Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pike County | Regulation | Statewide PA | Wayne County
Environmental Left Nervous that DRBC Frack Ban May be Overturned
A month ago, MDN told you about a meeting held in northeastern Pennsylvania between newly-appointed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Congressman Rob Bresnahan, several state elected officials, as well as labor and others (see Trump Admin Considers Strategies to Overturn DRBC Fracking Ban). Although several issues were discussed, the primary focus of the meeting was to discuss how to overturn the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) illegal ban on fracking that denies Wayne and Pike County (PA) landowners the right to extract gas from beneath their land. Read More “Environmental Left Nervous that DRBC Frack Ban May be Overturned”
Permitting in Pennsylvania, overseen by the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), has been a hot mess for years. A Chapter 102 Erosion and Sedimentation permit sometimes takes two, three, or even six months for approval — instead of the policy-mandated 14 days. According to a DEP press release from yesterday, that’s all behind us. Last November, DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley and Gov. Josh Shapiro said the agency had *eliminated* the backlog for oil and gas permits (see 
Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board (EQB) was scheduled to consider accepting a petition by radical green groups, including the Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project, to “study” the issue of increasing setbacks for shale drilling so far it would ban ALL new Marcellus/Utica drilling in the Keystone State. Instead of voting to accept the petition, EQB commissioners voted 16 to 3 to table the petition for a future meeting. No doubt this matter will cycle around again, but we can all breathe a sigh of relief for now. 
Last year, radical environmental groups (including the Clean Air Council and Environmental Integrity Project) petitioned the state Environmental Quality Board (EQB), asking the board to amend 25 Pa. Code Chapter 78a by increasing “setbacks” for oil and gas well drilling to a minimum of 3,281 feet from any building or water wells (5,280 feet from hospitals and schools), and 750 feet from any river, creek, or mud puddle (i.e., surface waters). Such an increase in setbacks would stop ALL new shale drilling in the state, which is the goal of these radicals. In March of this year, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), controlled by Josh Shapiro, recommended to the EQB that it accept and seriously consider the proposed rulemaking (see 
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count lost two rigs last week and now operates 590 active rigs. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 36 last week—the highest it has been since last August! Rigs focused on the Marcellus were up by two to a combined 25 across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica dropped one rig (after increasing by one the week before), now at a combined 11. PA had operated 15 rigs (or more) for 19 weeks straight. That streak was broken two weeks ago when PA lost a rig. PA picked it back up again and had 15 active rigs last week. OH had operated nine rigs for 16 weeks in a row but picked up one two weeks ago and kept it, meaning the dropped Utica rig from last week was in either PA or WV. Likely, the rig was repurposed from Utica to Marcellus in PA. OH currently operates ten active rigs. WV had operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 23 weeks in a row. Seven weeks ago, WV added (and has kept) one additional rig and continues to operate 11 active rigs. 
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is America’s largest nonpartisan, voluntary membership organization of state legislators dedicated to limited government, free markets, and federalism. Comprised of nearly one-quarter of the country’s state legislators and stakeholders from across the policy spectrum, ALEC members represent more than 60 million Americans and provide jobs to more than 30 million people in the United States. Even though Pennsylvania is a natural gas haven, Pennsylvania ranks only 32nd in energy affordability according to ALEC’s recently-released Energy Affordability 2025 report (full copy below). ALEC says PA’s existing policies under Gov. Josh Shapiro, meant to wean the state off fossil fuels, have made affordability WORSE. 
Earlier this week, MDN told you about a mineral/royalty rights purchase made by WhiteHawk Energy, increasing its ownership interest in 475,000 gross acres in the Marcellus Shale for $118 million (see 
During a webinar yesterday, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced it would use a new state General Air Quality Permit to implement Biden-era federal oil and gas facility methane reduction requirements. The DEP is pushing forward with implementation even though the Trump EPA has publicly announced it is revisiting those onerous regulations with an eye on revising them. Perhaps this is a no-win situation for the DEP. If they don’t implement the stated, in-effect (new) regulations by the Bidenistas, they could be dinged by the EPA. Yet, if they implement these onerous Biden-era regulations (via a new permit) and the Trump EPA rolls it all back, the DEP will have to redo the work all over again. Darned if they do and darned if they don’t. 
The Baker Hughes U.S. national rig count lost one rig last week (after gaining one the week before), now operating 592 active rigs. As for the Marcellus/Utica, the rig count was a combined 35 last week. However, there was a notable change in the totals. Rigs focused on the Marcellus were down by one to a combined 23 across the three M-U states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Rigs focused on the Utica picked up the lost Marcellus rig, now at a combined 12. PA had operated 15 rigs (or more) for 19 weeks straight. That streak was broken last week when PA lost a rig. OH had operated nine rigs for 16 weeks in a row but picked up one last week and now stands at ten active rigs. WV had operated 10 rigs for an astonishing 23 weeks in a row. Six weeks ago, WV added (and has kept) one additional rig and operates 11 active rigs. 
Last week, Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw (Lycoming County), chairman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, sounded the alarm for all Pennsylvanians. Yaw said, “We are going to have to suffer some hardships. Meaning, we probably are going to have some blackouts, brownouts.” Why would PA, an electricity exporter, experience blackouts? The plain, simple, and short answer is because of Governor Josh Shapiro’s idiotic energy policies. 
Donald Trump has taken significant actions to eliminate “environmental justice” programs within the federal government during his second term, which began on January 20, 2025. What is so-called environmental justice (EJ)? EJ is the leftist theory that energy projects like pipelines and well pads target locations where there are black, brown, or poor people who can’t fight back legally. They don’t want the projects, but they have no way ($$) to fight them. And so their populations suffer the negative environmental consequences of living near polluting energy projects. Energy projects are presumed to be inherently racist. It is a disgusting, loathsome political theory peddled mainly by the far-left of the Democrat Party. Although Donald Trump has quashed EJ on the federal level, the Josh Shapiro Department of Environment Protection’s EJ program keeps chugging along, oblivious that nobody wants it, nobody respects it, and it’s a “dead man walking.” 
We are frequently critical of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) under the leadership of Governor Josh Shapiro. But our criticism is of the people who lead the department and the woke, leftist policies they’ve injected into the organization. Our criticism does not extend to the hardworking men and women who are the rank and file at DEP. They have demanding jobs, and they do a good job. Nowhere is that more evident than in the case of those who work in the Oil & Gas Program at DEP and the water supply/stray gas complaints they receive and must investigate. Getting a complaint that involves potential methane migration into a water supply is NOT a straightforward investigation, mainly because most of the time, that’s not how such issues are reported. Very few people contact the DEP using the words “I think my water has been contaminated with methane by a shale driller a half mile away.” It’s never that simple. 
On March 20, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) told the Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board (TAB) that the U.S. Department of the Interior has “withdrawn” the Orphan Oil and Gas Well Regulatory Improvement Act Grant Program designed to help states strengthen their programs, in particular to prevent future oil and gas well abandonment. Oh no! Trump is cutting federal money to plug old wells! He’s so mean!! He’s so cruel!!! Except that’s not what is happening…