PA Landowners, Drillers Fight over HB 1391 Minimum Royalty Bill
It appears that legislation in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, House Bill (HB) 1391 that would fix the issue of landowners getting shorted in royalty payments, is about to die. It’s not the first time a bill meant to ensure landowners get a minimum of 12.5% in royalties has died in the PA legislature. Bradford County Commissioners chairman Doug McLinko is blaming the Marcellus Shale Coalition and other drilling industry groups. And he’s not a happy camper. Last June MDN told you about a renewed effort by Pennsylvania State legislators to pass a minimum royalty bill that will guarantee PA’s landowners get at least 12.5% royalties (see New Bill HB 1391 Will Guarantee PA Landowners 12.5% Royalties). HB 1391 is was introduced by State Rep. Garth Everett, a Republican from Lycoming County, PA. Everett said in June the new bill was “narrowed” in focus from a previous bill (that had failed) and because the more narrowed focus, he hoped the Marcellus industry would not oppose it this time around. Everett was dead wrong. As we reported in June, the rift between landowners and drillers on the matter of minimum royalties continues (see Rift Continues Between Drillers & Landowners re Royalty Bill). Due to some hard work by Everett, the bill finally moved out of committee where it had been stalled, and on to the full House for a vote (see Progress: PA Minimum Royalty Bill Heads to Full House for Vote). But now the bill is stalled in the full House and it appears there will not be a vote by the end of the fall session, due to close in another two weeks…
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Once upon a time, before Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) made an indecent proposal to Williams to buy them out (see 
Chemists at the University of Texas at Arlington published a new study last week that indicates certain activities on top of the ground at shale drilling sites are the cause of nasty emissions–and not the fracking process itself. The study, “Point source attribution of ambient contamination events near unconventional oil and gas development” published last week in Science of the Total Environment, found “highly variable levels of ambient BTEX, or benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and xylene compounds, in and around fracking gas drilling sites in the Eagle Ford shale region in South Texas.” BTEX compounds are nasty, and in high concentrations can be carcinogenic (cancer causing) and have harmful effects on the nervous system. The good news is that recognizing where BTEX emissions are coming from can lead to fixes. Nobody, the industry included, wants to harm workers or nearby residents’ health. We reckon this study under the category of “real science” that leads to industry improvements…
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: Marcellus/Utica takeaway capacity to Gulf Coast; the New York energy game; OH residents express concerns re NEXUS pipeline; Shell buys 2 more properties for cracker operation; bumbling EPA spills again in Colorado, near the original spill; cheezy: Duke U files $9.9 claim on McClendon estate; Weather Channel founder warns Gore may “win” climate debate in 2016; and more!
We believe this bit of news is exclusive to MDN–we’ve not seen it anywhere else, yet. In early August MDN reported that the novel legal argument offered by the radical leftist PA-based group Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) in Grant Township (Indiana County), PA claiming to represent a local ecosystem had failed (see 
Corporate raider and Carl Icahn protege Keith “Mini-Me” Meister, Managing Partner of Corvex Management, has launched a full-out assault and takeover attempt of midstream company Williams. Yesterday MDN reported that Meister has floated a slate of 10 of his own people–including himself–as candidates for the board of directors for a scheduled vote during the annual meeting later this year (see 
A banker, a real estate developer and a natural gas drilling company rep walk into a bar… No wait! This isn’t a joke! A banker, a real estate developer and a natgas drilling rep were panelists at seminar held yesterday, organized by the Pittsburgh Business Times. Even though there has been a major slowdown in Marcellus/Utica drilling, all three panelists were upbeat and optimistic–in no small part because of the coming Shell ethane cracker in nearby Beaver County. One comment made about the Shell cracker: “We’re not just building a facility; we’re building an industry.” That’s just how major the Shell project will be in the greater Pittsburgh area. Another comment: “The Marcellus Shale is not in the tank…It has slowed down, which is typical of industries that are sensitive to price cycles, [but] it’s consistent, affordable and is stable.” More interesting tidbits from the PBT soiree…
In April 2015 a “study” from Johns Hopkins University claimed fracking has led to high levels of radon in nearby homes in PA (see 
Stone Energy, an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company (E&P) headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana drills mainly in the Gulf of Mexico but also has a presence in the Marcellus/Utica Shale with 90,000 acres of leases. Last year Stone quit drilling in the northeast and actually shut-in part of their production due to low prices (see