Carnegie Mellon Study: Radon in Marcellus Gas Doesn’t Kill People
Anti-fossil fuel zealots have long attempted to scare the masses with false claims about fracked shale gas in the Marcellus. Early on radical environmental organizations tried to scare people in New York City, telling them they’ll get lung cancer from radon in Marcellus gas if they use it (see The Latest Anti-Drilling Scare Tactic: Radon in Shale Gas). One of the early “scientists” who pimped himself out to Big Green, Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, made wild claims about radon levels in Marcellus gas. Resnikoff also made accusations that the U.S. Geological Survey was in the back pocket of Big Oil on this issue. The USGS responded with a major slapdown of Resnikoff (see Radon Debate: USGS Responds to Marvin Resnikoff Accusation). Finally, someone has done some real research to put this issue to rest. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have just published a paper titled, “Lung Cancer Risk from Radon in Marcellus Shale Gas in Northeast U.S. Homes” (draft copy below). The Carnegie research says “there is no support” to back up the wild claims that radon in Marcellus gas increases cancer risks. Period. In particular, they take aim at Dr. Resnikoff’s claims and say he “provided insufficient documentation of the methodology used” and “[a]t this time there is no support for the high mortality argument offered by Resnikoff.” Total repudiation of his earlier claims. For once and for all: whatever “extra” radon there may be in Marcellus (i.e. fracked) shale gas, it’s not in sufficient quantities that by standing near a burning stove all day long every day will it add to your risk of contracting lung cancer…
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You just can’t get away from the Marcellus/Utica–even at a conference supposedly focused on the Western U.S. Natural gas infrastructure was a key topic at the recent LDC Gas Forum Rockies & West conference held in Denver, CO. ICF International vice president Kevin Petak was one of the speakers. He dropped what is (to us) a bombshell when he said he believes the Marcellus and Utica combined will pump out 40 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by 2025–just 10 short years from now. The two plays combined today are pumping around 21 Bcf/d–so Petak is predicting our output will double! If that’s so, there will need to be a whole lotta drillin’ goin’ on between now and then. In addition to Petak, Crystal Heter, vice president for commercial operations at the Rockies Express (REX) pipeline, had some VERY interesting things to say about the REX pipeline reversal which sends Marcellus/Utica gas to the Midwest. It looks like even more gas is about to go from our area westward…
In December MDN wrote that Hilcorp Energy is making some magic happen in Lawrence County, PA–in the northern Utica Shale region (see 
We can’t say enough good things about Rusty Braziel and 
This one somehow slipped by us. Sometime last year EmberClear filed an application to build a new 488-megawatt natural gas-fired electric plant in Birdsboro (Berks County), PA–near Philadelphia. The new plant is called Birdsboro Power and requires various approvals before it can be built. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is involved. PJM Interconnection is involved. And the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection is involved. All three have issued various permits and edicts in connection with the project. What caught our attention is that DTE Midstream has just filed an application with FERC to build a 14-mile pipeline to feed the new plant. As part of that application, DTE says EmberClear plans to begin construction in 2018, with an in-service date of June 2019. Here’s what we’ve been able to scrounge up on the project…
In September MDN wrote about a new natural gas-fired electric plant being planned for Chesapeake, Virginia (see 
When drilling comes to town, it brings a lot of people with it. Some of them are roughnecks that do the dirty work on the rigs. Others are in associated jobs–like landmen, surveyors, welders, truckers. The list goes on. If those people are not from the local area and if they are staying for a while, they need a place to sleep. It tends to fill up hotels and B&Bs quickly. When they know they will be in an area for a while (months, even years) some of them rent apartments or houses. All of that renting activity tends to drive up the price of local apartment and house rentals, making renting hard for locals. It’s happened in a number of drilling areas in Pennsylvania. That’s why when the Act 13 law was passed, it contained funding from severance tax revenue to help. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency recently announced they have approved another $6.2 million for 40 housing projects in Marcellus areas…
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading. In today’s lineup: Hess sponsors Shale Safety Institute @ Belmont College; OH Supreme Court ruling affecting mineral rights across the state; new rig count high in PA; natgas prices will surge in New England this winter; antis try to block Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Virginia; 2017 rig count forecast; and more!
In February MDN brought you exclusive news that Shell had begun approaching landowners in Beaver County to get them to sign easements for two ethane pipelines to feed the mighty cracker plant they plan to build in the county (see 
Yesterday MDN’s favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), issued our favorite monthly report–the Drilling Productivity Report (DPR). The DPR is the EIA’s best guess, based on expert data crunchers, as to how much each of the U.S.’s seven major shale plays will produce for both oil and natural gas in the coming month. In September, the EIA added a new tab of information for Drilled but UnCompleted wells (DUCs), which showed the number of DUCs dwindling (see 
The New Jersey Division of the Rate Counsel (NJDRC) is a state government agency responsible for representing the interests of residents, businesses and other rate payers in dealing with regulated public utilities and insurance firms. Apparently the NJDRC filed a so-called analysis with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in September slamming the need and cost recovery plan for the PennEast Pipeline, a $1 billion, 118-mile, primarily 36-inch pipeline that will get built from Dallas (Luzerne County), PA to Transco’s pipeline interconnection near Pennington (Mercer County), NJ. PennEast has responded to that analysis with an independent report written by Concentric Energy Advisors (full copy below). The Concentric report refutes (i.e. obliterates) the “incorrect assumptions” made in the NJDRC comments to FERC…
Spectra Energy’s Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) pipeline project is an $876 million expansion of the existing Algonquin pipeline system that will carry 342 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas per day to New England states that badly need the gas. On March 3, 2015 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued their final approval for the project, allowing it to go forward. Construction began last year and continues now. Two weeks ago FERC issued an order allowing part of the AIM project–in Putnam County, NY, and Fairfield County, CT–to power up and begin service. However, not all of the project is yet built. Four nutjob protesters criminally locked themselves inside a piece of pipeline in Verplanck (Westchester County), NY last week (see 
In June MDN brought you a report about a family (John and Ashley Voyle) living near a former Range Resources wastewater impoundment in Washington County, PA who had sued not only Range, but a water testing company (TestAmerica Laboratories) in a lawsuit alleging their water well had been contaminated by Range’s impoundment. The water testing company was made part of the lawsuit because, said the Voyles, the company allowed their test results to be doctored by Range before the results were reported to the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection. That aspect of this long, drawn-out lawsuit has been decided. The judge in the case said TestAmerica is not at fault and has been removed from the lawsuit…
Gulfport Energy, an Oklahoma City-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company (“driller”) that is a “top 5” driller in the Ohio Utica Shale, issued their third quarter operation update yesterday. Gulfport is one of a growing number of companies that issues their financial update separate from the operational update. Typically the operational update is the “good news” and the financial update the “not so good news,” so we’ll see what the financial update brings. In the meantime, let’s bask in the good news. Gulfport reports production is up 13% year over year, and the price they’re receiving for that production is also up. Here is Gulfport’s 3Q16 operational update…