Statewide PA

Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Leads NE in Corporate Facilities Expansion – TY Shale!
March 6, 2013March 6, 2013

What does Pennsylvania have that New York doesn’t? For one thing, fewer welfare deadbeats sucking off the public teat. For another, PA has shale gas drilling and NY does not. Shale gas drilling has propelled PA, for the second year in a row, to third place in the entire country for the number of new and expanded corporate facilities built. PA is #1 for new corporate facilities in the Northeast—thanks to Marcellus drilling. Too bad NY is missing out—the very real cost of not drilling is loss of infrastructure projects like these.

PA had 430 new or expanded corporate facilities built in 2012 with a minimum investment of at least $1 million and with each facility adding at least 50 new jobs. Translation: On the low end, PA had $430 million in new investment and 21,500 new jobs—most of which came from the shale industry. The actual number for new investment/jobs was more like double…

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

Self-Serving Sierra Club Wants PA to Raise Taxes on Shale Drillers
March 6, 2013March 6, 2013

People like the Sierra Club have an interesting concept of what “fair” means. When it comes to other people’s money (OPM), the Sierra Club is only too ready to spend it—especially if they didn’t earn it. But that’s the way it is with socialists who like (their words) “spreading it around.”

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the extremist environmental group Sierra Club isn’t happy with “only” $200 million in impact fees/taxes. Oh no…they think a severance tax could easily more than double that amount—so it can be “spread around” among the enviro faithful—most particularly for themselves:

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Cumberland County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

The Folly of PA’s Impact Fee/Tax
March 5, 2013March 5, 2013

A number of stories coming from PA for the past several months revolve around how towns and counties will spend a windfall they’ve received from the state since instituting the first-ever shale well impact “fee” last year (for background on the fee-which-is-really-just-a-tax, see: List of PA Impact Fee Disbursements by County/Town). We’ve spared you the boring details. However, we bring you one of those stories to illustrate a point.

Cumberland County, PA has no active shale drilling, yet they will receive $200,000 in “walking around” money from the hard work of energy companies and landowners who are drilling. And what do the wise leaders of Cumberland County intend to do with this new-found pile of cash? Buy a new fire truck or two? Refurbish school classrooms? Refit snowplows with new equipment? Maybe convert some county vehicles to run on natural gas? Nope. They plan to put $149,000 of it into a program to give away (blow) on “green projects.” The squabbling over how to distribute it has already begun…

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Education | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Penn State Launches 2 More Marcellus Initiatives for Businesses
March 4, 2013March 4, 2013

Penn State University loves the Marcellus Shale. In addition to operating the Marcellus Center for Outreach & Research and the Shale Education and Training Center (ShaleTEC), Penn State is offering two new Marcellus-related services: a shale energy seminar and supply chain services for businesses:

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Columbia Pipeline Group | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA

Columbia Gas to Expand Philly Pipeline, No Virgins Sacrificed
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

Columbia Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Nisource, filed plans with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Monday to expand their pipeline network in the Philadelphia area to bring more Marcellus Shale gas to the eastern side of the state.

Although anti-drillers are sure protest this latest proposal (as they do all such proposals), in what will no doubt be a relief to property owners, no “virgins” will be sacrificed. Let us explain…

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Anadarko | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Western Gas

Western Gas Enters the Marcellus, Buys 2 Pipeline Systems in PA
March 1, 2013March 1, 2013

Western Gas Partners, a master limited partnership created by Anadarko to “own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets” has until now built and expanded pipeline and processing plants in the southwest, west and mid-continent region. They are now players in the Marcellus Shale as well by paying $623.5 million for a one-third ownership of two natural gas pipeline gathering systems in north-central Pennsylvania. Together, the two systems have a combined throughput of 1.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The company’s announcement about the two deals and how they will finance them:

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Crime | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

GPX Gets Off Easy After Using Illegal Aliens for PA Survey Crew
February 27, 2013February 27, 2013

Last June MDN told you about GPX, a Texas-based seismic surveying company doing work in Pennsylvania for the oil and gas industry that was caught trying to sneak in illegal aliens to work on their surveying crews in PA (see Surveying Company Caught Sneaking Illegal Immigrants to PA). Those in charge faced the prospect of 100 years in prison and paying $5 million in fines. Looks like they’re going to get off easy with a slap on the wrist—a $25,000 fine:

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Aqua America | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Penn Virginia Corporation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PVR Water Services – Now Pumping 3M Gal of Water/Day for Drilling
February 26, 2013February 26, 2013

Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based, publicly-traded water utilities with almost 3 million residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Florida and Georgia. They also have a joint venture with Penn Virginia Resource Partners called PVR Water Services which provides water to Marcellus drillers in Pennsylvania. So far business is good.

A short section of Aqua America’s annual financial and operations report updates us on PVR Water Services:

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

PA DEP Sec. Krancer Faces Tough Questions from Senators
February 22, 2013February 22, 2013

MDN loves Pennsylvania Dept. of Environment Protection Sec. Michael Krancer—primarily because he doesn’t take any guff from politically posturing Democrats. He also happens to be very smart and very funny. Krancer faced a grilling yesterday during budget hearings from (some) PA senators who wanted to score political points. Krancer fired right back when challenged. He also refused to answer questions about his religious beliefs on global warming. It’s dangerous to go against GW orthodoxy. You’re branded a heretic and imbecile if you’re not a Kool-Aid drinker of the GW mythology.

Below is some of the back and forth from yesterday’s budget grilling of Krancer. He addresses the topic of Marcellus Shale drilling and the DEP’s ability to regulate it. He also answers an interesting question about “asexual behavior” in fish…

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American GTL Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Reserve Environmental Services | Statewide PA

Shale Wastewater Operator Proposes Marcellus Gas-to-Liquids Plant
February 22, 2013February 22, 2013

American GTL Energy wants to build a gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale to convert methane (“dry gas”) into diesel fuel. Such a plant, if built, would require about $1 billion of investment—so American GTL is trying to catch the interest of companies like Exxon Mobil—companies with deep pockets.

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About MDN | MDN Resources | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

MDN Calls It: PA Hits 2 Trillion in NatGas Production in 2012
February 20, 2013February 20, 2013

Last month MDN released Volume 3 of the Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook. We predicted something in the ‘Drilling Update’ section that Databook readers have now known for a month—that Pennsylvania would hit the 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas production milestone for 2012. The exact quote from the Databook, published at the end of January: “Pennsylvania, which just passed 1 trillion cubic feet of shale natural gas production in 2011, will double that and hit 2 trillion cubic feet of production for 2012. In addition, we believe Ohio’s Utica Shale will achieve 67 billion cubic feet of production for 2012.” We also predicted: “WV will likely double production again, so we’re estimating they will show an increase to 455 bcf for 2012.” (Databook Volume 3, page 10)

We don’t yet have 2012 final numbers for OH and WV, but our prediction for PA was spot on and is now verified by the latest reports just released by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Washington County

Hearing on PA DEP Water Testing – 2.5 Hour Gripe Session
February 20, 2013February 20, 2013

Pennsylvania State Rep. Jesse White (Democrat from Cecil, PA) held a hearing yesterday in Washington, PA that took aim at practices by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) over how they test (or don’t test) and report (or don’t report) on water supplies near active shale drilling locations. The DEP was invited to attend their own roasting but declined, calling White’s hearing political theater, unproductive, unprofessional and a waste of time (see PA DEP Not Attending Hearing on Water Testing Near Shale Drilling).

With representatives from anti-drilling organizations like Earthworks and PennFuture scheduled to testify at the hearing, it’s not surprising the DEP declined to show up just to be bullied. The session was apparently a 2 1/2 hour dump-on-the-DEP-fest:

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Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus Health Impact Study Finally Gets Funding
February 19, 2013February 19, 2013

In August 2012, Geisinger Health System along with a second health system, Guthrie Health, announced they would jointly conduct the first ever study of the health impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling (see Health Care Systems Partner to Study Marcellus Impacts). They were later joined by a third organization: Susquehanna Health (see Third Group Joins Unfunded Marcellus Health Impact Study). Problem was, they didn’t have funding to begin the study (see Much-Ballyhooed Marcellus Health Impact Study Not Funded).

Six months later funding has finally arrived in the form of a $1 million grant from the Degenstein Foundation of Sunbury, PA. Geisinger Health announced the grant yesterday on their website:

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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

PA DEP Report: Counties with Fracking Have More Air Pollution
February 18, 2013February 18, 2013

Last week the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) reported they filed a required every-three-year air pollution study with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The results? Because of fracking and a change away from burning coal to burning natural gas for electrical power generation, all major forms of air pollution, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, have gone down—significantly (see “Thank You for Fracking” – Air Pollution Goes Down in PA).

MDN now has a copy of the official numbers filed by the DEP to the EPA (see the files embedded below showing the data). It appears to us there is a “rest of the story” in the DEP’s numbers. While air pollution numbers are extremely positive and have gone down significantly as a statewide average, in counties with a lot of Marcellus Shale drilling, air pollution numbers have gone up. Compared to the levels found in other counties, we’d call it a “significant” increase. Is there cause for concern?

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Washington County

PA DEP Not Attending Hearing on Water Testing Near Shale Drilling
February 14, 2013February 14, 2013

PA State Rep. Jesse White, Democrat from Cecil, PA, is hosting a hearing next week in Western PA that will look at the state Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) policies in conducting water testing near shale drilling sites. The one organization that won’t be there? The DEP. They’re calling White’s hearing next week political theater, unproductive, unprofessional and a waste of time…

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Air Quality | Bradford County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

Air Pollution Goes Up in Some PA Counties from Marcellus Drilling
February 14, 2013February 14, 2013

Yesterday MDN reported the story that air pollution in Pennsylvania overall has gone done significantly from 2008 to 2011 due to the increased use of Marcellus Shale gas now being mined and used (see “Thank You for Fracking” – Air Pollution Goes Down in PA). The reason air pollution has gone down is mainly due to the switch away from burning coal to burning natural gas.

However, closer analysis of the data (MDN has not been able to get a copy of the full report—yet) shows that in PA counties with a lot of shale drilling, certain kinds of air pollution went up during that period even though the state average went down. Why? Mainly because of (we’re guessing) the increased use of diesel engines used in the equipment operating at drill sites and from the large number of trucks coming and going to drill sites. Compressor plant emissions also contribute to the increase.

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