Trucking

Carroll County | Economic Impact | Education | Housing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Taxation | Trucking

The Positives, and Negatives, of Shale Gas Drilling
June 17, 2013June 17, 2013

No one pretends there are not negatives when it comes to oil and gas drilling, least of all MDN. There are some drawbacks–but the negatives must be weighed against the positives. Local business and government leaders in Carroll County, OH (the county with the most Utica Shale wells drilled, so far), had a frank discussion of the both the good and the bad in a recent meeting with State Rep. Andy Thompson, R-Marietta.

Highlights of the good and the bad when it comes to shale drilling:
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Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Noise | Ohio | Trucking | Trumbull County

Trumbull County Mobile Home Park Doesn’t Like Utica Drilling
April 24, 2013April 24, 2013

The down sides of drilling, if you happen to live close to a drill site, are noise, flood lights for working at night, and truck traffic. Residents of the Westwood Lake Mobile Home Park in Trumbull County, OH can attest to that. The good news is, drilling only lasts a short time—typically a month or less. Still, someone banging on your door at 3 a.m. in the morning is a bit much…

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Research | Trucking

Three Ways the Shale Boom will Impact the Trucking Industry
April 22, 2013April 22, 2013

In January, MDN told you about the results of a survey conducted by Benesch, a large law firm with offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other oil and gas states, the National Tank Truck Carriers association and the Ohio Trucking Association (see Marcellus/Utica Shale Drilling is Good for Trucking Industry). The survey found shale activity is having a positive impact on the trucking industry, creating an increase in opportunities and profits that is expected to continue into the future. The survey also found significant job growth is a byproduct of shale drilling.

Benesch has written and released a new white paper based on the findings of the survey (embedded below), titled: “3 Ways the Shale Boom Will Impact the Trucking Industry.” The paper is short, well-written, and shows how the growth in trucking is directly tied to the growth in shale drilling—and a harbinger of economic growth for the future…

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Carbon County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Trucking

Help Wanted: PA Fire Truck Co. Retools to Build Marcellus Tankers
March 28, 2013March 28, 2013

More positive impacts from the Marcellus drilling industry in Pennsylvania. A major employer in Carbon County, PA, Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corporation (in Nesquehoning), a company that previously manufactured mostly fire trucks, is hiring 40 new workers to help with a new business line: water hauling tankers used by the Marcellus Shale industry. Kovatch’s increase in employment is rippling throughout the entire local economy…

Read More “Help Wanted: PA Fire Truck Co. Retools to Build Marcellus Tankers”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Statewide OH | Trucking | West Virginia | Wetzel County

OH Group Wants to Launch Neighborhood Watch for Shale Wells
March 25, 2013March 25, 2013

When we started to read an article about a “neighborhood watch” program for Utica and Marcellus Shale wells that’s being discussed in Ohio by the anti-drilling Southeast Ohio Fracking Interest Group, we kind of grinned. We thought it sounded like the typical nutty stuff anti-frackers do to try and put a veneer of respectability on their extremist, hate-all-fossil-fuels philosophy. However, when we read further, we found there is such a “well watching” group operating in West Virginia, and it’s members are level-headed and don’t have the attitude that they’re going to stop drilling—they just want to open a line of communication with drillers so everyone is a little bit happier with the process.

The WV group’s constructive attitude is the kind of attitude more people on the other side of the issue (in OH) should adopt…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trucking | Washington County (OH) | Wastewater

OH Group “Demands” Coast Guard Do Assessment of Brine Facility
March 12, 2013March 11, 2013

Anti-drilling group Meigs Citizens Action Now (Meigs CAN) is “demanding” an answer from the U.S. Coast Guard about whether or not they will require an environmental impact study for a proposed brine wastewater transfer facility that will store and send brine on barges down the Ohio River. The brine wastewater transfer station is located in New Matamoras (Washington County), OH and is already operational (run by GreenHunter) using trucks. GreenHunter proposes to reduce the number of trucks in and out of the facility by using barges to move the brine. This is the same facility that was vandalized a few weeks ago by protesters who shut down the facility for part of a day (see Protesters Get Violent, Shut Down OH Frack Water Plant).

Meigs CAN, via a press release (see below), erroneously claims the facility handles fracking wastewater containing diesel fuel and chemicals classified as hazardous waste. In fact the facility does not handle fracking wastewater—it only handles water that comes of of the hole weeks and months after fracking is done—after the water containing chemicals is already removed. Brine is naturally occurring water from the depths full of minerals and yes, perhaps even a touch of radium (well below radiation safety limits).

Read More “OH Group “Demands” Coast Guard Do Assessment of Brine Facility”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trucking | Washington County (OH) | Wastewater

Protesters Get Violent, Shut Down OH Frack Water Plant
February 21, 2013February 21, 2013

GreenHunter Energy operates a bulk storage and shipping facility near New Matamoras (Washington County), Ohio for salt water (“brine”) that comes from shale wells long after they are drilled and fracked. Brine is naturally occurring water from deep below the ground—water without chemicals from fracking—it just contains a lot of minerals. That fact doesn’t seem to matter to some obtuse protesters.

Yesterday, a group of 100 or so protesters, organized by an extremist group called Appalachia Resist!, stormed the New Matamoras brine facility and shut it down. They engaged in criminal acts by plugging the toilets, stealing keys and in general terrorizing the employees at the facility. Ten of the protesters were arrested (their names, ages and home cities are listed below). More will be charged once police are done reviewing video tapes of the incident.

You may be interested to know that almost all of the people arrested were from other states—not even Ohio residents. GreenHunter is pressing charges, which includes felony counts and possibly charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Read More “Protesters Get Violent, Shut Down OH Frack Water Plant”
Arrowhead Utica Pipelines | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Trucking | Utica Shale

Hilcorp Subsidiary Leases Property for Utica Transfer Facility
February 19, 2013February 19, 2013

The Columbiana County Port Authority operates an industrial park in Wellsville, Ohio. Tucked into a story about road improvements the Port Authority is making at the park we learn that two subsidiaries of Utica Shale driller Hilcorp have leased two different parcels in the park: Arrowhead Utica Pipelines and Harvest Pipeline Co. The Port Authority is spending over $900,000 on road upgrades, largely to expand a road to the future site of a new shale gas transfer facility that will be built by Arrowhead.

The details:

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Accidents | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Taylor County | Trucking | Wastewater | West Virginia

Wastewater Trucker Killed in WV Well Pad Explosion
February 18, 2013February 18, 2013

A worker transferring wastewater from a holding tank to a truck at an already-drilled EQT well pad site in Taylor County, WV was killed when something at the site caused an explosion. The WV DEP is investigating.

The few details that we currently know:

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Industrywide Issues | Trucking

Marcellus/Utica Shale Drilling is Good for Trucking Industry
January 30, 2013January 30, 2013

America’s trucking firms are bullish on shale gas drilling, particularly in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Trucking firms say shale drilling either already has, or will, have a positive impact on the trucking industry according to the results of a nationwide survey of trucking firms.

Benesch, a large law firm with offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other oil and gas states, collaborated with the National Tank Truck Carriers association and the Ohio Trucking Association to conduct the survey. Some of the survey results:

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Columbiana County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Marathon Petroleum | Ohio | Trucking

Columbiana Port Authority Close to Final Deal with Marathon
January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Back in July MDN told you about a deal the Columbiana County Port Authority hoped to do with Marathon Petroleum to sell Marathon 3.6 acres in along the riverfront in Wellsville, OH so they can build a transfer station (truck terminal) to accept natural gas liquids and oil from local shale drilling by truck and, load it onto barges which would then float downriver for refining (see Columbiana Port Authority Helps Shale Industry).

Two actions taken on Monday by the Port Authority significantly advanced the ball down the field toward making the deal a reality:

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Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Ohio | Roads | Trucking

OH Congressman “Tickled” by Road Improvements from Shale Drillers
January 14, 2013January 14, 2013

Ohio Congressman Bill Johnson (Republican, 6th District) visited Jefferson County, OH last Thursday to get an update on the impacts on area roadways from truck traffic related to Utica Shale drilling. Thousands of truck trips over rural roads take their toll.

So what did Congressman Johnson find? The roads are now in better shape than they were before drilling began:

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Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Trucking

Clarks Summit, PA Targets Marcellus Trucks for Violations
December 3, 2012December 3, 2012

Warning to Marcellus trucks passing through Clarks Summit, PA: The local police department is watching you. And if your truck has a taillight out or appears to be “sitting low,” you may well be pulled over and ticketed.

Read More “Clarks Summit, PA Targets Marcellus Trucks for Violations”
Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Marathon Oil | Ohio | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Trucking | Utica Shale

Marathon to Move Utica NGLs to Refineries by Truck & Barge
October 10, 2012October 10, 2012

Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) and Harvest Pipeline Company announced yesterday they’re working together to build a system to bring natural gas liquids (NGLs) from the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania to Marathon’s refineries by truck and barge along the Ohio River. The joint project will be completed by the end of 2013.

From the Marathon press release:

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Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Trucking

How Much of $6M Cost to Drill a Well is Water for Fracking?
September 20, 2012September 20, 2012

The cost of water used in fracking Marcellus Shale wells was a topic of conversation at the World Shale Oil & Gas Summit in Houston this week.

Southwestern Energy CEO Steven Mueller had this to say about how much it costs to move (truck) the water for a single Marcellus well, on average:

Read More “How Much of $6M Cost to Drill a Well is Water for Fracking?”
Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Trucking

Short Line Railroads to the Midstream Rescue?
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

One of the recurring stories MDN loves to cover is that of the renaissance of short line railroads, making a comeback because of shale gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. Drillers need equipment and sand—lots of sand—hauled on a regular basis, and short line railroads play a key part in that equation.

But hauling equipment and sand may not be the complete picture. Short lines and national rail lines are now eyeing a role in hauling natural gas and oil in the absence of pipelines.

Read More “Short Line Railroads to the Midstream Rescue?”