Industrywide Issues

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Patriot Water Permit Renewal in Jeopardy in Northeastern Ohio
June 21, 2011June 21, 2011

Patriot Water operates a Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment plant in Warren, Ohio—in the northeastern part of the state, not far from the border of PA. Patriot pre-treats drilling wastewater and then sends it to the Warren municipal sewage treatment plant where it is further processed and released to the Mahoning River. Patriot has invested $3 million and has hired 45 people to operate the plant.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) has told the Warren municipal sewage treatment plant their permit to accept Patriot’s treated wastewater will not be renewed when it expires in July 2012, even though there has not been a single “finding” or violation issued by the OEPA to Patriot.

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Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA Marcellus Drilling Wastewater Going to Ohio
June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

Millions of barrels of fracking fluid—wastewater often referred to as “brine” because of the heavy salts in it—are being imported from Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale drilling operations into Ohio, and it has some Ohioans concerned. Fracking fluid/wastewater/brine is what comes back out of the bore hole after sending water, sand and some chemicals down the hole during drilling.

Many larger drillers now recycle 100 percent of the wastewater for reuse in other drilling. For those who do not recycle it, it must be disposed—either by treating it at special facilities where it is then safe for release back into streams and rivers, or by storing it in underground wells, known as injection wells.

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Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

“Monumental” Water Withdrawal Legislation Will Soon Become Law in NY – DEC Gets Big Tool to Tightly Control Gas Drilling
June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

It’s looking quite likely that legislation requiring a permit from the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for any water withdrawals from a lake, river or stream in New York State exceeding 100,000 gallons will soon become law. As MDN previously reported (see here), the NY Assembly passed a bill in May governing water withdrawals from state waterways. Now, the NY Senate has joined them in unanimously passing the same bill. It now goes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk for signature.

Marcellus drilling operations, which have not yet begun in New York State due to a moratorium, require large amounts of water per well drilled—some 3 to 4 million gallons per well. This new law requiring permits for water withdrawals is one of the important tools that the DEC will use to control drilling in the state when drilling finally begins. No water—no drilling. Or, “Take your time approving that permit,” to slow things down. It’s a powerful tool that the DEC can (and assuredly will) use to keep tight control over gas drilling in the state.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

New Quinnipiac Poll: PA Voters Want Marcellus Drilling to Continue, and an Extraction Tax
June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

According to a new poll by Quinnipiac University, nearly two-thirds of PA voters want Marcellus Shale gas drilling to continue. Slightly more than two-thirds of PA voters also want a drilling (or extraction) tax on gas drilling.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Energy Dept Hearing in Western PA Draws Big Crowd For & Against Hydraulic Fracturing and Gas Drilling
June 14, 2011June 14, 2011

President Obama recently instructed Secretary of Energy Steven Chu to form the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Natural Gas Subcommittee, a group of six experts from academe, industry and environmental groups to advise President Obama on how to improve the safety of shale gas development, with a focus specifically on hydraulic fracturing. No doubt the “advising” part will turn into federal regulations at some point, so both sides of the debate are anxious to make their voices heard.

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Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

PA Residents: Gas Drilling? Yes. Gas Exporting? No.
June 13, 2011June 13, 2011

Many Pennsylvania residents are in favor of shale gas drilling, but exporting the gas makes them mad.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | West Virginia

Marshall County, WV Feeling the Positive Effects of Marcellus Gas Drilling
June 13, 2011June 13, 2011

Marshall County, West Virginia is feeling the positive effects of Marcellus Shale drilling as money paid to landowners and workers is spent and creates economic ripples through the local economy.

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Guernsey County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Utica Shale

Ohioans Take a Field Trip to Pennsylvania to Observe Gas Wells & Farms Safely Co-existing
June 13, 2011June 13, 2011

Representatives from Guernsey County, Ohio took a field trip last week to Pennsylvania to have a look at how gas drilling can safely be done—even in the midst of farming operations.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

New York Post: The Real Reason Environmentalists Don’t Like Natural Gas
June 10, 2011June 10, 2011

A column in yesterday’s New York Post talks about the recent flurry of bans against gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing by local municipalities like the cities of Buffalo, NY and Pittsburgh, PA. The columnist speculates on why environmental groups are so viciously opposed to natural gas, when just a few short years ago they were in favor of it. The writer comes to the same conclusion that MDN has written about before: At the heart of the debate is a philosophical worldview that because natural gas is a “fossil fuel” and based on carbon, an abundance of it will slow down the adoption of “alternatives” (like wind and solar) and therefore it must be defeated. And the way to defeat it is to demagogue it and scare people into believing their water supplies will be poisoned.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Is the Anti-Drilling Crowd Losing Steam? Low Numbers Turn Out for Josh Fox Rally in Harrisburg
June 8, 2011June 8, 2011

Perhaps the real question should be: Did the anti-drilling crowd ever really have a head of steam to begin with? The mainstream media certainly wants you to think so. A relatively small group of people who oppose drilling in the Marcellus—indeed people who are demanding a total ban on gas drilling—seem to get a lot of press coverage, while a majority who support it get relatively little press coverage.

MDN’s observation and the reason for this post…

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

New York Will See $11.4 Billion in New Investment, $1.4 Billion in New Tax Revenue, and 18K New Jobs if the Fracking Moratorium is Lifted
June 8, 2011June 8, 2011

New York State will see a huge $11.4 billion in economic investment by 2020, with state and local governments receiving $1.4 billion in new tax revenues, as well as 15,000-18,000 new jobs created if the current moratorium preventing Marcellus Shale drilling is lifted, according to a report released yesterday by the award-winning think tank Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

The report, titled “The Economic Opportunities of Shale Energy Development,” projects an additional (and astonishing) 75,000-90,000 jobs would be created if the Utica Shale is tapped. (The Utica Shale requires horizontal hydraulic fracturing as does the Marcellus Shale.)

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

MDN In-depth: NYS Assembly Passes 12-Month Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing, Both Horizontal and Vertical
June 7, 2011June 7, 2011

For the second year in a row, the New York State Assembly has passed a bill that would create a one-year moratorium on the practice of hydraulic fracturing in the state. But there’s a difference in this year’s bill. This new bill would stop all hydraulic fracturing—both horizontal AND vertical. Oy vey. Where does one begin with this?

It is MDN’s belief that most “rank and file” people who oppose Marcellus Shale drilling don’t really understand the science of it. They hear a few catch phrases about polluting water, or using too much water, or thousands of gallons of chemicals going into the ground. And vague threats that their drinking water is about to be permanently poisoned. And that’s about all they know or want to know. Their opposition is colored by their philosophy or worldview: big energy companies are evil and lie, burning hydrocarbons like oil and gas destroy the environment and cause dangerous levels of global warming, etc. Yes, this is an over-generalization and paints an entire movement with a very broad brush that does not apply to everyone who is against drilling. MDN is just saying this is the case “in general” or “on average.”

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Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Shell

Shell Commits to Building a Billion Dollar Chemical Plant in the Marcellus Region of U.S.
June 7, 2011June 7, 2011

Royal Dutch Shell, one of the largest energy companies in the world, announced on Monday that it will build a “world-scale” chemical plant in the Marcellus region of the United States. The chemical plant is called a “cracker” and typically costs more than a billion dollars to construct. Its construction would provide thousands of both short-term construction and long-term operations jobs. Both West Virginia and Pennsylvania have been actively courting chemical companies to build one or more cracker plants in their states (see this MDN story).

The cracker plant would take advantage of one of the byproducts of Marcellus Shale drilling—ethane—which is converted to the hydrocarbon ethylene. Ethylene is a “feedstock” (or raw material) used to make plastics, including polyethylene, the most manufactured and widely-used plastic in the world (see MDN’s brief petrochemical primer here).

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Allegany County | Garrett County | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland Gov. O’Malley Issues Order to Study Marcellus Shale Drilling – State Will Not See Drilling Until 2014 Earliest
June 7, 2011June 7, 2011

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley yesterday signed an executive order requiring two Maryland agencies—the Department of of the Environment (MDE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to conduct a study on the impacts of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Gov. O’Malley’s order is called the “Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative” and it sets up a board to work with both the MDE and DRN during the process. The board will be composed of representatives from both the environmental community and the drilling industry, as well as a private citizen from Western Maryland. The Marcellus Shale region only touches a small portion of Maryland, running through the “panhandle” counties of the state—underneath all of Garrett County and much of Allegany County.

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Landowner Coalition News | New York

MDN Visits Anti-Fracking Big Splash Event in Binghamton
June 6, 2011June 6, 2011

MDN took a field trip on Sunday afternoon to visit Recreation Park in Binghamton, NY (“Rec Park” as it’s known to us locals). The purpose? To see the sights and sounds of the Binghamton Big Splash, a one-day concert with eight local bands, coordinated by the Finger Lakes Clean Water Initiative, designed to oppose Marcellus Shale drilling in New York State.

Of particular interest to MDN was a tent on the premises hosted by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY), there to present the pro-drilling side of the story. MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of meeting and talking with JLCNY President Dan Fitzsimmons and JLCNY Second VP Bryant La Tourette.

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | New York

Binghamton’s Big Splash Fracking Symposium More Like a Tiny Raindrop
June 6, 2011June 6, 2011

MDN visited an anti-fracking concert called “The Big Splash,” held at Binghamton’s Recreation Park on Sunday afternoon (see today’s companion article). While there were several hundred people on location enjoying music and food—maybe 400 or so by MDN’s count—it certainly wasn’t the “thousands” hoped for at the event. Local bands provided music and anti-fracking groups manned tables around the perimeter of a large tent, providing literature on the “horrors” of hydraulic fracturing.

But the big news of the weekend was from the “warm-up” event on Saturday. The Saturday event was a symposium on hydraulic fracturing held at the Riverwalk Hotel & Conference Center on Water Street in Binghamton. The symposium was hyped by the media in advance, but only 45 people turned up according to press accounts.

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