Eastern Indiana County Oil & Gas Owners Association
Area covered: Eastern Indiana County, PA
Membership: 9 landowners
Contact: John Luger, 814-749-8876
-
-
Harrison County Ohio Landowners Group
Area covered: Harrison County, OH
Membership: 120 on mailing list
Contact: Dan Ellis, dellis@hcolg.org
Web: www.hcolg.org -
Rockton Landowners Group
Area covered: Clearfield County, PA
Membership: 8 landowners
Contact: Gina Seherlis, 610-304-3157, dseherlis@aol.com -
Butler County Landowner Group
Area covered: Northern Butler County: Cherry, Clay, Concord, Marion, Washington and Venango Townships
Membership: Currently 100+ members; 8,000+ acres
Contact: Doug Kimmey, 724-584-2057, BCLG@zoominternet.net -
Northwest Pennsylvania Land Owner Group, LLC
Area covered: Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Warren, Venango counties in PA
Membership: 500+ members and growing, 40,000 acres and growing, any size landowner, Not-for-Profit group
Contact: Patricia Spencer, 479-659-2232, nwpalandownergroup@hotmail.com -
MDN Weekly Update – Oct 30, 2011: Should NY Landowners Sue the DEC?
A shock result from this past week’s poll, which had the second highest number of voters ever, and the most voters in a single seven day period. It appears a majority who read MDN don’t agree with MDN editor Jim Willis that the EPA should not be in the business of regulating that which the states currently have the right, under the U.S. Constitution, to regulate themselves. A disappointment to see so many people willing to throw away their hard-earned rights.Should fracking wastewater be regulated by the federal EPA?
Yes (62%, 230 Votes)
No (35%, 129 Votes)
Not sure (3%, 13 Votes)Total Voters: 372
Is it time for NY landowners to sue the DEC to allow fracking?
This past week brought distressing news for landowners (and energy companies) in New York who have already waited nearly four years for drilling to begin in the state. The state’s Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Joe Martens, sent a loud and clear signal that the DEC will not issue permits for shale gas drilling in 2012 (see this MDN story). He blames the advisory panel he appointed who in turn blame various state agencies, other than the DEC, whom they say need to provide detailed analyses of how much a commencement in drilling will affect their budgets and manpower. This is the first time MDN has heard of such a demand.
It’s clear to MDN that Joe Martens is not interested in seeing drilling happen in the state any time soon. MDN believes the longer it takes to commence drilling, the more likely it won’t happen at all, and people like Joe Martens (and the mostly anti-drilling members of his advisory commission) are just fine with that. The issue has been studied to death and it’s now time to begin—yet we have more delays.
So MDN wants to know if New York landowners, and those who support them, are ready to litigate to move the ball down the field. We ask the question, Is it now time to sue the DEC to force them to either issue permits or start paying landowners for loss of their property rights and the revenue they would gain from drilling? It is a big step to be sure, and not lightly taken. But waiting yet another year, or longer, is ludicrous. MDN believes it’s now time for action. What do MDN readers think?
Register your vote on the right side of any page on the website, and leave a comment on this post telling us why you do or do not support litigation in NY.
Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus related events for the next two weeks.
Happy reading,
Jim Willis, EditorRead More “MDN Weekly Update – Oct 30, 2011: Should NY Landowners Sue the DEC?”
-
The Kooky Things Anti-Drillers Say
An excellent commentary in today’s New York Post by Abby Wisse Schachter addresses the fear mongering and just plain kookiness heard from anti-drillers. From the opening:New York state just announced another delay in what has become a more-than-four-year process to approve widespread natural-gas drilling. Over that time, the state has lost tens of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of business — and the opposition to drilling has only gotten more entrenched and radical.
Gov. Cuomo should not be swayed by such hysteria.
An Oct. 6 New York Policy Forum panel on gas drilling is a case in point. At it, Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan participated in a discussion of hydro-fracking, the process of extracting natural gas from shale rock. He argued that New York doesn’t need natural gas to power its economic future.
“You can do other things … You can save so much energy just by switching to wood pellets,” Ryan claimed. “If you combine that with retrofitting all the rural properties … you’ll produce thousands of jobs.”
Wood pellets. What century does Ryan think this is?*
Read More “The Kooky Things Anti-Drillers Say”
-
Who Owns U.S. Oil & Natural Gas Companies? You
Who actually owns U.S. oil and natural gas companies? If you’re one of the economic illiterates in the “Occupy” movement, you no doubt believe the oil and gas industry is owned by “the 1 percent”. But you would be wrong. A new study just released proves the middle class (ie you) owns the vast majority of America’s energy companies via pension plans like 401(k)s and IRAs, as well as by individual stock investments. The numbers break down as follows: 50 percent of shares in energy companies are held by public and private pension plans, 20 percent by individual investors who own stock, 27 percent of shares belong to financial institutions and asset management companies, and 3 percent of outstanding shares are held by the officers and board members of the energy companies themselves.
The study, "Who Owns America’s Oil and Natural Gas Companies," was commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute and conducted by Sonecon. The full 22-page study is embedded below.
Read More “Who Owns U.S. Oil & Natural Gas Companies? You”
-
Albany NY Mayor Jerry Jennings (D) Vetoes Fracking Ban
Longtime Albany, NY Mayor (and a Democrat!) Jerry Jennings has just vetoed a City Common Council measure to ban hydraulic fracturing inside the city.
Read More “Albany NY Mayor Jerry Jennings (D) Vetoes Fracking Ban”
-
US Sen. Joe Manchin (D) Supports Drilling, Criticizes Obama
It seems lately that it’s a rare Democrat who goes on the record to support shale gas drilling, so when it happens, MDN is happy to mention it. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, former governor of that state who won a special election to fill the seat of Robert Byrd, said the following at a recent symposium on natural gas:
Read More “US Sen. Joe Manchin (D) Supports Drilling, Criticizes Obama”
-
Southwestern Energy has 40 Wells in Northeast PA
Southwestern Energy provides the following update of its Marcellus Shale activities in its recently released third quarter report. The update shows that Southwestern’s Marcellus activity is concentrated in Bradford and Susquehanna counties in PA.
Read More “Southwestern Energy has 40 Wells in Northeast PA”
-
Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Friday, Oct 28, 2011
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: Friday, Oct 28, 2011”
-
Martens Blames Other State Agencies for Delay in NY Drilling
Now that New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens has let the cat out of the bag that Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling permits will likely not be issued in 2012, the mainstream media has come along to prop him up with excuse stories for why New York will continue to delay drilling—to give Martens political cover for the coming firestorm. The simple fact is, the longer drilling is delayed, the more likely it will never happen—and anti-drillers know it. MDN believes these delays are by design, not an “aw shucks, things are jest turnin’ out this way” as Mr. Martens wants us to believe.And so Gannett comes out with a story that blames other state agencies for the delay, because Martens’ hand-picked Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel, stacked with anti-drillers, wants other agencies to do its work:
Read More “Martens Blames Other State Agencies for Delay in NY Drilling”
-
NY Anti-Drilling Groups Launch Campaign to Write 1M Letters
Groups opposed to shale gas drilling have organized to purchase radio advertisements promoting an effort to get residents to write one million letters to Gov. Andrew Cuomo asking him to ban hydraulic fracturing. It’s not entirely clear who is funding the effort.
Read More “NY Anti-Drilling Groups Launch Campaign to Write 1M Letters”
-
Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Thursday, Oct 27, 2011
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: Thursday, Oct 27, 2011”
-
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Recruited to Oppose Fracking
It appears the fine, upstanding protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement—the same people who want to abolish capitalism and redistribute all wealth from producers to those who won’t work—are prime targets to be recruited to oppose fracking. Birds of a feather…Read More “Occupy Wall Street Protesters Recruited to Oppose Fracking”
A shock result from this past week’s poll, which had the second highest number of voters ever, and the most voters in a single seven day period. It appears a majority who read MDN don’t agree with MDN editor Jim Willis that the EPA should not be in the business of regulating that which the states currently have the right, under the U.S. Constitution, to regulate themselves. A disappointment to see so many people willing to throw away their hard-earned rights.
An excellent commentary in today’s New York Post by Abby Wisse Schachter addresses the fear mongering and just plain kookiness heard from anti-drillers. From the opening:
Now that New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens has let the cat out of the bag that Marcellus and Utica Shale drilling permits will likely not be issued in 2012, the mainstream media has come along to prop him up with excuse stories for why New York will continue to delay drilling—to give Martens political cover for the coming firestorm. The simple fact is, the longer drilling is delayed, the more likely it will never happen—and anti-drillers know it. MDN believes these delays are by design, not an “aw shucks, things are jest turnin’ out this way” as Mr. Martens wants us to believe.
It appears the fine, upstanding protesters of the Occupy Wall Street movement—the same people who want to abolish capitalism and redistribute all wealth from producers to those who won’t work—are prime targets to be recruited to oppose fracking. Birds of a feather…