Major Milestone: PA PUC Rules Mariner East IS a Public Utility
Sunoco Logistics is not home free yet–but almost. As MDN readers will know, for some time anti-drillers have attempted to prevent Sunoco Logistics from repurposing their 400+ mile Mariner East pipeline that stretches from western PA to Philadelphia to begin flowing natural gas liquids–ethane and propane. The legal tussle has been over whether or not the pipeline is a “public utility” with the right of eminent domain and the right to be exempt from local zoning ordinances. Bear in mind the Mariner East pipeline has been in the ground for decades, always considered a public utility in years gone by. Local municipalities are now seeking to stop a string of 18 pump and 17 value stations (in 31 locations) that will be needed along the pipeline’s route in order to flow the ethane and propane. So the municipalities launched a legal fight to remove Mariner East’s classification as a public utility. Yesterday the Commissioners of the PA Public Utility Commission put that issue to rest once and for all…
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A group of PA Democrat Senators are, once again, denigrating the miracle of Marcellus Shale drilling in their state. Only this time it’s even sleazier and lower than usual. This time they’re hinting that results from a so-called “study” not released to the public supposedly show that in two Marcellus Shale counties the average number of hospitalizations among the population has gone up versus a single, cherry-picked county with no Marcellus drilling. What is outrageous is that the senators leaked that tiny little bit of information at a hearing, but have not provided any of the details–nor have they provided the study itself. So our hall of shame goes to state Sen. John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township, state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Bethlehem Township, and state Sen. John Wozniak, D-Johnstown who ran a Dem hearing yesterday to attack shale drilling. Also in the hall of shame is Trevor M. Penning, professor of pharmacology and director of University of Pennsylvania’s Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology for testifying (colluding) at that hearing providing only partial information. Penning was the Dem senators’ stooge in an attempt to bad mouth shale drilling. Also making a cameo appearance was PA’s anti-drilling Auditor General, Eugene DePasquale…
A new research study from Stanford University titled “Enhanced Formation of Disinfection By-Products in Shale Gas Wastewater-Impacted Drinking Water Supplies” proves what we already knew more than three years ago: When you send frack wastewater untreated, or lightly treated, to a municipal sewage treatment plant–the plant can’t get the residual water clean enough to not cause problems down river. Back in 2011, then-PA DEP Sec. Michael Krancer ended the practice of municipal treatment plants without special equipment from processing frack wastewater (see 
You may have thought snake handling was something done in tiny fringe churches tucked away in the backwoods of Appalachia. Think again. Snake handlers, or wranglers, are very much in demand in the Marcellus Shale to protect oil and gas workers on location, and to protect the snakes themselves–Timber rattlesnakes, a candidate for the threatened species list. Drillers and pipeline companies have to jump through many hoops to drill a well or lay pipeline. MANY hoops. One of those hoops is to ensure their work does not unduly harm a threatened or endangered species, plant or animal (called T&E in the business). When it comes to rattlesnakes, drillers call in the specialists to handle them…
In March 2013, the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (CSSD) burst onto the scene. It had been a closely guarded secret, the creation of a few hand-picked people from both industry and the environmental movement working together to see if there is any common ground on which both sides can agree that shale development would be safe, sustainable AND affordable. They worked hard for over a year and finally hammered out a set of 15 standards that if a driller (or midstream company or contractor) would meet, it would get a stamp of approval from both the industry and environmental groups as being a good goobie–a safe driller. We were somewhat skeptical from the start (see 
Another new “study” and already the headlines are blaring. A research team led by Ohio State University and composed of researchers at Duke, Stanford, Dartmouth, and the University of Rochester have just published their findings that methane migrates from some shale wells into local water wells. It certainly doesn’t sound like earth-shattering news, but the headlines across the country range from “Bad fracking wells taint water, scientists find” (Sacramento Bee) to “Weak wells not fracking caused US gas leaks into water” (BBC). The media has picked up on this latest study and, depending on the view of the reporter, has spun it to either say fracking is the culprit, or fracking isn’t the culprit–and just about everything in between. Once again MDN will break it down for you and tell you what the study really says. And, we have a copy of the published findings (embedded below) so you can read it for yourself and make up your own mind…