Binghamton Conklin Gas Lease Coalition
Area covered: Towns of Binghamton and Conklin in Broome County
Membership: 1,000+ people, 19,000+ acres
Contact: Dan Fitzsimmons, 607-775-5821, dfitzsimmons@stny.rr.com
Web: //www.bcgaslease.com/
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Apalachin Landowners Group
Area Covered: Apalachin, South Owego, Nichols and Campville, and Western Vestal
Contact: Loretta Sullivan, 607-625-4543, lorettas@stny.rr.com
Web: www.apalachinlandowners.blogspot.com -
79-11 Landowners Coalition
Area covered: Between RT 79 and RT 11 in the town of Barker
Membership: About 2,500 acres
Contact: Gary VanDriesen, 607-786-1229, gvandriesen@stny.rr.com -
4-County Gas/Oil Leasing Group
Area covered: Cattaraugus/Allegany Counties in NY; McKean/Potter Counties in PA
Membership in NY: Cattaragus County – 70,000 acres, Allegany County – 41,000 acres (111,000 acres total)
Membership in PA: McKean County – 78,000 acres, Potter County – 41,000 acres (119,000 acres total)
Contact: Janice L. Hancharick, 919-876-2917, jlhanch@nc.rr.com -
Federal EPA Releases Plan to Study Hydraulic Fracturing–Study’s Conclusions Won’t be Ready until 2014
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is taking another run at regulating natural gas drilling in the United States by the back door with its claim that hydraulic fracturing “may” endanger water supplies. To know for sure whether or not hydraulic fracturing is “safe”—even though by its own admission more than 35,000 wells are now hydraulically fractured each year in the U.S.—the EPA will conduct the mother of all studies. The first step in the process is to create a plan for how the study will be conducted. We now have that plan.
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Hydraulic Fracturing Used in North Dakota Oil Fields Gives that State the Lowest Unemployment Rate in the Nation
Horizontal hydraulic fracturing not only benefits natural gas drilling, but also oil drilling in places far outside the Marcellus, like North Dakota, where the method has revived declining oil fields.
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Energy Companies | Greene County (OH) | Hydraulic Fracturing | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | West Bay Exploration
80,000 Fracked Wells in Ohio – Zero Groundwater Contamination
Looks like there’s about to be interest in drilling Marcellus shale gas wells in the Yellow Springs (Greene County), Ohio area from West Bay Exploration:
Read More “80,000 Fracked Wells in Ohio – Zero Groundwater Contamination”
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WV Legislators Consider Forced Pooling for Marcellus Shale Landowners
The West Virginia legislature is considering a couple of bills that deal with rules for Marcellus shale gas development in the state. One of those bills contains a provision for forced pooling, a hot-button issue to be sure among landowners and mineral rights owners. The WV legislature may adopt a pooling provision that is used in the state currently for coalbed methane drilling.
Read More “WV Legislators Consider Forced Pooling for Marcellus Shale Landowners”
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Maryland Legislature Will Consider Whether or Not to Approve Hydraulic Fracturing
Looks like we have dueling pieces of legislation before the Maryland legislature, one bill that would force the state’s Department of the Environment to either officially approve or deny permits by Samson Energy to drill in Western Maryland. The other bill would put a hold on drilling until “further studies” can determine whether or not it’s safe.
Read More “Maryland Legislature Will Consider Whether or Not to Approve Hydraulic Fracturing”
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Gov. Cuomo’s Nomination to Head the NY DEC: Will the Real Joe Martens Please Stand Up?
On January 4, newly inaugurated Gov. Andrew Cuomo nominated Joe Martens to head up the all-important (to Marcellus Shale drilling in NY anyway), State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The DEC is charged with drafting drilling regulations, and once in place, overseeing those regulations. Joe Martens’ nomination to head the DEC was viewed by most who support drilling as a bad omen. Why? Let’s take a look at who Joe Martens is, and what he has said on the topic of shale gas drilling in New York.Since 1995 Joe has worked for the Open Space Institute (OSI), first as executive vice president and later as its president. The OSI buys private land in states along the East Coast of the U.S. to keep it from being developed. As it’s name implies, it wants to keep large tracts of open spaces undeveloped and pristine. Over 100,000 acres in New York State alone have been “protected” by the OSI. Most of the OSI’s land acquisitions and easements (laws to protect land they don’t actually buy but control) have come under Joe Martens’ reign as president.
Read More “Gov. Cuomo’s Nomination to Head the NY DEC: Will the Real Joe Martens Please Stand Up?”
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Brooke County | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Marshall County | Ohio County | West Virginia | Wetzel County
West Virginia Now Employs 10K People in Marcellus Shale Gas Industry, Wetzel & Marshall Counties Most Active in Gas Drilling
An article in today’s West Virginia paper The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register attempts to denigrate Marcellus gas drilling in the state by focusing on some of the problems. One of those problems, according to the article, is that 13 illegal aliens (undocumented workers) that have been caught working for drilling contractors in the state “in the last few years.” But 13 illegals apprehended out of some 10,000 workers employed by the Marcellus gas drilling industry in the state is an infinitesimally small 1/10th of one percent. That is, it’s a non-story. If the statistics are to be believed that there are some 20 million illegals in the U.S., and the population of our country is around 300 million, that means an average 6 1/2 percent of the entire population are illegal aliens! Point is: the drilling industry does not seek to employ illegals—it happens, like any industry. -
Hydraulic Fracturing Used in Ohio for More Than 40 Years, Thousands of Wells Drilled Without Incident
Last night a crowd of more than 500 turned out in Ravenna (Portage County), Ohio to hear details about the oil and gas industry in OH, specifically about hydraulic fracturing (for “fracking”) and its current use in both oil and natural gas drilling.
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Is Marcellus Gas Drilling Coming to Schuylkill County, PA?
Local economic leaders in Schuylkill County, PA hope that Marcellus gas drilling will come to the county, as it has for neighboring Luzerne and Columbia counties, and with it, jobs. Schuylkill lies along the edge of the Marcellus Shale formation, but some believe the county will eventually see drilling. And perhaps sooner than anyone thought:
Read More “Is Marcellus Gas Drilling Coming to Schuylkill County, PA?”
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PA County Drafts Local Ordinance for Marcellus Gas Drilling
Supervisors in Upper Burrell Township (Westmoreland County), PA are working on a package of local ordinances that affect Marcellus shale drilling in the township.
Read More “PA County Drafts Local Ordinance for Marcellus Gas Drilling”
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Marcellus Shale Jobs – How Does $55K a Year Starting Wage for a 19 Year-Old Grab You?
New high paying jobs are being created, right now, in the Marcellus Shale—that is, where drilling is happening. Here’s an example from Pleasant Gap, PA:
Read More “Marcellus Shale Jobs – How Does $55K a Year Starting Wage for a 19 Year-Old Grab You?” -
Delaware River Basin Commission Proposes Draft Drilling Regulations; Three Public Hearings in February
On Dec. 9, 2010, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) released a draft of its proposed new regulations that will affect anything to do with the exploration, drilling and production of natural gas wells within the DRBC’s jurisdiction, which includes parts of the states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The DRBC is responsible for protecting the waters of the Delaware River basin, which brings fresh drinking water to some 15 million people in the U.S.
