Statewide PA

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

PA Legislature Deals with Bonding to Decommission Gas Wells
December 6, 2011December 6, 2011

The Pennsylvania legislature has been working on new laws to tighten regulation of the Marcellus Shale drilling industry. Since January 2011, both the PA Senate and House are now controlled by Republicans, as well as the governorship, giving new Marcellus legislation a good chance of passing. The new laws are a result of, and based on, the findings of an advisory committee appointed by Gov. Tom Corbett earlier this year (see this MDN story).

Both the PA Senate and House have passed slightly different versions of legislation and those versions are now being reconciled in committee to work out the differences so a bill can be sent to Gov. Corbett for signing. One of the outstanding issues to be reconciled is how much of a bond should drillers pay to decommission a well.

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Spectra Energy | Statewide PA

Spectra Gets FERC Approval to Expand PA Marcellus Pipeline
December 5, 2011December 5, 2011

Spectra Energy has received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval for their Texas Eastern Appalachia to Market (TEAM) 2012 pipeline expansion project which expands Texas Eastern’s existing pipeline system and allows them to deliver extra Marcellus Shale gas to the northeast market in the U.S. A map detailing the existing pipeline and the proposed upgrades is embedded below.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Error Found in Penn State Fracking & Water Well Study
November 29, 2011November 29, 2011

MDN recently highlighted a new study of several hundred water wells by Penn State researchers which found no evidence of chemical or methane contamination related to nearby Marcellus gas drilling (see this MDN story). The study did announce one oddity in the data: increased levels of bromide in seven wells. That oddity has now been explained—it was a lab error. Oops. Bottom line conclusion from the study? Shale gas drilling does not lead to either methane or chemical contamination of nearby water wells.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PSU Prof Engelder Named One of Top 100 Global Thinkers
November 29, 2011November 29, 2011

Penn State University professor Terry Engelder, a tireless supporter and promoter of shale gas drilling—particularly in the Marcellus Shale—has just been named one of Foreign Policy Magazine’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers” for 2011 for his research into recovering natural gas from shale using hydraulic fracturing.

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

PA Legislature Struggles with Gas Well Setback Provision
November 28, 2011November 28, 2011

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett is hopeful that the Republican-controlled Senate and House will pass new Marcellus Shale drilling legislation that reaches him by year’s end. But one of the political footballs is working out the issue of setbacks, or how far away a gas well can be drilled from a body of water like a creek, a private water well or a spring. Put the gas well too close and critics argue you increase the chance that an accident can damage the water supply. But make setbacks too far and it makes it practically impossible to drill any wells because the state has so many small waterways. That is, it becomes a back door way to prevent all drilling.

Here is the current state of play between the two differing versions of legislation that have passed in the Senate and House which now need to be reconciled before reaching Gov. Corbett:

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Housing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

New Study Claims Housing Crisis in NE PA from Gas Drilling
November 22, 2011November 3, 2012

A new report on a “housing crisis” in Pennsylvania’s northern-tier counties has just been released by The Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, a research partnership among Keystone College, King’s College, Luzerne County Community College, Marywood University, Misericordia University, Penn State Wilkes-Barre, The Commonwealth Medical College, University of Scranton, and Wilkes University. A copy of the 200 page study is available to download below.

The study purports to show that when counties attract a lot of shale gas drilling activity, they also attract a housing crisis because workers in the drilling industry make more money than non-drilling industry residents and are willing to pay more to rent housing.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA DEP Allows Acid Mine Water to be Used in Fracking
November 22, 2011November 22, 2011

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is attempting to “kill two birds with stone” by allowing Marcellus Shale gas drillers to use acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines as water for hydraulic fracturing of shale gas wells. Yet another example of how gas drilling can be good for the environment.

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Regulation | Statewide PA | Tennessee Gas Pipeline

Tennesee Gas Pipeline Receives Approval for Northeast Upgrade
November 22, 2011November 22, 2011

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) yesterday approved a request by the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company to upgrade its Northeast Project with construction of extra pipeline loops in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as compressor plant upgrades in both states. The end result will be an extra 636,000 dekatherms of gas delivered per year in the important northeast market—most of it Marcellus Shale gas.

From the FERC press release:

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Compromise Allows PA Municipalities Some Drilling Oversight
November 20, 2011November 20, 2011

As MDN recently pointed out, in Pennsylvania there is an ongoing tug-of-war between the state and local municipalities over how much local governments can regulate activities like zoning that impact shale gas drilling (see this MDN story). Local governments want the ability to allow or disallow drilling in certain areas. The state says that statewide laws should totally “preempt” local laws to ensure fairness and consistency and to avoid litigation by drilling companies which will cause millions in taxpayer money to defend.

There is a compromise coming in new legislation that will continue to allow local municipalities some control over drilling in their locales, while preserving most of the oversight for the state. It’s not a perfect solution, but both sides of the debate are signaling it may be the best solution they can jointly agree on.

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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

Regulating Drilling in PA Pits State Against Municipalities
November 15, 2011November 15, 2011

There is a “tug of war” going on in Pennsylvania for who will ultimately control where, and under what conditions, Marcellus Shale gas wells can be drilled. The struggle pits the state against local municipalities. As with many issues surrounding shale gas drilling, this one is complicated.

Pennsylvania has more than 2,500 township and municipal governments across the state—more than any other state—even though there are four other states with larger populations (CA, TX, NY, and FL). Local governments are responsive to the people in their communities.

But when it comes to the issue of drilling, local governments, in being “responsive” are often trampling the rights of local property owners to use their land as they see fit. Local municipalities will say they regulate where malls and shopping centers can be built, where factories can be built, and whether or not land in residential areas can be re-zoned for other purposes, on a case by case basis. Why not the industrial process of constructing a gas well? And they ask the state, “Would you like it if the federal government stripped away your rights to self government? Why do you want to take away ours?”

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Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Four State Governors Sign Deal to Promote CNG Vehicles
November 10, 2011November 10, 2011

Four state governors, one Democrat and three Republicans, are teaming up to push the concept of CNG (compressed natural gas) powered vehicles. Among them is Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, a Marcellus Shale state.

The governors will start replacing vehicles in their state-owned fleets in an attempt to generate more interest in filling stations. It’s very much a chicken and egg situation: You need filling stations in order to power the vehicles, but you need vehicles that will use the filling stations to make them economically viable. The governors hope that by leading the way they will encourage others to follow.

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

PA Lawmakers Close to Passing New Drilling Rules, Impact Fee
November 3, 2011November 3, 2011

Pennsylvania lawmakers are getting close to passage of legislation that would adopt many of the recommendations from Gov. Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, including an impact fee on wells and including a measure that would supersede some local drilling ordinances.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Public Opinion | Statewide PA

Mercyhurst Poll: Majority of PA Residents Support Fracking
November 3, 2011November 3, 2011

Mercyhurst College recently completed a statewide poll in Pennsylvania covering several issues, one of which is Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. A copy of the full questions and responses is embedded below. On the straightforward question, “Do you favor or oppose extracting natural gas through fracking in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale region?” the results were: Favor 55%; Oppose 27%; Depends 9%; Don’t Know 9%. A very clear and convincing majority of Pennsylvanians support fracking.

From the Mercyhurst press announcement summarizing the results:

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Commodity Price | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Marcellus Shale Gas Leads to Lower Prices for PA Consumers
November 1, 2011November 1, 2011

One of the arguments in favor of shale gas drilling is that it will create more supply leading to lower prices for consumers (that’s Economics 101 for the Occupy economic illiterates). Those opposed to drilling scoff and say it won’t happen, that the big, bad energy companies will rig the system to keep prices, and profits, high. Here’s a dose of reality for those who scoff:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Exelon CEO Says Shale Gas Competes with Chinese Nuclear Power
October 31, 2011October 31, 2011

Exelon Corp is the largest owner/operator of nuclear power plants in the United States. John Rowe, CEO of Exelon, said even though his company’s stock price is half what it was since 2008 largely because of the discovery and mining of shale gas, nevertheless, he’s a supporter of shale gas. While attending a conference in Philadelphia recently, he remarked:

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

PA Clean Air Council Sues EPA, Force Drillers to Reduce Ozone
October 31, 2011October 31, 2011

The Pennsylvania anti-drilling group Clean Air Council is suing the federal EPA in an effort to force the EPA to clamp down on Marcellus drillers who the Clean Air Council says are creating too much ozone during drilling.

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