Pennsylvania

Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Education | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Pipelines

Pete Seeger Will Play for Fossil Fuel Haters Fest in PA
April 22, 2013April 22, 2013

Iconic folk singer and lefty activist Pete Seeger (now about 150 years old, a marvel to behold) will play a benefit concert for a group of fossil fuel-haters protesting the expansion of a natural gas pipeline in Pike County (northeast PA). They hate fossil fuels and the pipelines that deliver them—although hypocritically they use fossil fuels delivered by pipelines every single day.

Other helpful activities planned by the group: Brainwash school children with a “sustainable energy curriculum” at the Delaware Valley School District. What will they teach them? How wonderful it is to keep the thermostat set at 45 degrees? Every time your parents fire up the SUV for a run to Walmart they’re killing Mother Earth? (Be sure to rat out your parents to your greenie teacher, kiddies.) These are people with too much time on their hands…

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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Higher Marcellus Permit Fees Coming for PA Drillers
April 22, 2013April 22, 2013

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) wants to hike permit fees for Marcellus and other horizontal or “unconventional” wells by $1,000 to $1,800 above the current $3,200 (a 56% increase). The DEP says more work is required for each well under new legislation passed in 2012, and new permits have slowed a bit, meaning less revenue for the agency. More work to do but less revenue from new permits—something’s gotta give…

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Statewide NY | Statewide PA | Uncategorized

So-Called "List of the Harmed" Exposed
April 19, 2013April 19, 2013

This is the glorious day and age of the Internet when you can start a group and call it something like, oh, The Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air (PACWA), and claim it’s a large group when in fact it’s one person (or a few people), launch a website with a catchy slogan, and pretend to be a grassroots “movement.” Such is the case with PACWA and their so-called “The List of the Harmed”—those who claim to have been harmed by hydraulic fracturing, supposedly in Pennsylvania (although many anti-drilling New Yorkers, where there is no fracking, also appear on the list).

Intrepid MDN reader and occasional contributor Victor Furman called up Jenny Lissac, the keeper of The List, back when it was under 200 people, and gave her an outrageous song and dance about how he had been harmed (here in NY). She bought it hook, line and sinker and was about to publish it on her list when he fessed up that none of what he had told her was true—attempting to illustrate for her that anyone can lie about how they’ve been harmed. Apparently Vic’s lesson was lost on Ms. Lissac as she continues to compile and promote a list that, while it may have a few legitimate cases of negative impacts from fracking, is mostly full of false information.

Vic recently put The List under the microscope for an analysis. This is what he found…

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Crime | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Violence

Disturbing: Remains of Small Bombs Found at 2 NE PA Drill Sites
April 19, 2013April 19, 2013

A very disturbing report from AP about the charred remains of “small explosive devices” found at two inactive Marcellus Shale drilling sites in northeastern PA:

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Butler County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy

Rex Energy Makes Lease Offers to Western PA Towns
April 19, 2013April 19, 2013

You don’t read much these days about new land deals and offers being made in the PA Marcellus. Oh it happens, but not nearly as much as it used to. So when MDN runs across mention of a new offer, we figure that’s news you want to know about—particularly where and how much?

Rex Energy has just made an offer to Middlesex Township (Butler County), PA to lease some or all of the town’s 20-plus acres located on Browns Hill Road. Rex is just floating the idea at this stage to Middlesex—no specific numbers were thrown on the table. However, Rex did recently make an offer to neighboring Clinton Township, so it stands to reason the numbers for lease bonus and royalties would be similar. Here’s the details:

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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Zeits: Is NW PA the Next "It" Place for Marcellus/Utica Drilling?
April 18, 2013April 18, 2013

An important and extensive new analysis of what may be the “next frontier” in Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling comes from MDN’s favorite Seeking Alpha writer and energy analyst, Richard Zeits. In a post from yesterday, Zeits makes the case that northwest PA offers “promising stacked-play, liquids-rich potential in the Marcellus, Utica, and Upper Devonian shales but still remains a barely touched exploration frontier.”

What has Zeits turned on about NW PA? NGLs—natural gas liquids…

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Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Mercer County | Pennsylvania | Venango County

Halcon Resources Completes 2 Utica Shale Wells…in PA!
April 18, 2013April 18, 2013

Halcon Resources, a driller headquartered in Houston, TX, is active in half a dozen different shale plays in the U.S., including the Utica Shale. The surprise part is that Halcon is drilling in the Utica in Pennsylvania as well as Ohio. Yes the Utica does underlay a large part of PA as well as eastern OH, but only a handful of Utica wells have been drilled in PA (from all drillers) because the prolific Marcellus Shale layer under PA has commanded the most attention.

Halcon’s CEO Floyd Wilson says the company has two rigs drilling in the Utica now, but it’s still very early days for “one of the most exciting unconventional resources plays in the lower 48.” Two of the eight wells they’ve spud (i.e. drilling) in the Utica are now completed—both of them in PA:

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Inergy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | UGI Energy Services | WGL Holdings

PA’s Commonwealth Pipeline Project Suspended – Indefinitely
April 18, 2013June 10, 2013

In December, MDN told you that work on the 120-mile Commonwealth Pipeline, a Marcellus Shale pipeline running from Lycoming County to the Philadelphia area was “on hold” (see Commonwealth Pipeline for Marcellus Region on Hold). You can now change that to work has been “suspended” on the pipeline—indefinitely. Did the anti-drillers win this particular skirmish in the fracking wars?

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Aquatech | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Tioga County (PA) | Wastewater

Aquatech Opens New PA Marcellus Wastewater Treatment Plant
April 18, 2013April 18, 2013

Marcellus wastewater treatment company Aquatech cut the ribbon and opened a new centralized shale wastewater treatment plant in Tioga County, PA yesterday. The new plant is equipped to process up to 200 gallons per minute and sits in an area central to a huge amount of drilling…

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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

EQT Sheds Divisions/Assets to Focus on Marcellus Shale
April 18, 2013April 18, 2013

In a shareholders meeting held Wednesday at EQT Corp in Pittsburgh, the company laid out a strategy of focusing on drilling for shale gas in southwestern PA. That means they will continue to divest from other businesses, like their Equitable Gas utility company (waiting for regulatory approval to sell it), and the sale of their coalbed methane acreage in Virginia.

EQT plans to focus like a laser on the Marcellus Shale:

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Accidents | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County | Wastewater

Tag Team Grudge Match: Jesse White/Patch v Range Resources/DEP
April 17, 2013

The ongoing grudge match between western PA Rep. Jesse White (from Cecil) and Range Resources continues and has grown. Last week White made a formal “Right to Know” request with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (another favorite target of White) over the alleged leakage of 30 gallons of…fresh water? frack wastewater?…it’s not clear to MDN which it is–from a Range impoundment located in Cecil Township.

Regardless of the tiny amount of whatever leaked, the DEP has not responded to White, yet, so he’s turning up the pressure by going to his favorite media stenographer, Canon-McMillanPatch:
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Allegheny County | Meetings | Pennsylvania

MDN Goes to NAPE East in Pittsburgh (Pictures!)
April 16, 2013April 16, 2013

Sooner or later, all energy roads in the Marcellus and Utica Shale lead to Pittsburgh. In many ways, because of the huge impact of the Marcellus (and now Utica) Shale, Pittsburgh has become the new Houston–the center of the energy universe. At least in the northeast. Last week the North American Prospect Expo (NAPE) brought its franchise event to Pittsburgh. NAPE usually runs twice a year–in Houston. This year they’ve added Pittsburgh to the lineup, calling it NAPE East.

MDN editor Jim Willis attended and hung out at the NGI Shale Daily booth for most of the event, chatting with passersby. We already brought you links to stories about the event from several Pittsburgh media outlets (see Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Apr 12, 2013). Below, Jim provides his thoughts on the event, and the comments (gossip!) he heard at the event. More importantly, he took pictures! We’ve created a “virtual tour” of the event, so you get a feel for what such an event looks like, and what happens…

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Allegheny County | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Education | Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania

The Nutty Antics of Anti-Drilling Kids – Pittsburgh Edition
April 16, 2013April 16, 2013

Just a few days after MDN editor Jim Willis visited Pittsburgh, a small group of 15 anti-drillers made fools of themselves in front of EQT Plaza in downtown Pittsburgh. Their (latest) cause? They don’t like the new Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) and EQT’s participation in it. They believe the CSSD legitimizes "dirty" fossil fuels, like clean-burning natural gas, and since they (irrationally) hate all fossil fuels, any effort at ensuring mining of those fuels is done safely is tantamount to killing Mother Earth. Wackos.

To illustrate the "folly" of big, nasty drillers cooperating with eco-nut organizations like GASP and the Heinz Foundation, this small group of true believers (local college students with time on their hands, from a Fruit Loops organization called the Energy Action Coalition) staged a mock wedding in front of EQT…

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Allegheny County | Pennsylvania

Southwest Airlines Begins Daily Roundtrip Houston/Pittsburgh
April 16, 2013April 16, 2013

Makes sense that Houston, the reigning champ as "energy capital of the world" and Pittsburgh, the challenger and on the ascendancy to the title, would have a direct airline flight between them. Until last weekend, there was one–United. United is now joined by a second direct flight every day: Southwest Airlines.

Southwest announced on Sunday they have begun a daily flight from Pittsburgh to Houston and back.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Fish & Boat Commission Wants to Charge Drillers for PA Water
April 15, 2013April 15, 2013

The executive director of the PA Fish and Boat Commission, John Arway, is "mad" and says the Marcellus drilling industry is "stealing" PA’s water and not paying for it, and that ticks him off. Solution? Make industry pay. Oh, it will also help close a shortfall in his department’s budget of $9 million too (starting in 2017).

Apparently both Republicans and Democrats are showing interest in the idea and have introduced a measure in the PA Senate to study the idea of slapping a surcharge on PA’s water:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County | Wastewater

PA Rep Jesse White to Introduce Law Banning Open Frack Ponds
April 15, 2013April 15, 2013

PA State Rep. Jesse White, a Democrat from Cecil with an ongoing grudge match with Range Resources (and someone who claims to be in favor of responsible drilling), will soon introduce a bill into the PA legislature that would ban Marcellus Shale wastewater frack ponds. He’s looking for co-sponsors for the legislation and using the new Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) as his political cover/excuse to push for it.

White incorrectly states the CSSD’s new standards call for the elimination of open impoundments or frack ponds. Standard #3 says no open ponds for fracking fluid, but Standard #4 says open frack ponds are permissible for "produced" or "flowback" water—the deep layer salt water that comes out after the drilling fluid has been removed (see MDN’s summary of the rules here: Important: Drillers & Enviros Form New Group, Launch Cert Program). Although he uses the CSSD for justification, White’s proposal goes well beyond what they’re stipulating…

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