Thursday, May 31, 2012

PA Marcellus News DIgest 5/31/12

PA Marcellus News Digest
May 31, 2012

Special: Are you concerned about gas development impacts on the Susquehanna River?
Do you want the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) to do its job to protect drinking water and the environment?
Then please join us for a webinar briefing on Tuesday, June 12 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
This online event will consider:
¨     The ABCs of the SRBC
¨     What’s going on with the region in the gas development debate and movement
¨     Why a range of strategies is needed in the fight ahead
¨     How organizations, activists, and communities can work better together to make a positive, lasting difference
Space is limited, so please RSVP by June 6 to Aaron at amintzes@earthworksaction.org. You must RSVP to receive the information to login to the webinar. (Note that you will need to install the webinar software on your computer ahead of time.) If possible, please arrange to share a computer and/or phone line with others so more people can participate.
Brought to you by American Rivers, Clean Water Action, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earthworks, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, PennEnvironment, Penn Future, and Sierra Club (Pennsylvania and Maryland Chapters).
###

Releases

SRBC TO MEET JUNE 7 TO VOTE ON 32 PROJECT APPLICATIONS, PROPOSED FEE CHANGES, WATER RESOURCES PROGRAM
SRBC Newsroom
May 25
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) (www.srbc.net) will conduct its next public business meeting on June 7, 2012, 9:00 a.m., Binghamton State Office Building, Warren Anderson Community Room, 18th Floor, 44 Hawley Street, Binghamton, N.Y. 13901.
The commissioners will act on 32 project applications, proposed fee changes related to the regulatory program and records processing, the Water Resources Program, amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, FY-2014 budget, and the request for administrative appeal from Anadarko E&P Company LP related to SRBC’s denial of a groundwater withdrawal application.
Link: http://www.srbc.net/newsroom/NewsRelease.aspx?NewsReleaseID=87

Aqua America to Transition Fleet to Compressed Natural Gas
CEO: Natural gas is Pennsylvania’s biggest economic driver since coal and steel
Wallaby
May 31
BRYN MAWR, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aqua America, Inc. (NYSE: WTR) Chairman and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis announced today that the company is going to transition portions of its larger vehicle fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG). The comment was made today before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s Alternative Fuel Vehicles forum held at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012053172.HTM

Articles

Technology lets drillers get more with less
Post-Gazette
Erich Schwartzel
May 31
Drilling companies operating in Pennsylvania appear to be doing more with less.
Even as the amount of natural gas produced in the Keystone State quadrupled between 2009 and 2011, the number of actual wells fell as drillers used new technology to extract more gas from a single rig, according to a new study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/technology-lets-drillers-get-more-with-less-638264/

Watershed group will host Marcellus stewardship session
Pitt Trib
Tim Karan
May 30
The Mountain Watershed Association, based out of the Indian Creek Watershed in Westmoreland and Fayette counties, will host a visual assessment training session through the Marcellus Citizen Stewardship Project from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday in the Worthington-West Franklin Community Library.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/armstrong/1888531-74/community-marcellus-training-coptis-session-watershed-association-citizens-drilling-host

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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

PA Marcellus News Digest 5/30/12

PA Marcellus News Digest 
May 30, 2012

Release

PUC Issues Agenda for Forum Examining Increased Use Electric, Natural Gas Vehicles
Wallaby
May 25
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today issued the agenda for its Forum to examine the increased use of alternative fuel vehicles, specifically electric and natural gas.
“We are pleased to have so many senior representatives from companies that are actively involved in alternative fuel vehicle projects joining us for this discussion,” said PUC Chairman Robert F. Powelson. “Our goal is to engage in a conversation on how the PUC and the Commonwealth as a whole can foster policies and regulatory frameworks that support investments in natural gas and electric vehicles and their required infrastructure.”

Articles

Senate panel backs mine water use in fracking
Times-Tribune
Robert Swift
May 30
HARRISBURG - A bill to encourage use of coal mine water in hydrofracking operations by offering liability protection to drillers won approval last week from a Senate committee.
The vote by the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee comes as state environmental officials are developing polices to offer Marcellus Shale drillers incentives to tap hundreds of millions of gallons of acid mine drainage.

Fatal crash highlights Gas Task Force discussions
The Express
Jim Runkle
May 30
LOCK HAVEN - A lethal combination of faulty equipment, fog and confused direction led to the recent death of a truck driver hauling water for a local natural gas drilling operation, Trooper Kevin Miller of the Pennsylvania State Police told the Clinton County Natural Gas Task Force Tuesday.

International Energy Agency Calls for More Transparency in Shale Gas Extraction
State Impact
Susan Phillips
May 29
Link: https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/05/29/international-energy-agency-calls-for-baseline-water-tests/

Charting Horizontal Wells’ Production Impact
State Impact
Scott Detrow 
May 30

Cheap Gas And Tougher Regulations Put Coal’s Future At Risk
State Impact
Scott Detrow 
May 30

Alan Walker: A Government Skeptic With A Complicated Environmental Record
State Impact
May 30

DCED Secretary Weighs In On Future Of Natural Gas Industry
State Impact
Scott Detrow
May 29

Shale-gas researcher is drawing criticism
Inquirer
Kevin Begos, AP
May 30
PITTSBURGH - A well-known expert on the natural gas boom is again facing criticism over his ties to industry and a lack of transparency in how he presents work to the public, fueling debates over research that has been published by major universities.

PA Dems’ Marcellus Compact is All That Stands Between the Natty Gas Industry and Hippies
Keystone Politics
May 29
Brad Plumer looks at a new IEA report that explains why fracking regulations are better for the natural gas industry than no fracking regulations or weak fracking regulations:
Under a scenario where countries and drillers adopt these rules, the IEA expects that production would boom and natural gas would replace coal as the world’s second-largest energy source by 2035, behind oil. (This is all assuming, by the way, that countries don’t take further action to curtail their carbon emissions — doing so could affect natural gas, which is still a fossil fuel, even if it’s cleaner than coal.)
Link: http://www.keystonepolitics.com/2012/05/pa-dems-marcellus-compact-stands-natty-gas-industry-teh-hippies/

Shaky streambed in Bradford County tied to stray methane
Times-Tribune
Laura Legere
May 30
Methane bubbling up through a creek in Bradford County has covered the stream bottom with a pale mud and given the rocky streambed the consistency of wobbly pudding as the state and a natural gas drilling company investigate the source of the gas found in two streams, three water wells and a wetland in Leroy Twp.

Dinniman, Rafferty seek more data, new comment deadline for pipeline plan
Daily Local
Sara Mosqueda-Fernandez
May 28
WEST CHESTER — State senators Andy Dinniman and John Rafferty Jr. have asked to expand the public’s ability to comment on the installation of a natural-gas pipeline across the Brandywine Creek.
On Tuesday, Rafferty and Dinniman formally asked the state Department of Environmental Protection to convene a public hearing on a permit application from Transcontinental Pipeline Co. (Transco) for the stream crossing.

Upper Pottsgrove opposes state’s drilling exemption law
Mercury
May 29
UPPER POTTSGROVE — Although there is little chance anyone will begin drilling for natural gas in Upper Pottsgrove Township any time soon, the commissioners nevertheless voted unanimously May 21 to support a resolution opposing a new state law that would result in them having no say in the matter should it happen.

Susquehanna River water quality status debated
Times-Tribune
Robert Swift
May 29
HARRISBURG - The state Fish and Boat Commission wants a sister agency to designate the main stream of the Susquehanna River impaired so additional scientific studies can be done to determine the cause of a major decline in smallmouth bass.

EPA's Dimock results cloud Pa.'s pollution case
E&E News
Mike Soraghan
May 30
(full text below)
Dimock, Pa., has gone from being seen as the town destroyed by drilling to being known as the place where Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. got "crucified."

Dimock played a starring role in the Oscar-nominated anti-drilling documentary "Gasland" as the prime example of gas production gone bad. But after a high-profile round of testing by U.S. EPA, the drilling industry is touting the headlines that call Dimock's water "safe."

Those headlines, though, ignore the reality that Cabot did pollute the water in Dimock, at least according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Cabot says it didn't.

DEP still hasn't cleared Cabot to drill in the affected portion of Dimock Township. Three years ago, the agency shut down some of Cabot's wells, fined the company and eventually negotiated a $4.1 million settlement in which all the affected homeowners got at least two times the value of their home and kept any mineral rights.

John Hanger, who shut down Cabot's drilling back then and levied those fines in the previous administration as head of DEP, understands the confusion but finds it unfortunate.

"I'd say the exaggeration has boomeranged, because some could come to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong in Dimock, and that's not the case," Hanger said in an interview with EnergyWire. "The truth here was never what the gas companies or the activists were saying."

The confusion comes as EPA has beaten a retreat on two other drilling enforcement cases, including one where industry allies were able to cast EPA as out to crucify oil and gas companies.

Days after EPA released its final round of results for Dimock, Dallas-based Regional Administrator Al Armendariz resigned because of a 2-year-old video newly circulated by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) (Greenwire, April 30). Armendariz was recorded at a town hall meeting talking with people worried about contamination from drilling. He compared his strategy of making examples of violators to Roman conquerors' strategy to "crucify" random villagers.

The video took on added significance after EPA dropped the case Armendariz had pressed against Range Resources Corp., alleging contamination similar to what state officials smacked Cabot for in Pennsylvania.

Though a close reading of Armendariz's comments shows that his incendiary "crucify" remark applied to "people who are not compliant with the law," it played on cable news and other media as EPA trying to indiscriminately nail oil and gas companies.

In the second case, EPA agreed to collaborate with state agencies on further testing of water in Pavillion, Wyo., where preliminary results indicated groundwater -- but not drinking water -- had been contaminated by hydraulic fracturing.

No fracking fluid pollution

Pennsylvania DEP did back off from a demand that Cabot build a new water pipeline to the homes affected in Dimock. But it hasn't backed off its contention that Cabot's drilling polluted the drinking water in a portion of Dimock with stray natural gas.

What the recent EPA tests show, however, is that the water was not polluted by hydraulic fracturing fluid. Some of the residents have blamed the contamination on fracturing, and that's what many drilling opponents have staked their complaints on.

To do that, the pressure involved in injecting the frack fluid underground to release gas would have had to push the fluid upward through numerous layers of rock for about a mile.

"The general sense that fracking is poisoning the water is wrong," Hanger said. "The general sense that there's nothing wrong is also wrong."

Cabot, though, says methane in the water wells was naturally occurring and not caused by the company's drilling. The company participated in a study that found natural gas to be "ubiquitous" in the region's well water.

Cabot spokesman George Stark does agree that in the fierce Dimock debate, the issue of methane migration has gotten confused with the idea of fracturing fluid somehow getting into drinking water.

"It morphed from methane into testing for everything else," Stark said. "There's not anything that's not naturally occurring in that water."

Hanger says he doesn't fault EPA for going into Dimock. More testing can't hurt, he said. And he said the EPA officials who made the decision were under intense political pressure from environmental activists, including a protest outside EPA's regional headquarters in Philadelphia.

"There's a long list of people who have played games with the Dimock situation," Hanger said. "Methane migration was a finding that, at different times, neither side wanted to hear."


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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

PA Marcellus News Digest 5/29/12

PA Marcellus News Digest
May 29, 2012

Releases

New Delaware Valley Based Association Forms to Connect Local Business with the Business Opportunities of Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Development
Market Watch
May 22
PHILADELPHIA, May 22, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- A new association has been formed to help educate, inform and connect local businesses with the state-wide opportunities now making themselves available through Marcellus Shale development. The Delaware Valley Marcellus Association (DVMA) has been formed by four leading organizations with deep roots in our area and who are actively participating in Marcellus Shale activity.

Weston Solution's Evaluation of Split Sample Results Taken During EPA's Bradford County, Pennsylvania, Hydraulic Fracturing Study Finds No Impact From Marcellus Shale Gas Activities To Water Sources
Wallaby
May 29
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently conducting a national study to determine if hydraulic fracturing has any impact on drinking water sources. As part of a larger study, the EPA is conducting five focused retrospective studies in separate areas across the country including Bradford County, Pennsylvania.

Santarsiero introduces bill to boost protections from gas drilling activities
Wallaby
May 25
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Steve Santarsiero introduced a bill today that would establish stronger environmental safeguards in natural-gas drilling activities than what is currently required in Act 13 of 2012, the Marcellus Shale law recently signed by Gov. Tom Corbett.
“The Corbett Marcellus Shale law failed to protect our critical environmental resources from the impacts of natural-gas drilling activities,” said Santarsiero, D-Bucks. “It sets bonding requirements so low that it guarantees taxpayers will be left holding the bag for abandoned well cleanup and reclamation if the drilling companies fail to live up to their responsibilities.

Bradford introduces bill to protect patient rights in shale fracking disclosure
Wallaby
May 25
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Matt Bradford introduced a bill today that would ensure the rights of patients and doctors to full medical disclosure in natural gas fracking – a hot-button issue that has caused serious concerns regarding Act 13 of 2012, Gov. Tom Corbett’s recently enacted Marcellus Shale drilling law.
“As written, the Corbett Marcellus Shale law could prevent doctors from sharing vital information with their patients – including the impact of potentially toxic fracking chemicals on the public health,” said Bradford, D-Montgomery. “Protecting the health of the people of Pennsylvania should have been a top priority of Act 13, but it’s clear the people of Pennsylvania took a back seat to the drillers.”

Articles

55 Big Investors Challenge Shale Gas Industry & Will Compare Environmental Performance of Companies
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
May 29
Intense regulatory and media focus on shale gas production is being joined by investor pressure to improve environmental performance of the industry and individual companies.  Not everyday do 55 investors, with one trillion dollars under management, band together to push operational goals for an industry and say they will be comparing companies by their environmental risk levels. Yet, that is what happened last week. 

Goldman To Invest $40 Billion in Renewables: Another "Fact" Showing Shale Gas Won't Kill Renewables
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
May 25
A common justification provided by some environmentalists for supporting a ban of hydraulic fracturing is that cheap gas would supposedly kill renewable energy. 
One empirical problem with the view that gas dooms renewable energy is that renewable energy and gas have been both booming since 2008, for both different and similar reasons.  Another factual problem with this argument is that already global investment in renewable energy power plants exceeds investment in fossil fuel plants, according to Bloomberg Finance and others.

Bill would use taxes to push drillers to hire Pennsylvanians
Sun Gazette
Mike Reuther
May 26
A local lawmaker has introduced a bill to create more Marcellus Shale gas jobs for state workers.
The legislation by state Rep. Rick Mirabito, D-Williamsport, makes use of a tax credit program.

Ramping up to use natural gas as a motor fuel
Inquirer
Andrew Maykuth
May 28
In the 1990s, natural gas was promoted as the motor fuel of the future. Utilities opened refueling stations and government agencies traded in their dirty diesel trucks for vehicles fueled with clean compressed natural gas (CNG).

Chesapeake Energy: Everything You Need To Know About The “World’s Biggest Fracker”
State Impact
Scott Detrow
May 29

Some Question Study that Finds Pa. Shale Drillers Polluting Less
NPR State Impact
Susan Phillips
May 25

Chesapeake Sells More Land To Bridge Funding Gap
State Impact
Scott Detrow
May 25

Natural Gas Production Quadruples in Pennsylvania, Thanks to Marcellus Shale
Northcentral PA
May 25
This week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration released a report on the extraordinary natural gas production occurring in Pennsylvania. The reason? Thanks to horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, natural gas producers have been able to tap into the immense natural gas resources of the Marcellus shale, providing clean-burning energy for the nation, while stimulating job growth, and protecting the environment. As the EIA report explains, between 2009 and 2011 the Commonwealth quadrupled its natural gas production.

Critics question shale gas researcher, schools
Times Leader
Kevin Begos, AP
May 25
PITTSBURGH — A well-known expert on the natural gas boom is again facing criticism over his ties to industry and a lack of transparency in how he presents work to the public, fueling debates over research that’s been published by major universities.

Shale drilling contaminated water, families say in lawsuit
Post-Gazette
Don Hopey
May 25
Three Washington County families claim in a lawsuit that they face serious health problems, including a heightened risk of cancer, because Range Resources Inc. and two water testing laboratories conspired to alter test results and exposed them to hazardous chemicals.

Drilling ban likely thorn for Downtown office space projects
Pitt Trib
Andrew Conte and Bob Bauder
May 25
Whether Pittsburgh experiences a new renaissance of skyscrapers and premium office space could depend on whether the city can convince Marcellus shale drillers that they're really welcome here.
As top-quality Downtown office space grows increasingly scarce, developers are looking to build projects such as the "350 Fifth" tower that Oxford Development Co. proposed this week. Speculation about tenants there and at other sites has centered on several big-name energy companies that could be reluctant to invest in the city, which passed a ban on drilling in 2010.

Marcellus shale compressor site permit OK'd
Post-Gazette
Erich Schwartzel 
May 26
The county's first Marcellus Shale compressor station should be operational by September but will be subject to a battery of inspections and emissions tests after the Allegheny County Health Department approved the station permit Friday.

Families sue Range Resources, claiming ills from gas wells
Pitt Trib
Tim Puko
May 25
Three Washington County families claim they were exposed to carcinogens and suffered health problems including nosebleeds, debilitating headaches and stomach ulcers because of Range Resources Corp.'s drilling operations, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday.

Pa. Commonwealth Court says compressor stations are essential to production
Post-Gazette
Zack Needles, The Legal Intelligencer
May 28
The Commonwealth Court has ruled that the operation of a compressor station falls within the definition of "gas production" as used in a township's zoning ordinance, and thus cannot be banned by a township in areas where gas production is otherwise permitted.

Pennsylvania natural gas interests spent $1.3 million on lobbying
State records show how much was spent during debate on a new impact fee for the natural gas industry.
Morning Call
John L. Micek
May 26
 Five of Pennsylvania's largest natural gas drilling interests spent a staggering $1.3 million to lobby state government from January through March as lawmakers and the Corbett administration worked to approve a new impact fee on the industry.

House Democrats Introduce Package Of Marcellus Shale Bills
May 28
(full text below)
House Democrats this week introduced their Marcellus Compact -- a six-bill legislative package aimed at what they said was fixing the Marcellus Shale law adopted in February, Act 13.
           "This Marcellus Compact is our attempt to right the wrongs of Governor Corbett's sham of a Marcellus Shale law," said Democratic Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny). "House Democrats are committed to a strong Marcellus Shale law that puts Pennsylvania taxpayers, workers and families first, and these bills will accomplish that."
            The Marcellus Compact includes the following six bills (not yet online):
-- House Bill 2412 (Dermody-D-Allegheny) would restore the rights of municipalities to determine how natural-gas drilling and related activities can be zoned in their communities.
-- House Bill 2413 (Hanna-D-Clinton) would provide real tax fairness to Pennsylvanians through a fair and reasonable statewide fee for drilling companies, rather than the Corbett law, which imposes among the lowest fees in the nation.
-- House Bill 2414 (Santarsiero-D-Bucks) would establish stronger environmental safeguards in natural gas drilling activities than what is currently required in Act 13.
-- House Bill 2415 (Bradford-D-Montgomery) would ensure the rights of patients and doctors to full medical disclosure and transparency in natural gas fracking – a hot-button issue that has caused serious concerns regarding Act 13.
-- House Bill 2416 (Mundy-D-Luzerne) would add new protections from drilling activities for public water sources and would create an online tracking system to report the storage, transportation and disposal of drilling wastewater.
-- House Bill 2399 (Mirabito-D-Lycoming) would create a new Marcellus Shale Job Creation Tax Credit program as an incentive for companies in the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry to hire Pennsylvania workers.
            "These are common-sense bills that make Pennsylvania residents and workers the top priority when it comes to the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry," Rep. Hanna said. "We intend to be the people's voice and advocate in Harrisburg, because it's clear they're not being heard by this governor or his allies."

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Friday, May 25, 2012

PA Marcellus News Digest 5/25/12

HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!


PA Marcellus News Digest
May 25, 2012

Release

PUC Issues Agenda for Forum Examining Increased Use Electric, Natural Gas Vehicles
Wallaby
May 25
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) today issued the agenda for its Forum to examine the increased use of alternative fuel vehicles, specifically electric and natural gas.
“We are pleased to have so many senior representatives from companies that are actively involved in alternative fuel vehicle projects joining us for this discussion,” said PUC Chairman Robert F. Powelson. “Our goal is to engage in a conversation on how the PUC and the Commonwealth as a whole can foster policies and regulatory frameworks that support investments in natural gas and electric vehicles and their required infrastructure.”
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012052591.HTM

Articles

Frack-Friendly New Report Debunked
Mother Jones
Kate Sheppard
May 25
Earlier this month, the State University of New York at Buffalo released a report concluding that fracking is getting safer, as both industry and regulators are doing a better job. The study got plenty of coverage—the Associated Press, Forbes, WGRZ, Buffalo News—but in the week since it was released, it's been attacked for a number of flaws.
Link: http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/05/frack-friendly-new-report-debunked

Allegheny County approves air permit for Marcellus shale compressor station
Pitt Trib
Brian Bowling
May 25
The Allegheny County Health Department has approved an air permit for Superior Appalachian Pipeline to build a Marcellus shale compressor station in Frazer.
This is the first such permit approved in the county, said health department Director Dr. Bruce Dixon.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/1861954-74/permit-county-allegheny-approved-changes-compressor-department-dixon-facility-gas

Regulations for gas drilling in state to be topic of seminar
Reading Eagle
May 25
Berks Gas Truth is holding a seminar Wednesday at 7 p.m. on the state gas-well regulations enacted under Act 13.
The two-hour forum will be held at Easy Does It Inc., 1300 Hilltop Road, Bern Township.
Act 13 establishes impact fees for natural-gas drilling, but one of the more controversial sections of the law considers drilling operations as permitted uses in any zoning district, pre-empting local zoning of gas drilling operations, including those related to the pipelines and compressor stations.
Link: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=388955

Senate panel OKs bill aimed at sparing fresh water sources in gas drilling
Herald Standard
May 25
HARRISBURG — A state Senate committee on Wednesday unanimously approved Sen. Richard A. Kasunic’s legislation that would encourage the use of mine water for Marcellus shale well development.
“This measure is aimed at encouraging the use of mine water in drilling rather than the continued heavy use of municipal and fresh water sources,” said Kasunic, D-Dunbar.
Link: http://www.heraldstandard.com/gcm/news/local_news/senate-panel-oks-bill-aimed-at-sparing-fresh-water-sources/article_09f63f7a-5058-5751-ad97-bc2d4a77d39c.html

Deep Injection Well Construction Booms Despite Push to Recycle
State Impact
Susan Phillips
May 24
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/05/24/drilling-waste-disposal-well-construction-booms-despite-push-to-recycle/

Methane gas found in three wells, two streams
Post-Gazette
Don Hopey
May 24
Methane gas has bubbled to the surface in three residential water wells and two streams in Bradford County, in northeastern Pennsylvania, near a Chesapeake Energy Marcellus Shale gas drilling operation.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/breaking/methane-gas-found-in-three-wells-two-streams-637440/

Journalists Roundtable, focusing specifically on Marcellus Shale
Guests are:
Scott Detrow, StateImpact PA
Donald Gilliland, The Patriot-News, Harrisburg
Laura Olson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
video: http://streaming.pcntv.com:554/jrt/jrt052412.mov

Is Pittsburgh’s Fracking Ban Hurting Business?
State Impact
Scott Detrow
May 25
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/05/25/is-pittsburghs-drilling-ban-hurting-business/

Don’t Hold Your Breath On Act 13 Changes
State Impact
Scott Detrow
May 25
Link: http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2012/05/25/dont-hold-your-breath-on-act-13-changes/

DEP Issues Statement On Bradford County Methane Migration Investigation

Report Reveals Few Penalties for Violating Gas Drilling Rules in PA
Damascus Citizens for Sustainability
Clean Water Action
May 23
(Harrisburg) – Clean Water Action released a report today examining the enforcement actions taken in 2011 by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) against Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling companies whose operations violated the law.
Link: http://www.damascuscitizensforsustainability.org/2012/05/report-reveals-few-penalties-for-violating-gas-drilling-rules-in-pa/

Energy Corp. of America raises $150 million for wells
Post-Gazette
Erich Schwartzel
May 25
A major gas driller in the Marcellus Shale region has raised $150 million that it plans to spend developing wells throughout the Appalachian formation.
Energy Corp. of America raised the money by selling secured notes to CPPIB Credit Investments Inc., a subsidiary of a Canadian-based pension plan with a $4.6 billion portfolio.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/energy-corp-of-america-raises-150m-for-wells-637472/

State fines of gas drilling firms plunge, revised data show
Pitt Trib
Timothy Puko
May 24
State officials on Thursday corrected data they provide about gas drilling fines, saying fines dropped by $300,000 from 2010 to 2011, a fraction of the difference reflected on a state website that was the basis for reports a day earlier.
Link: http://triblive.com/news/1858429-74/fines-state-officials-sunday-2010-data-database-department-drilling-gas

Powdermill compiles list of Pa. shale wells
Post-Gazette
Sean D. Hamill
May 25
The project started with what seemed to be a simple question from a summer intern: How many Marcellus Shale wells does the state have?
Thanks to a plethora of errors in the state data for Marcellus Shale, it's taken staffers at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History's Powdermill Nature Reserve 10 months of on-and-off work to answer that question.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/powdermill-compiles-list-of-pa-shale-wells-637445/

Resident allowed to appeal DEP ruling on well water
Post-Gazette
May 25
Pennsylvania's environmental court has ruled that a Washington County resident may appeal a state Department of Environmental Protection determination that his private water well was not contaminated by nearby Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations.
Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/washington/resident-allowed-to-appeal-dep-ruling-on-well-water-637501/

PJM Power Pool Says It Is Handling "Massive" Shift From Coal To Gas
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
May 24
In its press release announcing the outcome of its 2015-16 electricity capacity auction, PJM says: "PJM is effectively, efficiently, and reliably handling a massive shift from coal to gas."  No hyperbole there. Seewww.pjm.com/~/media/about-pjm/mushroom/2012-releases/20120518-pjm-capacity-auction-secures-record-amounts-of-new-generation-demand-response-energy-efficiency.ashx.
Link: http://www.johnhanger.blogspot.com/2012/05/pjm-power-pool-says-it-is-handling.html

PJM Power Pool Doubles Renewable Energy: Green Power Booms In Home of Marcellus Shale Region
John Hanger's Facts of The Day
Blog
May 24
In 2005, the first exploratory Marcellus Shale gas wells were being drilled in Pennsylvania.  At the same time the first Marcellus Shale wells were drilled, renewable energy from all sources--including hydro and biomass--generated about 20 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity within the PJM power pool, the world's largest wholesale electricity market that extends from Illinois to New Jersey.
Link: http://www.johnhanger.blogspot.com/2012/05/pjm-power-pool-doubles-renewable-energy.html

DEP Data Shows Drilling Still Slow
Bradford Era
May 23
Drilling in the region is continuing to slow, with both permits and the number of wells drilled lower now than at the beginning of the year.
Link: http://www.bradfordera.com/news/local/article_1e54eaf2-a545-11e1-b78e-001a4bcf887a.html

Shale Gas Innovation Contest Identifies 12 New Technologies
Wallaby
Business Wire
May 24
STATE COLLEGE, Pa.--The Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation & Commercialization Center (www.sgicc.org) is pleased to announce the winners of its Shale Gas Innovation Competition. The contest, which was announced in October 2011, offered a total of $50,000 in cash prizes for the two best shale gas-oriented innovations in two categories - new products/services and new technologies. Each winner was awarded $25,000 by C. Alan Walker, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) at an event held in Harrisburg, PA, on May 22, 2012.
Link: http://wallaby.telicon.com/PA/library/2012/2012052498.HTM

PFBC defends gas drilling lease at Rose Valley Lake
Express
Savannah Barr
May 24
(EDITOR'S NOTE: See Friday's paper for more news from this conservation forum.)
The state Fish and Boat Commission's decision to enter into a non-developmental gas lease with Big Star Energy that allows the company to drill under Rose Valley Lake to reach natural gas deposits was a hot topic during a forum held at Lycoming College on Wednesday evening.
Link: http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/578680/PFBC-defends-gas-drilling-lease-at-Rose-Valley-Lake.html?nav=5011

SRBC says new policy will protect water levels
Express
Elizabeth Regan
May 23
WATERVILLE-The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is considering a new policy to protect monthly and seasonal stream flows in the face of gas industry water withdrawals, agency representatives told Pine Creek Preservation Association members this week.
Link: http://www.lockhaven.com/page/content.detail/id/538959/SRBC-says-new-policy-will-protect-water-levels.html?nav=5009

Drilling chemical list would be given doctors
Pitt Trib
AP
May 22
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Doctors given new access to the proprietary chemical recipes that oil and gas drillers use to crack into Ohio shale would be prohibited from sharing the information with the public under an energy proposal moving through the Ohio House.
Link: http://triblive.com/state/marcellusshale/1844918-74/chemical-ohio-information-doctors-medical-bill-drilling-committee-provision-public

Well construction boom comes despite drive for reuse
E&E News
Mike Soraghan
May 24
(full text below)
Marcellus Shale drilling is driving a boom in the construction of wastewater disposal wells in Ohio, despite the oil and gas industry push to reuse the water that flows back up after hydraulic fracturing.

In Ohio, 16 new wells are under construction to take waste "brine" from oil and gas wells. Seven have been granted permits but have not yet been drilled, according to figures provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. An additional 20 applications for new brine wells are under review.

Taken together, the wells under construction, permitted and applied for would represent a 25 percent increase over the 172 active wells currently accepting drilling and fracturing waste.

In Pennsylvania, there are only five such wells in operation. But two more permits are under review, according to U.S. EPA officials, one in the west of the state in Venango County and the other more central in Clearfield County.

Two disposal wells permitted near Corry, about 40 miles southwest of Erie, aren't yet receiving waste because their permits were appealed by neighboring landowners.

Waste disposal is the less-well-understood side of oil and gas production, but it was pushed into the spotlight by fears that treatment plants didn't properly treat the radiation-laced brine before releasing it into streams. Then, as Pennsylvania regulators clamped down on allowing treated wastewater into rivers, a New Year's Day earthquake was linked to an injection well just across the state line in Youngstown, Ohio.

The website of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which represents drillers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states, says that "in the Appalachian Basin, flow-back is almost entirely recycled and reused to fracture additional wells."

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer told a congressional committee in December that about 80 percent of the brine from hydraulic fracturing is used on another frack job.

"Recycling rates across the Marcellus continue to tick positively upward as technologies evolve and become more widely available," said Travis Windle, spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition. "These advancements represent a huge environmental success story. And while more and more flowback and produced water is recycled each day, EPA-permitted injection wells play an important role in the broader water management process, especially as it relates to drilling fluids."

Though less than 8 percent of the brine, used fracturing fluid and drilling waste from Pennsylvania Marcellus wells is injected into disposal wells, that's up from a little more than 6 percent in 2010. And state records show that the total amount of waste being sent to injection wells has gone up nearly 500 percent since 2010.

In Pennsylvania, waste injection wells are regulated by EPA, while in Ohio they're regulated by state officials.

Some in industry have said Pennsylvania's geology is unsuitable for underground injection, while state officials have said the best areas of the state for injection are being used for gas storage. But EPA scientists, along with some academics, say Pennsylvania's geology is just as suitable as the rest of Appalachia. There are 30 oil and gas brine wells in the four Ohio counties that border Pennsylvania.

Nationally, EPA records show there are a little more than 150,000 "Class II" injection wells associated with oil and gas. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, about 40,000 of those are disposal wells. The rest are wells where water is used to dislodge oil and gas and "enhance recovery" of the minerals. Underground injection is also used to dispose of radioactive waste, hazardous waste, mining fluids and carbon dioxide.

U.S. Geological Survey officials have pointed to injection as a likely cause of a "remarkable" increase in earthquakes across the middle of the country (EnergyWire, March 29).

Oil and gas producers are exempt from a federal environmental law designed to prevent industrial waste injection wells from triggering earthquakes (EnergyWire, March 22). States can adopt stricter regulations on injection wells, as Ohio is doing for future wells after the Youngstown quake.

The Ohio rules order well operators to submit more comprehensive geological data when requesting a permit to drill and require tracking of wastewater.

Other states have not followed suit, but EPA is drafting suggestions for state regulators to minimize earthquakes caused by waste injection (EnergyWire, March 15).

And a National Academy of Sciences panel is studying how oil and gas production and other types of energy production can lead to man-made earthquakes. NAS officials are hoping to release that report this summer.
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Riverkeeper urges Pa. to keep air pollutants out of the water
E&E News
Ellen M. Gilmer
May 25
(full text below)
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network is taking aim at emissions from natural gas operations in Pennsylvania, pollutants that can ultimately land in the group's namesake river.

The state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has proposed a permit revision that draws from U.S. EPA's new air toxics standards to curb emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds and sets the first emissions standards for sulfur dioxide and particulate matter. The revision would affect natural gas production and processing facilities in Pennsylvania.

The Riverkeeper group filed comments with the department this week charging that the permit plan doesn't do enough to protect the river as those pollutants sink onto the water or enter it via precipitation. EPA has warned of the effect, known as atmospheric deposition, for years.

"Atmospheric deposition is now recognized in many areas as a significant cause of water quality problems, acidification of streams and lakes, and toxic contamination of fish and the birds and mammals that eat them," states a 2001 EPA handbook for watershed managers.

But the Riverkeeper group says Republican Gov. Tom Corbett's administration has ignored the risk.

"DEP did not look at this issue at all," Deputy Director Tracy Carluccio told EnergyWire. "That pollution not only affects everyone in the airshed, but it also affects millions more people who are downstream in the watershed."

A technical review submitted with the group's comments recommends that DEP spend more time analyzing pollution effects and set stricter limits on emissions, adding that the agency should consider banning gas flaring, an industry process of burning off unwanted gas that can't be economically transported. The report was prepared by Texas environmentalist and clean air specialist Cherelle Blazer.

"This is a huge missing piece of the air pollution puzzle that faces all Pennsylvanians because of the dangerous pollutants the gas industry emits," said Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum in a statement. "The problems must be solved by addressing the whole picture, not just little bits."

According to DEP, 244 individuals and groups submitted comments, including 211 based on a template from the Clean Air Council. The Riverkeeper group remains optimistic that the department will be receptive to the concerns.

"We don't want them to move ahead with a paper tiger," Carluccio said, "a hollow and ineffective general permitting plan."

About 8.5 million people live in the Delaware River watershed, which includes parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. The system provides water to 15 million people, including parts of New York City.
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