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    Cabot Resumes Drilling in Susquehanna County, PA

    Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin (Oct 16):
    DEP gives Cabot OK to resume gas operations in Pennsylvania

    Cabot Oil & Gas has had several spills of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process at one of their drilling sites in Dimock Township, Pennsylvania. The spills have led to fish dying in the local Stevens Creek. The PA Department of Environmental Protection shut them down for a while and conducted a review. Cabot is now back in business. From the article:

    Cabot Oil & Gas has been given approval to resume work to produce natural gas from the Marcellus Shale after spills in Dimock Township halted certain operations.

    The approval came Friday after DEP officials reviewed Cabot’s plans to limit future problems and respond to emergencies.

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    Make Your Voice Heard on the Proposed NY Drilling Regulations

    In addition to attending the hearings previously mentioned (see Public Hearings on the New York Draft SGEIS for Marcellus Shale Drilling), if you’re a landowner in New York, you can also make your voice heard about the new regulations in the following ways:

    (1) Leave a comment on the specially created form on the DEC website: www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/SGEISComments/

    (2) Send an e-mail to: dmnsgeis@gw.dec.state.ny.us

    (3) Write a letter to:
    Attn: dSGEIS Comments
    Bureau of Oil & Gas Regulation
    NYSDEC Division of Mineral Resources
    625 Broadway, Third Floor
    Albany, NY 12233-6500

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    Public Hearings on the New York Draft SGEIS for Marcellus Shale Drilling

    New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation (Oct 13):
    Press Release: DEC Schedules Public Hearings on Marcellus Shale Drilling Draft SGEIS

    Landowners will want to attend the public hearings being held by the New York DEC on the draft regulations for drilling in the Marcellus Shale. The regulations are called the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (SGEIS). Why attend? To educate yourself on the regulations, and (if you’re so inclined), to offer your comments of support. You can be sure the anti-drillers will be out and vocal–so you need to be out and vocal too if you’re interested in ever seeing drilling commence in New York State. Here are the dates for hearings so far:

    • Wednesday, Oct. 28, Sullivan County Community College, E Building, Seelig Theater, 112 College Rd., Loch Sheldrake, NY 12759.
    • Tuesday, Nov. 10, Stuyvesant High School, High School Auditorium, 345 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10282.
    • Thursday, Nov. 12, Chenango Valley High School, High School Auditorium, 221 Chenango Bridge Rd., Chenango Bridge, NY 13901.
    • Elmira – Corning, TBD.

    The doors will open at 6 p.m. for individual questions and speaker sign up (first come, first called for commenting on the record). The public comment session will start at 7 p.m. Check the DEC web site for possible changes in time or location.

    From the press release:

    DEC staff will be available prior to the start of each session to answer individual questions about the format and contents of the draft SGEIS. The following procedures will guide the public hearings:

    • To accommodate as many people as possible, there will be a five-minute limit on oral presentations.
    • Speakers may supplement their oral presentations with written comments. Written and oral comments receive equal consideration.
    • Formal presentations (PowerPoint, etc.) cannot be accommodated.
    • Individuals intending to speak will be required to sign-in upon arrival and will be called in the order registered.

    To view (or download) the 809-page draft SGEIS, go to this page: www.dec.ny.gov/energy/58440.html

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    Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition Presents One-Sided Argurments

    WBNG-TV Action News (Oct 18):
    Drilling Effects for Tioga County

    A short segment on Channel 12 “Action News” starts out like this:

    An environmentalist weighs the pro’s and con’s of tapping into the Marcellus Shale in the Southern Tier. Chair of the Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition, Chris Burger, spoke at the Tioga Trails café in Owego tonight.

    I think it was more like just the “cons” of drilling were covered. Channel 12 needs to put a little more “action” into their Action News. The BRSC is dead set against–and actively opposes–drilling in the Marcellus Shale. Know who your opponents are folks. Don’t fall for the lie that they’re presenting “fair and balanced environmental viewpoints” on the topic of drilling. They are not.

    See for yourself: Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition.

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    Fortuna and Hess Royalty & Signing Bonus Numbers

    Elmira Star-Gazette (Oct 17):
    Slow down in gas drilling activity allows chance for consideration

    A generally anti-drilling “article” by the business writer for the Elimra Star-Gazette. But he includes some helpful and interesting information for landowners:

    I’m also watching how Fortuna and Hess are slugging it out for leasing rights in the counties to our east. What started here as a 12.5 percent production royalty and signing bonuses of a few hundred dollars per acre has morphed into the 20 percent royalty figure and signing bonuses of several thousand dollars per acre being offered in Broome and the surrounding counties on either side of the border.

    Landowners and landowner groups take notice! Be sure you’re getting the best prices you can from your contracts.

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    Sen. Gillibrand Trying to Slow Down Drilling in New York

    Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin (Oct 15):
    Gillibrand urges N.Y. extend comment period on gas drill rules

    More delay tactics from the Democrats. Enough already! From the article:

    U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on Thursday urged New York to extend the public comment period on proposed regulations governing development of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale.

    New York state released its environmental impact statement Sept. 30 and scheduled a series of public meetings, beginning on Oct. 28 . The state provided a 60-day period for public comment; Gillibrand, D-N.Y., recommended a 90-day public comment period, to Dec. 30.

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    Dunkard Creek Fish Kill Update

    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Oct 14):
    Drilling water may be cause of fish kill: DEP points to salty discharge from mine

    Charleston Gazette (Sept 21):
    Consol mine may not be reason for fish dying

    An update on the fish kill in the Dunkard Creek which runs along the Pennsylvania and West Virginia border. As you recall, MDN pointed out that a connection to drilling in the Marcellus Shale for natural gas was tenous at best. A new story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette further strengthens that view (although you have to read the article with a discerning eye).

    This new article says the PA Department of Environmental Protection is now pointing the finger of blame (mostly) at an area coal mine. Here’s how the article starts:

    A heretofore undisclosed underground flow of mine pool and methane gas well drilling water into Consol Energy’s Blacksville No. 2 Mine may have contributed to the salty, polluted discharges that caused the massive, month-long fish kill on Dunkard Creek.

    Notice the confusing language that talks about “methane gas well drilling.” It leads you to believe the problem is about gas drilling, perhaps even hydrofracturing. It is not. Later on we get this:

    [The PA DEP] requested that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revoke the federal deep well injection permit that allows Consol to dispose of coalbed methane drilling waste water…

    So the waste water, IF it is the cause, comes from coal mining, not natural gas hydrofracturing. We need to be very clear about that. Blacksville No. 2 is a coal mine–there is no drilling for natural gas at that location. The PA DEP is saying that discharges from the coal mine into the creek “may have contributed” to the fish kill. Consol is vigorously denying the connection.

    So what is the connection to drilling in the Marcellus? A fantastical story. Here’s another paragraph, deep in this article:

    The Pennsylvania DEP said that algae — which may have “hitchhiked” to the Mason-Dixon Line on drilling rigs brought up from Texas to work in the Marcellus shale gas fields in Pennsylvania and West Virginia — was able to flourish in a brackish Dunkard Creek because of the high levels of dissolved solids and chlorides discharged into the stream by Consol’s treatment facility.

    There you have it. Nasty coal miners weakened Dunkard Creek, and nasty gas drillers drove trucks from Texas to the area and those little algae devils had the nerve to hitchhike along and jump into the Creek right where it was weakened and cause this problem. Go figure.

    Oh, one more little wrinkle in this story, that comes from the Charleston Gazette:

    West Virginia environmental officials now say a nearby coal mine may not be the only reason fish are dying in Dunkard Creek.

    Department of Environmental Protection officials say more dead fish have been found in the creek, but more than a mile upstream from Consol Energy’s Blacksville No. 2 mine.

    So, more than a mile upstream from where the coal mine discharges into Dunkard Creek they found dead fish. If the “weakened” water was downstream and the algae flourish in weakened water, how might that have somehow traveled upstream? Oh wait, I’m using logic instead of blind eco-nut belief…what was I thinking??

    Bottom line: I’m not categorically saying the coal mine plays no role, nor that hitchhiking algae plays no role. I am saying before we declare such things to be the case, let’s investigate and use some SCIENCE instead of blind and biased beliefs to declare a combination of coal and natural gas mining as the cause.

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    Anti-Drilling Organizer Predicts Environmental Holocaust

    Pocono Record (Oct 9):
    Environmentalist: Firms drilling for natural gas would ‘destroy’ local state game lands

    A reporter with anti-drilling views (Jessica Cohen) interviews a local anti-drilling organizer (Pat Carullo) in Northeast Pennsylvania. In the process, you get an article shot full of lies. Mr. Carullo is upset over 2,500 acres owned by the Mushpaugh Sportsman’s Association in Lackawaxen (privately owned, I might add), that are being leased to Cabot Oil & Gas. Mr. Carullo predicts environmental holocaust. He then goes on to rail about the state leasing public lands for drilling, confusing the two issues–the state leasing of public lands held in trust for all citizens, and citizens (or groups of citizens) who possess private property rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The entire “article” is so full of random tirades and so completely one-sided, it’s a joke.

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    Pennsylvania Budget Almost There – With No Drilling Tax

    Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct 9):
    Pa. budget pieces start to fall into place

    With a state budget still not adopted, and now over 100 days late, Pennsylvania is finally about there. The good news for drillers…no severance tax this year:

    Also not in the package is a tax that some lawmakers had wanted to impose on natural-gas drilling in the vast formation known as the Marcellus Shale.

    Republicans in the Senate – and later Rendell – opposed starting such a tax this year, arguing that it would stunt drillers in an industry still in its infancy in the state.

    Kudos to the Republican Senate for protecting landowners’ money.

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    Philadelphia Inquirer – In a Snit Over Rendell Aide

    Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct 8):
    Editorial: Drilling for friends

    A snarky editorial with a snarky title from the lefties at the Philadelphia Inquirer. Actually has me laughing with a smile on my face. 🙂 The self-righteous anti-drillers are outraged that a top Democrat has defected from government to work for industry–in this case an aide to Gov. Rendell who was the governor’s point man on drilling in the Marcellus in Pennsylvania. He’s gone to work for (gasp), an energy company that’s drilling in PA. The anti-drillers see it as a betrayal and hint there may have been payoffs involved. For shame! Payoffs in the Rendell administration? Say it ain’t so. Shocking, I tell ya.

    Anyway, MDN finds it very amusing that the Inquirer never says a peep when top Democrats defect (either at the state level or federal level) to take high paying jobs with lobbying firms. It seems only people like Karl Rove (who left the Bush White House to work for Fox News), and people on the right deserve their righteous indignation. Oh, and Democrats who flip and start to work for “the other side.”

    Like a said, puts a smile on my face.

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    Fair and Balanced Column on Drilling in Philly Inquirer

    Philadelphia Inquirer (Oct 8):
    Daniel Rubin: Hard to extract consensus on natural gas

    A very fair and balanced piece by Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Daniel Rubin. In fact, a delight to read with some very good information. Mr. Rubin recently attended a meeting hosted by the League of Women Voters, who had invited people on both sides of the drilling issue to speak. On the pro-drilling side was Stephen Rhoads, chief lobbyist for the state’s oil and gas industry. Rhoads shared some excellent information, including how much taxing extraction in Pennsylvania would actually raise ($26 million this year), and how many active natural gas wells there are in PA (329 hydrofactured gas wells right now). He also said the gas industry will provide 174,000 jobs in PA at an average salary of $60,000 per year. Be sure to read this article.

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    Anti-drilling Crowd Calls for “Balance” Between Energy and Environment

    Poughkeepsie Journal (Oct 8):
    Outdoors: Balance must be struck between energy, environment

    More misinformation from the anti-drilling crowd. The “reporter” for this article, Bill Conners, starts with general information that is of interest for everyone in New York:

    According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, there have been more than 75,000 oil and gas wells drilled here since the late 1800s; some 14,000 remain active.

    He then briefly describes hydrofracturing, and moves on to cite the Dunkard Creek problem of fish dying along the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. As previously noted in MDN, the problem is about an overgrowth of algae, of a strain of algae not normally found in the creek. There may or may not be a tie with gas drilling. The link that is being made is “perhaps” the algae somehow got onto drilling equipment and trucks used in drilling and hitchhiked to the Dunkard Creek. This is highly speculative at best. More science please!

    But the anti-drilling crowd is in a rush to tie Dunkard Creek to the thought in readers’ minds that “drilling causes fish to die where ever it’s used.” Mr. Conners, in this article, does not detail the issue of Dunkard Creek, he merely mentions lots of fish dying and that it is somehow tied to drilling–leaving the impression that chemicals are the cause. Here is the sum total, in context, of what he says on the matter:

    Unfortunately, there are risks associated with using the [hydrofacturing drilling] technique. The various fluids used can, and sometimes do, damage aquifers and nearby water bodies. In early September in Blacksville, W.Va., residents started noticing dead fish along Dunkard Creek, just below the border of Pennsylvania. It wasn’t long before the entire fish population was wiped out along 35 miles of the previously fertile stream. It is virtually impossible to know how long it will take for the damage to be mitigated, whether by remediation or by Mother Nature.

    There are charges flying back and forth, and there is an ongoing investigation as to whether or not the damage to Dunkard Creek came as the result of a spill from a drilling operation along the creek. Nationwide, it is estimated that 90 percent of the wells are drilled using fracking. It is not hard for things to go wrong, and when they do, property is damaged and lives turned on end.

    Here is the story as told in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from last week:

    An invasive toxic algae, blamed for contributing to the massive Dunkard Creek fish kill along the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border, may have hitchhiked to the region aboard equipment used in Marcellus shale drilling.

    And this:

    But the West Virginia agency [Department of Environmental Protection] doesn’t know how the algae got into the creek.

    “We might never know how it got there,” said spokewoman Kathy Cosco. “We are trying to determine if it’s present already in other water bodies or has spread.”

    Investigators also are looking at the possibility that someone illegally dumped drilling wastewater into the creek.

    Yes, wastewater from drilling is one of the possible scenarios being looked at, but that, as well as “hitchhiking algae” are pure speculation right now. There is no science, no proof, no direct tie-in with drilling. But you won’t find that in this story because it doesn’t fit the template of the anti-drilling crowd. Read your news carefully.

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    Pro-drilling Editorial from Corning Leader

    Corning Leader (Oct 7):
    Gas drilling an important opportunity

    Well, what do you know? A positive editorial from a news outlet (for a change). This one from the Corning Leader says in part:

    [S]ometime next spring or summer we’ll see the beginning of what could be a drilling bonanza in the Southern Tier. Hundreds of wells have already been tapped in Pennsylvania and the same level of activity could happen here.

    Potentially, that could generate billions in new revenue for a sustained period of time. Gas companies, support companies, engineering firms and so on are expected to follow others that have already located in the Southern Tier to tap into the northern tip of the Marcellus Shale. Those companies will create jobs, pay taxes and have a beneficial ripple effect through other sectors that could revive one of the poorest areas of the country.

    Thank you for talking about the positive side of drilling!

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    More Work Ahead in New York Before Drilling Begins

    Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin (Oct 7):
    Much more work ahead

    An editorial in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, no doubt written in part by Tom Wilbur, anti-drilling shill for the eco-nut groups. It acknowledges what MDN has already noted: The New York DEC is interested in pushing forward with responsible drilling in New York, eco-nut groups are not. The battle is only beginning. Landowners need to write and call and make their voices heard on the proposed drilling regulations.

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    Wheeling, WV Drilling Vote Delayed

    Intelligencer Wheeling News Register (Oct 7):
    Drill Vote Delayed

    Wheeling, WV city council members have delayed a vote to allow Chesapeake Appalachia (a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy) to begin drilling on city-owned land. From the article:

    Though the Wheeling Park Commission has approved the lease allowing the company to drill on its property at Wheeling and Oglebay parks, city officials want to gain more information about the potential environmental impact of Chesapeake’s work before allowing the company to drill on city property.

    Council members want to visit some of Chesapeake’s other drilling sites first to see first-hand what they look like. No complaints here. Council members should satisfy themselves that it will be safe and beneficial to the local community (which it will be), and then move forward.

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    Residents: Keep drilling discharge out of the Susquehanna

    Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Oct 7):
    Residents: Keep drilling discharge out

    The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) held a public hearing on Tuesday in Tunkhannock, PA on the question of whether to grant a permit to discharge treated water that comes from drilling into the Susquehanna River. Local members of the community turned out to (mostly) oppose it. The article says landowners and drilling companies were not present at the meeting. The view the media and eco-nut groups want to create in people’s minds is that water used in hydrofracturing is hopelessly contaminated and can never be reused again. From the article:

    But the economic development comes at an environmental cost that some residents are unwilling to accept, such as contamination to water that’s forced underground to crack the shale and release the gas.

    The process is called hydraulic fracturing, and the fluid used, while mostly water, contains hazardous chemicals and lots of salt.

    North Branch Processing LLC hopes to build a plant near Skyhaven Airport to clean the “frac” water and discharge it into the river. The hearing, called by the state Department of Environmental Protection, was on a permit for that discharge.

    Residents said the water should be reused for “fracing” rather than put into the river.

    No argument here that the water can and should be reused for more hydrofracturing. However, at some point, some of this water will need to be treated and put back into the environment. If it’s unsafe to do so, then hydrofracturing is fundamentally an unsafe practice that should be disallowed. MDN believes hydrofactured water can be treated so that it’s safe. Let’s get some more science and facts injected into the debate and less speculation and scare tactics.