Industrywide Issues

Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Property Value | West Virginia

Marshall County, WV Property Values Double in 6 Years
January 29, 2013January 29, 2013

In the past two years, the assessed value of property in Marshall County, WV has increased by 50%. Since 2007, assessed values in the county have gone up 200%! The reason is, of course, almost entirely due to Marcellus Shale drilling and related infrastructure.

How do local officials describe it? “Extraordinary.” Kind of flies in the face of the anti-drilling argument that property values go down when Marcellus drilling comes to town. Here’s the story…

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Law Firm: PA Drillers/Contractors Paying Taxes They Shouldn’t
January 29, 2013January 29, 2013

According to the law firm Reed Smith, drillers in Pennsylvania may be paying sales tax for equipment used in hydraulic fracturing and drilling that is exempt from PA sales tax. The PA Dept. of Revenue has been issuing tax assessments to drillers that are, according to Reed Smith, in contradiction of existing law.

If you’re a landowner or peripherally interested in Marcellus drilling, give this article a pass. However, if you’re a driller or a drilling contractor of any kind, you need to pay close attention…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

MDN Proposes a New Phrase for Anti-Drillers to Use
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

“Just stick to the news! (and quit editorializing),” is the refrain we sometimes hear at MDN. We happen to think a little editorializing, and having some fun along the way, is not only a good thing to do—it’s the honest thing to do. We don’t cover up our opinions in our reporting of the news. This story is one of the fun stories to tell (sorry, it’s not “sticking to the news”). This story is about language—specifically the word “frack”—and how anti-drillers like those at Earthworks’ Oil and Gas Accountability Project have made such wonderful hay with that word because it sounds so, well, naughty.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Is Shale Brine Dumping Coming to OH Landfills?
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

MDN friend and Akron Beacon Journal reporter, Bob Downing, has just published an excellent piece of investigative journalism about brine dumping in Ohio landfills. Bob has tracked down a change in policy in Ohio that theoretically allows landfills to begin accepting brine from shale drilling. Brine is (mostly) naturally occurring salt water from deep below the earth that comes out of the wellbore after the well is drilled.

Some of the state’s 40 landfills have received permits to accept drill cuttings and other solids from the drilling process, but so far none have received permits to accept liquid brine that’s solidified with fly ash and other materials. That may be about to change…

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Armstrong County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | MDS Energy | Pennsylvania

MDS Energy’s Fracking Fluid Alternative for 3 PA Marcellus Wells
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

An interesting short item MDN picked up from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review about driller MDS Energy.

The South Buffalo Township Planning Commission (near Pittsburgh) recently recommended that township supervisors approve a request from MDS Energy to drill three Marcellus Shale wells. The interesting bit is the liquid MDS plans to use in fracking the wells…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Education | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Sullivan County

Ongoing Saga of 4th Graders Brainwashed Against Fracking
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

A few weeks ago MDN told you about 44 fourth graders at Maple Hill Elementary School in Middletown (Sullivan County), NY who were given an assignment to write an argumentative paper about fracking, and shazam! Every single one of them wrote against the practice (see Middletown 4th Graders Brainwashed by Teachers Against Fracking).

Apparently the teacher who required the assignment, and the reporter who was so impressed (hoodwinked?) that every single student individually and independently came to an anti-fracking conclusion, must have gotten a fair bit of blowback from the original story because the reporter has just penned a new story seeking to justify the assignment and the original story. The new article concludes with an interesting revelation about the teacher…

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA

Royalty Payments to PA Landowners Create Big Impact
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

An analysis by AP finds royalty payments to landowners in Pennsylvania are quickly catching up to royalty payments to landowners in other oil and gas states like Alaska and Wyoming. The National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) said PA is their fastest growing chapter.

How much in royalty payments were PA landowners paid (collectively) for 2012? What’s the average percentage landowners are paid? And which driller has paid more than $1 billion in royalties to PA landowners since 2008? Some answers about royalties in general, and PA in particular…

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Columbiana County | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | M3 Midstream | Momentum | Ohio | Processing Plants

Columbiana County NGL Plant Creates Economic Boom
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

More evidence of just how much the shale drilling industry impacts local businesses (the “supply chain” effect) comes from the new $400 million natural gas liquids processing plant being built in Columbiana County, OH. We reported in December the plant was on track for an “aggressive” May 2013 start date (see Columbiana County NGL Plant On Track for May Opening). The company building the plant, M3 Midstream (also known as Momentum), has revised the start date slightly to June.

Momentum’s construction coordinator Baron John gives an update on progress in building the plant, and offers a few examples of how far and wide the project has already impacted the local economy:

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

New PA Emergency Response Planning Reg for Shale Wells Adopted
January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

The Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency on Saturday published final regulations covering Emergency Response Planning at Unconventional (i.e. Marcellus) Well Sites (a copy of the new regulation is embedded below).

The regulation was adopted by the EQB in November following a review by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board last September. The regulation sets requirements for the preparation and implementation of emergency plans at Marcellus Shale drilling sites.

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

IOGA NY Becomes “Adversarial” – DEC Must Revise Fracking Rules
January 25, 2013January 25, 2013

Although the latest public comment period for proposed new drilling rules in New York officially closed on Jan. 11, we’re just now learning about the “comments” (more like a treatise) made by the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York (IOGA of NY) to the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), filed on the closing day of Jan. 11.

Many of IOGA of NY’s members are small and medium-sized drillers, and according to IOGA, the DEC’s latest draft of proposed drilling rules simply go too far for smaller drillers. They also say some of the new proposals are illegal. IOGA of NY provided a detailed, 119-page response/critique to the DEC which outlines chapter and verse the changes they believe must be made to the proposed new rules from the DEC before fracking in New York would be viable. A copy of the entire 119-page response is embedded below.

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

PA DEP Announces New Study of Radiation in Shale Drilling
January 25, 2013January 25, 2013

Although the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) “routinely reviews radioactivity data in wastes the oil and natural gas industry and other industries generate,” they announced yesterday a new 12-14 month in-depth study to examine radiation levels more closely in PA’s shale drilling industry to ensure “that public health and the environment continue to be protected.”

The DEP is currently seeking a peer review of the proposed study plan (plan embedded below) and will then start sampling and analyzing naturally occurring radioactivity levels in drilling wastewater, drill cuttings, and the equipment used to transport, store and dispose of drilling wastes. The study will be conducted by the DEP working with an outside firm—Perma-Fix Environmental Services of Pittsburgh.

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | UGI Energy Services | Wyoming County (PA)

UGI Plans Start of PA Marcellus Pipeline Despite Zoning Appeal
January 25, 2013January 25, 2013

Pennsylvania energy utility UGI is working hard to bring low-cost, locally produced Marcellus Shale gas to its customers in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. Currently UGI gets natural gas for its northeast PA customers from the Gulf of Mexico, which is crazy given the abundant, local Marcellus natural gas supplies all around them. But the Luzerne County zoning board last September denied UGI the right to build a much-needed compressor station that would help bring local gas to local customers (see Luzerne County Denies UGI Permit to Build Compressor Station).

UGI appealed that decision in court, and in the meantime, they’re moving forward with building a 28-mile pipeline anyway—an extension of the Auburn Pipeline from Wyoming County to Luzerne County (see the map below for the route of the new pipeline). If UGI’s appeal for the compressor station for the new pipeline fails, they do have a backup plan…

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

NY Democrat Senators (Yet Again) Push Fracking Ban Legislation
January 25, 2013January 25, 2013

Perhaps sensing the fracking issue is about to become moot if the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation releases new fracking rules in a few weeks, a group of anti-fracking/anti-drilling Democrat state senators are once again pushing for a law to permanently ban fracking in the Empire State.

A pair of newly-elected Democrat senators joined their colleagues on the left to try and force the issue to a vote on the Senate floor—before it’s “too late”…

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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Range Resources Corp | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Philly Refinery Strikes Deal to Export SW PA Marcellus Ethane
January 25, 2013January 25, 2013

Marcellus Shale ethane, a valuable hydrocarbon recovered from natural gas wells in areas of southwestern Pennsylvania, will be exported to Norway from the recently reopened Sunoco Logistics terminal in Marcus Hook (near Philadelphia). Ethane and propane exports from the terminal are expected to ramp up in about two years once the new Mariner East pipeline from southwest PA is completed.

So who’s buying the ethane, and who’s selling it?…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA DEP Pushes Back: We Did NOT Undercount Wells for Impact Fee
January 24, 2013January 24, 2013

A newly-minted Ph.D. from Penn State, Joel Gehman, got his first teaching job last year as an assistant business professor at the University of Alberta in Canada. He wasted no time in addressing the issue of “publish or perish” in academe. In May of 2012, even before he began his official duties at UA, he co-authored and published a paper titled, “Fracking Patents: The Emergence of Patents as Information Containment Tools in Shale Drilling.” The title itself tells you about Dr. Gehman’s proclivities when it comes to the issue of fracking. (Learn more about his views on his blog). This month Dr. Gehman is back as lead author of a new paper published in the journal Environmental Practice titled, “An Analysis of Unconventional Gas Well Reporting under Pennsylvania’s Act 13 of 2012.”

Dr. Gehman’s new paper makes the strong claim that the DEP did not exploit loopholes in the new Act 13 law to drain every last penny they could via the new impact fee/tax on oil and gas wells, thereby leaving up to $303 million uncollected (see our story Did PA DEP Undercount Act 13 Wells & Forfeit $303M in Revenue?). Michael Krancer, Sec. of the DEP, sent a letter to Gehman on Tuesday with some pretty strong claims of his own…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Controversy Continues Over PA DEP Water Testing Near Frack Sites
January 24, 2013January 24, 2013

In November, MDN told you about a new controversy that began when PA State Rep. Jesse White (Democrat from the Pittsburgh area) claimed the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection was knowingly covering up water well testing data that may “prove” fracking activities in some cases are contaminating groundwater supplies (see PA DEP Accused of Skewing Water Tests from Wells Near Drilling). The DEP immediately responded that White and those claiming there’s a cover-up are wrong. The Marcellus Shale Coalition also jumped into the debate to shine a light on White’s anti-drilling tendencies (see MSC Responds to Allegations PA DEP Skews Drilling Water Tests). It does appear White has an ongoing blood feud with Range Resources, but in fairness, he contacted MDN to assert he is not anti-drilling.

The latest round in this controversy comes from an article that appears in the Beaver County Times on Tuesday. The article is perhaps the best we’ve seen that outlines what the controversy involves (although the article tends to the anti- side). In brief, it’s all about “Suite Codes” and whether or not the DEP intentionally did not order the appropriate tests in some cases of suspected water contamination—and in other cases did not report back full results from tests done. There are three Suite Codes potentially used by the DEP when ordering and reporting on water testing, as described in the article:

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