Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA Given Extra 18 Mos. to Build
In January 2016, Invenergy announced its intention to build a natural gas-powered electric plant in Elizabeth Township, in Allegheny County, PA (see Invenergy Eyes SWPA for Second Marcellus-Powered Electric Plant). It took a few years, a lawsuit, and a new location, but eventually, Elizabeth commissioners approved Invenergy’s plan in December 2018 (see Elizabeth Twp in Allegheny Co. OKs Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant). In June 2021, the Allegheny County Health Department’s permitting section held a hearing to discuss potential emissions from the plant. The Health Department subsequently issued an installation (but not an operating) air permit. A mishmash of Big Green groups promptly sued to block the installation air permit (see Anti Groups Challenge Permit for Invenergy Gas-Fired Plant in SWPA). What is the latest news on this project?
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New shale permits issued for Jun 19-25 in the Marcellus/Utica took another nosedive. There were 11 new permits issued last week, down from 21 the previous week. There’s just no denying that the trend in permits is generally down. Last week’s permit tally included 6 new permits in Pennsylvania, 2 new permits in Ohio (both permits in the Marcellus layer!), and 3 new permits in West Virginia. Olympus Energy scored the most new permits, with 4 issued in Allegheny County, PA. Southwestern Energy had the second most new permits, with 3 permits issued in Marshall County, WV.
In 2021, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, Chief Judge for the Southern District of Texas, approved deals for Chesapeake Energy to pay $6.25 million to class members of the three royalty lawsuits brought by Pennsylvania landowners (roughly 15,000 class members) and another $2.9 million to the lawyers involved (see 
One of the biggest complaints from drillers and pipeline companies doing business with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), going back for years, is the lack of speed when reviewing and approving new permits. In particular, Chapter 102 (erosion and sediment control) and Chapter 105 (water obstructions and encroachments) permits. At a budget hearing in Harrisburg in March, then-Acting (now confirmed) DEP Sec. Rich Negrin presented a 10-point plan to improve the DEP’s response times in issuing permits (see 
In April, MDN told you about a radicalized faction within the Pennsylvania Democrat Party trying yet another ploy to block all new Marcellus drilling in the state (see 
The Pennsylvania Senate voted yesterday to confirm Rich Negrin as the Secretary of the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). No more “Acting” in front of his title. The vote was 48 to 1 to confirm, with the lone holdout being Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Adams). As we reported yesterday, Sen. Gene Yaw gave Negrin a grilling about several issues, one of them being the DEP’s apparent support for House Bill (HB) 170 that would end all new Marcellus drilling by using extreme setbacks (see 
Just two weeks ago, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) told all water users in the basin that have withdrawal permits, including shale drillers, they should review those permits, and if there are restrictions for withdrawals during low streamflow conditions, they need to make alternative plans (see 
Olympus Energy (formerly Huntley & Huntley) drills in the Greater Pittsburgh region, in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. In 2021, Olympus applied to build a new well pad in a rural part of Allegheny County, in West Deer Township. So-called “concerned citizens” got amped up to oppose the project. They succeeded when town supervisors rejected the Dionysus well pad (see 
The weekly rig count for the U.S. has continued to be anemic over the past two months. Baker Hughes, with its venerable rig count, reported last Friday that overall, the U.S. rig count continued to bleed rigs–down another five rigs to 682 in the week ending June 23. That’s the lowest count since April 2022 and the eighth week in a row the U.S. has lost active rigs. The good news for the Marcellus/Utica is that both the Marcellus and the Utica maintained the same rig levels last week. It’s good news they didn’t bleed any more rigs!
MDN recently reported that after eight years, Pennsylvania General Energy gave up on trying to build an environmentally safe wastewater injection well in Grant Township, Indiana County, PA (see 
In the future, when everyone’s favorite groundhog Punxsutawney Phil pokes his head out of his hole in February to tell us whether or not there are another six weeks of winter, he may be looking at shale wastewater trucks coming and going on their way to a new underground injection well just outside of town. Yesterday the federal EPA issued a permit to G2 STEM LLC based in Fairfax, Virginia, to build a Class IID oil and gas wastewater underground injection well in Young Township, Jefferson County, PA. You may know the area by its famous boro, Punxsutawney.
Far-left environmentalist wackos have learned how to abuse the legal system in the U.S. in their attempts to block fossil energy. One of the places they excel in abusing the system is in Pennsylvania. When the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) issues a new permit for a project the left opposes, they appeal the decision to a special court established in PA to hear appeals of DEP decisions, called the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB). The left tries to fool the EHB into ruling against a DEP decision by claiming there is “new information” that should be considered, information that has come to light since the original DEP decision. It’s a sleazy legal tactic. Senate Bill (SB) 198, introduced by PA Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R-Washington), closes that loophole in the legal process.