US Sen Casey (PA) Wants Money for Marcellus Jobs Training
Politicians like U.S. Senator Bob Casey (from Pennsylvania) are sickening. He makes us want to throw up. Casey introduced and is lead sponsor of legislation in the Senate called the FRAC Act—Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals. It is an anti-drilling bill plain and simple. Casey has repeatedly called for federal intervention in his own state on the issue of fracking and shale drilling. Then he turns around and sticks his hand out and wants Shell to locate a $2 billion ethane cracker plant that uses shale gas in his state (see The Two Faces of Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA) on Shale Drilling).
Once again, Casey has conveniently flipped sides and has his hand out. The enormous job growth in Pennsylvania due to shale drilling cannot be ignored, so Casey figures he can grab some money from the federal till for a jobs training program in his state (buys him more votes, you see). Earth to Casey: The shale drilling industry is already hiring and training thousands of people in your state–without the need to transfer taxpayers’ hard-earned money to your walking-around, vote-buying account…
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Starting next week, Marcellus Shale drillers in PA will face strict new rules on air emissions at drill sites. The new rules (i.e. “technical guidance”) won’t officially be released until Saturday, August 10 when published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The rules will limit noxious emissions, including nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutants. The rules also include an almost-total ban on flaring of wells–only short-term or emergency flaring allowed.
A new twist in the ongoing court battle over Pennsylvania’s still relatively new Act 13 Marcellus Shale drilling law. A court case has been before the PA Supreme Court since last year challenging provisions in the new law to replace local zoning of oil and gas drilling with a uniform, statewide standard. As MDN told you a few weeks ago, it appears the newly sworn-in seventh justice on the PA Supreme Court will not participate in the decision, leaving a split 3-3 decision a likely outcome (see 
Well well, what do you know? There are 18 brave Democrats in Pennsylvania after all. MDN was (we think) the first and one of the only sources to tell you of the insanity of the PA Democrat Party who, at their most recent statewide meeting, voted to adopt an official plank in their party platform supporting an immediate and ongoing moratorium–essentially a ban–of all Marcellus Shale drilling in the state (see 
Are you a driller, oilfield services or other supply chain company whose primary activity revolves around the PA or WV Marcellus Shale? If so, there’s a good chance you’re going to get audited by the U.S. Labor Department (DOL). Best to get your records (and hiring practices) in order now.
Anti-drillers are nervous that one of the big-money spigots for funding their so-called research into the dangers of fracking is about to be shut off. In a developing soap opera, the “longtime head” of environmental grant making for the Heinz Endowments, Caren Glotfelty, has been shown the door. A number of anti-drilling studies have been funded by Glotfelty during her tenure at Heinz. Bobby Vagt, president of Heinz Enowments, will fill in for Glotfelty until a replacement is found. Vagt, you may recall, is involved with the Center for Sustainable Shale Development (see 
The recently signed Pennsylvania Royalty Bill SB259 provides extra transparency for landowners in how royalties are calculated, but it also introduces forced pooling for some landowners with old, pre-Marcellus leases (see