Industrywide Issues

Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission Issues Recommendations
October 25, 2011October 25, 2011

$no fracking$ As mentioned yesterday by MDN, the self-appointed Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission—a group made up of liberal and left-leaning environmental and labor groups including the Sierra Club of PA, Penn Environment, Keystone Progress, Clean Water Action and the League of Women Voters—has released a list of recommendations for regulating shale gas drilling in the state. A copy of the 89-page report is embedded below.

Read More “Citizens Marcellus Shale Commission Issues Recommendations”
Air Quality | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Northeast Natural Energy | West Virginia

Morgantown Gas Wells Fracked, No Air Pollution
October 25, 2011October 25, 2011

MDN has chronicled the attempt by Morgantown, WV to ban drilling up to one mile outside of the city line—a saga that spanned many months. In the end, a judge struck down the ban and two wells were drilled and fracked. The main concern was that fracking might somehow contaminate the city’s water supply, which comes from the nearby Monongahela River (something that did not happen). But another concern was that the fracking process might cause air pollution that would affect a nearby elementary school. It seems that fear was also unfounded:

Read More “Morgantown Gas Wells Fracked, No Air Pollution”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New PA Study: No Link Between Fracking & Water Contamination
October 24, 2011October 24, 2011

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania is a bipartisan legislative agency serving as a resource and research arm for rural policy in the Pennsylvania Assembly and Senate. The Center has just released the results of a study conducted in 2010 and 2011 analyzing the impacts of Marcellus Shale gas drilling on rural drinking water supplies. This was an unbiased, large scale study of water quality in 233 private water wells in rural Pennsylvania before and after the drilling of nearby Marcellus Shale gas wells. The study results are embedded below.

The study found that dissolved methane exists in about 20 percent of private water wells—before drilling begins. In the executive summary, the study concludes:

Read More “New PA Study: No Link Between Fracking & Water Contamination”
Industrywide Issues | Jobs

Some Young People Bypass College for a Marcellus Shale Job
October 24, 2011October 24, 2011

A columnist in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asks the question, “Should young people consider putting off college in order to work a job in the Marcellus Shale?” And the surprising answer is, “Maybe.” She recounts her random run-in with a young man in the Pittsburgh airport who was flying home to visit his parents, as he does regularly. His job? Laying pipeline in the Marcellus Shale. Her point was that in a time of economic uncertainty like we are in, putting off college for a while and working in the shale gas industry may be the right choice for some young people.

Read More “Some Young People Bypass College for a Marcellus Shale Job”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

EPA to Regulate Shale Gas Drilling via Wastewater Standards
October 21, 2011October 21, 2011

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is signaling their intent to continue overreaching their authority by regulating oil and gas drilling in the U.S., violating states’ constitutional rights to do so themselves. The EPA’s “back door” way of regulating hydraulic fracturing (buying them time while they try to regulate it by the front door with their multi-year study of the process), is by controlling the disposal of wastewater produced during fracking. From the EPA’s press release yesterday:

Read More “EPA to Regulate Shale Gas Drilling via Wastewater Standards”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Will Most Drillers Even Bother with New York?
October 21, 2011October 21, 2011

New York’s passage of new drilling rules to allow for shale gas drilling has had more twists than a Greek tragedy and has taken longer to finish than a death scene in an opera. MDN has asked the rhetorical question, several times, that even IF new rules are passed and permits are issued, will drilling companies bother to show up? See this MDN article from March of this year. Now, others are starting to raise the same question:

Read More “Will Most Drillers Even Bother with New York?”
Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Final Resolution to Dimock, PA Water Problem?
October 21, 2011October 21, 2011

Dimock, PA has been a rallying cry for many who oppose shale gas drilling. For those with only a peripheral knowledge of the struggle, the word Dimock conjures up an image of nasty hydraulic fracturing fluids seeping into ground water supplies and contaminating them so they are now undrinkable by humans or animals. But such an image would be wrong.

What happened in Dimock, according to the PA State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), is that the drilling company Cabot Oil & Gas did not properly case (enclose the bore hole), which led to methane (natural gas) escaping through cracks into the local water supply for area homes. Methane gas in water does not kill when consumed, but it can become an explosion hazard as happened with one local water well in the area.

Read More “Final Resolution to Dimock, PA Water Problem?”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Public Opinion | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Ohio Democrats Want to Ban Shale Gas Drilling
October 13, 2011October 13, 2011

While it would be unfair to say that support or opposition to shale gas drilling breaks strictly along political party lines, it is not unfair to point out this observation: Those who oppose drilling are mostly Democrats, while those who support drilling are mostly Republican. MDN has seen it again and again in public opinion polling data, and in news stories. Here’s the latest news story, this one from Ohio, which further supports MDN’s observation:

Read More “Ohio Democrats Want to Ban Shale Gas Drilling”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Range Resources Sues Cecil Township Over New Ordinance
October 13, 2011March 24, 2012

Cecil Township in Washington County, PA—a suburb of Pittsburgh—recently passed an ordinance changing shale gas drilling from a permitted use to a conditional use, meaning each well drilled would have to be approved by the township on a case by case basis. It requires drillers to do twice the work—once in filing a permit application with the state, and a second time with the local municipality. Range Resources, one of the nation’s largest Marcellus Shale drillers (and with operations in Cecil), has just filed a lawsuit requesting the new ordinance be overturned.

Read More “Range Resources Sues Cecil Township Over New Ordinance”
Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Clamps Down on Air Pollution Rules for Gas Drilling
October 13, 2011October 13, 2011

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which oversees oil and gas drilling in the state has issued new guidelines for evaluating air pollution sources from oil and gas operations. Specifically, the new guidelines clarify when operations should be considered a single source, and when operations will be considered separately, thereby facing stricter permit requirements. The move tightens controls over potential sources of air pollution from drilling and related operations.

Read More “PA DEP Clamps Down on Air Pollution Rules for Gas Drilling”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Warren County | Wastewater

Columbus Twp, PA Ban on Injection Wells Rescinded
October 13, 2011October 13, 2011

Under threat of a lawsuit, supervisors in Columbus Township (Warren County, PA) reversed their previous ban on the disposal of fracking fluids in two injection wells in the township (see this previous MDN story about the lawsuit).

Injection wells are deep wells used to dispose of fracking fluid from those drillers who do not recycle all of the fracking fluid used in their drilling operations. The fluid is pumped into the wells under high pressure, forcing it deep into the ground. Ohio has hundreds of such injection wells due to a better underground geography. However, PA currently has only a relative handful of injection wells (less than a dozen?), including the two in Columbus Township.

Read More “Columbus Twp, PA Ban on Injection Wells Rescinded”
Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Noise | Roads | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Drilling Problems in Wetzel County, WV
October 13, 2011October 13, 2011

When drilling is concentrated in one area, some problems are bound to crop up.

Read More “Drilling Problems in Wetzel County, WV”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WVU Prof: Methane in Water Supplies is Not from Fracking
October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

Dr. Shikha Sharma, an assistant professor at West Virginia University and the lead researcher of a new WVU study looking at the source of methane found in water supplies (see this MDN story), says those who think that hydraulic fracturing is the cause of methane found in their water supply may be wrong. And she can prove it—scientifically.

Read More “WVU Prof: Methane in Water Supplies is Not from Fracking”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

Shale Gas Mineral Rights Case Appealed to PA Supreme Court
October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

We have a new development in the ongoing case from Susquehanna County, PA where a lower court upheld the “Dunham rule” declaring oil and gas are not part of mineral rights. The Dunham rule, a PA law precedent that’s been in place since 1882, was challenged by PA Superior Court (see this MDN story), threatening to overturn dozens if not hundreds of leases and deeds in Pennsylvania. The landowners in the case have now appealed directly to the PA State Supreme Court in an effort to lay this to rest and have the Dunham rule upheld.

Read More “Shale Gas Mineral Rights Case Appealed to PA Supreme Court”
Broome County | Industrywide Issues | New York | Wastewater

Rumor: Endicott Company May Want to Treat Fracking Wastewater
October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports on a rumor in today’s paper about a company in Endicott (Broome County, NY) thinking about treating fracking wastewater:

Read More “Rumor: Endicott Company May Want to Treat Fracking Wastewater”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New Database to Track Marcellus Drilling Impact on PA Water
October 12, 2011October 12, 2011

A new database is on the way to track the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling on water quality in Pennsylvania, thanks to a $750,000 research grant by the National Science Foundation. The database will be created and maintained by Penn State, University of Pittsburgh, Bucknell University and Dickinson College. Researchers will identify and use data collected from multiple sources, including watershed groups, government agencies and others.

Read More “New Database to Track Marcellus Drilling Impact on PA Water”