Susquehanna County

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Williams Holds Public Sessions for New Constitution Pipeline
July 23, 2012July 23, 2012

MDN editor Jim Willis attended a “meet and greet” session by Williams about their proposed new Constitution Pipeline. This is a first-hand account of that meeting.

Gas production from northeastern Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale is so plentiful, new pipelines are necessary to move it to market. That was the message from Williams Corporation last Wednesday night at the West Windsor Fire Hall located just miles outside of Binghamton, NY.

Williams was on hand to discuss the proposed Constitution Pipeline, a joint venture between Williams and Cabot Oil & Gas to build a 121-mile pipeline from the Marcellus-rich area of Susquehanna County, PA north to Schoharie County, NY.

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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County | Williams

The Next Battleground for Shale Drilling: Compressor Plants
June 18, 2012June 18, 2012

As the number of Marcellus gas wells increase in Pennsylvania, so too do the number of pipelines to move the gas and the number of natural gas compressor stations. Compressor stations push the gas along the pipeline until the pipeline connects to a larger pipeline. Compressor stations are the next battleground for anti-drillers who want to plant the seeds of doubt.

For example, 29 permits have been or are being considered for compressor stations in northeastern PA, and of those, nearly two dozen of them are within a 15-mile radius of Dimock, PA. Since 2005, 383 permits have been issued statewide, but not all of them have been or will be built. The issue of contention is air pollution. Each station emits some volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). How much they emit, and their combined effect in a region, is what is in dispute.

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

EPA’s Final Batch of Testing for Dimock Water Wells Released
May 14, 2012May 14, 2012

On Friday the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its results of testing for the fourth and final batch of water wells in Dimock, PA. The results are the same as the first three batches: There is and has been no contamination of the area’s water supply by chemicals from nearby hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus Shale gas wells.

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Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

WPX Water Well Test Results for Franklin Twp, PA
May 9, 2012May 9, 2012

Last December, the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) started investigating methane in three water wells in Franklin Township (Susquehanna County), PA. Since there are several gas wells being drilled by WPX Energy a few thousand feet away, wells that were cited for improper casing, the DEP asked WPX to install methane venting systems for the families of the three wells in question while the DEP investigates (see this MDN story). WPX is also investigating, and their results conclusively show the methane in the water wells isn’t coming from WPX’s gas wells.

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Broome County | Chenango County | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Delaware County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

Williams & Cabot Partner on New 120-Mile PA to NY Pipeline
May 3, 2012May 3, 2012

Williams Partners and Cabot Oil & Gas are working on a new 120-mile natural gas pipeline, dubbed the Constitution Pipeline, that will stretch from Susquehanna County, PA through Broome County, NY, and on through Chenango County, Delaware County, and terminate in Schoharie County, connecting to the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline and the Tennessee Gas pipeline (see the map embedded below).

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Bradford County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Luzerne County | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Tioga County (PA)

SRBC Lifts PA Water Withdrawal Restrictions, Drilling Resumes
May 1, 2012May 1, 2012

There is no official notice posted on the Susquehanna River Basin Commission’s (SRBC) website, but according to a Reuters news story, the SRBC has lifted its temporary ban on water withdrawals implemented two weeks ago on April 18. Hydraulic fracturing uses a lot of water. Drillers get the water from various sources, most often rivers and streams. If that river or stream happens to be located in the Susquehanna River Basin, withdrawals are overseen by the SRBC, which ensures water levels do not get too low.

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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

PA DEP Continues Investigating 2 Water Wells Near Dimock
April 30, 2012April 30, 2012

Old news being reported as new news: The PA Department of Environmental Protection continues its investigation into a possible case of methane migration in two water wells just outside of Dimock Township. The investigation started in 2010 and is not part of the ongoing Dimock situation. The “new news” part of the story is that Cabot Oil & Gas added more cement in the casing of a nearby Greenwood 1 well (in March).

DEP officials are now monitoring to see if the additional cemented casing cuts down on methane in the two water wells. If it does, it will be obvious that Cabot’s Greenwood 1 well is the cause. If it does not reduce methane in the water wells, back to the drawing board and the investigation continues.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

New Video about Dimock, PA Tells the Real Story
April 27, 2012April 27, 2012

There’s been no shortage of pejorative media coverage painting the small town of Dimock, PA (in Susquehanna County) as the new Love Canal—a chemical wasteland. The image portrayed in a constant drumbeat by mainstream media, and Hollywood celebrities, is that Marcellus Shale gas drilling has fouled the water in and around Dimock. MDN will not recount the history of Dimock, just do a search on MDN for a myriad of background stories.

What you need to know is that the water is clean (proven clean by multiple tests, the latest of which is from the federal EPA themselves). And what you further need to know is that anti-drillers, in their zeal to find one place, anyplace, they can point to where water was affected by drilling, has unfairly destroyed the reputation of this innocent town.

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Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Third Set of EPA Water Tests in Dimock, PA Come Back Clean
April 23, 2012April 23, 2012

The latest (and third) round of water testing done by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of water wells around Dimock, PA shows (surprise!) no chemical contamination from hydraulic fracturing. All of the 16 water wells show no fracking fluids. One of the wells shows a high level of arsenic, a chemical not used by Cabot Oil & Gas during hydraulic fracturing. Arsenic is a naturally occurring chemical.

Here’s the statement by the EPA upon releasing the latest round of testing last Friday:

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Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

EPA Says Another 20 Dimock Wells Tested are Fine
April 9, 2012April 9, 2012

$fracking is safe - an incovenient truth$ WARNING: This post contains snide and snarky comments. Anti-drillers are encouraged to not read this post. Proceed at your own risk.

Sometimes MDN thinks the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is more of a public relations press release-generating agency rather than an agency to protect the environment. They issue a multitude of press releases—every day. But when they find that another 20 wells in Dimock, PA are fine and have not been (never were) chemically contaminated by hydraulic fracturing, not a single public press release on it. Oh it gets reported, but the EPA slips a short message to the government’s “other” PR agency, the Associated Press. And the good ole AP will warp and spin it in just the right way to please the government overlords.

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Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

PA Supreme Court to Consider Shale Gas Mineral Rights Case
April 5, 2012April 5, 2012

An update on what could be a very important case for many landowners in Pennsylvania: On Tuesday, April 3, the PA Supreme Court agreed to hear a Susquehanna County case called Butler v Powers estate. The case concerns whether or not natural gas rights are a part of “mineral rights” in old leases where it’s not specifically spelled out. PA law precedent since 1882 known as the “Dunham rule” is that natural gas is not part of mineral rights unless specifically stated as such. If the Supreme Court overturns that precedent, it would threaten hundreds of drilling leases now in place throughout PA.

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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Williams

NatGas Leak Caused Williams Compressor Station Explosion
April 2, 2012April 2, 2012

A natural gas leak was the cause of an explosion last week in a Susquehanna County, PA natural gas compressor station (see this MDN story). Fortunately, an alarm triggered an automatic shutdown of the station just minutes before the explosion.

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Accidents | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Williams

Compressor Station Explosion in Susquehanna County, PA
March 30, 2012March 30, 2012

A natural gas compressor station located in Susquehanna County, PA owned and operated by Williams Partners experienced an explosion yesterday morning that blew a hole in the roof of the complex. There were no injuries and the automated emergency shutdown kicked in preventing gas from entering or leaving the station.

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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

WPX Vents 3 Methane-Contaminated Water Wells in PA
March 22, 2012March 22, 2012

In an update to a story from earlier this week about methane contamination of three water wells in Franklin Township, PA (see this MDN story), WPX Energy has now installed venting systems on those three homes per the request from the PA Department of Environmental Protection.

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Accidents | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | WPX Energy

PA DEP Asks WPX to Help Families with Water/Methane Issues
March 20, 2012March 19, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) sent a letter last Friday to WPX Energy (spin-off from Williams) asking them to help three families who live near shale wells being drilled by WPX in Franklin Township (Susquehanna County, PA). The families’ water wells contain high levels of methane.

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Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

EPA’s Dimock, PA Water Test Results Show No Contamination
March 16, 2012March 16, 2012

Water test results from the federal Environmental Protection Agency confirm what the Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection has said all along: Well water in Dimock, PA has not been contaminated by hydraulic fracturing chemicals. The PA DEP investigated claims from some Dimock residents that their water had been contaminated by gas drilling done by Cabot Oil & Gas.

In 2010 the DEP found that Cabot’s drilling had led to methane (natural gas) migration into 19 area water wells—something that Cabot still disputes as the area has been known for decades to contain methane in its water supplies. Methane is harmless to drink, but it is an explosion hazard, so the DEP ordered Cabot to pay the affected homeowners twice the value of their property and install a methane filtration system on each home’s water supply (wells or springs). Eleven of the 19 families affected refused the settlement and decided instead to sue Cabot, holding out for a bigger pay day.

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