Pennsylvania

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

Anti-Drilling Martians Running for School Board in November
June 3, 2015June 2, 2015

Who knew that Martians are Democrats? Well, to be honest, we had guessed as much. A small group of Mars School parents who object to fossil fuels have formed a group to oppose Rex Energy’s plan to drill five wells on a pad about 3/4 of a mile from the Mars School in Middlesex Township (Butler County), PA. We’ve chronicled the fight over the past year or so (see our Martian stories here). Three of the parents from the anti-drilling group ran in a primary for the school board. All three, as it turns out, are Democrats. Surprised? No, neither are we. Fracking and drilling is, largely, a partisan issue. The good news is that all three were among the lowest vote-getters in the primary–and one of them flunked off and won’t be on the ballot in November. The other two will run as Dems in a district where Republicans handily outnumber them…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Official Admits Wolf Severance Tax Highest in Nation @ 17.3%
June 2, 2015June 2, 2015

The head of Pennsylvania’s so-called Independent Fiscal Office (a partisan organization) testified before a joint hearing of the state Senate’s energy and finance committees yesterday and said (fantastically) non-Pennsylvanians will “eventually” pick up most of the tab for a nosebleed high severance tax proposed by PA Gov. Tom Wolf (Democrat). Matthew Knittel, head of the Independent Fiscal Office, also testified under oath that Wolf’s severance tax will have an initial effective rate of 17.3% in 2016–instantly skyrocketing to become the nation’s highest severance tax…
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Accidents | Chevron | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Chevron Fined $939K for PA Well Fire/Death in Greene County, PA
June 2, 2015June 2, 2015

Last week MDN brought you word that Chevron had settled a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from an explosion at a Greene County, PA well in 2014 (see Chevron Settles PA Marcellus Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $5M). The other shoe has now dropped. In addition to that $5 million, add another $939,000 in fines from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The DEP yesterday announced Chevron has entered into a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty (CACP) and has agreed to pay the fines levied by the DEP as a result of the explosion and fire at the Lanco well pad. The details from the DEP…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Gov Wolf Tax Package (Incl Severance Tax) Voted Down 193-0
June 2, 2015June 2, 2015

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has proposed a slew of new taxes as part of his proposed budget. Yes, there’s a 15% (or according to his own government advisers, 17.3%) severance tax in the package of tax increases Wolf wants. But there are a number of other taxes the PA Democrat governor, who took office in January, wants as well. When you add it all up, its over $12 billion in new economy-crushing taxes. So the Republicans running the PA House held a vote yesterday on the entire package of Wolf’s tax proposals. In other words, do you really want this? Is this the way to go? The vote was taken, and every single House member, all 193 of them–Republicans and Democrats–voted against Wolf’s tax proposals. Wolf called the vote a “stunt” and said, “This is the kind of gamesmanship that we were not sent here to play.” Er, did we miss something? YOU wanted all of these new taxes Gov. Wolf. So when YOUR taxes were voted on–all together in one package–you didn’t want it after all? Did you have a change of heart? Why did you propose those taxes if you didn’t want them voted on? This is the kind of gamesmanship we’ve come to expect from the Democrats in the Keystone State. The kind of political “stunts” they play. When the Democrats’ enormous appetite for taxing and spending is exposed and brought out into the open, they run away…
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Crude Oil | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Norfolk Southern Responds to PA Gov Wolf’s Letter re Oil Trains
June 2, 2015June 2, 2015

A few weeks ago Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf sent an open and public letter to CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway, two major railroads operating in the state, trying to pressure them into accepting the idea that PA may try and slip its own regulations on top of federal regulations with regard to crude oil trains traveling through the state, most of them coming from the North Dakota Bakken Shale region (see PA Gov Wolf Takes Aim at Bakken Oil Trains Traveling Thru PA). Wolf, in his letter, urged both companies “to join Burlington Northern and Santa Fe (BNSF) in adopting improved safety initiatives for all trains with crude-by-rail (CBR) cars operating in Pennsylvania and to fully and expeditiously comply with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s announced Final Rule.” Norfolk Southern has responded with their own open letter back to Wolf (copy embedded below). It’s message? We’re already in compliance with most of the DOT’s Final Rule, and we go over and above the standards in the Final Rule and standards followed by others like BNSF. So put that in your pipe and smoke it Mr. Wolf…
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Centre County | CNG/LNG | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Getting Marcellus NatGas to Customers without Pipelines
June 2, 2015July 31, 2015

NOTE: This post was updated on 7/30/15 per the request of Compass Natural Gas Partners. The updates reflect that Compass does not market to rural communities/end users, but rather to manufacturers, fleets and businesses that are not located near natural gas pipelines. We thank Compass for setting the record straight. – Jim Willis, Editor, MDN

Wouldn’t it be great if you could sell Pennsylvania’s abundant, clean-burning and cheap Marcellus Shale gas to areas without access to a pipeline or natural gas? Just wave the magic wand and presto-magico gas is delivered to manufacturers, fleets and businesses where no infrastructure now exists. That’s the premise behind a very real company that aims to accomplish that lofty objective. Compass Natural Gas Partners, based in Camp Hill, PA, is building a first of its kind compressed natural gas (CNG) terminal in Lycoming County, PA that will accept Marcellus Shale gas in, clean it up (get rid of the water in it), compress it to 3600 psi, and load it into specially designed trailers that haul it to customers. If this project catches on, it has the power to change how natgas is distributed to locations with no pipelines…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Industry-Backed Ad Turning the Tide Against PA Severance Tax
June 1, 2015June 1, 2015

Must be that new advertisement airing in Pennsylvania warning folks against Gov. Tom Wolf’s Marcellus-killing 15% severance tax is having an effect. How can we tell? Because mainstream media outlets like the ABC affiliate in Harrisburg is manufacturing a false controversy about who’s behind the ads–quoting anti-drillers like Jan Jarrett from the non-transparent partisan group called the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center–to distract people from the effectiveness of the ad. Plus, the pro-Democrat Harrisburg Patriot-News doesn’t even bother manufacturing a false controversy–they just outright criticize and ridicule the ad, not even bothering with a veneer of objectivity…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Hires Stonehenge to Build Gathering Pipeline in PA
June 1, 2015June 1, 2015

Rex Energy has contracted with Stonehenge Energy Resources to build a pipeline gathering system for Rex in Butler County, PA. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but the system–to be built this year–will provide an additional 400 million cubic feet per day of natural gas pipeline capacity, expandable in the future. The Stonehenge gathering system will deliver gas to MarkWest Energy’s Bluestone processing plant. The details…
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Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Wastewater

PA DEP Meetings on Injection Well, Marcellus Landfill Expansion
June 1, 2015June 1, 2015

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) will hold two public meetings, one tonight and one two weeks from tonight, with implications for the Marcellus Shale industry in the state. The first meeting, tonight at 6 pm in Indiana County, will be a question and answer session followed by a public hearing on an application from Pennsylvania General Energy Company (PGE) to convert an old production well into a wastewater injection well. The well is located in Grant Township, Indiana County. The second meeting, on June 15 at 6 pm in Lackawanna County, will consider Keystone Sanitary Landfill’s permit application to expand its facility located in Dunmore and Throop Boroughs. That expansion would mean accepting more waste in general, including Marcellus drill cuttings (leftover rock and dirt from drilling). The details for both meetings…
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Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania

Scranton Newspaper Endorses Jessup Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant
June 1, 2015August 26, 2015

Must be a major advertiser has jerked pretty hard on the Scranton Times-Tribune’s chain because the newspaper that rarely supports anything to do with drilling is all of a sudden singing the praises of the planned Marcellus gas-powered electric generating plant in Jessup, PA being planned by Invenergy (see Newspaper Admits PA Gas-Powered Electric Plant Will Pollute Less). The editorial board of the Times-Tribune penned an editorial that is a full-throated endorsement of the project. The editorial says, in part…
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Accidents | Chevron | Energy Companies | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania

Chevron Settles PA Marcellus Wrongful Death Lawsuit for $5M
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

In February 2014 there was an explosion and fire at a Chevron well pad that eventually spread from one Marcellus well to a second well on the same well pad in Greene County, PA (see Explosion & Fire at Chevron Well in SWPA – 1 Person Missing). Ian McKee, 27, a Cameron International contractor working at the site was tragically killed in the blast (see Remains of Chevron Contractor Found at Greene County Well Site). The final report of the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) investigating the accident concluded there was plenty of blame for Chevron, primarily from using overworked and inexperienced well site managers (see DEP Issues Final Report – What Caused Chevron Well Fire?). Ian’s girlfriend/partner was pregnant at the time of his death. Ian’s parents sued Chevron for wrongful death (see Parents of Worker Killed in Chevron Greene Co Fire Sue). That lawsuit has just been settled for $5 million, broken down as follows…
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Butler County | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Rex Energy

Rex Energy to Restart Drilling Near Mars School Following Vote
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

Let the drilling begin! The three members of the Middlesex Zoning Hearing Board (Butler County, PA, where the Mars School District is located) voted unanimously on Wednesday to reject challenges by anti-drillers to changes in zoning laws that allow Rex Energy to drill a series of wells on a pad about 3/4 of a mile from the Mars School. Four Martian parents have worked themselves up into a frenzy, convincing themselves that faraway drilling will harm their precious, innocent lil’ chil’ren. The Martians have enlisted the help of anti-drilling groups from the opposite side of the state–the Philadelphia area–tapping into their deep pockets to fund endless lawsuits and appeals that are costing Middlesex taxpayers big bucks to defend (see Dela. RiverKeeper, Clean Air Council Cost Middlesex Residents $35K+). (By the way, when is the IRS going to investigate THE Delaware Riverkeeper for clear violations of their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status? Riverkeeper continues to operate, politically, far outside of the Delaware River Basin. Their tax exempt status should be revoked.) The zoning board vote was good news for Rex who says they won’t waste any time in returning to the drill site to begin work. By the time the Martians are done suing, the wells will already be drilled…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Range Capitulates, Closing 4 Freshwater Ponds in Mt. Pleasant, PA
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

More than two years of acrimony and lawsuits are now over for Range Resources in Mt. Pleasant (Washington County), PA. Mt. Pleasant is one of the original seven selfish towns that sued PA to overturn portions of the Act 13 oil and gas law. The town was giving Range a hard time over four freshwater ponds (called “impoundments,” not to be confused with wastewater impoundments) the company was using to drill wells in nearby non-Mt. Pleasant locations. The town served the company with notices of violation in July 2013 and then held a public hearing in August 2013 where things got heated between the town and Range (see Range Resources Argues with Mt Pleasant over Water Impoundment). Mt. Pleasant kept after them (see Mt. Pleasant Zoning Bd Says Range Water Impoundments in Violation), and after them (see Mt Pleasant Twp Shenanigans re Range Request for Water Ponds), and after them (see Mt. Pleasant, PA Continues to Ride Range Over Water Ponds). Sooner or later a company can take a hint that a township is anti-business. Range is throwing in the towel, closing down all four freshwater ponds, and leaving town…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Drought Conditions Begin to Affect Marcellus Drilling
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

Drought conditions now exist over a large part of Pennsylvania, and because of it, we are beginning to see some impacts on Marcellus Shale drilling. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) oversees water management/withdrawals from streams and rivers in the central and western part of the state. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) oversees it in the northeastern part of the state. The DEP has not (yet) issued any restrictions, but the SRBC reports that restrictions previously written into water permits for drillers in the northeast have affected the withdrawals of two drillers: Cabot Oil & Gas (in Susquehanna County) and Seneca Resources (in Tioga County)…
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Industrywide Issues | Noise | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Who Ya Gonna Call? PA DEP (Noise) Ghostbusters!
May 29, 2015May 29, 2015

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection is wading into an area that’s likely best left to towns and municipalities: regulation of noise coming from Marcellus Shale drilling operations. The DEP wants drillers to craft a site-specific plan for noise mitigation for each and every well pad they drill. Problem is, the DEP won’t give drillers any standards against which to devise their plans. That is, the DEP isn’t willing to say “this loud is too loud at this distance from the drill site.” Drillers are understandably confused. How do you draw up a plan with no standards/no regulations? The DEP says noise is a funny thing–it can carry in one place but not another. They claim you can’t draw up hard and fast guidelines. One noise expert says trying to figure out the source of noise (and how to prevent it) is “sort of chasing ghosts”…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Wastewater

Research: Marcellus Frack Wastewater More Radioactive than Thought
May 28, 2015May 28, 2015

A study published in April reportedly concludes that fracking wastewater may be “more radioactive than researchers previously believed.” The study, titled “Understanding the Radioactive Ingrowth and Decay of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials in the Environment: An Analysis of Produced Fluids from the Marcellus Shale” (full copy below) was published in the peer reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives. In a nutshell, the study says previous looks at the “you’ll glow in the dark, you’re all getting irradiated” issue has only looked at the presence of radium in frack wastewater. The researchers say that in order to judge the true radioactivity of frack wastewater you need to consider the isotopes that radium and radon breaks down into hours, days, weeks, months and years later–especially in closed tanks. And when you do, the authors say the level of radiation people (and the environment) is exposed to goes much higher that previously thought. Is this the smoking gun? Here’s MDN’s layman’s perspective on this new study…
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