Regulation

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    Rogue Federal EPA Tries New Power Play to Regulate Fracking

    On Friday the rogue and out-of-control federal Environmental Protection Agency continued its rogue and out-of-control ways. Even though the drilling industry has formed FracFocus.org to register the chemicals used at every single well drilled, and even though many states require their drillers to file reports with FracFocus, and even though anyone, including you and me as well as the EPA can run a quick search on any well to find out what chemicals have been used–the EPA is considering their own rule on reporting. On Friday the EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR, full copy embedded below) that threatens to bring down the jackboots of the EPA on the necks of drillers everywhere–requiring them to do what they already do. In their ANPR the EPA says maybe new regulations will be federal regs (in violation of the U.S. Constitution which stipulates the states regulate oil and gas drilling), or maybe it will be voluntary, maybe it will be just a report filed with the feds, maybe a report filed with a third party (like FracFocus). Lots of maybes in the generic, mealy-mouthed ANPR.

    Make no mistake. This is the beginning of a huge power grab–something the EPA has lusted for. The clock is ticking on the failed Obama administration and they want to grab any power–by law or fiat–that they can. The EPA has NO business regulating oil and gas drilling in the United States–unless we hand it to them on a silver platter. Once published in the Federal Register there will be a 90-day comment period. Let’s flood the power-crazed EPA with comments telling them “no thanks.” Below is the EPA press release along with a copy of the draft ANPR…
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    Washington, PA Officials Try to Stop Marcellus Boarding House

    In early February MDN told you about the rank hypocrisy of those in Washington, PA who are trying to block the rehabilitation of an old, unused and in-disrepair convent from being converted into housing for Marcellus Shale workers (see Marcellus Prejudice on Display at Washington, PA Church). The story has advanced since then. Seems that a second developer has picked up the property from the original buyer with the same thought. The new developer, Phive Starr Properties, is proving to be a tad more assertive.

    Phive Star had the gall to tell Washington officials last week that there’s a big old hole in their zoning laws and that by provisions in their own laws the city can’t keep out a boarding house in the former convent property. Which has city officials “scrambling” (and butt covering) to see if there’s anyway they can still prevent it…
    Read More “Washington, PA Officials Try to Stop Marcellus Boarding House”

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    New Issue: Ban Use of Cheap/Imported Steel Pipes in PA Marcellus?

    A new issue comes to light–for us anyway. The chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Robert F. Powelson, writes an editorial in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer that claims America’s steel industry–in particular PA’s steel industry–is suffering from cheap steel pipeline imports from places like South Korea. The pipeline imported is used in shale drilling, namely in gathering pipelines and perhaps larger transmission pipelines. A lot of pipeline is also used during the drilling process itself. Powelson says “oil country tubular goods” or OCTG pipeline is illegally “dumped” on the market–meaning it’s sold below the cost to manufacture it. And that cuts some of the economic benefits PA would otherwise realize if PA or OH steel plants created that pipe.

    Powelson’s proposed fix? Amend the Pennsylvania Gas and Hazardous Liquids Pipeline Act (Act 127) and require companies to report to the PUC the country of manufacture of the steel pipe used to transport natural gas from unconventional wells in PA. Would that work?…
    Read More “New Issue: Ban Use of Cheap/Imported Steel Pipes in PA Marcellus?”

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    Feds Attempt a Power Grab of Delaware River Basin

    grabNew York Sen. Chuck Schumer earlier this week paid nominal lip service to the marvels of shale drilling (see Sen. Chuck Schumer Supports Fracking in NY – Sort of). Although some on the pro-drilling side didn’t like MDN’s take on the gasbag Schumer and his false support of drilling, we offer evidence of his true intentions. Yesterday Schumer and six other senators (all liberal Democrats) introduced a bill to “preserve and improve [the] Delaware River Watershed.” The so-called “Delaware River Basin Conservation Act of 2014” would “establish the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The program would implement a coordinated approach, requiring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service director to adopt a basin-wide plan that sustains and enhances the Delaware River basin restoration and protection efforts. The program would support projects from federal, state, and local governments and stakeholders, ensuring that existing successful restoration plans are leveraged.”

    Translation: The feds want to trample over the states and take over the Delaware River Basin, which means there never will be any shale drilling in places like Wayne County, PA which happens to sit in the basin. It’s a horrible bill–a federal power grab–and it needs to be opposed. Vigorously. Thanks Chucky, for your so-called “support” of shale drilling. Schmuck. An even bigger schmuck is Sen. Bob Casey–from Pennsylvania! He’s one of the seven lib Dem senators sponsoring this abomination…
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    Murrysville Turns Down Millions for Park Lease, Looks to Tighten Regs

    Final answer: No. Murrysville (Westmoreland County), PA Council voted to turn down millions of dollars to lease the 262-acre Murrysville Community Park for drilling under (not on) the park for shale gas. Huntley & Huntley–a company that often works as a land agent for Range Resources–has been courting Murrysville for nearly a year now (see Murrysville Park Lease to be Discussed at Meeting). In the end, it seems there just wasn’t enough support from residents to go forward. Guess they don’t need an extra pile of cash in Murrysville. They have enough, thanks.

    Now, on to more pressing matters for the council–like crafting new zoning laws that make it hard to drill anywhere within the township…
    Read More “Murrysville Turns Down Millions for Park Lease, Looks to Tighten Regs”

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    Loophole in WV Landfill Law for Drill Cuttings Raises Concern

    Two months ago MDN brought you the news that a proposed bill to strengthen landfill requirements for Marcellus Shale drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling) in West Virginia had passed in a special session of the legislature (see WV Drill Cuttings in Landfill Bill Passes in Record Time). The new bill, proposed by the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection provides for a special cell where the waste is stored, leachate from that cell monitored, and special radiation detectors installed. All great protections.

    The new bill also disallows the special cell for drill cuttings to be built in landfills that sit over top a “karst” topography (where there are a lot of underground caves, sinkholes, cracks and fast-moving underground streams). However, there is one loophole in the new law that recently came to light: If landfills above a karst topography area are happy with maintaining their current lower cap of 9,999 tons per day of solid waste, they can accept drill cuttings in the regular part of the landfill. One WV lawmaker is trying to get that changed, fearing the landfill in his karst district may decide to accept drill cuttings…
    Read More “Loophole in WV Landfill Law for Drill Cuttings Raises Concern”

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    Youngstown Frack Ban Vote Goes Down in Flames for 3rd Time

    Youngstown has now voted for a third time on a proposed fracking ban in the city. And for the third time, it was voted down by an overwhelming majority. (For our most recent coverage, see 20 Youngstown U Profs Attempt PR Stunt on Frack Ban – Goes Limp.) Three strikes and you’re out, right? Not according to the virulent anti-drillers who have made opposing the miracle of shale drilling in Ohio their life’s cause.

    Susie Beiersdorfer and Lynn Anderson, two of the chief agitators for the ban, something they and others have intentionally mislabeled as a “Community Bill of Rights” (it’s nothing of the sort), say they’re happy to keep wasting taxpayer’s money on useless votes that don’t pass. Didn’t pass the third time? They want it to come back a fourth, fifth, umteenth time. We say it’s time to start sending them the bill for votes that don’t pass. That would stop this nonsense but quick…
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    New PA Bill Would Separate Conventional/Unconventional Regulations

    This one goes under the “that’s interesting” heading. Three Pennsylvania Republican legislators say they will soon introduce new legislation that will separate regulations for conventional (vertical only) and unconventional (shale) drilling in the state. According to Reps. Martin Causer (R-Turtlepoint), Kathy Rapp (R-Warren) and Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield/Elk), the two styles of drilling are way different and “it simply makes no sense to apply the same standards to these operations.” Huh.

    We’re sure the representatives have the best of intentions, but we’re not sure new and different regulations are required. The concern is not about unconventional rules and regulations–the concern is that new rules implemented for unconventional drilling are and have been onerous for traditional/conventional drilling. The claim is that the rules applied across the board to both types of drilling are driving many mom and pop drilling operations out of business. Below is the press announcement and justification for the politicians’ proposed new legislation. We’ll reserve judgment for now and wait to hear more. In the mean time, we come down on the slightly skeptical side that this is truly needed…
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    CT Gets Ready to Temporarily Permanently Ban Frack Waste

    Three weeks ago MDN told you that the Connecticut legislature was considering a permanent ban on frack wastewater being disposed anywhere in the state, to which we said maybe Pennsylvania should consider a ban on selling natural gas to the state (see CT May Pass Frack Wastewater Ban; Should PA Pass CT NatGas Ban?). Hey, it works great for Vlad Putin. Shut off the spigot for a week and listen to them squeal.

    The CT Senate has reached a “compromise” on the proposed legislation. Instead of a permanent ban, they’ve vote instead on a “temporary” ban–until the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) can craft regulations to deal with fracking wastewater. Of course, DEEP is not very inclined to deal with it any time soon (see CT DEEP Wants Frack Waste Reclassified Hazardous to Keep It Away). So in the end, this is hocus pocus chicanery. The vote will happen, and frack waste will effectively be banned long-term from entering CT…
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    Blue Racer Berne Processing Facility Construction Set to Begin

    please expediteBlue Racer Midstream is asking Monroe County, OH to approve a new, large electric transmission line that will run about 2,000 feet from a mainline to its Berne processing complex site. When the first phase of the Berne site is complete it will process 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. If all goes according to the new plan, construction will begin in early June and be completed in late August. Blue Racer has asked for approval of the new 138 kV transmission line, which will power some really big compressor engines, to be “expedited” by the county.

    Here’s more on the Berne facility…
    Read More “Blue Racer Berne Processing Facility Construction Set to Begin”

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    Expensive New OSHA Regulations on the Way for Shale Industry

    Mainstream media has found a new issue to focus on in shale drilling–death. As in the death of shale workers. The Charleston Gazette reports on the job deaths in the oil and gas industry in West Virginia over the most recent five year-period have gone way way up–all the way to 13 over the past five years (up from 5 for the previous five years). We’re not making light nor minimizing the risks to workers–far from it. However, if the number of people working in the industry doubles or triples (as it has), the law of averages say accidents and fatalities will double or triple too. It’s, uh, common sense.

    To provide a little perspective, a worker is more like to die on the job working in a restaurant or hotel than in the oil and gas industry (see Explosion & Fire at Chevron Well in SWPA – 1 Person Missing). Why the hue and cry over death in the shale industry? To justify expensive new regulations on the way from Obama’s OSHA, of course…
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    Unusual Letter to the Editor in Upstate NY Newspaper

    A letter to the editor published in the Jamestown, NY Post-Journal is so unusual, it caught our eye and made us want to share it with you. As you know, there is an ongoing moratorium (let’s just call it a ban, because that’s what it really is) in New York–going on almost six years now. Some 70,000 landowners and a lone energy company, Norse Energy, are the only ones with the guts to sue to break the ban (see NY Hearing on JLCNY/Norse Lawsuit v Cuomo, Martens, Shah).

    The letter to the editor we noticed is in some respects like many others. It points out the rank hypocrisy of anti-drillers in NY who oppose shale drilling when 1/3 of the state–including many in the anti-drilling movement–heat their homes with fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The letter also points out some other key arguments. The unusual thing about the letter? It’s from a former member of the NY State Assembly–a Democrat. THAT caught our attention…
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    20 Youngstown U Profs Attempt PR Stunt on Frack Ban – Goes Limp

    On Wednesday, 20 Democrat faculty members who teach at Youngstown University, most of whom (perhaps all) are *not* professors in the geosciences area (i.e. they’re clueless about fracking) attempted a PR stunt that well, went limp. They all endorsed a frack ban that’s coming around for the THIRD time on the ballot in Youngstown (voting happens May 8). Even the Democrat mayor of Youngstown knows that such a ban would be a “jobs killer” for the city and recommends a “no” vote next week (see Anti-Drillers Force 3rd Vote on Frack Ban in Youngstown).

    Here’s the limp effort from 20 professors at a university you probably should not send your children to because people like those listed below mis-teach there:
    Read More “20 Youngstown U Profs Attempt PR Stunt on Frack Ban – Goes Limp”

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    EDF Endorses Drilling & Fracking Again, Sort Of

    Former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, a very wealthy Democrat who ran as a Republican and then changed to become an Independent, along with the mostly anti-drilling head of the Environmental Defense Fund, Fred Krupp, teamed up to write an op-ed which they sent around to, well, everyone, including MDN. The New York Times picked it up and ran it, so we though we would insert it below. It essentially says regulations so strict they force the breath out of shale drillers is a good thing. So let’s continue to let them drill, as long as they jump through fractals of hoops while they do it.

    The piece is noteworthy because the EDF, the “best” of the anti-drilling wacko so-called environmentalist organizations, frequently is criticized by their wacko “green” brethren because they won’t call for an outright ban on all shale drilling. And indeed in this op-ed Krupp endorses shale drilling and fracking–but like we said, as long as it’s regulated so tight it leaves drillers with little profit or incentive…
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    Anti-Drilling PA Dem Rep. Matzie to Introduce Seismic Testing Law

    Anti-drilling Democrat PA Rep. Robert F. Matzie (District 16) is set to introduce new legislation in the Republican-controlled PA House that will make it nearly impossible for seismic testing to take place in the state. He intends to introduce a bill that automatically assumes seismic testing is responsible for damage to property within 1,000 feet of where it happens. If a thumper truck goes down your road, and you want to get that crack fixed that’s been in your basement wall for the past 10 years, here’s your chance. Just claim seismic testing is at fault and send the bill to the testing company. Nuts.

    Here’s the rather funny announcement from Matzie saying this legislation is really not anti-drilling, oh no, and that he only wants to protect Pennsylvanians from evil, nasty seismic testing companies…
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    Altoona Hearing on Latest EPA Outrage: Redefining Clean Water Act

    The latest breath-taking power grab attempt by the rogue and out-of-control federal Environmental Protection Agency was highlighted at a Congressional hearing held yesterday in Altoona, PA. The EPA wants to redefine which bodies of water fall under the 1972 Clean Water Act–so that the agency essentially would oversee not only “navigable waterways” but all waterways, usurping states rights in the process. It is, as Congressman Bill Shuster (from PA) said, more evidence of President Obama’s “imperial presidency”–by which he means Obama is grabbing power by force that is not his Constitutionally. The hearing yesterday was an attempt to point out the perils of the EPA’s latest overreach.

    Shale drillers clearly understand the implications and at least one attended to voice concerns. According to CONSOL Energy, the new “guidelines” from EPA would add upward of $10 million per natgas pipeline they install due to the delays, paperwork and new hoops they will need to jump through. It is unnecessary and (in our opinion) unconstitutional…
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