Planned Potter County Frack Wastewater Treatment Facility is Dead
Those who once supported a cutting-edge technology wastewater treatment plant, proposed by Epiphany Water Solutions for Coudersport, PA, are now running away from the project as fast as they can. First was JKLM, the primary (only) customer for the project–the main reason for the project. As we told you on Monday, JKLM, which was rumored to also be the main financial backer, said they are no longer interested (see JKLM Pulls Support of Planned Potter County Wastewater Facility). Now comes the news that the Coundersport Area Municipal Authority (CAMA), which operates the local sewage treatment plant that was going to take the distilled water from the proposed Epiphany plant (clean enough to drink) and discharge it into the Allegheny River, has just voted to rescind the permits and contract they had with Epiphany. With friends like these…
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We suppose it was bound to happen. Several weeks ago MDN told you that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) had given final approval to Windfall Oil and Gas to drill a wastewater injection well near Dubois, in Brady Township (Clearfield County), PA (see 
Last week MDN reported that two pieces of heavy equipment being used by Sunoco Logistics Partners to build the Mariner East 2 pipeline in Chester County, PA had been severely, intentionally damaged (see 
As predictable as spring dandelions (weeds that won’t give up), a Marcellus Shale severance tax is once again being pushed by leftists in Harrisburg who want to raise hundreds of millions of dollars to give it away to teachers unions in the Philadelphia area. The interesting twist is that this time the bill introduced in the PA Senate is not from a Philly Senator, but is being authored and introduced by northeast PA Democrat Sen. John Yudichak–from Luzerne County (Wilkes-Barre area). Apparently Yudichak has been nominated as Gov. Wolf’s patsy, to do Wolf’s bidding and dirty work this time around. On Monday Yudichak issued a “co-sponsorship memo” to elicit names he can list on the bill when it’s formally introduced. No doubt he’ll get at least a few sell-out Republicans, like RINOs from the Philly area, and perhaps even some Republicans from drilling areas, like Sen. Gene Yaw from Williamsport, who voted for a similar bill last year…
Last November we updated you on a lawsuit filed by a group of radical anti-fossil fuelers in Penn Township (Westmoreland County), PA (see 
It’s always disappointing when our side backs down from a fight–especially when the other side is demonstrably lying. On Friday afternoon JKLM, the drilling company founded by Terry Pegula (owner of the Buffalo “Marcellus” Bills), announced it is no longer interested in processing brine (wastewater) from shale wells the company drills in Potter County at a proposed shale wastewater treatment plant in Coudersport, PA (see 
Last Thursday Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV hosted an event called “Eye on Beaver County” in Beaver, PA–a celebration of Beaver and a discussion about the county’s future. An 11-member panel discussed the past, present and future of the county. The discussion, as you might imagine, quickly turned to Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker, going up in Monaca even as you read this. A Shell rep and several reps from labor unions were on hand to discuss the manpower issue. The short version is this: Unions for carpenters, ironworkers, steamfitters, and heavy equipment operators need more members, more people to help build the facility. Like, now. The unions offer free training. No, the jobs are not permanent, but such jobs never are. They’re good, high-paying jobs and the jobs will last at least a few years. Plus you get bragging rights–“I helped build the Shell cracker plant.” Here’s how the discussion about the need for more cracker plant workers went at last week’s event…
Last week MDN brought you the news that the Pennsylvania Superior Court handed down a decision that has the power to greatly restrict, perhaps even stop, Marcellus drilling in PA (see 
Here’s one we didn’t see coming–a potential way to fix the ongoing disaster that is the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and their illegal attempt to regulate hydraulic fracturing within the Delaware River Basin under the claim they have the right to regulate anything that impacts groundwater. A Pennsylvania House of Representatives member, Dan Moul (Republican from Gettysburg), is about to introduce a bill that would replace the DRBC’s authority to regulate groundwater by vesting that authority solely in the hands of the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The problem is, the bill appears to be targeted more at the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) than DRBC. The bill will affect both organizations. Last time we checked, the SRBC does a fine job of regulating water withdrawals for fracking AND makes no attempt to regulate fracking, which the DRBC is attempting to do. But then, we don’t think this bill has the DRBC’s frack ban, nor fracking at all, in mind. It likely has more to do with farming and other water uses and some perceived shortcomings at the SRBC…
Monroeville, PA (Allegheny County, suburb of Pittsburgh) is hostile toward the shale industry. In September, Monroeville Council voted to enact a super-restrictive seismic testing ordinance (see 
Propane is one of the NGLs (natural gas liquids) that come out of the ground along with natural gas and oil–especially in “wet gas” areas like southwestern PA, eastern OH, and the northern panhandle area of WV. Ethane and propane have been flowing through the converted Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline for more than year–hauling propane (and ethane) from southwest PA all the way to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia. At Marcus Hook, the propane is loaded onto ships and sent around the world. The world is an important market for our propane. However, ME1 was suddenly switched off on March 3 by order of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) after a sinkhole opened up under the pipeline, exposing some of the bare steel to the open air (see 
The gloves have finally come off. Typically the Marcellus industry, as represented by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, has used restrained language when talking about Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf. Hey, the industry has to work with the guy because the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)–the agency that regulates shale drilling–is part of the executive branch (under Wolf’s thumb). The industry often can’t say what it really thinks. No more. Wolf, who pretends to be a friend of the Marcellus industry and mouths words of support, recently launched a vicious, lying attack against the industry over the severance tax issue (as part of his re-election campaign). The gloves are now off and the MSC is punching back. MSC president Dave Spigelmyer published an editorial in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer pointing out the difference between Wolf’s words and his deeds. In a bout of political schizophrenia (some would say hypocrisy), Wolf says shale gas in PA represents “enormous economic opportunity.” He then turns around and claims high-paid Marcellus lobbyists have spread money around Harrisburg like candy, bribing legislators to block a severance tax. What Wolf doesn’t tell you is that he himself has received millions of dollars from the teacher’s unions he’s promised to give severance tax money to…
The Commonwealth Foundation is Pennsylvania’s premier free-market think tank. The aim of the Foundation is to “transform free-market ideas into public policies so all Pennsylvanians can flourish.” We’ve highlighted their excellent work over the years. They’ve just done it again. The Commonwealth Foundation has just published a report called “The State of Natural Gas in Pennsylvania” (full copy below). The opening begins this way: “Pennsylvania’s regulatory and tax environment is stunting job growth and deterring investment. A decade after the Marcellus Shale boom, lawmakers are still debating how to tax the industry instead of fixing the policies contributing to Pennsylvania’s increasingly uncompetitive energy market.” At the end of the report the Foundation shows a severance tax comparison of existing severance taxes in other states that PA competes against, like Ohio, West Virginia, Texas, Colorado, and Oklahoma. The chart shows that the existing impact fee (in essence a severance tax) runs around 1.1%. The severance tax in Ohio is running around 0.7%, and in West Virginia 3.5%. In places like Texas, which increasingly competes against PA with prodigious quantities of natural gas production, the severance tax is 4.2%. However, Gov. Wolf’s proposed severance tax would be 5%–the highest in the nation except for New Mexico’s 7.9% (which doesn’t compete with PA). The report shows how PA is restricting Marcellus activity with over-regulation and a high corporate income tax…