Regulation

Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH

OH Dem Mark Okey Introduces Bait-and-Switch Bill on Leasing
July 27, 2012July 27, 2012

Ohio State Rep. Mark Okey (Democrat) recently introduced a House Bill 493, which he calls the “Truth in Leasing Act.” It supposedly goes after “big oil and gas” and their “predatory” leasing practices. But when you read the bill, a fair amount of it has nothing to do with leases but instead creates new drilling rules (a copy of the bill is embedded below—you read it and see what you think).

In typical Democrat/Marxist fashion, Okey rails against “big oil” in his statement about the new legislation:

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

Surprising Revelations about Cuomo’s Fracking Plan [FREE]
July 25, 2012July 25, 2012

Gov. Cuomo’s rumored plan to begin horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale for oil and gas (mostly gas) in New York State is an important issue that threatens to fracture the alliance of those of us on the pro-drilling side of the debate. Many people (including MDN) are rightly outraged that not all landowners in all areas of the state will be given the opportunity to participate in drilling—at lease initially (if you believe the rumors about the governor’s plan).

But a highly placed source with knowledge of both the landowners’ plight and the governor’s thinking recently spoke to MDN to let us know we’re viewing this issue through the wrong end of the telescope and that landowners outside of select counties have not been left out. Let me explain…

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Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Regulation

‘Home Rule’ Taking Root in NY, PA and now in OH Too
July 24, 2012July 23, 2012

The so-called “home rule” movement grants power to local town boards to ban hydraulic fracturing either by enacting laws or by the use of zoning. Two court cases challenging home rule in New York are winding their way through the system now. Home rule is also a controversy in Pennsylvania with seven townships taking the state to court over the new Act 13 provision that strips away most of their zoning rights when it comes to oil and gas drilling in favor of state zoning rules.

Home rule is now alive in Ohio too—in Beaver Township (Mahoning County). A group of Beaver Township residents are collecting signatures for a November ballot that would make Beaver a “home rule” township. And in so doing, would grant them the power to shut down drilling.

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

2 More NY Southern Tier Towns Vote to Endorse Drilling
July 24, 2012July 23, 2012

Two more townships in Chenango County, NY have passed resolutions supporting whatever plan the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) proposes with respect to horizontal hydraulic fracturing for the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Anti-drillers would say they’ve voted to support drilling, although the resolutions simply state they will leave it up to individuals to decide.

The towns of Coventry and Greene voted to adopt a resolution in favor of drilling. Of the townships located in the Lucky Five Counties (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Steuben and Tioga) that have voted on the topic of drilling, the vast majority have voted in favor, or more accurately with a neutral resolution saying they won’t ban it.

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

Sen. Libous Responds to Chenango County, NY Rumor
July 23, 2012July 23, 2012

MDN recently told you about the CNY Landowner’s Coalition sounding the alarm that Chenango County, NY may not be included in the initial hydraulic fracturing “test run” that is rumored to be coming from Gov. Andrew Cuomo (see this MDN story). Coalition members number in the thousands and represent over 240,000 acres of land—the largest single coalition MDN is aware of. So when they mobilized their members to write and call Gov. Cuomo and State Sen. Tom Libous (their representative in Albany), that’s just what happened. And the politicians noticed.

At a recent pro-drilling event, Sen. Libous responded to the rumor that Chenango County would be dropped from the rumored plan to allow fracking in “The Lucky Five” counties:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

Father of Shale Fracking George Mitchell Talks to Forbes
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

Forbes magazine landed the interview everyone has been trying to get: George Phydias Mitchell. He’s known as the father or inventor of the technology we now call shale fracking. Unfortunately, the 93 year-old Mitchell said he’s in favor of federal regulation of fracking and called smaller, independent drillers “wild” indicating they need to be reigned in.

A few pickings from the interview, and then MDN’s comments to follow:

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

Portage, NY Attorney: Bans are a Form of Regulation
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

For or against? That’s the question being played out at town board meetings across New York State. And the full question is, “For or against hydraulic fracturing?” As the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) gets closer to releasing new drilling regulations for horizontal drilling and fracking, towns are lining up to either ban it (illegal in MDN’s opinion, although the court is still weighing that issue), or to “support it,” which usually means a vote to let the DEC actually issue the new regs before passing judgment.

Somehow, if you vote to wait for the DEC, anti-drillers consider that support. Whatever. One of the latest townships to consider the issue is in western New York—the Town of Portage in Livingston County. The board seems to sense the local political winds are blowing in favor of a ban, but they aren’t acting quick enough for the local anti-drilling zealots who attend every board meeting and complain. What’s interesting about the latest board meeting is not that the board decided to wait, but the admission their attorney let slip in his comments:

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

Retired NY DEC Director Pans Cuomo Fracking Plan
July 20, 2012July 20, 2012

In a letter to the editor of the Albany Times Union, the retired director of Natural Resources Planning for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Charles Morrison, comes down squarely on the side of anti-drillers. His letter says the rumored plan by Gov. Cuomo to allow test drilling in five Southern Tier counties is a “checkerboard plan” that’s “like something out of a Cracker Jack box.” Sounds to MDN like perhaps retirement is driving Mr. Morrison a little bit crackers himself.

Here’s his letter:

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Bucks County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Turm Oil

SE PA’s First Shale Gas Well Stopped by New Moratorium
July 16, 2012July 16, 2012

The new moratorium on shale gas drilling in southeastern Pennsylvania, instituted as a last-minute political ploy by none other than Republicans in the latest state budget (see this MDN story), has claimed its first victim. An exploratory gas well in the South Newark Basin (Bucks County) due to be drilled by Turm Oil has been denied a permit by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection.

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

Battle Royale in NY Townships – Support or Ban Fracking?
July 13, 2012July 13, 2012

Many townships in the Southern Tier area of New York State want Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Department of Environmental Conservation to know they support responsible gas drilling. Tuesday night the town board in Bainbridge (Chenango County) voted to adopt a resolution supporting drilling (if by support you mean let’s wait until the DEC issues its new rules). The towns of Preston and Guilford, also Chenango County, both voted to approve the resolution Wednesday night. The resolution was slated for a vote in both Afton and Oxford townships (again, Chenango County), but MDN does not have details yet on the outcomes there—although it was likely positive.

A copy of the resolution as adopted in May by the Town of Windsor, in Broome County, NY, is embedded below. That same resolution, more or less, is what the other towns are adopting.

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Ohio DNR Visits Patriot Water Facility in Warren, OH
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

Patriot Water in Warren, Ohio is fighting a battle on both the legal and publicity fronts. Yesterday they scored some points in the publicity column by (finally) getting a representative from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to tour their facility.

Brief background: Patriot’s facility processes wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, removing the nasty stuff so the water is clean and able to be disposed of through the local Warren municipal wastewater processing plant. But the Ohio Attorney General, Mike DeWine, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency rescinded Warren’s permit to accept the wastewater from Patriot, saying Patriot’s technology is not up to scratch (see this MDN story for more background on Patriot’s legal squabble with the OEPA).

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

Sullivan County, NY Township Votes to Ban Fracking
July 12, 2012December 19, 2012

Another one bites the dust. A township in Sullivan County—the Catskill region of New York State—has voted to ban hydraulic fracturing ahead of the state allowing it (if they allow it). The Town of Highland board voted 5-0 to ban fracking Tuesday night.

What you don’t hear about so often in the press are all of the towns voting in favor of drilling—or at least in favor of letting the DEC do it’s job and not prejudging the outcome. Anecdotal evidence MDN has heard is that something over 100 townships have voted to ban fracking (most of them not in the Marcellus Shale region), while perhaps 50 have voted to allow the DEC to do it’s job—what anti-drillers view as being supportive of drilling. Most of those are in the Marcellus Shale region.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Regulation

New Report Says EPA Fracking Study Methods Need Help
July 11, 2012December 19, 2012

A major new report was released yesterday from the Battelle Memorial Institute that reviews the Environmental Protection Agency’s stated plan to study hydraulic fracturing and its impacts on water. The 166-page report (embedded below) says the EPA has it wrong with how they are proceeding.

The report was funded by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), perhaps the two largest energy-related associations in the U.S. (ranked by funding). So the obligatory “but it was funded by the industry!” arguments will come out, to be sure. But you can’t argue with the findings in this report. Battelle is an independent non-profit, science and technology research and development organization with an excellent reputation—a reputation they want to keep.

This is not an industry shill report, but a serious look at how the EPA might better conduct a serious scientific investigation, rather than a sham pretense for an activist government bent on phasing out fossil fuels.

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

Cuomo Inches Closer to Fracking in NY, Supports “Home Rule”
July 10, 2012December 19, 2012

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo inched closer to endorsing fracking in the state in an interview on New York Public Radio yesterday. This is what he said:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater

Ohio EPA Says Patriot Still Can’t Dispose of Water in Warren
July 9, 2012December 19, 2012

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached out to MDN to let us know that there is an ongoing issue with Patriot Water in the City of Warren, Ohio. In short, Patriot is still not allowed to send the fracking wastewater they treat to the Warren municipal sewage treatment plant for disposal.

Last week MDN highlighted that Patriot had apparently won their case against the EPA with the Environmental Review Appeals Commission (see this MDN story). However, the Ohio EPA says “not so fast.” They have a different interpretation of what the ERAC ruling says, and they maintain the permit they’ve issued to the City of Warren has not (and will not) change, meaning Patriot will still not be allowed to dispose of treated wastewater via Warren.

Here’s the statement from Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally on the ERAC ruling:

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Chenango County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Landowner Coalition News | New York | Regulation

Will NY Gov. Cuomo’s Fracking Plan be Limited to 4 Counties?
July 6, 2012December 19, 2012

Is the Lucky Five counties in New York that will see drilling now the Lucky Four? You may recall a few weeks ago the New York Times, using an unnamed source inside Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration (cough *Andy* cough), floated a “trial balloon” plan that will allow high volume hydraulic fracturing, i.e. fracking, for a limited number of permits in five Southern Tier counties for a two-year period: Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Steuben and Tioga (see this MDN story).

One of New York’s largest landowner coalition groups, CNY Landowner’s Coalition, represents Chenango County—one of the Lucky Five. They have reliable “inside” sources that tell them Chenango County may not be included in the limited, two-year experiment. And they are marshaling their members to make noise about it.

Below is an email received by MDN on July 3 from the CNY Landowner’s Coalition outlining the rumor they’ve heard, and what they want members to do about it.

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