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    Binghamton DEC Hearing Draws Big & Loud Crowd

    Unfortunately MDN editor Jim Willis was not in Binghamton for the Nov. 17 DEC hearing on the newest revisions to the draft drilling regulations that would finally allow shale gas drilling in the state. However, there was plenty of media coverage of the event, which drew more than 1,000 people to the Forum Theatre in downtown Binghamton.

    The Nov. 17 hearing was the second of four scheduled public hearings on the new regulations. The final two will be at the end of November, one in Loch Sheldrake (Sullivan County) and one in New York City.

    Reporting on the Binghamton hearing from the hometown Press & Sun-Bulletin:

    Read More “Binghamton DEC Hearing Draws Big & Loud Crowd”

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    Compromise Allows PA Municipalities Some Drilling Oversight

    As MDN recently pointed out, in Pennsylvania there is an ongoing tug-of-war between the state and local municipalities over how much local governments can regulate activities like zoning that impact shale gas drilling (see this MDN story). Local governments want the ability to allow or disallow drilling in certain areas. The state says that statewide laws should totally “preempt” local laws to ensure fairness and consistency and to avoid litigation by drilling companies which will cause millions in taxpayer money to defend.

    There is a compromise coming in new legislation that will continue to allow local municipalities some control over drilling in their locales, while preserving most of the oversight for the state. It’s not a perfect solution, but both sides of the debate are signaling it may be the best solution they can jointly agree on.

    Read More “Compromise Allows PA Municipalities Some Drilling Oversight”

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    Huge OH Landowner Group Close to a Lease Deal for 80K Acres

    The Associated Landowners of the Ohio Valley (ALOV) landowner group in eastern Ohio met on Saturday for an update on negotiations with energy companies to lease what may be the largest tract of land offered by a single landowner group in the entire Marcellus and Utica Shale plays. A deal is not yet done, but the president of ALOV, Robert Rea, says they may well have a deal done in the next several weeks.

    Read More “Huge OH Landowner Group Close to a Lease Deal for 80K Acres”

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    Regulating Drilling in PA Pits State Against Municipalities

    tug of warThere is a “tug of war” going on in Pennsylvania for who will ultimately control where, and under what conditions, Marcellus Shale gas wells can be drilled. The struggle pits the state against local municipalities. As with many issues surrounding shale gas drilling, this one is complicated.

    Pennsylvania has more than 2,500 township and municipal governments across the state—more than any other state—even though there are four other states with larger populations (CA, TX, NY, and FL). Local governments are responsive to the people in their communities.

    But when it comes to the issue of drilling, local governments, in being “responsive” are often trampling the rights of local property owners to use their land as they see fit. Local municipalities will say they regulate where malls and shopping centers can be built, where factories can be built, and whether or not land in residential areas can be re-zoned for other purposes, on a case by case basis. Why not the industrial process of constructing a gas well? And they ask the state, “Would you like it if the federal government stripped away your rights to self government? Why do you want to take away ours?”

    Read More “Regulating Drilling in PA Pits State Against Municipalities”

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    Drillers Sue US Govt over Allegheny National Forest Delays

    According to a lawsuit filed on Monday, the U.S. government is obstructing legitimate and legal gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) in northwestern PA. A court in Erie, PA has been asked to find them in contempt and force them to allow drilling to proceed on a timely basis.

    A brief background on the ANF and why the lawsuit was filed:

    Read More “Drillers Sue US Govt over Allegheny National Forest Delays”

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    Pittsburgh Councilman Introduces “Toxic Trespass” Legislation

    Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields has been a tireless anti-drilling crusader (see previous MDN stories here). Fortunately, he leaves office at the end of December—he didn’t run for re-election. But before he goes, he wants to take one parting shot at the drilling industry.

    Yesterday, Mr. Shields introduced “toxic trespass” legislation, which is designed to try and stop drilling in other locations by inferring they may release chemicals into the environment that will find their way to Pittsburgh via rivers and streams and therefore Pittsburgh will sue them out of existence if they get even a whiff of something they don’t like. Nice way to go out Doug…

    Read More “Pittsburgh Councilman Introduces “Toxic Trespass” Legislation”

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    Binghamton DEC Hearing will be Ground Zero This Week

    pro-drilling rallyThis week will be important for the effort to get shale gas drilling moving in New York State. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is conducting a series of four public hearings nominally to accept comments on the most recent changes to the draft drilling regulations, also known as the SGEIS (Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement). MDN says “nominally” because each of the four events will be used by both those for and against drilling to try and show their side has the most support.

    One of the four hearings, in Binghamton on Thursday of this week, is likely to be the largest hearing outside of the New York City hearing later this month. MDN has received several email notices from landowner groups in favor of drilling, and from one group opposed. Both say similar things: These hearings are vitally important.

    Read More “Binghamton DEC Hearing will be Ground Zero This Week”

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    Will NY be Too Expensive to Drill in the Marcellus?

    Yesterday’s Buffalo News has an excellent analysis for the prospects of shale gas drilling in New York, given New York’s extreme delays and proposed restrictive drilling regulations. MDN is a supporter of drilling in New York and has nothing but best wishes for landowners in our home state. But the stark reality, as we’ve been pointing out, is that “if you build it, they will come” makes for a nice movie, but doesn’t necessarily translate into reality for drilling in NY.

    Read More “Will NY be Too Expensive to Drill in the Marcellus?”

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    Feds Make a Visit to Dimock PA Families Last Week

    The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry visited some of the families in Dimock, PA affected by methane migration last Thursday. The were particularly interested in getting copies of water sample results from entities other than the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection or Cabot Oil & Gas.

    Read More “Feds Make a Visit to Dimock PA Families Last Week”

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    Five Applications Filed with DOE to Export Natural Gas

    An issue that will be debated in coming months (and years) is whether or not to export some of the natural gas that America has in abundance now that the miracle of hydraulic fracturing has released it from shale formations. Some say it will help the U.S. achieve a better trade balance with other countries once again. Others say exporting will keep prices for natural gas higher than they otherwise would be for consumers.

    The Department of Energy (DOE) has so far received five applications from companies that want to create terminals to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to overseas markets—one of them has been approved. Just six years ago the natural gas industry was doing all it could to import LNG from foreign countries.

    Read More “Five Applications Filed with DOE to Export Natural Gas”

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    OH Congressman Says Let State Governments Regulate Fracking

    Politics in shale gas drilling is an unfortunate fact because the environment has been politicized. But that’s the reality. Anyone who thinks the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not a political animal has their head in the sand. From its beginning, MDN has pointed out that the EPA is making a power grab—attempting to regulate oil and gas drilling via the back door by using legislation like the Clean Water Act.

    Some on Capitol Hill, like Congressman Bob Latta (R-Ohio) who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, agree. Rep. Latta posted an editorial on the Politico website last night that says, in part:

    Read More “OH Congressman Says Let State Governments Regulate Fracking”

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    MDN Weekly Update – Nov 13, 2011: Where Should Ethane be Processed?

    poll resultsNot a lot of passion, it seems, on taxes or fees for drilling in PA as indicated by the low-ish number of people voting over the past seven days in the latest MDN poll. The clear majority (very large majority at 63%) believe that an impact fee similar to what Gov. Tom Corbett has proposed, where most of the revenue stays in the local community, is the preferred method of taxing drillers in the state.

    A respectable 25% believe there should be no fees or taxes of any kind on drilling. And only 12% think a severance tax is a good idea.

    What kind of fee/tax should PA assess on Marcellus wells?

    Impact fee (most of the proceeds stay in the county) (63%, 110 Votes)
    No fee or tax of any kind (25%, 43 Votes)
    Severance tax (most proceeds used in state’s general budget) (12%, 22 Votes)

    Total Voters: 175

    Where should energy companies process their ethane?

    A complicated topic for this week’s poll. If you’ve been reading MDN for any length of time, you will have come across the topic of ethane, sometimes referred to as “wet gas.” When drilling for natural gas, or methane, in some areas of the Marcellus and Utica Shales, drillers will also recover other chemical compounds, including ethane. It’s more likely to be found in the western portions of the Marcellus and Utica Shale areas, like western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and eastern Ohio. But ethane can also be found in other areas of the Marcellus and Utica as well.

    Why is ethane important? Ethane can be “cracked” or processed to produce ethylene, which is the main raw material used to make plastics—plastics of all kinds. It is a huge industry, and wherever you process the ethylene into plastics, associated industries pop up to turn the plastics into useful products. What it all means is when you build a “cracker plant” to process the ethylene, it involves billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs. And when associated plastics industries sprout up, it creates billions more in economic impact and thousands more jobs. A huge impact which cannot be overstated.

    Shell has said they are looking to build a cracker plant in the Marcellus and will make an announcement by the end of 2011 on where they plan to build it. There have been at least one, perhaps two other unnamed companies also investigating a plan to build a cracker plant in the Marcellus region.

    But what if you simply build a pipeline to another location where there is already a cracker plant to process the ethane? That’s an opportunity that at least two, possibly up to four pipelines are pursuing right now. Range Resources and Chesapeake Energy have already signed on with two of those pipelines, one to Canada the other to the Gulf Coast. The energy companies say there’s more than enough Marcellus and Utica Shale gas coming online to support not only pipelines but building at least one cracker plant in the region. But state officials, like those in West Virginia, are peeved about Chesapeake and others committing to sending the ethane out of the region for processing, believing that might jeopardize building a local cracker plant.

    Those who support free enterprise and capitalism (a concept increasingly under attack due to the woeful lack of education in this country) will say, as does MDN, both should have a right to do what they want. If pipelines can get the permits, lease the land and build the pipelines, get customers to use it and turn a profit—go for it. It’s (still, for now) a free country. Likewise with a cracker plant (or two or three). MDN does not question whether or not pipelines should be “legal” or “allowed” to take place. They should.

    But MDN does want to know what readers would prefer to have happen. Would you prefer Chesapeake and Range and others to process their ethane locally, in the Marcellus region? Does it matter? Head on over to the right side of any page and cast your vote.

    Below are the most recent “top 5” lists and the calendar of Marcellus related events for the next two weeks.

    Happy reading,
    Jim Willis, Editor

    Read More “MDN Weekly Update – Nov 13, 2011: Where Should Ethane be Processed?”

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    DOE Releases Final Subcommittee Report on Shale Gas Regulation

    report coverThe Shale Gas Subcommittee of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) is a panel of seven experts appointed by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu earlier this year with the task of creating a list of industry “best practices” for shale gas drillers. The SEAB produced an initial 90-day report in August with a list of 20 recommendations (see this MDN story on the report). The SEAB’s second and final 90-day report, in draft form, has just been released and will be voted on next week (a copy is available for download below).

    The first report focused on crafting recommendations that would lessen the environmental impact of shale gas drilling so that, according to the SEAB, shale gas drilling can flourish with public support (MDN’s interpretation). But in order to do that, certain best practices and standards must be adopted by federal, state, local and industry participants. This second report focuses on how and when to implement those 20 recommendations.

    Read More “DOE Releases Final Subcommittee Report on Shale Gas Regulation”

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    Sixteen NY Community Groups Unite to Support Gas Drilling

    A new organization called Clean Growth Now has formed to support shale gas drilling in New York State. The interesting and newsworthy aspect of this new organization is that it is not drilling industry-backed, but rather made up of 16 community organizations that believe shale gas drilling is safe and will provide an economic and jobs windfall for the state.

    From the Clean Growth Now press release issued yesterday:

    Read More “Sixteen NY Community Groups Unite to Support Gas Drilling”