Pennsylvania

Accidents | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Talisman Energy | Tioga County (PA)

Talisman Fined for Drilling Accident from January 2011
January 5, 2012January 5, 2012

Nearly a year after an accident which happened during hydraulic fracturing of a gas well in Tioga County, PA, the State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined Talisman Energy $51,478. From a DEP press release issued yesterday:

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Delaware County (PA) | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Preferred Sands

Philly Frack Sand Company Expands, Buys WI Company
January 5, 2012January 5, 2012

Preferred Sands, a privately-held company headquartered in the Philadelphia suburb of Radnor, PA, has just bought out another sand company—Winn Bay Sand, located in Blair, Wisconsin—for $200 million. Preferred Sands is a frack sand and proppant company launched in 2007. It’s the largest frack sand producer in Canada, and one of the top three in the U.S.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

Will New PA Drilling Law/Impact Fee Pass in 2012?
January 4, 2012January 4, 2012

Although the Pennsylvania House, Senate and governorship are all controlled by Republicans (for the first time in many years), they have not yet agreed on new legislation that puts stricter environmental controls in place over shale gas drilling in the state. The pending legislation, introduced last year after Gov. Tom Corbett appointed an advisory commission to propose new regulations, also includes an impact fee assessed on each new well drilled.

PA Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati believes all parties to the discussion are very close to agreement and hopes the legislation will be passed by early February, before it can get bogged down in election-year politicking.

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Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

EPA Says Gaps Exist in Dimock, PA Water Tests
January 3, 2012January 3, 2012

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is once again stirring up trouble in Dimock, PA by “reopening” a review of Dimock Township water supplies after recent tests from a private testing service hired by Cabot Oil & Gas turned up “gaps” in the data that the EPA wants to explore. This is less than a month after the EPA sent a letter to residents, on Dec. 2, telling them the same test results showed well water in the area “does not present an immediate health threat to users” (see this MDN story for a copy of the letter).

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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Pennsylvania | Southwestern Energy

PA Town Takes Innovative Approach in Drilling Oversight
January 2, 2012January 2, 2012

Instead of trying to regulate Marcellus drilling inside municipal borders, Benton Township (Lackawanna County), PA took a different approach when Southwestern Energy recently drilled an exploratory well. Benton hired an independent engineer to monitor drilling and construction of the well. According to township officials, the process has been “an ‘unequivocal’ success.”

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Luzerne County | Pennsylvania

Anti-Drilling Protestors Want SRBC Meeting Do-Over
December 23, 2011December 23, 2011

Anti-drilling protestors, who often behave badly at public meetings by booing and shouting down those who attempt to speak in support of drilling, did just that at a recent meeting of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission held in Wilkes-Barre. Their temper tantrums caused the hearing to be rushed and ended early, and now they want a do-over.

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Allegheny County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation

Pittsburgh Councilman’s Last Attempt at Toxic Trespass Law
December 23, 2011December 23, 2011

In one last metaphorical flip of the middle finger to the Marcellus drilling industry, outgoing Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields is trying to get his “toxic trespass” legislation adopted by City Council before Dec. 31.

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Butler County | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania

School District Near Pittsburgh Receives $628K Lease Payment
December 23, 2011December 23, 2011

The South Butler School District (Butler County, PA) has just finalized a lease agreement with XTO Energy to lease 167 acres of school-owned land for $628,000, or $3,760 per acre, plus an 18 percent royalty on any gas produced. The deal was approved by the school board back in September (see this MDN story).

The final terms of the deal just adopted have been changed since September. Previously, the district was promised $3,750 per acre that would be paid “should natural gas be extracted.” Under terms of the final agreement, the district has already received a $628,000 payment, $3,760 per acre, up front.

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Broome County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Laser Northeast Gathering | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County | Williams

Laser Northeast Pipeline Selling to Williams for $750M
December 23, 2011December 23, 2011

Laser Northeast Gathering, a 33-mile natural gas pipeline that cost $55 million to build and stretches from the very active Marcellus Shale drilling area of Susquehanna County (in northeastern PA) to Broome County (in New York’s Southern Tier), connecting to the interstate Millennium Pipeline, announced yesterday the company is selling itself to Williams Partners for $750 million. The deal covers Laser’s contracts to expand the pipeline and commitments from customers already signed on. When the project is fully completed it will have 75 miles of pipeline. Laser is a subsidiary of Delphi Midstream Partners.

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Anadarko | Centre County | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

SRBC Rejects Anadarko Water Request in Centre County, PA
December 21, 2011December 21, 2011

At the the Dec. 15 meeting of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) held in Wilkes-Barre, PA, commissioners voted to reject a request from Anadarko Petroleum to withdraw up to 715,000 gallons of water per day from a well near Council Run in Snow Shoe Township (Centre County), PA. The rejection is rare because the SRBC informs requestors ahead of time that a request is likely to be voted down. Apparently Anadarko wanted to move forward with the request despite a warning from the SRBC.

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Butler County | Energy Companies | Gastar Exploration | Pennsylvania | Preston County | West Virginia | Wetzel County

Gastar Marcellus Wells: Strong Production, Lots of Liquids
December 20, 2011December 20, 2011

Gastar Exploration gives the following operational update on their drilling activities in the Marcellus Shale in Marshall and Preston counties in West Virginia, and Butler County in Pennsylvania. Most of Gastar’s Marcellus activity is concentrated in Marshall County, WV, where they plan to complete 24 horizontal wells by the end of 2012.

From the Gastar press release:

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

Clean Air Council Targets Pipeline Compressor Plants
December 19, 2011December 19, 2011

The Clean Air Council, an anti-drilling environmental group, has set its sights on preventing new compressor stations from being built in the Marcellus Shale as one way to slow down or stop new drilling. Compressor stations remove moisture and pressurize natural gas to move it through pipelines. The two biggest concerns most people have with compressor stations are air emissions and noise—both legitimate concerns.

Compressor stations are regulated and monitored by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also getting involved by using the federal Clean Air Act, which brings some compressor plants under their purview.

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Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

NARO Says Marcellus Land Grab in PA is Over for Landowners
December 19, 2011December 19, 2011

In a wide-ranging article talking about the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania, and how it is maturing, we get this bit about landowners’ prospects in signing new lease deals from a National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO) rep:

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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County

Gas Drillers and Townships Working Together Resolve Issues
December 19, 2011December 19, 2011

A recent example from western Pennsylvania illustrates how drilling companies and residents in PA are working together to resolve thorny issues and move forward with gas drilling in a way that everyone can live with:

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Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

New Report Says No Health Threats from Spills in Dimock PA
December 15, 2011December 15, 2011

In December 2009, Dimock Township (PA) resident Scott Ely, an employee of Cabot Oil & Gas drilling subsidiary GasSearch Drilling Services, made claims of hidden or ignored spills, leaking pits and shoddy practices to both state environmental regulators and Cabot officials. Ely identified 11 sites where he said such problems had occurred. Cabot contracted with URS Corp. to investigate the claims and either prove or disprove them. A final URS report has just been issued which says it found nothing in the streams, ponds and soil it sampled at levels that would pose a risk to human health.

The report (a copy is embedded below) says URS did find some substances which may indicate past spills from natural gas drilling operations, but that the substances they found do not have state-mandated limits for soil and water.

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Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide NY | Statewide PA

Cornell Conference: Majorities in NY & PA Support Drilling
December 15, 2011December 15, 2011

Results from two different surveys on resident’s attitudes toward shale gas drilling in New York and Pennsylvania were delivered at the Agribusiness Economic Outlook Conference, held Dec. 13 at Cornell University. Richard Stedman, associate professor of natural resources at Cornell, reported the following from a survey of 6,000 residents in both New York and Pennsylvania:

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