Ohio EPA Begins Using New General Permits for Compressor Stations
Compressor stations in Ohio, needed to flow natural gas through numerous new pipelines being built, require a permit from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in order to get built. The Ohio EPA considers each application independently, a laborious and long process. In an effort to streamline that process, the Ohio EPA began work on a plan in September 2015 to issue “general permits” for compressor stations (see Ohio EPA Seeks “Pre-Comments” on Compressor Station Permit Plan). A general permit is, essentially, a cookie cutter approach. If midstream companies agree to the provisions in the general permit, i.e. they commit to using certain types of equipment and certain standards, the permit process will speed along much faster. In April 2016 Ohio EPA floated draft versions of the new general permits (see Ohio EPA Seeks Comments on New Permits for Compressor Stations). The long wait is over. Ohio EPA announced last week that the new general permits (there are a BUNCH of them) are ready for use…
Read More “Ohio EPA Begins Using New General Permits for Compressor Stations”
This is a story that MDN has been watching for years–the transformation (metamorphosis, really) of CONSOL Energy from, at one time, a 100% coal-producing company into a 100% natural gas-producing company. In February MDN reported on the company’s announcement in February to either sell or spin-off the remaining coal assets it owns–this year (see 
Each year utility and midstreamer Dominion East Ohio awards grants to community organizations across the Buckeye State, where it operates. A great program. Each year (in recent memory) the awards have totaled over $100,000. This year is no different. Last week Dominion East Ohio presented $110,000 in grants to 12 winning community organizations in its 22nd annual Community Impact Awards competition. Here’s who won…
Each year the Oil & Gas Awards recognize organizations operating responsibly and supporting the communities they operate within. Now in their 5th year, the Oil & Gas Awards are judged by over 100 senior industry professionals. A gala ceremony was held last Thursday in Pittsburgh to announce the winners. Below is a complete list of the 2017 winners, by category. Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners!…
Events related to drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shale, primarily pro-drilling.
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Cracking Appalachia’s ethane code; opponents of Maryland frack ban make their voices heard; did shale producers really get lean and mean – or just take advantage of low prices; U.S. shale production growing at “unprecedented rate”; Cheniere Energy gets new $750M loan; Greenpeace admits to lying about companies, under oath; and more!
Ding dong–Lush is calling. A British cosmetics company (think UK version of Avon), looking to get bought-and-paid-for publicity here in the states, has donated $22,000 to the anti-Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline group, Lancaster Against Pipelines (LAP). Anti-drilling losers like those in LAP would flare out if not for the backing of companies and Big Green groups with deep pockets. Which cosmetics company did the donating? The name is Lush. You’ve never heard of them and almost certainly have never purchased any of their forgettable products–which is why they donate money to groups like LAP, to get far more exposure than advertising can buy. There’s enough nutjobs out there that will buy products from companies like Lush to make “donating” money for “causes” to these groups a profitable venture. Another funder of LAP? The Universal Unitarian Church in Lancaster, which forked over $5,000 of parishioner contributions to LAP. Hello IRS! Will you please investigate the non-profit Universal Unitarian Church for giving money to an overtly political cause? Who else is donating money to the small group of LAP rabble-rousers?…
Here’s an interesting story. A religious commune of Hare Krishnas in Marshall County, WV steadfastly refused to sign an easement with Rover Pipeline to allow the pipeline across ~3,000 feet of commune-owned property. Rover had offered the Krishnas $7,000 for the easement, but no dice. You may recall that the Krishnas have no problem accepting oil and gas money, and have done so by leasing their land for shale drilling–even though the official view of the Krishnas is that “gas drilling is exploitative, that it is unsustainable and ‘contributes to the culture of death and toxicity’” (see 
PennEast Pipeline is a $1 billion, 118-mile pipeline from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ. Along the entire length of the pipeline, there will only be one compressor station–located in Carbon County, PA. This past Wednesday the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) conducted a public hearing on the compressor station plan. Nominally the hearing is to elicit feedback from the public. However, as is so often the case, these are not really hearings but theatrical performances where anti-drilling kooks put on the equivalent of a circus act. But antis weren’t the only ones who showed up for the hearing. Plenty of supporters were there too…
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), charged with overseeing potential impacts on the Delaware River and the various tributaries that feed it, has stepped outside of its legal bounds with plans to review the PennEast Pipeline, part of which will run through the Delaware River Basin area. In 2014 the DRBC tried to tell PennEast and its sponsors that the pipeline will need their approval before it can be built (see 
MDN has highlighted the importance of the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision with regard to the Ohio Dormant Mineral Act (DMA). In September the OH Supreme Court ruled in three DMA cases, saying all of the other cases come under those three (see 
We spotted an article on the Hot Air website about a court challenge in Colorado that may (or may not) have implications for shale drilling in places like New York State. Several years ago the ultra-liberal Boulder County, CO banned fracking. Landowners in the county are unconstitutionally denied the right to use their land as they see fit. So Colorado’s Attorney General, Cynthia Coffman, has just sued Boulder County to have the frack ban declared illegal. IF the case were to get appealed to a federal court and IF the case decided that Boulder County does not have the right to ban fracking, might that not serve as a precedence for New York and a statewide ban? We know, we know. It’s a stretch and a lot of IFs. But it is an intriguing idea–and a case worth watching…