Lycoming County

Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Ouch: Halliburton Axed ~200 Jobs in Lycoming County Last Friday
April 27, 2016April 27, 2016

Just a few years ago Halliburton, the second largest oilfield services company in the world, employed 600 people in its operation center located in Lycoming County, PA. Today? There are 40 working there. Some 200 of Halliburton’s Lycoming employees were laid off last Friday. Lycoming County is relatively rural with the city of Williamsport as its county seat. Losing 560 jobs, 200 of them in one go, is a huge blow to the area. We grieve with those who have lost their jobs–and with their families who depended on those jobs…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation

PA DEP’s $8.9M Methane Migration Fine Appealed by Range Resources
April 4, 2016April 4, 2016

Last June the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent Range Resource a notice they planned to fine the company a whopping $8.9 million for methane migration into water wells and a nearby stream in Lycoming County, PA (see PA DEP Slaps Range with Record $8.9M Fine for Methane Migration). The DEP said the Range well, drilled in 2011, had been leaking methane since at least 2013 (improperly cemented well casing) and the methane had “contaminated the groundwater-fed wells of private water supplies, and a nearby stream.” But the DEP never actually sent a bill for the fine to Range. Why? Because Range immediately appealed the DEP’s initial notice to the PA Environmental Hearing Board. It now appears the appeal process will drag on at least until the dog days of summer–in July…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Range Resources Lays off 55, including 33 in PA
February 3, 2016February 3, 2016

Yesterday Range Resources, the fourth largest driller in the Marcellus, announced the company is laying off 55 people companywide, with 31 of those positions located in Washington County, PA. Another 20 positions will be eliminated in Range’s home office located in Fort Worth, TX. Two of the jobs disappearing will be in Williamsport, PA, and the final two in Oklahoma. Range CEO Ray Walker used the same identical language he’s used twice before (lazy PR department?) in saying, “Low commodity prices have created a harsh reality that everyone in our industry is facing.” Indeed. The oil and gas industry is facing the toughest market it’s had in 30 years…
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Anadarko | Energy Companies | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Anadarko 2015: Loses $6.7B, Marcellus Drilling Almost Dried Up
February 3, 2016February 3, 2016

Anadarko Petroleum is a huge oil and gas company with drilling operations scattered all over the world–both onshore and offshore. One of those operations, teeny tiny for Anadarko, is in the Marcellus Shale in Lycoming County, PA. Some of their leases are for land in the Loyalsock State Forest where antis are attempting to stop Anadarko from drilling (see Antis Ask PA Gov Wolf to Stop New Drilling in Loyalsock Forest). Don’t worry, Anadarko can take a hint. What was once a very active drilling program in PA for Anadarko just a few years ago–with 30, 40, even 60 permits being issued for wells in any given four month period–has dried up to virtually nothing. For the last four months of 2015 Anadarko received 4 permits to drill in PA, according to the latest data from the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. On Monday Anadarko released their fourth quarter and full year 2015 results. The company posted a $1.25 billion loss for 4Q15 alone. The company lost $6.7 billion for the full year. Yikes! Grab the tourniquets before the company bleeds out! Anadarko announced spending for 2016 will be slashed 50% over 2015 spending levels…
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | XTO

XTO Sues DOJ for Documents Needed in PA Trial over 2010 Spill
January 19, 2016January 19, 2016

Last Thursday XTO Energy sued the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain documents that XTO says may help clear its good name in the vicious (we’d say illegal) criminal lawsuit against it over an accidental spill that happened in Lycoming County, PA in 2010. The DOJ investigated and found XTO did not act criminally and the case was settled. Then, more than three years later, PA’s new Attorney General, Kathleen Kane (now under criminal indictment herself and about to be removed from office) decided she would charge XTO with crimes against the environment–for an accident (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). Since the feds had already investigated and found no wrongdoing, XTO would like their documents to use in defending themselves in a lawsuit that’s about to begin (see XTO Criminal Trial for Accident Spill in PA Delayed Until 2016). But the feds are dragging their feet and making fishy excuses, like they don’t have enough secretaries to find and copy all of the documents requested. XTO has had to sue the DOJ to force them to go find the documents…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Inflection Energy | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Inflection Energy Defeats Delaware Riverkeeper in Lycoming Co.
December 8, 2015December 8, 2015

It doesn’t happen often enough, which is why we make a big deal of it when it does: An energy company (in this case Inflection Energy) completely, utterly, and humiliatingly defeated THE Delaware Riverkeeper in an important court case in Lycoming County, PA. Less than a month ago we brought you the news that a Lycoming County judge had told an anti-driller, backed by Delaware Riverkeeper and Riverkeeper attorney Jordan Yeager, that the case they had filed to prevent Inflection Energy from drilling a legally permitted well was frivolous. The judge said he would allow the case to go forward, but only if the anti (and Riverkeeper) put up big bucks as collateral for the eventuality that they would likely lose (see PA Judge to Antis Seeking Drilling Delay: Put Up $5.69M or Shut Up). Turns out making these sleazeballs put their money where their mouth is, is good medicine. Riverkeeper and its “client” (the local anti-driller) have bowed out. The case is now closed and can’t be re-opened–and it sets a precedent for similar cases. In other words, the good guys won this time!…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Inflection Energy | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

PA Judge to Antis Seeking Drilling Delay: Put Up $5.69M or Shut Up
November 17, 2015November 17, 2015

Here’s a story we LOVE bringing you. A Pennsylvania county judge, Senior Judge Brendan J. Vanston (Lycoming County), has just told an anti-driller to put up or shut up. Inflection Energy had been legally permitted to begin drilling a well in Loyalsock Township in Lycoming County. As they so often do, an anti-driller objected, filing an appeal to stop the drilling in an attempt to delay it by (ab)using the courts. The judge said, in essence, “OK, if you want to play this game, you need to put up $5.69 million as a bond–money you will lose if you don’t prove your frivolous case.” We predict the case will quickly disappear and Inflection will begin drilling…
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Anadarko | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Crime | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Earth First Protesters Convicted, Fined for Blocking PA Drill Site
November 17, 2015November 17, 2015

A couple of radical “Earth First” protesters were fined $400 each last Friday in a Lycoming County, PA court, having been convicted of creating a hazardous situation by “crossing the line” according to the judge. The conviction stems from a case we reported to you last year when a group of nutters shut down an Anadarko drilling site in Lycoming County by chaining themselves to a 12-foot long, shrapnel-filled concrete pipe they had laid across a road (see Protesters Shut Down Anadarko Drill Site in Lycoming County, PA). First responders had to risk their own lives to cut them free, through concrete intentionally embedded with shrapnel (we wouldn’t have been as understanding or gentle as the first responders). Just to show you how big a splash a few committed ~~psychos~~ protesters can make, one of the two fined for $400 (and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service) in Lycoming County last week was also one of the ~~idiots~~ protesters who endangered fans at the Indianapolis Colts/Carolina Panthers NFL game by rappelling down from an upper deck to unfurl a big sign opposing the Cove Point LNG plant (see Cove Point Protesters Disrupt Monday Night Football Game on TV). Same dude–a serial lawbreaker…
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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Canadian Mounties Visit Marcellus to Learn About Greens Who Go Bad
November 10, 2015November 10, 2015

There is a segment of the radical environmental movement that resorts to violence. That is indisputable as we’ve seen it–in the Marcellus/Utica. To be fair, violence by antis doesn’t happen often. We would say most of the anti movement is non-violent (although a fair number do tend toward criminality with “non-violent” protests). But there are those among radical greens who cross the line and engage in acts of violence and terror, sometimes aimed at people who work in the industry (see FBI Investigates Death Threats Against PennEast Pipeline Workers and Domestic Eco-Terrorism: Worker Shot at Rural WV Oil Well Site). Anti-drillers in Canada (or anywhere in the world, for that matter) are no different than anti-drillers in the United States. Some of them turn violent. For that reason, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the Mounties) visited Williamsport, PA in June 2014 to learn more about how their American cousins deal with greens who go bad. Apparently this story–that the Mounties came here to learn about dealing with green crazies–is just now coming to light…
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Accidents | Crime | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | XTO

XTO Criminal Trial for Accident Spill in PA Delayed Until 2016
October 23, 2015October 23, 2015

Not long after she took office, Pennsylvania’s Democrat Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, brought criminal charges against XTO Energy for an accidental spill in Lycoming County, PA that happened two years before she was in office (see PA AG Abuses Her Authority, Files Criminal Charges Against XTO). Kane herself will likely soon be forcibly removed from office because she lied under oath, a criminal offense called perjury, and has now lost her license to practice law (see End is Near: PA AG Kane’s Law License Suspended by Supreme Court). The last we heard anything about Kane’s sham case against XTO is that Democrat Lycoming County Judge Marc Lovecchio refused to dismiss the charges against XTO in April (see Democrat County Judge Rules PA AG’s Case Against XTO Can Proceed). We have a development to report. XTO has been trying to work out a deal with the AG’s office to make this asinine criminal charge go away. You can be sure it involves lots of money (a government shakedown of XTO). So XTO has filed a continuance request, pushing the trial off until 2016. The judge granted the request because XTO says “meaningful discussion$” have been held, which means a trial may be avoided altogether…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Major Victory for PA Landowners/Drillers in Lycoming County Case
September 15, 2015September 15, 2015

A major defeat for Pennsylvania’s anti-drilling groups, including THE Delaware Riverkeeper, was just handed down by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in a Lycoming County zoning case. In Gorsline v. Board of Supervisors of Fairfield Township, anti-drilling neighbors, including Brian and Dawn Gorsline, Paul and Michele Batkowski and others (collectively “Gorsline”) sued to stop a conditional use permit granted by Fairfield Township to allow Inflection Energy to construct a well pad on the property of Donald and Eleanor Shaheen. The case was weak, but the lowest court in the PA court system–the Court of Common Pleas (i.e. county court)–said the ninny nanny neighbors had a right to strip away the Shaheen’s property rights to allow drilling on their own property. The PA Commonwealth Court obliterated the faulty reasoning of the lower court and has, significantly, redefined how courts should interpret the results of the Act 13 zoning lawsuit that allows local municipalities the right to restrict shale drilling. The Commonwealth Court decision (full copy below) has kicked the legal legs out from under those seeking to use an amicus brief filed by THE Delaware Riverkeeper in the Act 13 case…
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Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | SWEPI | Tioga County (PA) | XTO

PA DEP Fines 3 Marcellus Drillers $374K for Methane Migration
August 26, 2015August 26, 2015

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection announced an agreement/settlement with three Marcellus drillers operating in the northeastern portion of the state. The three–Chesapeake Energy, XTO Energy and SWEPI (i.e. Shell) were fined a collective $374,481 for methane migration related to their drilling activities at three locations (three different counties) in 2011 and 2012. The bad news is that 13 private water wells between the three incidents were negatively affected, along with several local creeks. The good news is that the problems are all fixed. Methane migration is an eminently fixable condition. Here are the details for each fine, including what happened and where it happened…
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Accidents | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Tioga County (PA)

EPA Causes Environmental Disaster in CO; Connection to Marcellus?
August 11, 2015August 11, 2015

We’ve watched, with some interest, the unfolding story that began last week in Colorado when the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) caused an environmental disaster of incalculable proportions. EPA workers were fiddling around with, what, testing?, at the now abandoned Gold King Mine, an old gold mine where millions of gallons of wastewater used during mining was stored. During their testing (or whatever they were doing) at the site, they accidentally unplugged the wastewater storage pond and millions (originally said to be 1 million, now disclosed as 3 million) gallons of very nasty wastewater with lead, arsenic and other heavy metals flowed into the the Animas River north of Silverton, CO, turning the water “an opaque orange color reminiscent of boxed mac and cheese.” Stick with us–we’re about to make a connection to the Marcellus Shale…
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Centre County | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania

Marcellus Gas on the Way for PA Customers with No Pipelines
July 24, 2015July 31, 2015

In June MDN told you about a very neat concept–delivering natural gas to customers who don’t live near pipelines and likely never will (see Getting Marcellus NatGas to Rural Customers without Pipelines). As we told you at the time, Compass Natural Gas is building a distribution terminal in Lycoming County, PA that will accept Marcellus Shale gas in, clean it up (get rid of the water in it), compress it to 3600 psi, and load it into specially designed trailers and haul it to customers. We have an update. Work is proceeding on the Lycoming County facility–and Compass will build its second terminal in Centre County, PA. Compass plans six of these terminals in all…
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Anadarko | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Southwestern Energy

Antis Ask PA Gov Wolf to Stop New Drilling in Loyalsock Forest
July 16, 2015July 16, 2015

Representatives from a dozen far-left anti-fossil fuel groups sent a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday asking him to illegally prevent drilling in the Loyalsock State Forest–where the mineral rights are owned by private individuals and not the state. Groups like PennFuture (most of whose employees now work in the Wolf Administration), the Sierra Clubbers and the League of [Liberal Democrat] Women Voters are signatories to the letter urging Wolf to wave his magic wand and prevent drilling in the Loyalsock. Of course their pleas and demands ignore the fact that drilling is already happening in many state forests–INCLUDING Loyalsock. Their objection is to the addition of more drilling in the Clarence Moore Lands area of the Loyalsock…
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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

“Researchers” Take to the Sky to Locate Marcellus Methane Leaks
July 6, 2015July 6, 2015

Tower: “Global Warming Nutjob One–you’re cleared for takeoff on runway three.” GWNO: “Roger. Global Warming Nutjob One is taxiing and will takeoff from runway three. Have a nice, carbon-free day Tower.” Tower: “Er, thanks, we think.” As the Twin Otter airplane takes off into the sunrise, it burns copious amounts of fossil fuels and belches carbon like a dragon as it heads off to monitor whether a teeny tiny amount of methane (natural gas) is leaking from Marcellus Shale drilling sites. Anyone else see the irony here? The Philadelphia Inquirer has written an (article? propaganda piece? promotional advertisement?) about a “research” project under way between Penn State, University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to fly over Marcellus Shale drill sites in Pennsylvania to see if they can catch drillers in the act of leaking methane…
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