Regulation

Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH EPA Issues New Regs for Drillers, Looks for “Fugitive” Methane
April 7, 2014April 7, 2014

On Friday the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) lowered the boom on shale drillers in the state. Although it’s been expected for some time, the OEPA suddenly issued new rules under their General Permit Program that require drillers to use infrared cameras to scan equipment being used at drill sites once per quarter. For what? Methane, of course. So called “fugitive methane” that, you know, contributes to mythical global warming (that doesn’t really exist). Oh the “fugitive” methane may exist–a little bit. But it’s tie to causing non-existent global warming has never been proven. Makes no difference. All the Kool Aid drinkers are so convinced of a tie between methane and warming that it’s an article of scientific faith now–it’s “scientific consensus” so that means it’s real (at least in their minds). Never mind that said drillers are in the business of capturing as much methane as they can because every atom of it they grab they can sell. But hey, such brutal common sense doesn’t play well with the warmists. Nasty drillers can’t be trusted to do a good job.

The Environmental Defense Fund, the least offensive of the environmentalist wacko groups, was positively gushing with praise for OH Gov. John “foreigner hunter” Kasich and his Republican administration for implementing the new standards–especially since Republicans are such evil, vile things, ya know. Somehow those Republicans swerved into the doing something good for a change, according to the EDF…
Read More “OH EPA Issues New Regs for Drillers, Looks for “Fugitive” Methane”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Regulation

Anti-Drillers Force 3rd Vote on Frack Ban in Youngstown
April 7, 2014April 7, 2014

Even the Democrat Mayor of Youngstown, OH knows that passing a fracking ban for the city would be a “job killer.” Too bad the nutters on his side of the political isle don’t listen to reason. In January MDN told you that the nutters had gathered enough signatures to force a third time-and-money-wasting vote on whether or not the city should outright ban fracking within its borders (see Third Time the Charm? Youngstown Anti-Drillers Try Again for Ban). Not that passing a ban would make a difference–there’s little chance of any active drilling in and around Youngstown. It would be a poke in the eye–spit in the face–of the drilling industry. The drilling industry notices such things and elects to take their business elsewhere when it happens. Hence Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally’s comments last week encouraging residents to reject the ban when they vote on May 6th.

Along with Mayor McNally, local union reps from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Ohio Council 8 says three votes is enough and it’s time for this crap to stop…
Read More “Anti-Drillers Force 3rd Vote on Frack Ban in Youngstown”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Lawyers Gutting Act 13 Law Claim PA DEP Covers Up Water Problems
April 4, 2014April 4, 2014

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), along with the Act 13 law, has come under heavy fire from anti-drillers and the seven selfish towns who want to overturn Act 13. Even though the DEP is dedicated to the health and safety of the people and environment in PA, they’re regularly (falsely) accused of colluding with “industry” and throwing both people and the environment under the metaphorical bus. The latest accusations against the DEP stem from the Act 13 lawsuit remanded by the PA Supreme Court back to a lower court. Anti-drillers are doing their best to gut the protections afforded in Act 13 because they want the chance to re-do it and “do it right” (meaning onerous new regulations). And so after the seven selfish towns pulled on one Act 13 thread (zoning) and won, their action now threatens to unravel the entire law (see Ongoing Fallout from PA Supreme Court’s Wrong Act 13 Decision).

Lawyers for the seven selfish towns who are making an attempt to gut the entire Act 13 law in the lower court are accusing the DEP of intentionally suppressing information about contamination of private water wells due to drilling-related activity. The lawyers, along with a sycophantic media willing to regurgitate their claims, say that DEP regulators don’t keep files or issue violation notices to drillers in cases where the driller reaches a private settlement with a landowner. That is, they say it’s a government cover-up of enormous proportions. Which is, of course, preposterous. But it sure sells a lot of newspapers…
Read More “Lawyers Gutting Act 13 Law Claim PA DEP Covers Up Water Problems”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

The Human Cost of Delay in New York — Absentee Husband
April 4, 2014April 4, 2014

New York’s ongoing delay in allowing shale drilling has very real costs for very real people. Some losers say, “That gas has been in the ground for a million years, it ain’t going anywhere. Let’s take our time and figure this out.” Waiting has a cost too–especially since drilling has proven to be safe in over 60,000 shale wells drilled in other states. The 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York has sued Gov. Cuomo because he has, in essence, stolen the football off the field of play and has run out of the stadium with it. Under the rules (i.e. New York law) you can’t do that. You must make a decision in a timely manner because lack of decision is recognized as causing harm. But the JLCNY is not the only party to the lawsuit that would force Cuomo to complete the review process. There are also several individuals suing Cuomo too.

An article in today’s New York Post looks at one of those individuals–Jon Kark. Jon is the owner, with his dad, of a 353-acre farm in Broome County, NY–just a few miles from where MDN editor Jim Willis is writing this very article. Jon is the sixth generation of Karks to own that land. In order to keep the land and the farm operating, Jon is never home–literally. In 2009 Jon had to leave town for a job that will pay the bills, including steep NY taxes assessed on his property. He gets home one or two weeks every year, and that’s it. He’d rather be at home working the farm, but he can’t afford it. His family can’t afford it. He could be at home working the farm, if Cuomo would get off his rear-end, suck it up and make a manly decision for a change, instead of dithering around, showing total lack of leadership…
Read More “The Human Cost of Delay in New York — Absentee Husband”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco Logistics’ New Roadblock in Building Mariner East Pipeline
April 4, 2014April 4, 2014

It appears the PA Supreme Court’s ill-fated decision to toss out zoning provisions in the Act 13 drilling law is now affecting more than just drilling. Sunoco Logistics is trying to build a new natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline that spans the state–running from western PA all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia (see Sunoco Logistics Planning Second Mariner East Pipeline for NGLs). MDN reported in January that Sunoco Logistics has a lot riding on a court case in Washington County, PA because they are attempting to use eminent domain to force some landowners to allow the pipeline across their property (see PA Judge Hears Mariner East NGL Pipeline Eminent Domain Case).

We now throw in a new wrinkle for Sunoco Logistics and the Mariner East NGL pipeline: Sunoco Logistics has made a request to the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) to exempt the pipeline from local zoning regulations in building some 31 pump and valve control stations across the length of the pipeline. Based on the PA Supreme Court decision in December, two Philadelphia state senators say Sunoco Logistics does not have the right to be exempted from local zoning…
Read More “Sunoco Logistics’ New Roadblock in Building Mariner East Pipeline”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

Litigious OH Sierra Club Sues ODNR (Again) Over Fracking
April 4, 2014April 4, 2014

Once again, the ever-litigious, fundraising Ohio Sierra Club (an organization no one should ever support with their money) has sued the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources because the ODNR is not jumping to every Sierra Club demand to provide emails in triplicate on the topic of crafting new fracking regulations. The Sierra Club is on a fishing expedition. They think they can use language in ODNR emails in future fundraising appeals (See! See! The ODNR sent an email to Chesapeake Energy!) The ODNR is not playing along with their scam, and so the Sierra Club has launched yet another lawsuit (third time in two years). Hey, the lawyers are on staff so who cares, right?

Here’s the latest fundraising press release from the OH Sierra Club:
Read More “Litigious OH Sierra Club Sues ODNR (Again) Over Fracking”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

JLCNY Legal & Moral Response to NY AG’s Request to Dismiss Lawsuit
April 3, 2014April 3, 2014

Yesterday MDN told you about New York’s shameful Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, had filed to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York that seeks to have the courts force Gov. Cuomo and his lieutenants to do their job and release new drilling regulations (see NY AG Schneiderman Files to Dismiss JLCNY Lawsuit Against Cuomo). Immediately following our publication of that article, the lead attorney for the JLCNY, Scott Kurkoski, emailed MDN two legal documents he had filed in responding to the AG’s request to dismiss.

The first document (embedded below) is the 43-page “Petitioners-Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss”–the official response to Scneiderman’s shameful attempt to deny justice to residents of New York. It contains all of the legal reasons why the Article 78 case should move forward, and why Schneiderman’s request to dismiss should be denied. The second document (also embedded below) is a 113-page “Affirmation of Scott R. Kurkoski in Support of Petitioners-Plaintiffs’ Opposition to Respondents-Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.” Only a lawyer can come up with a name like that! This second document is Scott essentially saying, “I’m a lawyer in this case with personal knowledge, and I support the JLCNY’s request to deny dismissing the case, and here’s why…” The first document contains the legal reasons why the case should move forward, the second document contains the moral/ethical reasons and pertinent background. Why read through a 113-page legal document?…
Read More “JLCNY Legal & Moral Response to NY AG’s Request to Dismiss Lawsuit”
Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Regulation | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV Chief of Homeland Security Not Concerned About Drill Cuttings
April 3, 2014April 3, 2014

For all the hoopla from anti-drillers in West Virginia over radioactivity in drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling the borehole), and the disposal of those cuttings in landfills, you would think the state is in imminent danger of becoming a nuclear waste dump–glowing in the dark and visible from satellites passing through the night sky (see WV Anti-Drillers Continue to Harp on Drill Cuttings in Landfills).

The chief of Homeland Security and Emergency Response for the West Virginia Dept. of Environmental Protection says the DEP recently tested drill cuttings from EQT heading to the landfill and found radiation levels to be so low, they were barely detectable. In his words, “I am not concerned about it”…
Read More “WV Chief of Homeland Security Not Concerned About Drill Cuttings”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Farm Bureau Joins Chorus Against Chessy on Royalty Issue
April 3, 2014April 3, 2014

The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is adding its considerable weight behind the effort to pass new legislation that will guarantee landowners in the state don’t get shafted by companies like Chesapeake Energy when it comes to royalty payments. As MDN has previously reported, the royalty situation in PA has turned messy with claims that Chesapeake Energy has engaged in an elaborate scheme to pass post-production costs on to landowners–costs they technically don’t have a right to deduct (see Chesapeake Shafting Landowners out of Royalties Mess Gets Messier). What it means is that some landowners are getting peanuts–far below the state mandated 12.5% minimum royalty.

The Farm Bureau is up in arms because its members are up in arms–and so the organization is pushing for new legislation to plug the loophole that Chesapeake (and maybe others) are apparently exploiting…
Read More “PA Farm Bureau Joins Chorus Against Chessy on Royalty Issue”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY AG Schneiderman Files to Dismiss JLCNY Lawsuit Against Cuomo
April 2, 2014April 2, 2014

In early March MDN told you the sad news that New York’s own Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, is actively working against the residents of the state of New York by filing to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Norse Energy that would force Gov. Andrew Cuomo, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to do their jobs and release new drilling regulations (see NY Attorney General Files to Dismiss Norse Lawsuit, More Delays). The 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York also filed an “Article 78” lawsuit, similar to the Norse lawsuit.

NGI’s Shale Daily is reporting that AG Schneiderman’s office has now filed a motion to dismiss this second lawsuit–fantastically claiming the JLCNY, which represents more than 70,000 New York landowners who want to see drilling commence, has “no standing.” Talk about chutzpah. Here’s the latest on the dysfunctional mess that is called New York State:
Read More “NY AG Schneiderman Files to Dismiss JLCNY Lawsuit Against Cuomo”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

Dangerous Economic Road Ahead for PA if Shale Economy is Topedoed
April 2, 2014April 2, 2014

In a letter to the editor published (amazingly) in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Consumer Energy Alliance Mid-Atlantic executive director Mike Butler points out, in just a few paragraphs, the grave danger now hovering over Pennsylvania because of the PA Supreme Court’s poor decision to side with seven selfish towns to overturn important and large portions of the Act 13 law, and in danger from PA Democrats who want to stop all future Marcellus drilling in the state with an ongoing moratorium.

Pennsylvania is at a crossroads and if her citizens choose poorly in the next election, they risk plunging the state into an economic disaster, as eloquently pointed out by Mr. Butler:
Read More “Dangerous Economic Road Ahead for PA if Shale Economy is Topedoed”
Air Quality | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Ultra Petroleum

Rogue Obama EPA Goes on Methane Witch Hunt
April 2, 2014April 2, 2014

The recent Climate Action Plan to cut methane emissions emitted by the White House last week contains this ominous bullet point: “EPA will assess several potentially significant sources of methane and other emissions from the oil and gas sector. EPA will solicit input from independent experts through a series of technical white papers, and in the fall of 2014, EPA will determine how best to pursue further methane reductions from these sources.”(1) The good news is that the overbearing, out-of-control actions by the Obama EPA will only apply to drilling on federal lands. The bad news is that they will try to bully individual states to adopt the same new onerous regulations, thereby making federal regulations de facto in many locations.

Will the EPA methane witch hunt affect the Marcellus and Utica region? Too early to tell whether PA, OH and WV will cave to Obama EPA pressure. Here’s an analysis of how onerous new regulations may affect several drillers with major operations in the Marcellus…
Read More “Rogue Obama EPA Goes on Methane Witch Hunt”
Energy Companies | Forced Pooling | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Lawrence County | Pennsylvania | Regulation

New Hearing Dates for Hilcorp’s Forced Pooling Request in PA
April 1, 2014April 1, 2014

Last October MDN told you about Hilcorp’s request to force some Pennsylvania landowners in Lawrence County, PA to allow Hilcorp to drill under (not on) their property in the Utica Shale layer (see Hilcorp Uses PA Forced Pooling Law Against Lawrence Cty Landowner). After much tooing and froing, the PA courts told the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) that the DEP would need to make the decision (see Ironic: PA Enviro Court Forcing DEP to Rule on Forced Pooling). The DEP set a public hearing for March 25 & 26 in Lawrence County, and then postponed it (see Hilcorp Forced Pooling Hearing Postponed, More Landowners Added).

We finally have final final final hearing dates from the DEP–May 7 & 8. Here’s the lowdown from the DEP, in which they say the hearings will be conducted “like a trial”…
Read More “New Hearing Dates for Hilcorp’s Forced Pooling Request in PA”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Regulation | Wastewater

ORSANCO Ready to Monitor Ohio River for Barge Frack Waste Spills
April 1, 2014April 1, 2014

The Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO), an interstate commission representing eights states and the federal government, was set up in 1948 to monitor, issue warnings about and correct pollution issues in the Ohio River. In particular, ORSANCO handles spills from barges or boats using the mighty Ohio. According to Jerry Schulte, manager of source water protection and spokesman for ORSANCO, the organization is up to the task of protecting the Ohio from any accidents that may include barge shipments of frack wastewater.

Not only are they up to the task, ORSANCO believes the Coast Guard is now very close to allowing it, and ORSANCO is ready…
Read More “ORSANCO Ready to Monitor Ohio River for Barge Frack Waste Spills”
Chenango County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Otsego County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

JLCNY Encourages Support of Constitution Pipeline — This Week
March 31, 2014March 31, 2014

MDN has done a fair bit of reporting on a desperately needed new natural gas pipeline due to be built from Susquehanna County, PA all the way to Schoharie County, NY. The Constitution Pipeline will be built by Williams starting later this year, if all goes according to plan (see New Marcellus Constitution Pipeline Announces “Final” Route). Last week MDN told you that both the federal EPA and Dept. of Interior have asked for more time to provide their own comments on the new pipeline (see EPA/DOI Ask for More Time to Review PA-NY Constitution Pipeline). FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, has itself told Williams they will need to make a few adjustments to their plans (see FERC: Constitution Pipeline Should Make Changes to Lessen Impacts).

FERC will ultimately decide whether or not to allow Williams to build the pipeline. We doubt there’s much doubt about the plan–it’s almost certain to be built. FERC themselves say it’s really really needed. However, FERC must go through the motions, and one of those motions is to hold public “scoping” hearings where people (often anti-drillers) show up to gripe and moan about the plan. FERC is conducing a series of four hearings this week, starting today. The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York sent the following email (with hearing details) to request members of the JLCNY and all pro-drillers attend a meeting near them, to show support for natural gas in our region…
Read More “JLCNY Encourages Support of Constitution Pipeline — This Week”
Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Obama Floats Plan to Save the Planet from Methane (Yawn)
March 31, 2014March 31, 2014

The U.S. is on a mission to control methane because it’s a contributor to the mythical problem that the earth is warming too much–from man. Methane contributes to the so-called global warming problem, so the theory goes. And if we could just control it (i.e. use the heavy hand of government with it’s gun to your head), why, we’d stave off ecological Armageddon! At least until the next generation of deadbeats comes along. One problem–most methane released into the atmosphere comes from termites and cows–but The Great and Powerful Obama(oz) has a solution even for persnickety pests and bovines. We’ll just tax ’em.

Last week the “brain trust” at The White House released it’s government-has-all-the-answers-and-kiss-more-of-your-freedoms-goodbye solution for tackling methane emanations (see a copy of the new White House report on methane emissions embedded below). As you might guess, part of the “solution” is to have the EPA continue its rogue, out-of-control attempts at more regulation of the oil and gas industry–the very industry that is set up to capture as much methane as it can!…
Read More “Obama Floats Plan to Save the Planet from Methane (Yawn)”