Indiana County Landowner Group
Area covered: All towns in Indiana County
Membership: 5,000 acres and growing
Contact: CX-Energy, 724-933-1311, indiana@cx-energy.com
Web: //www.cx-energy.com
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Crawford County Landowner Group
Area covered: All towns in Crawford County
Membership: 200 members, 7,500 acres and growing
Contact: CX-Energy, 724-933-1311, crawford@cx-energy.com
Web: //www.cx-energy.com -
Clarion County Landowner Group
Area covered: All towns in Clarion County
Membership: 3,000 acres and growing
Contact: CX-Energy, 724-933-1311, clarion@cx-energy.com
Web: //www.cx-energy.com -
PA Court Overturns Zoning Section of Act 13 Drilling Law
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”
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OH Dem Mark Okey Introduces Bait-and-Switch Bill on Leasing
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”
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Mainstream Media Bias Against Fracking Indisputable
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”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jul 27, 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, Jul 27, 2012”
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Coterra Energy (Cabot O&G) | Energy Companies | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County
EPA Closes the Door on Dimock Investigation – Water is Clean
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”
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Seneca Resources Says Sayonara to EOG Resources
Seneca Resources, a subsidiary of National Fuel Gas focused on drilling in the Marcellus Shale, issued an update yesterday on its Marcellus drilling operations. Sometimes these press releases are just fluff without much information. Not so with this one. It contains a lot of very interesting information.
First the statement by Seneca/National Fuel Gas, then MDN’s analysis of it.
Read More “Seneca Resources Says Sayonara to EOG Resources”
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Noble Energy’s 2Q12 Results – Marcellus Well Produces 17.9 MMcfd
Noble Energy is a big driller with operations in many locations, including offshore. They released their second quarter results today. Even though their operations are spread around the world, the Marcellus Shale plays in increasingly important role in Noble’s drilling activities.
Noble reports drilling a Marcellus well in the second quarter with a lateral of 8,500 feet (over a mile and a half!). That well produced an initial rate of 17.9 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMcfd).
Below is the Noble press release. MDN highlights (in yellow) the portions relevant to their Marcellus operations.
Read More “Noble Energy’s 2Q12 Results – Marcellus Well Produces 17.9 MMcfd”
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Food & Water Watch Pushes for Fracking Ban in Maryland
The odious Food & Water Watch, based in Washington, D.C., has joined up with a Democrat Maryland state delegate, Shane Robinson, in calling for a statewide ban on fracking in Maryland. News flash: There is no fracking in Maryland there won’t be until 2014 at the earliest, and if they did start drilling, the Marcellus Shale is only found in two counties in Maryland! But that makes no difference to F&WW.
F&WW are the same people circulating a “ban fracking” petition in rich neighborhoods in Rhode Island, where there is no shale to frack, in a pathetically transparent fundraising attempt (see this MDN story). Yeah, same organization. Makes you wonder if this latest call to ban fracking is yet more fundraising on the part of F&WW.
Read More “Food & Water Watch Pushes for Fracking Ban in Maryland”
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Marcellus Well Pad Liners Get Recycled
Every Marcellus Shale well drilled has a heavy-duty plastic liner. When the well is finished being drilled, that plastic liner is usually disposed in a landfill. An interesting new joint venture between two Pennsylvania companies, WellSpring Environmental Services and Ultra-Poly Corporation, aims to recycle those pad liners. According to the companies, they will remove 20 million pounds of plastic well pad liner each year from the waste stream and ultimately turn it into products like composite railroad ties and building materials. The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection has already granted the two companies their blessing (and permission) for the plan.
Once again capitalism and the free market (not government regulation) solves the problem. From the WellSpring news release:
Read More “Marcellus Well Pad Liners Get Recycled”
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Alec Baldwin’s Anti-Fracking (and Entertaining) Blog Post
The anger-challenged actor Alec Baldwin writes an anti-fracking blog post for the Huffington Post. It’s meant to bring pressure on one person: NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The post is incoherent (and narcissistic), as is usual for Baldwin. MDN only mentions and links to it for entertainment value, since you know, Alec is an entertainer (the one job he’s good at—when he’s not in an out-of-control rage).
Read More “Alec Baldwin’s Anti-Fracking (and Entertaining) Blog Post”
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Union Protests Dominion Pipeline Work in Eastern Ohio
The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) is complaining that Dominion East Ohio is building a pipeline in Harrison County, Ohio using workers from West Virginia (two counties away).
Union members protested on Tuesday at a Dominion pipeline construction site in Stock Township. It wasn’t their first protest against “out of state workers.”
Read More “Union Protests Dominion Pipeline Work in Eastern Ohio”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thu, Jul 26, 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: Thu, Jul 26, 2012”
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Surprising Revelations about Cuomo’s Fracking Plan [FREE]
Gov. Cuomo’s rumored plan to begin horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale for oil and gas (mostly gas) in New York State is an important issue that threatens to fracture the alliance of those of us on the pro-drilling side of the debate. Many people (including MDN) are rightly outraged that not all landowners in all areas of the state will be given the opportunity to participate in drilling—at lease initially (if you believe the rumors about the governor’s plan).But a highly placed source with knowledge of both the landowners’ plight and the governor’s thinking recently spoke to MDN to let us know we’re viewing this issue through the wrong end of the telescope and that landowners outside of select counties have not been left out. Let me explain…
Read More “Surprising Revelations about Cuomo’s Fracking Plan [FREE]”
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).
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.)
Gov. Cuomo’s rumored plan to begin horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale for oil and gas (mostly gas) in New York State is an important issue that threatens to fracture the alliance of those of us on the pro-drilling side of the debate. Many people (including MDN) are rightly outraged that not all landowners in all areas of the state will be given the opportunity to participate in drilling—at lease initially (if you believe the rumors about the governor’s plan).