The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a story in today’s edition on the recurring theme that dry gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale is slowing down in Pennsylvania and is shifting to wet gas drilling in the Utica Shale in eastern Ohio and southwestern PA.
Last week the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, the “appellate” court in PA, ruled in favor of seven towns who had sued the state over the zoning portion of the newly enacted Act 13 drilling law (see this MDN story). At the time Gov. Tom Corbett said he would appeal the decision and he has made good on his word. The case now heads to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Read More “PA Gov. Corbett Appeals Act 13 Zoning Case to Supreme Court”
The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) in Pittsburgh has developed a new certificate program in Land Administration in cooperation with drilling company EQT Corp. Land administrators make an average annual salary of $60,000 and work in an energy company’s land records, division orders or contracts area to protect the company’s oil and gas assets (leases, rights-of-way and wells).
Read More “Pittsburgh College – Certificate in Energy Land Administration”
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 30, 2012”
The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (the appellate court in PA) yesterday issued ruling on the zoning portion of the newly enacted Act 13 drilling law—and they ruled it unconstitutional. A full copy of the court’s opinion and ruling is embedded below. This is round two in the court fight. Round three, an appeal to the PA Supreme Court, will almost certainly come from Gov. Tom Corbett (he has as much as promised it).
MDN will give our overview of what the court decided, and of the dissenting opinion. But one thing caught our eye right away. MDN has made the argument several times that the Delaware Riverkeeper Network has no standing to be part of the lawsuit against the state and against Act 13 (see this MDN story). The good news with yesterday’s decision is that the justices tossed the Delaware Riverkeeper Network from the lawsuit, saying (as MDN has all along) they have no standing to participate and bring the suit in the first place. It’s a small and symbolic victory for those of us who support drilling, but a victory nonetheless.
Read More “PA Court Overturns Zoning Section of Act 13 Drilling Law”
Ohio State Rep. Mark Okey (Democrat) recently introduced a House Bill 493, which he calls the “Truth in Leasing Act.” It supposedly goes after “big oil and gas” and their “predatory” leasing practices. But when you read the bill, a fair amount of it has nothing to do with leases but instead creates new drilling rules (a copy of the bill is embedded below—you read it and see what you think).
In typical Democrat/Marxist fashion, Okey rails against “big oil” in his statement about the new legislation:
Read More “OH Dem Mark Okey Introduces Bait-and-Switch Bill on Leasing”
The Media Research Center (MRC) has an excellent article about the negative propaganda spewed in the mainstream media against the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. In researching the issue, MRC finds this about the news programs of the three major networks:
Read More “Mainstream Media Bias Against Fracking Indisputable”
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, Jul 27, 2012”
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a statement yesterday that they’re now officially finished with their investigation of Dimock, PA water wells. EPA testing of 64 wells in the area found elevated levels of arsenic, barium or manganese in four wells—all of those substances are naturally occurring. EPA has been delivering water to the four households, but since those households now have water treatment systems to fix the problem, as of August 6 the EPA will end all water deliveries. (Calling Josh Fox and Mark Ruffalo! We haven’t seen you in Dimock for a while. This is your last chance for another 2 hour visit/photo op. Better grab it while you can.)
The EPA statement (see below) closes a very long chapter in the fight over hydraulic fracturing and the false claims that fracking leaks chemicals into water supplies. Cabot Oil & Gas, the driller accused of contaminating water supplies around Dimock, was delighted (and vindicated) by the EPA’s investigation and was quick to comment (also below).
Read More “EPA Closes the Door on Dimock Investigation – Water is Clean”