PA Marcellus News Digest 1/31/13

PA Marcellus News Digest

January 31, 2013

Releases

DEP Announces Final Air Quality Permit for Natural Gas Operations, Proposes New Environmental Controls
Comment Period on Proposed Changes Open until March 19
DEP Newsroom
Jan 31
HARRISBURG -- The Department of Environmental Protection announced today it has finalized revisions to a general permit for natural gas-fired engines and equipment at compressor stations, which help move gas from well sites into transmission pipelines. The revised general permit includes significantly lower allowable emission limits than the previous general permit, called GP-5.
Link: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=19840&typeid=1

Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners Approves Oil/Gas Agreement In Washington County; Board Approves Oil/Gas Agreement In Lawrence County; Board Approves Surface Support Lease Extension; Board Approves Oil/Gas Lease Amendment In Greene County; Board Approves Restricted Surface Oil/Gas Agreement
Wallaby
PR Newswire
Jan 30
HARRISBURG, Pa., - The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today approved an oil and gas agreement involving State Game Land (SGL) 232 in Washington County.
Under the agreement, the Game Commission has offered its oil and gas ownership under 1,201.33 acres of SGL 232 in Donegal and Independence townships, Washington County, for non-surface use oil and gas development by a competitive royalty bid. The offering was announced for competitive royalty bid in October, with a one-time bonus/rental payment of $2,500 per acre for a one year paid up primary term agreement. The minimum royalty was set at 18 percent for all oil, gas, and condensate produced and sold from under the premises.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2013/2013013088.HTM

Articles

Gas drilling issues explored
Wyoming Seminary discussion covers topics from ‘walking’ drill rigs to safety concerns.
Times Leader
Matt Hughes
Jan 31
FORTY FORT – Much has changed in the landscape of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s natural gas drilling in the last five years, but as the old adage advises: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Link: http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Gas-drilling-issues-explored,258018?category_id=487&town_id=1&sub_type=stories

Fracking for State Dollars
Wallaby
Pamela M. Prah
Jan 31
Could Ohio, New York or Pennsylvania be the next North Dakota and “frack” its way to budget surpluses?
The United States is on track by 2020 to become the world’s largest oil producer and a net exporter of natural gas, a reversal of fortunes with huge consequences for many state budgets. But it depends on what kinds of taxes the states want to impose.  States as varied as Pennsylvania and Louisiana have already lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars from the energy boom because of their tax policies, while Texas and North Dakota continue to cash in.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2013/2013013185.HTM

Game commission OKs drilling underneath game lands near school
Times Online
J.D. Prose
Jan 29
The Pennsylvania Game Commission board Tuesday approved a Texas company’s bid to extract oil and natural gas from state game lands in Lawrence County two days after it received a petition bearing nearly 5,000 signatures opposing the move.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/game-commission-oks-drilling-underneath-game-lands-near-school/article_b21a849c-87b3-5613-83b4-872ac5d03068.html

Corbett: Shell tax breaks a way to expand manufacturing in state
Pitt Trib
Timothy Puko
Jan 30
Gov. Tom Corbett came Downtown to talk to the natural gas industry about sparking a new industrial revolution in the state.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3379253-74/gas-corbett-build#axzz2JEjcjHNT

Poll: Voter Concern About Fracking/Drilling In PA Far Down (a very long ) List
PA Environment Daily
Blog
Jan 30
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found concerns about fracking and drilling were far down the list of issues that worry Pennsylvania voters.  Just 2 percent thought it was the most important issue facing the state.  Just 1 percent felt energy and gasoline prices were a concern.
Link: http://paenvironmentdaily.blogspot.com/2013/01/poll-voter-concern-about.html

Corbett: Shell not considering other sites for Beaver County ethane cracker
Post-Gazette
Erich Schwartzel
Jan 30
Royal Dutch Shell is not scouting other states for sites to put the massive petrochemical plant that it has delayed building in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett said Wednesday.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/corbett-shell-not-considering-other-sites-for-beaver-county-ethane-cracker-672617/

West Vincent formalizes opposition to proposed gas pipeline
The Mercury
Sara Mosqueda-Fernandez
Jan 30
WEST VINCENT — The township supervisors voted unanimously to oppose the recent Commonwealth Pipeline LLC application to install a natural gas pipeline in the township and other neighboring municipalities.
Link: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20130130/NEWS01/130129286/west-vincent-formalizes-opposition-to-proposed-gas-pipeline

Gas company sues township over permit delays in Washington County
Pitt Trib
Timothy Puko
Jan 29
Range Resources Corp. is taking Robinson, Washington County, to court to win approval for two gas well sites.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3385796-74/company-gas-township#axzz2JUDyQsET

Good start for DePasquale
Times-Tribune
Jan 30
The state auditor general can't answer one of the most fundamental and vexing questions resulting from the natural gas boom - whether deep drilling and fracking has had a long-term negative impact on water quality.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/good-start-for-depasquale-1.1436773

McClendon Steps Down From Chesapeake Energy
NPR State Impact
Scott Detrow
Jan 30
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/01/30/mcclendon-steps-down-from-chesapeake-energy/

Corbett to gas industry: Pennsylvania won't trade health for wealth
SNL
Bryan Schutt
Jan 31
(full text below)

Despite a rollback in activity as gas prices reduce the Marcellus rig count, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett sees a great future ahead for the Marcellus and Utica shale industries as long as companies are willing to partner with government.

"What Marcellus began, Utica will sustain," Corbett said in a Jan. 30 speech at Hart Energy's Marcellus-Utica Midstream conference in Pittsburgh. "We don't want just the rigs on our land; I want to see the headquarters being built here in Pennsylvania."

To create an attractive investment environment, Corbett spoke of bringing stability and certainty to state regulations. Just as his administration requires drillers to follow the rules, Corbett said the government will follow the rules as well.

"We choose to partner with the industry," Corbett said. "Now, when I say partner, we're not going to roll over or anything like that. What we are going to do is buy in, we're going to join with you."

As part of that commitment, Corbett said his administration has set up environmental regulations to prevent pollution, not to create revenue. And the revenue that is generated from programs like the state's impact fee is used to rejuvenate the communities hosting industry operations. Corbett acknowledged that progress comes with costs, but he said the state has no plans to pass those costs onto the next generation.

"It's true you don't see as many smokestacks here, but the fires of progress that we have here are burning brighter than ever. Our new industrial revolution has learned from the old one," he said. "This revolution has ignited a new commitment to doing things the right way, to guaranteeing that we are not trading health for wealth."

While the state has been working to ensure the long-term safety of the environment, Corbett said it was unwilling to sacrifice industry growth. His message could be interpreted as a shot at New York, where Marcellus drilling continues to be held hostage to pending regulations.

"Government is responsible, and should be, for guaranteeing the safety of our water, the purity of our air, and the integrity of our land," Corbett said. "But that has to mean making change in an orderly way. Not freezing the world in place at the expense of the people who live in it, not living a decade or century ago."

Corbett said he views the gas industry as more than a one-time proposition, where companies come, drill and leave. He said the abundant gas production should be leveraged toward inexpensive energy for new projects across the state.

To that extent, Corbett said his administration offered "creative tax incentives" to Shell to make the ethane cracker proposed in the western portion of the state a reality. Corbett said the idea was simple: if a company wants tax breaks, they will have to process Pennsylvania gas in Pennsylvania.

"I remain committed to bringing Shell's ethane cracker plant to Beaver County in the midst of our wet gas fields," he said. "That project, if built, will mean an investment here of $4 billion to $6 billion in one our most depressed areas that was the site of the steel industry."

The cracker would be a major step toward ensuring industry activity continues beyond the well development stage. And although the energy sector is worth building around, the state cannot "count on gas and oil to take care of us forever," Corbett said. "We need to constantly be drilling, not just for minerals, but for new ideas."

###

PA Marcellus News Digest 1/30/13

PA Marcellus News Digest

January 30, 2013

Special: Audio Clip: Senators Pilleggi and Yaw propose expansion of natural gas use: http://av.pasenategop.com/Podcast/2013/POD-012513.mp3

Articles

New on Youtube: “Facts About Fracking”
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
We were sent a link to this new youtube video about fracking by Hank Green, of SciShow. In just four minutes, Green explains the big and small picture of fracking, its relationship to global energy supplies, climate change, and potential environmental impacts.
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/01/25/new-on-youtube-facts-about-fracking/

Group urges pause at compressor station
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
Jan 26
An environmental advocacy group is urging state regulators to pause operations at a Susquehanna County natural gas compressor station because the Department of Environmental Protection did not formally respond to public comments before issuing an air quality permit.
Link: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/gas-drilling/group-urges-pause-at-compressor-station-1.1435259

Fracking’s Other Danger: Radiation
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
Jan 25
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/01/25/frackings-other-danger-radiation/

Fracking's Real-Life Victims
Meet the Pennsylvania residents who say their lives have been changed by gas drilling
Rollingstone
Lauren Petracca
Jan 23
Tammy and Matt Manning were excited to own a house for the first time when they moved to Franklin Forks, Pennsylvania in November 2010. Their two daughters, three grandchildren and Tammy's father also moved in with them. Shortly after the Mannings moved into their home, WPX Energy began drilling for natural gas in their area. One day, their water came out of their faucet grey, not even a year after they became homeowners. Their water was tested positive for high, unsafe levels of arsenic, barium, methane and other dangerous chemicals. Tammy and Matt are convinced this is a result of hydrofracking, a controversial process used to extract natural gas from deep in the ground.
Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/pictures/frackings-real-life-victims-20130123#ixzz2IvUhx8zj

Congressmen Supporting LNG Exports Received $11.5 Million From Big Oil, Electric Utilities
DeSmogBlog
Jan 29
On Jan. 25, 110 members of the U.S. House of Representatives - 94 Republicans and 16 Democrats - signed a letter urging Energy Secretary Steven Chu to approve expanded exports of liquified natural gas (LNG).
Link: http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/01/29/fracked-gas-export-supporting-congressmen-took-11.5-million-big-oil-electric-utilities

Prior drilling activity creates worries about Marcellus shale activity
Ellwood City Ledger
Eric Poole
Jan 29
NORTH BEAVER TWP. – From Gov. Thomas Corbett to local elected officials, the consensus is that the Marcellus shale natural gas boom will be the economic salvation of places like Lawrence County.
Link: http://www.ellwoodcityledger.com/news/local_news/prior-drilling-activity-creates-worries-about-marcellus-shale-activity/article_fe6fd66a-c7fa-5d9a-9cf5-ed218e44f816.html

COALITION UNVEILS 2013 ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES FOR LEGISLATORS
Pennsylvania Legislative Services
Matt Hess
Jan 30
(full text below)

A coalition of environmental groups that included Clean Water Action, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, PennEnvironment, PennFuture, and the Sierra Club of Pennsylvania, held a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda today to unveil the 2013 Environmental Guidelines for Pennsylvania Legislators. The guidelines address five key issues: funding for environmental agencies, public transportation, renewable energy, Marcellus Shale drilling, and green building.

Josh McNeil, speaking on behalf of Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, explained that the guidelines outline the environmental issues likely to be discussed in 2013 and offers legislators recommendations.

Regarding environmental agency funding, McNeil stated “the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Delaware River Basin Commission lack the capacity to actively protect our air, water and land; budgets have been cut for these agencies for more than decade and they are woefully underfunded.” He added “if a legislator believes he or she is pro-environment that legislator needs to work tirelessly to restore funding to these agencies and to do so not through monetary tricks by raiding already established funds like the Oil and Gas Lease Fund but do so with a dedicated source of revenue.”

Jeff Schmidt, Director of the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, discussed the issue of renewable energy. “Solar and wind energy provides thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth but the law that it is place that supports these clean energy sources is under attack by the dirty natural gas and the garbage incineration industries,” he stated. “Our legislature should be working to protect the public health by increasing clean wind and solar energy and avoid weakening our Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards law.”

McNeil addressed the issue of Marcellus Shale drilling. “Currently the local zoning provisions of Act 13 have been overturned by Pennsylvania courts and that is still being appealed,” he stated. “We expect that if it is not appealed, the governor and allies in the natural gas industry may attempt to reopen case with legislation that would re-preempt local zoning rights. We believe that citizens have an absolute right to make decisions about where and when drilling happens at the local level and the legislature should stay away from those rights.”

Steve Stroman, Policy Director for PennFuture, emphasized the importance of citizen engagement. “Last year when the governor proposed permanently eliminating funding for the Keystone Fund we saw a tremendous response from citizens all across Penn’s Woods,” he stated. “This public outcry was felt across the political and ideological spectrum in Harrisburg and the money for Pennsylvania’s flagship conservation program was unanimously restored. This type of citizen activism is vital to our work today and the issues we are discussing.”

On the issue of green buildings, Stroman explained that Sen. John Rafferty (R-Montgomery) and Rep. Kate Harper (D-Montgomery) introduced legislature requiring construction projects for state-owned buildings to meet high-performance green building standards. “Building smart, energy-efficient public buildings will reduce energy use and pollution, create jobs, and reduce costs for Pennsylvania taxpayers,” he stated.

David Masur, Executive Director of PennEnvironment, discussed the issue of public transportation and maintaining roads. “Pennsylvania desperately needs funding for increased public transportation that will reduce our carbon footprint and our reliance on foreign oil,” he stated. “Our platform when it comes to public transportation is very simple. Number one we have to make sure we have a vibrant funded public transportation system. Number two we have to have a fix it first mentality when it comes to repairing roads and bridges and that means not using taxpayer money to build the next bridge or road to nowhere.”

The coalition then responded to questions from the media.

The legislature and the governor have not had an appetite to address many of these issues, has your strategy changed to accomplish any of your goals?

Masur stated “we’re optimists here in the environmental community. I think the reality is that the public cares deeply about these issues; the public is watching debate around environmental policies. We know that our opponents in elections spend millions of dollars to defeat pro-environmental candidates and in many cases candidates who supported the environment won. We hope that as the legislature looks toward the next election cycle they know that these are issues voters care about and I think we have to come back and make the case more strongly than ever before. There are champions on both sides of the aisle on many of these issues. We’ll try to work with the governor’s staff to do some of these things that really are low-hanging fruit.”

###

Something's Fishy with our Susquehanna Smallmouth Bass

 

View a web version of this email. Tell a friend about us.

		Dear Friends, Fish health can tell us a lot about water quality. The Susquehanna River, once home to prize winning and thriving smallmouth bass, is now filled with more and more sickly bass. We've learned of studies of declining smallmouth population, diseased juvenile smallmouths, adults bearing nasty-looking lesions and unexplained spots, and problems with high pH, low dissolved oxygen and excessive nutrients. With symptoms like this, we all should be worried! Tell the Environmental Protection Agency that this is NOT natural or acceptable! Even Department of Environmental Protection's Secretary Krancer admits: "we recognize that there are issues facing smallmouth bass, such as what is called young-of-year die-offs; lesions on adult bass; and inter-sexing of the species." Yet DEP is unwilling to take the next step, that is, declaring the Susquehanna River as "impaired" water under the Clean Water Act. Fortunately, EPA has the authority to make this declaration on its own. The PA Fish and Boat Commission has been pressing the state Department of Environmental Protection to designate the Susquehanna as impaired water under the Clean Water Act so that more work can be done to research and remedy the problems. Last May, 22 retired DEP water quality managers wrote to DEP Secretary, stating there was ample justification to make that determination. Local newspapers and organizations have joined in.[1] Yet the DEP has refused to declare the Susquehanna waters impaired. Help us convince the EPA that the Susquehanna is in danger! The time is ripe for EPA action because of other Chesapeake Bay issues. The river ultimately flows into the Chesapeake Bay, which is experiencing its own problems that some are blaming on upriver actions. The more Pennsylvania can examine the health of the river now, the better position the state will be in to address these other concerns.  Don't wait! Please take action now to protect the Susquehanna. Sincerely, Thomas Au Conservation Chair Sierra Club PA Chapter [1] The Daily Item, Dec. 15, 2012: http://dailyitem.com/0110_editorials/ x520561264/State-of-the-Susquehanna-still-in-flux; The Patriot-News, Dec. 21, 2012: http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/index.ssf /2012/12/susquehanna_river_blues_lets_get_to_bottom_of_problem _in_2013.html#incart_river

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PA Marcellus News Digest 1/29/13

PA Marcellus News Digest

January 29, 2013

Special: VIDEO: Unsafe conditions at fracking site
Times Online
Randy Moyer, who trucked brine from wells to treatment plants and back to wells, now suffers from dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, difficulty breathing, swollen lips and appendages, and a fiery red rash that covered about 50 percent of his body.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/gallery/video/news/video-unsafe-conditions-at-fracking-site/youtube_827a02ef-fddf-5b89-bd60-6fc44a3c7b11.html

Articles

Fracking taps a mile-deep danger
Times Online
Rachel Morgan
Jan 28
Judy Armstrong Stiles had no idea what she was signing away when she and her husband Carl agreed to let Chesapeake Energy operate natural gas wells on their Bradford County land.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/fracking-taps-a-mile-deep-danger/article_ce6580ec-ec1d-57ad-b6e8-25f06a542dca.html

The public’s right to know about pipeline projects
Daily Local
Sen. Andy Dinniman
Guest Columnist
Jan 29
Protecting your rights, your home, neighborhood and local environment against harm from a gas pipeline project is never easy.
Link: http://www.dailylocal.com/article/20130129/OPINION03/130129563/the-public-s-right-to-know-about-pipeline-projects

DEP pulls permit, to allow comment
Firm seeks to use fracking material on roads, sidewalks
Post-Gazette
Don Hopey
Jan 29
The state Department of Environmental Protection has rescinded a Marcellus Shale wastewater treatment permit that would have allowed a New Jersey company to spread chemically contaminated salts on roadways, sidewalks and fields statewide.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/dep-pulls-permit-to-allow-comment-672442/

Former President George W. Bush to appear at Pittsburgh gas conference
Pitt Trib
Timothy Puko
Jan 28
Former President George W. Bush will visit Pittsburgh this fall to speak at a gas industry conference, organizers said.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3377744-74/bush-conference-pittsburgh#axzz2JEjcjHNT

UGI pushes ahead with pipeline plans
Citizens Voice
Elizabeth Skrapits
Jan 25
Although plans for a natural gas compressor station in West Wyoming are temporarily on hold, UGI Energy Services still plans to construct a pipeline that will provide UGI Penn Natural Gas customers with gas from Northeastern Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale.
Link: http://citizensvoice.com/news/ugi-pushes-ahead-with-pipeline-plans-1.1434600

Fracking wastewater can be highly radioactive
Times Online
Rachel Morgan
Jan 24
Its contents remain mostly a mystery. But fracking wastewater has revealed one of its secrets: It can be highly radioactive. And yet no agency really regulates its handling, transport or disposal. First of a four-part series on radiation in fracking wastewater.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/fracking-wastewater-can-be-highly-radioactive/article_ac1dd0e8-5a2f-57aa-8c5d-1d80273e261e.html

DEP backtracks on radiation issue
Times Online
Rachel Morgan
January 25
HARRISBURG -- For months, the state Department of Environmental Protection denied that radiation in wastewater from natural gas drilling was an issue. On Thursday night, the state announced plans to study the effects of radiation in natural gas drilling wastewater.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/dep-backtracks-on-radiation-issue/article_9e5853a5-325b-5f9a-83ed-24aea5811db0.html

Release

Statewide Organizations Present   2013 Environmental Guidelines for Pennsylvania Legislators
Jan 29

(full text below)
Contact: Josh McNeil, 215.564.3350, joshua.mcneil@conservationpa.org

Harrisburg - Five of Pennsylvania’s largest statewide environmental organizations today presented the 2013 Environmental Guidelines for Pennsylvania Legislators. Developed by Clean Water Action, Conservation Voters of PA, PennEnvironment, Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future (PennFuture), and the Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, the brief document outlines the environmental issues likely to be discussed in Harrisburg in 2013 and offers legislators recommendations for pro-environment action.

A PDF of the guidelines is available at www.conservationpa.org/2013-guidelines

“Our legislators will make important choices about the future of Pennsylvania’s environment this year,” said Josh McNeil of Conservation Voters of PA. “Bills and amendments change, but there are simple, steady, pro-environment principles that should guide legislators as they make their decisions.”

The organizations addressed five issues likely to come to before the legislature in 2013: Vital Environmental Agencies, Public Transportation and Maintaining Roads, Renewable Energy, Marcellus Shale Drilling, and Green Building.

On Environmental Agencies:

“At a time of unprecedented threats to our environment, the legislature has slashed funding for the vital agencies that protect our air, land and water,” said Myron Arnowitt of Clean Water Action. “The legislature should prioritize and restore funding for the DEP, DCNR, and DRBC, and should not divert resources for these agencies from already-dedicated special accounts such as the Oil and Gas Lease Fund.”

On Public Transportation and Maintaining Roads:

"Pennsylvania desperately needs funding for increased public transportation that will reduce our carbon footprint and our reliance on oil," said David Masur of PennEnvironment. "Legislators should vote to increase funding for the Commonwealth's 67 public transportation systems and focus on fixing and maintaining existing infrastructure rather than spending taxpayer money building the proverbial road or 'bridge to nowhere'."

On Renewable Energy:

“Solar and wind energy provide thousands of jobs in the Commonwealth, but the law in place to support these clean energy sources is under attack by the dirty natural gas and garbage incineration energy industries," said Jeff Schmidt of the Sierra Club. "Our legislature should be working to protect public health by increasing clean wind and solar energy, and avoid weakening our Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards law.”

On Marcellus Shale Drilling:

“Pennsylvanians have both the right to know all of the facts about gas drilling in their communities and the right to make zoning decisions about drilling at the local level,” McNeil said. “State politicians should resist new efforts to preempt local zoning decisions and support greater transparency from the gas industry and the state government.”

On Green Buildings:

“Building smart, energy-efficient public buildings will reduce energy use and pollution, create jobs, and reduce costs for Pennsylvania’s taxpayers,” said Steve Stroman of PennFuture. “The legislature should pass legislation requiring construction projects for state-owned buildings to meet high-performance green building standards.”

The guidelines presented at the press conference will be made available to each legislator in both print and digital formats.  Legislators are encouraged to contact the organizations involved with comments and questions.

"Our members and tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians will be paying close attention to see if our legislators live up to these environmental principles," said Masur. "Our elected officials will have to make a choice: stand up for Pennsylvania's health and environment, or let powerful interests define the environmental agenda for the Commonwealth."

PA Marcellus News Digest 1/28/13

PA Marcellus News Digest

January 28, 2013

Release

PUC Introduces PAGasSwitch, Natural Gas Shopping Tool for PA Consumers
Wallaby
Jan 28
HARRISBURG – As part of recent upgrades to its website, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) created PAGasSwitch, a natural gas shopping tool for Pennsylvania consumers.  PAGasSwitch is located on the PUC’s website, www.puc.pa.gov and will make it easier for Pennsylvania consumers to shop for a competitive natural gas supplier (NGS).
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2013/2013012896.HTM

Articles

Natural gas use may get legislated boost
Herald
John Finnerty, CNHI Harrisburg Correspondent
Jan 25
 More than 18,000 customers have switched to natural gas in the last two years, as consumers scramble to take advantage of historically low prices.
Link: http://sharonherald.com/local/x964884651/Natural-gas-use-may-get-legislated-boost

Fifteen-year deal to ship ethane via Marcus Hook
Inquirer
Andrew Maykuth
Jan 25
A European petrochemical producer has entered into a 15-year agreement to ship Marcellus Shale ethane to Norway from a Sunoco Logistics terminal in Marcus Hook.
Link: http://articles.philly.com/2013-01-25/business/36529244_1_ship-ethane-mariner-east-sunoco-logistics

Legislation introduced to force DEP to disclose results
Observer-Reporter
Jan 24
State Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, introduced legislation this week that would require the state Department of Environmental Protection to disclose the full and complete testing results, including raw data and documentation, of any environmental tests conducted on a landowner’s or leaseholder’s property in Pennsylvania.
Link: http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20130124/NEWS01/130129574#.UQb1RB3peSp

Yearlong study to test radiation levels in oil and gas equipment and waste
Citizens Voice
Laura Legere
Jan 25
The state Department of Environmental Protection has announced a yearlong study of radiation levels in equipment and wastes associated with oil and gas development it says will be the "most extensive and comprehensive" ever conducted.
Link: http://citizensvoice.com/news/yearlong-study-to-test-radiation-levels-in-oil-and-gas-equipment-and-waste-1.1434599

Isn’t this radiation naturally occurring?
Times Online
Rachel Morgan
Jan 27
Wastewater from hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus shale region can be radioactive.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/isn-t-this-radiation-naturally-occurring/article_a9af4fb7-26a3-5c8a-afb9-4e29726f37eb.html

Marcellus shale money will support green fund grant
Lehigh Co. commissioners finally release money to 6 local communities
wfmz
Randy Kraft
Jan 23
(includes video)
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -Six Lehigh County communities finally will be getting stalled grants for parks and trails projects from county commissioners.
Link: http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/Marcellus-shale-money-will-support-green-fund-grant/-/132502/18254298/-/697efi/-/index.html

Natural gas boom helps landowners; economy, not so much
Pitt Trib
AP
Jan 27
Private landowners are reaping billions of dollars in royalties each year from the boom in natural gas drilling, transforming lives and livelihoods even as the windfall provides only a modest boost to the broader economy.
Link: http://triblive.com/state/marcellusshale/3373465-74/gas-royalties-pennsylvania#axzz2JIQCZBBS

Activists oppose shale drilling in Pittsburgh region
Protesters criticize 'piggish gas industry'
Post-Gazette
Janice Crompton
Jan 28
Maggie Henry won't feed her livestock soybeans because she is worried that the beans have been genetically modified. Instead, the organic farmer from South Beaver, Lawrence County, grows her own wheat and other grains to feed her pigs, chickens, cows and other livestock.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/activists-oppose-shale-drilling-in-pittsburgh-region-672292/

Ain’t Gonna Frack On Maggie’s Farm No More
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
Jan 28
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/

Blockade at PA Fracking Site Highlights Risks to Farms and Food
Eco Watch
Shadbush Environmental Justice Collective
Jan 27
Residents of Western Pennsylvania and friends of Lawrence County farmer Maggie Henry locked themselves to a giant paper-mache pig today in the entrance to a Shell natural gas well site in order to protest the company’s threat to local agriculture and food safety. The newly-constructed gas well is located at 1545 PA Route 108, Bessemer, PA , 16102, less than 4,000 feet from Henry’s organic pig farm.
Link: http://ecowatch.org/2013/pa-fracking-blockade/

So who is in charge, anyway?
Times Online
Rachel Morgan
Jan 26
(Second of a four-part series exploring the level of radiation in fracking wastewater.)
With new evidence pointing to potentially dangerous levels of radiation in fracking wastewater, questions arise over just who regulates this stuff.
Link: http://www.timesonline.com/news/local_news/so-who-is-in-charge-of-fracking-wastewater-anyway/article_35fec56b-a13d-57ea-88d1-705a2c577129.html

Meet the “1%” Funding Anti-Fracking Hysteria
Front Page Mag
Michael Volpe
Jan 10
The world presented in Matt Damon’s new movie Promised Land is a world in which the fracking movement, well-funded by corporate oil money, takes on a ragtag bunch of idealistic environmentalists. It’s the classic David vs. Goliath story. According to a new report, the anti-fracking movement is just as well-funded by highly organized environmental groups backed by deep-pocketed liberal philanthropists and even Middle East oil money.
Link: http://frontpagemag.com/2013/volpe/meet-the-1-behind-the-anti-fracking-hysteria/

PA Marcellus News Digest 1/25/13

PA Marcellus News Digest

January 25, 2013

Release

Over 200,000 Public comments Delivered to the Department of Energy Critizing Flawed Economic Study on Natural Gas Exports

Sierra Club

Jan 24

WASHINGTON, DC- Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, CREDO, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Food & Water Watch, and the Sierra Club delivered over 200,000 public comments, including extensive technical comments and a companion economic analysis report, along with a letter signed by 80 organization to the Department of Energy (DOE) expressing outrage over an economic study on exporting natural gas overseas that it is reviewing.

Link: http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2013/01/over-200000-public-comments-delivered-department-energy-criticizing-flawed

Articles

Fracking supporters offer more fiction than fact

Post-Gazette

John S. Detwiler

Letter to the Editor

Jan 23

Terry Engelder and David Yoxtheimer use the film "Promised Land" as the hook for their Jan. 17 Perspectives piece "Marcellus Shale, Movie Star," so it's ironic that there is more fiction, myth and slick stereotyping from these supposedly objective academicians than is found in Matt Damon's movie script.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/fracking-opponents-offer-more-fiction-than-fact-671527/

An Increase in Radiation Monitoring for Fracking

NY Times

Green Blog

Jan 25

Pennsylvania will step up its monitoring of naturally occurring radiation levels in water, rock cuttings and drilling wastes associated with oil and gas development in a yearlong study that will be peer-reviewed, the state’s environmental agency reports.

Link: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/a-boost-in-radiation-monitoring-for-fracking/

The politics and business of unconventional energy

Energy Wire

Jan 25

(full text below)

Environmental regulators in Pennsylvania will spend the next year preparing what they call the "most comprehensive study of its kind" of radioactive material in flow-back water and other natural gas drilling waste.

The Department of Environmental Protection announced yesterday that it will sample flow-back water, treatment solids and drill cuttings to analyze naturally occuring radioactivity that enters the drilling materials when they are pushed thousands of feet underground.

"This administration is undertaking what will be the most comprehensive study of its kind anywhere," DEP Secretary Michael Krancer said in a statement. "Gov. [Tom] Corbett has directed us to do so in order to be proactive for the future and to continue Pennsylvania's leadership in responsible development of domestic natural gas resources."

The agency said in a news release that it routinely reviews radioactivity data and has found levels to be low, but launched the study to do more thorough research. Krancer also dug in his heels in the ongoing national discussion of whether the federal government should increase its regulation of shale drilling technologies like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling.

"[The study] is further demonstration that states are best suited to responsibly oversee the natural gas exploration and production activities taking place in our respective borders," said Krancer, a staunch opponent of U.S. EPA involvement in shale development.

Radioactivity is part of the battle cry from environmentalists who warn that fracking fluid can contaminate drinking water via spills or leaks at the well site or during handling of wastewater, which must be reused, stored or treated after a well has been completed. The wastewater contains chemicals used during fracking, along with traces of radioactive material churned up underground (EnergyWire, Sept. 6, 2012).

Nadia Steinzor, of the Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project, said she welcomed news of the study and increased attention to wastewater risks. But she questioned the agency's assumptions going into the study.

"DEP's emphasis in its press release that radioactivity levels related to oil and gas are inconsequential raises the possibility that the agency may have reached a foregone conclusion," she said in an email. "So we can only hope the study will be truly rigorous and unbiased."

Pennsylvania already requires radiation monitoring in landfills, where drillers sometimes send cuttings and other solid waste. DEP said less than half a percent of that waste triggered a radiation monitor last year.

The agency has also tested state rivers downstream of treatment plants that used to handle Marcellus Shale waste and found radiation levels to be at or below safe levels. Public wastewater treatment plants in Pennsylvania can no longer process flow-back water.

Peer reviewers are looking over DEP's study plan, which will be posted online when it is finalized.

Click here to read the proposal: http://files.dep.state.pa.us/OilGas/BOGM/BOGMPortalFiles/RadiationProtection/Study_Final_Proposal.pdf