New Town Board Tries to Stop Nearly-Done Gas-Fired Plant in Jessup
Just yesterday MDN warned you about a group of antis who had seized political control in the Pennsylvania borough of Jessup, where Invenergy is nearing completion of the state’s largest natural gas-fired electric generating plant (see PA’s Largest NatGas-Fired Elec Plant Near Scranton Nears Startup). True to form, no sooner than the antis were sworn in, they began to throw up roadblocks to completing the Lackawanna Energy Center project. As we explained yesterday, Invenergy has filed a request with Jessup to use the borough’s sewer system to dispose of up to 56,600 gallons of “wastewater” (heated water) per day. The first thing the new board did was to hire a radical, far-left attorney (who also represents the odious Delaware Riverkeeper) to “review” Invenergy’s request. It’s a total sham. Jessup’s new Council President, Gerald Crinella, lied through his teeth when he said, “What we’re looking to do is have an expert look at it and say, ‘What other options are available?’ What are the pros and cons of them? What are the costs associated with them?” The aim of hiring the Riverkeeper attorney is to STOP this project and has nothing to do with being extra careful. Council is supposed to vote by Jan. 15 on Invenergy’s request to use the sewer system in order for the project to remain on track. The yesterday decided to ask Invenergy to delay the Jan. 15 date–the classic first move antis always make. First delay, then deny. We predict a lawsuit will swiftly be filed by Invenergy, who will be ready to start the plant up in February…
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Sunoco Logistics Partners continues to feel the heat over their construction of the Mariner East 2 (ME2) natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline project. Most of the heat comes from underground horizontal directional drilling (HDD)–drilling holes to install pipelines under structures like roads and streams, in places where you can’t just dig a trench. The problem is that sometimes the mud used to cool the drill bit for HDD work “leaks” or disappears into cracks and crevices, and sometimes the drilling mud ends up coming back to the surface. It’s called an “inadvertent return.” Bear in mind that drilling mud is otherwise known as bentonite–a nontoxic clay mixture. Bentonite is the same chemical compound used to make kitty litter, toothpaste and all sorts of cosmetics. It’s totally safe for the environment–unless you spill a lot of it and smother little critters like salamanders and fishies. Several Big Green groups sued to stop ME2’s HDD work last year. In August, Sunoco “settled” that lawsuit. The terms of the “settlement” called for Sunoco to reevaluate and resubmit plans for HDD drilling at 47 locations for review by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). Since that time more spills have occurred, and keep occurring (see 
Dominion recently received an important approval from Murrysville, PA (Westmoreland County) Council to expand the existing JB Tonkin compressor station. The expansion is part of Dominion’s Supply Header Project, a $500 million project of approximately 38 miles of natural gas pipeline and modified existing compression facilities in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The project will provide natural gas supplies to various customers, including (most importantly) the $5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) Dominion plans to begin building this year. Some residents resisted the approval voicing concerns about noise. As part of the approval, Dominion agreed to conduct a post-construction noise survey, even though technically they don’t have to. Here’s an update on the Murrysville approval of this important piece of what ultimately will feed ACP…
Chesapeake Energy is holding out an olive branch to Pennsylvania landowners–the offer of settling a years-old class action lawsuit for $30 million–as reparations for shafting PA landowners out of royalties. But–and it’s a big but–Chesapeake is also snatching the olive branch away unless/until the PA Attorney General’s office resolves its separate lawsuit against Chesapeake for the same thing. No deal with the AG? No final settlement. Chesapeake’s lawyer calls it “global peace”–which we find amusing. The lawyer said “we need global peace,” meaning both lawsuits must be settled. His comment reminds us of the recent song blaring on the radio over the holidays called, “My Grown-Up Christmas List.” Yeah, don’t we all want “global peace.” Chesapeake’s proffered deal will give the average PA leaseholder (some 14,000 of them) a one-time $2,140 payment–adjusted up or down for the size of their acreage. Frankly, it’s chump change. The big concession by Chesapeake in the proposed deal is that it gives landowners the right to clarify the terms of their leases: “Every Chesapeake lessor will get to pick how their royalties are paid going forward.” Landowners can choose to continue letting Chesapeake market the gas outside of the region (theoretically for a higher price) but requiring the landowner to share in post-production expenses with Chessy as has been the case, OR landowners can rework the lease so there are no post-production expenses deducted. In the second case royalties will be based on the local price of gas in that landowner’s area (typically in the basement). It’s a tough decision. So, landowners got shafted in the past, but the past is the past. Going forward, let’s not get shafted any more. That’s what this proposed deal seems to boil down to. Oh, and throw in a few grand as the cherry on top. The billion dollar question is whether or not the AG’s office will go for it. The AG’s office is signaling it may settle, IF Chesapeake picks a number higher than $30 million as a settlement number…
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined CNX Resources (formerly CONSOL Energy/CNX Gas) $433,500 for violations at four shale well sites in Greene County, PA. The violations, which happened in 2015/2016, include failure to control and dispose of wastewater properly and failure to prevent erosion. Some of the flowback/wastewater ended up in a small stream called Jacobs Run. We always find the language of these announcements by the DEP somewhat strange: “CNX Gas Company, LLC (CNX) has agreed to two civil penalties totaling $433,500 for violations at well sites in Greene County.” Really? The company getting fined has to “agree” to accept the fine? Apparently we don’t fully understand how regulatory agencies work in PA. What if CNX didn’t agree to the fine? Would the DEP come back with a lower amount, “Will you accept this fine instead?” But we digress. CNX themselves noticed the problems and self-reported the violations. After doing so, they fired two of the service companies they were using. The unnamed service companies were obviously guilty of cutting corners that resulted in improper disposal of wastewater. Interesting factoid: Half of all the wells CNX has drilled in PA are located in Greene County…
Pittsburgh’s oldest still operating steel mill, U.S. Steel Corp.’s Edgar Thomson steel mill, may soon be home to more than just a foundry. A privately owned oil and gas company headquartered in New Mexico–Merrion Oil & Gas Corp.–has signed a lease with U.S. Steel to drill a series of six (possibly more) shale wells on the Edgar Thomson Works property in Allegheny County. The plan is to drill one Marcellus well to begin with, and after testing, expand that with five more Marcellus wells. However, Merrion is not ruling out deeper wells to tap the Utica. Even though the location for the wells is as industrial as industrial gets–with noisy steel making (and the air pollution that goes along with it), antis are complaining that drilling a few shale wells will turn their lives into a dung heap. Nothing new about their reaction. What is new is Merrion. This is their first entry into the Marcellus/Utica region. Until now, Merrion has concentrated on other regions. According to one biased news outlet, Merrion has “no experience drilling into deep, tight, shale formations like the Marcellus.” Whether or not that’s true, we don’t know (we tend to doubt it). What we do know is that Merrion is a privately owned, family company started in 1960 by a former petroleum engineer. Merrion is not some upstart company that doesn’t know anything about the oil and gas business–quite the opposite. Merrion has already had preliminary meetings with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection about their plans. An official permit request should be coming any time over the next three months…
Huntley & Huntley (H&H), a shale driller headquartered in Monroeville (Allegheny County), PA plans to drill Marcellus Shale wells in neighboring Murrysville (Westmoreland County), PA. H&H has filed for state permits for the Titan Well Pad project. This is will be the first Marcellus wells to be drilled in Murrysville. On May 3, 2017, Murrysville Town Council passed a new drilling ordinance that requires a 750 foot setback from the edge of the well pad–not from the bore hole (see 
It’s been a long road, but we’re finally close to startup for the first phase of what will be Pennsylvania’s largest gas-fired electric generating plant near Scranton, PA. The Invenergy plant, dubbed the Lackawanna Energy Center (located in the community of Jessup), will produce 1,480 megawatts of electricity when it’s fully built and running. Construction crews are hard at work in frigid temperatures, working to complete the first of three combined-cycle generator units. The work is 80% done on the first unit and on track to be completed by February. The plant is certainly having an impact on locals–both good and bad. On the bad side, we previously reported that antis in the Jessup community exacted their revenge on local political leaders for approving the plant by removing them from office (see 
Yesterday a Pennsylvania federal judge denied a group of 600+ Marcellus Shale landowners’ request to form a class action in arbitrating a royalty case against Chesapeake Energy. Although the judge’s decision is a disappointment for landowners, his decision should come as a surprise. In April, the same judge, U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann for the Middle District of PA, telegraphed that the landowners, under the law (and under the leases they signed) did not have a right to form a class action (see 
Ultra Petroleum, based in Houston, TX, is an independent exploration and production (E&P) company mainly focused on drilling in the Green River Basin of Wyoming. Ultra also drills for oil in the Uinta Basin/Three Rivers area in Utah. In addition, Ultra maintains a “non-operated” (someone else does the drilling) position in the Pennsylvania Marcellus shale with leases on 72,000 net acres–no small amount. As recently as May of this year Ultra CEO Michael Watford signaled that the Marcellus acreage is not a drain on their budget, so they would just hold on to it and see what happens (see 
In July, West Goshen Township, in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester County, won a temporary victory in their efforts to stop Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East 2 (ME2) NGL pipeline in their community (see 
A group of six radical Democrats who oppose the Mariner East 2 pipeline through southeast Pennsylvania met yesterday with Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf to gripe and moan–and to ask Wolf to illegally shut down construction of the pipeline (a pipeline which is now 91% done). Wolf politely listened–and then did nothing. Which is good. The radicals hold out hope that Wolf will change his mind and use his executive authority under Title 35 (dealing with health and safety) as an excuse to shut down all ME2 construction. Good luck with that. A statement issued later in the day by a Wolf spokesman seems to indicate the governor is punting any decisions about shutting down construction over to the Public Utility Commission. Yesterday the PUC vote to allow already-shut-down ME2 construction in one SE PA town to resume (see today’s story, PA PUC Votes to Let ME2 Pipeline Restart Construction in West Goshen). All of which says to us that Wolf won’t do a thing to stop completion of ME2, which angers the radicals all the more…
An obscure committee of individuals will begin to wield big power over Pennsylvania’s natural gas (and oil) gathering pipelines beginning next year. In just about every state in the country, before you start digging a hole in the ground for some reason (water well, septic system, laying an underground electric line, etc.)–the first thing you do is call 811 or some similar phone number. The “one call” or “first call” reaches a state-authorized (not necessarily state-run) office where they have, on file, maps detailing any kind of underground cables, pipelines and other infrastructure. If such underground structures exist, a representative of the owner for the underground line will, if necessary, stop by and mark the areas so when you do begin digging, you don’t hit it. Makes sense. A bill introduced last year (in 2016) in the Pennsylvania legislature “enhances” the existing 811 law in PA. One of the “enhancements” is that it removes an exclusion for low-pressure natural gas gathering pipelines from being required to be part of the 811 system, mainly lines run to low-producing conventional gas wells. The bill was opposed by the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association (see 
Weak-kneed, swamp-dwelling politicians from the Philadelphia area continue to ratchet up the noise on stopping all work for the Mariner East 2 Pipeline. State Sen. Andy Dinniman (Democrat from the 19th District) and State Sen. John Rafferty (RINO from the 44th District) say the impacts of ME2’s construction are “unacceptable.” A few of their loudmouthed constituents (mostly likely members of Big Green groups) are complaining to these weak-kneed politicians and in turn the politicians have introduced four new bills in the PA Senate that will not do a @#$% thing about ME2, but will potentially stop future pipeline projects in the state. The aim of the bills is to tie up pipeline projects with so much red tape in various reviews, and by paying new fees for so-called “safety” measures, as to make the pipelines unbuildable. Here’s the latest effort from the Philly area to derail the Marcellus miracle in PA…
Two African-American Marcellus Shale natural gas workers in the Williamsport, PA area claim they were fired, twice, based in part on their race. The two filed a lawsuit against STI Group (a staffing agency) and Chesapeake Energy. The case was thrown out by U.S. Middle District of Pennsylvania Court, but later reinstated on appeal by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Rather than let the case drag out endlessly, STI and Chesapeake have just settled it. The amount of money they had to pay to make it go away was not disclosed. Workers are hired and fired all the time. Ours is a boom/bust industry. Was this really a case of racism? Or just a case of boom and bust? You read the details and decide for yourself…