Regulation

Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Range Capitulates, Closing 4 Freshwater Ponds in Mt. Pleasant, PA
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

More than two years of acrimony and lawsuits are now over for Range Resources in Mt. Pleasant (Washington County), PA. Mt. Pleasant is one of the original seven selfish towns that sued PA to overturn portions of the Act 13 oil and gas law. The town was giving Range a hard time over four freshwater ponds (called “impoundments,” not to be confused with wastewater impoundments) the company was using to drill wells in nearby non-Mt. Pleasant locations. The town served the company with notices of violation in July 2013 and then held a public hearing in August 2013 where things got heated between the town and Range (see Range Resources Argues with Mt Pleasant over Water Impoundment). Mt. Pleasant kept after them (see Mt. Pleasant Zoning Bd Says Range Water Impoundments in Violation), and after them (see Mt Pleasant Twp Shenanigans re Range Request for Water Ponds), and after them (see Mt. Pleasant, PA Continues to Ride Range Over Water Ponds). Sooner or later a company can take a hint that a township is anti-business. Range is throwing in the towel, closing down all four freshwater ponds, and leaving town…
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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Mahoning County | Ohio | Regulation

Hardrock Pleads Guilty to Illegal Wastewater Dumping, Fined $100K
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

A final footnote to tell you about concerning the notorious case of illegal frack wastewater dumping near Youngstown, OH that happened in 2012 and 2013. Ben Lupo, previous owner of D&L Energy and its associated company Hardrock Excavating, directed employees to dump frack wastwater hauled by Hardrock into a drain that emptied into a stream that emptied into the Mahoning River near Youngstown, OH (see Youngstown Business Dumped >200K Gal of Untreated Wastewater). It was later discovered that from September 2012 to end of January 2013, Lupo was responsible for dumping at least 30 loads of frack wastewater literally down the drain and into the river. After an investigation and charges, last August Lupo plead guilty and was sentenced to 23 months in prison and a $25,000 fine (see Final Chapter for Youngstown Illegal Wastewater Dumper: Prison & Fine). The final final chapter has now been written. Lupo’s company, Hardrock Excavating, pleaded guilty on Thursday and was fined $100,000. In an interesting twist, the judge ordered $25,000 of that total to be paid to two environmental organizations…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Drought Conditions Begin to Affect Marcellus Drilling
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

Drought conditions now exist over a large part of Pennsylvania, and because of it, we are beginning to see some impacts on Marcellus Shale drilling. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees water management/withdrawals from streams and rivers in the central and western part of the state. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) oversees it in the northeastern part of the state. The DEP has not (yet) issued any restrictions, but the SRBC reports that restrictions previously written into water permits for drillers in the northeast have affected the withdrawals of two drillers: Cabot Oil & Gas (in Susquehanna County) and Seneca Resources (in Tioga County)…
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Industrywide Issues | Noise | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Who Ya Gonna Call? PA DEP (Noise) Ghostbusters!
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection is wading into an area that’s likely best left to towns and municipalities: regulation of noise coming from Marcellus Shale drilling operations. The DEP wants drillers to craft a site-specific plan for noise mitigation for each and every well pad they drill. Problem is, the DEP won’t give drillers any standards against which to devise their plans. That is, the DEP isn’t willing to say “this loud is too loud at this distance from the drill site.” Drillers are understandably confused. How do you draw up a plan with no standards/no regulations? The DEP says noise is a funny thing–it can carry in one place but not another. They claim you can’t draw up hard and fast guidelines. One noise expert says trying to figure out the source of noise (and how to prevent it) is “sort of chasing ghosts”…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

Disaster on the Horizon: PA Gov Wolf Creates Pipeline Task Force
May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has proven, once again, the job he was elected to do is just too big for him. He’s not up to the task. Gov. Wolf has just announced the creation of a “Task Force on Pipeline Infrastructure Development” that will add an additional layer of interference by anti-drilling “environmental organizations” on where pipelines can and (preferably, from their viewpoint) can’t be laid. The Task Force is supposedly an “unprecedented collaboration of stakeholders” from government, drillers, midstreamers, and anti-drillers (euphemistically referred to as environmentalists). A “can’t we all just get along” committee. And this Task Force will “recommend a series of best practices” for where/when/how gathering pipelines will get laid in the Keystone State. John Quigley, acting secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and former staffer at the anti-drilling PennFuture, will serve as chairman of the Task Force. God help us all…
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Industrywide Issues | Regulation

EPA Power Grab: Redefines Waters of the U.S. to Include Everything
May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

The Obama Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Obama U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a finalized rule clarifying what “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) means vis a vis what can be regulated under the federal Clean Water Act. Unfortunately (but typically) the Obama EPA once again did a power grab and has redefined just about everything but mud puddles as WOTUS and subject to regulation by the EPA. It is, in our opinion, an illegal power grab that must be vigorously opposed by Congress and the courts–to push the EPA back into it’s mansion (they long ago stopped inhabiting a mere box). This new rule is a direct assault on not only the oil and gas industry, but also farmers, ranchers and frankly all landowners with creeks, swamps and ponds (and no, we’re not exaggerating)…
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Air Quality | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Newspaper Admits PA Gas-Powered Electric Plant Will Pollute Less
May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

The world has gone topsy turvy. The anti-drilling Scranton Times-Tribune, normally a purveyor of half-truths when it comes to shale drilling, pipelines and the Marcellus Shale in general, has a story that grudgingly admits that no, a planned electric generating plant in Jessup, PA won’t pollute the air nearly as much as anti-drillers say it will. We’ve written a number of articles about Invenergy’s plan to build a 1500-megawatt plant (largest in the state) in the borough of Jessup (Lackawanna County), near Scranton, on an 80-acre former coal mine and landfill site (see MDN’s stories here). The plant will use clean burning Marcellus Shale gas to produce cheap electricity. The main objection to the plant is the possibility of air pollution. Experts interviewed by the Times-Tribune say you’re more likely to breathe harmful air pollution living downwind from a major highway than you are living downwind of this proposed plant…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland’s Pusillanimous Gov Allows Frack Moratorium to Become Law
May 27, 2015May 27, 2015

What a disappointment Maryland’s new Republican governor, Larry Hogan, has turned out to be. On his way out of office, Maryland’s previous governor, Martin O’Malley (Democrat), created strict drilling regulations that would allow fracking in Maryland THIS YEAR (see Maryland Gets Ready to Frack! Gov O’Malley Files New Regulations). O’Malley was a disaster as Maryland’s governor, and even though he lobbed new fracking regs over the wall in a sleazy political move (he’s running for president), we tipped our hat to him for doing the right thing–even if he did it for his own personal reasons. The prospect of any fracking was too much for the environmentally insane that belong to Maryland’s legislature. They passed a two-year moratorium bill and sent it to Hogan for his signature (see Maryland Closer to a 2-Year Fracking Ban, Will Gov have Guts?). Looks like the pusillanimous Gov. Hogan doesn’t have guts after all. He’s already defeated just a few months into his first term. Last Friday the Baltimore Sun quotes his office as saying Hogan, who supposedly supports shale drilling, will let the bill become law without his signature–a cop out if ever we’ve seen one…
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Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Trumbull County

Lordstown $800M Gas-Powered Electric Plant Gets Village Approval
May 27, 2015May 27, 2015

In April 2014, MDN told you about a proposal from Clean Energy Future to build an $800 million electric generation plant in Lordstown (Trumbull County), OH. The plant will be fired by natural gas from the Utica and Marcellus (see Clean Energy Plans NatGas Electric Generation Plant in Lordstown). At that time, the plan was to begin construction in December 2015 and complete the plant by the end of 2018. There was some initial resistance to the location, so Clean Energy Future changed the location and moved up the timeline to build it (see Lordstown Gas-Powered Electric Plant Moves Up Construction Timeline). Last night the last major hurdle was scaled when the Lordstown Village Council gave the project a big thumbs up. The Village Council voted to offer the project a number of incentives and actively worked to get the deal done–not something you observe very often with these kinds of projects…
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CNG/LNG | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Canadian LNG Project to Export Marcellus Gas Gets DOE Approval
May 27, 2015May 27, 2015

In April MDN shined the spotlight on one of four LNG export projects planned for Nova Scotia, Canada–Pieridae Energy’s Goldboro LNG project (see Canadian LNG Project Woos Europeans with Promise of Marcellus Gas). There are a number of hurdles Pieridae must overcome before the first shovel hit the ground to build the facility. The Maritimes & Northeast pipeline has to get FERC permission to reverse its flow. The gas has to get to the Maritimes & Northeast pipeline in the first place via new pipelines from either Kinder Morgan or Spectra Energy. The price of oil has to rise to make it economical. And oh, since it will be U.S. shale gas from the Marcellus/Utica feeding the LNG plant getting exported, the U.S. Dept. of Energy will need to approve export licenses for the plant. You can check that last one off the list. The DOE announced last week they are granting Pieridae permission to export up to 292 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per year of natural gas (0.8 Bcf per day) to countries that have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S. The DOE has not yet ruled on exports to non-FTA countries…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Cuyahoga County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation

Broadview Hghts, OH Won’t Appeal Overturned Home Rule Law
May 27, 2015May 27, 2015

In March MDN told you about the crushing defeat of a home rule law in Broadview Heights, a Cleveland, OH suburb (see OH Antis Handed Crushing Defeat in Broadview Hghts Home Rule Case). A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge struck down Broadview Heights’ so-called community bill of rights that bans all oil and gas drilling–including shale drilling. The judge rightly ruled that only the state–and not localities–have the right to regulate oil and gas drilling. That caused the anarchists at the Ohio Community Right to Know Network (OHCRN) to call for an uprising. They “refuse” to recognize the court’s decision (i.e. they’re lawless). Fortunately for the citizens of Broadview Heights, city leaders do still recognize the rule of law. Last week the city announced it will not appeal the decision, because it has no basis on which to appeal it. But that doesn’t stop the nutters from an OHCRN associate group, calling itself Mothers Against Drilling In Our Neighborhoods, from filing yet another frivolous lawsuit, which they’ve done…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | North Carolina | Regulation

Lawsuit Won’t Stop NC Agency from Drilling Test Holes in Shale
May 26, 2015May 26, 2015

An interesting twist in the story out of North Carolina where a judge recently halted the forward momentum on fracking in the Tar Heel State that was set to begin in July (see Judge Puts NC Fracking on Hold Pending Outcome of Lawsuit). Even though Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald W. Stephens’ decision means the Mining and Energy Commission (MEC) can’t issue permits for drilling and fracking in shale deposits, that isn’t stopping the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) from contracting with a private drilling company to sink a series of test holes in Stokes, Scotland, Hoke and Cumberland counties starting June 12 to see whether shale gas is present in those locations…
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Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Regulation

Propane Gets its Own Congressional Caucus, Support from OH/PA/NY
May 26, 2015May 26, 2015

No doubt you’ve heard of Congressional caucuses, right? They are informal groups composed of members of Congress, dedicated to the promotion of a single issue or cause. One of the most prominent such groups, perhaps the most well known, is the Congressional Black Caucus. (Can you imagine a group called the Congressional White Caucus? But we digress.) There’s the Blue Dog Coalition–a group of liberal Democrats pretending to be conservatives. How about the Republican Study Committee? No, they’re not Congresspersons who need to study more. They’re a group of conservative Republicans promoting social and economic conservative values (i.e. traditional values this country was founded on). There are, according to the Congressional Research Service, some 694 (!) such groups or caucuses in the U.S. Congress. Here’s number 695: the Congressional Propane Caucus. Yes, propane, a natural gas liquid (and filthy hydrocarbon destroying Mother Earth through evil global warming) now has a group of both Republicans and Democrats (truly bipartisan) Congresspeople who have formed a caucus to promote and legislate and protect and push the use of propane–a fossil fuel. The brand new Propane Caucus has among it’s members Congressman from the Marcellus and Utica Shale region–from Ohio, Pennsylvania and (yes) even from New York…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | North Carolina | Regulation

Judge Puts NC Fracking on Hold Pending Outcome of Lawsuit
May 21, 2015May 21, 2015

Last July MDN told you that the first permits to frack shale wells in North Carolina would start to be issued this July (see North Carolina Shames New York: Fracking Begins in 2015). The NC Mining and Energy Commission did its part and completed regulations in March (see Triassic Park: North Carolina Becomes 34th State to Frack Shale). Everything was set to go. And then the lawsuits began. A NC judge has issued a ruling that prohibits the Mining and Energy Commission from issuing any permits until another case currently before the NC Supreme Court–questioning the legality of the appointment of several boards that manage state resources and the environment–plays out. It’s a pretty safe bet that the first permits to frack in NC won’t happen in July…
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Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

New Bill “Encourages” FERC to Make Speedier Pipeline Approvals
May 21, 2015May 21, 2015

Senator Shelley Moore Capito, from West Virginia, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, recently introduced a bill that speed up the approval time for new pipeline projects. The “Oil and Gas Production and Distribution Reform Act” strengthens the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to better coordinate government agencies involved in the pipeline permitting process. That is, it gooses FERC and tells them to hurry it up (especially with Marcellus and Utica pipeline projects)–and reportedly gives them new tools and new deadlines to do so…
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Crude Oil | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Gov Wolf Takes Aim at Bakken Oil Trains Traveling Thru PA
May 20, 2015May 20, 2015

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is now taking aim at railroads transporting Bakken crude oil that pass through PA on their way to refineries along the East Coast. While railroads are typically regulated by the federal government, Wolf is a) hoping to pressure railroads apart from the feds, and b) may try to sneak in his own regulations on top of federal regulations. He’s hired an “expert,” Dr. Allan Zarembski, to look into the matter for the next three months–to provide Wolf with “policy recommendations” (which means new rules and regulations are on the way). Wolf sent a letter (copy below) to CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway telling them to shape up…
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