Susquehanna County

Broome County | DTE Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County

Bluestone Gathering Pipeline Gets NY Approval
October 10, 2012October 10, 2012

MDN friend Andy Leahy, intrepid writer of the NY Shale Gas Now blog site, has returned! Yeah! Andy’s first post since being back from a several month hiatus is an important one—one that somehow slipped by the MDN radar. The Bluestone Pipeline, a 37-mile gathering line that runs through Susquehanna County, PA and into Broome County, NY (Town of Sanford) connecting to both the Millennium and the Tennessee interstate pipelines received approval from New York State. (See this MDN story for background on the Bluestone Pipeline.)

Andy reports the developer plans to break ground in New York as early as October 20. For a full analysis and rundown on the project now that it’s moving forward, see Andy’s post by clicking the link below.

*NY Shale Gas Now (Oct 9, 2012) – Bluestone Pipeline Green-Lighted; Local Press Still Asleep at Keyboards
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Responds to Latest Bloomberg Attack over Dimock [Free]
October 10, 2012October 10, 2012

Once again Bloomberg is taking aim at Cabot Oil & Gas over methane in water wells in the Dimock, PA area. Like a dog digging up an stinking, rotting carcass that it previously buried to chew on it some more, Bloomberg just can’t help itself. They’re desperate to prove a connection—any connection—between fracking and “pollution” of water. In this case, methane pollution—something that’s eminently fixable.

The latest hit piece from Bloomberg ran last week and is being endlessly recycled by other media outlets. The piece, titled “Cabot’s Methodology Links Tainted Water Wells to Gas Fracking,” attempts to make a link between data released by an EPA investigation in Dimock and methane from Cabot’s drilling. It cites a Duke University analysis of the data saying in essence that the methane found in two Dimock water wells present a chemical “fingerprint” or signature that matches methane from deep below the surface, not near the surface. The “natural” conclusion is that Cabot must be at fault.

This issue is complex and scientific and the tendency is to try and make it easier than it is. Cabot has taken the time to patiently and accurately respond to this latest attack on their own blog site. MDN is running their post below so you have the full facts.

Read More “Cabot Responds to Latest Bloomberg Attack over Dimock [Free]”
Citrus | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Which Driller Had Top 2 Producing Wells in PA for 1H12?
October 2, 2012October 2, 2012

Yesterday MDN shared with your our detailed look at the production numbers—the amount of natural gas and gas liquids—produced in the entire state of Pennsylvania for the first half of 2012 (see this MDN story). Today the Philadelphia Inquirer, quoting Powell Shale Digest and other sources, takes a closer look at well by well statistics for the same period.

Here’s a few interesting tidbits brought to light by their analysis, and the surprise answer for who had the top two producing wells in the state for the first half of the year:

Read More “Which Driller Had Top 2 Producing Wells in PA for 1H12?”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Former Dimock Landowners Buy New Property…with Gas Lease
September 28, 2012September 28, 2012

Dimock Proud, a group of landowners in the township of Dimock, PA who seek to defend their town’s reputation against unfair media attacks, recently reported that Craig and Julie Sautner, landowners in Dimock and some of the most vocal critics of Cabot Oil & Gas, settled their claim with Cabot, sold their property and left town (see this MDN story). Dimock Proud provided MDN an update on the Sautners yesterday via email.

Read More “Former Dimock Landowners Buy New Property…with Gas Lease”
Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

NatGas Utility in Susquehanna County, PA Approved by PUC
September 28, 2012September 28, 2012

The first pubic utility to be licensed in Pennsylvania in decades was just approved by the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC). Leatherstocking Gas Co., a joint venture of Corning Gas Co. and Mirabito Energy Products (both headquartered in New York State) will spend the next five years installing pipelines to carry natural gas to businesses and residences in throughout rural Susquehanna County, PA.

It’s long been an irony that the county producing some of the largest volumes of natural gas in the state did not have its own natural gas utility to benefit local residents by letting them purchase some of the gas they produce—a situation now resolved.

Read More “NatGas Utility in Susquehanna County, PA Approved by PUC”
Accidents | Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Fracking Opponents Craig & Julie Sautner Sell, Leave Dimock
September 10, 2012September 28, 2012

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.

This is an email MDN received from Dimock Proud on Saturday:

Read More “Fracking Opponents Craig & Julie Sautner Sell, Leave Dimock”
Berks County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Hitchhiking Poet Chronicles Life in the Marcellus Shale
September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

We don’t know why we find this story fascinating, but we do. The Berks County (Philly suburbs) Poet Laureate, Craig Czury, has been hanging out in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties lately—hitchhiking. Czury sticks his thumb out, repeatedly, and hitchhikes between Montrose, PA (in Susquehanna County), and Tunkhannock (in Wyoming County), going back and forth along State Route 29. Why? To listen to people’s stories about Marcellus Shale gas drilling.

Czury is working on a series of poems to document his conversations with the people he rides with. He finds that people who pick up a hitchhiker will often open up and talk freely.

Read More “Hitchhiking Poet Chronicles Life in the Marcellus Shale”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Cabot Effort Raises $4.4 Million for PA Physicians Clinic [Free]
September 5, 2012September 5, 2012

Earlier this year, Cabot Oil & Gas committed to donate up to $2 million to help fund building a new physicians clinic and hospital for the Montrose, PA area (see this MDN story).

This is “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to say. Cabot indeed contributed an initial $1 million and then worked hard to encourage others to give. Local businesses and organizations like the VFW stepped up with big contributions and gave $1.2 million on top of Cabot’s initial $1 million. Cabot then went above and beyond, matching their donations with another $1.2 million! In addition, the Weinberg Foundation wrote a check for $1 million too. Total raised? $4.4 million. (Be sure to watch the video below.)

Read More “Cabot Effort Raises $4.4 Million for PA Physicians Clinic [Free]”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

PA DEP Allows Cabot to Resume Fracking in Dimock
August 22, 2012August 22, 2012

Now that most of the families in and around Dimock, PA who previously sued Cabot Oil & Gas claiming their water had been contaminated by nearby drilling have settled with the company (see this MDN story), the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has given Cabot a green light to resume fracking seven wells in Dimock that Cabot previously drilled but had not completed. The action to let Cabot finish those wells and bring them online comes two and a half years after activity on the wells was stopped by an order of the DEP.

Read More “PA DEP Allows Cabot to Resume Fracking in Dimock”
Broome County | DTE Energy | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Susquehanna County

DTE Moves Forward with Bluestone Gathering Pipeline in NE PA
August 20, 2012August 20, 2012

In July of 2011 DTE Energy announced they would file to build a 37-mile natural gas gathering pipeline through the Town of Sanford (Broome County, NY) as well as the towns of New Milford, Harford, Thompson, Jackson, Lenox and Harmony in Susquehanna County, PA. Dubbed the Bluestone Pipeline, the new gathering pipeline will hook to Marcellus gas wells along its route and connect to both the Millennium and the Tennessee interstate pipelines. (A data sheet issued in July 2011 showing the route of the pipeline is embedded below.)

DTE, under their subsidiary Bluestone Gas Corporation, filed a proposal on August 9 to move forward with building the pipeline. The New York State Public Service Commission is now accepting public comment on the proposed pipeline and its route until August 31. From the Public Service Commission press release:

Read More “DTE Moves Forward with Bluestone Gathering Pipeline in NE PA”
Bradford County | Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Susquehanna County

PA Shale Gas Production Goes Up Again
August 17, 2012August 17, 2012

Shale gas production in Pennsylvania, almost all of it from the Marcellus, increased 12% in the first half of 2012 over the last half of 2011 according to new data from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection. Also during 1H12, Bradford County was displaced as producing the most shale gas in the state by…

Read More “PA Shale Gas Production Goes Up Again”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

Dimock, PA Landowners Settle Lawsuit with Cabot
August 15, 2012August 15, 2012

The long nightmare for Cabot Oil & Gas in Dimock, PA is now about over. Recently, the EPA declared the water wells in and around Dimock are clean (see this MDN story). We now have word that all but four families that sued Cabot in an attempt at a big payday will settle—likely for far less than they had hoped to extract, although exact terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

There are still a few in Dimock who will fight to the bitter end, but that’s what keeps lawyers employed. So what. They’ll drag it on for years and they still won’t get what they want.

Read More “Dimock, PA Landowners Settle Lawsuit with Cabot”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County

EPA Closes the Door on Dimock Investigation – Water is Clean
July 26, 2012July 26, 2012

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a statement yesterday that they’re now officially finished with their investigation of Dimock, PA water wells. EPA testing of 64 wells in the area found elevated levels of arsenic, barium or manganese in four wells—all of those substances are naturally occurring. EPA has been delivering water to the four households, but since those households now have water treatment systems to fix the problem, as of August 6 the EPA will end all water deliveries. (Calling Josh Fox and Mark Ruffalo! We haven’t seen you in Dimock for a while. This is your last chance for another 2 hour visit/photo op. Better grab it while you can.)

The EPA statement (see below) closes a very long chapter in the fight over hydraulic fracturing and the false claims that fracking leaks chemicals into water supplies. Cabot Oil & Gas, the driller accused of contaminating water supplies around Dimock, was delighted (and vindicated) by the EPA’s investigation and was quick to comment (also below).

Read More “EPA Closes the Door on Dimock Investigation – Water is Clean”
Broome County | Delaware County | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Susquehanna County | Williams

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.

Read More “Williams Holds Public Sessions for New Constitution Pipeline”
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.

Read More “The Next Battleground for Shale Drilling: Compressor Plants”
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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