Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Mon, Jan 16, 2012
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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MDN Weekly Update – Jan 15, 2012: Drilling in NY?
Last week’s MDN poll asked if it’s now time to force the issue with New York’s DEC by suing the state to force them to release drilling regulations and allow fracking to begin. A surprising number of MDN readers think it is time to sue. Is it time for NY landowners & drilling supporters to sue NY state to allow drilling to begin?
Yes (78%, 233 Votes)
No (17%, 50 Votes)
Not sure (5%, 17 Votes)Total Voters: 300
This Week’s Poll: Drilling in NY – When?
Wednesday of this past week saw the “final” deadline to file comments with New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) on proposed new drilling regulations, called the SGEIS (see this MDN story). According to Joe Martens, Commissioner of the DEC, it will take as much as five months to analyze and respond to the all of the comments received. And he said that about a month ago when there were fewer than 20,000 comments. The final number of comments that were filed by Wednesday midnight turned out to be more than 40,000, including a 26-page critique by none other than the federal EPA (see this story).
In June 2011 MDN conducted a poll asking readers when they thought horizontal hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale would begin in New York. At that point, the year 2011 was one of the choices and 19 percent of intrepid MDN readers picked it (see this recap of the voting). Now that the final final final DEC comment period is over (pretty soon we’ll need to use exponents after the word “final” to denote how many times it’s been called final), it’s time to ask readers once again to prognosticate on when they believe drilling will begin. Will it be 2012? 2013? Never? Register your vote on the right-hand side of any page.
Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus-related events for the next two weeks.
Happy reading,
Jim Willis, EditorP.S. MDN is working on a new permits report that will be published soon. Keep watching MDN for details in the coming weeks. This new report is better than the last by orders of magnitude!
Read More “MDN Weekly Update – Jan 15, 2012: Drilling in NY?”
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Breaking: Teamsters Marcellus Pipeline Strike is Over
Several commenters on MDN have stated that a new 90-day extension to work out terms of a contract between the Teamsters and the Pipe Line Contractors Association (PLCA) has been agreed to and that the strike by some Teamster locals in West Virginia and Pennsylvania is now over.
MDN does not yet have independent verification but will track this and post an update when more information is available from either the Teamsters or the PLCA.
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Another New Entrant in the Ethane Cracker Plant Sweepstakes
A new entrant has entered the ethane cracker plant sweepstakes, this one claiming they can build a cracker plant for one-third of the cost of others. Earlier this week, Keith Pauley, president and chief executive officer of the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center (MATRIC) said that MATRIC has launched a subsidiary company, Aither Chemicals, to leverage “off patent” technology created by Union Carbide in the 1970s that will make building an ethane cracker plant much less expensive than competing technologies.Read More “Another New Entrant in the Ethane Cracker Plant Sweepstakes”
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EPA’s Judith Enck Critiques NY Fracking Regulations
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a 26-page critique of New York’s draft hydraulic fracturing regulations, known as the SGEIS, three hours before the filing deadline on Wednesday (a copy of the letter is embedded below). This is the same EPA that just started a multi-year study of fracking that’s not due to be completed until 2014. Funny how they can be experts on fracking now, although their plan for how to study fracking was only released two months ago and they’ve barely begun to study it (see this MDN story).
This is also the same EPA who decided there was no problem with drinking water in Dimock, then said there’s gaps in the data, decided to ship water to Dimock residents, recanted on the water shipments less than 24 hours later, and has been silent since. Yeah, that EPA.
Read More “EPA’s Judith Enck Critiques NY Fracking Regulations”
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Baker Hughes | Economic Impact | Energy Services | Harrison County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | West Virginia
Baker Hughes Expands in WV, Sets Sights on the Marcellus
Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oilfield and shale gas service companies, is building a new $40 million facility in Harrison County, West Virginia, and along with it, generating 275 new jobs. According to Baker Hughes president Paul Butero, the company plans to become a “major player” in the Marcellus Shale.
Read More “Baker Hughes Expands in WV, Sets Sights on the Marcellus”
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Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jan 13, 2012
The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:
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PA DEP Sec Krancer Tells EPA You Don’t Understand Dimock
Michael Krancer, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, sent a letter to federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3 Administrator, Shawn Garvin, on Jan. 5 about the situation in Dimock, PA (a copy is embedded below). The letter is a follow-up to a conversation between the two about the long history and ongoing media circus that is Dimock. In the letter, Mr. Krancer says:Read More “PA DEP Sec Krancer Tells EPA You Don’t Understand Dimock”
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White House Credits Marcellus & Fracking for Economic Boom
Yesterday, the White House released a report titled “Investing in America: Building an Economy that Lasts” (a copy of is embedded below). The report credits the Marcellus Shale and fracking with fueling an economic boom in the U.S.
The relevant section says this:
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | PVR Partners | Susquehanna County
PVR Buys Rail-Trail Right-of-Way for Pipeline in PA
A possible new Marcellus Shale pipeline is in the works in Susquehanna County, PA (northeast region of the state). Yesterday, Penn Virginia Resource Partners (PVR) announced they signed a deal granting them a right-of-way along a the Rail-Trail from Union Dale, PA to the New York State border. The plan is to connect wells in Susquehanna County to the Tennessee Pipeline in Union Dale.
PVR is a coal and natural gas midstream company with 4,200 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines and seven natural gas processing plants. The amount to be paid for the right-of-way was not disclosed.
Read More “PVR Buys Rail-Trail Right-of-Way for Pipeline in PA”
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Today: NY Deadline Day for Comments on New Drilling Regs
Today is the latest deadline from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens to file comments on New York’s proposed new drilling rules, known as the SGEIS. Yesterday, both pro- and anti-drilling groups descended on Albany with thousands of letters of support (or opposition). Prior to yesterday the DEC reported having received over 20,000 written statements. That number, after yesterday, is likely to double.Read More “Today: NY Deadline Day for Comments on New Drilling Regs”
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Fracking Fluid Spill in Bradford PA Result of Sabotage
According to police reports, between midnight and 8:30 am early Tuesday, someone intentionally tampered with a tank on a well pad in Bradford County, PA, resulting in a spill of up to 20,000 gallons of fracking wastewater. Fortunately the wastewater was contained in a plastic liner designed for just such a scenario. There are no reports that the wastewater escaped the containment area. PA State Police are investigating.
Read More “Fracking Fluid Spill in Bradford PA Result of Sabotage”
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PLCA Says Teamsters “Misstate Facts” on Pipeline Strike
An update on the Teamsters’ strike that has brought Marcellus Shale pipeline construction to a halt in several locations. On Jan. 3, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced that as many as 700 pipeline construction workers were preparing to strike against the Pipe Line Contractors Association (PLCA) over a contract that originally expired in January 2011 but was extended until Dec. 31, 2011 (see this MDN story). The Teamsters said the PLCA “wants to force Teamsters into a 401(k) savings plan and ultimately eliminate all traditional defined benefit pensions.”
The PLCA has responded with their side of the story. Their response? The Teamsters “misstate the facts” of the dispute (i.e., they’re lying). The PLCA says they do not want to end traditional defined benefit pensions, and that if the PLCA were to put retirement benefits into the new pension fund preferred by the Teamsters, it would put workers’ retirement at risk as the new fund (like the old one in dispute) is nearing insolvency without a government bailout.
Read More “PLCA Says Teamsters “Misstate Facts” on Pipeline Strike”
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Correction: Exxon Buys 25K Acres of Utica Shale Leases in OH
Two days ago MDN reported, based on copies of paperwork filed with Monroe County, Ohio, that Exxon Mobil via its subsidiary XTO Energy had acquired 13,200 acres of Utica Shale gas leases from Beck Energy (see this MDN story). It turns out there’s more to the story.
MDN received a copy of an additional purchase agreement between Beck and Exxon for another 7,627 acres, for a total deal between the two companies of 20,827 acres of leases in Monroe County. The new/second agreement appears to be property held by Beck with delayed rental payments—that is, property where there is currently no active drilling.
Read More “Correction: Exxon Buys 25K Acres of Utica Shale Leases in OH”
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Marcellus Shale Gas Fuels PA Hotel Industry Growth
An analysis of hotel occupancy rates in northeast Pennsylvania by PKF Consulting, published on Hotel Online, shows the huge impact Marcellus Shale gas drilling is having in the region. PKF reports that revenue per available room (RevPAR) has grown at an annual rate of 14.8 percent from 2007 to 2011. Additionally, the average daily room rate (ADR) has grown a “remarkable” 7.8 percent annually during the same period. Compare PA’s northeast Marcellus hotels with national averages for the same period, which were 1.7 percent RevPAR and 0.7 percent ADR.
Read More “Marcellus Shale Gas Fuels PA Hotel Industry Growth”
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MD Marcellus Shale Commission’s First Report Issued
The first of three reports due from the Maryland Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission has just been issued. A copy of the 46-page report—about how to tax and sue the drilling industry—is embedded below. It’s interesting reading.
On June 6, 2011, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley signed an Executive Order establishing the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative, which includes an Advisory Commission with 13 members to assist the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in a multi-year study of potential Marcellus Shale drilling in the state. “In the state” actually means just two western counties where there is Marcellus Shale: Allegany and Garrett.
Read More “MD Marcellus Shale Commission’s First Report Issued”
Last week’s MDN poll asked if it’s now time to force the issue with New York’s DEC by suing the state to force them to release drilling regulations and allow fracking to begin. A surprising number of MDN readers think it is time to sue. 
Michael Krancer, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, sent a letter to federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 3 Administrator, Shawn Garvin, on Jan. 5 about the situation in Dimock, PA (a copy is embedded below). The letter is a follow-up to a conversation between the two about the long history and ongoing media circus that is Dimock. In the letter, Mr. Krancer says:
Today is the latest deadline from New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens to file comments on New York’s proposed new drilling rules, known as the SGEIS. Yesterday, both pro- and anti-drilling groups descended on Albany with thousands of letters of support (or opposition). Prior to yesterday the DEC reported having received over 20,000 written statements. That number, after yesterday, is likely to double.