Regulation

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Federal Judge Throws Out NY AG’s Lawsuit Against DRBC
September 25, 2012September 25, 2012

Big news for landowners living in the Delaware River Basin area, especially for those in Wayne County, PA who want to see drilling in the Marcellus go forward: A federal judge has thrown out the lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman that sought to force the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to conduct a “fuller assessment” of the potential impacts of shale gas drilling on New York City’s water supply before allowing any shale gas drilling in the basin.

Such an assessment would have meant years of additional studies and delays, especially harmful to landowners in Pennsylvania who happen to live in the DRBC’s jurisdiction and have seen no drilling for the past five years while their neighbors all around them have. This is a victory not only for landowners, but the DRBC itself, fighting the lawsuit.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Gov. Cuomo Responds to the ‘When’ Question
September 25, 2012September 25, 2012

Although the ongoing moratorium on shale gas drilling in New York State feels like it exited being a Greek tragedy and entered being a Klingon opera a long time ago, MDN feels duty-bound to deliver any small shred of news we come across that impacts the prospects of New York drilling. After all, we live in New York!

Yesterday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a few comments for reporters about the “when” question:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Michigan | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide MI | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

NRDC Launches Lawyers to Oppose Fracking in 5 States
September 25, 2012September 25, 2012

You have to say one thing about the increasingly shrill Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)—they don’t let an issue they can demagogue for money go to waste. For the NRDC, there’s money to be made in opposing fracking. Warning to the drilling industry: The NRDC is well-funded and is gunning for you. Their latest offensive? They’ve created something called the Community Fracking Defense Project whereby they’ll launch lawyers out into any township across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina to assist that town in opposing fracking. (Sorry West Virginia, you aren’t important enough for the NRDC to spend time and money on.)

The fight over fracking is about to go very local, and get very nasty, with the NRDC pumping millions into the effort to make mischief.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Com. Martens: Fox in Henhouse, or Crazy Like a Fox?
September 24, 2012September 24, 2012

On Friday, MDN told you about the latest development in the ongoing Greek tragedy called the New York State moratorium on fracking (see this MDN story). Our take was that Joe Martens’ latest announcement that he has asked NYS Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to conduct a “health impact analysis” of hydraulic fracturing before the DEC will release new drilling rules was a bad sign that fracking in New York will be seriously delayed yet again—well into 2013.

However, landowner groups, led by the Joint Landowner Coalition of New York (the “JLCNY,” representing over 77,000 individual landowners) don’t see it the same way. They believe the path Martens chose in having Nirav Shah do a limited review and not a wide ranging so-called “independent” review—something being pushed by anti-drillers—means the review will not take long and will do a lot to address public concerns over the practice of fracking. The JLCNY supports Martens’ decision.

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Bad to Worse in NY: Martens Invokes Another Delay for SGEIS
September 21, 2012September 21, 2012

The news in New York on the future of drilling has just gone from bad to worse. True to form, and as MDN has been telling your for more than a year now, Joe Martens—the Commissioner of New York’s Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC)—has once again delayed the release of new drilling rules for the state. As near as MDN can tell, the delay is indefinite—certainly until well into 2013.

Issuing a press release yesterday (read it below), Martens says he’s requested NYS Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to conduct a “health impact analysis” of hydraulic fracturing before the DEC will release new drilling rules. Here’s the (sad, maddening, tragic) press statement from fox-in-henhouse Martens:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY Biz Group Launches Ad Campaign to Convince Cuomo to Frack
September 20, 2012September 20, 2012

RebuildNYnow, a group of businesses across New York State joining forces to raise awareness about the state’s crumbling infrastructure (roads, bridges and more), is weighing in on the fight to allow fracking.

The group has just launched a new ad campaign designed to pressure Gov. Cuomo to allow drilling:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

List of Upstate NY Elected Officials who Oppose Drilling
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Some New York State elected officials—particularly those outside of the Southern Tier where drilling may someday, possibly, perhaps, after numerous lawsuits, see a teeny tiny bit of drilling—are anti-drilling and attempting to get themselves noticed. Fortunately, they’ve given us a handy list of who they are—so you can either vote for or against them, depending on your viewpoint, in the next election (see the complete list of anti-drilling elected officials below).

Yesterday a group of elected officials held a presser in Utica, NY to announce the Utica Shale may be a “target” for fracking:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Environmental Groups Ask Cuomo to Ban Fracking Permanently
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Yesterday, a group of the usual suspects of radical “environmentalist” groups, including 350.org, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Delaware Riverkeeper, et al, sent a letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo urging him to permanently ban fracking and instead pursue the fantasy of alternative energy for the state (letter embedded below). The signatories claim that clean-burning natural gas is not a bridge to their so-called clean energy nirvana future. Different day, same old stuff.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Cowardly “Me Too” Towns Support Act 13 Lawsuit in 11th Hour
September 19, 2012September 19, 2012

Pennsylvania’s Act 13 shale drilling law, passed earlier this year, is facing a stiff legal challenge to a key provision in the law. The only part of the law challenged in court is the part replacing the ability of local municipalities to enact zoning ordinances to control where, and if, drilling happens within their borders. Act 13 substitutes a common set of zoning restrictions—drilling must be at least X feet from water wells, schools, etc. Seven brave townships in PA sued to have that provision overturned. MDN says “brave” not because we necessarily support their effort, but in contrast to the cowardly towns and cities and organizations who haven’t put up their own money and time but instead have issued press releases to support the seven who have.

Who are the cowardly towns and organizations? Let’s name some names, shall we?

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Former Gov. Rendell Changes Position on DRBC Moratorium
September 18, 2012September 18, 2012

Ed Rendell, former governor of Pennsylvania, is a prominent Democrat and a supporter of natural gas drilling. While in office, he opposed the ongoing moratorium for drilling in the Delaware River Basin. Now that he’s out of office, he still supports drilling, but he’s changed his tune on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) de facto moratorium. He now supports it.

Rendell points out, however, that if you say “no” to fracking and natural gas, you say “yes” to burning more oil. At least he’s a realist.

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

A Reasonable Anti-Driller in New York?!
September 14, 2012September 14, 2012

Is there such a thing as a reasonable anti-driller? MDN doubted it, until we read a guest viewpoint in today’s Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, by John Orzel. Mr. Orzel is a Democrat, former social studies teacher, resident of Broome County and running against Republican incumbent Tom Libous for the 52nd State Senate seat in New York.

Most anti-drillers attempt to obfuscate the fact they oppose drilling because of their bias against fossil fuels. Mr. Orzel owns up to it. Refreshing! He also owns up to the fact we still live in a free country with the best system known to exist for the fair distribution of wealth: capitalism. In MDN’s book, he constitutes one of the few examples of a reasonable, and truthful, anti-driller.

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Bradford County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County | Wyoming County (PA)

PA PUC Issues more Advisories for Act 13 Zoning Violations
September 13, 2012October 18, 2013

It’s full speed ahead for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) when it comes to evaluating whether (or not) local zoning ordinances violate portions of the new Act 13 drilling law, thereby making those local municipalities ineligible to receive impact fees.

But wait, isn’t there a case in PA Supreme Court that will be heard in October about the constitutionality of the zoning provisions of Act 13? Indeed there is. So how can the PUC push forward with evaluating zoning ordinances that have been ruled unconstitutional by lower courts? Good question.

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Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Anti-Drilling Group Gets Binghamton Univ. to Sign Petition
September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

An anti-drilling group in the Town of Vestal, NY (Broome County) continues to agitate and pressure the town board to enact a moratorium on non-existent fracking in the town. (New York still does not allow high-volume horizontal fracking, and by all accounts, won’t any time soon.)

The latest tactic by Vestal Residents for Safe Energy (VeRSE) is to dupe get 60 Binghamton University employees to sign a petition requesting a fracking moratorium. VeRSE plans to present the petition at tonight’s town board meeting.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

Cuomo Says No Immediate Decision on Fracking in NY
September 11, 2012September 11, 2012

Is fracking in New York now effectively dead for the foreseeable future? MDN is pro-drilling, you know that. And we live and work in New York, you know that too. And we have many landowner friends in New York. We love New York!

But after comments made in a radio interview yesterday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, MDN has to confess we’re concerned about the future of fracking in the state. Here’s how it went:

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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

South Fayette, PA Accuses PUC of Persecuting Them over Act 13
September 11, 2012October 18, 2013

South Fayette in Allegheny County, PA is one of the seven towns that sued the state of PA over the new Act 13 drilling law that stripped away local municipalities’ ability to zone for oil and gas development. The Act 13 law substitutes a new “one size fits all” statewide version of zoning. The Act 13 lawsuit will be heard by the PA State Supreme Court in mid-October.

A South Fayette resident requested the state Public Utility Commission (PUC), charged with reviewing and determining whether or not local municipalities are in compliance with Act 13 with regard to their zoning laws, asked the PUC to investigate, which they are doing (see this MDN story). A resident of Robinson Township also asked the PUC to investigate that town’s ordinances, making Robinson the second case of PUC review (see this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story). Attorneys for South Fayette have responded to the review by accusing the PUC of “professional persecution,” “malicious intent,” and taking an “aggressive stance” against the town.

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Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

More Details Leak on Secret DEC Meeting with Enviro Groups
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

Anti-drilling book author and former Gannett reporter Tom Wilbur, who blogs about Marcellus Shale drilling here, still has his sources in Albany. And those sources tell him that Gov. Cuomo remains undecided about releasing new drilling rules for New York (called the SGEIS). They also told him more details about the recent secret meeting held by the Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and virulently anti-drilling groups, a meeting where more delays were discussed, favorably, as it turns out:

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