Regulation

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    Using NAFTA, US Co. Sues Canada for Blocking Quebec Utica Drilling

    Lone Pine Resources, a U.S.-based driller, has a huge amount of Canadian Utica Shale acreage in the province of Quebec. As we reported in 2012, they own 398,850 gross (240,320 net) acres of leases (see U.S. Driller Sitting on Big Canadian Utica Shale Reserve). The problem is, Quebec won’t allow fracking. However, that is changing. In September the government published draft drilling regulations (see Quebec Government Publishes Draft Utica Fracking Regulations). There is an exception. Some (we’re not sure how much) of Lone Pine’s Utica acreage sits UNDER the mighty St. Lawrence River. In 2011 Quebec passed a law that even if fracking comes to other portions of the province, it will never be allowed under the river. So Lone Pine is using a tribunal that hears NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) cases, to ask for $103.6 million in compensation for being robbed of their asset by the Quebec government…
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    Shale Insight 2017 – Day One News Roundup

    MDN is once again attending the Shale Insight event–in Pittsburgh. Yesterday was the first day of the event. The crowd was definitely smaller than last year when then-candidate Trump spoke to attendees. However, Day One saw a number of heavy-hitting speakers, including Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette, XTO Energy President Sara Ortwein, Chevron Appalachia President Stacey Olson, and People’s Natural Gas CEO Morgan O’Brien. Marcellus Shale Coalition President Dave Spigelmyer served as master of ceremonies and seemed to be everywhere-present during the event (how does he DO that?). From the opening session to the exhibit floor to attending the breakout sessions, MDN editor Jim Willis made the rounds–and took lots of notes. In the coming days he will write up those notes and share them. For now, we have links and extracts of articles from other publications attending and reporting on this year’s Shale Insight…
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    Bad Blood: Rover Pipe CEO Sends Caustic Letter to Ohio EPA, FERC

    Last week MDN brought you the news that Ohio EPA’s director, Craig Butler, has kind of tipped over into the deep end with his rantings and ravings about Rover Pipeline (see Ohio EPA’s Craig Butler Goes Nuts, Demands $2.3M from Rover Pipe). Butler held a conference call with the media where he made wild allegations. What seems to have precipitated Butler’s media bender is a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) earlier in the week to allow Energy Transfer, builder of Rover, to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in most Ohio locations, after banning it for several months (see FERC Lifts Rover Horizontal Drilling Ban, Pipeline Work Resumes). ET has responded to Butler’s tirade with a hard-hitting (we’d call it caustic) response. In a letter to Butler, carbon copied to FERC, Rover President & CEO Matthew Ramsey essentially says Butler and the OEPA is trying to cover its own mistakes in not requiring storm water permits for most of the project’s life–then coming along after the fact saying Rover didn’t apply for those permits (when OEPA never required them in the first place). Ramsey also said Butler “refuses to recognize the law” that FERC, and not OEPA, is in charge of this project. It gets better. Ramsey says he is “mystified by what you are trying to achieve” by requiring something (said storme water permits) Rover is now voluntarily doing–permits that OEPA itself has approved! This letter really takes the gloves off and (our words) calls Butler a lunatic. Read it for yourself and see what you think…
    Read More “Bad Blood: Rover Pipe CEO Sends Caustic Letter to Ohio EPA, FERC”

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    Broome Virtual Pipe Project in Limbo, Fenton Board Refuses to Act

    In early September, a Broome County, NY judge ruled that the Town of Fenton (Binghamton area) Planning Board did not take a hard enough look at environmental and traffic issues related to their approval of NG Advantage’s plan to construct a facility in the town to compress and load natural gas onto tractor trailers for delivery to regional customers who desperately need the gas–what is called a “virtual pipeline” (see Judge Rules Against Broome Virtual Pipe, NG Advantage to Try Again). The lawsuit was brought by a local school district, which a Freedom of Information Act request reveals is paying approximately $40,000 in legal fees to high-priced lawyers to win the case, stopping the project (we hope Chenango Valley School District taxpapers appreciate their taxes going up to pay for it, and less money available in the budget to “educate” their precious children). NG must now resubmit the project for approval. On Tuesday night, NG did just that–re-applying to the Fenton Town Planning Board. A meeting was held at the local fire hall where some 250 people showed up. The crowd contained those both for and against the project. Unfortunately two of the seven Planning Board members were not present–possibly having resigned due to extreme pressure from bullying antis. So then there were five. Three of the five voted to become the lead agency to review the project, which is the first step in the process. However, three of seven is not a majority. Which puts the project in limbo, not able to go forward. What happens next?…
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    PennEast Pipeline’s Sole Compressor Station Approved by PA Town

    PennEast Pipeline has just achieved yet another milestone on its way to getting built. At a meeting last Thursday, the Board of Supervisors for Kidder Township (Carbon County, PA) voted 5-0 in favor of issuing a permit to PennEast to site the one-and-only compressor station the 120-mile pipeline will need. Proving yet again that most Pennsylvanians are in favor of this project, contrary to the mainstream/leftist media drumbeat against it. PennEast is a $1 billion primarily 36-inch pipeline from Dallas (Luzerne County), PA to Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington (Mercer County), NJ. The company expects final Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval any week now. There are still a few hurdles left–mostly in New Jersey. But those hurdles are certainly surmountable. The radical Sierra Club and THE Delaware Riverkeeper are adamantly opposed and continue to try and throw up legal (and regulatory) roadblocks. No matter. This important pipeline will get built–and this compressor station approval is one more bit of evidence that it will get built…
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    Marcellus Industry Keeps a Close Eye On 3 Pending Bills in PA

    The Marcellus industry is closely watching three pieces of legislation sitting in the Pennsylvania legislature, bills that the industry fervently hopes do not pass. One of the bills is House Bill (HB) 557, introduced by Rep. Garth Everett, which would amend/fix the Oil and Gas Lease Act to ensure landowners get a minimum royalty of 12.5%, regardless of post-production deductions (see PA Rep. Garth Everett Reintroduces Minimum Royalty Bill, 3rd Time). Another bill is HB 1624, which would slap a 6.5% severance tax on the drilling industry, with an allowance for drillers to deduct the current impact fee they already pay (the equivalent of a severance tax). So in essence, HB 1624 doubles or triples the existing severance tax (i.e. impact fee) to obscene new highs. The third bill is HB 542, the state budget bill for 2017 passed by the Senate (not the House), which would initiate a new 2% severance tax on top of the existing impact fee (see Traitorous PA Senate Republicans Pass Severance Tax Bill). Two of the three bills are unlikely to get passed during this session. The third is a toss-up. Which is which?…
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    CORNballs, Sierra Club Continue to Fight NEXUS Pipeline in Court

    NEXUS Pipeline, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, is about ready to begin construction–any time. NEXUS got final approval for the project from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Last week one of the final remaining hurdles came down when the Ohio EPA granted a water permit for the project (see Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover). The only cloud on the horizon are multiple lawsuits and regulatory requests filed by anti-fossil fuel groups, including CORN (Coalition to ReRoute Nexus, folks we call CORNballs), and the far-left Sierra Club. Both groups have launched lawsuits and regulatory actions against the pipeline. Those efforts, which increasingly are long-shots, continue. Here’s what CORN and the Sierra Club are doing now that Ohio EPA has given the project its blessing…
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    PA House Member Intros Resolution to Stop DRBC Frack Ban Effort

    Rep. Jonathan Fritz

    Pennsylvania House of Representatives member Jonathan Fritz, Republican from Wayne County, PA, is one of the rising stars in the PA House. MDN editor Jim Willis has met and spoken with Rep. Fritz twice. Great guy. Conservative. Head screwed on straight. Fritz serves areas of both Wayne and Susquehanna counties in the northeastern corner of PA. Does Wayne County sound familiar? It should. It’s one of two counties the radicalized Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) wants to ban fracking in (see Governors from PA-NY-DE Vote to Ban Fracking in Dela. River Basin). A few weeks ago, the liberal Democrat governors of three states–PA, NY and DE–had their representatives vote to begin the process of placing a permanent ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within the Delaware River Basin–supposedly because fracking is a threat to some 15 million people who get their drinking water from the Delaware River basin. Just one teeny tiny problem. Fracking IS allowed, and has been happening for over 10 years, in the neighboring Susquehanna River Basin, where over 4 million people get their drinking water. The SRBC (Susquehanna River Basin Commission) wisely does not restrict fracking–they only manage water withdrawals. There have been NO water issues in the SRBC. Yet the libs in the DRBC demand a ban based on a false meme of water contamination risk. Last week, Rep. Fritz introduced House Resolution 515, which (if passed) calls on the DRBC to abandon its efforts to strip away the property rights of people in the DRBC’s jurisdiction by enforcing a frack ban…
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    Canadians Approve TransCanada Pipe Lowball Plan to Compete with M-U

    Looks like begging works. TransCanada, one of Canada’s leading midstream/pipeline companies, cooked up a deal last year to pipe natural gas from Canada’s West Coast to the East Coast in order to fend off cheap supplies of Marcellus/Utica gas that will flow into Canada when/if the NEXUS and Rover pipelines get built (see TransCanada Pipe Drops Price 42% to Compete with Marcellus/Utica). TransCanada dropped their pipeline price to lure drillers by (theoretically) making it less expensive to get gas from Western Canada, some 2,400 miles away, than from the Marcellus, just 400 miles away. The original open season last year was a bust because TransCanada insists on a 10-year commitment (see TransCanada Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Using Canada Pipeline a Bust). TransCanada revived their plan in February. Although it looked almost like the same deal all over again with the same 10-year term and about the same price, TransCanada dropped a minimum amount to be shipped and is letting shippers opt out after five years under certain conditions. The changes worked (see TransCanada Says Plan to Lowball M-U Gas Worked, Shippers Sign Up). The plan needs a bevy of regulatory approvals, the main one being the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB). In hearings before the NEB two weeks ago, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers pleaded their case that the plan get approved (see Canadian Drillers Beg NEB to Approve Pipe Plan to Compete with M-U). Without it, western Canadian gas simply can’t compete with cheap, abundant Marcellus/Utica Shale gas flowing north. In somewhat dramatic terms, Canadian drillers claimed the “future of western Canada’s natural gas industry could depend on pipeline company TransCanada winning regulatory approval” of their lowball plan. The NEB bought it, and has just approved the lower rates…
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    Corrupt DEC Bans PA Marcellus Brine in NY, Tightens Other Brine Use

    The Andrew Cuomo-corrupted New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC), run by NRDC gang member Basil Seggos, has just slammed the door on New York towns using brine from the Pennsylvania Marcellus. Earlier this week the DEC posted new final regulations as part of “strengthening” the state’s solid waste regulations, referred to as Part 360. Brine is another name for produced water. When you drill a hole deep in the ground, well below the water table (which sits at maybe 200 feet down), over time water from the depths (a mile or more down) will come to the surface. This is not wastewater used in fracking (called flowback), but naturally occurring water (brine). It’s called brine because it contains a lot of minerals–far “saltier” than ocean water. There are a number of ways to dispose of all that water coming out of drilled wells for years after they are drilled–dispose of it via an injection wells, recycle it, or in some cases, treat it and use it as a deicer on roadways. Many towns use brine for that purpose. The DEC’s new regulations stipulate that if a town wants to use brine from conventional oil and gas wells, that’s fine (with certain restrictions). But if the brine comes from a Marcellus Shale well–it’s banned. Keep in mind there is virtually no chemical difference between the two. Which leads us to the conclusion that this is one more very intentional swipe at the shale industry by a state that is closed for business…
    Read More “Corrupt DEC Bans PA Marcellus Brine in NY, Tightens Other Brine Use”

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    Ohio EPA’s Craig Butler Goes Nuts, Demands $2.3M from Rover Pipe

    From the day the first backhoe began digging in Ohio, it has appeared that Ohio EPA director Craig Butler has had a grudge against Rover Pipeline. We’re not saying Rover hasn’t had its fair share of environmental transgressions that need to be monitored and rectified. But Butler has been on a one-man mission to punish Energy Transfer, the builder, demanding (without legal authority) insanely high “fines” from ET Rover. At first it was $400,000. Then $900,000. Now Butler says ET owes the state $2.3 million! Butler is trying to draw in Ohio’s Attorney General into the confusion in order to shake down Energy Transfer and make them pay. Yesterday Butler held a conference call with the media (MDN wasn’t notified/invited) where he made wild allegations. What seems to have precipitated Butler’s media bender is a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Monday to allow ET to resume horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in most Ohio locations, after banning it for several months (see FERC Lifts Rover Horizontal Drilling Ban, Pipeline Work Resumes). On yesterday’s call Butler said, “I’m not overly happy that they’re [FERC] allowing them [Energy Transfer] to restart operations while we [Craig Butler, Ohio EPA] have outstanding issues.” Butler has issues all right. Butler is kind of drunk on his own power. It’s time for someone (maybe the AG?) to investigate Butler and find out if he’s colluding with Big Green groups. Is the OEPA short on money in its budget? Where does the revenue from such fines go? And on what statutory authority can OEPA levy a fine on a FEDERAL project? Inquiring minds want to know…
    Read More “Ohio EPA’s Craig Butler Goes Nuts, Demands $2.3M from Rover Pipe”

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    Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover

    At a staged media event yesterday, Ohio EPA director Craig Butler had no end of insults for Energy Transfer and their Rover Pipeline project, making wild claims that the company now owes the state $2.3 million in fines (see today’s companion story). However, at the same media event, Butler had faint praise for another project–NEXUS Pipeline. The OEPA issued a federal water permit for the project on Tuesday. NEXUS is a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada. The project is co-owned by DTE Energy of Detroit and Spectra Energy (now part of Canadian company Enbridge). NEXUS got final approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in August, the first major pipeline to get approved following a newly restored quorum at FERC (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). At yesterday’s media circus, Butler said he and his agency have learned from their “mistakes” with Rover, and that NEXUS’ application includes much more detailed plans. Although OEPA likes the NEXUS paperwork, the agency is requiring more “contingency and storm water planning” from NEXUS as a condition of the permit…
    Read More “Ohio EPA Grants Water Permit to NEXUS Pipe, “Learned” from Rover”

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    New MarkWest Processing Plant Approved by Smith Twp in SWPA

    Smith Township, Washington, PA

    In August MarkWest Energy (now part of MPLX) briefed Smith Township (Washington County, PA) officials on plans to build a new natural gas processing plant (see Update on MarkWest Processing Plant Proposal for Smith Twp). The project was first introduced last fall, but then went quiet until May of this year. MarkWest plans to initially building one cryogenic plant and one de-ethanizer at what it calls the Harmon Creek Complex. Eventually MarkWest wants to build four cryogenic plants and two de-ethanizers at complex. Smith officials understandably had questions and wanted certain things in writing before they would consider issuing a “conditional use” permit for the project. Apparently the questions got answered. On Monday, Smith supervisors voted 3-0 to approve the project. However, the backhoes are not firing up just yet. Before the project can get built, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection must issue an air permit (GP-5) for the project. Anti fossil fuelers were not happy with Smith’s approval, claiming MarkWest has been hiding the full scope of the project…
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    PennEast Pipe Files Water Permit Request with USACE, Antis Erupt

    Click map for larger version

    Last week PennEast Pipeline, a $1 billion, 118-mile pipeline from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ, filed a request with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for water crossing permits (full copy below). PennEast has faced a series of legal challenges–in particular from virulent Big Green groups THE Delaware Riverkeeper (Maya van Rossum) and the New Jersey Sierra Club (Jeff Tittel). Somehow Big Green groups seem to have been able to exert undue influence over the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, which rejected granting water permits in June (see NJ DEP Rejects Water Permit for PennEast Pipeline – What’s Next?). However, PennEast continues to make progress. In April the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a favorable, final environmental impact statement for the project, which is typically a prelude to issuing a final go-ahead (see FERC Issues Favorable Final EIS for PennEast Pipeline Project). Earlier this year, in February, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection issued a water permit for the project, which is being challenged in court by Big Green groups (see PennEast Pipeline Gets 401 Water Quality Certificate from PA DEP). PennEast acknowledges the Army Corps will still need information from other government agencies before it grants a water permit–but that’s OK. PennEast is simply getting its ducks in row by filing now, which has antis like van Rossum and Tittel in a dither…
    Read More “PennEast Pipe Files Water Permit Request with USACE, Antis Erupt”

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    Rich Homeowners in Philly Suburb Claim ME2 Work Stirring up Arsenic

    Rich, snobbish homeowners in an “upscale” Philadelphia suburb development are asking an appeals court to stop Sunoco Logistics from building the Mariner East 2 pipeline through the edge of their high-priced development because, they claim, the digging is disturbing the dirt (which is what digging does) and disturbing the dirt is causing lead and arsenic to become dislodged. The lead and arsenic are supposedly in the dirt as a result of pesticides used when the land was an apple orchard. The claim is flat out BS–Barbara Streisand. The Andover Homeowners Association in Thornbury Township (Delaware County) is the same group that a few weeks ago acted like five year-olds by intentionally stepping over a painted line put there to protect them from a ME2 construction zone (see Philly Antis Step Over the Line (Literally) at ME2 Pipeline Site). Spoiled rotten children grow up to be spoiled rotten adults. Here’s the latest tactic to stop a pipeline from the gentry class–just because they don’t like how digging a pipeline makes their development look to the neighbors…
    Read More “Rich Homeowners in Philly Suburb Claim ME2 Work Stirring up Arsenic”

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    North Carolina Fracking Commission Postpones First Meeting

    In 2012 the North Carolina legislature cleared the way for the state to allow horizontal fracking of shale (see NC Law to Legalize (and Encourage) Fracking Advances). The law gave state officials two years to come up with rules and regulations to govern fracking in NC. Along the way a lawsuits were launched, slowing things down (see Judge Puts NC Fracking on Hold Pending Outcome of Lawsuit). The case got resolved in January 2016. However, even if a company wants to begin drilling, members of North Carolina’s Oil & Gas Commission, who would approve applications, have not been sworn in (see NC Fracking Remains in Limbo, 5 Yrs After Legislature Approved It). Nine commissioners were appointed by outgoing Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and the Republican legislature–but new Gov. Roy Cooper (Democrat) refuses to swear in the commissioners and allow fracking to begin. One more Democrat who acts like a dictator. Where have we seen that before? No matter. The new Oil & Gas Commission isn’t waiting for Cooper. The Commission scheduled its first official meeting yesterday, in Sanford. Antis accused the agency of “going rogue” (they should talk!). However, at the last minute, on Tuesday, the Commission’s new chairman, Jim Womack, said the first meeting will be postponed until October or November, to give more time for state ethics officials to review economic disclosure statements of commission appointees for potential conflicts of interest. Looks like it will be six years before any fracking takes place in the Tar Heal State…
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