Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Ohio | Regulation | Statewide OH | Summit County

Home Rule Case Heads to Ohio Supreme Court
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

In February, Beck Energy won an appeal against Munroe Falls in Ohio’s Court of Appeals (Ninth District) which had the effect of striking down so-called “home rule” of oil and gas drilling (see OH Appeals Court Strikes Down Home Rule for Drilling). Ohio state law takes precedence over local laws when it comes to drilling, which was affirmed by the Ninth District judges. However, that mid-level court decision was appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court and the Supremes have just announced they’ve decided to take the case…
Read More “Home Rule Case Heads to Ohio Supreme Court”
Energy Services | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Statewide MD | U.S. Silica

U.S. Silica Getting $55K from Maryland to Expand HQ
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

From the “we never knew this, how very interesting” department: U.S. Silica, one of the country’s largest sand and proppant companies providing frack sand to drillers around the country, is headquartered in…anti-drilling Maryland? Yep–HQ for U.S. Silica is Frederick, MD–not all that far from both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Maryland, like New York, is currently in the long, slow process of shooting itself in the head on the issue of fracking and shale drilling (see Food & Water Watch Pushes for Fracking Ban in Maryland).

Anywho, although Maryland doesn’t want drilling in the state, they’re happy to enable it in other states. The City of Frederick and the state of Maryland want to keep U.S. Silica (and its jobs) in place and are willing to give them $55,000 to do it…
Read More “U.S. Silica Getting $55K from Maryland to Expand HQ”
CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Statewide WV | West Virginia

Will WV Resolve Legal Issues & Use Acid Mine Water for Fracking?
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

West Virginia, like Pennsylvania, has a problem with “mine influenced water” (MIW), commonly called acid mine drainage–water that seeps from abandoned coal mines into the environment. It’s a serious environmental threat in both states. WV lawmakers, like those in PA, would like to solve two problems at the same time: Get rid of the acid mine drainage by using it as a source of water for fracking shale wells (see PA Wants Drillers to Use Acid Mine Water in Fracking – Will They?).Can WV make it work when (so far) it hasn’t worked in PA?
Read More “Will WV Resolve Legal Issues & Use Acid Mine Water for Fracking?”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County (NY) | New York | Regulation

Flags at Half Staff: Rochester, NY Extends Fracking Moratorium
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

On Tuesday, Rochester, NY City Council voted 9-0 to extend ordinance No. 2012-269, a moratorium on shale gas drilling, until June 30, 2014 (a copy of the resolution is embedded below). A similar moratorium in Binghamton, NY was found illegal and tossed out by a judge last year (see NY Judge Throws Out Binghamton Fracking Moratorium). Just a few weeks ago, a town in Delaware County was sued for passing the same type of moratorium (see Exclusive: Sidney, NY Sued by Landowners over Fracking Moratorium). Perhaps City Council members and voters in Rochester simply like paying high taxes to defend lawsuits?
Read More “Flags at Half Staff: Rochester, NY Extends Fracking Moratorium”
Energy Services | GreenHunter Resources

GreenHunter Sells Some TX Operations, Focuses on Marcellus/Utica
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

Earlier this week, GreenHunter Resources, a fracking wastewater treatment and disposal company with major operations in the Marcellus/Utica, released their first quarter 2013 financial and operating results. A tad late, yes, since first quarter ended March 31. However, it’s an informative update with details on their Marcellus/Utica operations. Of note: the company either has or plans to sell some (most?) of its Texas operations to concentrate on the Marcellus/Utica and on manufacturing and selling its above ground portable tank solution–called the MAG Tank™.

You may recall GreenHunter is sitting on pins and needles waiting for the U.S. Coast Guard (and the White House, and the EPA, and…) to approve barge transportation of fracking wastewater. GreenHunter now owns seven barge facilities in the Marcellus/Utica (see The Long (Federal) Road to Approve GreenHunter’s Barge Terminals). The full GreenHunter 1Q13 update from Monday:
Read More “GreenHunter Sells Some TX Operations, Focuses on Marcellus/Utica”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation

Case Western Law Review Summer 2013: All About Fracking
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

Almost all of the Summer 2013 issue of the Case Western Reserve Law Review (507 pages) is dedicated to the legal and policy issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing and shale drilling. The articles range from policy to litigation to climate change. We’ve not reviewed the articles. We offer the full issue (embedded below) as a resource for legal issues surrounding the issue of fracking.
Read More “Case Western Law Review Summer 2013: All About Fracking”
Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

The Surprising Number of New NatGas Pipelines Coming in OH
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

Permits and wells drilled is usually the focus in Ohio’s Utica Shale. However, there’s a story just as big: The number of pipelines either now being built–or planned–in eastern Ohio. How many pipelines would you guess are “in the pipeline” to be built? A dozen? A few dozen? How about, over 100. Yes, the number of planned pipelines in Ohio–from gathering lines to interstate transmission pipelines–is staggering.

Here’s a map from he Public Utilities Commission of Ohio that shows how many pipelines are being planned, by county:
Read More “The Surprising Number of New NatGas Pipelines Coming in OH”
Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | New York | Pipelines | Schoharie County | Williams

Iroquois Pipeline Files App for Constitution Interconnect in NY
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

In January, MDN told you about plans from the Iroquois Gas Transmission System to build a new interconnect and expand their compressor station in Wright, NY to connect to the new Constitution Pipeline that will be built by Williams to pipe Marcellus Shale gas from Susquehanna County, PA to Schoharie County, NY where it will connect to the Iroquois pipeline (see Iroquois Announces Interconnect for Constitution Pipeline in NY).

Last Friday, Iroquois announced they’ve officially filed the request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The filing says Iroquois plans to have the interconnect up and running by March 2015:
Read More “Iroquois Pipeline Files App for Constitution Interconnect in NY”
About MDN

MDN on a Short 2-Day Summer Break
June 21, 2013June 26, 2013

Dear MDN Subscribers and Readers:

Marcellus Drilling News is taking a short break on Monday and Tuesday, June 24 & 25 to enjoy time away with family. We will return with our daily issues on Wednesday, June 26. If there’s any news of monumental importance in the interim, we’ll be sure to let you know via a special update.

Summer is officially here today, Friday, June 21! Happy Summer Solstice.

Jim Willis
Editor, MDN
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jun 21, 2013
June 21, 2013June 21, 2013

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
Read More “Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jun 21, 2013”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA Democrat Party Votes to End Marcellus Shale Drilling Statewide
June 20, 2013June 26, 2013

Some of the biggest news we’ve ever heard from Pennsylvania dealing with the Marcellus Shale happened last Saturday, and we’re only now just catching wind of it. In fact, if you search mainstream media high and low, we challenge you to find even a single reference to it. We found precisely one reference, in an obscure and short editorial in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

The news is this: Last weekend the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee–representatives from the entire Democrat party from around the state–met in beautiful Lancaster, PA and voted by an overwhelming majority (115 to 81) to pass a resolution calling for the immediate halt to fracking in the state. That is, they want to kill Marcellus Shale drilling in PA–snuff out the economic miracle in their midst. You have to wonder just how deeply insanity runs in the Democrat party. You also have to wonder why no one is reporting this…
Read More “PA Democrat Party Votes to End Marcellus Shale Drilling Statewide”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Sullivan County

USGS Tests PA Water Wells Before Drilling, Finds Methane
June 20, 2013June 20, 2013

Thank you U.S. Geological Survey and the scientific method for once again proving what we’ve known all along–there’s a LOT of naturally-occurring methane in Pennsylvania well water. On Tuesday, the USGS released their latest testing survey of 20 water wells in Sullivan County, PA–in the northeastern part of the state (full copy of the report embedded below). What did the survey find? Seven of the 20 water wells contain dissolved methane. Two of the wells (10% of all wells tested) had “elevated concentrations of naturally dissolved methane.”

Oh, and there hasn’t been any Marcellus Shale drilling in those areas. This is a pre-drilling baseline test…
Read More “USGS Tests PA Water Wells Before Drilling, Finds Methane”
Atlas Energy | Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Lease & Royalty Payments | Ohio

Lease Activity in Columbiana OH Heats Up, Drilling on the Way?
June 20, 2013June 20, 2013

Carroll County, OH has been the epicenter of Utica Shale drilling activity in Ohio. While that’s not expected to change anytime soon, Columbiana County, which borders Carroll County to the northeast, may see its own boom in drilling soon, based on recent lease filings:
Read More “Lease Activity in Columbiana OH Heats Up, Drilling on the Way?”
Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

PA Marcellus Health Study Still No Pulse – Needs Extra $24M
June 20, 2013June 20, 2013

The much-ballyhooed “first ever” study of the health impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling announced in August 2012 by Geisinger Health System and Guthrie Health (later joined by Susquehanna Health) still does not have a pulse (see Health Care Systems Partner to Study Marcellus Impacts). After the study was announced with great fanfare, the organizations performing it (Geisinger et al) stuck their hands out and said “we need money to do it.” Finally, six months later, the Degenstein Foundation of Sunbury, PA stepped up and gave the group $1 million to get the ball rolling.

Problem is, according to a Geisinger spokesperson, the study is still $24 million short…
Read More “PA Marcellus Health Study Still No Pulse – Needs Extra $24M”
Industrywide Issues | Mahoning County | Ohio | Statewide OH | Taxation

Youngstown Democrat State Rep Wants to Hike Severance Tax to 7.5%
June 20, 2013June 20, 2013

Here’s a surprise: An Ohio Democrat state representative from Youngstown, Rep. Bob Hagan, wants to raise the severance tax on oil and gas drilling far beyond the rate proposed by Gov. John Kasich–to a nosebleed 7.5%–taking money out of landowners’ pockets and killing the nascent drilling industry in the state…
Read More “Youngstown Democrat State Rep Wants to Hike Severance Tax to 7.5%”
Chesapeake Energy | Columbiana County | Energy Companies | Energy Services | EV Energy Partners | Industrywide Issues | M3 Midstream | NGLs | Ohio | Processing Plants

M3 Midstream’s Kensington, OH NGL Plant Launch Date Slips
June 20, 2013June 20, 2013

In May 2012, MDN told you about a new $400 million natural gas liquids (NGL) processing plant that would be built in Kensington, about a mile south of Hanoverton, OH, by a joint venture involving M3 Midstream, Chesapeake Energy and EV Energy Partners (see Location for OH NGL Processing Plant Identified). M3 said the Kensington NGL plant was on track for an “aggressive” May 2013 opening as late as December last year (see Columbiana County NGL Plant On Track for May Opening). It’s end of June and the plant is still not running.

We do, however, have a new estimated start date…
Read More “M3 Midstream’s Kensington, OH NGL Plant Launch Date Slips”