Pennsylvania 506 - Marcellus Drilling News

Fracking Fluid Spill in Bradford PA Result of Sabotage

January 11, 2012January 11, 2012

According to police reports, between midnight and 8:30 am early Tuesday, someone intentionally tampered with a tank on a well pad in Bradford County, PA, resulting in a spill of up to 20,000 gallons of fracking wastewater. Fortunately the wastewater was contained in a plastic liner designed for just such a scenario. There are no reports that the wastewater escaped the containment area. PA State Police are investigating.

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Marcellus Shale Gas Fuels PA Hotel Industry Growth

January 11, 2012January 11, 2012

An analysis of hotel occupancy rates in northeast Pennsylvania by PKF Consulting, published on Hotel Online, shows the huge impact Marcellus Shale gas drilling is having in the region. PKF reports that revenue per available room (RevPAR) has grown at an annual rate of 14.8 percent from 2007 to 2011. Additionally, the average daily room rate (ADR) has grown a “remarkable” 7.8 percent annually during the same period. Compare PA’s northeast Marcellus hotels with national averages for the same period, which were 1.7 percent RevPAR and 0.7 percent ADR.

Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Supreme Court’s Indecision on Local Regulation of Drilling

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a four-year-old case over how much leeway local municipalities have in regulating drilling within their borders. Does the court’s refusal to hear the case mean local governments will have more, or less, latitude than they do now? Depends on who you ask.

Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA DEP Undercounting Marcellus Gas Wells – By 12%

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012

It looks as though the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has a data problem: They’ve been undercounting the number of Marcellus Shale gas wells in the state by a significant number. It’s especially a problem for legislators who are trying to calculate how much money new impact fees might generate.

EPA Promises Water for Dimock PA, Reneges 24 Hours Later

January 9, 2012January 9, 2012

EPA fingers crossed The news out of Dimock, PA is coming so fast and furious, it’s hard to keep track of it all. First, a brief background on the situation in Dimock, the context you almost never read in the mainstream media:

In 2008, Cabot Oil & Gas drilled a number of Marcellus Shale gas wells in Dimock Township in Pennsylvania, a rural area in the northeastern part of the state, in Susquehanna County. Homeowners located along the Carter Road area noticed high levels of methane in their drinking water. After an investigation by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the DEP fined Cabot in 2009 stating that Cabot’s operations in the area caused methane to migrate into a local water aquifer serving anywhere from 13 to 19 houses, depending on the changing storyline.

New Cases of Methane Water Well Contamination by Cabot in PA

January 9, 2012January 9, 2012

Three private water wells in Lenox Township (Susquehanna County), PA have been contaminated with methane from nearby Marcellus Shale drilling done by Cabot Oil & Gas according to the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Cabot has installed methane detection alarms in the three homes and has vented the affected wells.

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

EPA “May” Start Testing Dimock, PA Water in 2 Weeks

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012

yes no maybe Earlier this week, MDN reported that the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency prone to overstep its legal authority, is once again nosing around Dimock, PA (see this MDN story). After writing to tell Carter Road residents in the Dimock area that their drinking water was just fine on Dec. 2 of last year, they reversed course last week and expressed concerns over “gaps” in water testing data. Now it seems that the EPA themselves will conduct their own tests of water in Dimock.

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

Cabot is S&P 500’s Top Performer for 2011, Production Up 154%

January 5, 2012January 5, 2012

Cabot Oil & Gas finished 2011 as the S&P 500 top performer. The energy company’s stock value increased by a whopping 101% in 2011, despite falling natural gas prices. Cabot increased their dividend to shareholders by 33 percent and the company has declared a two-for-one stock split to be distributed later this month.

Cabot more than doubled natural gas production in the Marcellus Shale last year, largely due to their exceptionally productive wells in northeastern Pennsylvania, including Dimock, PA in Susquehanna County. Yesterday, Cabot released new numbers for just how productive their wells have become, passing the 600 million cubic feet (Mmcf) per day mark in combined output:

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:

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.

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.

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).

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.”

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.

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.

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.