Regulation

Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Susquehanna County

PA DEP Fines Cabot $120K for January Water Tank Explosion in NEPA
December 3, 2014December 3, 2014

Here’s one that slipped by us when it happened. On Jan. 11, 2014 there was an explosion at a Cabot Oil & Gas well site in Susquehanna Count, PA. The explosion happened in a brine water storage tank at the site in Jessup Township, caused by a water truck driver (who was injured in the blast). The incident is coming to light now because yesterday the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) levied a $120,000 fine on Cabot. Thanks to the investigative work done by the Scranton Times-Tribune, we know exactly what happened…
Read More “PA DEP Fines Cabot $120K for January Water Tank Explosion in NEPA”
Broome County | Chenango County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Delaware County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY
December 3, 2014December 3, 2014

We’ve been writing about the Constitution Pipeline for, like, forever! The Constitution is planned to run 124 miles from Susquehanna County, PA up into New York State, all the way to Schoharie County where it will connect to both the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline and the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. It will flow some 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day (enough natural gas to serve approximately 3 million homes), most of it produced by Cabot Oil & Gas, one of the owners of the pipeline. In October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final environmental approval (see Constitution Pipeline Gets FERC Final Environmental Approval). Yesterday, FERC issued its final approval for the project–meaning the shovels will now hit the ground and construction will now begin. Horray!…
Read More “FERC Issues Final Approval for Constitution Pipeline in PA/NY”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation

Deerfield MA, Kinder Morgan Lawyers Swap Barbs over NED Pipeline
December 3, 2014December 3, 2014

Kinder Morgan has put the town of Deerfield, MA on notice that its attempt to block the Tennessee Gas Pipeline expansion through the town–the Northeast Energy Direct (or NED) project–will not be stopped by a laughable “ban” enacted by the Deerfield Board of (so-called) Health. You may recall MDN covered the Deerfield BOH “order” in October to “cease immediately all of its activities in Deerfield related to the construction of the proposed pipeline within the boundaries of the town” (see Deerfield MA “Bans” Kinder Morgan TGP Pipeline – Or So They Claim). Kinder says, in so many words, nice try, but no cigar…
Read More “Deerfield MA, Kinder Morgan Lawyers Swap Barbs over NED Pipeline”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Anti-Drilling Christmas Carols: Climate Change is Coming to Town [Video]
December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

Just when you thought it was the season of peace on earth and goodwill toward men (and women), the season of cheer and good tidings, eggnog and presents–along come wacky anti-drillers to screw up Christmas. Members of the radical Clean Air Council in Philadelphia are rewriting Christmas carols to include messages about nutty man-made global warming. Here’s some real creativity: “You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why. Climate Change is coming to town.” Wow. How much did these kids’ parents ~~waste~~ pay for a college education? Watch the video below and marvel at youthful stupidity…
Read More “Anti-Drilling Christmas Carols: Climate Change is Coming to Town [Video]”
Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Says Compressor Stations Not Major Source of GHG Pollution
December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

Good news for midstream operators in Pennsylvania: The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection has decided not to slap compressor stations with the onerous regulatory label of being a “major source” of air pollution simply because they belch out carbon dioxide–the stuff you breathe out with every breath. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June said environmental regulators can require facilities to limit GHGs only if the facility also emits other nasty stuff, like soot and smog. Since compressor stations don’t emit high volumes of soot and smog, the plants are off the hook as being a “major source” in PA…
Read More “PA DEP Says Compressor Stations Not Major Source of GHG Pollution”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Regulation | TC Energy/TransCanada

More Marcellus Gas Set to Flow into Canada Following NEB Approval
December 2, 2014December 2, 2014

TransCanada, one of North America’s largest midstream (pipeline) companies, has just received a key approval from the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) that allows the company to raise rates on their main natural gas pipeline. The NEB approval ratified an agreement between TransCanada and its shippers worked out some two years ago. The reason the approval is news is this: “It gives all shippers the flexibility to source gas from various geographic locations including the Marcellus shale plays in the U.S., while ensuring that tolls are stable and set at levels that allow TransCanada to recover its system-wide costs.” In other words, more (cheap and abundant) Marcellus Shale gas will likely begin to flow into Canada. And that’s a good thing, as Martha Stewart says…
Read More “More Marcellus Gas Set to Flow into Canada Following NEB Approval”
Accidents | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Ohio | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide OH

MarkWest Fined $320K by Ohio EPA for Mud Spills in Creeks/Swamps
December 1, 2014December 1, 2014

MarkWest Energy, the largest midstream company in the Marcellus/Utica, has spent the last three years building pipelines in eastern Ohio to connect wells to processing plants and to larger interstate pipelines. In the process, the company has spent some $2.2 billion building 350 miles of pipeline (and processing plants)–and MarkWest isn’t done yet. However, during the rapid buildout of infrastructure in the Buckeye State, some minor spills have happened along the way. When drilling under creeks and swamps (otherwise renamed as “wetlands”), occasionally drilling mud spilled out–some 19 different times between 2012 and 2013. The Ohio EPA has concluded their investigation and has just fined MarkWest $320,000 for the series of spills…
Read More “MarkWest Fined $320K by Ohio EPA for Mud Spills in Creeks/Swamps”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Senate Asked to Fix Language in Frack Chemical Reporting Bill
December 1, 2014December 1, 2014

Anti-drillers are fundamentally unhappy people. They want no drilling, so in an effort to try and scuttle drilling, they do stupid things–like last year when they forced a change in Ohio away from filing lists of chemicals used at drill sites electronically to having them filed by paper instead (see OH Antis Force Change in Chemical Reporting, Everyone Less Safe). Going backward is not a good plan, so the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) lobbied for new changes in the chemical reporting law to fix the mess caused by anti-drillers. The changes were made two weeks ago when an omnibus environmental and agricultural bill was passed by the Ohio House. Problem is, the changes made weren’t the ones ODNR wanted…
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Fracking in Maryland (!) in 2015? Quite Possibly
November 26, 2014November 26, 2014

Looks like we owe an apology to Maryland. For years we’ve laughed and poked fun at Maryland and said it is the only state more dysfunctional than New York when it comes to allowing fracking. Yesterday, the special Maryland commission, set up 3 1/2 years ago by the outgoing, leadership-deficient Democrat Gov. Martin O’Malley, released it’s final report with recommendations for how fracking can go forward in the state (full copy below). Incoming Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has promised swift action on the fracking issue. Meanwhile, NY sits on its hands and does nothing. Mind you, the proposed Maryland regulations are so off-the-charts restrictive that even the nutty, far-left Chesapeake Climate Action Network is singing its praises (a big red flag). But hey, the ability to drill half a dozen wells in Maryland is better that what NY has! Let’s start with a summary of the new regulations put forward by the commission…
Read More “Fracking in Maryland (!) in 2015? Quite Possibly”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Pipelines | Regulation | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Kinder Morgan Changes Route for Pipeline from MA to NH
November 25, 2014November 25, 2014

Kinder Morgan has, for some time, been locked in a battle with far-left anti-fossil fuelers in Massachusetts who oppose KM’s plan to extend the Tennessee Gas Pipeline across the width of the state in an attempt to deliver cheap, abundant, clean-burning Marcellus Shale natural gas to New England. Those same anti-fossil fuelers use fossil fuels throughout the day every day of their lives, but fail to see the hypocrisy in their twisted position. Pressure against the pipeline, called Northeast Energy Direct (or NED) is mounting as both MA U.S. Senators–both are Democrat–oppose it (see Both Mass. Senators Oppose TGP Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline). Two weeks ago KM proposed an alternate route (see map below). The alternate route, now said to be the preferred route, will shave off something like half of the distance the pipeline stretches across MA and instead chart a course northward–through southern New Hampshire–following the route of an existing power line. The cool thing? NH wants it…
Read More “Kinder Morgan Changes Route for Pipeline from MA to NH”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Regulation

EPA Issues New Rules for O&G Industry on GHG Emissions Reporting
November 25, 2014November 25, 2014

The Federal Environmental Protection continues to regulate things it has not business regulating–not that it makes a hill of beans worth of difference that we point it out. Nobody will challenge them on their out-of-control behavior, so we all just pretend it’s OK and go along. The latest aggressive action taken by the EPA is to publish a rule change that will go into effect in 60 days. This new rule change is in how so-called greenhouse gas emissions are reported by the oil and gas industry. Both midstreamers and upstreamers are affected, so pay attention or prepare to be fined by the EPA…
Read More “EPA Issues New Rules for O&G Industry on GHG Emissions Reporting”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wastewater

PA Dem Congressman Cartwright Continues to Bash DEP
November 21, 2014November 21, 2014

An anti-drilling Democrat Congressman from Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District (eastern part of the state), U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, continues a campaign of smearing the Marcellus Shale industry with a so-called investigation into how frack wastes in PA get handled and disposed. In October Cartwright demanded information from the new acting Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (see PA Dem Congressman Demands Info from DEP on Frack Waste). Cartwright’s latest media stunt is to send demand letters to WV and OH to ask them how they dispose frack waste in their states…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

PennEast Tells DRBC Not So Fast, FERC has Final Say on Pipeline
November 20, 2014November 20, 2014

An interesting battle is shaping up over just who has what say with respect to the PennEast Pipeline and their plan to build a $1 billion, 108-mile pipeline from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ–part of it through the Delaware River Basin area. Yesterday MDN told you that the Delaware River Basin Commission has notified PennEast that the pipeline is “subject to DRBC jurisdiction and must obtain a docket before it can proceed” (see DRBC Tells PennEast They Need DRBC (Not Just FERC) Approval). The DRBC seems to be saying if they don’t approve it, the pipeline won’t get built. But yesterday officials with PennEast pushed back and said, point blank, that while they welcome the DRBC’s review, the DRBC is not the agency that will approve whether or not the pipeline gets built…
Read More “PennEast Tells DRBC Not So Fast, FERC has Final Say on Pipeline”
Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Regulators Issue Guidance to Landfills on Accepting Frack Waste
November 20, 2014November 20, 2014

Three days ago the Ohio EPA, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, and the Ohio Department of Health issued a joint 4-page “guidance letter” to landfills in Ohio that clarifies how and when they can dispose liquid and solid waste from oil and gas drilling (full copy embedded below). According to our friends at the Babst Calland law firm, “The letter addresses what waste is defined as solid waste that must be disposed in landfills, classification of certain drill cuttings as not constituting regulated solid waste, and substances classified as TENORM that must be analyzed for radioactivity prior to landfill disposal.” Ohio landfill operators and Ohio drillers will need to pay attention to these new guidelines, some of which recently went into effect…
Read More “OH Regulators Issue Guidance to Landfills on Accepting Frack Waste”
Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Lawmaker Threatens Marcellus Industry with New Safety Laws
November 20, 2014November 20, 2014

The Marcellus and Utica Shale industry is laser-focused on the safety of its workers. MDN editor Jim Willis has witnessed it first-hand when touring active rigs, pipeline sites, compressor stations and even completed well sites. State and federal regulations are strictly followed. Even though Marcellus Shale workers in West Virginia are required to take either an 8-hour or 30-hour OSHA safety training course, depending on the job, WV lawmakers are still concerned that the industry is not “regulated enough” when it comes to safety. Those same lawmakers–namely Del. Randy Smith from Preston County, WV–are threatening to slap new safety laws on drillers in the Mountain State…
Read More “WV Lawmaker Threatens Marcellus Industry with New Safety Laws”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Wastewater

Another Day, Another Lawsuit from Food & Water Watch
November 20, 2014November 20, 2014

The anti-drilling Fresh Water Accountability Project (FWAP)–based in Ohio–along with the odious and litigious (and misnamed) Food & Water Watch have once again, sued. Surprise! This time they’ve sued OH Gov. John Kasich along with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) for what they claim are the “illegal approval of at least 23 fracking waste handling, storage, processing and recycling facilities to operate.” Lea Harper, head of the so-called FWAP, has been involved in other anti-drilling lawsuits, including one against the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. FWW must have to employ a librarian to keep track of all their anti-drilling lawsuits. Here’s the latest bald-faced lies from these two litigious organizations:
Read More “Another Day, Another Lawsuit from Food & Water Watch”