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DustPRO’s Innovative New Solution to Improve Frac Sand Safety in WV

Preferred Technology, headquartered in Radnor, PA (near Philadelphia) has created a cool new product/technology called DustPRO. The new DustPRO coats frac sand with–something, not sure what–that helps the teeny tiny particles of sand behave and not get airborne where they can become a health hazard. Preferred/DustPRO announced yesterday the results of their very first application unit installed in the Marcellus/Utica in Morgantown, WV–and the results are very good indeed…
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Fracsandphobia for Some Who Live Near Keystone Sanitary Landfill

People are phobic (fearful) of the darnedest things. Some people are afraid of germs (germophobia). Some are afraid of spiders (arachnophobia). Some are even afraid of furry little kitty cats (ailurophobia). Seems that all of us have one phobia or another. Some folks who live near the Keystone Sanitary Landfill outside of Scranton, PA have a phobia over sand that may be hauled to the facility (an irrational fear of sand is eremikophobia). Because Keystone accepts drill cuttings and has, in the past, also been permitted to accept frac sand waste from drilling operations, some people who live in the area are afraid. Of what? That the sand may contain nasty fracking chemical residue and that residue will leach out of the ground and enter their bodies–ahhhhhh! Never mind that the residue in frac sand waste, chemicals like hydrochloric acid, is in such minuscule quantities it’s the equivalent of the amount of hydrochloric acid found in eye drops (yes, eye drops). But facts never get in the way of a good phobia–or a good lie spun by the likes of anti-drilling groups like Food & Water Watch that exist to stop legal, legitimate and safe businesses in the United States from operating…
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DUG East Panelists Discuss the Critical Role of Sand in Drilling

Some interesting tidbits from a roundtable discussion at last week’s Hart Energy DUG East conference. The panelists included reps from Chesapeake Energy, Range Resources, Halliburton and Schlumberger. Really, the biggest of the bigs when it comes to producers and oilfield services companies in the Marcellus Shale. A lot of the discussion seemed to revolve around the lowly grain of sand. It may surprise you (as it did us) to learn just how much sand is now being used per well in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Unimin Energy Opens 11th Marcellus/Utica Frac Sand Terminal

A Texas-based company, Unimin Energy Solutions, has just opened its eleventh frac sand terminal–this one in Jerry Run, WV. The new terminal can store 20,000 tons of frac sand and load up to 25 trucks per hour. Uminim’s operations pretty much blanket the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions (see the map below), from northeast PA to southwest PA, various points in WV and even in eastern OH. There’s even a Uminim frac sand operation in Binghamton, NY, near MDN HQ! Here’s the low down on the newest Unimim facility in Jerry Run, along with a list of their other locations…
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USGS Spotlight on What Makes Good Frac Sand & Where to Find It

According to the latest research by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there’s a reason that 70% of frac sand, used in fracking, comes from Wisconsin and Minnesota. The silica (or sand) mined in those Great Plains states has the best characteristics to be used in fracking. But there are other places–even places in the Marcellus/Utica–that are being mined for silica used for fracking. In an article titled “Frac Sand Sources in the United States” published in the May 2015 issue of Rock Products magazine, USGS researchers describe what makes good frac sand and where, in the Lower 48 U.S. state, it’s being mined commercially. We’ve extracted out a section (below) on where silica is mined in the Marcellus/Utica region…
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EQT Call: Fracking 1st Utica Well in June; Changing Proppant

Last week MDN brought you EQT’s report on their first quarter earnings and performance (see EQT 1Q15: Production Volume Up 37%, but Price Received Down 33%). As is often the case with publicly traded companies, EQT’s top management hopped on an analyst phone call to discuss the results. And as sometimes happens, extra details came out on the call. During last Friday’s call, EQT management revealed in prepared comments and in a series of questions and answers that: (1) the company will begin fracking its first Utica well (in Greene County, PA) in early June; (2) the second Utica well EQT plans to drill will be in Wetzel County, WV; and (3) the company is considering a change to ceramic proppant instead of using sand–a move that will cost them an average of $2.5 million more per well than what they pay now using sand…
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DEP Begins Air Study Near Proposed Frac Sand Facility in NEPA

For some time, MDN has followed the developing story in rural Tunkhannock, PA (Wyoming County) where D&I Silica, now owned by Hi-Crush Partners, wants to build a frac sand transfer station along a rail line. D&I lacked only one thing before they could begin construction–a permit from the county. Residents in the area are concerned that the silica, or frac sand, will become airborne and create health issues–so the county resisted in granting the permit. D&I took the county to court and the case was settled last November, allowing D&I to move forward. However, the county wanted to conduct an air quality study. The state Dept. of Environmental Protection said they would conduct an air quality study, but the county a private, third party company to do the study (see Deuling Air Quality Studies for NEPA Frac Sand Transfer Station). Once the county found out the air quality study would cost them $130,000, they decided the DEP’s study will do just fine, thank you very much. The county decided to pay $7,500 instead to have their independent, third party consultant review the study done by the DEP. Yesterday the DEP showed up and started to set up equipment for the study…
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Deuling Air Quality Studies for NEPA Frac Sand Transfer Station

MDN has tracked the case of a proposed D&I Silica (owned by Hi-Crush Partners) frac sand transfer facility in Tunkhannock (Wyoming County), PA and some of the ins and outs along the way. D&I is ready to build the facility but lacks one important permit–from the county. So D&I has sued to get it (see NEPA Town Residents Resist Frack Sand Transfer Station). That lawsuit was settled in November and construction will now go forward. We recently brought you a report from a resident and long-time reader of MDN on the situation (see Revisiting Frac Sand Facility Controversy in Tunkhannock, PA). We have a new update: Both the county and the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) are proposing air quality studies to ensure nearby residents are not exposed to silica dust which acts a lot like asbestos particles and can, in the most extreme cases, can cause lung cancer. The question is, whose study will get done, or will taxpayers pay for both studies?…
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Revisiting Frac Sand Facility Controversy in Tunkhannock, PA

We’re happy to bring you another perspective on the controversy in Tunkhannock, PA over a proposed frac sand transfer station. In October we told you about residents around Tunkhannock who are pushing back against a facility being proposed by Hi-Crush/D&I Silica (see NEPA Town Residents Resist Frack Sand Transfer Station). What caught our eye was the antics of one of the locals who dressed up in a canary outfit to conjure the image of a canary in the mine shaft. Seemed to us that perhaps anti-drillers were opposing the project. We then referenced the D&I project when we wrote about another frac sand facility where the town and company worked out their problems like adults (see WV Sand Company & Community Work Together to Solve Problem). We were recently contacted by an MDN subscriber who lives in Tunkhannock to say, “Hold there Jim, there is another side to this story…”
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WV Sand Company & Community Work Together to Solve Problem

Ahhh, what a breath of fresh frac sand-free air. A month ago MDN told you about Hi-Crush Partners’ desire to build a frac sand transfer station in Tunkhannock (Wyoming County), PA–a plan that’s meeting resistance from the local community (see NEPA Town Residents Resist Frack Sand Transfer Station). Hi-Crush is now in court with the county planning commission. Meanwhile, in Marshall County, WV, a frac sand facility built by Unimin Sand Co. resulted in (yes) sand particles blowing into the nearby community. Did the community rise up and demand the facility be closed? Did the sand company push back and sue? Nope. They worked together. Unimin is building six new storage silos to contain the sand and the community appreciates the high-paying jobs provided by the company. Note to Wyoming County Planning Commission: Have a talk with the people in Benwood, WV to see how adults react to these issues when they occur…
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Sham Frac Sand Report: The Sky is Falling!

Several anti-drilling groups have issued a “research report” that tries to shut down drilling based on the hazards of frac sand mining. The report, titled “Communities At Risk: Frac Sand Mining in the Upper Midwest,” was published by the Civil Society Institute’s Boston Action Research (BAR) and released in cooperation with Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA). It is just the latest in a string of not-so-veiled attempts to shut down the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. We’ve written a number of times about the very serious issue of safely handling frac sand (see Silica Dust Exposure Topic A at ShaleSafe Conference in Wheeling for one example). We welcome real research that looks for solutions instead of hocus pocus “just stop drilling” solutions offered by the authors of this “report”…
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Center Port Transload Facility Already Up & Running in OH

MDN reported last Friday about an auction happening this week in Hannibal, OH at the old Ormet aluminum smelting plant (see Out with Old Ormet Plant, In with New Center Port Transload Facility). Niagara Worldwide is converting the old plant into a new transload facility that will accept and redistribute frac sand, pipes and other materials and equipment used in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. As part of that story we floated some questions to Eric Spirtas, president of Niagara Worldwide about what they have planned (and the timing) for the facility. Here are those questions and his responses…
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Out with Old Ormet Plant, In with New Center Port Transload Facility

MDN previously told you about the closure of the Ormet aluminum smelting plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH. The plant closed its doors as an active aluminum plant earlier this year after Ohio regulators and Gov. John Kasich failed to get high electric rates reduced for the plant, and refused to allow Ormet to burn coal to produce their own electricity until they could begin using natural gas to create electricity from recently drilled wells on the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). In all, over 900 are out of a job–thank you Ohio. But out of the ashes of that jobs disaster comes a ray of sunlight, at least for the Utica and Marcellus shale industry. Niagara Worldwide bought the plant out of bankruptcy and they are converting it into a huge transloading facility–where supplies like pipe and frac sand are delivered in bulk by barge and rail, broken down and sent back out by truck to drill sites throughout the region (see New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers). It will be a huge staging site for at least three (so far unnamed) producers in the area. The re-purposed facility now has a name: Center Port Terminal. In order to get the facility ready for the shale industry, Niagara is conducting the auction to end all auctions (massive) to get rid of existing plant equipment. Here’s the details…
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SandBox Logistics Begins Work in Marcellus/Utica

SandBox Logistics (clever name) provides trans-loading, storage, and “last mile delivery” of frac sand used in hydraulic fracturing. Sandbox’s delivery process is patented. According to the company, their delivery process and the containerization process they use increases operational efficiency by eliminating many of the logistics problems and transportation bottlenecks that can happen. The SandBox system also substantially reduces silica dust and noise pollution. Why go on about SandBox? Because drilling services company U.S. Well Services has just signed a contract with SandBox to use them in their Marcellus/Utica operations. It marks the first time SandBox has done business in our neck of the woods…
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NEPA Town Residents Resist Frack Sand Transfer Station

Hi-Crush Partners, one of three major frack sand companies in the U.S., purchased PA-based D&I Silica for $125 million in May 2013. D&I is planning to build a frack sand transfer station in Tunkhannock (Wyoming County), PA. Except some (many?) residents who live in the area, along with the Wyoming County Planning Commission, don’t want it. All permits are in hand except one–from the Planning Commission. Hi-Crush has sued and the matter sits in court. However, there was a colorful appearance by one local anti-driller who dressed up in a canary outfit to attend the Wyoming County Commissioners meeting last night discussing the proposed transfer station…
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Ceramic Proppant Co. CARBO Ceramics Sales Falter in 3Q14

CARBO Ceramics provides a ceramic alternative to sand for use as a proppant in hydraulic fracturing. Proppants, for those new to MDN, “prop open” the fractures created during the fracking process to allow natural gas and natural gas liquids (even oil) to drain out of shale. A special kind of sand called silica, mined mostly in the Midwest, is the most prevalent proppant used. However, CARBO has an innovated ceramic substance–tiny little beads–that are used as an alternative. The problem, from CARBO’s perspective, is that sand is cheaper and more plentiful, plus other ceramic proppant manufacturers have sprung up to compete with CARBO and those twin reasons are why, according to a press release issued by CARBO yesterday, sales for the company in the third quarter have fallen off…
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