Pennsylvania

Energy Services | Hydro-Recovery | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Tioga County (PA) | Wastewater

Frack Wastewater Treatment Plant in Blossburg, PA Expands
May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

Hydro-Recovery operates a shale gas fracking wastewater treatment facility in Blossburg (Tioga County), PA. It’s just announced a $15 million expansion of the plant with plans to add an additional 20-25 employees and ramp up to 24/7 operations. Construction is set to start as soon as permits are received on a “crystalizer and six 500,000 gallon storage tanks.”

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA PUC Adopts Guidelines for Impact Fee Collection/Disbursement
May 11, 2012May 11, 2012

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) yesterday finalized provisions of Act 13 of 2012 related to the collection and disbursement of the impact fee for unconventional natural gas well drilling. Known as Chapter 23 of Act 13, the PUC voted 5-0 to finalize the procedures they would use to implement, collect and distribute the impact fee. A copy of the “Chapter 23 Final Implementation Order” as adopted is embedded below.

Because of an active lawsuit by seven townships and others against zoning provisions in Act 13 (known as Chapter 33 of Act 13), the PUC delayed action on that section of the new law.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Wastewater

NRDC Releases Report Critical of PA Fracking Wastewater
May 11, 2012May 11, 2012

Advocating for stricter government controls, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) earlier this week released a “comprehensive review” of how fracking wastewater is handled in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale with recommendations for how it can be handled better. The NRDC says that the current methods of wastewater disposal are not adequate to protect drinking water supplies, and present a risk to the health of both humans and animals. A copy of the report is embedded below.

From the NRDC press release:

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Blair County | Chevron | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

Chevron Tells PA Town No Plans to Drill – For Now
May 11, 2012May 11, 2012

A representative from Chevron told Logan Township supervisors and residents at a meeting on Thursday that Chevron has no plans to drill on a Logan site for which they previously received a permit. Logan is located in Blair County, near Altoona, PA. The permit expires today and Chevron said there are no plans, at present, to apply for a new one.

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Blair County | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania

Altoona Scores a New Pump Plant for the Marcellus
May 11, 2012May 11, 2012

Gardner Denver, a 150 year-old global manufacturer of industrial compressors, blowers, pumps, loading arms and fuel systems has a new manufacturing facility to add to the 40 it already owns around the world. The new 70,000 foot facility is located at Tipton, near Altoona, PA. The new plant will manufacture and repair pumps used in hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale. Gardner Denver expects to employ 100 people at the new plant within a year.

But why locate the plant in Altoona, where there’s very little nearby drilling?

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Penn State Report Shows PA Counties with Drilling Prosper
May 10, 2012May 10, 2012

An economic report released on March 30 by Penn State researchers (copy embedded below) shows that Pennsylvania counties where there is Marcellus Shale drilling do better economically—far better—than other counties.

Marcellus counties bring in more sales tax revenue, a sign that businesses and business owners and the people who have jobs at those businesses are prospering. The more drilling there is in a county, the better the county does economically. And that’s even before Act 13 Marcellus drilling impact fees are collected and distributed.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Act 13 Zoning Lawsuit Goes to Trial in June
May 10, 2012May 10, 2012

An update on the Act 13 lawsuit filed by seven Pennsylvania municipalities and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network at the end of March (see this MDN story). Act 13 is a set of new drilling rules and regulations adopted by the PA legislature and signed by Gov. Tom Corbett in February of this year. Part of the new regs included a statute that says state rules on zoning for oil and gas drilling supersede or override local zoning laws. The seven towns and Riverkeeper sued to stop that portion of the new law and Commonwealth Court Judge Keith Quigley granted a temporary, 120 day injunction (see this MDN story).

The case will now be heard by the full nine-member Commonwealth Court between June 4-8. That’s big news. But there’s even bigger news:

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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

WPX Water Well Test Results for Franklin Twp, PA
May 9, 2012May 9, 2012

Last December, the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) started investigating methane in three water wells in Franklin Township (Susquehanna County), PA. Since there are several gas wells being drilled by WPX Energy a few thousand feet away, wells that were cited for improper casing, the DEP asked WPX to install methane venting systems for the families of the three wells in question while the DEP investigates (see this MDN story). WPX is also investigating, and their results conclusively show the methane in the water wells isn’t coming from WPX’s gas wells.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Property Value | Washington County

Homeowner Refused Mortgage Because of Nearby Gas Drilling
May 9, 2012May 9, 2012

One of the arguments used against natural gas drilling is that it can drive down property values of nearby homes. While MDN has not seen studies to prove or disprove that argument, we did spot this story about a homeowner in western PA who has been refused refinancing of their mortgage by three different national lenders because there’s active natural gas drilling across the street from their home:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Pittsburgh Newspapers Sue to Unseal Drilling Court Case
May 9, 2012May 9, 2012

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Observer-Reporter of Washington, PA have sued to open sealed court documents in a case involving a Pennsylvania couple who previously were outspoken critics of the natural gas drilling industry and who made claims that drilling had contaminated their water supply. Last week, anti-drillers joined their cause and filed a brief in state Superior Court.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

SRBC “Insists” Drillers Use Acid Mine Water if Possible
May 8, 2012May 7, 2012

An idea that’s been floating “out there” for some time, at least in Pennsylvania, is for gas drillers to use acid mine water that flows from abandoned coal mines. It’s estimated there is some 300 million gallons per day of acid mine water—more than enough to frack every well drilled in PA each year. Last year, Gov. Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission recommended that the state Department of Environmental Protection set up an approval process to make it happen—something now in the works.

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Beaver County | Butler County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Rex Energy | Sumitomo

MarkWest Buys Keystone Midstream for $512M
May 8, 2012May 7, 2012

Pipeline giant MarkWest has just gobbled up another, albeit much smaller, competitor. MarkWest announced yesterday it is purchasing Keystone Midstream for $512 million. Keystone is owned by Stonehenge Energy Resources and Rex Energy with operations primarily in Butler County, PA.

As part of the deal, MarkWest will gain contracts and a partnership with Rex Energy and Sumitomo Corporation to transport and process their rapidly expanding production in the liquids-rich portion of the Marcellus Shale in Butler and Beaver counties in Pennsylvania. MarkWest and Rex are also exploring a deal for Utica Shale production in eastern Ohio.

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Antero Resources | Brooke County | Chesapeake Energy | Doddridge County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Marshall County | Ohio County | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Washington County | West Virginia

MarkWest Inks Two New Deals to Expand Processing in WV
May 8, 2012May 7, 2012

MarkWest has been in the news a lot lately, signing a raft of new agreements and even buying out a competitor. Last Friday, MarkWest announced they had signed an agreement (terms not disclosed) to expand MarkWest’s processing capacity in the Marcellus Shale to handle more Chesapeake production. The areas covered by the agreement include northern West Virginia (Brooke, Ohio and Marshall counties), and Washington County in Pennsylvania.

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

The AP Calculates 2011 Shale Gas Revenue for PA & WV
May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

The Associated Press (AP) did an analysis of how much natural gas was produced in Pennsylvania and West Virginia during 2011 and have run some basic calculations based on an assumed average price (last year) of $3.50 per thousand BTUs (or mBtus). The results of those calculations should put to bed any claims that shale gas drilling does not have a profound economic impact that touches every resident in a shale gas producing state.

According to the AP analysis:

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Luzerne County | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

Unproductive PA Wells Still Liable for Partial Impact Fee
May 7, 2012May 7, 2012

The price for drilling a Marcellus Shale gas well in Pennsylvania that “misses” and is not economically viable may have just gotten a lot steeper. It looks like the state Public Utility Commission (PUC), charged with collecting and distributing the new impact fee under Act 13, is going to levy the fee on exploratory wells that end up not being productive and plugged.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA

Western PA School Board Member Speaks Out on Anti-Drillers
May 4, 2012May 4, 2012

A school board member from a district in western Pennsylvania that recently voted to allow Marcellus Shale drilling under, but not on top, of school property wrote a must-read article that appears on the American Thinker website today. He shares with readers the process the board went through, the agonizing, researching, questioning, and public hearings on gas drilling. And the board member came to a key conclusion about anti-drillers: at their core, they are unreasonable people. To wit:

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