Upper Burrell Twp Makes Moves to Ban Wastewater Injection Wells
Upper Burrell (Westmoreland County, PA) town supervisors have historically been receptive (or at least tolerant) to the Marcellus Shale industry that has so blessed their town and Westmoreland County (see our Upper Burrell stories here). According to MDN’s soon-coming data service, Upper Burrell has 20 actively producing shale wells, with 17 of them drilled since 2021. However, there appears to be a distinct change in attitude, at least with respect to wastewater injection wells, on the part of the town’s Board of Supervisors. The town has between 100 and 200 abandoned conventional gas or oil wells. The supervisors are concerned one or more of those old wells might be targeted to convert into injecting brine (salty water from shale wells). The supervisors have instructed the town solicitor to draft an ordinance with stricter rules for the use of abandoned wells in the township. Read More “Upper Burrell Twp Makes Moves to Ban Wastewater Injection Wells”
In January 2023, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, an extremist, floated a plan to ban natural gas hookups in every single new home and business across the “Empire” State (see 
Who let the DOGEs out? Who, who, who, who. (To be sung to the tune of the iconic song, 
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Every budget season in Pennsylvania, it’s the same old dog-and-pony show by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “We don’t have enough money to pay our staff,” and “We aren’t making as much money from (insanely high) shale permit fees anymore, so we need more taxpayer money to make up the difference.” Etc. Yet a few months later, after the budget is adopted, the DEP somehow finds money lying around to donate to various leftwing causes. Case in point: The DEP announced yesterday it is donating $600,000 to 12 leftist organizations to spread more wokeness across the Commonwealth under the banner of “environmental justice” (EJ). 
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