Big Green groups are colluding on a new lawsuit aimed at overturning a permit that allows a compressor station located in Smith Township (Washington County, PA) to continue operating. Gee, color us surprised.
Read More “Antis File Lawsuit to Cancel MarkWest Compressor Permit in SWPA”
We recently became aware of a small (very small) Dominion pipeline project in western PA while covering the news of another smallish Dominion pipeline (see PA DEP OKs Dominion Pipeline to Feed PA NatGas to OH Power Plant). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently issued a 401 certificate for the JP-40 Pipeline Replacement Project located in Salem, Hempfield, and Penn Townships, Westmoreland County.
Read More “Dominion’s SWPA JP-40 Pipeline Replacement Project Set to Begin”
Seems like all we see in mainstream media are articles bashing Energy Transfer’s Mariner East (ME) NGL pipeline projects. Most of the negative press comes from southeastern PA where the pipeline has hit snags in building through Philadelphia suburbs. Imagine our surprise in seeing a guest editorial in a southwestern PA newspaper supporting the ME project, a column that details just how this massive project has benefitted the Keystone State in numerous ways–all across the state.
Read More “The Positive Impacts of Mariner East Pipeline Across PA”
We almost didn’t run this post, but, well, it was just too funny not to! Danny DeVito is running to become the next representative for the 45th District of the Pennsylvania State House, located in Allegheny County (i.e. Pittsburgh). And he’s running as a Republican on a pro-shale drilling platform! Wait, isn’t Danny DeVito that really short Hollywood actor who’s an uber-liberal and hardened Democrat?! Indeed he is. But we’re not talking about *that* Danny DeVito.
Read More “Danny DeVito is Pro-Shale! Runs for PA State House in SWPA”
There is one court case in Pennsylvania that we’ve been concerned about since April 2018. The Briggs v Southwestern Energy case had the power to block most new Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. The case, revolving around the oil and gas “rule of capture” principle, was appealed by Southwestern all the way to the PA Supreme Court. We are elated to report that yesterday the Supremes ruled supreme and found in favor of Southwestern–retaining the rule of capture in the Keystone State. This is seriously good news for both drillers and leased landowners. Below we explain what the rule of capture is, the background of the case, and what the Supremes said in yesterday’s important ruling.
Read More “HUGE NEWS: PA Supreme Court Keeps ‘Rule of Capture’ for Fracking”
Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai has been a true champion for the Marcellus industry in the Keystone State. He’s also a great conservative, a counterweight to leftist Governor Tom Wolf. Mike Turzai is the reason Wolf’s odious (and really dumb) severance tax has not passed. Turzai has been our firewall. MDN editor Jim Willis spoke to Speaker Turzai this past June at an event in northeastern PA where he told us he would run for governor in 2022 (see Spreading Marcellus Love Throughout PA with Expanded PIPE Program). Is that all out the window? Yes.
Read More “Say It Ain’t So! PA House Speaker Mike Turzai is Retiring”
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is no friend of the Marcellus industry, and frankly, he’s no friend to PA landowners either. At every turn, Shapiro investigates and attempts to block the Marcellus industry in the state. The latest evidence: Shapiro has used the full weight of the entire state in signing on to an amicus (friend of the court) brief in a federal court case that challenges the approval of Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline–a Williams PA pipeline that’s been in the ground and operating since 2018.
Read More “PA AG Josh Shapiro Bashes Marcellus with Anti-Pipe Lawsuit Support”
We are sad to report that over 1,000 dedicated workers who used to work at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) oil refinery in Philly will permanently remain out of the jobs they once held at the facility. The owner of PES has decided to sell the now-closed refinery to a real estate developer from Chicago who intends to convert the property from a refinery (the nation’s oldest and largest refinery along the East Coast) into…warehouses. Yeah, warehouses. Complete with an increase in truck traffic, diesel fumes, and all sorts of headaches that come from a massive warehouse complex located in an urban area. It’s sad.
Read More “Philadelphia Energy Solutions Oil Refinery Permanently Closed”
In Ohio, it costs drillers $5,500 to file for and receive a permit to drill a new shale well. In West Virginia, the cost is $10,150. In Pennsylvania, it has (until now) cost drillers $5,000 for a new shale well permit. Following a vote yesterday by the state Environmental Quality Board (EQB), that number is zooming to the top of the M-U list: $12,500 (2 1/2 times the previous fee). With current low gas prices, it’s pretty easy to predict new drilling permits in PA are going to crash and burn in 2020. The received wisdom is true: You always get less of what you tax more.
Read More “PA Enviro Quality Board Approves Massive Hike in Shale Permit Fee”
In a coordinated attack on Pennsylvania House Bill (HB) 1100, aimed at attracting NEW petrochemical investment to the state, Big Green has launched a letter-writing campaign to newspapers to try and shame PA Senate Republicans into voting against the state’s future economic and jobs bonanza. Fat chance Big Green!
Read More “Big Green Launches Effort to Defeat PA Petchem Investment Bill”
The ticket to getting elected in uber-liberal southeastern Pennsylvania (in the Philadelphia suburbs) is to track left with your politics. Even the few elected Republicans in SEPA are nothing more than Democrat-lite in their philosophy and voting. Two Democrats who unseated PA House Republicans in Chester County in 2018 by running against the Mariner East pipeline project, are now being challenged because of their pipeline positions.
Read More “Anti-Pipeline Dems from Chester County Face Primary Challengers”
The sleaziest of Pennsylvania’s Big Green groups–THE Delaware Riverkeeper and PennFuture–have filed a “friend of the court” (amicus) brief in a federal lawsuit hoping they can help gut the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by denying FERC the only way the agency has of combating these sleazy groups–something called a tolling order.
Read More “PA Big Green Supports Lawsuit to Gut FERC re Pipe Approvals”
Dominion Energy’s West Loop Project will flow natural gas from western PA into Ohio to feed a new natural gas-fired electric plant being built there. We first noticed this small (but important) project in June 2019 (see Dominion Pipeline to Feed Western PA NatGas to OH Power Plant). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued final approval for the project in December (see FERC OKs Dominion Pipeline to Feed PA NatGas to OH Power Plant). And now, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a Section 401 Water Quality Certification for the project.
Read More “PA DEP OKs Dominion Pipeline to Feed PA NatGas to OH Power Plant”
It’s full speed ahead for the Adelphia Gateway Pipeline project in southeastern Pennsylvania. In December the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final approval for the project (see FERC Issues Final OK for Southeast PA Adelphia Gateway Pipeline). Last week Talen Energy sold the actual pipeline to New Jersey Resources so the project can commence (see Talen Energy Sells PA Pipeline to Adelphia Gateway for $155M). NJ Resources/Adelphia has just filed a request with PA for permits to move dirt around at 13 locations. We have the list.
Read More “Adelphia Gateway Pipe Files to Upgrade 13 Sites in Southeast PA”
Electric fracking (or e-fracking) continues to displace traditional fracking in the Marcellus/Utica. What’s the difference between the two? Traditional fracking uses diesel-fueled engines to produce electricity to power pressure pumps for hydraulic fracturing operations. Electric fracking uses natural gas from the well pad to power turbines to create electricity. Electric fracking fleets are roughly half the size of traditional diesel fleets–and a whole lot quieter.
Read More “Another Marcellus Driller Converts to Electric Fracking”
Two weeks ago the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced the largest fine for a single company/project in its history. DEP slapped Energy Transfer (ET) with a $30.6 million fine for the construction and subsequent explosion of the company’s Revolution gathering pipeline in western PA (see ET Allowed to Fix/Restart Revolution Pipe…After Record $30M Fine). As part of the fine, DEP said ET could restart construction to fix Revolution. DEP also said ET could restart construction for another project: Mariner East 2 (ME2). Yesterday the other shoe dropped when DEP announced a new fine related to ME2 work–for $1.95 million.
Read More “PA DEP Slaps Energy Transfer Again – $2M Fine re Mariner East 2”