Penn State Study Finds No Crime Rate Increase in Drilling Counties
Those who oppose drilling try to make the case that crime rates soar when drilling comes to a community. They say those “out of towners” have a lot of time on their hands in the off hours, and they use it to drink hard and play hard, and that leads to all sorts of criminal mischief. But a new Penn State study finds no evidence that when shale gas drilling comes to town crime rates increase. The preliminary findings of the study, performed by the Justice Center for Research at Penn State, were released in January but only announced just last week (a copy of the preliminary report is embedded below).
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Chesapeake Energy released fourth quarter 2011, and full year 2011 numbers on Tuesday. About one month ago Chesapeake announced they were curtailing 0.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas production per day because of low commodity gas prices. At the time they threatened to up that number to 1.0 bcf. According to Tuesday’s announcement, they have made that adjustment. Chesapeake wants to save its gas to sell it when the prices go back up, and likely hopes that by taking a good amount of gas out of circulation, it will help drive up the historically low prices sooner rather than later.
Yesterday, Tompkins County (NY) Supreme Court Judge Phillip Rumsey handed anti-drillers a first, and likely short-lived, victory. He ruled that the Town of Dryden, located near Ithaca, has the right to ban shale gas drilling. As with many legal issues, this one is complicated, so let’s take a look at the case, Judge Rumsey’s decision, and what happens next.
The Town of Caroline in Tompkins County, New York is about to pass a one-year ban on hydraulic fracturing. The question is, is it legal to do so? Attorneys who understand New York State’s oil and gas law say no.