Statewide PA

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

MSC Disagrees with MDN’s Take on Obama Speech
February 14, 2013February 14, 2013

Not everyone on the pro-drilling side of the isle agrees with MDN when it comes to the tragedy that is the Obama Administration. We told you our opinion of the president’s State of the Union Speech yesterday (see The Great and Powerful BHOz Threatens Edict on Global Warming).

The Marcellus Shale Coalition—a Pittsburgh-based industry organization that is tops in our book—doesn’t see it the same way. They think there were good things resulting from the speech. Here is their take on what Obama said on Tuesday:

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Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

“Thank You for Fracking” – Air Pollution Goes Down in PA
February 13, 2013February 13, 2013

Because of miracle of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and the natural gas it generates, and because that abundant new source of natural gas burns cleaner than any other fossil fuel, air pollution in Pennsylvania declined—significantly—from 2008 to 2011. So we tip our hat and say a big, “Thank you for fracking.”

Some of the stats recently reported by PA to the federal EPA in a report on air pollution (required every three years):

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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | RETTEW | Roads | Statewide PA

Engineering Firm Receives Award for Road Project in Marcellus
February 13, 2013February 13, 2013

Engineering firm RETTEW, a firm that does a lot of work in the Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling industry, has just received an award for their work on a Chesapeake Energy project to reconstruct more than 400 miles of rural roads in Pennsylvania at no cost to the public while reducing waste by nearly 100 percent. A hearty congratulations to RETTEW for their innovative approach, and to Chesapeake for their proactive program to preserve rural roads in active drilling areas.

From the press announcement:

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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Anti-Drillers Claim DEP Discriminates Against Poor, Minorities
February 11, 2013February 11, 2013

Anti-drillers in Pennsylvania, including the anti-drilling organization PennFuture, claim that the state Dept. of Environment Protection (DEP) is discriminating against the poor and minorities that live in certain communities because it doesn’t give them “enhanced notification” about Marcellus Shale drilling permits issued in those communities. It’s just the latest in a string of desperate attempts by anti-drillers to slow or shut down the miracle of hydraulic fracturing in PA.

This latest fabricated “crisis” has to do with the nonsensical, gobbledygook concept of “environmental justice communities”…

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Taxation

PA Libs Renew Call for Severance Tax, O&G Industry Pushes Back
February 11, 2013February 11, 2013

Liberals everywhere believe that high taxes and massive spending will cure all of society’s ills. Well, they actually don’t believe that, but they do get intoxicated on the power that comes from spending other people’s money—and it tends to keep them in power when they spend enough of it on people who didn’t earn it and won’t work for it.

Such is the situation in Pennsylvania. The new “impact fee” on oil and gas drilling in the state—which is really a tax—is not even five months old, and already the libs (i.e. Democrats) are calling for a new severance tax on oil and gas drilling. The Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Association is pushing back:

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

1984 PA Oil & Gas Act Rewrite Delayed but Still Coming
February 11, 2013February 11, 2013

In February 2012, Pennsylvania state lawmakers adopted new shale drilling regulations called Act 13. MDN reported several months later, in August 2012, that Act 13 “didn’t do the whole job” and written into the Act 13 law itself was a requirement that the state’s 1984 oil and gas law undergo a complete regulatory rewrite (see Rewrite of 1984 PA Oil and Gas Act Underway). At that time (in August), the five-member Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board issued 23 pages of proposed changes to the 1984 law and said they planned to have the rewrite done and dusted by December 2012.

It’s February 2013 and the 23-page draft has now grown to be 73 pages, and the original December deadline for completing the rewrite has now turned into “next winter.” However, progress is being made on what one board member calls a “big deal”…

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Energy Companies | Energy Corporation of America | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Federal Judge Upholds Split Decision in PA Royalty Case
February 8, 2013February 8, 2013

A group of landowners who signed leases in western Pennsylvania with Energy Corporation of America (ECA) filed a lawsuit in June 2012 (Pollock, et al v Energy Corporation of America) alleging ECA improperly deducted certain expenses, and didn’t include certain revenues, when calculating and paying royalties. At the time, ECA counter-sued asking for summary judgment that the way they calculate royalties and revenues is OK according to accepted practice and previous court rulings.

Last fall Magistrate Judge Robert Mitchell “partially granted and partially denied” the summary judgment request from ECA. It was mostly a victory for ECA because it dismissed all but one of the charges by the landowners. The case was appealed by both sides to federal court and on Jan. 24, Judge Joy Flowers Conti of the Western District of Pennsylvania said Judge Mitchell’s interpretation of the case is correct. She upheld his decision. This is an instructive case for both landowners and drillers, and a caution to be sure the lease you sign spells out in minute detail how royalties will be calculated…

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Huntingdon County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA | Supply Chain

Small Business Startup to Furnish PA Drillers with Act 9 Signs
February 7, 2013February 7, 2013

MDN loves small business—we would argue they are the backbone of job creation in this country. Score another victory for a small business that picked up on a supply chain opportunity—an opportunity to provide a product or service to the shale drilling industry. In February 2012, the Pennsylvania legislature passed a new law called Act 9. Similar to Act 13, Act 9 deals with regulating Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling in PA. Act 9’s purpose? Make well pad drill sites safer. Part of Act 9 requires drillers to post new signage with safety information at the entrance of each drill site (example below).

Enter a new small business: Unconventional Well Pad Signs. Located near Altoona, PA, Unconventional Well Pad Signs is a division of another company—HomeWaters Retreats. HomeWaters, which provides vacation retreats and camps, is a business completely unrelated to manufacturing or any of the types of businesses you normally associate with providing products and services to the drilling industry. Gotta love small business entrepreneurs…

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

2 New Studies of Marcellus Drilling’s Impact on PA Air Quality
February 4, 2013February 4, 2013

Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania was responsible for just a small fraction of PA’s air pollution in 2011 according to newly released data (the first full year of data we have) from the Dept. of Environmental Protection, and from a private study by Rand Corporation (see below). How much did it contribute? PA’s shale gas industry was responsible for about 4% of total air pollution emitted by all industrial facilities in 2011.

Although the overall numbers are low, that’s not to say there aren’t concerns or things to improve…

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Wants Drillers to Use Acid Mine Water in Fracking – Will They?
February 4, 2013February 4, 2013

Pennsylvania has a big problem with water seeping from abandoned coal mines—the water mixes with minerals from the mine and is highly acidic. Some 300 million gallons of it flow—every day—into Pennsylvania’s waterways, killing off fish and plant life in 4,000 miles of rivers and streams. The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently launched a plan to encourage shale drillers in the state to use “mine influenced water” (MIW) for drilling and fracking operations. It kills two birds with one stone: it helps to get rid of MIW and it gives drillers a steady source of water for fracking (see PA DEP Finalizes Procedure for Using Acid Mine Water in Fracking).

Just one problem: Drillers are scared to death of “if you touch it, you own it for evermore.” That is, drillers are rightly concerned about liability in this day and age of litigate everything. Who wants to get sued for doing the right thing? What can PA do to reassure drillers to give MIW a shot?

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Legislation Would Release Untapped Acreage for New Lease
February 4, 2013February 4, 2013

Help may be on the way for Pennsylvania landowners who have leased their land, but not all of their land is part of a “production unit.” PA State Sen. Gene Yaw has introduced legislation what would release the land not in production so it could, theoretically, be leased again, or leased to someone else.

This update from one of our favorite blogs, ShaleEnergyLawBlog:

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