South Maine Millennium Coalition
Area covered: Town of Maine in Broome County, NY
Membership: 150+ landowners, 3,500 acres (lease signed)
Contact: Bob Mnahoncak, mnahoncak@aol.com
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South Madison County Gas Coalition
Area covered: Southern portions of Madison County, NY
Membership: Not disclosed
Contact: David Keefe, 607-559-9800, DKPV@aol.com -
Rural Bethel Landowners Coalition
Area covered: Towns of Bethel, Callicoon, Liberty, Delaware and Cochecton in Sullivan County, NY
Membership: 160 members, 14,000 acres
Contact: Al Larson, 845-439-3920, alarson@hvc.rr.com -
Owego Gas Coalition
Area covered: Owego and surrounding areas of Tioga County, NY
Membership: Not disclosed
Contact: Martin Murphy, 607-687-1882, woodworker386@yahoo.com -
Protesters Illegally Shut Down Drilling Rig in Central PA
Protesters have illegally shut down an EQT drilling rig in Moshannon State Forest in central Pennsylvania. The rig was in the process of being commissioned (just getting started) and protesters blocked the road trucks were using to access the rig.In addition to blocking the road, two protesters sat 75 feet up on a tree platform connected to a cable stretched across the road. If a truck cut through or snagged the cable, it would cause the demented protesters to fall out of the tree platform. That’s how sick these people are.
Read More “Protesters Illegally Shut Down Drilling Rig in Central PA”
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Patriot Water Treatment | Regulation | Trumbull County | Wastewater
Ohio EPA Says Patriot Still Can’t Dispose of Water in Warren
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached out to MDN to let us know that there is an ongoing issue with Patriot Water in the City of Warren, Ohio. In short, Patriot is still not allowed to send the fracking wastewater they treat to the Warren municipal sewage treatment plant for disposal.
Last week MDN highlighted that Patriot had apparently won their case against the EPA with the Environmental Review Appeals Commission (see this MDN story). However, the Ohio EPA says “not so fast.” They have a different interpretation of what the ERAC ruling says, and they maintain the permit they’ve issued to the City of Warren has not (and will not) change, meaning Patriot will still not be allowed to dispose of treated wastewater via Warren.
Here’s the statement from Ohio EPA Director Scott Nally on the ERAC ruling:
Read More “Ohio EPA Says Patriot Still Can’t Dispose of Water in Warren”
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Marcellus Drilling Means High Housing Prices in Towanda PA
When an area sees a lot a drilling, one of the unintended consequences is a serious jump in the price of housing—both rental and for purchase. Towanda (Bradford County), PA seems to be ground zero for an extraordinary jump in housing prices over the past few years. How about $2,000 to rent a two-bedroom apartment in this relatively rural part of PA? Yeah, nosebleed-high prices.
An article in yesterday’s Towanda newspaper, The Daily Review, highlights the plight of a family flooded out of their Towanda home last year. Because of the high prices for real estate due to the Marcellus drilling boom, they still have not been able to leave their FEMA trailer.
Read More “Marcellus Drilling Means High Housing Prices in Towanda PA”
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Belmont, OH Attorney Sues Hess to Dissolve Lease
An attorney in Belmont County, Ohio—Rebecca Bench—is suing to end a lease deal she and her husband signed in 2008, originally with Mason Dixon Energy for $100 per acre. Mason Dixon later sold the lease to Hess Corp.
The $100 per acre Bench and her husband were paid is a fraction of recent transactions, some as high as $5,900 per acre. Bench says Mason Dixon was never registered to do business in Ohio, meaning the original contract was fraudulent.
Read More “Belmont, OH Attorney Sues Hess to Dissolve Lease”
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Hilcorp Energy | Industrywide Issues | NiSource | Ohio | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide OH | Statewide PA
NiSource, Hilcorp Energy Joint Venture in Utica Shale
NiSource Inc. announced today they are entering a joint venture with Hilcorp Energy and combining their Utica Shale acreage together with Hilcorp doing the drilling. They’re also establishing a midstream joint venture called Pennant Midstream to construct an initial 50 miles of wet gas gathering pipelines in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. And the new midstream company will build a natural gas processing complex in Ohio.
No word on exactly how much acreage the combined two have together in the Utica Shale, but the jv plus the new pipelines and processing plant is a major development for both eastern OH and western PA.
Read More “NiSource, Hilcorp Energy Joint Venture in Utica Shale”
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Paladino Says NY Sen. Libous (Ab)using Fracking to Fundraise
Carl Paladino, a conservative who ran as the Republican candidate against Democrat Andrew Cuomo in the 2010 gubernatorial election in New York, isn’t a fan of New York State Senator Tom Libous. Libous is a Binghamton resident and the number two senator in the Republican-controlled (yes you read that right, Republican-controlled) New York State Senate.
If fracking begins in New York, much of it will be in the counties Libous represents. He’s been on record mostly supporting fracking in New York State, but there have been the odd statements here and there when he seems to back away from a full-throated endorsement. Paladino says Libous is a RINO (Republican In Name Only) who is manipulating the fracking issue to get more campaign money. Ouch. Tell us what you really think Carl!
He does just that. From an open letter issued by Paladino to the “222 Committeemen in Senate District 52” (which is Libous’ district):
Read More “Paladino Says NY Sen. Libous (Ab)using Fracking to Fundraise”
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Will There be Marcellus Drilling in PA State Parks?
So far there has been no Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania’s 61 state parks that sit over top of the Marcellus (out of 120 state parks total). But that may soon change because the state doesn’t own the mineral rights for most of its parks.
Read More “Will There be Marcellus Drilling in PA State Parks?”
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Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | New York | Shell | Steuben County
Sierra Club Sues to Stop Water Sales in Steuben County, NY
In March 2012, the village board in Painted Post (Steuben County), NY voted to sell water to Shell for use in fracking operations across the border in Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) gave its blessing to Painted Post to sell up to 1 million gallons of water day. But the decision doesn’t sit well with anti-drillers.
According to NGI’s Shale Daily, the Sierra Club and several area organizations sued the village board in late June to stop the sale from taking place.
Read More “Sierra Club Sues to Stop Water Sales in Steuben County, NY”
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OH High School First to Offer 2-Year O&G Tech Course
In what is believed to be the first of its kind for Ohio, high school students at Marlington High School (Alliance, OH) can take a two-year course in oil and gas technologies starting this fall. The new course will prepare students with the skills they need to work in the rapidly growing shale drilling industry.
From a recent press article:
Read More “OH High School First to Offer 2-Year O&G Tech Course”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jul 9, 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, Jul 9, 2012”
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Hartwick Area Landowner’s Coalition
Area covered: Hartwick and surrounding townships in Otsego County, NY
Membership: Not disclosed
Contact: Michael Covert, 607-293-6621, HARTWICKaloc@aol.com -
The Friendsville Group
Area covered: Bradford & Susquehanna counties, PA; Broome County, NY
Membership: 900+ landowners, 35,000+ acres
(lease signed, not accepting new members)
Contact: Christy Everitt, 607-786-2482, psxvestal@yahoo.com
Web: //www.thefriendsvillegroup.org
Protesters have illegally shut down an EQT drilling rig in Moshannon State Forest in central Pennsylvania. The rig was in the process of being commissioned (just getting started) and protesters blocked the road trucks were using to access the rig.