CNX Resources has applied for permits to drill up to seven new Utica shale gas wells on a single pad in Washington Township on the grounds of the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County. The reason it’s raising a few eyebrows is that the new pad is in the general vicinity of the company’s faulty Shaw 1G well.
Read More “CNX Files Permits to Drill 7 New Utica Wells in Westmoreland Co.”
Last week Ohio finally broke the drought of not issuing permits for new shale wells in the Buckeye State. Finally! Last week Pennsylvania issued 13 new permits for wells on three well pads. Ohio issued 4 new permits for wells on two well pads. And West Virginia issued 1 new permit.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 14-18”
For the third week in a row, both Pennsylvania and West Virginia issued permits to drill new shale wells last week, and Ohio did not. What’s up with Ohio? PA issued 13 new permits for wells on five well pads. WV issued 2 new permits on two different pads. PA’s new permits skewed toward the southwestern part of the state with 11 of the 13 permits issued (two in Bradford County in the northeast). The WV permits were both issued in Marshall County, located in the northern panhandle of the state.
Read More “Weekly Shale Drilling Permits for PA, OH, WV: Sep 7-11”
In early 2018 Sunoco Logistics Partners (aka Energy Transfer) agreed to pay a massive (historically high) $12.6 million fine to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for “permit violations related to the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project” (see Sunoco LP Pays PA DEP $12.6M to Resume ME2 Pipeline Construction). It wasn’t the only fine the ME projects have incurred. Last Thursday Sunoco agreed to pay *another* $355,636 for a series of “inadvertent returns” (i.e. drilling mud spills) that happened more than a year ago, between August 2018 and April 2019.
Read More “PA Fines Sunoco $355,636 for Old Mariner East 2 Pipe Violations”
CNX was fracking their Shaw 1G Utica well in Washington Township (Westmoreland County) in early 2019 when they detected “a strong drop in pressure” and stopped fracking (see CNX Hits Major Problem Fracking Utica Well Near SWPA Reservoir). Turns out the well was “communicating” (i.e. losing gas to) several nearby conventional wells. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) finally assessed a fine for that episode late last week: $175,000.
Read More “CNX Agrees to $175K Fine for Faulty Utica Well in SWPA”
In March a worker hired to x-ray welds on sections of the Mariner East 2 pipeline in southwestern Pennsylvania was charged with falsifying records–that he falsely claimed to have performed work when he didn’t (see ME2 Pipeline Worker Charged with Falsifying Welding Records). Yesterday the worker, via a video hearing, plead guilty to 77 counts of falsifying documents.
Read More “ME2 Pipe Inspector Admits Falsifying Welding Records 77 Times”
Last year a sewage treatment facility in Belle Vernon (Fayette County, PA) claimed the effluent (runoff) it was receiving from a nearby landfill in Westmoreland County contained high levels of salt and radioactivity and was causing damage to their treatment system (see Another Post-Gazette Smear Job: Drill Cuttings Pollute Rivers). The landfill accepts drill cuttings–leftover rock and dirt from drilling holes (not wastewater). The sewage treatment plant with help from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette made accusations against the landfill and the shale industry. The same biased Post-Gazette “reporter” is back with another round of accusations against the landfill, aimed at scaring nearby residents.
Read More “Biased Post-Gazette Attacks SWPA Shale Cuttings Landfill…Again”
Last time we wrote about a zoning ordinance in Murrysville Township (Westmoreland County) was three years ago, in May 2017, when the town and local drillers struck a compromise on the distance of setbacks (see Murrysville, PA Drilling Ordinance – Anatomy of a Compromise). Apparently the still-too-restrictive ordinance (in our opinion) that allows drilling wells on only 5% of the land in the town wasn’t good enough for local antis who want to block all shale drilling.
Read More “SWPA Judge Rejects Anti Lawsuit re Murrysville Fracking Ordinance”
A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT, in Penn Township (Westmoreland County), PA, backed with big money from Big Green groups, has for years challenged Penn Township ordinances that allow Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley (now Olympus Energy) to drill and operate shale wells. Protect PT has finally struck out, permanently, at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Read More “Penn Twp Frack Ban Case Strikes Out at PA Supreme Court”
A worker hired to x-ray welds on sections of the Mariner East 2 pipeline in southwestern Pennsylvania has been charged falsifying records, indicating that he performed the work when he didn’t. That’s a felony. According to one news account the worker, from Westmoreland County, PA, is expected to plead guilty and faces up to five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. The good news is that Energy Transfer, the builder, discovered the deception and immediately reported it. ET reinspected all of the welds supposedly inspected by this worker.
Read More “ME2 Pipeline Worker Charged with Falsifying Welding Records”
Last year a sewage treatment facility in Belle Vernon (Fayette County, PA) claimed the effluent (runoff) it was receiving from a nearby landfill in Westmoreland County contained high levels of salt and radioactivity and was causing damage to their treatment system (see Another Post-Gazette Smear Job: Drill Cuttings Pollute Rivers). The landfill accepts drill cuttings–leftover rock and dirt from drilling holes (not wastewater)–yet the sewage treatment plant with help from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette made accusations against the landfill and the shale industry. The state Dept. of Environmental Protection has stepped in and brokered an agreement with the landfill (called a consent order) for the landfill to make certain corrective actions and (of course) pay a $24,000 fine.
Read More “PA DEP Fines Drill Cuttings Landfill for Contaminated Runoff”
Olympus Energy, the renamed Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration (HHEX), continues to make Upper Burrell in Westmoreland County, PA a key area of focus. Last April we told you about the company planning its twelfth well pad in Upper Burrell (see Huntley & Huntley Proposes Another Well Pad in Upper Burrell). We’ve since lost track of the number of pads Olympus/HHEX has built in the township, but we have two more to tell you about.
NOTE: Olympus emailed to say they currently have one well pad (not 12), the Zeus pad. That one well pad has three wells in production with three additional wells permitted. However, Olympus did recently apply to build two new pads (each with a single well). We thank Olympus for the correction!
Read More “Olympus Energy (former H&H) Plans 2 New Wells in Upper Burrell”
We recently became aware of a small (very small) Dominion pipeline project in western PA while covering the news of another smallish Dominion pipeline (see PA DEP OKs Dominion Pipeline to Feed PA NatGas to OH Power Plant). The PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently issued a 401 certificate for the JP-40 Pipeline Replacement Project located in Salem, Hempfield, and Penn Townships, Westmoreland County.
Read More “Dominion’s SWPA JP-40 Pipeline Replacement Project Set to Begin”
A leftist anti-fossil group calling itself Protect PT, in Penn Township (Westmoreland County), PA, backed with money from Big Green groups, continues to sue in an effort to block shale drilling in the township. And they keep losing their lawsuits. In November the group lost an appeal of a lower court ruling which challenges a Penn Township ordinance allowing Apex Energy and Huntley & Huntley (now Olympus Energy) to drill and operate wells (see Anti Group Loses Yet Another Penn Twp (PA) Frack Ban Case). And wouldn’t you know it? With endless gobs of Big Green money, Protect PT has just appealed its losing case to the PA Supreme Court.
Read More “Big Green Appeals Penn Twp Frack Ban Case to PA Supreme Court”
We’re always delighted to discover a new (for us) company involved in the supply chain–providing goods and/or services to the shale industry, including the downstream petrochemicals industry. Elliott Group is one of those companies not previously on our radar. Elliott’s U.S. headquarters is located in Westmoreland County, near Pittsburgh. The company designs, manufactures, and services turbomachinery, including centrifugal and axial compressors, steam turbines, and power recovery expanders. Elliott broke ground yesterday on a new facility in Jeannette where they will test their recently acquired product line of cryogenic pumps and expanders–equipment used in LNG plants.
Read More “Elliot Group Breaks Ground on LNG Equipment Plant in Southwest PA”
In a speech delivered October 31 to the P4 Climate Action Summit in downtown Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto declared his hatred for the petrochemical industry. He doesn’t want any more Shell crackers junking up his regional backyard. The highly negative reaction to Peduto’s idiotic (and pandering) remarks was swift. What petchem company wants to build in a region where the mayor of its largest city is trash talking the industry? In a bid to counter Peduto’s economically damaging remarks, some 20 county officials from Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Mercer, Washington and Westmoreland counties issued a joint statement on Wednesday to show their support for the petrochemical and shale industries in the region.
Read More “SWPA County Political Leaders Voice Support for Petchem, Shale”