PA DEP Fines Eureka Resources $100K for Wastewater Violations
The ongoing saga of Eureka Resources’ now-closed frack wastewater treatment facilities in Pennsylvania — two in Lycoming County and one in Bradford County — continues to unfold. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently assessed two fines against Eureka for violations of cleanup deadlines at two of its facilities. One facility in Lycoming County was fined, and one in Bradford County. The fines were $60,000 and $40,000. We’re just not sure which facility got which fine! [UPDATE: We now know that the Williamsport facility was fined $60,000 and the Bradford County facility was fined $40,000. See the update below.] One thing we do know: Eureka was fined a total of $100,000. Read More “PA DEP Fines Eureka Resources $100K for Wastewater Violations”
West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey is spearheading what he calls the “50 by 50” energy initiative, a plan for the state to grow its electric energy production from a current 16 gigawatts (GW) of generation to 50 GW by 2050 (see 
Last year, MDN warned readers that the newly elected, incoming governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, is a radical left Democrat (see 
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) voted on Friday to open more than 8,700 acres of public land, including an additional 513 acres under Salt Fork State Park and 8,236 acres under Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, for shale fracking. This move makes Egypt Valley the largest fracking project *under* (not on) state-owned land, despite vociferous public opposition from citizens and left-wing environmentalists. The next step in the process is to put the parcels out for bid. 
In a March 25, 2026, decision in the Omni Energy Group, LLC v. Ohio Department of Natural Resources court case, Judge Algenon L. Marbley from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio dismissed Omni’s amended complaint regarding Class II injection well permits. Omni alleged that the ODNR unlawfully set injection pressures too low, rendering its multimillion-dollar investment in two injection wells inoperable. This case goes back to events that began in 2019, events we previously covered in a 2024 post (see 
Last week, we told you that a supposed “group of rural Ohioans” in Adams and Brown counties was seeking a constitutional amendment to ban data centers exceeding 25 megawatts, citing concerns over resource consumption and a lack of local control (see 
Speaking at this week’s CERAWeek event in Houston, industry groups express cautious optimism that permitting reform, specifically the SPEED Act, could pass within a narrow eight-week window. While Senate negotiations recently resumed after disputes over offshore wind, experts warn that looming midterm elections may soon stall progress. Proponents argue that streamlining environmental reviews is vital for infrastructure and energy affordability. However, if a deal isn’t reached before July or during the “lame duck” session, shifting House leadership could deprioritize the reform. The appointment of energy veteran Alan Armstrong to the Senate provides a final push for the legislation. 
Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw is introducing legislation to modernize Pennsylvania’s 1961 Oil and Gas Conservation Law, which currently relies on standards predating modern horizontal drilling. By aligning the statute with contemporary practices, the bill aims to accelerate permit reviews for Utica wells and treat them consistently with Marcellus shale operations. Yaw argues that updating these outdated rules will reduce resource waste, minimize surface impacts, and prevent natural gas from being left underground. 
In December, representatives from Chesapeake Utilities and BHE GT&S, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, presented a proposal to the Port Canaveral Authority to construct a new LNG liquefaction facility in Brevard County, FL (see 
Last April, Knighthead Capital Management, Homer City Redevelopment (HCR), and Kiewit Power Constructors Co. announced a plan to convert the former Homer City Generating Station, previously the largest coal-fired power plant in Pennsylvania (Indiana County, 50 miles east of Pittsburgh) into a more than 3,200-acre natural gas-powered data center campus, designed to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (see 
One of the great ironies of the Marcellus Shale is that THE TOP two natgas-producing counties in the state, Susquehanna (#1) and Bradford (#2), both of which are rural, don’t, for the most part, offer the gas extracted from under their residents to their residents for everyday use. It costs a lot of money to run local distribution pipelines to homes and businesses for natural gas. Leatherstocking Gas Company is on a mission to change that. Leatherstocking provides natural gas utility service in Susquehanna and Bradford to some 500+ customers. More customers will soon be added to Leatherstocking’s service in Wyalusing (Bradford County) following a recent PIPE grant. 
Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has determined that Eversource Energy’s plan to install a natural gas pipeline through Hurd State Park and the Connecticut Valley Railroad State Park Trail requires a formal Environmental Impact Evaluation, unnecessarily delaying a tiny portion (1.1 miles) of a critically-important reliability project (34.5 miles long). This 16-inch pipeline, a segment of the Southeast Resiliency Project, is designed to provide energy redundancy and security for the region. 
The province of Québec, Canada, with a huge supply of Utica Shale gas sitting beneath it, passed a new law in 2022 outlawing all oil and natural gas production throughout the province, called Bill 21 (see