Wednesday, January 23, 2013

PA Marcellus News Digest 1/23/13

PA Marcellus News Digest
January 23, 2013

Articles

DEP shelves more stringent water test
Times Online
Rachel Morgan
Jan 22
Late last year, the DEP came under fire when court documents showed that in its testing of drinking water, it was not reporting all findings to homeowners.

ABCD, chamber host gas seminar
Altoona Mirror
Walt Frank
Jan 23
Opportunities exist for area businesses to get a piece of the pie in the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania.
Link:
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/568069/ABCD--chamber-host-gas-seminar.html?nav=725

DEP's Marcellus water testing explained; veteran Marcellus reporters leaving Pennsylvania
Patriot-News
Don Gilliland
Jan 23
The Beaver County Times explains Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection's controversial water testing testimony. Last year, a DEP lab tech testified in depositions about the department's testing of water around Marcellus Shale sites, kicking up a storm over the adequacy of the testing and the different codes used. Here's a good overview and explanation.
Link:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/01/deps_marcellus_water_testing_e.html#incart_river

Natural gas provides better life
Observer-Reporter
Steve Duran
Opinion
Jan 23
[...]How would you feel if you have a way to provide a better life for your family and then told you can’t because people don’t like noise, or their clean truck is going to get dusty, or they don’t like the bright lights on the well pad at night, or there are big trucks on the road? It’s called industry. It is only for a short period of time and then the well is complete and they’re off to the next well site.
Link:
http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20130122/OPINION02/130129774#.UQBMXx3peSp

Gas drilling presents problems and concerns
Times Leader
Jan 23
Although some of the substances added to frack fluid, which is used in unconventional drilling for natural gas, are deemed “trade secrets,” and thus not made public, the main breakdown of typical fracking ingredients may be found online.
Link:
http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Gas-drilling-presents-problems-and-concerns,254831

Cumberland County OKs $50K of Marcellus shale money for farm preservation; $350K on hold
Patriot-News
Steve Marroni
Jan 22
Cumberland County commissioners voted 2-1 today to use $50,000 of its $400,000 in Marcellus shale funding for the county’s farmland preservation program.
Link:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/01/cumberland_county_votes_on_mar.html

Ohio study warns of Pennsylvania wastewater
Marcellus Shale waste threatens neighbor's capacity
Post-Gazette
Bob Downing
Jan 23
AKRON, Ohio -- The volume of drilling wastes from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale is growing and threatening to overwhelm existing waste-handling infrastructure in Ohio and other states, according to a study released Tuesday.
Link:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/ohio-study-warns-of-pennsylvania-wastewater-671539/

PA Greens Endorse Earth Day Protest at DEP
Jan 22
The Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) has endorsed regional protests of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) being planned for Earth Day, April 22, 2013. The endorsement, made by GPPA at its quarterly meeting on January 12 in York, PA, underscores the growing recognition that the DEP needs to be called to public account for its failure to protect the environment and its support, instead, of assaults on our environment by governmental and corporate interests, most egregious being the surrender of the state to Marcellus Shale natural gas interests.
Link:
http://www.greenpartypa.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=450&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

DEP disputes claims on missing drilling fee data
Post-Gazette
Laura Olson
Jan 22
HARRISBURG -- State Department of Environmental Protection secretary Michael Krancer has sent a letter disputing claims in a recent journal article that Pennsylvania is missing out on drilling impact fees due to faulty data.
Link:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/dep-disputes-claims-on-missing-drilling-fee-data-671482/

Switching From Diesel To Gas For Frack Jobs Accelerates In Marcellus: PGE Energy Cuts 750,000 Gallons Of Diesel
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
Jan 22
Let's count the ways that using diesel to run frack jobs causes problems. First, emissions diesel engines, especially from the many older ones in the field, can be a significant source of pollution. Second, about 40% of the oil used to make the diesel is imported or is foreign oil.  Third, the diesel is expensive, currently costing about $3.60 per gallon.
Link:
http://www.johnhanger.blogspot.com/2013/01/switching-from-diesel-to-gas-for-frack.html

New Gas Generation Capacity Constructed In 2012 Surprisingly Drops 20%
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
Jan 18
Natural gas generation at existing plants had a great year in 2012, with natural gas providing 30% of America's electricity, and even equaling coal generation at 34% for the month of April.  Though gas fired power plants were working harder in 2012, the amount of new gas-fired capacity built in 2012 saw a 20% drop.
Link:
http://www.johnhanger.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-gas-generation-capacity-constructed.html

Why PA Gas Industry Should Back Senator Leach's Doctors' Fracking Disclosure Bill
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
Jan 16
If anything caused more public mistrust of hydraulic fracturing than the initial, broad opposition by the gas industry to disclosure of chemicals used in fracking fluids, I do not know what it is.  Telling people to "trust us," as fluids containing non-disclosed chemicals were used to break shale rock, was a dog that was never going to hunt. Ever since that initial public relations debacle, states and some companies played catch-up by embracing disclosure requirements.
Link:
http://www.johnhanger.blogspot.com/2013/01/why-pa-gas-industry-should-back-senator.html

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