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PA EHB Allows Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County to Open

In January 2024, MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a plan by Catalyst Energy to convert an existing conventional gas production well on Route 646 in Cyclone (Keating Township, McKean County, PA) into a shale wastewater injection well (see PA DEP Approves Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County). The DEP approved the plan on Jan. 11, 2024. More than 40 unhappy residents of Cyclone appealed the approval a few months later (see Sanctioned Lawyer Meets Cyclone Residents Against Injection Well). Even as the appeal played out, construction to convert the well continued—that is, until November, when a special state court stopped construction (see PA EHB Blocks Work on Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County). That same court issued an opinion on Dec. 27 that allows work to finish the well to continue and allows the well to open. Read More “PA EHB Allows Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County to Open”

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PA EHB Blocks Work on Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County

In January, MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a plan by Catalyst Energy to convert an existing conventional gas production well on Route 646 in Cyclone (Keating Township, McKean County, PA) into a shale wastewater injection well (see PA DEP Approves Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County). The well would handle up to 30 truckloads of wastewater per day. The prospect of the traffic and location near some homes did not sit well with some area residents. However, the DEP approved the plan on Jan. 11. More than 40 residents of Cyclone appealed the approval (see Sanctioned Lawyer Meets Cyclone Residents Against Injection Well). Even as the appeal played out, construction to convert the well continued. Construction stopped yesterday, thanks to a temporary order by a special state court. Read More “PA EHB Blocks Work on Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County”

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Work on Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County Progresses

In January, MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a plan by Catalyst Energy to convert an existing conventional gas production well on Route 646 in Cyclone (Keating Township in McKean County, PA) into a shale wastewater injection well (see PA DEP Approves Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County). The well would handle up to 30 truckloads of wastewater per day. The prospect of the traffic and location near some homes did not sit well with some area residents. However, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved the plan on Jan. 11. More than 40 residents of Cyclone appealed the DEP approval (see Sanctioned Lawyer Meets Cyclone Residents Against Injection Well). Even as the appeal plays out, construction to convert the well is underway. Read More “Work on Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County Progresses”

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PA DEP, EDF Launch Drone Program to Sniff Out Abandoned O&G Wells

The radicalized Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in partnership with the equally radicalized Moms Clean Air Force (MCAF), is joining forces with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and (very oddly) McGill University, which is located in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) to launch a project to identify and “facilitate remediation of” orphan and abandoned oil and gas wells across Western Pennsylvania. The group will fly specially outfitted drones about 100 feet above ground in Clarion, Venango, and McKean counties in western PA to try and identify and catalog orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells. Read More “PA DEP, EDF Launch Drone Program to Sniff Out Abandoned O&G Wells”

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Sanctioned Lawyer Meets Cyclone Residents Against Injection Well

In January, MDN brought you the good news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved a plan by Catalyst Energy to convert an existing gas production well on Route 646 in Cyclone (Keating Township in McKean County, PA) into a shale wastewater injection well (see PA DEP Approves Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County). More than 40 residents of Cyclone appealed the DEP approval. They met with an attorney over the weekend to help them with their appeal — an attorney that has the distinction of being the first (and so far only) attorney to be sanctioned by the DEP’s Environmental Hearing Board (EHB).
Read More “Sanctioned Lawyer Meets Cyclone Residents Against Injection Well”

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PA DEP Approves Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County

Here’s a story that escaped our radar…until now. Catalyst Energy, Inc., proposes converting an existing gas production well on Route 646 in Cyclone (Keating Township in McKean County, PA) into a shale wastewater injection well. The well would handle up to 30 truckloads of wastewater per day. The prospect of the traffic and location near some homes did not sit well with some local residents. However, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) approved the plan on Jan. 11, although it didn’t publicly announce the approval until Tuesday, Jan. 23.
Read More “PA DEP Approves Shale Wastewater Injection Well in McKean County”

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25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 27 – Dec 3

New shale permits issued for Nov 27 – Dec 3 in the Marcellus/Utica were much improved over the previous few weeks. There were 25 new permits issued last week versus 14 issued two weeks ago and just one new permit three weeks ago. So the trend is our friend! Last week’s permit tally included 15 new permits in Pennsylvania, 8 new permits in Ohio, and 2 new permits in West Virginia. Three companies tied for top place with 4 permits each: Seneca Resources in PA, Ascent Resources and Encino Energy in OH.
Read More “25 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 27 – Dec 3”

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Canadian Methane Offsets Co. Buys Northwest Pa. Well Plugging Co.

Zefiro Methane Corp., a private “methane offsets originator” (we will explain) headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, has acquired a majority ownership stake in Plants & Goodwin (P&G), an OFS and oil well-plugging company located in Bradford (McKean County), Pennsylvania, for an undisclosed sum. It appears P&G will continue as its own standalone company, but its services of plugging abandoned and orphan wells will be joined with the services Zefiro offers in methane emission offsets–also known as carbon offset credits.
Read More “Canadian Methane Offsets Co. Buys Northwest Pa. Well Plugging Co.”

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PA Rep Causer Introducing Bill to Block Bans of Gas Stoves/Furnaces

Pennsylvania State Rep. Martin Causer, Republican from Bradford (McKean County), PA, is introducing a new bill to prohibit PA municipalities from banning the installation and use of natural gas stoves and furnaces. “Pennsylvanians deserve better than to have their freedom restricted by an overly involved government that thinks it knows better than they do,” Causer wrote in a memorandum to his fellow House members, asking them to join him in co-sponsoring the bill. In our opinion, every single Republican member of the PA House should be listed as a co-sponsor of Causer’s “energy freedom” bill.
Read More “PA Rep Causer Introducing Bill to Block Bans of Gas Stoves/Furnaces”

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20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 5-11

Last week (Dec. 5-11), the number of permits issued to drill new shale wells in the Marcellus/Utica dropped by one to 20 from the prior week’s 21. Pennsylvania came back to life with 14 new permits. Ohio and West Virginia both issued just three new shale permits.
Read More “20 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Dec 5-11”

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21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 28-Dec 4

Last week (Nov. 28-Dec. 4), the number of permits issued to drill new shale wells rose slightly to 21 from the prior week’s 17. The big surprise is why. Pennsylvania only handed out five new permits. Ohio issued even fewer–just three. It was West Virginia with 12 new permits that saved the day.
Read More “21 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Nov 28-Dec 4”

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No Cause Yet Determined for TGP Line 1 Explosion in McKean County

A portion of Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) running through Clermont, PA (in McKean County) exploded and caused a fire in a remote part of the town (wooded area) last Tuesday evening (see Tennesse Gas Pipe Explodes in McKean County – 125 MMcf/d Offline). TGP declared a “force majeure” shutting down the pipeline (actually two pipelines) in the area, knocking some 330 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas offline. A day later, TGP posted a new notice to say Line 2 was OK and returning to full service. Roughly 125 MMcf/d would remain offline from Line 1 (the pipeline that exploded) in that area until further notice. We have a small update.
Read More “No Cause Yet Determined for TGP Line 1 Explosion in McKean County”

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Tennesse Gas Pipe Explodes in McKean County – 125 MMcf/d Offline

Pipeline explosion in McKean County (Credit: WESB)

A portion of Kinder Morgan’s Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) running through Clermont, PA (in McKean County) exploded and caused a fire in a remote part of the town (wooded area) Tuesday evening. Fortunately, nobody was injured. Thanks to the speedy actions of first responders, the fire was contained and only burned about five acres of woods. The cause has not yet been determined. TGP declared a “force majeure” shutting down the pipeline (actually two pipelines) in the area, knocking some 330 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas offline. Yesterday TGP posted a new notice to say Line 2 was OK and returning to full service. Roughly 125 MMcf/d will remain offline from Line 1 (the pipeline that exploded) in that area until further notice.
Read More “Tennesse Gas Pipe Explodes in McKean County – 125 MMcf/d Offline”

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FERC Gives NFG Extra 3 Years to Build Northern Access Pipeline

National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) and its pipeline subsidiary Empire Pipeline have worked on a plan to build the Northern Access Pipeline since 2016. Northern Access is a 97-mile project from McKean County in Pennsylvania into and through Allegany, Cattaraugus and Erie counties in New York, that will flow Marcellus gas into New York State. The project was repeatedly delayed by the radicals of the Andrew Cuomo (now Kathy Hochul) administration. NFG says it still wants to build the project, but needs more time. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) just gave NFG an extra 35 months to get the project done.
Read More “FERC Gives NFG Extra 3 Years to Build Northern Access Pipeline”

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24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 16-22

Just last week MDN told you we will, from now on, bring you new permit data for the previous week on Fridays. Yet here it is Thursday and we’re sharing the permit data for last week. What gives? MDN and its author, Jim Willis, are taking a break Friday (tomorrow) and next Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. Well, we’re taking Monday off for the holiday. We’re taking Friday off because there’s a wedding in Jim’s family this weekend. There are preparations to make, and celebrations to partake in. So we’re bringing you the permit data today, on Thursday. Speaking of which, there were 24 new permits issued last week, with 14 of them going to Pennsylvania, seven to Ohio, and three to West Virginia. We break it down below.
Read More “24 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 16-22”

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35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 9-15

We’re giving Fridays a shot as the day we will release weekly updates for permits issued for the prior one-week period. Today’s report is for the period of May 9-15 (last week, not this week). It seems as if the various state agencies have the data updated by the end of the week following, so that’s how we’ll release it (for now). Last week, Pennsylvania issued 22 new permits with Seneca Resources taking the lion’s share of 12 permits on two different pads (eight in Lycoming County and four in McKean County). Repsol scored four permits in Bradford County.
Read More “35 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV May 9-15”