Regulation

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    2 OH Anti-Drilling Dems Miffed at Being Fingered in ODNR Memo

    Yesterday MDN told you about the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources’ innovative strategy to deal with the issue of drilling under (not on) a state forest and two state parks. Frankly, the came up with a brilliant public relations plan (see ODNR Ticks Off Anti-Drilling Sierra Club with Drilling PR Plan). But they decided in the end not to pursue the plan, knowing about the loud (and foul) mouthed opposition they would face. Listed by name in the list of dunderheads who oppose shale drilling in the state were none other than OH Rep. Robert Hagan, Democrat from Youngstown, and OH Rep. Nickie Antonio, Democrat from Lakewood (notice a trend here?). The two have called on the Speaker of the Ohio House to launch an investigation into what they creatively call “Frackgate”. It will never happen, but that’s not the point.

    We’d say Representatives Hagan and Antonio are up to their necks in…fracking waste. But then that would be unkind, wouldn’t it? So we’ll just say this is “more of the same” and gives the anti-drilling Hagan and Antonio an excuse to (once again) trot out the same old tired lies they’ve told a thousand times before. Here’s 1001…
    Read More “2 OH Anti-Drilling Dems Miffed at Being Fingered in ODNR Memo”

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    ODNR Ticks Off Anti-Drilling Sierra Club with Drilling PR Plan

    memoIn August of 2012 staffers at the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) made a boo-boo. They put into writing (in the form of a 13-page memo, embedded below) a draft plan to promote Utica Shale drilling under (not on) Sunfish Creek State Forest (in Monroe County), under (not on) Barkcamp State Park (in Belmont County), and under (not on) Wolf Run State Park (Noble County). The memo begins by saying there will be a communications problem to solve: “An initiative to proactively open state park and forest land to horizontal drilling/hydraulic fracturing will be met with zealous resistance by environmental activist opponents, who are skilled propagandists. Neutral parties in particular — such as ordinary citizens concerned about their families’ health — will be vulnerable to messaging by opponents that the initiative represents dangerous and radical state policy by Gov. Kasich.” (emphasis original) The memo states later on that, “Anti-fracking activists will attempt to legally and physically disrupt or halt the drilling projects, including staging dangerous protests on state lands. (This will require sustained legal countermeasures and crisis readiness by ODNR.)”

    May we translate? Groups like the Sierra Club lie to people about the drilling issue–and they sometimes engage in bullying (and violent) behavior. Of course the Sierra Club liars are just a bit miffed at being called out as liars and bullies–by no less than a state agency charged with regulating oil and gas. So they are on the offensive. The first thing the Sierra Club and similar groups will do (are doing) is to get their buddies in the slavishly devoted mainstream media to pick up their “ODNR are scumbags” meme and run with it. The second thing is they will use the ODNR memo in fundraising letters, which is really what the shale drilling issue is for them–a big, fat fundraiser…
    Read More “ODNR Ticks Off Anti-Drilling Sierra Club with Drilling PR Plan”

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    New Wastewater Injection Well Approved in Clearfield County, PA

    The federal Environmental Protection Agency has approved a new injection well in Clearfield County, PA. Windfall Oil and Gas received the permit allowing them to build an injection well in Brady Township that will pump wastewater from oil and gas drilling, including shale drilling, some 7,300 feet down for permanent disposal. (Self-serving advertisement: For a complete list of existing PA injection wells used by Marcellus drillers, see the just-published Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook, Volume 3.)

    Clearfield County is located roughly in the center of the state, so it’s a good location for both northeastern and southwestern shale drillers. Here’s the details about this newest injection well coming to PA:
    Read More “New Wastewater Injection Well Approved in Clearfield County, PA”

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    Shame & IgnomiNY: Cuomo Sued by 70K NY Residents over Frack Delay

    The shame and ignominy of being sued by residents of your own state to do you job. That’s what happened to Gov. Andrew “Can’t Make a Decision” Cuomo on Friday when the 70,000-member Joint Landowners Coalition of New York filed an Article 78 lawsuit last Friday (see D-Day: JLCNY Files Lawsuit Today Against Cuomo, Martens, Shah). You might think 70,000 residents suing a governor would be important news–even the whiff of something like that should rate at least a mention in the news, right? If you live in Binghamton (where the JLCNY is headquartered), and your newspaper is a local liberal Gannett newspaper–that answer would be: “wrong.” In the lead-up to the lawsuit being filed, the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin obstinately (and angrily) refused to cover the story. They censored it. It was only after MDN friend and intrepid blogger Andy Leahy, writer of NY Shale Gas Now! prodded and poked and agitated the great dragon did they finally deign to post an article about the lawsuit.

    The article finally appeared in the Saturday, Feb 15 edition (the day no one reads the paper). To their credit, it was a front-page story–“above the fold.” But it was tucked along the right side (see the front page of that issue below). What, you may ask, was the all-important lead news item dominating the front page, taking up more than half of the editorial space? An open house at Binghamton University. Talk about journalistic integrity and keen insight–people with a real bead on what’s important for readers. Those editors at the PSB, there’re a sharp bunch…
    Read More “Shame & IgnomiNY: Cuomo Sued by 70K NY Residents over Frack Delay”

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    D-Day: JLCNY Files Lawsuit Today Against Cuomo, Martens, Shah

    Gavel fallingToday the 70,000 members of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) will finally launched their legal offensive against a recalcitrant governor, commissioner of the DEC, and the state health commissioner. D-Day will, of course, forever be associated with the first day of the World War II Allied Forces landing on the beaches of Normandy, France–June 6, 1944. We are in no way comparing the current action by the JLCNY with that momentous day which included incredible sacrifices by brave American (and other country’s) troops. However, D-Day is also a generic military term that means the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. It is in that sense we say that today is legal D-Day for the JLCNY and pro-drilling landowners. This IS a battle, it IS important with incredibly high stakes, and it does seem as though the odds are stacked against us. However, we have our own allied legal forces and we, as pro-drilling landowners in New York, are determined to win. And win we will!

    The lawsuit will be filed in Supreme Court in Albany County, NY. (Oddly enough, Supreme Court is a lower court in New York–one step up from county court.) What a badge of shame for Cuomo, Martens and Shah to be sued by residents of their own state, pleading with the courts to force them to do the job they were elected (or appointed) to do. Below is the overview statement from JLCNY’s lead attorney Scott Kurkoski, a partner at Binghamton law firm Levene Gouldin & Thompson. It outlines the legal arguments the JLCNY will use in their Article 78 lawsuit to force compliance with established law and force the release of the SGEIS shale drilling regulations. Below the overview are copies of the lawsuit paperwork being filed today (three documents in all). We wish Scott and the JLCNY Godspeed and good luck–we’re cheering the whole way, and you should be too…
    Read More “D-Day: JLCNY Files Lawsuit Today Against Cuomo, Martens, Shah”

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    FERC: Constitution Pipeline Should Make Changes to Lessen Impacts

    From the beginning when it was first proposed, MDN has chronicled the journey of the proposed 125-mile Constitution Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that will stretch from the gas fields of Susquehanna County, PA to central New York where it will connect with two major interstate transmission Pipelines–the Tennessee Gas Pipeline and the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline. We have an important milestone to report on the Constitution. Wednesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the federal agency in charge of approving these kinds of pipeline projects, issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project (the Executive Summary is embedded below).

    In brief, the draft EIS, which is now open for public comment until April, says that the project as proposed does pose some threats to the environment, but that those threats can be reduced to “less than significant levels” if Williams, the builder of the pipeline, makes certain changes and takes certain precautions. FERC also said there’s no better alternative to meeting the energy needs for hundreds of thousands of people–that the Constitution is the best option out there for delivering more natural gas to the northeast in a timely manner. To do nothing is not an option, according to FERC, and there are no other pipelines that can do what the Constitution will do. This EIS was FERC essentially blessing this project–with certain conditions attached…
    Read More “FERC: Constitution Pipeline Should Make Changes to Lessen Impacts”

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    JLCNY Prepares to File Lawsuit Against Gov. Cuomo Tomorrow

    The Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, a 70,000-member strong confederation of landowners who want to move forward with shale drilling, is slated to file an Article 78 lawsuit tomorrow against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Dept. of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens, and State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah. As MDN previously explained, an Article 78 essentially forces recalcitrant (and perhaps inept) elected officials to perform their sworn duties (see JLCNY Lawsuit Imminent – But Not the One You Thought).

    The JLCNY is being given an assist with their lawsuit by the Mountain States Legal Foundation. Just two weeks ago the JLCNY put out the call to raise another $18,000 for legal expenses, and by golly, they got it…
    Read More “JLCNY Prepares to File Lawsuit Against Gov. Cuomo Tomorrow”

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    Q-Poll Shows NYers Think Cuomo is Foot-Dragging on Fracking Issue

    foot draggingThe latest statewide Quinnipiac University poll of New York residents finds a majority of NYers believe Cuomo is indecisive–that is, he’s intentionally dragging his feet on making a decision about whether or not to allow shale drilling in the state. A smaller percent still buy his line about “carefully evaluating” the situation. Translation: There are 32% of us living in NY (who don’t smoke pot) who know that nearly 6 years is long enough for a decision to be made. We can see through the transparently pathetic attempt at stalling for political purposes. Some 23% think Andy’s jest bein’ xtra careful (that’s the hippie greenies). Then there’s the 42% who don’t have an opinion either way–yet. Our best hope is to swing those people to the truth side of the debate.

    Here’s the latest Q-poll results on the topic of shale drilling in NY:
    Read More “Q-Poll Shows NYers Think Cuomo is Foot-Dragging on Fracking Issue”

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    NY Senate Bill Forces Cuomo DEC to Authorize New Propane Storage

    MDN has long chronicled the struggle for Inergy (now a part of Crestwood Midstream) to turn a depleted salt cavern along Seneca Lake, NY into a critically important underground propane storage facility–the only such new facility planned for the northeast. We’ve also told you about nutty protesters, like so-called “distinguished scholar in residence” at Ithaca College, Sandra Steingraber, who was arrested for blocking the entrance to the facility last year (see NY Protesters Arrested for Blocking NatGas Storage Facility). We even told you which businesses you should consider boycotting for their agitation against the facility (see Inergy: Boycott NY Businesses that Support ‘Gas Free Seneca’). One of the businesses in the list stands out: Pompous Ass Winery, run by…well, you can imagine.

    As MDN noted not long ago, the delay in allowing Inergy/Crestwood to begin using the facility to store propane is partially to blame for why northeasterners are now paying propane rates out the nose (see Northeast Propane Shortage – Andrew Cuomo Partially to Blame). Enough dithering by Can’t-Make-a-Decision Cuomo. NY State Senate Energy Committee Chairman George Maziarz, R-Lockport, has introduced a bill that requires the recalcitrant state Dept. of Environmental Conservation to get off the pot and permit the facility…
    Read More “NY Senate Bill Forces Cuomo DEC to Authorize New Propane Storage”

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    FERC Invokes Emergency Power to Force Propane Shipments on TEPPCO

    first time everLast Friday, for the first time ever, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency charged with approving transmission pipelines for oil and gas across the country, invoked its its emergency authority under the Interstate Commerce Act and directed Enterprise Products Partners to prioritize propane shipments on one of its pipelines that runs from the Gulf Coast to the northeast and Midwest (see map below). The Enterprise TEPPCO (TE Products Pipelines Company) pipeline handles various refined products, including gasoline and natural gas liquids like propane. The order directs Enterprise to prioritize propane shipments beginning yesterday or today and continuing for a week. Last Friday Enterprise told shippers it would inject 150,000 barrels of propane into its pipeline on yesterday (Monday) and 350,000 barrels on Thursday. Enterprise later said they are willing to continue prioritized propane shipments until Feb. 21.

    All of this is in response to a developing crisis. More than 20 states have declared a state of emergency due to propane shortages. In some Midwestern states, residents and farms are in danger of running out of propane. Does that justify the federal government stepping in? Did FERC also direct Enterprise to reverse the flow of the newly minted ATEX ethane pipeline that runs from the northeast to the Gulf Coast so it too can carry propane?…
    Read More “FERC Invokes Emergency Power to Force Propane Shipments on TEPPCO”

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    New SRBC Research Finds Marcellus Drilling Safe for Water

    This is fascinating–at least for those of us with an interest in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) which monitors and controls water withdrawals from creeks and rivers that empty into the mighty Susquehanna River (which eventually empties into the Chesapeake Bay), has long been a model of how to properly manage the areas under their control when it comes to shale drilling. The SRBC stands in stark contrast to the dysfunctional Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) which is hamstrung by New York City influence–apparently beholden to self righteous and self important liberal fat cats like Gov. Can’t-Make-a-Decision Cuomo and Mayor Ban-All-Fracking Bill de Blasio.

    While the DRBC dithers, along with Cuomo, on whether or not to allow drilling, the SRBC forges ahead and does real science–out in the field–to ensure the water resources under their management are not being adversely impacted by Marcellus drilling. The SRBC launched a state-of-the-art Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network in 2010 to track water quality throughout the SRBC region. They’ve just issued a second, comprehensive report on their findings thus far (embedded below). And what are those findings? Marcellus Shale drilling is not/has not adversely affected water quality anywhere in the SRBC region. Huh. Who would of imagined that? Science yet again proves that shale drilling is safe for water supplies…
    Read More “New SRBC Research Finds Marcellus Drilling Safe for Water”

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    CSSD’s Andrew Place Talks About 3-Leg Approaches & Firehoses

    Eckert Seamans, the Pittsburgh, PA energy law firm that employs the former PA Sec. of Environmental Protection (and pot smoking proponent running for governor) John Hanger, hosted a morning breakfast meeting last Friday in Southpointe to discuss “responsible shale development.” Er, has it been *irresponsible* thus far? At any rate, three speakers were on the agenda for the breakfast conclave, one of whom was EQT’s Andrew Place–the interim and outgoing director of the Center for Sustainable Shale Development, or CSSD (see Center for Sustainable Shale Comes Roaring Back (to Life)).

    According to Place, the CSSD takes a “three-leg approach” to the shale drilling issue. And although the public has heard virtually nothing from the CSSD since it’s founding until a few weeks ago when it came roaring back, Place said it’s been a nonstop “firehose” of activity over at CSSD HQ. From the breakfast meeting (that curiously didn’t include Hanger on the speaker’s dias), here’s more on Andrew Place’s comments:
    Read More “CSSD’s Andrew Place Talks About 3-Leg Approaches & Firehoses”

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    NPGA Asks FERC to Reverse Flow of ATEX Pipeline & Pump Propane

    There is a serious, some would say “dangerous” shortage of propane in the northeast, for a number of reasons. The ongoing, brutally cold winter is partially to blame (oh global warming, where are thou? we need thee now!). In what appears to MDN to be a case of sour grapes, the National Propane Gas Association (NPGA), representing some 3,200 propane companies, has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to force the brand new Appalachia to Texas (ATEX) pipeline to quite pumping ethane from the Utica/Marcellus to Gulf Coast and instead reverse the flow and pump propane from the Gulf to the northeast citing the propane shortage as the reason.

    Well, it is an emergency, right? Why do we say sour grapes? Because part of the newly online ATEX was an existing pipeline that used to flow south to north and carry (you guessed it)–propane. The NPGA and its members opposed losing that capacity and challenged Enterprise Product Partners, the builder of the ATEX, in court. They lost. So it appears they’re using the current “crisis,” which is partially brought on by high demand from the cold and partially lack of storage capacity, which is the fault of NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as an excuse to get the pipeline turned around, at least for a period of time…
    Read More “NPGA Asks FERC to Reverse Flow of ATEX Pipeline & Pump Propane”

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    PA Dems, DRBC Squeal over Proposed Cut to DRBC Budget

    The Delaware River Basin Commission suckling pig is about to have less slop in the trough to gorge itself on, thanks to wise oversight by PA Gov. Tom Corbett. The DRBC, for those who don’t know, is an interstate quasi-governmental agency made up of the states that are in the Delaware River Basin, including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey (where HQ for the DRBC is located) and Delaware. The governors for each of those states plus a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers make up the voting board of the DRBC.

    For years PA has borne the brunt of the funding for the DRBC–disproportionately–lavishing the DRBC staff with buckets of cash with which they supposedly do their jobs. PA has had enough. Time for the other states that profess to love the DRBC so much to pull their own weight, so Corbett has decreased the amount of money PA will contribute to the trough. And that has the pigs squealing, including Corbetts potential Democrat opponents for the governor’s chair and (not surprisingly) DRBC staffers who have gone apoplectic with dire warnings…
    Read More “PA Dems, DRBC Squeal over Proposed Cut to DRBC Budget”

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    3 Cheers for Groups Standing Up to Obama “Climate Change” Agenda

    When Barack Obama can’t convince his political opponents (or the American people) that his skewed views on an issue are the correct views for the country, he does what any good fascist does–he simply starts writing executive orders, bypassing the U.S. Constitution that grants lawmaking powers solely to Congress. He simply seizes power for himself. Dictators the world over have done the same thing for millennia. It’s still relatively new here in the U.S. where citizens used to have (gasp) individual freedom from oppression by their government. It seems that’s something in our past.

    MDN is not the only lone outpost to recognize the dangerous road we’re now on, and not the only lone outpost to recognize that for all of his platitudes about natural gas and “all of the above,” Obama’s talk is just that–cheap talk. He doesn’t mean it because his actions (via the EPA and other agencies that frequently overstep their bounds) contradict his words. Actions always speak louder than words. A small glimmer of hope has appeared. A number of business organizations–76 in all, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Gas Association–have banded together to oppose Obama’s planned power grab on the faux issue of “climate change.” They recognize they and their members are in the crosshairs of this administration and they’re not going down without a fight…
    Read More “3 Cheers for Groups Standing Up to Obama “Climate Change” Agenda”

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    Tackling a Serious Issue: Low Level Radioactivity in Drill Waste

    There are a number of problems to be addressed and resolved when it comes to shale drilling–issues like truck traffic, noise, lights at night and yes, wastewater and drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling). MDN has never shied away from discussing those issues–we need to discuss them openly and honestly for that’s the only way we solve them. Simply saying those issues are unsolvable and therefore drilling should never happen is an unreasonable and intellectually dishonest position, yet that’s what many anti-drillers do. Case in point: a single anti-driller’s objection to Washington County, OH company Envirotank Clean’s request to handle and blend semi-liquid drill cuttings that have low levels of naturally occurring radioactivity to make it safe for disposal at certified landfills ready to take it.

    Envirotank wants a permit from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources to begin accepting what is called TENORM, or technologically-enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive material. In a self-defeating argument a single, solitary anti-driller who will no doubt recruit more to her side, says any amount of radioactive material is unsafe. We hate to tell her, but she may want to stay away from the local hospital where there’s lots of radioactive material–material that often sets off radiation alarms at landfills. Should hospitals ban cancer treatments because it produces TENORM material? According to her logic, yes…
    Read More “Tackling a Serious Issue: Low Level Radioactivity in Drill Waste”