Marcellus Drilling News

Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues

New York Post: The Real Reason Environmentalists Don’t Like Natural Gas
June 10, 2011June 10, 2011

A column in yesterday’s New York Post talks about the recent flurry of bans against gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing by local municipalities like the cities of Buffalo, NY and Pittsburgh, PA. The columnist speculates on why environmental groups are so viciously opposed to natural gas, when just a few short years ago they were in favor of it. The writer comes to the same conclusion that MDN has written about before: At the heart of the debate is a philosophical worldview that because natural gas is a “fossil fuel” and based on carbon, an abundance of it will slow down the adoption of “alternatives” (like wind and solar) and therefore it must be defeated. And the way to defeat it is to demagogue it and scare people into believing their water supplies will be poisoned.

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Carrizo Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania | Susquehanna County | Wyoming County (PA)

Carrizo Oil & Gas Operations Update: Wells in Susquehanna County, PA Due Online in August
June 10, 2011June 10, 2011

Carrizo Oil & Gas recently provided the following operations update on their Marcellus Shale drilling activities in Susquehanna and Wyoming Counties in Pennsylvania:

Read More “Carrizo Oil & Gas Operations Update: Wells in Susquehanna County, PA Due Online in August”
Bradford County | Chief Oil & Gas | Energy Companies | Pennsylvania

MDN In-depth: Bradford County, PA Mother Claims Barium Poisoning from Nearby Gas Drilling Activity
June 9, 2011June 9, 2011

The following happened at an anti-gas drilling rally in Harrisburg, PA on Tuesday:

A boisterous anti-gas drilling rally turned quiet Tuesday as Bradford County resident Crystal Stroud described how her family’s health has suffered this spring following the discovery that their water well was contaminated with toxic substances.

Speaking in a soft voice, Stroud, a 29-year-old wife and mother from Granville Summit, said tests by a commercial water analysis firm show the well has been contaminated with barium, strontium and radon. She experienced barium poisoning as a result with classic symptoms of heart palpitations, hair falling out and shortness of breath, she added. Her 4-year-old son has high barium levels too.

Stroud places the responsibility for the well contamination on nearby drilling activities by Chief Oil & Gas Co. The driller has disputed her claim, saying none of the elements she cited were used in drilling a nearby well, which had not been hydraulically fractured.

Stroud criticized the state Department of Environmental Protection and Health Department for inaction after being alerted about the contamination problem. "It sickens me that nothing is being done," she told a crowd of several hundred in the Capitol Rotunda. "Every day, I struggle with the fact we cannot trust our government to protect the people."*

Read More “MDN In-depth: Bradford County, PA Mother Claims Barium Poisoning from Nearby Gas Drilling Activity”
Energy Companies | Exxon Mobil | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

ExxonMobil Continues Expansion in the Marcellus, Buys Two More PA Drillers for $1.69 Billion, Adds Another 317K Acres of Leases
June 9, 2011June 9, 2011

ExxonMobil has just picked up another 317,000 acres of gas leases in the Marcellus Shale by purchasing two privately held Pennsylvania drilling companies for $1.69 billion. Since last year, ExxonMobil has become the largest producer of natural gas in the U.S.

Read More “ExxonMobil Continues Expansion in the Marcellus, Buys Two More PA Drillers for $1.69 Billion, Adds Another 317K Acres of Leases”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Is the Anti-Drilling Crowd Losing Steam? Low Numbers Turn Out for Josh Fox Rally in Harrisburg
June 8, 2011June 8, 2011

Perhaps the real question should be: Did the anti-drilling crowd ever really have a head of steam to begin with? The mainstream media certainly wants you to think so. A relatively small group of people who oppose drilling in the Marcellus—indeed people who are demanding a total ban on gas drilling—seem to get a lot of press coverage, while a majority who support it get relatively little press coverage.

MDN’s observation and the reason for this post…

Read More “Is the Anti-Drilling Crowd Losing Steam? Low Numbers Turn Out for Josh Fox Rally in Harrisburg”
Economic Impact | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

New York Will See $11.4 Billion in New Investment, $1.4 Billion in New Tax Revenue, and 18K New Jobs if the Fracking Moratorium is Lifted
June 8, 2011June 8, 2011

New York State will see a huge $11.4 billion in economic investment by 2020, with state and local governments receiving $1.4 billion in new tax revenues, as well as 15,000-18,000 new jobs created if the current moratorium preventing Marcellus Shale drilling is lifted, according to a report released yesterday by the award-winning think tank Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

The report, titled “The Economic Opportunities of Shale Energy Development,” projects an additional (and astonishing) 75,000-90,000 jobs would be created if the Utica Shale is tapped. (The Utica Shale requires horizontal hydraulic fracturing as does the Marcellus Shale.)

Read More “New York Will See $11.4 Billion in New Investment, $1.4 Billion in New Tax Revenue, and 18K New Jobs if the Fracking Moratorium is Lifted”
Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Former PA DEP Secretary John Hanger: If You Say “No” to Gas, You Say “Yes” to Coal & Oil
June 8, 2011June 8, 2011

Former Pennsylvania DEP Secretary, John Hanger, spoke about the advantages and potential pitfalls of Marcellus Shale drilling at a meeting last night in Ligonier, PA:

Read More “Former PA DEP Secretary John Hanger: If You Say “No” to Gas, You Say “Yes” to Coal & Oil”
Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Regulation | Statewide NY

MDN In-depth: NYS Assembly Passes 12-Month Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing, Both Horizontal and Vertical
June 7, 2011June 7, 2011

For the second year in a row, the New York State Assembly has passed a bill that would create a one-year moratorium on the practice of hydraulic fracturing in the state. But there’s a difference in this year’s bill. This new bill would stop all hydraulic fracturing—both horizontal AND vertical. Oy vey. Where does one begin with this?

It is MDN’s belief that most “rank and file” people who oppose Marcellus Shale drilling don’t really understand the science of it. They hear a few catch phrases about polluting water, or using too much water, or thousands of gallons of chemicals going into the ground. And vague threats that their drinking water is about to be permanently poisoned. And that’s about all they know or want to know. Their opposition is colored by their philosophy or worldview: big energy companies are evil and lie, burning hydrocarbons like oil and gas destroy the environment and cause dangerous levels of global warming, etc. Yes, this is an over-generalization and paints an entire movement with a very broad brush that does not apply to everyone who is against drilling. MDN is just saying this is the case “in general” or “on average.”

Read More “MDN In-depth: NYS Assembly Passes 12-Month Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing, Both Horizontal and Vertical”
Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Shell

Shell Commits to Building a Billion Dollar Chemical Plant in the Marcellus Region of U.S.
June 7, 2011June 7, 2011

Royal Dutch Shell, one of the largest energy companies in the world, announced on Monday that it will build a “world-scale” chemical plant in the Marcellus region of the United States. The chemical plant is called a “cracker” and typically costs more than a billion dollars to construct. Its construction would provide thousands of both short-term construction and long-term operations jobs. Both West Virginia and Pennsylvania have been actively courting chemical companies to build one or more cracker plants in their states (see this MDN story).

The cracker plant would take advantage of one of the byproducts of Marcellus Shale drilling—ethane—which is converted to the hydrocarbon ethylene. Ethylene is a “feedstock” (or raw material) used to make plastics, including polyethylene, the most manufactured and widely-used plastic in the world (see MDN’s brief petrochemical primer here).

Read More “Shell Commits to Building a Billion Dollar Chemical Plant in the Marcellus Region of U.S.”
Allegany County | Garrett County | Industrywide Issues | Maryland | Regulation | Statewide MD

Maryland Gov. O’Malley Issues Order to Study Marcellus Shale Drilling – State Will Not See Drilling Until 2014 Earliest
June 7, 2011June 7, 2011

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley yesterday signed an executive order requiring two Maryland agencies—the Department of of the Environment (MDE) and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to conduct a study on the impacts of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Gov. O’Malley’s order is called the “Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative” and it sets up a board to work with both the MDE and DRN during the process. The board will be composed of representatives from both the environmental community and the drilling industry, as well as a private citizen from Western Maryland. The Marcellus Shale region only touches a small portion of Maryland, running through the “panhandle” counties of the state—underneath all of Garrett County and much of Allegany County.

Read More “Maryland Gov. O’Malley Issues Order to Study Marcellus Shale Drilling – State Will Not See Drilling Until 2014 Earliest”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Landowner Coalition News | New York

MDN Visits Anti-Fracking Big Splash Event in Binghamton
June 6, 2011June 6, 2011

MDN took a field trip on Sunday afternoon to visit Recreation Park in Binghamton, NY (“Rec Park” as it’s known to us locals). The purpose? To see the sights and sounds of the Binghamton Big Splash, a one-day concert with eight local bands, coordinated by the Finger Lakes Clean Water Initiative, designed to oppose Marcellus Shale drilling in New York State.

Of particular interest to MDN was a tent on the premises hosted by the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY), there to present the pro-drilling side of the story. MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of meeting and talking with JLCNY President Dan Fitzsimmons and JLCNY Second VP Bryant La Tourette.

Read More “MDN Visits Anti-Fracking Big Splash Event in Binghamton”
Broome County | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Meetings | New York

Binghamton’s Big Splash Fracking Symposium More Like a Tiny Raindrop
June 6, 2011June 6, 2011

MDN visited an anti-fracking concert called “The Big Splash,” held at Binghamton’s Recreation Park on Sunday afternoon (see today’s companion article). While there were several hundred people on location enjoying music and food—maybe 400 or so by MDN’s count—it certainly wasn’t the “thousands” hoped for at the event. Local bands provided music and anti-fracking groups manned tables around the perimeter of a large tent, providing literature on the “horrors” of hydraulic fracturing.

But the big news of the weekend was from the “warm-up” event on Saturday. The Saturday event was a symposium on hydraulic fracturing held at the Riverwalk Hotel & Conference Center on Water Street in Binghamton. The symposium was hyped by the media in advance, but only 45 people turned up according to press accounts.

Read More “Binghamton’s Big Splash Fracking Symposium More Like a Tiny Raindrop”
Energy Companies | Gordy Oil | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Regulation | West Virginia

WV County Treats Driller as Partner Instead of Enemy with Positive Result
June 6, 2011June 6, 2011

Instead of treating Marcellus Shale drilling companies as enemies or opponents, officials in Monroe County (West Virginia) instead decided to treat them as partners. Monroe is a rural county in southeastern WV with an underground water system mapped by cavers. Monroe sits atop a karst geological formation, which contains sinkholes, underground caves and streams that sink underground. Water under some parts of the county can travel miles in a single day, so Monroe officials are concerned about any potential spillages and about fracking in some areas.

Marcellus Shale drilling in the state has no special regulations as it does in other Marcellus states, and the most recent session of the legislature adjourned without passing proposed new regulations. So officials in Monroe County proactively sought out Gordy Oil, the only drilling company that has expressed an active interest in drilling in the county, to see if the two might work out an agreement, and it resulted in a “memorandum of understanding” between the two.

Read More “WV County Treats Driller as Partner Instead of Enemy with Positive Result”
MDN Weekly Update

MDN Weekly Update – Jun 5, 2011
June 5, 2011

Thank you to those who voted in last week’s online poll. Here are the results:

Do you think burning fossil fuels like natural gas causes dangerously high levels of global warming?

No (67%, 133 Votes)
Yes (26%, 52 Votes)
I don’t know (7%, 15 Votes)

Total Voters: 200

This Week’s Poll

I have made no secret that I think New York’s Commissioner of the DEC, the man in charge of the agency that oversees all oil and gas drilling in NY—Joe Martens—is mostly on the side of anti-drilling. I’m told to “tone it down Jim, don’t rock the boat, we have to work with this guy” with regard to Martens—yet I have to call them like I see them. For years as president of the Open Space Institute his job, his life’s mission, has been to take as much land out of circulation from any kind of development (including drilling) as possible. And his on-the-record statements as recently as last year (prior to his job at the DEC) have Mr. Martens stating he wants to go very, very slow with regard to allowing drilling in New York (see MDN’s original profile of him here). His more recent statements showing his go-slow approach led me to predict that Marcellus drilling in New York will not begin until 2012 at the earliest (see MDN’s prediction here).

Mr. Martens is clearly dragging his feet with regard to release of the new draft Marcellus drilling regulations. But his boss, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, gave him a little motivation this past week—telling the DEC to have the new draft regulations ready by July 1st (see the MDN story here). A “kick in the pants” if you will. Ouch. Can’t have made Mr. Martens very happy. As strongly as he opposes drilling (in my opinion), he also wants to keep his job and make the boss happy. If indeed the new draft regulations are ready in early July, does that move the timetable up and might drilling permits be issued sooner rather than later? A good question. I would like to know what you think. So this week’s poll question:

When do you think Marcellus Shale drilling in New York State will begin?

Will it be this year? Next year? Never? Please note: This is not when you hope it will begin, but when you think it actually will begin. Go to any page on the website and click to vote on the right-hand side of the page in this week’s poll. I’ll report the results next week.

Below you’ll find the “top 5” lists and this week’s calendar listings.

Happy reading,
Jim Willis, Editor

Read More “MDN Weekly Update – Jun 5, 2011”
Cayuga County | Industrywide Issues | New York | Public Opinion | Wastewater

Marcellus Drilling Debate Now Affecting Conventional Gas Drilling in New York State
June 3, 2011June 3, 2011

The debate over horizontal hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale has now spilled over to affect conventional gas drilling in New York State. Protesters rallied outside Auburn City Hall (a small city in Upstate New York) yesterday afternoon to oppose the local municipal sewage treatment plant’s practice of accepting gas drilling wastewater for treatment and release into the Owasco River. None of the wastewater accepted comes from Marcellus Shale drilling—it all comes from conventional natural gas drilling in New York State.

Read More “Marcellus Drilling Debate Now Affecting Conventional Gas Drilling in New York State”
Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Statewide PA

PA DEP Sec. Krancer Wants Tighter Rules Governing Marcellus Drilling in the State
June 3, 2011June 3, 2011

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael Krancer sent a letter on May 27 to Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, chairman of the governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission. Krancer, along with Cawley, is a member of the commission. The commission’s charter is to deliver a list of comprehensive policy recommendations to the governor and the state legislature by July 22 to improve Marcellus drilling in the state.

The fact that Krancer is calling for tighter regulations is a sure sign that new regulations are on the way in PA. Among the recommendations outlined in the letter:

Read More “PA DEP Sec. Krancer Wants Tighter Rules Governing Marcellus Drilling in the State”

Thank you to those who voted in last week’s online poll. Here are the results: