Phase 1 of Austin Master Serv. Cleanup in Martins Ferry “Complete”
In late July, the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) opened up the shuttered Austin Master Services (AMS) radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), Ohio, to begin cleanup work at the facility (see Flurry of Activity at Austin Master Services Site in Martins Ferry). AMS is permitted by the ODNR to temporarily store up to 600 tons of fracking waste, like drill cuttings and wastewater. ODNR estimates there are (were) some 10,000 tons of fracking waste at the site. AMS ran out of money, and vendors quit accepting the waste. After failing to meet a court-ordered July 22 deadline, ODNR stepped in to handle the cleanup. The mayor of Martins Ferry reports that Phase 1 of the cleanup is already done, and work is now underway on Phase 2. Read More “Phase 1 of Austin Master Serv. Cleanup in Martins Ferry “Complete””
Dimock Township (Susquehanna County), PA, resident Ray Kemble was one of several Dimock landowners who sued and later settled with Cabot Oil & Gas (now Coterra Energy) over claims that Cabot’s drilling had “polluted” their water wells (with methane). In 2012, Kemble received $180,000. As part of the settlement, Kemble agreed to not publicly bash Cabot. Kemble proceeded, with money given to him by Big Green groups, to attend meetings across the country and overseas bashing Cabot (see 
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) published a notice in the Saturday edition of the Pennsylvania Bulletin that says the SRBC’s Executive Director recently approved or renewed 24 general water use permits for shale gas drilling pads in Bradford, Cameron, Clearfield, Clinton, Lycoming, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wyoming counties in the Keystone State (full list below). Approval by the Executive Director is the first step in the process. Each permit will also require a separate water withdrawal approval before water begins to flow from the Susquehanna (and its tributaries) to shale well pads. 
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally-owned electric utility corporation in the U.S. TVA’s service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. TVA is the sixth-largest power supplier and the largest public utility in the country. In July 2021, MDN told you that TVA announced investments of over $1 billion to replace six coal-fired plants with natgas-fired turbines (see 
Last Thursday, one of our favorite authors (and energy expert/philosopher), Alex Epstein, testified before the U.S. House Budget Committee at a hearing called “The Costs of the Biden-Harris Energy Crisis.” His main point was that the government-dictated “green” energy policy, practiced by Biden-Harris and many other governments, is ruinous. When you shackle the most cost-effective and scalable source of energy, fossil fuels, and subsidize unreliable solar and wind, energy necessarily becomes more expensive, less reliable, and less secure. Alex debunked 12 grossly inaccurate myths peddled by Trevor Higgins of the leftwing Center for American Progress which supports the Biden-Harris energy policy disaster we now have. 
MARCELLUS/UTICA REGION: PA plans to spend fed funds on “climate initiatives” could be upended if Trump wins; OTHER U.S. REGIONS: Youngkin joins “energy choice” coalition with other Republican governors; Guerilla litigation causes Rio Grande LNG’s permits to be vacated; NATIONAL: Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos back white hydrogen startup; Gastech: a thriving gas sector, if you can keep it; Just another frivolous climate lawsuit; INTERNATIONAL: WTI holds gains after volatile week, Brent edges lower; Trafigura prepares for CEO handover to gas boss Richard Holtum; JP Morgan talks global oil demand. 
There were 15 permits issued to drill new shale wells in Marcellus/Utica for the week of Sept. 9 – 15, up one from the previous week. The Keystone State (PA) had six new permits, and all six went to EQT for a single well pad in Greene County. The Buckeye State (OH) had nine new permits. The top recipient in OH was Southwestern Energy, which received six permits for Monroe County. Ascent Resources had two permits in Harrison County, and INR (Infinity Natural Resources) had a single new permit issued for Guernsey County. The Mountain State (WV) had a big, fat, zero new permits even though it’s been adding rigs like crazy! 
We have no words (but we’ll try). Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass LNG export facility received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization to place the final three liquefaction blocks (7-9) into service in November 2023 (see 
In a statement issued last week, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) said it “remains concerned about maintaining sufficient natural gas supplies to address extreme winter conditions” for this upcoming winter heating season. In a “Statement on Criticality of Natural Gas this Winter” (full copy below), NERC noted that next month marks the one-year anniversary of the FERC/NERC/Regional Entity staff report on Winter Storm Elliott—a wide-area extreme cold event that affected states in the Eastern Interconnection from Georgia to Maine and from Nebraska to Pennsylvania. The primary cause of that almost-outage was, says NERC and the report, reduced production (freezeoffs) at Marcellus/Utica wells. 
Net-zero energy policies in the Pacific Northwest will produce staggering (“crippling”) costs to individuals and businesses without providing any meaningful environmental benefits, warns a monumental new research report from Discovery Institute’s Reasonable Energy program. “The effects on your monthly electric bill are going to absolutely devastating,” says economist and report author, Jonathan Lesser. “The average person is going to see their electric bill balloon 450% by 2050. Small business owners won’t escape, they’ll see their bills going from an average of $600 a month today to almost $4,000 in the next 25 years.” 
In January, Chesapeake Energy, now helmed by Nick Dell’Osso, announced a deal to buy out and merge with competitor Southwestern Energy for $7.4 billion (see 
WhiteHawk Energy, headquartered in Philadelphia and owning mineral and royalty interests for over 1 million gross unit acres with over 3,400 producing horizontal shale wells between the Marcellus and the Haynesville, announced yesterday the acquisition of additional Marcellus Shale natural gas mineral and royalty assets for an undisclosed amount. The deal added 435,000 gross unit acres across southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. 
Yesterday, Appalachian Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (ARCH2) leadership team members presented an update on the ARCH2 initiative and its current status. Among the big news from the event was that ARCH2 is looking “for up to three” new projects that would be built in southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or eastern Ohio as part of the ARCH2 initiative. The new projects would replace several that are no longer part of ARCH2.