Major Water Withdrawal for Gas Drilling from the Moundsville, WV Reservoir Concerns Local Officials
City officials in Moundsville (Marshall County), WV had a scare recently, and with good cause.
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Statewide WV | West Virginia
Dunkard Creek Fish Kill Mystery Solved – And it Had Nothing to Do with Marcellus Drilling
There was a lot of speculation in 2009 about a fish kill over a 30-mile stretch of Dunkard Creek in West Virginia. We now know that the cause was leakage from coal mines. But early on, wild theories were being spun. Our favorite was that the algae killing the fish, which grows only in salty water and is not native to any place in West Virginia, somehow hitchhiked to the area on Marcellus Shale drilling rigs coming from Texas and Oklahoma. Science has finally won out over fairytale, and now CONSOL Energy will pay:
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How to Test Your Own Water if You Live Near Gas Drilling
Sage advice for those living close to where gas drilling takes place has been to test your water. Be sure to test it before drilling begins, and then again once drilling is underway. Only if a homeowner tests prior to drilling can there be an airtight case if water should become contaminated. MDN points out that among the many thousands of gas wells drilled, there have been no known documented cases of well water chemical contamination from hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale. (Note: If you know of any, please send the information to us so we can make it known. Further Note: The well water contamination in Dimock, PA was due to methane/natural gas leaking into water supplies and not from fracking fluid chemical contamination.)
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Researcher Finds PA Marcellus Gas Drillers Reuse Two-Thirds of Wastewater on Average
The Geological Society of America’s annual meeting was in full swing over the weekend with some 1,600 geologists meeting in downtown Pittsburgh. Prominent on the agenda is drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
Read More “Researcher Finds PA Marcellus Gas Drillers Reuse Two-Thirds of Wastewater on Average”
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Drilling Road Damage in Marshall County, WV
Where there’s drilling in rural areas with heavy trucks traveling the roadways, there will be road damage. The two go together, unfortunately. From Cameron (Marshall County), West Virginia:
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PA Hotels in Marcellus Shale Region See Record Occupancy Rates, New Website Helps Workers Find Space
MDN has previously covered the economic benefits of drilling and its impact on local lodging—hotels, motels and even apartment rentals. More evidence of that below, plus a new website to help workers visiting PA find lodging.
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The Truth About How Pennsylvanians Feel About Gov. Tom Corbett and His Budget
If you do nothing more than read or listen to the headlines in PA, you’d swear the peasants are coming with pitchforks for newly elected Gov. Tom Corbett because the budget he’s proposing (finally) balances the budget in PA—without raising taxes. After years of gimmicks and patches, and especially after two years of Obama’s stimulus money which has been squandered and is now gone (our children and grandchildren will thank us for that one—they’re the ones who will have to pay it back), states all over the country must now deal with serious deficits, including PA. Corbett was elected in part to do just that.After issuing his budget last week, it’s been a non-stop scream fest from the media announcing how much residents hate the budget. The media narrative has been that Corbett “wants to slash spending on education but won’t levy a tax on Marcellus drilling.” In their efforts to support the narrative, newspapers and television outlets in PA commissioned a poll by Franklin & Marshall College, and they frequently quote bits and pieces from that poll to support their stated conclusions. The problem is, when you read the polling data for yourself, it doesn’t quite fit the narrative painted by the media.
Forthwith are the actual questions asked, and the full responses. This is not the complete survey which also includes demographic questions. You can download the full survey below and read it for yourself.
MDN offers its observations after each survey question—you can draw your own conclusions.
(Warning: Although this post includes details about Marcellus shale drilling, it also includes coverage of the broader issue of the PA budget and the recent poll conducted about the budget. Some of this material may appear to be “off topic” but in MDN’s opinion it provides the proper context to understand the issue of drilling and taxation.)
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Southwest PA Waste Hauler Indicted for Illegally Dumping Marcellus Drilling Wastewater
After a year-long investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office, a waste hauler in southwest PA has been charged with illegal dumping of untreated fracking wastewater.
Read More “Southwest PA Waste Hauler Indicted for Illegally Dumping Marcellus Drilling Wastewater”
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Small Town in West Virginia Bans Marcellus Drilling Inside City Limits
The city of Lewisburg (Greenbrier County), WV, population 3,624 has banned “any further drilling” in the city limits with respect to the Marcellus Shale.
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How Many “Large Ponds” Does it Take to Frac All of the Marcellus Gas Wells Drilled in PA in 2010? Hint: You Can Count it on One Hand
In a letter to the editor of the Times Observer (Warren, PA), letter writer Dave White makes a plea for common sense and balance in the discussion of drilling in the Marcellus. In particular, he makes a few statements of interest about the volume of water resources used, and disposed of, in the drilling process in PA:
My goal here is to bring a realistic picture of the real magnitude of fracturing water… First Energy tells us the reservoir 800 feet up on Jakes Rocks Road holds 2 billion gallons of water. How much is 2 billion gallons of water? In one large pond in Warren County lies enough water to frac almost all of the Marcellus wells drilled to date in Pennsylvania. First Energy probably pumps a billion gallons of water up there every night. And they drop it back down every day. In forty years I’ve never noticed a ripple on the Allegheny "recreational" river.
The next item to bring into reality, 2.8 million barrels of treated frac water being released into eight rivers. How much is that? When the river is flowing as it is today, 2.8 million barrels goes under the Hickory Street Bridge every 13 minutes. The Allegheny River share of eight rivers would pass under the bridge in 1.6 minutes. Keep in mind this is all the treated fracture water to date.(1)
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Pittsburgh Economy Surged in 2010 Due Mostly to Marcellus Shale Drilling
It seems everywhere high volume hydraulic fracturing (for either gas or oil) happens in a big way, the economy of that region surges. Recently we told you about the Bakken Oil fields of North Dakota (see here) which has led to the lowest unemployment rates of any state the country. The latest example of the benefits of “fracking” is Pittsburgh, which has resurged precisely because of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale:
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Will Marcellus Shale Drilling Come to a “Grinding Halt” in West Virginia?
MDN is not sure how much sway the editorial pages of local newspapers hold when it comes to policy-making in state government (we suspect not much). But it is noteworthy that the Register-Herald (Beckley, West Virginia) is urging a moratorium on any new Marcellus Shale drilling in the state until the legislature can reconvene in special session and pass laws addressing concerns over Marcellus drilling in the state.
The WV legislature recently ended their regular session without passing new regulations for Marcellus drilling, which prompted acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to instruct the state DEP to regulate drilling on their own (see here). The Register-Herald doesn’t like that idea and wants to see the legislature take another crack at passing new laws:
Read More “Will Marcellus Shale Drilling Come to a “Grinding Halt” in West Virginia?”
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PA Gov. Corbett’s Budget Chief Explains Why PA Does Not Need a Marcellus Shale Gas Severance Tax
The budget battle in Pennsylvania has heated up. One of the biggest controversies has to do with PA’s lack of a severance tax on gas drilling in the state. Gov. Tom Corbett’s recently unveiled budget does not include a severance tax, which has been the focus of many who oppose the newly elected administration. Corbett’s Revenue Secretary-designate Dan Meuser had sharp exchanges at a budget hearing Monday on the proposed new budget, and offered the administration’s rationale on why a severance tax is not needed in PA:
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Dallas Township, PA Supervisors to Present Local Ordinance for Drilling in the Marcellus Shale
Supervisors of Dallas Township (Luzerne County), PA are tentatively planning to present a natural gas drilling ordinance at their April 5th meeting according to Township Solicitor Thomas Brennan.
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New Marcellus Shale Co-op Created for Local Governments in PA to Share Information and Experience
Jesse White, Pennsylvania State Representative for the 46th Legislative District, which includes portions of Beaver, Washington and Allegheny Counties, has formed a new Marcellus Municipal Co-op for local PA governments to band together as they tackle the tough issues of local zoning ordinances and laws to deal with a very active drilling industry within their borders. The purpose is to share information so each local government does not have to “re-invent the wheel.” The knowledge and hard work from one municipality with regard to Marcellus drilling issues can be shared with other municipalities.
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PA Sen. Bob Casey Re-introduces Bill Transferring Control of Marcellus Drilling to the Federal Government
Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey has re-introduced legislation in the U.S. Senate that would strip away states’ rights, including his home state of Pennsylvania, to manage and protect their own land and natural resources, and instead concentrate that power at the federal level under the Environmental Protection Agency. He calls the legislation “The FRAC Act”—Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals. The bill, if passed (which seems unlikely in the current Congress), would place the practice of high volume hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) under the provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
If you do nothing more than read or listen to the headlines in PA, you’d swear the peasants are coming with pitchforks for newly elected Gov. Tom Corbett because the budget he’s proposing (finally) balances the budget in PA—without raising taxes. After years of gimmicks and patches, and especially after two years of Obama’s stimulus money which has been squandered and is now gone (our children and grandchildren will thank us for that one—they’re the ones who will have to pay it back), states all over the country must now deal with serious deficits, including PA. Corbett was elected in part to do just that.