Steuben County Public Works Commissioner Vince Spagnoletti is planning for drilling to begin in New York State by drafting conditional road use agreements that drillers must sign before their trucks would be allowed on county roadways.
Supervisors from Kingston Township, PA (in Luzerne County) passed a new ordinance regulating oil and gas development in the Township (see embedded ordinance below). There is no current interest in drilling in the Township, but Supervisors said they wanted to be proactive and that there are some gas-related issues in the area, notably pipelines.
Read More “Kingston Township, PA Passes New Ordinance Regulating Marcellus Gas Drilling”
The Associated Press is transparently anti-drilling in its reporting. While everyone pretends the mighty AP is unbiased and “above the fray” and independent, it is not. So let’s just get that out on the table. MDN uses that preface for news from the AP that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is seriously understaffed when it comes to reviewing Marcellus Shale drilling permits.
IF the following is accurate, it is disturbing indeed and deserves immediate attention from Gov. Corbett. But bear in mind the news comes from the AP, so you never know…
An interesting “new” technology from Canadian company GASFRAC uses an alternative to water and sand in the hydraulic fracturing process:
University of Pittsburgh researcher Conrad “Dan” Volz is resigning in May as director of Pitt’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities because of his “philosophical differences” with the university over the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling. Volz has been a visible and loud voice against drilling, and that does not sit well at Pitt.
Volz released a report on March 23, subsequently revised and reissued two days ago, critical of the Pennsylvania Brine Treatment plant near Black Lick, in Indiana County, PA. The plant treats and releases Marcellus Shale wastewater into the Blacklick Creek. In the report, Volz recommends the plant’s operations be halted.
Read More “PA Marcellus Wastewater Treatment Plant Threatens Lawsuit Against Pitt Researcher”
Federal regulation (MDN would argue federal “interference”) in regulating natural gas drilling is an important issue. MDN maintains that the U.S. Constitution grants the states the right to govern what happens inside their own borders, and that the federal government has too often usurped and trampled those rights in the name of protecting the public. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a prime example of a federal agency that frequently goes too far and oversteps its bounds. The EPA is an unelected group of people that create regulations with the force of law that are forced on states and businesses.
However, Congress seems to do what it wants to do, and agencies like the EPA are a reality we all must live with. So when Congress holds hearings and the star witness is the EPA and the topic is drilling in the Marcellus Shale and hydraulic fracturing, everyone, both for and against drilling, needs to pay attention.
Yesterday the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing titled “Natural Gas Drilling: Public Health and Environmental Impacts.” MDN believes there is much to learn in the opening statements by the Senators, and in the testimony from the witnesses who testified before the hearing.
Read More “U.S. Senate Holds Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling & Hydraulic Fracturing”
The first witness before the April 12 Senate hearing on natural gas drilling was Robert Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is currently conducting a multi-year study of the 60 year-old practice of hydraulic fracturing on the basis and claim that it may be harmful to water supplies, and since protection of the nation’s waterways has been assumed by the EPA, hydraulic fracturing (if found to be harmful) would come under the EPA’s jurisdiction and regulation. It is a back door way for the EPA to control natural gas drilling in this country.
The following is a small portion of Mr. Perciasepe’s statement before the hearing. MDN highlights it as an excellent summary of the main arguments that come from those who oppose drilling in the Marcellus Shale and other shale gas plays.
Read More “EPA Statement at Senate Hearing Outlines the Main Arguments Against Drilling”
The following is the opening statement by the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). Sen. Inhofe offers comments from state regulators about the safety of hydraulic fracturing, and his opinion on federal vs. state regulation of it.
On March 17, 1949, more than 60 years ago, the first hydraulic fracturing job was performed on a well 12 miles east of Duncan, in my home state of Oklahoma. The practice has now been used on more than 1 million currently producing wells, 35,000 wells per year, without one confirmed case of groundwater contamination from these fracked formations. But don’t take my word for it. Let’s hear what the experts, the State regulators, have said:
Read More “Senate Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling – Sen. Inhofe”
Chesapeake Appalachia’s trucks have been banned from four Pennsylvania state routes in Bradford and Sullivan Counties until they fix the roads they’ve damaged.
Read More “Chesapeake Trucks Temporarily Banned on Four State Roads in Northeast PA”
Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor of ecology and environmental biology, along with two other Cornell professors, Renee Santoro and Tony Ingraffea, have just published a new peer-reviewed study in the journal Climate Change titled, “Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations.” The study evaluates natural gas from shale compared with other energy sources with respect to how much “greenhouse gases” are created during the extraction process. The study makes the claim that shale gas extraction is actually worse for the environment than burning coal because of greenhouse gases.
This newly published paper in a peer-reviewed journal is big news and has already been covered in the mainstream media echo chamber with more than 300 articles. But the criticisms have also been swift.
A few weeks ago U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), wrote to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to ask him to investigate two house explosions in Bradford Township, PA (see MDN’s story here). Casey said he strongly believed the cause of the explosions was from migrating methane gas (natural gas) from “extensive new deep drilling activities” in the area. That is, those nasty, filthy Marcellus drillers caused it. Don’t look now Mr. Casey, but….oops. You were wrong again. The real cause was abandoned gas wells drilled 100 years ago.
An article on the Forbes website covers a recent energy conference held by Yale alumni. The focus of the article is on how America’s shale gas has turned around chemical companies. But MDN found this interesting paragraph talking about the Utica Shale:
Read More “Chesapeake Energy Paying $2,500 per Acre to Lease Utica Shale”
One of the main arguments in favor of Marcellus shale gas drilling is that America can become more energy independent—less dependent on the energy (oil and gas) from other countries. It is an argument that strikes a chord with many Americans. The argument also goes that much of the gas produced in the region will stay “local” and cause natural gas prices to remain low for consumers. But what if foreign companies and foreign-backed government entities start buying leaseholds and come here and drill? Will the gas remain here, or will it be exported?
Read More “Foreign Investment in America’s Shale Gas: Is it Good or Bad?”
On April 6, newly appointed PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael Krancer responded yet again to the overreaching federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a blunt and factual letter outlining the measures PA has already taken, and new policies they will be taking, to protect drinking water supplies for PA citizens. MDN previously wrote (see here) about the EPA’s interference in PA’s affairs following the sensational claims made by a series of articles in The New York Times that claimed PA was allowing radioactive wastewater to be dumped into PA waterways. About the same time as the Times articles, the DEP released the results of ongoing water testing in seven rivers that showed radioactivity levels were at or below normal levels.
A lawsuit has just been filed in Western PA seeking to invalidate a Township’s new drilling ordinance:
Read More “Rice Drilling Sues North Bethlehem Township Over New Drilling Ordinance”
You knew it was only a matter of time. Whenever a new industry like Marcellus Shale gas drilling seeks to get established, along come the personal injury and class action lawyers to ensure everyone pays more money defending frivolous lawsuits. Personal injury lawyers in Pennsylvania and other Marcellus states are already salivating.
Read More “Personal Injury Lawyers Have Arrived at Your Local Marcellus Gas Well”