Washington County

Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | MarkWest Energy | Pennsylvania | Washington County

MarkWest Tells Cecil Township It’s Time to Grant Permit
March 7, 2012March 7, 2012

A long-running dispute between MarkWest and Cecil Township (in PA) may soon be resolved. Last May, MDN reported that MarkWest wanted to build a Marcellus Shale gas compressor station in Cecil Township (Washington County). They filed an application for a “special exception” to allow them to build the plant but were denied by the zoning board. MarkWest then filed a lawsuit in Washington County civil court (see this MDN story).

The lawsuit is due to go to mediation next week, but MarkWest said in a letter dated March 1 to the Cecil zoning board that the new Act 13 law recently passed means the zoning board’s decision of last year is now null and void, mediation is therefore not necessary, and that they (Cecil) should move forward with granting the permit.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County

PA Towns Banding Together to Sue State Over New Drilling Law
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

Last month’s passage of new Marcellus drilling regulations in Pennsylvania has some local municipalities grumbling that the state’s “Act 13” regulating oil and gas drilling and superseding local zoning ordinances takes away their ability to, yes, control drilling in their local municipalities. Which of course is what the law is designed to do!

Several municipalities, Cecil Township the latest, are making moves to band together and sue the state over the new law in an effort to overturn the Act 13 provision.

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Allegheny County | Butler County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Dry Gas Drilling Slowdown Results in Layoffs in PA
March 6, 2012March 6, 2012

Although historically low natural gas prices are great for consumers, it’s not so great for some in the shale gas drilling industry. Because drillers are changing their focus away from drilling in the “dry gas” areas of the Marcellus Shale play and instead focusing on the “wet gas”—or liquids-rich—portion of the play, it causes a slow down for some businesses and leads to layoffs in certain industries, like title searching. Title searches of property deeds are a necessary part of acquiring leases for drilling.

A title search company in western PA has just laid off nearly half of their staff:

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Economic Impact | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Washington County, PA Jobs & Wages Skyrocket from Marcellus
March 1, 2012March 1, 2012

Washington County in southwestern Pennsylvania has been named the third highest county in the country in job growth, due mostly to Marcellus Shale drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Not only that, but residents have seen an average increase of 8.8 percent in their wages.

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Accidents | Chevron | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Chevron Pipe Leak in SW PA Bigger Than First Thought
February 28, 2012February 28, 2012

On Dec. 20, Chevron discovered a pipe leak at a well pad in Robinson (Washington County), PA. At the time it was thought perhaps a few barrels of wet gas condensate had leaked into the ground. It now appears it may be closer to 80 barrels, or 4,000 gallons.

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Accidents | Chevron | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Washington County

Drilling Liquids Spill at Chevron Gas Well in SW PA
February 20, 2012February 20, 2012

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reports it is investigating a spill of condensate at a gas well in Washington County, in the southwestern part of the state.

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Bradford County | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Lycoming County | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Taxation | Tioga County (PA) | Washington County

Six PA Counties to Receive $10M+ from New Impact Fee in 2012
February 16, 2012February 16, 2012

Washington County is among six counties in Pennsylvania that stand to receive more than $10 million in impact fee revenue this year from the newly adopted Marcellus drilling legislation signed into law by Gov. Corbett on Monday.

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Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County | Wastewater

EPA Investigation Launched in Washington County, PA
February 13, 2012February 13, 2012

Washington County is the most active county in southwestern Pennsylvania for Marcellus drilling, including most numbers of wells drilled, pipelines to transport the gas and compressor stations to power the pipelines. Word has just leaked that last September the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a “multi-media” probe into drilling in Washington County. A multi-media probe means they analyze air, water and land impacts of drilling. Apparently the EPA doesn’t believe the PA Department of Environmental Protection can do its own job and needs an assist.

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Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Washington County Commissioners to Vote on Modifying Gas Lease
February 2, 2012February 2, 2012

Commissioners for Washington County, PA will vote today on modifying an agreement they have with Range Resources to allow drilling for gas at a county-owned park. The revisions will limit how much time Range has to complete drilling and extracting natural gas, and it also ups the royalty percentage.

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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | MarkWest Energy | Marshall County | Monroe County | Noble Energy | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Range Resources Corp | Utica Shale | Washington County | West Virginia

MarkWest to Expand/Build NGL Plants on New Agreements
February 1, 2012February 1, 2012

MarkWest Energy Partners, a major midstream player in the Marcellus and Utica Shales, just announced major expansion plans that will add an additional 600 million cubic feet per day (mmcf/d) of natural gas processing capacity which includes natural gas liquids (NGLs). Most of the new capacity will come from expansion of its Majorsville, WV plant. The expansion is made possible by new long-term agreements MarkWest signed with CONSOL Energy, Noble Energy and Range Resources to process NGLs.

MarkWest also announced they will build two new processing plants in Ohio’s Utica Shale—in Harrison and Monroe counties.

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Commodity Price | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Range’s Wet Gas Drilling Location & Dry Gas Drilling Timeline
January 31, 2012January 31, 2012

The talk coming from the largest drillers in the Marcellus Shale is that they will scale back drilling activities in the dry (methane only) portions of the Marcellus Shale play and instead focus on the wet (liquids-rich) portion.

Ever wonder where, exactly, the liquids-rich area can be found? We now know where it is for Range Resources, one of the largest drillers in Pennsylvania. We also have an estimate of how long drilling in the dry gas portion of the Marcellus may be pushed back for Range due to low prices for natural gas.

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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Statewide PA | Washington County

Gas Drillers and Townships Working Together Resolve Issues
December 19, 2011December 19, 2011

A recent example from western Pennsylvania illustrates how drilling companies and residents in PA are working together to resolve thorny issues and move forward with gas drilling in a way that everyone can live with:

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Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Washington County

Range Resources Reduces Lease Offer to North Strabane Twp
December 14, 2011December 14, 2011

North Strabane Township (Washington County), PA reports that Range Resources has lowered its offer to lease 141 acres of township-owned land.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County

Ballot Measure to Ban Fracking in Peters Twp PA Fails Big
November 9, 2011November 9, 2011

Looks like it was only a tiny minority of vocal people who wanted a complete ban on gas drilling in Peters Township (Washington County), PA after all. The measure was put on the ballot over the objections of the town council who believe it would have brought a costly lawsuit from drilling companies. The question of whether or not the measure would appear on the November ballot went to court and a judge allowed it to go forward (see this MDN story). The ballot measure includes language that the township has “the right to a sustainable energy future.” Not sure what planet those folks live on!

So the measure was on the ballot yesterday and the results are in:

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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Range Resources Corp | Regulation | Washington County

Range Resources Sues Cecil Township Over New Ordinance
October 13, 2011March 24, 2012

Cecil Township in Washington County, PA—a suburb of Pittsburgh—recently passed an ordinance changing shale gas drilling from a permitted use to a conditional use, meaning each well drilled would have to be approved by the township on a case by case basis. It requires drillers to do twice the work—once in filing a permit application with the state, and a second time with the local municipality. Range Resources, one of the nation’s largest Marcellus Shale drillers (and with operations in Cecil), has just filed a lawsuit requesting the new ordinance be overturned.

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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Washington County

Western PA Township Wins Right to Put Ban on Nov. Ballot
October 4, 2011October 4, 2011

Those opposed to drilling will get a measure to ban shale gas drilling put on the ballot in Peters Township (Washington County, PA) this fall. A judge has just ruled in favor of the Peters Township Marcellus Shale Awareness Group to have the measure put on the election ballot for Nov 8. See this MDN story about the group, their motivation (calling sustainable energy a “right”) and the wording of the ballot measure.

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