New Book, NYT, Seeks to Revive Lycoming Water Contamination Claim
A recently published book that attempts to show fracking in Lycoming County, PA area in the worst possible light, along with a section excerpted from the book running in the New York Times, once again reopens an old case that accuses Range Resources of ruining the water supply for several homes near a fracked well drilled by Range. In 2011 Range drilled and fracked the Harman Lewis Unit 1H well along Green Valley Road in Hughesville, PA. Following an investigation, the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) slapped Range with a record $8.9 million fine in June 2015, accusing the company of faulty casing in its well, leading to methane migration that had contaminated several area water wells (see PA DEP Slaps Range with Record $8.9M Fine for Methane Migration).
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In May MDN told you about one of the oddest combinations in recent memory–the merger of Permian driller Cimarex Energy with Marcellus driller Cabot Oil & Gas (see 
Ever hear of a “market enhancement” royalty clause? If you’re a Pennsylvania landowner, or perhaps a landowner in Ohio and West Virginia, you likely have. Even if you (as a landowner) have a lease that disallows post-production deductions from your royalty check, many leases have market enhancement clauses that allow the driller to deduct certain expenses if they can process the gas and sell it to a distant customer for more money than they can get locally. A higher price for the gas theoretically means you the landowner get a bigger royalty check, right? Not so fast…
Last week Pennsylvania issued 18 permits for new shale well drilling scattered across the state. Ohio (for the eighth week in a row) did not issue any new shale permits. Are we missing something with Ohio? Are they late in updating their online database? West Virginia issued 2 permits for new shale well drilling last week.
The Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) is a far-left, hyper-partisan, nonprofit organization that supports liberal Democrat causes. ORVI conducted a very slanted push poll in May asking Pennsylvania residents a plethora of questions about energy. The ultimate purpose was to smear fracking and drilling for natural gas. We spotted a media story hyping some of the results of the poll stating that a “Majority of Pa. residents want fracking to end.” Far-left organization, slanted poll. What’s new, right? Except when we began to dig into the questions and answers of this slanted poll, we discovered that headline is not truthful, leaving out the real news that a majority of PA residents still support fracking.
During a meeting of the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board yesterday, DEP staffers said they are still evaluating whether or not it is appropriate to develop a regulation covering road dumping of conventional oil and gas drilling wastewater. The staffers noted there is currently a ban on giving permission for road dumping from the Oil and Gas Program. However, the same staffers, namely Scott Perry, DEP Deputy for Oil and Gas Management, neglected to say that wastewater is still used to treat PA’s dusty rural roads through a program under the DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management. Antis are hopping mad.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under current Chairman Richard “Dick” Glick has intentionally slammed the brakes on approving pipeline projects across the country, including those here in the northeast (something we predicted if Biden were to win the White House). Glick’s excuse for delaying new approvals is that FERC is trying to figure out how to account for mythical man-made global warming when evaluating whether or not to approve a new project. It’s pure horse manure, and a prominent Pennsylvania labor union is calling FERC out on its ongoing delay tactic.
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) published a notice in the September 4 Pennsylvania Bulletin for “final technical guidance” on Implementing the Area of Review Regulatory Requirement for Unconventional Well Permitting. This is a document to guide drillers as they evaluate where they will frack, instructing them in how they should evaluate and monitor other nearby wells (other fracked wells or conventional oil and gas wells) to ensure those wells don’t “communicate” oil and gas up to the surface. That is, to ensure oil and gas come out of the right borehole, the well it’s supposed to come out of.
Early last week MDN told you about a new/third well pad planned by Olympus Energy in Upper Burrell Township in Westmoreland County, PA (see 
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) voted to approve the final Environmental Quality Board regulation to slap an insanely high carbon tax, euphemistically called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), on PA’s coal and natural gas-fired power plants. The partisan vote was 3-2 (Democrats voting for, Republicans against) in favor of hiking electric rates by an extra $2.36 billion over the next 10 years. Is there any way to stop Gov. Tom Wolf’s illegal entry into RGGI?
Yesterday a group of ~30 protesters rallied at the Historic Courthouse in Chester County, PA, and marched, while chanting, to the County Justice Center. Their protest is against almost completed Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline construction and against a long-completed and flowing Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline. The protesters, some who were left wing nuts, others who were honest folks who have been duped by Big Green and scaremongers in the media, asked county commissioners to file a Petition for Emergency Relief with the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) to stop any further construction of ME2 and shut down the already-operating ME1 pipeline that runs through the county.
Researchers at Penn State evaluated eight oil and gas wastewaters (i.e. brines), waste soybean oil, and commercial dust suppressants, comparing them to see how well they controlled particle pollution on simulated patches of road. If you believe the headlines about the study, you would believe wastewater is “not usually the best option” for treating dusty roads in PA. If you read the research study itself, you come to the conclusion the study draws no such conclusion.