 37% favor fracking, 47% oppose it, and 16% are clueless. The day after the Marist poll was issued, Quinnipiac University issued their poll. Because the wording is slightly different, the Quinnipiac Poll found New Yorkers are more evenly split: 44% support fracking, 46% oppose it and just 10% are clueless.

    Which just goes to show the immortal words of Mark Twain are as true today as they were more than 100 years ago. Here’s the detailed poll results from the latest Q poll…
    Read More “Lies, Damn Lies…and NY State Polls on Fracking”

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    Latest Marist NY Poll Shows Slight Increase in Frack Opposition

    opinion pollA new public opinion poll of New Yorkers was released yesterday by the Wall Street Journal/NBC 4 New York/Marist College. Among the questions asked was this one: “Hydrofracking is a process of splitting rocks underground to remove natural gas. From what you have read or heard, do you generally support or oppose hydrofracking in New York State at the Marcellus Shale?” For years the answers have been roughly even, about 40% for, 40% against and 20% clueless.

    This latest NY poll shows the following statewide average: 37% support fracking, 47% oppose it, and 16% are clueless/unsure. So, a few more of the unsure people have now become sure and it’s breaking against fracking, maybe a few who used to support it no longer do, and those who were against it remain ideologically rigid and impervious to overwhelming evidence that fracking is safe (i.e. willfully stupid). End result: a few more are now in the opposition column. However, it’s when you dig into the numbers and the breakdowns by party, political philosophy, gender and geography that it becomes interesting…
    Read More “Latest Marist NY Poll Shows Slight Increase in Frack Opposition”

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    Big News: Bloomberg Writes Positive Marcellus Shale Article!

    Whenever we start reading a Bloomberg article about the Marcellus Shale, shale gas drilling in general, or fracking, we just know how skewed to the anti-drilling side of the ledger the story will be. So imagine our surprise when we read an article that actually reports (gasp!) the truth about the Marcellus Shale. Even though Bloomberg usually tells us the low price of natural gas can’t last, the whole shale gas thing is a house of cards waiting to collapse, drillers are trying to hoodwink investors, blah blah blah–this time even Bloomberg can’t ignore the fact that natural gas being piped into New York City is selling below the price of the benchmark Henry Hub in Louisiana–and likely will for years to come. Thanks to the Marcellus.

    The Bloomberg article does a good job of giving the big picture with respect to gas prices and how drilling has become more efficient, how infrastructure (pipelines) are helping to get all that gas to market (abundance of supply equals lower prices), and predicting what’s coming next. At the end of the article is an obligatory few sentences from anti-drillers about how shale drilling will poison all of our water and make farms uninhabitable. Well, it is Bloomberg after all. But on balance, this is a good article and worth your time to read. The article begins this way…
    Read More “Big News: Bloomberg Writes Positive Marcellus Shale Article!”