PA Marcellus News Digest February 15, 2012
Bucks will see fight over drilling, Hanger shills for drillers, health and environment not the only things drillers gamble, PUC to out-source fee collection, Robinson to challenge new law.
Release
DEP Renews ConocoPhillips’ Trainer Refinery Discharge Permit
DEP
Feb. 14
Harrisburg – The Department of Environmental Protection today issued a renewal of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for ConocoPhillips’ Trainer Refinery in Trainer Borough, Delaware County.
The draft permit was announced in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on Dec. 31, 2011. The permit being renewed has been in effect since 1978.
Link: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=19264&typeid=1
Articles
Natural gas drilling debate returns to Bucks County
Butler County company seeks permit to drill for natural gas in Nockamixon Township.
Scott Kraus
Morning Call
Feb. 14
The divisive debate over natural gas drilling — limited mostly to the Marcellus Shale region in Pennsylvania's northern tier — is moving closer to home.
A Butler County gas and oil exploration company has applied to state regulators for a permit to drill for natural gas in Nockamixon Township, just south of the Lehigh Valley, reigniting a controversy that divided neighbor against neighbor there just a few years ago.
Link: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-bucks-county-gas-drilling-20120214,0,5215384.story
DEP halts Carrizo fracking at Susquehanna County site after gas well failure
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
Feb. 11
An out-of-control Susquehanna County natural gas well released waste fluids to a Forest Lake Twp. well pad early last week, leading state regulators to halt all activity at the site.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/dep-halts-carrizo-fracking-at-susquehanna-county-site-after-gas-well-failure-1.1270468#axzz1mTr0M63d
PUC eyes private firm for impact fee collection
Times-Tribune
Robert Swift
Feb. 15
HARRISBURG - The state Public Utility Commission is assuming new regulatory duties under the Marcellus Shale drilling impact fee law and one of its early moves will be hiring a private firm to handle the collection and distribution of potentially millions of dollars.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/puc-eyes-private-firm-for-impact-fee-collection-1.1272119#axzz1mTr0M63d
Robinson to contest new law
Observer-Reporter
Christie Campbell
Feb. 14
McDONALD - The same day Gov. Tom Corbett added his signature to the state's new natural gas impact fee bill, one local municipality took steps to challenge the new statute.
Link: http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/story11/02-14-2012-robinson
Driller's manager charged in theft of up to $5 million
Post-Gazette
Moriah Balingit
Feb. 15
Sometime between 2005 and 2007, Larry D. Winckler, a fleet manager for the Indiana County-based Falcon Drilling, approached the company controller pleading for money, state police said.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12046/1210227-56.stm
Gas Has Bridged The USA to Declining Coal Generation & A Cleaner Environment
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
Feb. 14
It is fashionable in some circles to describe natural gas as a "Bridge to Nowhere" for America's energy and environmental future. In environmental terms, it is an amazing phrase, since gas is orders of magnitude cleaner than coal and oil on pollutants like soot, mercury, lead, arsenic, sulfur dioxides, nitrogen dioxides, so much cleaner in fact that, if China ran on natural gas alone, its air would be safe to breathe
Link: http://www.johnhanger.blogspot.com/2012/02/gas-has-bridged-usa-to-declining-coal.html
$67 million requested for pipeline safety
Tribune-Review
Timothy Puko
Feb. 14
Federal pipeline safety programs would get an extra $67 million and nearly 120 new employees under a proposal President Obama announced Monday that brought cheers from safety advocates pushing to address accidents and growing safety concerns.
Link: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_781486.html
Gov. Tom Corbett Signs Shale Bill in Private
Philadelphia Weekly
Blog
Feb.14
Gov. Tom Corbett finally signed that Marcellus Shale extraction fee, in the privacy of his office last night. The final law was 174 pages long and establishes setbacks between wells and waterways/buildings.
Link: http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2012/02/14/daily-grinder-gov-tom-corbett-signs-shale-bill-in-private/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=daily-grinder-gov-tom-corbett-signs-shale-bill-in-private
Vertical Exploratory Wells Won’t Be Hit With Fee
NPR State Impact
Scott Detrow
Feb. 14
The Scranton Times-Tribune points out an important distinction, when it comes to which of the roughly 4,000 Marcelus Shale wells spudded between 2005 and 2011 will be assessed a $50,000 or $10,000 impact fee:
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/02/14/vertical-exploratory-wells-wont-be-hit-with-fee/
PUC Chair Says Commission Will “Let The Play Come To Us”
NPR State Impact
Scott Detrow
Feb. 14
How will the Public Utility Commission address its new role overseeing and implementing Pennsylvania’s impact fee?
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/02/14/puc-chair-says-commission-will-let-the-play-come-to-us/
Impact Fee Now Law, and Drilling the Lockatong Shale in Bucks County
NPR State Impact
Drill Bits
Susan Phillips
Feb. 14
Patriot-News: It’s official, Governor Corbett signs impact fee bill into law.
Pittsburgh Tribune: The Fish and Boat Commission will get $1 million annually from the newly imposed impact fee. The Commission’s executive director says it’s a help, but still falls short of what is needed to track and monitor the shale boom.
WFMZ-TV: A drilling company has applied for a permit to drill into the Lockatong Shale formation in Bucks County.
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/roundup/drill-bits-impact-fee-now-law-and-drilling-the-lockatong-shale-in-bucks-county/
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