PA DEP Caves to Big Green Pressure, Stops All Work on ME2 Pipeline
We suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has caved to intense pressure from a cabal of Big Green groups and has told Sunoco Logistics Partners to suspend all work on the $2.5 billion Mariner East 2 (ME2) NGL pipline–from one side of the state to the other. Just yesterday MDN told you about the mounting pressure on the DEP to halt ME2 work, particularly work on underground horizontal directional drilling (see Big Green Says ME2 Pipe Violating Settlement; DEP Turns Up Heat). The shrill voices of Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf’s left flank were so shrill he couldn’t ignore them any longer, hence this action. The DEP in its order said construction will be halted, “until Sunoco can demonstrate that the permit conditions can and will be followed.” So there’s no particular time frame for when Sunoco can resume work–it will be up to the arbitrary gut feeling of the DEP. However, DEP does offer some criteria for when construction may be able to resume. Work can resume IF Sunoco satisfies the terms outlined in DEP’s order, including, but not limited to: (1) Address all impacts to private water wells in Silver Spring Township, Cumberland County; (2) Identify all in-progress or upcoming construction activities and detail the specific Chapter 102 and Chapter 105 permit under which the activity is authorized; (3) Submit a detailed Operations Plan outlining additional measures and controls to minimize inadvertent returns. In essence, the DEP is saying Sunoco has willfully violated the permits (and previous settlement) in constructing ME2, and they (DEP) have had enough. The DEP’s action immediately throws thousands of pipeline workers out of jobs across the state–thank you Tom Wolf and DEP. Big Green groups, including the odious Clean Air Council of Philadelphia, pounced on the DEP announcement, saying the agency should not just suspend construction, but CANCEL it. That has been their aim all along. These pressure groups want to stop the ME2 project cold. End it. Kill it. Finish it off. The DEP isn’t ready to grant that particular wish–yet. However, the suspension is certainly not good news for the project nor for thousand of families who will now have to make do with unemployment checks…
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Yesterday the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection suspended all work on the Mariner East 2 NGL Pipeline project (see today’s lead story, PA DEP Caves to Big Green Pressure, Stops All Work on ME2 Pipeline). The project has been vigorously opposed by antis in the greater Philadelphia area from the beginning. Their opposition stems from a deeper philosophical preference to end the use of fossil fuels. Last September, MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Garland Thompson at the Shale Insight event in Pittsburgh. Garland, who lives in Philly, has written for the Career Communications Group of publications, including US Black Engineer & Information Technology, Hispanic Engineer & IT, and their siblings Woman of Color and Science Spectrum, for many years. He’s covered the shale revolution for those publications since 2008–before MDN began writing about it! Jim had an interesting conversation with Garland, about the need to educate folks, particularly the folks in the greater Philly area, about the benefits of pipelines. Springboarding on yesterday’s news, Garland has written a great opinion piece pointing out that opposition to the Mariner East pipelines (plural) is misguided and shortsighted. Garland builds a case for why everyone in the Philly region should want to see these important projects get built…
In November MDN brought you details about a 100% FREE training program for those interested in a career building pipelines in the Marcellus/Utica region (see 
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 
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…