Air Pollution Goes Up in Some PA Counties from Marcellus Drilling
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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Cabot Oil & Gas announced yesterday that they’ve reached an important production milestone: They now produce more than one billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Marcellus Shale. All of Cabot’s Marcellus drilling happens in Susquehanna County, PA, so put another way, Susquehanna County is now producing more than a billion cubic feet of natural gas each and every day—and Cabot is not the only active driller in Susquehanna County! The company credits, in part, the rapid build out of pipeline infrastructure by Williams for the huge increase in production.
This is an astonishing turnaround. Denise Dennis, a very vocal critic of gas drilling and someone who caught national attention two years ago by denouncing natural gas drilling and comparing it to the tobacco industry at a Philadelphia City Council meeting, has just signed a lease with Cabot Oil & Gas to allow drilling under her historic property in Susquehanna County, PA.
WPX Energy, a company formed in January 2011 by Williams (created by spinning off the Williams exploration and production division) released their third quarter financial and operational update last week. The report losing $64 million in 3Q12. Most of WPX’s operations and focus has been in plays other than the Marcellus, including a big focus on the Bakken Shale, where they drill for oil, and the Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado where they drill for wet natural gas.
Dimock Proud, a group of homeowners in and around Dimock, PA who have banded together to defend their town’s reputation against mainstream media news attacks painting the area as a contaminated wasteland, report that two residents who have been among the most vocal critics against drilling and against Cabot Oil & Gas, Craig and Julie Sautner, have settled their lawsuit with Cabot and have left town.