Statewide PA

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

Former PA Gov. Ed Rendell Talks Fracking at Politico/DNC Event
July 28, 2016July 28, 2016

Ed “fast Eddie” Rendell

It was just this past Tuesday we pointed out the cozy (actually incestuous) relationship between mainstream media and the Democrat Party, with Bloomberg sponsoring a meeting at this week’s Democrat National Convention on global warming flummery (see Bloomberg News Compromised: Sponsors Dem Meeting on Global Warming). Not to be outdone, Politico, another Democrat-run organization, sponsored an “energy” meeting yesterday. One of the speakers was former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed “fast Eddie” Rendell, who spoke about “making a mistake” by pushing fracking too fast in the Keystone State when he was guv. Of course the crazies and wackos picked up on it and leveraged it for all it’s worth. However, Rendell also said since 2010 there have been no significant environmental incidents related to fracking. That makes the crazies go bonkers…
Read More “Former PA Gov. Ed Rendell Talks Fracking at Politico/DNC Event”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Philadelphia Energy Solutions | Statewide PA

Group of Protesting/Ignorant Kids Briefly Block Philly Refinery
July 27, 2016July 27, 2016

A small group of ignorant children (look the photo) preened and pretended to actually know something when they marched outside of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) refinery in South Philly where PES would like to expand by leasing an extra 200 acres at the Southport facility. The children blocked traffic causing a backup, making drivers unhappy. The kids also prevented trucks from entering and exiting the facility–for about 10 minutes. Philly police watched and did nothing. Sycophantic media (StateImpact) claimed there were “around 100” but a picture of the event shows nine (that we can see), none of whom appear to be old enough to drink beer. PES is pushing the concept of making Philadelphia an “energy hub” and they (PES) want to ship Marcellus Shale gas from the Southport facility location after piping it there from other parts of PA. A number of people are bidding on the property and it’s not at all a foregone conclusion that PES will get it (see Marcellus Caught in Crossfire of Philly Port Leasing Controversy). Apparently the subtleties of who may one day lease and operate the site were completely lost on the ignorant kids running around behaving badly…
Read More “Group of Protesting/Ignorant Kids Briefly Block Philly Refinery”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Former EPA Asst Admin Calls Frack Ban Supporters “Irrational”
July 26, 2016July 26, 2016

J Winston Porter

J. Winston Porter is a former assistant administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), appointed by and serving the great Ronald Reagan. Years ago Porter was a vice president at Bechtel, the world’s largest construction and civil engineering company. He also, at one time, owned his own engineering firm. But Porter has also served in the government and academe over the years. In addition to the EPA, Porter was manager of the environmental services department in San Francisco. He began his career as a professor in the chemistry department of the University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in the mid-1960s. Porter is someone who’s been around and seen it all–from academe to government service to private industry. He has perspective. He has experience. He has wisdom. We spotted an editorial appearing in the Allentown (PA) Morning Call newspaper by Porter, an editorial in which he says a ban on fossil fuels, as is being called for by more extreme Democrats, would be a tragedy for Pennsylvania (and the rest of the country). He said that to “pretend that we could make a rapid transition away from fossil fuels is irrational.” Sound familiar? How many times have we stood on our soapbox to proclaim hatred of fossil fuels is irrational? Dozens, if not hundreds of times! Give Porter’s editorial a read, and learn something from someone who knows a thing or two about energy…
Read More “Former EPA Asst Admin Calls Frack Ban Supporters “Irrational””
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | PennEast Pipeline | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA

Major Step Forward – FERC Issues Favorable DEIS for PennEast Pipe
July 25, 2016July 25, 2016

PennEast Pipeline Route Map – click for larger version

THE Delaware Riverkeeper, Maya van Rossum, is “spitting” mad. Why? Because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has signaled it will approve the PennEast Pipeline, a $1.2 billion, 119-mile desperately-needed natural gas pipeline from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ that will haul Marcellus Shale gas from northern PA to markets in southeastern PA and NJ. On Friday FERC issued a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) that finds while there are a few things to fix in the PennEast plan before the pipeline gets built, they are fixable and the pipeline won’t have significant environmental impacts. van Rossum, upon learning of the favorable DEIS, said “The deadline for comments is an offensive abuse of power and spit in the face of all the communities that will be so deeply harmed by this project.” Needless to say, FERC’s decision put a smile on our face. PennEast calls it a “major step forward.” Indeed. It all but assures that this project will get approved and built…
Read More “Major Step Forward – FERC Issues Favorable DEIS for PennEast Pipe”
Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Statewide PA

PA Gov Wolf: PAers Will Build the Cracker, Unless They’re Stoned
July 25, 2016July 25, 2016

Although he still wants to tax the Marcellus Shale industry out of his state, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (with the dubious title of “most liberal governor in the U.S.,” see PA Gov Tom “Severance Tax” Wolf: America’s Most Liberal Governor) couldn’t resist jumping on the bandwagon to take some credit for what his predecessor, Gov. Tom Corbett, actually accomplished: luring Shell to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker facility in the state (see PA Gov Wolf Attempts to Take Credit for Shell Cracker Decision). Since the Shell cracker is already a done deal and will create oodles of jobs, Wolf is now conveniently “for” the project. He made a visit to Beaver County, PA last week, where the cracker plant will get built, for a roundtable discussion with local leaders. Wolf told them local leaders he wants to ensure it’s Pennsylvanians who fill the ~6,000 construction jobs required to build the plant. His only concern? PA residents may be too stoned to pass a drug test…
Read More “PA Gov Wolf: PAers Will Build the Cracker, Unless They’re Stoned”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Bill Tweaking Article 78a Shale Drilling Regs Dies in PA House
July 25, 2016July 25, 2016

In June Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf was forced to accept half a loaf–he agreed to reject new drilling regulations for the conventional drilling industry in the state, if lawmakers would allow his administration’s rework of shale drilling regulations to take effect (see PA Gov Wolf “Eager” to Sign Drilling Law Forced Down His Throat). So we got a new set of drilling rules for shale, referred to as Article 78a, while the rules for conventional (Article 78) will get yet another revision. The Marcellus industry didn’t oppose the reworked rules in part because they thought they could tweak some of the more onerous aspects of them. Two weeks ago the PA Senate passed Senate Bill (SB) 1229, making modifications to three aspects of Article 78a creating the most fuss with shale drillers (see PA Senate Approves Bill Tweaking DEP Chapter 78a Shale Regs). As we noted at the time, Gov. Wolf threatened to veto the legislation. Whether Wolf’s toothless threat mattered or not we don’t know, but we do know that late last week the House failed to pass the bill and left town for summer vacation. That is, SB 1229 is dead…
Read More “Bill Tweaking Article 78a Shale Drilling Regs Dies in PA House”
Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Supreme Court Decides “Title Washing” OK in Mineral Rights Case
July 25, 2016July 25, 2016

You’ve heard of “whitewashing” before. How about “title washing?” No, we hadn’t either. But this funny sounding practice has a great deal to do with mineral rights in Pennsylvania, with possible implications for landowners and drillers. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a 5-0 ruling last week that upholds the practice of title washing in the Keystone State. What in the world is it, and how does it affect landowners and drillers? In the case of Herder Spring Hunting Club v. Keller there had been a tax sale in 1935 for a property in Centre County, PA where the mineral rights had previously been separated. Prior to 1948 if mineral rights that had been separated were not properly recorded (it was incumbent on the owner of the subsurface rights to ensure the sale was recorded at the assessor’s office), and the surface land was later sold, both the mineral rights (subsurface) and the surface land became part of the sale. That, in essence, was title washing. After 1948 a law prevented this from happening, so such cases only apply to land sold before 1948. The legal beagles at Babst Calland have a good overview of what the practice of title washing is, and how the Court’s decision affects Pennsylvanians. We also have a copy of the decision embedded below…
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Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Kentucky | NGLs | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

WV, OH, PA, KY Should Cooperate on $10B NGL Storage Hub
July 22, 2016July 22, 2016

In May MDN brought you the news that a researcher at West Virginia University believes an natural gas liquids (NGL) storage hub is what the Marcellus/Utica region really needs (see WVU Researcher Says Marcellus/Utica Needs an Ethane Storage Hub). According to Brian Anderson, director of WVU’s Energy Institute, without ethane storage (and pipelines) the Marcellus/Utica region risks seeing its abundant ethane leave the area, mostly heading to the Gulf Coast. We need that ethane here, in our area. Kevin DiGregorio, executive director of the Chemical Alliance Zone, is also taking up the cause. Writing an opinion article in the Charleston Gazette-Mail, DiGregorio says West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky need to band together to build such a project. Set aside their competitive natures and cooperate? Yes. Why? Such a project will cost an estimated $10 billion–far more than a single ethane cracker project. No one state can do it on its own. It will take all our states cooperating to pull it off. Below is DiGregorio’s op-ed along with more details about the proposed NGL storage hub…
Read More “WV, OH, PA, KY Should Cooperate on $10B NGL Storage Hub”
Air Quality | Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

Sham “Study” from Johns Hopkins Says Fracking Makes Athsma Worse
July 20, 2016July 20, 2016

The anti-frackers at the Johns Hopkins-Bloomberg School of Public Health are out with another bought-and-paid-for (by anti-drillers) “study” that implies the presence of fracking in Pennsylvania leads to causing or making worse asthma attacks. You may recall the same group of antis pushed out a study last October that supposedly shows fracking leads to premature births (see New Junk Science Claims PA Fracking Leads to Premature Births). That study was quickly debunked (see EID’s Devastating Critique of PA Premature Birth “Study” and Another Devastating Critique of Fracking/Premature Birth “Study”). This newest study, “Association Between Unconventional Natural Gas Development in the Marcellus Shale and Asthma Exacerbations,” evaluates thousands of health records from the Geisinger Clinic in PA, looking for patterns between people showing up with asthmatic symptoms and correlating it to how close they live to shale wells being drilled. The incredible thing about this latest run at smearing the miracle of fracking is this: the authors (most of them students) admit in their own study they only have theories, no proof that ties fracking to asthma. You read that right–there is no proof, no smoking gun. Only wild theories that are unsupported by the data. Yet fawning (and frankly stupid) reporters at places like the AP, PBS StateImpact Pennsylvania and USA Today are trumpeting this “study” as scientific proof of a link that fracking kills ya. It seems the Johns Hopkins-Bloomberg School of Public Health doesn’t produce science–it produces politics dressed up as science…
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Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA DEP’s Updated Online Oil and Gas Well Mapping Tool
July 20, 2016July 20, 2016

Yesterday the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) released an updated version of an online GIS (i.e. mapping) application that allows users to learn information and download reports about oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania. The DEP also released a new video tutorial (embedded below) that explains how to use the PA Oil and Gas Well Mapping application and what information is available to retrieve. Be sure to check out this cool tool from the DEP…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Taxation

Which Energy-Related Items Survived, Which Didn’t in PA Budget
July 19, 2016July 19, 2016

Some interesting Marcellus-related items were included in the recently adopted Pennsylvania state budget that have largely flown under the radar. There are also a few things that weren’t in the budget bill–previously intended to be part of it–that didn’t survive the process. At the top of the list is lack of a severance tax. But right behind that (for us) is that a gross receipts tax on natural gas use, which we thought would be part of the final deal, was not. As MDN previously reported, a gross receipts tax taxes end users of natural gas, in essence targeting low-income households (see Proposed NatGas Gross Receipts Tax Targets PA Low-Income Earners). So three cheers that those two onerous taxes–a severance tax and gross receipts tax–were eliminated by vigilant Republicans (Democrat Gov. Wolf wanted both). What about things that made it through? One item is an amendment that eliminates extra fees and permitting requirements if a driller happens ti “nip the top of the Onondaga” rock layer when drilling a Marcellus well, as sometimes happens. Another provision diverts some money from a fund intended to encourage “high performance buildings” to a program that gives businesses incentives to switch to using natural gas. Love it! Here’s what made the cut, and what didn’t, in the 2016/2017 PA budget…
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Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Shell | Statewide PA

Shell Cracker May Spur $2.3B Upgrade of Locks/Dams on Ohio River
July 19, 2016July 19, 2016

Ohio River Montgomery lock and dam – click for larger version

You may not think barging on the Ohio River has much to do with Shell’s plan to build an ethane cracker in Monaca (Beaver County), PA–but you would be wrong. The river has a great deal to do with that cracker plant, and Shell’s decision to build its plant in Monaca. For one thing, Shell plans to (already has) built two barge docks and has barged materials into the site for use in constructing the plant. For another, numerous manufacturing plants are expected to spring up around the cracker, like little satellites circling a planet, because they will use the ethylene and other materials produced by the cracker plant. Those manufacturers will also need cheap barge transportation for their products. The problem is, the locks and dams along the Ohio were built in the early Twentieth Century (between 1922-1936). They were updated in the 1980s and 1990s, but truth be told, the infrastructure is past its life expectancy already. If barge traffic picks up dramatically, that old infrastructure will show its age. Since 2003 the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) has had a potential project on the books to study and upgrade the Ohio’s infrastructure. Shell’s announcement may be the impetus to get the USACE to launch its already pre-planned $2.3 billion lock and dam project for the Ohio River…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Hubris: PA Gov. Wolf Caves on Budget, then Claims He Won
July 18, 2016July 18, 2016

PA Gov Wolf takes credit for budget he didn’t sign

As MDN reported last week, the Pennsylvania Republican-controlled legislature passed a budget, and then passed $1.3 billion in new taxes to help pay for it. Not part of the package was a severance tax (see PA Legislature Passes $1.3B in Tax Hikes, No Severance Tax). Last year PA Gov. Wolf threw a temper tantrum and waited nine months before allowing a budget to pass, without his signature and with no severance tax (see PA Gov. Wolf Caves on Budget Deal After 9 Mo. of Temper Tantrums). This year it only took a few weeks for Wolf to cave. He got virtually nothing he wanted in the budget–education funding far below levels he wanted, etc. And yet, he’s claiming this year’s budget was a success–because of him. Talk about hubris…
Read More “Hubris: PA Gov. Wolf Caves on Budget, then Claims He Won”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Lebanon County | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Media Downplays Sunoco’s Huge Court Victory re Mariner East 2
July 18, 2016July 18, 2016

Last Friday MDN brought you the really big news that Sunoco Logistics Partners had won a major appeals court case that recognizes them as a public utility in Pennsylvania with the right to use eminent domain to build the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline (see Sunoco LP Wins Major Court Decision for Mariner East 2 Pipeline). Although Big Green groups like the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council are attempting to spin the decision as no big deal–it is a big deal, and they know it. So how does the Associated Press, in bed with Big Green, report the decision? This is their headline: “Sunoco clears 1 legal hurdle after pipeline project ruling.” Laughable! It’s more than one hurdle. Sunoco essentially put another 7 points on the board with 5 seconds left to play…
Read More “Media Downplays Sunoco’s Huge Court Victory re Mariner East 2”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

MSC Says Scranton Newspaper “Plays Fast and Loose” with Tax Truth
July 18, 2016July 18, 2016

David Spigelmyer

A couple of weeks ago MDN noticed a typical anti-drilling “tax the $#@!” out of the Marcellus editorial in the Democrat-run Scranton Times-Tribune. We ignored it. They run such blather on a regular basis and it’s largely un-noteworthy–at least for MDN readers. Except the Times-Tribune continues to pollute the minds of its readers with half-truths and outright lies. Somebody noticed this particular whopper, that somehow the Marcellus industry isn’t paying its “fair share” of taxes. The somebody who noticed was Marcellus Shale Coalition president David Spigelmyer. He wrote a letter to the editor. His response scorches the Times-Tribune editorial and exposes the lies in it…
Read More “MSC Says Scranton Newspaper “Plays Fast and Loose” with Tax Truth”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Independent Fiscal Office Predicts Impact Fee Revenue for 2016
July 15, 2016July 15, 2016

In the past we’ve been pretty critical of the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (IFO). It claims to provide revenue projections for use in the state budget process along with “impartial and timely analysis of fiscal, economic and budgetary issues to assist Commonwealth residents and the General Assembly in their evaluation of policy decisions.” It’s been our observation the IFO is populated with partisan Democrats. However, we have to acknowledge their prediction of impact fee revenue from 2015 was spot on. Earlier this year the IFO predicted that when the dust had settled, the impact fee would generate $185.5 million (see “Independent” Fiscal Office Says PA Impact Fee Revenue Drops 17%). When the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) finally reported the actual numbers, it turned out to be $188 million (see PA PUC Releases Impact Fee Numbers: Revenue Down $36M in 2015). The IFO is back with predictions for what impact fee revenue may look like for 2016 (full copy of their report below). The IFO gives several scenarios and predicts a further slide in 2016 revenue–anywhere from $5 million less to $56 million less, depending on the scenario…
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