Thursday, January 30, 2014

PA Marcellus Digest - January 30, 2014

PA Marcellus Digest - January 30, 2014

Majority of Pennsylvania voters support natural gas drilling, but want it done safely, poll says
PennLive
Donald Gilliand 
January 30, 2014
A Franklin & Marshall public opinion poll released today shows 64 percent of Pennsylvanians have a favorable view of the natural gas industry, but opinion is split on whether or not the economic benefits outweigh potential environmental damage, with 40 percent saying they do, 37 percent saying they don't and 22 percent unsure.

New York ‘extremely unlikely’ to allow fracking before 2015
State Impact
Marie Cusick
January 29, 2014
It appears the state of New York plans to continue its moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for at least another year. Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal does not contain any new funds to regulate the gas industry.

Need for pipelines cited at Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference & Exhibition
Trib Live
Timothy Puko
January 30, 2014
Marcellus shale drillers need more pipelines to get their bountiful supply of gas to market, but improving the delivery infrastructure could cause them growing pains.

Making headway for use of liquefied natural gas on rivers
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Anya Litvak
January 29, 2014
The idea of using liquefied natural gas to power vessels coming through the Port of Pittsburgh hasn't advanced much since it popped up on the radar three years ago. But things should start moving quickly from here on, said Jim McCarville, executive director of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission.

Keystone Coldwater Conference Feb. 21-22 In State College
PA Environment Digest
January 27, 2014
The 2014 Keystone Coldwater Conference will be held on February 21-22 at the Ramada Inn Conference Center in State College.  The last day to register is February 14.

PennFuture Lauds Extension Of Comment Period On Chapter 78 Drilling Regulations
PA Environment Digest
January 28, 2014
PennFuture Tuesday applauded the decision by the state Department of Environmental Protection to extend the public comment period on proposed new regulations for oil and gas development – Chapter 78 of the DEP's regulations – for 30 days. 

DEP Gives Update On Trainer Crude Oil Spill In Delaware River
PA Environment Digest
January 28, 2014
DEP emergency responders reacted immediately when notified yesterday afternoon of a crude oil spill at the Monroe Energy refinery in Trainer, Delaware County. 

Doing our part on the environment
Intelligencer Journal
January 28, 2014
Last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overruled key provisions of the law regulating natural gas drilling in the state. In its 4-2 decision, the court determined that Act 13 unconstitutionally stripped local governments of the right to regulate where drilling could take place within municipal boundaries.

Winter of our content: Natural gas drilling warms consumers’ wallets
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
January 28, 2014
Baby, it’s cold outside. But inside most people are fortunate enough to be toasty warm — and those who heat their houses with natural gas also have the luxury of knowing that their utility bills will not rise like heat up a chimney.

Pro- and anti-drilling factions state views
Times Leader
Jon O'Connell
January 27, 2014
Those on either side of the Marcellus Shale drilling argument quizzed the state Department of Environmental Protection on Monday night at an Environmental Quality Board (EQB) hearing for a set of regulations the department proposes to enforce on drillers operating in Pennsylvania.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

PA Marcellus Digest - January 28, 2014

PA Marcellus Digest - January 28, 2014

Range Resources Spokesman Matt Pitzarella Misrepresented Education Credentials, Never Received Business Ethics Degree
Desmog blog
Amanda Gillooly
January 13, 2014
Range Resources Director of Corporate Communications Matt Pitzarella has long listed a master of science degree in leadership and business ethics from Duquesne University as one of his educational accomplishments – one he claimed to have earned in 2005. 


Report: 2,500 miles of waterway across Pa. pollution-impaired
Ellwood City Ledger
Eric Poole
January 27, 2014
A report issued last week by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation indicated that nearly 2,500 miles of the state’s waterways are polluted, but even though those streams and rivers throughout the state have the same statuses, the sources of pollution are different.

Act 13 ruling could change drilling case law
Times Leader
Jon O'Connell
January 26, 2014
With the state Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down Act 13 provisions that set statewide zoning rules for natural gas development, experts are questioning whether the ruling will affect future litigation.

Act 13 saga goes on
Courier Times
January 27, 2014
The Corbett administration and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection would seem to be entertaining the longest of long shots in their appeal of last month’s state Supreme Court ruling striking down portions of Act 13, the controversial oil and natural gas drilling law.

Nockamixon is asking state supremes to reject appeal of Act 13
The Intelligencer
Amanda Creegan
January 23, 2014
Nockamixon wants Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court to reject the state’s appeal of the Act 13 decision on oil and natural gas drilling.

What happened to DCNR’s $6 million Marcellus monitoring report?
State Impact
Marie Cusick
January 26, 2014
After spending more than three years and $6 million to monitor how gas drilling is affecting public forests, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has yet to release the information, and environmental groups are beginning to raise questions.

Finding right home for oil and gas revenue
Citizens Voice
January 26, 2014
When the revenue collected from oil and gas wells on state park and forest lands amounted to $4 million annually, few paid attention to how the money was spent.

Pipeline Fight Lifts Environmental Movement
New York Times
Sarah Wheaton
January 24, 2014
Environmentalists have spent the past two years fighting the Keystone XL pipeline: They have built a human chain around the White House, clogged the State Department’s public comment system with more than a million emails and letters, and gotten themselves arrested at protests across the country.

DEP plans hearing on proposed oil/gas regs
Times Observer
Ben Klein
January 25, 2014
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will hold a public hearing on proposed oil and gas surface activities for conventional and unconventional operators at the Warren County Courthouse at 6 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12.

Will officials revisit local drilling regs?
The Express
Jim Runkle
January 24, 2014
A reversal of fortunes for the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court doesn't necessarily mean a change in direction for the Clinton County Planning Commission.

Tax gas companies to fund transportation
The Intelligencer
January 24, 2014
The Gov. Tom Corbett transportation funding plan stinks. Middle- and lower-class people are left with the burden of paying for it. How about the companies digging for gas? Tax them.

A ‘rural lifestyle’ no more?
Observer Reporter
January 26, 2014
The tranquility of rural living in Greene County is being disrupted by encroaching industrialization. At least that’s the impression we came away with following a hearing last week on a plan by Equitrans, LP to expand its Jefferson compressor station.

City Council told plugging of well missed deadline
Times Observer
Josh Cotton
January 25, 2014
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) may have ordered Timothy Koebley to plug a well drilled on Warren's south side.

Battle Over DEP Oil, Gas Regs Continues
Bradford Era
Chuck Abraham
January 27, 2014
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection published its list of possible revisions to Chapter 78 of the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act, and conventional well drillers are left with many questions and doubts about their future.

PUC Urges Consumers to Conserve Energy During Frigid Temps
January 27, 2014
The extreme cold has significantly increased the demand for electricity, leading the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to call on consumers to conserve electricity.

Train derailments have Delco reps scrutinizing safety
Daily Times
Tim Logue
January 26, 2014
As CSX workers continued to remove derailed tank cars from a bridge above the Schuylkill River Thursday, state representatives from Delaware County were getting closer to setting a date for an emergency hearing on rail safety.

Milford Township residents raise concerns about compressor station fumes
Pocono Record
Jessica Cohen
January 26, 2014
At the Milford Township supervisors' first meeting of 2014, Justin Snyder said he always wanted to be on television, but not with his house burning in the background.

Ohio EPA, health officials dismiss radioactive threat from fracking
The Columbus Dispatch
Spencer Hunt
January 27, 2014
When Pennsylvania environmental officials tested creek mud near a fracking wastewater-treatment plant last year, they found radiation at levels 45 times higher than federal drinking-water standards.

Pa. shirks duty on climate change plan
Times Leader
Rep. Greg Vitali
January 25, 2014
It fails to set greenhouse gas reduction goals, fails to provide clear, quantifiable recommendations to meet those goals, and fails to sufficiently incentivize renewable energy. Regrettably, this plan, recently released by the state Department of Environmental Protection, is consistent with Gov. Tom Corbett’s total lack of leadership on climate change.

Wildlife notebook: Groups take sides on endangered species bills
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
John Hayes
January 25, 2014
Businesses have long complained that state policies protecting at-risk species are too restrictive, redundant with federal protections and interfere with legitimate efforts to develop lands or harvest resources. Bipartisan bills in the state House and Senate would strip the independent Game and Fish and Boat commissions of oversight of threatened and endangered species.

DEP issued Wayne County lake community violation after 10,000 fish killed
Times Tribune
Rebekah Brown
January 25, 2014
An improper application of lake treatment chemicals killed about 10,000 fish in a Wayne County lake last summer, the state Department of Environmental Protection determined.

State agency fast tracks permits for fracking, raising concerns
Columbus Dispatch
Spencer Hunt
January 26, 2014
The shale-gas company wanted a pollution permit in less than four months. To help it meet that goal, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials had to do two things: avoid a public hearing and make sure the feds didn’t get involved.

Don't sacrifice conservation to balance the budget 
January 24, 2014
Less than a week before Gov. Tom Corbett will give his annual budget address, state Rep. Greg Vitali and environmentalists will urge him not to tap a fund intended for conservation to balance the budget.

Gas Division Produces Record 48.5 Bcfe in Quarter; Marcellus Production Volumes Increase 56% from Year-Earlier Quarter; BMX Mine On-Track to Begin Operations in Q1 2014
January 24, 2014
CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) is providing an operations update for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.

Corbett vision for natural gas drilling in state unchanged
Williamsport Sun Gazette
January 26, 2014
Gov. Tom Corbett was in the area Monday and the centerpiece of his visit was a sort of energy pep talk at the Pennsylvania College of Technology's Earth Science Center.

Opinion: Shale helping boost Pa. recovery
Philadelphia Inquirer
Mike Butler
January 27, 2014
Many people have become so frustrated that they've stopped looking for work. The one bright spot has been Marcellus Shale development, which has offset this larger trend by providing hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians with meaningful work and newfound hope for their financial future.

Ample supplies of gas stabilize prices
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Michael Sanserino
January 25, 2014
A bitter cold snap has furnaces working overtime and heating bills climbing, but Western Pennsylvania residents will pay less than they would have five or 10 years ago as Marcellus Shale production has fortified natural gas supplies.

Joanne Kilgour
Chapter Director
Sierra Club PA Chapter
717-232-0101

Friday, January 17, 2014

PA Marcellus Digest - January 15, 2014


PA Marcellus Digest – January 15, 2014

PA Gov Accused Of ‘Trying To Confuse The Public’ With Environmentally-Friendly Fracking Agreement 
Climate Progress
Emily Atkin
January 7, 2014
To some, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s most recent press release is a noble attempt to protect waterways and wetlands from fracking operations while the state fights to overturn a recent Supreme Court decision that struck down provisions of the state’s Marcellus Shale drilling law, Act 13.

Dangerous Elements Occur Naturally in Fracking Brine
Public News
January 3, 2014
Research about naturally occurring chemicals, some radioactive, coming out of fracking wells suggests concerns for Pennsylvanians. 

Did Pennsylvania’s highest court unravel environmental protections for oil and gas?
State Impact
Marie Cusick
January 10, 2014
The state Supreme Court decision to strike down parts of Act 13 as unconstitutional last month was hailed as a victory for local governments and environmental groups who argued the 2012 oil and gas law violated the environmental rights of Pennsylvanians.

Fracking: Pa. high court stands up for citizens' environmental rights
YDR
Charlie Bacas
January 10, 2014
In a high-stakes law case involving the state Supreme Court and Gov. Corbett key moves were made during the past few weeks that have blocked the Marcellus Shale gas industry from imposing its will on local governments and may also have changed forever how the state will regulate resource extraction.

Natural Gas Futures Soar on Forecasts for Record Stockpile Drop
Bloomberg
Christine Buurma
January 13, 2014
Natural gas futures surged the most in 16 months on speculation that government data will show a record decline in U.S. stockpiles of the heating fuel as cold weather boosts demand.

Radio Disney pulls out of school science push amid fracking controversy
The Columbus Dispatch
Bob Downing
January 13, 2014
Radio Disney has withdrawn from an educational program with the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program, citing opposition from activists across Ohio and elsewhere.

DEP: Environmental Quality Board (EQB) Meeting Agenda for January 21, 2014
Wallaby

Pa. vying to be global energy leader
Tribune Democrat
John Finnerty
January 11, 2014
Gas drilled in the fields of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale will soon be shipped to Japan, in a deal announced by Cabot Oil and Gas in December. The gas will be exported through a Maryland facility originally built to import gas.

Township bill of rights is a local grass-roots effort
Express Times
John Gorman
January 13, 2014
I would like to follow up on recent comments about a proposedcommunity bill of rights for Upper Mount Bethel Township. This ordinance is not being pushed by environmental extremists but by local families who have researched the hazardous health effects of the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer. 

Senate Hearing On Endangered Species Pushes New Bill
Bradford Era
Amanda Nichols
January 11, 2014
The Senate Game and Fisheries Committee and Senate Majority Policy Committe, on Frida, held a public hearing to examine Pennsylvania laws pertaining to endangered and threatened species.

South Side senior center, others awarded funding
Sun Gazette
Elizabeth Regan
January 11, 2014
The Lycoming County commissioners awarded natural gas drilling impact funds to various projects Thursday.

PVR Partners, L.P. Provides Operational Update on Marcellus Shale Activity
Wallaby
January 13, 2014
PVR reported that total throughput for the Eastern Midstream Segment averaged more than 1.8 billion cubic feet per day ("Bcfd") during the month of December 2013.  The reported throughput represented an increase of 60% over total throughput volume of 1.1 Bcfd during December 2012.  

Split vote stymies Pinelands pipeline
Philadelphia Inquirer
January 12, 2014
Each side thought it had enough votes. But after months of heated debate, the New Jersey Pinelands Commission was split Friday over a proposed gas pipeline through the environmentally sensitive Pinelands - an outcome that ultimately blocks a project supported by the Christie administration.

Panel Blocks Gas Pipeline in New Jersey Pinelands
New York times
Michael Powell
January 11, 2014
The New Jersey agency charged with protecting the Pinelands, a vast and fragile expanse of sand pines, gnarled oaks and river deltas, narrowly defeated a proposal on Friday to run a 22-mile natural gas pipeline through it.

Let Dimock be example to embrace caution
Times Tribune
Lance Simmens
January 12, 2014
Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, has dramatically altered the physical landscape of the nation. It also has divided communities and pitted neighbor against neighbor.

Butler Township considers park drilling
Trib Live
Rick Wills
January 11, 2014
Butler Township is considering allowing natural gas extraction from beneath the township's two large parks.

Natural gas price heats up in frigid weather
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Anya Litvak 
January 11, 2014
Televisions and furnaces battled over natural gas during the coldest days of the year last week. The region's abundant fuel, pulled from the Marcellus Shale, is being used increasingly as a source for electricity and heat. When both are experiencing record demand, it's a question of getting the gas to the right place, no matter the price.

EPA Unlikely To Pursue Fracking Contamination Cases Anytime Soon, Analysts Say
Reuters
Valerie Volcovici
January 5, 2014
Federal regulators are unlikely to step up enforcement of potential water contamination cases linked to natural gas drilling - despite new concerns about water safety - given a lack of political will and limited resources to pursue such cases, analysts said.

Natural Gas Boom Cuts Into Pennsylvania's State Forests
NPR
Marie Cusick
January 9, 2014
On the side of a mountain road in Pennsylvania's Tiadaghton State Forest, I'm trying to avoid a steady stream of heavy truck traffic. Acres of freshly cut tree stumps stretch out in front of me.

100 Local Anti-Fracking Activists Receive Grants From MoveOn
Huffington Post
Kate Sheppard
January 9, 2014
The online progressive organization MoveOn will announce Thursday a new program to support local anti-fracking activists across the U.S. The "Frack Fighters" program provides funding and training to 100 activists fighting natural gas projects.

Study Shows Fracking Is Bad for Babies
Bloomberg
Mark Whitehouse
January 4, 2014
The energy industry has long insisted that hydraulic fracking -- the practice of fracturing rock to extract gas and oil deep beneath the earth's surface -- is safe for people who live nearby. New research suggests this is not true for some of the most vulnerable humans: newborn infants.

Joanne Kilgour
Chapter Director
Sierra Club PA Chapter
717-232-0101