Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY DEC Com. Joe Martens Sends Letter to NY Landowner Group
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

Dan Fitzsimmons, president of the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY), received a letter from NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens last week (see a copy embedded below). It seems Gov. Andrew Cuomo personally asked Martens to respond, in writing, to the JLCNY’s concerns about the latest delay in the release of new fracking regulations—the delay to allow for a public health review. The latest number on the NY moratorium clock (on the right) shows New York’s ban on high volume hydraulic fracturing is 4 years, 5 months and 15 days old—so far. The patience of New York’s landowners is wearing thin.

According to the letter, Gov. Cuomo and Martens want the JLCNY to know, well, nothing new that we don’t already know! It’s the gesture itself that’s important—the fact that Cuomo and Martens took the time to write. Martens’ gesture in sending the letter gives the JLCNY reason to be “cautiously optimistic that the DEC will soon complete the SGEIS and regulations,” according to an email MDN received from Fitzsimmons.

Read More “NY DEC Com. Joe Martens Sends Letter to NY Landowner Group”
Dominion Energy | Energy Services | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Statewide MD

Dominion Wins Case, New Cove Point LNG Export Facility Proceeds
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

A court battle that started in early 2012 has a happy conclusion for energy giant Dominion. More than a year ago, Dominion filed for a permit to liquefy natural gas and export it from their facility at Cove Point, Maryland—60 miles southeast of Washington, D.C. Dominion has Japanese customers ready and waiting to buy natural gas from the U.S. But a 1970s legal settlement granted the Sierra Club with the power to reject significant changes to the facility. True to character, the Sierra Club objected in April (see Sierra Club Will Try to Block Maryland LNG Export Terminal).

On Friday, a Maryland judge ruled in favor of Dominion, which means Dominion can now proceed with their plans to invest up to $3.5 billion in the facility (an regional economic tsunami) to get it ready to export Marcellus Shale LNG from Cove Point.

Read More “Dominion Wins Case, New Cove Point LNG Export Facility Proceeds”
Industrywide Issues | Landfills | Ohio | Stark County

Concerns about Radioactive Drill Cuttings in OH Landfill
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

A controversy is brewing in Stark County where a private landfill wants to build a 12-mile pipeline to carry landfill liquids (called leachate) to the Canton municipal sewage treatment plant for treatment and disposal into the Nimishillen Creek, which in turn runs into the Tuscarawas River. The “problem” is that the landfill accepts Utica Shale drill cuttings—leftover mud, rock and dirt from drilling operations.

One Stark County official, Councilwoman-at-large Mary Cirelli, is concerned the drill cuttings at the landfill will create leachate with high levels of radioactivity and if treated at the Canton sewage plant, it will contaminate the Tuscarawas River. Similar scenarios with concerns over radioactive drill cuttings has played out in Marcellus Shale locations as well (see this MDN story). Those locations, which now accept drill cuttings, have no reported instances of radioactive leachate.

Read More “Concerns about Radioactive Drill Cuttings in OH Landfill”
Industrywide Issues | Jefferson County (OH) | Jobs | Ohio | Regulation

Jefferson County, OH Forces Shale Companies to Use Union Labor
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

From now on, Jefferson County, OH commissioners will force companies drilling Utica Shale wells in the county or companies building natural gas pipelines in the county that need to construct or repair public roadways, to use higher-priced laborers. Jefferson County commissioners are bowing to pressure from the Laborers International Union.

New road use agreements, which are required for constructing new wells and pipelines, must have a “prevailing wage requirement” according to the Jefferson County engineer, who says it’s a mandate from the state Attorney General’s office:

Read More “Jefferson County, OH Forces Shale Companies to Use Union Labor”
Ohio | Statewide OH

Kasich Now 1+ Year Late in Appointing State Land Lease Commission
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who loves the money from “foreign” oil and gas companies (foreign as in Oklahoma and Texas) flowing into the state, but doesn’t care for “foreign workers” from those states, and Gov. John Kasich who wants to tax gas drillers more so he can spread the wealth around to everyone, is behind the eight ball when it comes to leasing state-owned land for shale gas drilling.

Kasich is more than a year behind in appointing a five-member commission to oversee leasing of state park and state forest mineral rights:

Read More “Kasich Now 1+ Year Late in Appointing State Land Lease Commission”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Research | Statewide PA

EPA to Release Fracking Study Water Test Results in Few Weeks
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

A few weeks ago the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a “progress report” on their multi-year study of hydraulic fracturing and it’s potential impact on water supplies (see EPA’s Fracking Study Progress Report – Dec 2012).

Last week, during an online presentation, an EPA official said the water test sample results/data they’ve gathered to date, including results from testing done in Pennsylvania, will be released “a number of weeks from now”:

Read More “EPA to Release Fracking Study Water Test Results in Few Weeks”
Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Statewide OH | Statewide PA

Chesapeake’s Drilling Security – A Serious Business
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

Chesapeake Energy takes security in and around it’s drill sites seriously—so much so they employ 24 full-time security officers to conduct roving patrols in an eight-county region in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Security for Chesapeake, however, involves far more than driving by a drill site and rattling a chained fence…

Read More “Chesapeake’s Drilling Security – A Serious Business”
About MDN | Calendar

Calendar of Events for Jan 7-20, 2013 [Free]
January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

Below are upcoming events for this week and next.

Read More “Calendar of Events for Jan 7-20, 2013 [Free]”
Best of the Rest

Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 7, 2013
January 7, 2013January 7, 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: Mon, Jan 7, 2013”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Town of Chenango, NY Rejects Fracking Ban in Close Vote
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

In a major victory for landowners in the Town of Chenango (Broome County), NY, the town board voted 3-2 Wednesday night to reject a moratorium on shale gas drilling and fracking. If it had passed, it would have been the first township in the Southern Tier area of New York, an area thought to hold major quantities of Marcellus and Utica Shale gas, to do so.

One of the main reasons board members voted to reject the moratorium? They didn’t want to pay for expensive lawsuits which were sure to follow a vote to ban:

Read More “Town of Chenango, NY Rejects Fracking Ban in Close Vote”
Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Chenango County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation

Oxford, NY Moves Closer to a Moratorium (and Lawsuit) on Drilling
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

It seems the Village of Oxford (Chenango County), NY is still flirting around with Park Foundation funded “pro bono” attorney David Slottje—who’s trying his hardest to get Oxford (in a prime Marcellus/Utica drilling location) to introduce language into their zoning ordinances that would result in a de facto moratorium on fracking and natural gas drilling. Slottje and the Village Planning Board were at it again last weekend in a Saturday meeting.

Wednesday night the village board voted to move forward with another public hearing (later this month) before adopting new zoning language which would, in clear violation of current New York State law, slap tight restrictions and prohibitions on natural gas drilling and related activities:

Read More “Oxford, NY Moves Closer to a Moratorium (and Lawsuit) on Drilling”
Health Impacts | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

NY 2012 Fracking Health Assessment Continues to Reverberate
January 4, 2013

Yesterday’s revelation that early last year the NY State Health Department and the NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had drawn up a draft 8-page assessment which said fracking is safe for public health in New York continues to reverberate around the state.

There were predictable reactions from both sides of the debate, jockeying to frame the drilling issue before a final final final public health impact review is released sometime later this month (or in February)…

Read More “NY 2012 Fracking Health Assessment Continues to Reverberate”
Air Quality | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP to Release Marcellus Drilling Air Emissions Data Soon
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

In the next few weeks, data on air emissions from Marcellus Shale drilling operations will be made public via the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) website. The data, required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, has sparked a new idea at the PA DEP.

The DEP intends to also require emissions filings from compressor plants on conventional (non-shale) gas pipelines starting in March…

Read More “PA DEP to Release Marcellus Drilling Air Emissions Data Soon”
Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Williams

NC Utility Signs Deal with Cabot for PA Marcellus Gas
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

Piedmont Natural Gas, a natural gas utility based in North Carolina, has just signed a 15-year contract with Cabot Oil & Gas to buy a “meaningful portion” of its natural gas supplies from the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale starting in 2015.

Although the details of the agreement are confidential, Piedmont’s CEO did share the following on an investor’s call yesterday:

Read More “NC Utility Signs Deal with Cabot for PA Marcellus Gas”
Encore Energy | Energy Companies | Ohio | Statewide OH | Utica Shale

OH Utica Leasing Agent’s Acreage Grows to 1/4 Million
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

In July MDN told you about Encore Energy, a horizontal well operator formed last year and headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, that’s acting as a leasing agent for a large tract of Utica Shale acreage. At the time they advertised they “have access to” 175,000 acres in Ohio (see Encore Energy Shopping 175K Utica Shale Acres in OH). That number has grown. Encore is advertising they have now have access and rights to lease a quarter of a million acres in the Ohio Utica.

Wanting to remind drillers they’re still around and have land deals to lease, they issued another press release on Wednesday:

Read More “OH Utica Leasing Agent’s Acreage Grows to 1/4 Million”
Economic Impact | Electrical Generation | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

NJ Electric Generating Plant Powered by PA Marcellus Gas
January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

Although New Jersey seems hell-bent on opposing pipelines for low-cost Marcellus Shale gas (and would never tolerate fracking of their pristine soil), the state continues to benefit from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. The latest example is a brand new electrical generating plant currently being built in West Deptford Township. The new 738 megawatt plant will go online in 2014 and will be powered by—yep—PA Marcellus Shale gas, generating low-cost electricity for the residents of New Jersey. Can anyone say “hypocrites?”

An announcement from the company that will supply the new plant with low-cost Marcellus Shale gas to power it for the next 15 years:

Read More “NJ Electric Generating Plant Powered by PA Marcellus Gas”