Chesapeake, 14 Other Energy Companies Have Drilling Permits for Utica Shale in Ohio
More news coming in about the Utica Shale in Ohio:
Read More “Chesapeake, 14 Other Energy Companies Have Drilling Permits for Utica Shale in Ohio”
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MDN Weekly Update – Apr 17, 2011
MDN attended a meeting of the Central New York Landowner’s Coalition on Saturday, April 9th in New Berlin, NY. Look for stories coming in the near future that detail what was discussed at the meeting. The CNY Coalition held two sessions that day, one in the morning for part of the members of the coalition, and another identical meeting in the afternoon. The coalition is so big it requires two sessions to handle all the members.
The crowd in the morning session, which MDN attended, numbered around 400 in the audience. The Evening Sun reports the crowd in the afternoon session was about 600 people. The meeting in the morning was orderly and uneventful. But it seems MDN missed the “fun” in the afternoon session:
An otherwise civil gathering of about 600 members of the Central New York Landowners Coalition at Unadilla Valley Central School Saturday turned ugly as protesters erected ‘no frak’ signs out in front of the school, took photos of cars and, later, defamed a coalition’s leader’s ‘Pass Responsible Gas Drilling’ banner located on the lawn of his Route 8 home.
CNYLC Steering Committee member Steve Gage said the perpetrators were taking photos of business decals on automobiles so people also opposed to drilling would know not to patronize those businesses. He said he called the police to his home to investigate his banner which had a swastika painted on it in red along with a racial slur.*
MDN has previously written about anti-drilling protestors who have broken the law by disrupting meetings and shutting down workplaces. To be fair, not all those who oppose drilling resort to these tactics—it’s a small minority. However, these incidents seem to be happening with more frequency.
Below you’ll find the “top 5” lists and this week’s calendar listings.
Happy reading,
Jim Willis, Editor*Norwich Evening Sun (Apr 11, 2011) – Protesters target gas landowners meeting (PDF format)
Read More “MDN Weekly Update – Apr 17, 2011”
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NYC Senators Introduce Four Bills to Control, Ultimately Ban Marcellus Shale Drilling in NY
Three State Senators from New York City—Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach), and Tony Avella (D-Bayside)—have banded together and introduced four Marcellus Shale drilling bills in hopes one or more of them will become law. Their ultimate aim? To ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing in New York State on claims it will pollute New York City’s water supplies.
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Steuben County Considers New Road Use Agreement for Drillers Requiring Up To $300K Per Mile for Repairs
Steuben County Public Works Commissioner Vince Spagnoletti is planning for drilling to begin in New York State by drafting conditional road use agreements that drillers must sign before their trucks would be allowed on county roadways.
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Kingston Township, PA Passes New Ordinance Regulating Marcellus Gas Drilling
Supervisors from Kingston Township, PA (in Luzerne County) passed a new ordinance regulating oil and gas development in the Township (see embedded ordinance below). There is no current interest in drilling in the Township, but Supervisors said they wanted to be proactive and that there are some gas-related issues in the area, notably pipelines.
Read More “Kingston Township, PA Passes New Ordinance Regulating Marcellus Gas Drilling”
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AP Reports PA DEP is Seriously Understaffed and Cutting Corners with Marcellus Shale Drilling Permits
The Associated Press is transparently anti-drilling in its reporting. While everyone pretends the mighty AP is unbiased and “above the fray” and independent, it is not. So let’s just get that out on the table. MDN uses that preface for news from the AP that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is seriously understaffed when it comes to reviewing Marcellus Shale drilling permits.
IF the following is accurate, it is disturbing indeed and deserves immediate attention from Gov. Corbett. But bear in mind the news comes from the AP, so you never know…
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Energy Services | GASFRAC | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | New York | Tioga County (NY)
Canadian Company Pioneers Alternative to Water & Sand in Hydraulic Fracturing, Used on 700 Wells So Far
An interesting “new” technology from Canadian company GASFRAC uses an alternative to water and sand in the hydraulic fracturing process:
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Energy Services | Indiana County | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Brine Treatment | Wastewater
PA Marcellus Wastewater Treatment Plant Threatens Lawsuit Against Pitt Researcher
University of Pittsburgh researcher Conrad “Dan” Volz is resigning in May as director of Pitt’s Center for Healthy Environments and Communities because of his “philosophical differences” with the university over the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling. Volz has been a visible and loud voice against drilling, and that does not sit well at Pitt.
Volz released a report on March 23, subsequently revised and reissued two days ago, critical of the Pennsylvania Brine Treatment plant near Black Lick, in Indiana County, PA. The plant treats and releases Marcellus Shale wastewater into the Blacklick Creek. In the report, Volz recommends the plant’s operations be halted.
Read More “PA Marcellus Wastewater Treatment Plant Threatens Lawsuit Against Pitt Researcher”
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Marcellus Drilling in ACORD Municipal Park (Allegheny County, PA) Voted Down by Local Councils
The Avonworth Municipal Authority in Allegheny County, PA recently signed a five-year drilling lease for the ACORD Municipal Park property controlled by the Authority (see the MDN story here). However, the deal was contingent on four of the five municipalities that oversee the 119-acre park in Kilbuck and Ohio Townships. Last night Emsworth council was the second municipality to vote against the measure and so the deal will not go forward.
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U.S. Senate Holds Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling & Hydraulic Fracturing
Federal regulation (MDN would argue federal “interference”) in regulating natural gas drilling is an important issue. MDN maintains that the U.S. Constitution grants the states the right to govern what happens inside their own borders, and that the federal government has too often usurped and trampled those rights in the name of protecting the public. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a prime example of a federal agency that frequently goes too far and oversteps its bounds. The EPA is an unelected group of people that create regulations with the force of law that are forced on states and businesses.
However, Congress seems to do what it wants to do, and agencies like the EPA are a reality we all must live with. So when Congress holds hearings and the star witness is the EPA and the topic is drilling in the Marcellus Shale and hydraulic fracturing, everyone, both for and against drilling, needs to pay attention.
Yesterday the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing titled “Natural Gas Drilling: Public Health and Environmental Impacts.” MDN believes there is much to learn in the opening statements by the Senators, and in the testimony from the witnesses who testified before the hearing.
Read More “U.S. Senate Holds Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling & Hydraulic Fracturing”
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EPA Statement at Senate Hearing Outlines the Main Arguments Against Drilling
The first witness before the April 12 Senate hearing on natural gas drilling was Robert Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is currently conducting a multi-year study of the 60 year-old practice of hydraulic fracturing on the basis and claim that it may be harmful to water supplies, and since protection of the nation’s waterways has been assumed by the EPA, hydraulic fracturing (if found to be harmful) would come under the EPA’s jurisdiction and regulation. It is a back door way for the EPA to control natural gas drilling in this country.
The following is a small portion of Mr. Perciasepe’s statement before the hearing. MDN highlights it as an excellent summary of the main arguments that come from those who oppose drilling in the Marcellus Shale and other shale gas plays.
Read More “EPA Statement at Senate Hearing Outlines the Main Arguments Against Drilling”
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Senate Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling – Sen. Inhofe
The following is the opening statement by the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK). Sen. Inhofe offers comments from state regulators about the safety of hydraulic fracturing, and his opinion on federal vs. state regulation of it.
On March 17, 1949, more than 60 years ago, the first hydraulic fracturing job was performed on a well 12 miles east of Duncan, in my home state of Oklahoma. The practice has now been used on more than 1 million currently producing wells, 35,000 wells per year, without one confirmed case of groundwater contamination from these fracked formations. But don’t take my word for it. Let’s hear what the experts, the State regulators, have said:
Read More “Senate Hearing on Natural Gas Drilling – Sen. Inhofe”
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Bradford County | Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Roads | Sullivan County
Chesapeake Trucks Temporarily Banned on Four State Roads in Northeast PA
Chesapeake Appalachia’s trucks have been banned from four Pennsylvania state routes in Bradford and Sullivan Counties until they fix the roads they’ve damaged.
Read More “Chesapeake Trucks Temporarily Banned on Four State Roads in Northeast PA”
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New Cornell University Study Says Shale Gas Extraction Worse for Global Warming Than Coal
Robert Howarth, a Cornell University professor of ecology and environmental biology, along with two other Cornell professors, Renee Santoro and Tony Ingraffea, have just published a new peer-reviewed study in the journal Climate Change titled, “Methane and the greenhouse-gas footprint of natural gas from shale formations.” The study evaluates natural gas from shale compared with other energy sources with respect to how much “greenhouse gases” are created during the extraction process. The study makes the claim that shale gas extraction is actually worse for the environment than burning coal because of greenhouse gases.
This newly published paper in a peer-reviewed journal is big news and has already been covered in the mainstream media echo chamber with more than 300 articles. But the criticisms have also been swift.
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Chesapeake Energy Leases More Than 1,000 Parcels in Beaver County, PA Since Jan 1
Chesapeake Energy, one of the largest gas drilling companies in the world, is leasing a lot of property in Beaver County, PA. Beaver County is located along Pennsylvania’s western border with Ohio and West Virginia.
Read More “Chesapeake Energy Leases More Than 1,000 Parcels in Beaver County, PA Since Jan 1”
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Sen. Casey Wrong Again – Bradford, PA House Explosion Due to Abandoned Gas Wells, Not Marcellus Drilling
A few weeks ago U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), wrote to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to ask him to investigate two house explosions in Bradford Township, PA (see MDN’s story here). Casey said he strongly believed the cause of the explosions was from migrating methane gas (natural gas) from “extensive new deep drilling activities” in the area. That is, those nasty, filthy Marcellus drillers caused it. Don’t look now Mr. Casey, but….oops. You were wrong again. The real cause was abandoned gas wells drilled 100 years ago.
Happy reading,