Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Wed, Sep 26, 2012
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide NY | Statewide PA | Wayne County
Federal Judge Throws Out NY AG’s Lawsuit Against DRBC
Big news for landowners living in the Delaware River Basin area, especially for those in Wayne County, PA who want to see drilling in the Marcellus go forward: A federal judge has thrown out the lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman that sought to force the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to conduct a “fuller assessment” of the potential impacts of shale gas drilling on New York City’s water supply before allowing any shale gas drilling in the basin.Such an assessment would have meant years of additional studies and delays, especially harmful to landowners in Pennsylvania who happen to live in the DRBC’s jurisdiction and have seen no drilling for the past five years while their neighbors all around them have. This is a victory not only for landowners, but the DRBC itself, fighting the lawsuit.
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Bradford County | Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Lease & Royalty Payments | New York | Pennsylvania | Statewide NY
Bradford County, PA Landowners – $160M in Royalties (So Far)
Listen up New York State: Bradford County, which borders Tioga and Chemung counties in New York, has generated $160 million in natural gas royalty payments to landowners—so far. There’s much more to come.
Here’s the low-down on drilling in Bradford County:
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NY Gov. Cuomo Responds to the ‘When’ Question
Although the ongoing moratorium on shale gas drilling in New York State feels like it exited being a Greek tragedy and entered being a Klingon opera a long time ago, MDN feels duty-bound to deliver any small shred of news we come across that impacts the prospects of New York drilling. After all, we live in New York!
Yesterday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a few comments for reporters about the “when” question:
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Muskingum Watershed Moves Forward with Water Sales to Drillers
There’s been a change in position at the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD), a large watershed located in Ohio. MDN reported earlier this year that the MWCD was making moves to sell water from some of it’s vast supply to Utica Shale drillers who have a number of active drilling rigs in the area. Almost as soon as the news was announced, however, the board of the MWCD issued a press release saying they would not sell any more water (other than a deal already done) until a comprehensive study was completed by the U.S. Geological Survey “later this year” on how such water sales might impact the watershed (see this MDN story for background).
The MWCD has reversed its decision (again). The USGS survey is not yet done, but the MWCD is now going to sell water to drillers—but only for a limited time. Here’s the details:
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Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Michigan | New York | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide MI | Statewide NY | Statewide OH | Statewide PA
NRDC Launches Lawyers to Oppose Fracking in 5 States
You have to say one thing about the increasingly shrill Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)—they don’t let an issue they can demagogue for money go to waste. For the NRDC, there’s money to be made in opposing fracking. Warning to the drilling industry: The NRDC is well-funded and is gunning for you. Their latest offensive? They’ve created something called the Community Fracking Defense Project whereby they’ll launch lawyers out into any township across New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and North Carolina to assist that town in opposing fracking. (Sorry West Virginia, you aren’t important enough for the NRDC to spend time and money on.)
The fight over fracking is about to go very local, and get very nasty, with the NRDC pumping millions into the effort to make mischief.
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Penn State Researcher: Most PA Drill Pads Prone to Erosion
A new 12-month study by a Penn State researcher says that 50-70% of shale gas pads in Pennsylvania are constructed on slopes prone to erosion and sedimentation problems. The researcher, Dr. Patrick Drohan, is quick to point out such problems don’t necessarily exist for those pads—he’s just pointing out they could exist given the right conditions, and he believes the pads need to monitored closely.
Here’s the Penn State press release talking about the newly released study (unfortunately we could not get a copy of the study itself):
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Columbiana Port Authority Votes to Lease Land to Chesapeake
The Columbiana County Port Authority (Ohio) voted last night to lease some Port Authority land to Chesapeake for shale gas drilling. Here’s the terms of the deal:
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Education | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Ohio | Statewide OH
Ohio Regents Launch Website to Link Ohioans to Energy Jobs
Looking for a great job in the booming energy sector in Ohio? The Ohio Board of Regents wants to help. They’ve just released a new website, OhioEnergyPathways.org, to help Ohioans find jobs in green energy, shale energy, and other parts of the expanding energy sector in the state.
MDN noticed at least one bug with the new site, if you’re clicking to view open positions. But don’t let that stop you. The site offers links to training programs, it offers businesses the opportunity to list open positions and search resumes, and it allows job seekers to search for jobs and post resumes (with links to the OhioMeansJobs.com website filtering for energy-related jobs).
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A Closer Look at Using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Cars
With an overwhelming abundance of natural gas in the U.S. due to the miracle of hydraulic fracturing in shale, the question on many people’s minds is, “Why don’t we convert more of our vehicles to run on natural gas?” It is happening—slowly. CNG (or compressed natural gas) cars and trucks are cropping up here and there—but it’s still far from common. The primary reason it’s not more widespread? You need filling stations, and CNG filling stations are a lot different than gasoline filling stations.
An article in the current issue of Northeast Driller runs down some of the differences between CNG and gasoline. Among the points made:
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Tue, Sep 25, 2012
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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NY DEC Com. Martens: Fox in Henhouse, or Crazy Like a Fox?
On Friday, MDN told you about the latest development in the ongoing Greek tragedy called the New York State moratorium on fracking (see this MDN story). Our take was that Joe Martens’ latest announcement that he has asked NYS Health Commissioner Nirav Shah to conduct a “health impact analysis” of hydraulic fracturing before the DEC will release new drilling rules was a bad sign that fracking in New York will be seriously delayed yet again—well into 2013.However, landowner groups, led by the Joint Landowner Coalition of New York (the “JLCNY,” representing over 77,000 individual landowners) don’t see it the same way. They believe the path Martens chose in having Nirav Shah do a limited review and not a wide ranging so-called “independent” review—something being pushed by anti-drillers—means the review will not take long and will do a lot to address public concerns over the practice of fracking. The JLCNY supports Martens’ decision.
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AP Erroneously Says Government Discovered Fracking
Every now and again, the anti-drilling side trots out the storyline that the federal government should be given the credit for “discovering” fracking because the government, through various government agencies, contributed research and funding along the way. The latest installment of that meme is an AP story that starts this way:
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What Will a NY Fracking Health Study Actually Study?
Just what do anti-drilling groups in New York that want a “health impact study” propose to study? How exactly do they think fracking may impact the health of New Yorkers, especially since chemicals don’t leak up to the surface as they sometimes (erroneously) claim? Get this: they want to study potential links between fracking and STDs, homelessness and lack of exercise. Yeah, certifiable wackos.
From an unattributed opinion piece in the New York Daily News (which is not a pro-fracking newspaper):
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Cornell President Says Fracking Genie is Out of the Bottle
David J. Skorton, president of Cornell University, and Glenn C. Altschuler, vice president for University Relations at Cornell, jointly penned an opinion piece for Forbes magazine that talks about the role of universities in the fracking debate. Cornell is home to professors Robert Howarth and Tony Ingraffea who have both made a cottage industry out of bashing natural gas drilling and fracking (and infamously still maintain natural gas pollutes more than coal).
Here is the (eye-popping) concluding statement from Cornell’s president about fracking:
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Important Case in WV Supreme Court This Week
An important case for surface rights owners goes before the West Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday. The court will hear a case to determine whether or not surface landowners—those without the rights to minerals in the ground—have the right to appeal oil and gas drilling permits that allow companies to erect drilling sites on their land. As with most legal matters, this one gets complicated:
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Big news for landowners living in the Delaware River Basin area, especially for those in Wayne County, PA who want to see drilling in the Marcellus go forward: A federal judge has thrown out the lawsuit by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman that sought to force the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to conduct a “fuller assessment” of the potential impacts of shale gas drilling on New York City’s water supply before allowing any shale gas drilling in the basin.
On Friday, MDN told you about the latest development in the ongoing Greek tragedy called the New York State moratorium on fracking (