Ohio

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    Most Evacuees Return Home After XTO Well Explosion in Ohio

    As we reported yesterday, last Thursday XTO Energy was drilling a fourth Utica Shale well on the Schnegg well pad near Captina Creek (York Township, Belmont County, OH) when XTO “lost control” of the well and it exploded and caught fire (see XTO Energy Utica Well Explosion in Belmont County – 100 Evacuated). We have an update. Most of the evacuees have now returned to their homes (a few still have not). Also, the well is still not capped, meaning “unknown quantities” of methane are leaking into the air. Which, judging by most press accounts, is a greenhouse gas environmental catastrophe. Actually, it’s nothing of the sort. The amount of gas a single well vents into the atmosphere until it’s capped doesn’t even move the needle on the faux global warming scale. Frankly, it’s laughable. No, we’re not laughing at this accident/disaster. Far from it. We thank God nobody was hurt. It should not have happened. And yes, the well needs to be capped–quickly–which XTO and the company hired to do it (Cudd Energy Services) are working hard to do. We’re just providing balance to the “methane leaking from this uncapped well is the end of the world” narrative so prevalent–even in local news outlets. Here’s the latest update on what’s happening at the Schnegg well pad…
    Read More “Most Evacuees Return Home After XTO Well Explosion in Ohio”

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    Ohio EPA Continues to Target Rover Pipe in New FERC Letter

    When will Captain Craig “Ahab” Butler, executive director of the Ohio EPA, realize he’s never going to harpoon his great white whale–Rover Pipeline? Captain Butler is at it again. The Ohio EPA filed a letter with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last week claiming that testing done by OEPA found the presence of very low levels of the toxic chemical tetrachloroethene at Rover’s underground drilling site at the Tuscarawas River in southern Stark County. OEPA admits they can’t prove the very low levels of the compound actually came from Rover’s drilling activity–but hey, what’s proof got to do with it? Un-coincidentally, two Democrat members of Congress, one from New Jersey, the other from Washington State (one 560 miles away from Ohio, the other 2,400 miles away from Ohio) are asking FERC for a “briefing” on the Rover Pipeline project. Apparently OEPA couldn’t get any Ohio members of Congress to step up and pressure FERC, so OEPA went shopping for sympathetic Dems in other states who would. And oh, by the way, the Dems want (i.e. demand) their “briefing” no later than Feb. 28th…
    Read More “Ohio EPA Continues to Target Rover Pipe in New FERC Letter”

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    XTO Energy Utica Well Explosion in Belmont County – 100 Evacuated

    Last Thursday XTO Energy was drilling a fourth Utica Shale well on the Schnegg well pad near Captina Creek (York Township, Belmont County, OH) when XTO “lost control” of the well and it exploded and caught fire. There were 24 people working at the well pad at the time. Fortunately, none of them were injured. Following the explosion and fire, 36 nearby homes and farms (around 100 people) were evacuated. So far the evacuees have not been allowed to return, although that may change today. XTO is putting them up at nearby hotels in St. Clairsville, Moundsville and Wheeling. Crews have worked to try and keep the brine gushing from the well from reaching Captina Creek. XTO hired Wild Well Control to put out the fire (which happened quickly). XTO has also hired Cudd Energy Services to cap the well. Three wells on the pad that were producing have been shut down for the time being. Below is the chronology of the explosion and aftermath, as it happened. This story is still unfolding, now five days later…
    Read More “XTO Energy Utica Well Explosion in Belmont County – 100 Evacuated”

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    OH Supreme Court Rejects Anti Request to Stop Wastewater Disposal

    The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is actively working on new regulations “regarding storage, recycling, treatment, processing, and disposal of brine and other waste substances.” That is, for wastewater treatment and disposal from the oil and gas industry. It’s taking the ODNR a while to hash out the new regs (they were instructed to do so back in 2014). However, in the meantime, ODNR issues special orders/permits on a case by case basis to allow wastewater treatment and disposal facilities to start up and operate. Hoping to shut down all drilling (in Ohio and other states that send wastewater to Ohio), the odious Food and Water Watch and misnamed FreshWater Accountability Project sued in the Tenth District Court of Appeals, arguing that because ODNR hasn’t released the new regs, they shouldn’t be allowed to keep issuing temporary/special permits. The Tenth District said the radical enviro groups didn’t have standing to file the case and dismissed it. On appeal to the State Supreme Court, the Supremes said the same thing. Therefore, ODNR’s authority to continue granting temporary/special permits for wastewater treatment remains in effect. Another huge loss for Food and Water Watch…
    Read More “OH Supreme Court Rejects Anti Request to Stop Wastewater Disposal”

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    Yet Another Fracking-Causes-Earthquakes “Study” – This Time in Utica

    Yet another “fracking may cause earthquakes” study has been published in the so-called peer reviewed journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Researchers from the University of Miami (in Ohio) admit the kind of earthquakes they talk about in their paper, potentially caused by Utica Shale drilling, are “rare.” But, they are also “concerning.” Yes, everyone should be concerned that in zero percent of Utica well drilling cases (statistically speaking) there have been NO earthquakes. Actually a couple of cases are thought to be related to fracking over a fault–but it’s still unproven. Statistically speaking, it’s 0%. But, there could be problems! Maybe. If the conditions are “just right.” Ya never know. We note the researchers didn’t address concerns over fans in football stadiums that, when they all stomp their feet at the same time, have caused “earthquakes” that are higher on the Richter scale than the ones they postulate “may, maybe, might” happen in Utica drilling. No mention of football fan earthquakes in this study. Below is the “news” about this latest, breathlessly urgent report that everyone should read…
    Read More “Yet Another Fracking-Causes-Earthquakes “Study” – This Time in Utica”

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    Green Antis Try to Reverse City’s $7.5M Deal to Allow NEXUS Pipe

    MDN told you last week that anti officials who lead the City of Green, OH (Summit County), had finally faced the reality that NEXUS Pipeline–a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada–will come through their vicinity (see Antis of Green, OH Finally Face Reality – Will Allow NEXUS Pipe). Green previously hired a high-priced Cleveland law firm to try and scuttle the NEXUS project (see Green, OH Paying Lawyers $100K to Fund Stop NEXUS Crusade). In the end, everyone has their price. For Green, the price is $7.5 million and 20 acres of land that sit next to an existing city park. While Green antis in city government hate the idea of the pipeline getting built at all (especially Green’s anti-pipeline mayor), the writing is on the wall. They will lose and they know it. To save face, the mayor negotiated a deal with NEXUS that city council voted to accept. However, the mayor and city council’s actions don’t sit well with some of the more radical elements in Green. The rads have since launched a campaign to force the city to accept a vote on whether or not to settle with NEXUS. The city says the signed settlement from last week is an administrative action, not subject to a popular vote. The rads say otherwise. It’s shaping up to be a legal battle royale in Green–antis against antis. Grab the popcorn!…
    Read More “Green Antis Try to Reverse City’s $7.5M Deal to Allow NEXUS Pipe”

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    Rover Pipeline’s SWPA Burgettstown Lateral Ready for Startup

    Click map for larger version

    On Tuesday, Rover Pipeline (Energy Transfer Partners) sent an official request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asking for permission to begin service on one of the remaining legs of the pipeline not yet up and running as part of Phase 1 development. Rover wants to begin service on the Burgettstown Lateral by Feb. 26. The Burgettstown Lateral (see the map below) extends from Burgettstown (Washington County), PA through Hancock County, WV and into eastern Ohio, connecting to the main Rover Pipeline in Carroll County. The Burgettstown Lateral is 51.3 miles long and includes a compressor station in/near Burgettstown to push the gas along the entire length of the lateral. Rover still maintains they will have the entire Rover Pipeline network up and running by the end of March. There are still some areas in Ohio where they are working (drilling for a second pipeline under the Tuscarawas River), however, most of the work remaining to be done is in Michigan–Phase 2 of the project. When it’s all done, up and running, Rover will flow 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of Marcellus/Utica gas to the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Canada. Below is Rover’s request to “start me up” for the Burgettstown Lateral, along with a map of the lateral…
    Read More “Rover Pipeline’s SWPA Burgettstown Lateral Ready for Startup”

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    MarkWest Building New Fractionation Plant in Harrison County, OH

    Hopedale Fractionation Facility (click for larger version)

    MarkWest Energy, now a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum (MPLX unit) is THE premier shale gas processor in the Marcellus/Utica region. When natural gas comes out of the ground, a bunch of other hydrocarbons come out of the ground with it–namely NGLs (natural gas liquids). NGLs include compounds like ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10), isobutane (also C4H10), and pentane (C5H12). MarkWest’s cryogenic processing plants separate out the methane from NGLs. A different process, called fractionation, further separates the NGLs into their component parts. MarkWest handles an estimated 60% of all fractionation in the M-U. MarkWest has standalone plants set up to separate out ethane–called C2 fractionation because ethane has two carbon atoms. Ethane fractionation plants are their own separate beast–removing ethane from the NGL stream. Finally, there are C3 fractionation plants, which tackle separating the other NGLs–propane, butane, isobutane and pentane (referred to as C3+ fractionation because each of those compounds has three or more carbon atoms). In the Hopedale fractionation operation (Jewett, Ohio), MarkWest already has three C3+ fractionation plants up and running–Hopedale I, II, and III. Each one processes 60,000 barrels of NGLs a day, for a cumulative 180,000 bbl/d capacity. Honeywell issued a press release yesterday to say they have been tapped to build a fourth Hopedale C3+ fractionation plant, expanding MarkWest’s capacity by another 60,000 bbl/d. Honeywell says it takes just 40 weeks from start to finish and they will have the Hopedale IV plant up and running, by the end of this year…
    Read More “MarkWest Building New Fractionation Plant in Harrison County, OH”

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    Columbia Gas Customers in OH Start Using M-U Gas in April

    We often write about pipeline projects in the Marcellus/Utica and their mission to move our prodigious natgas production to new markets where the gas will fetch a higher price. Last fall MDN provided a list of 15 active pipeline projects in our region, aimed at moving our gas to new markets (see List of 15 Active Marcellus/Utica Pipeline Projects Worth $23B). However, sometimes the “new” markets these pipelines serve are located–right here, in the M-U region! That’s right. Not all gas needs to go to the South, the Southwest, Midwest or get exported to Canada and beyond. Sometimes new market demand is hidden in plain sight. Such is the case for Columbia Gas (owned by NiSource) in Ohio. The company said it has “changed our portfolio around” to source locally extracted Marcellus/Utica gas for “at least 40%” and “likely much more” of the gas it sells to its customers. The change to using Marcellus/Utica gas will begin in April. Among the pipelines that will flow the M-U gas Columbia will buy is the recently completed Leach XPress (see Leach XPress Goes Online; FERC Approves Mountaineer & Gulf XPress). Here’s the good news that our own gas will serve those in our own region…
    Read More “Columbia Gas Customers in OH Start Using M-U Gas in April”

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    OH Fractivist Claims Obliterated with Cold, Hard Facts from NEPA

    MDN friend Chris Acker, standing in front of a rig about 200 yards from his house in NEPA

    In December MDN brought you the news that Cabot Oil & Gas is sniffing around Ashland County, OH, with plans to possibly drill in a rock layer even deeper than the Utica Shale (see Cabot O&G Considers Drilling in Ashland County, OH). Cabot’s activity in the area was met with resistance by anti-fossil fuelers. Nothing new about that. What is new, however, is that some of the antis (a handful) in the Ashland area formed a faux landowner coalition, trying to fool landowners into joining them (see Warning to Ohio Residents: Beware Fake Landowner Coalitions). The faux landowner coalition has been busy spreading lies about Cabot, making wild accusations about what will happen if Cabot is allowed to drill in the county. MDN friend (and right arm) Chris Acker, a northeast PA landowner signed with Cabot, has written a guest post/rebuttal that obliterates the lies being spread by Ashland antis. Buckle up, this one will be fun to read!…
    Read More “OH Fractivist Claims Obliterated with Cold, Hard Facts from NEPA”

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    Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Proj Unpauses

    Duke Energy needs to replace an aging pipeline, built in the 1950s, near Cincinnati, OH–or some people in Cincy will have to go without natural gas. Duke has proposed a 13-mile, 20-inch pipeline along two potential routes. Both routes are opposed by antis, including a group calling themselves NOPE–Neighbors Opposing Pipeline Extension. We call them DOPEs–Dummies Opposing Pipeline Extensions. Will the DOPEs volunteer to shut off the natural gas to their homes and businesses if the pipeline doesn’t get built? Not on your life! The Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB) held two public hearings last April, to grant anti-pipeliners the opportunity to vent (see Hearings Scheduled for Proposed Duke Pipeline in Cincinnati). They didn’t disappoint. The DOPEs turned up in force. With just weeks before a final approval by the OPSB, Duke asked the state to push the pause button last August (see Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Put on Hold). At the time, Duke said they had “potential concerns” about building the pipeline on a property close to a Superfund site in Reading. Apparently those concerns have now been addressed. Duke is about to unpause and refile an application for the pipeline. Let the fireworks begin!…
    Read More “Duke Energy’s 13-Mile Cincinnati NatGas Pipeline Proj Unpauses”

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    Pin Oak Energy Buys 70K Utica Acres in OH & PA + Pipeline Assets

    Pin Oak Energy Partners has just more than doubled the leased acreage it owns in the Marcellus/Utica, adding 70,000 Utica acres in both Ohio and Pennsylvania to its portfolio. MDN previously ran several stories about this relatively new entrant to our region (see our Pin Oak Energy stories here). While Pin Oak is a “new” company, the people running it have been around. CEO Chris Halvorson says Pin Oak is comprised of folks who were formerly with AB Resources. You may recall that AB Resources built a position in the southwestern “core” of the Marcellus and sold out to Chevron several years ago. Pin Oak is “what’s next” for for the former AB folks. Their target: the Appalachian basin. They buy both conventional and unconventional wells and acreage. Pin Oak announced yesterday that in a series of transactions with various sellers (all unnamed, amounts not disclosed), the company picked up a total of 70,000 acres in Mahoning and Trumbull counties in Ohio, and Mercer County in Pennsylvania. They also bought gas processing facilities and “multiple taps” into interstate gas pipelines, including two taps into the mighty Tennessee Gas Pipeline. Here’s the details on the purchase, which includes 33 conventional wells that target the Knox formation in southern OH…
    Read More “Pin Oak Energy Buys 70K Utica Acres in OH & PA + Pipeline Assets”

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    FERC Gives Rover Pipe OK to Restart Drilling Under Tuscarawas River

    Looks like asking “Pretty please, with a cherry on top” (along with providing requested information) works! MDN previously told you that on Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) asked Rover Pipeline for more information before FERC would allow the project to restart drilling under the Tuscarawas River (see Rover Again Asks FERC for OK to Restart Tuscarawas Drilling). FERC asked for a review of three different options, including drill in a different place under the river and forget about drilling for a second pipe at all. Rover didn’t like either of those options and lobbied, hard, to get FERC to allow them to restart drilling in the same place where they’ve now lost 200,000 gallons of drilling mud down hole. Rover responded (on Sunday) to FERC’s Friday request, providing the information FERC requested. Rover specifically asked FERC for permission to restart drilling by 3 pm Monday–at the original location. The Monday deadline came and went. However, something in Rover’s appeal must have convinced FERC, because the OK to restart drilling came a day later–on Tuesday. Work has now resumed at the site, much to the consternation of Ohio EPA’s Craig Butler, who continues to oppose the project…
    Read More “FERC Gives Rover Pipe OK to Restart Drilling Under Tuscarawas River”

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    Antis of Green, OH Finally Face Reality – Will Allow NEXUS Pipe

    In the end, it came to down to cold, hard cash. Last May, MDN told you about antis running the City of Green, Ohio who were/are hellbent on stopping the NEXUS Pipeline (see Green, OH Paying Lawyers $100K to Fund Stop NEXUS Crusade). Green City Council voted to use $100,000 of taxpayer money to hire a Cleveland law firm to file a lawsuit “aimed at stopping the pipeline from being built or stopping the project altogether.” NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, was the first major pipeline project to get approved after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) once again had a quorum of three members (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Green’s high-priced lawyers filed their lawsuit in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, requesting an emergency stay blocking construction, which they got in November (see Fed Court Grants Green, OH Request to Stop NEXUS Pipe Construction). Everyone has their price. For the antis in Green, the price is $7.5 million and 20 acres of land that sit next to an existing city park. While the Green antis hate the idea of the pipeline getting built at all (especially Green’s anti-pipeline mayor), the writing is on the wall. They will lose and they know it–so to save face, the mayor negotiated a deal with NEXUS that City Council will vote on tonight to accept…

    2/8/18 Update: Green Council voted 4-3 to accept the NEXUS deal. More below.
    Read More “Antis of Green, OH Finally Face Reality – Will Allow NEXUS Pipe”

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    Warning to Ohio Residents: Beware Fake Landowner Coalitions

    “Keep It In the Ground” (KIITG) activists have launched a new, deceptive campaign in their holy mission to end the use of fossil fuels. The same people behind Food & Water Watch, Food and Water Action, the Sierra Club and other Big Green groups have/are launching fake landowner coalitions in Ohio. These fake coalitions (one of them being the Tri-County Landowners Coalition) have one aim and one aim only–to convince unsuspecting landowners to hate fossil fuels and anything (i.e. drilling, pipelines) to do with fossil fuels. It is a sleazy and disgusting tactic by the ultra-left, preying on honest, hardworking folks who join coalitions hoping to receive guidance on the best way to protect their land while at the same time profiting from it. Don’t fall for these fake coalitions! Our friends at Energy in Depth are sounding the alarm on this latest move by anti-fossil fuel radicals…
    Read More “Warning to Ohio Residents: Beware Fake Landowner Coalitions”

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    M-U Gathering Pipelines Blamed for Killing “Ancient” Salamanders

    The Eastern hellbender is the largest salamander in North America, reaching lengths of up to 24 inches. It’s also the official amphibian of Pennsylvania. Photo: Dave Herasimtschuk / Freshwaters Illustrated

    (Sigh.) Here we go again. An in-depth news story appearing on the PBS website Allegheny Front theorizes that the presence of natural gas gathering pipelines–run to individual shale wells–are causing a decrease in the population of hellbenders. The theory is that as more and more pipelines are installed under creeks and streams throughout the region (in western PA and easter OH), the construction process muddies the streams and kills aquatic life, including the hellbender. The hellbender is a giant salamander–growing to an average of 15 inches long. Ugly suckers–so ugly they’re cute! OK, so a pipeline gets installed and the water is muddy for a day or two and maybe it kills a hellbender or two, what’s the big deal? Are they an endangered species? No, they are not. They are, however, considered to be “near-threatened”–meaning any decade now they *may* get added to the “threatened” list (but still not endangered). The idea is, of course, to avoid killing enough of a species like the hellbender so that it ends up on a threatened or endangered list. So are pipelines having a negative impact on hellbender populations? The article wants you think so, but actually, there’s zero evidence of any kind of impact by pipelines on hellbender populations. Instead of scientific steak to show a connection between pipelines and hellbender populations, the article serves up anecdotal Cheetos of scary pictures of pipelines being installed. There is no connection between pipeline construction and hellbender populations–that’s the bottom line when you read the following story…
    Read More “M-U Gathering Pipelines Blamed for Killing “Ancient” Salamanders”