In November the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear a case, Briggs v. Southwestern Energy, that is hands-down the most important court case to ever happen regarding the Marcellus Shale in PA. And no, we’re not exaggerating. A blizzard of briefs by Southwestern and those supporting Southwestern were filed earlier this week.
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Category: Pennsylvania
The Rise of the Utica…in Southwest Pennsylvania!
The Utica Shale is beginning to get noticed in southwestern Pennsylvania. The rise of the Utica can be traced back to a single well drilled by CNX Resources in 2015.
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PA Drillers/Pipelines Must Now Deal with 3 Protected Bat Species
Bats are a big deal in the Pennsylvania Marcellus. Why? Drillers and midstreamers can’t cut down trees from April 1st through October 31st of each year for fear of killing a northern long-eared bat that may be roosting in one of those trees. The PA Board of Game Commissioners have just added two more bat species to the list, further complicating the issue.
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PA AG Investigates Shale Drillers for “Enviro Crimes”
It turns out Pennsylvania’s current Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, is not much different than his predecessor, Kathleen Kane (who is sitting in jail for committing perjury). Kane, and now Shapiro, have targeted the Marcellus Shale industry, accusing drillers of committing crimes against the environment. It’s cheap and it’s sleazy and a total abuse of the office, all for political grandstanding.
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PA Enviro Radicals Brainwash/Use Children to Pressure Gov. Wolf
How is it not child abuse to brainwash young kids with your particular brand of sick environmental radicalism? That’s apparently what THE Delaware Riverkeeper herself has done–brainwashed little kids.
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Banpu Opens Field Office in NEPA, Looks to Invest $300M in 2019
Banpu Pcl, Thailand’s largest coal producer, invested over $500 million in 2016-2017 to buy existing Marcellus wells and acreage in northeast Pennsylvania (see our Banpu stories here). The last such purchase was in December 2017 (see Banpu/Kalnin Buys 5,289 Ac & 35 Wells in NEPA Marcellus for $105M). Banpu is back–in a big way.
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PA Marcellus Map – Where Does Drilling Happen?
A few weeks ago MDN brought you an updated map showing where Utica drilling has (and has not) happening in Ohio (see Ohio Utica & Marcellus Maps – Where Does Drilling Happen?). We heard from a number of MDN subscribers asking for similar maps for Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We struck out for WV, but we do have a map that shows the location for shale wells in PA.
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PA PUC Begins Geologic Testing Near ME1 Sinkhole
A couple of developments to share with you about the Mariner East 1 NGL pipeline which has been completely shut down since Jan. 21 when a new sinkhole appeared in Chester County exposing a few feet of the bare pipe (see New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline).
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All of Mariner East 1 NGL Pipe Shut Down Indefinitely by PA PUC
MDN previously reported that last Sunday a new sinkhole appeared exposing a tiny section of the Mariner East 1 (ME1) NGL pipeline in Chester County, PA, prompting Sunoco Logistics Partners to close down ME1 in the Greater Philadelphia area (see New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline).
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PA AG Will Continue Chesapeake Royalty Lawsuit in Bradford Co.
Pennsylvania’s Democrat Attorney General, Josh Shapiro, held a public meeting last night in Towanda (Bradford County), PA to talk about the state’s now three-year-old lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy, a lawsuit alleging the company has shafted landowners out of gas royalty money.
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Fed Court Allows PA Royalty Lawsuit Against Chesapeake to Proceed
Coincidentally on the topic of royalty lawsuits (see today’s companion story, PA AG Will Continue Chesapeake Royalty Lawsuit in Bradford Co.), MDN came across a story (and a lawsuit) we previously had not heard about. An important case brought by landowners in Wyoming County, PA.
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PA IFO Report Says Record High Impact Tax for 2018 – $247M
Since 2012, Pennsylvania has collected the equivalent of a severance tax from Marcellus Shale drillers via something called an impact fee. Same concept as a severance tax. You drill a well, gas comes out, you pay a tax. Except with an impact fee you pay whether or not anything comes out of the ground–a more reliable source of tax revenue than a severance tax!
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Chester County DA: Using Off-Duty Police as ME2 Security a Crime
Here’s how the District Attorney in Chester County, Pennsylvania–Tom Hogan–spends his days: Attempting to turn off-duty policeman working as security guards for the Mariner East pipeline projects into criminals. Is this guy sick or what?
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PA DEP Official Says Oil & Gas Program Losing $800K per Month
Yesterday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Deputy Secretary for Oil and Gas Management, Scott Perry, told DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council his program is losing $800,000 a month, which he desperately, desperately hopes will be fixed soon by slapping a 250% hike in permit fees on Marcellus drillers.
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New Mariner East 1 Sinkhole Appears, PA PUC Shuts Down Pipeline
On Sunday a new sinkhole appeared in the backyard of a home in West Whiteland Township (Chester County), PA exposing a small portion of Energy Transfer’s Mariner East 1 (ME1) NGL pipeline.
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SWPA Revolution Pipe Still Closed After Explosion; ET, DEP Argue
On Sept. 10, Energy Transfer’s 24-inch gathering pipeline in Beaver County, PA, called the Revolution Pipeline, caught fire and exploded during testing (see Revolution Pipeline Near Pittsburgh Explodes – Home & Barn Destroyed).
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