Calendar of Events for Dec 3-16, 2012 [Free]
Below are upcoming events for this week and next.
Read More “Calendar of Events for Dec 3-16, 2012 [Free]”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Dec 3, 2012
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, Dec 3, 2012”
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NY DEC Files for 90-Day Extension on Fracking Rules
Yesterday the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) applied for a 90-day extension to the rulemaking process with respect to new rules for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). As MDN has endlessly chronicled, the DEC faced a deadline of yesterday (Nov. 29) to either release revised new rules, not release them and start the process all over again, or file for a 90-day extension. They opted for Door #3.As part of filing for the extension the DEC is required to release a “substantially revised” set of proposals which must be opened to public comment for a 30-day period. The DEC posted 11 documents on their website yesterday (see this page) as part of filing for the extension. The AP did some digging (and perhaps knows someone inside at DEC) and provided this brief analysis of the differences in the new rules from the previous draft, changes that are new and public for the first time with this release:
Read More “NY DEC Files for 90-Day Extension on Fracking Rules”
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lenape Resources | Litigation | Livingston County | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY
Lenape Sues Avon, NY & DEC over Fracking Ban – Seeks $50M
The residents of Avon, NY will have to come up with $50 million if a local driller wins a lawsuit filed earlier this month. Lenape Resources, a small, independent conventional (vertical) natural gas driller in western New York sued Avon, NY and the state Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) because of a broad-based ban on fracking and natural gas activities in the township passed in June.
Avon, in a misguided attempt to ban fracking, drafted and passed a new zoning law so broad it affected not only unconventional shale drilling but also conventionally drilled (vertical) gas wells. At the time, Lanape’s president John Holko threatened to sue both the town and the DEC if the ban was not rescinded (see this MDN story for background on the ban and Holko’s threat of a lawsuit). The ban stayed, the DEC has refused to enforce a 1981 state law that says only the DEC has the power to regulate drilling, so Holko has sued. He’s asking for compensation to reimburse him for the millions the company has invested in wells and other infrastructure in the township, and for lost revenue because he’s had to shut it all down.
Way to go Avon! Three town board members have just bankrupted your township.
Read More “Lenape Sues Avon, NY & DEC over Fracking Ban – Seeks $50M”
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Accidents | Energy Companies | Harrison County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | PDC Mountaineer | Regulation | West Virginia
EPA Fines PDC Mountaineer for Clean Water Act Violations in WV
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the guise of the Clean Water Act (CWA), is poking it’s unwanted nose into Marcellus Shale gas drilling—again. Yesterday the EPA announced a settlement with PDC Mountaineer for what they say are violations of the CWA at four locations (for two gas wells). The company will pay a fine of $177,500, in addition to paying big bucks to restore problems they created while drilling two wells in Harrison County, West Virginia.
What was PDC’s environmental crime? They drained a one-acre swamp (euphemistically called a “wetland”) without getting permission. Even though PDC has agreed to pay the fine and restore the swamp (if they can), as part of the deal they did not admit to any violations of the CWA.
Read More “EPA Fines PDC Mountaineer for Clean Water Act Violations in WV”
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NY DEC Pays $480/Hour to Health Expert for Fracking Review
Included in part of a Gannett story about the New York DEC’s release of revised portions of proposed drilling regulations, we got word of how much New York State is paying three outside “experts” to give an assist to State Health Commissioner Nirav Shah in his review of the DEC’s proposed fracking rules with an eye on their impact on public health.
The hourly amount paid to John Adgate makes me think I’m in the wrong profession:
Read More “NY DEC Pays $480/Hour to Health Expert for Fracking Review”
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Energy Companies | Halcon Resources | Lease & Royalty Payments | Mahoning County | Ohio | Trumbull County | Utica Shale
Halcon Resources Responds to Lordstown, OH Landowners Group
A few weeks ago MDN told you about a new landowners group in Lordstown, Ohio, formed in response to requests from Halcon Resources who is asking landowners in the area to sign modifications to existing 20-50 year-old leases on their property to allow for Utica Shale drilling (see this MDN story). At the time the new Lordstown Regional Landowners Group represented 5,000 of the 31,000 acres in Trumbull and Mahoning counties (Ohio) Halcon had recently purchased the rights to.
Apparently the movement has picked up steam and Halcon issued a press statement yesterday saying they want to cooperate with landowners to make them money on royalties, but stopped short of saying they would renegotiate leases, which is the aim of the landowners group.
Read More “Halcon Resources Responds to Lordstown, OH Landowners Group”
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WV Refinery Expanding with Marcellus/Utica Crude Oil
Ergon, Inc., a crude oil processor headquartered in Jackson, MS but with operations in other states, including West Virginia, announced Wednesday there’s enough crude oil flowing from the Marcellus and Utica Shale region that they are investing $78 million to add more refining capacity to their plant in Newell, WV.
From the Ergon press announcement:
Read More “WV Refinery Expanding with Marcellus/Utica Crude Oil”
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Allegany County | Garrett County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD
Marcellus Drilling #1 Priority for Western MD Legislators
With strong headwinds against shale drilling from both Maryland’s Democrat governor, Martin O’Malley, and from Washington, D.C. area Democrat Maryland legislators, the legislators from western Maryland who want to see Marcellus Shale drilling face an uphill climb.
Nevertheless, when the next session of the Maryland legislature meets, western MD reps will make Marcellus drilling their top priority:
Read More “Marcellus Drilling #1 Priority for Western MD Legislators”
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | NG Vehicles | Peake Fuel Solutions
New Technology Converts Diesel Engines to Mix in NatGas
Here’s a new one: Chesapeake Energy subsidiary Peake Fuel Solutions has just introduced a new product to the marketplace aimed at trucking firms. It converts diesel engines to run on a mixture of both diesel fuel and natural gas, something they call DNG, or diesel natural gas. The technology converts diesel engines to run on up to 70% natural gas—either compressed or liquefied—meaning the engine runs cleaner and costs a lot less to operate given the low price of natural gas.
From the Chesapeake/Peake press release:
Read More “New Technology Converts Diesel Engines to Mix in NatGas”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Nov 30, 2012
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, Nov 30, 2012”
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New MIT Study on Fugitive Methane Discredits Cornell Study
A new peer-reviewed study by MIT (see below) obliterates the findings and false claims made in a previous Cornell University study by Robert Howarth and Tony Ingraffea. The Cornell study tried to make the case that natural gas is actually worse for the environment than burning coal because of so-called greenhouse gas emissions from “fugitive methane” escaping into the atmosphere during the gas drilling process (see this MDN story).A new study published in Environmental Research Letters by MIT researchers has done some actual—instead of theoretical—measurements and has found that “fugitive emissions” of methane are much smaller than Howarth and Ingraffea stated. Smaller by orders of magnitude—like only 22% of what the Cornell study theorized them to be. Oops. Paging Howarth and Ingraffea—the dean wants to see you in his office NOW.
Read More “New MIT Study on Fugitive Methane Discredits Cornell Study”
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Profs Target New Energy Training Center at Philly College
A few weeks ago the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) announced plans to create what they call an “Energy Training Center” with the purpose of connecting Philadelphia-area residents with Marcellus Shale jobs. The president of CCP, Stephen Curtis, says the new program is essentially just a marketing campaign that repackages courses already offered by the school—there’s no new curriculum involved. Sounds like a smart move—no new courses or professors needed, repackage what you have, and put more Pennsylvanians to work. Except…
Except one professor at the school got his feelings hurt because no one told him about it before the press release was issued, and another professor is rabidly anti-drilling and opposed to it because of her twisted ideology. Both are now actively working to prevent the program from going forward. In other words, they would rather see fewer students and less income for the school if implementing this new marketing program goes against their own ideology (or selfish interest).
Read More “Profs Target New Energy Training Center at Philly College”
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Athens County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Wastewater
OH Protesters Ejected from Injection Well Open House
Oh gee, what a surprise. Anti-drillers behaving badly…once again. This time in Athens, Ohio:
Read More “OH Protesters Ejected from Injection Well Open House”
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DOE Funds Projects to Make Shale “Environmentally Acceptable”
The massive federal government will not leave shale energy alone—that’s a given. Not because they think they can protect citizens, but because they want to control it. The latest attempt is by funding 15 research projects addressing what they consider “technical challenges to environmentally acceptable shale gas development.” The very concept is repugnant. Big-brother government choosing how an industry will do its job—what technologies it will be “allowed” to use. Welcome to Obamaland, Alice.
Yesterday the Dept. of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy announced 15 projects (“winners”) that they will fund over the next two years with $28 million of your tax money to research shale energy and ways to control it minimize it’s impact on the environment. Three of the 15 “winners” are located in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. Here’s the announcement listing who got what from the government gravy train:
Read More “DOE Funds Projects to Make Shale “Environmentally Acceptable””
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Hilcorp Energy Plans New Utica Well in Salem Township, OH
Hilcorp Energy plans to drill a Utica Shale well in Salem Township (Columbiana County), Ohio. Last night at the Salem Township trustee meeting a Hilcorp rep requested information about certain roads and made the comment that they plan to drill soon.
Read More “Hilcorp Energy Plans New Utica Well in Salem Township, OH”
Yesterday the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) applied for a 90-day extension to the rulemaking process with respect to new rules for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). As MDN has endlessly chronicled, the DEC faced a deadline of yesterday (Nov. 29) to either release revised new rules, not release them and start the process all over again, or file for a 90-day extension. They opted for Door #3.
A new peer-reviewed study by MIT (see below) obliterates the findings and false claims made in a previous Cornell University study by Robert Howarth and Tony Ingraffea. The Cornell study tried to make the case that natural gas is actually worse for the environment than burning coal because of so-called greenhouse gas emissions from “fugitive methane” escaping into the atmosphere during the gas drilling process (