State police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski said state troopers are reporting more arrests and incidents involving drug use, assaults and illegal weapons in northern tier municipalities due to an influx of outside gas industry workers.

The reports referred to were issued by Troop P, based in Wyoming, and Troop R in Dunmore, said agency spokesman Jack Lewis. State troopers provide coverage in many areas of the northern tier due to the lack of local police departments.

Hundreds of miles of secondary roads have been damaged or made impassable because of heavy truck traffic tied to drilling activities, PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler said.  [Full Story]

May 25, 2010
Legislators seek to crack down on gas drilling
Long Island Business News
Claude Solnik

While the world watches BP struggle to staunch the flow of oil from an off-shore rig in the Gulf of Mexico, local legislators are pushing to at least temporarily bar the use of certain technology to drill for natural gas in New York state. Assemblymember Steven Englebright, D-E. Setauket, introduced a bill calling for a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York until the United States Environmental Protection Agency completes a two-year study of the impacts on water quality and public health. Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is a process used in drilling wells in which high-pressure water, sand and other fluids are forced into the ground, fracturing rock in order to free natural gas. It is used in New York primarily in the Catskills and Allegheny mountains. “In our search for cleaner fuel and energy independence, we need to ensure that we don’t destroy our environmental quality and water supply in the process,” said Englebright, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development. The oil and gas industry, however, argues the legislation would shut down a safe technology and cost jobs. “This is an unnecessary bill that would add further delays while New York’s economy continues to fail and industry jobs leave New York for other states,” said Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York. Grill argues the EPA in the past concluded this 60-year-old technology is safe and that thousands of wells have been drilled with this technology “without a single case of water contamination.” But while the EPA during President George W. Bush’s administration concluded hydrofracturing to be safe and exempted gas drilling from Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, that study later came under fire. The EPA more recently determined that the technology should be subject to “further scientific and regulatory analysis.” The issue is more pressing now that companies in New York applied for the right to use hydrofracturing to drill horizontal as well as vertical wells. The state has suspended issuing permits until it completes its own study of the impact.   [Full Story]

May 25, 2010
Natgas companies oppose NY plan to delay drilling
Reuters US
Edith Honan

NEW YORK, May 25 (Reuters) - Gas companies, hoping to begin high-volume drilling in New York state early next year, on Tuesday pushed back against a bill before the state legislature that would force them to hold off until a U.S. environmental review has been completed. Bonds | Global Markets "This is an unnecessary bill that would add further delays while New York's economy continues to fail and industry jobs leave New York for other states," said Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York, an industry group. Much of western New York sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a vast geological formation far below the earth's surface that geologists say might contain enough natural gas to satisfy U.S. demand for more than a decade. At issue is a drilling process called high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Drillers blast millions of gallons of water, sand and diluted chemicals into shale rock, breaking it and freeing the gas. Environmentalists and others worry that the drilling process might contaminate drinking water. Democratic New York Governor David Paterson has directed the state to complete an environmental review of hydraulic fracturing before it begins issuing drilling permits. A final version of the agency's environmental review is expected later this year, and drilling permits could be issued soon after that. Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun a review of the health impacts of hydraulic fracturing, which could spotlight possible dangers at a time when major oil companies such as Exxon Mobil, BP, Statoil and Total are investing heavily in the shale gas sector. The EPA said the study will take two years to complete. "If the Gulf oil spill has taught us anything, it's that when it comes to industrial drilling activities, we've got to err on the side of caution and ensure that we have a complete understanding of the facts and the risks," said Eric Goldstein, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which supports the New York bill. The booming shale gas business accounts for 15 percent to 20 percent of U.S. natural gas production. It could increase fourfold over the next 15 years, providing a relatively clean energy source at a time the country is trying to cut back its dependence on foreign oil. The New York bill, if it passes, would establish a moratorium on the start of high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the state until 120 days after the EPA study is completed. The shale gas industry considers environmental opponents of drilling misguided, saying drilling is heavily regulated and there has never been a documented case of ground water contamination because of hydraulic fracturing. "New York leads the nation in environmental protections, and we expect there will be much greater oversight still to come before horizontal drilling is allowed to begin here," said Gill. (Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by David Gregorio);   [Full Story]

May 25, 2010
Shale Gas Costing 2/3 Less Than OPEC Oil Incites Water Concern
Bloomberg News
John Lippert

When Victoria Switzer awoke on a cold night in March, her dog was staring out the window at the flame roaring from a natural-gas-drilling rig 2,000 feet behind her house. She remembers trees silhouetted in a demonic dance as the plume burned off gas that had been building up under her land. She discovered later that such flaring can occur when Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and dozens more companies drill for gas trapped in shale rock. The deposits, stretching from Texas to New York, and as far away as Australia and China, represent what may be the biggest energy bonanza in decades -- one that Switzer, 57, recalls thinking the Earth isn’t surrendering without a fight, Bloomberg Markets reports in its July issue. Switzer, a retired teacher in Pennsylvania, is on the front line of a shale gas rush that’s dividing communities, creating millionaires and shaking up global energy markets. Companies from India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. to Japan’s Mitsui & Co. are spending billions of dollars to dislodge natural gas from a band of Pennsylvania shale -- sedimentary rock composed of mud, quartz and calcite. Shale gas proponents, led by 91-year-old oil patch billionaire George Mitchell, who invented the process to extract it, say the U.S. should plumb all forms of natural gas. That would help unhook the nation from coal and foreign petroleum. Gas is about two-thirds cheaper than oil and greener too. It produces 117 pounds (53 kilograms) of carbon dioxide per million British thermal units (MMBtu) of energy equivalent compared with 156 MMBtu for gasoline and 205 MMBtu for coal. ‘De-OPEC-ize’ “This discovery will change the course of world history, not just to de-carbonize the economy but to de-OPEC-ize it,” Chesapeake Energy Corp. Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon said in December in Copenhagen as the United Nations climate conference was under way. Chesapeake, based in Oklahoma City, has profited by selling drilling rights and gas reserves for $10.7 billion during the past 2 1/2 years, quadruple the $2.7 billion it paid. McClendon -- with $33 billion in assets left to sell -- says he’s open for business. Shale gas has plenty of detractors. Environmentalists say fracking, a process in which drillers blast water into a well to shatter rock and unleash the gas, threatens pristine watersheds. Dish, a hamlet of 180 residents north of Fort Worth, Texas, has almost as many wells, compressors and pipelines as people. ‘Children, Old People’ Last year, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found benzene, which it classifies as a carcinogen, at 10,700 times the safe long-term exposure limit next to a well 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of town on which a valve had been left open. “We have children, old people, pregnant women,” Mayor Calvin Tillman says. “They’re not supposed to be subjected to toxins.” Switzer, who moved to Dimock Township, Pennsylvania, to build a $350,000 dream home with her husband, Jimmy, in 2004, had no idea how shale gas would consume her village of 1,400. She says she found so much methane in her well that her water bubbled like Alka-Seltzer. Neighbor Norma Fiorentino says methane in her well blew an 8-inch-thick (20-centimeter-thick) concrete slab off the top. The $180 bonus Cabot paid to drill on Switzer’s 7.2 acres (2.9 hectares) and the $900 in royalties she gets each month don’t compensate, she says. ‘Beads and Baubles’ “I feel like one of the Indians who sold Manhattan for beads and baubles,” she says. The economics of shale don’t look great right now for big companies either. Natural gas prices plunged to $2.41 per MMBtu in September 2009 from $13.69 in July 2008 as the recession cut demand while drilling accelerated. On May 24, gas traded at $4.04. James Barrow, who invests one-ninth of his $50 billion portfolio in energy stocks as president of Dallas-based Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss, says leases signed as gas peaked in 2008 make drilling necessary -- even in a slump. When this new gas hits the market, the price could again sink into the mid-$2 range, he says. For companies to profit from new wells, gas has to rise to $7.50, says Ben Dell, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst in New York. He predicts it’s only a matter of time before firms trim production, which he says will boost gas to $8.50 by 2011. Soaring Consumption If gas stays above $4, a price that lets companies cover costs on existing wells, U.S. output could grow 20 percent to 65 billion cubic feet (1.8 billion cubic meters) a day from 2008 through 2030, says Peter Wells, director of U.K. research firm Neftex Petroleum Consultants Ltd. Shale gas production could quadruple to more than 20 billion cubic feet, he says. That would help meet rising power demand. Global energy consumption will soar 44 percent by 2030 from 2006, the U.S. Energy Department says. China and India will siphon off 28 percent by then, according to the DOE forecast. Demand is rising because the planet’s population will balloon to 8.2 billion in 2030 from 6.8 billion today. Hydroelectric, wind and other renewable sources will plug only part of the gap: They’ll contribute 17 percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2035 from 9.1 percent in 2009, the DOE says. “Taking advantage of the new natural gas finds, the shale finds, would be an important piece of how we begin to break our dependence on foreign oil,” Carol Browner, President Barack Obama’s senior energy adviser, told a Washington audience in April. Investors Primed Investors are primed for a boom. Chesapeake’s shares fell 47 percent from the beginning of 2008 to $20.75 on May 24 as gas prices sank. Bernstein’s Dell predicted in mid-May that shares would rise to $34 during the next 12 months while companies curb output, reducing supply as rebounding economies demand more energy. The stock prices of Chesapeake and fellow gas developers Petrohawk Energy Corp. and Range Resources Corp. don’t reflect the firms’ shale holdings, says David Heikkinen, a Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. analyst in Houston. Fort Worth-based Range has assets valued at $65 a share, he says, a third more than its May 24 stock price of $42.47. Range began plumbing the Marcellus shale that underlies New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia in 2004. The band of rock -- so designated because it pokes through the surface near a city of that name in northern New York -- may contain 262 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, the DOE estimates. The U.S. uses 20 TCF annually, mostly for power plants and home heating. That means the Marcellus shale alone could supply America’s needs for more than a decade. Getting a Bargain Range CEO John Pinkerton says he got a bargain when his company paid $1,000 an acre for Marcellus drilling rights near Pittsburgh starting in 2004. India’s Reliance paid 14 times more in April, a price Pinkerton says he wouldn’t consider. “If I sold today for $14,000 an acre, I’d be selling for a quarter of what it’s worth,” Pinkerton told investors in April. Range has 200 wells in Washington County south of Pittsburgh and may add another 4,300 in the county over 10 years. Even oil and coal companies are raising their bets on gas. In December, Exxon Mobil Corp. agreed to pay $41 billion in stock and assumed debt for Fort Worth-based XTO Energy Inc., the biggest U.S. gas producer. Outside North America, unexplored geology and nonexistent pipelines make it harder to gauge how much shale gas exists. “Regions including China, India, Australia and Europe are thought to hold large resources,” the International Energy Agency said in November. Liking the Odds Firms are taking those odds. European oil giants BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are looking in China. Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Exxon purchased drilling licenses in Poland. “Companies are rushing to get the last available license,” says Henryk Jacek Jezierski, Poland’s chief national geologist. Consol Energy Inc., the second-largest U.S. coal producer by market value, owns land near Pittsburgh that’s in the heart of Marcellus shale. It also bought shale assets valued at $4.4 billion in April. CEO Brett Harvey says coal will remain the bedrock of the U.S. economy far into the future. He’s not ignoring gas. Because Consol already owns the Pittsburgh-area property, it can charge as little as $3.71 MMBtu for gas and still earn a 20 percent after-tax return, he says. Firms forced to pay $5,000 an acre for drilling rights and a 20 percent leasing royalty would have to charge $5.18, he says. “If there’s a flood of gas at $4, guess who’s going to produce it?” Harvey says. “We are.” Managing a Windfall Pennsylvania is no stranger to energy euphoria. Edwin Drake drilled the world’s first successful oil well in 1859 in Titusville, 240 miles west of the Switzers’ home in Dimock. Now it’s learning to manage its latest windfall. In October, companies will be required to disclose the chemical composition of fracking water, says John Hanger, secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection. The department is doubling its number of oil and gas enforcers to 193. Switzer says it’s about time. She says she’s had nothing but trouble since Houston-based Cabot arrived in 2006. It sank 50 wells in 2009 and plans 81 this year. Convoys loaded with drilling rigs, pipes and compressors crisscross the village. Her creek ran red with spilled diesel after a truck slid on ice and hit a tree. Some neighbors are moving. Switzer wants Cabot shut down instead. “They said we’d never notice the drilling,” she says of Cabot. “Now, we won’t be able to remember when they weren’t here.” Methane Migration The Switzers and 31 neighbors are suing Cabot for negligence. The company had until June 1 to respond. Cabot spokesman George Stark declined to comment on the suit. Separately, and without acknowledging any wrongdoing, Cabot agreed with Pennsylvania officials on April 15 to stop drilling in Dimock for a year, cap three wells with casings that the state deemed defective and pay a $240,000 fine. Ken Komoroski, a Cabot attorney, says there’s no proof drilling polluted Dimock’s water. He says loose soil collapsed at a well, snapping the drilling pipe and dragging the bit 1,700 feet (520 meters) underground. Methane may have migrated through the cavity into aquifers as Cabot recovered the bit, he says. Cabot now tests for methane and uses latex to ensure well casings are cemented properly. ‘More Like Texas’ “In the big picture, drilling is going very well,” Komoroski says. “Pennsylvania is going to look more like Texas.” Shale gas pioneer Mitchell can take credit if that happens. His parents, Greek immigrants who ran a dry cleaning store, put him through Texas A&M University, where he majored in geology and petroleum engineering. In 1946, he started consulting for a company he later bought and renamed Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. Mitchell knew gas had become embedded in shale, the most common sedimentary rock, when ancient seabeds were covered and compressed by erosion. Starting in 1981, he experimented with drilling down and then horizontally. He fracked the wells, pumping fluid to blast out the gas -- testing the method sparking today’s boom. “We tried propane, diesel, anything you can think of,” says Mitchell, who uses a motorized scooter to zip around in his Houston office, where he greets emissaries from China and Europe who have been bitten by the shale bug. “Water with a small amount of sand worked best.” Better Bet By 1993, Mitchell had developed shale gas extraction into a viable business. Rivals didn’t pay attention until prices rose in tandem with oil and passed $4 a decade later. Mitchell sold his company to Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corp. for $3.1 billion in 2002. Since then, he has invested $25 million in Alta Resources LLC, which has five wells near Montrose in northeastern Pennsylvania and may drill 500 more. Mitchell says shale gas is a better bet than oil. A typical gas well near Fort Worth costs $4 million and is virtually assured of success. In the Gulf of Mexico, oil companies spend $300 million drilling through 1,000 feet of water and 35,000 feet of rock and can still come up empty. “They decided they better start working on shale gas,” he says. Persistent Risk The U.S. Congress is investigating offshore drilling for a more tragic reason. On April 20, an explosion at a BP oil rig began spewing at least 5,000 barrels of crude a day. The disaster killed 11 people, wiped $58.3 billion off BP’s value as of May 24 and prompted the governors of Florida and California to withdraw support for ocean drilling. While Chesapeake’s McClendon, 50, expects offshore drilling to become more difficult, shale gas has its own drawbacks, Neftex’s Wells says. “With deep-water exploration, there is a very small risk of a catastrophic event,” he says. “With shale gas, there is a persistent risk of long-term contamination of groundwater. This doesn’t have easy-to-see TV imagery, like oiled-up seabirds. It needs scientific explanation for which the public is not trained.” The Doghouse BP had started looking for gas before the oil spill. In 2008, it paid Chesapeake $1.75 billion for rights on 90,000 acres near Stuart, Oklahoma, 100 miles south of Tulsa. BP has since tripled initial output from wells on this land to 10 million cubic feet a day. On a sunny February afternoon, workers prepare new wells using a road grader to scrape flat a 5-acre patch called the drill pad. They’ll cover the area with rubber and surround it with 18-inch-high berms to contain any spilled liquid from fracking or drilling debris. They’ll bore as many as eight wells in the pad. From a 14-story white rig with a blue platform, workers in a control room called the doghouse use computers to manipulate hydraulic lifts that arrange 30-foot sections of black pipe into rows. Mechanical claws screw one pipe to a volleyball-size drill bit studded with diamonds and the other pipes to each other. An 11-ton rotating clamp called a top drive pushes the pieces into the pad to start the well. Within 10 Feet The bit and drilling pipes, which are surrounded by three rings of metal casings cemented in place to protect aquifers, go down 8,000 feet. Workers activate a motor in the pipe, which has a slight bend near the bit, so that 1,000 feet of drilling produces a 90-degree turn. After probing for 3 miles, the driller, from his perch in the doghouse, can place the bit within 10 feet of his target, says Bryant Chapman, BP’s vice president for North American gas operations. Next comes fracking. Workers park 40 tractor-trailers loaded with pumps, sand, chemicals and portable containment tanks on the pad and spend three days blasting 5 million gallons (19 million liters) of water into the well. As much as 40 percent flows back out. In Texas, the water is injected into underground rock. In Pennsylvania, which lacks suitable deep-rock formations, the water gets recycled or goes to treatment plants. Fracking worries people far from Stuart and Dimock. New York City serves 8 million residents from a watershed so pristine it’s exempt from federal filtration requirements. Fracking Concern A consulting firm hired by the city, Hazen & Sawyer PC, said in December that chemicals from fracked wells could have a catastrophic impact. Some, like pesticide 2,2-dibromo-3- nitrilopropionamide, are toxic. Each well needs 82 tons of assorted chemicals for reasons such as killing bacteria and inhibiting corrosion, the report says. New York has banned shale gas drilling statewide until it adopts new rules. “We firmly believe, based on the best available science and current industry and technological practices, that drilling cannot be permitted in the city’s watershed,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an April press release. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News. Range CEO Pinkerton says New York’s leaders are ignoring facts. “They’re cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs,” he says, quoting a 1960s breakfast cereal slogan. Squaring Off Pinkerton, 56, says all Marcellus wells that will ever be built will use less water than one nuclear plant and that damage from coal mines is much worse than shale drilling. As the drilling debate intensifies, shale gas supporters and opponents are squaring off along the Delaware River, the waterway U.S. General George Washington crossed on Christmas Day in 1776 to defeat Hessian mercenaries. In April, Pennsylvania issued a permit for the first of up to nine exploratory shale wells in the river basin for New York- based Hess Corp. and Houston-based Newfield Exploration Co. The first well will be 2.5 miles west of the Delaware and 15 miles north of Honesdale. Pat Carullo says drilling is a beast that can’t be tamed. Carullo, 56, co-founded Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, which wants case-by-case reviews of new wells. “The gas industry thought they could spread money around like pimps and drill anywhere in the watershed,” he says. “I’ll be dead before that happens.” Preserving the Farm Marian Schweighofer, executive director of the Northern Wayne Property Owners Alliance, is rooting for shale gas. If commercial drilling is banned in the river basin, she’d lose out on income for the 712-acre farm in Tyler Hill that’s been in her family for four generations. Marian and her husband Edward, both 54, have gotten $500,000 from Hess so far. Jack Ivey is contemplating the riches shale gas can bring. He leased 111 acres in Montrose to Mitchell’s Alta for $310,800. Ivey, 80, hopes for at least $346 a day from the first well if gas prices hold up. Royalties may reach $1,734 a day with five more wells. “Hopefully, I’ll live five or six years so I can get some of this money,” he says. Mitchell predicts companies will win public support for drilling in Pennsylvania the way they did in Texas. “With money,” he says, and pauses, as if no elaboration is needed. Learning From Dimock Billions of dollars -- and energy for the 21st century -- are at stake. In Australia, Beach Energy Ltd. wants to explore an area that may hold 200 TCF of shale gas. China may produce a quarter of its gas from shale deposits in the next 20 years, the DOE says. Before Schweighofer’s group signed on for drilling, members toured Dimock and met Victoria Switzer. They hired a lawyer and insisted on stronger well casings than Pennsylvania requires and that farmers be allowed to keep drilling equipment out of their best fields. Switzer, now a shale gas veteran, says she hopes the world can learn from her and her neighbors that there are costs as well as benefits from unlocking a treasure the Earth has guarded for hundreds of millions of years.  [Full Story]

May 25, 2010
House energy panel OKs bill bolstering gas-drilling safeguards
State Rep. Camille "Bud" George
Press Release

"House Bill 2213 – the Land and Water Protection Act -- recognizes the threats to our natural resources and toll on our infrastructure inherent in Marcellus Shale gas drilling," said Rep. George, D-74 of Clearfield County, the bill’s sponsor. "The committee recognized that Pennsylvania must keep pace with the challenges and costs already being encountered throughout much of Pennsylvania." Approved on a 17-9 vote, HB 2213 would: ? Require a permit before a well can be developed; ? Bolster the state Department of Environmental Protection’s authority to deny well permits because of outstanding violations and to suspend drilling for serious violations; ? Update set-back requirements for water sources and high-quality and exceptional value streams; ? Require the DEP to inspect Marcellus well sites during crucial drilling phases; ? Increase potential civil penalties from $25,000 to $100,000 and potential daily fines for continuous violations from $1,000 to $10,500 a day; ? Extend to 2,500 feet, from 1,000 feet, the presumed liability of a well polluting a water supply; ? Require full disclosure of the chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing – fracking – of the natural gas from the earth; ? Update bonding requirements to cover the costs of decommissioning a well; ? Clarify local governments’ authority to regulate oil and gas activities. The committee also approved Rep. George’s HB 2214, the Lessor’s Royalty Protection Act, which would protect landowners’ royalties in oil and gas leases from attempts to deduct post-production expenses. Approved on a 14-12 vote, HB 2214 would: ? Raise the minimum royalty payment to 15 percent of the gross proceeds received, unless the lease states otherwise; ? Establish timetables for royalty payments and interest charges on unpaid royalties; ? Prohibit royalty deductions for any severance taxes, applicable state fees or post-production costs; ? Enable leases to be modified when procedures beyond routine cleaning and maintenance alter a well’s development. "Pennsylvania’s landowners deserve fair value from the resources extracted from their properties," Rep. George said. The committee also approved House Bill 2234, which would prohibit deed restrictions and covenants that would prevent homeowners from installing solar panels or other sources of alternative energy. The measure, offered by state Rep. Tom Houghton, D-13 of Chester County, was approved on a 25-1 vote. All three bills now face consideration by the full House.   [Full Story]

May 25, 2010
Potential gas bonanza has its pitfalls
Charleston Daily Mail
Blomberg News

When Victoria Switzer awoke on a cold night in March, her dog was staring out the window at the flame roaring from a natural-gas-drilling rig 2,000 feet behind her house. She remembers trees silhouetted in a demonic dance as the plume burned off gas that had been building up under her land. She discovered later that such flaring can occur when Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and dozens more companies drill for gas trapped in shale rock. The deposits, stretching from Texas to New York, and as far away as Australia and China, represent what may be the biggest energy bonanza in decades - one that Switzer, 57, recalls thinking the Earth isn't surrendering without a fight. There's talk in the natural gas industry that the Marcellus Shale gas field - known in the business as a "play" - may contain 500 trillion cubic feet of gas. The Marcellus Shale extends from northeast Pennsylvania around Bedford through southwestern Pennsylvania, through the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and into the central part of the state. It underlies 15 million acres. Switzer, a retired teacher in Pennsylvania, is on the front line of a shale gas frenzy that's dividing communities, creating millionaires and shaking up global energy markets. Companies from India's Reliance Industries to Japan's Mitsui & Co. are spending billions to dislodge natural gas from the Marcellus Shale - a band of sedimentary rock composed of mud, quartz and calcite. Shale gas proponents, led by 91-year-old oil patch billionaire George Mitchell, who invented the process to extract it, says the U.S. should plumb all forms of natural gas. That would help unhook the nation from coal and foreign petroleum. Gas is two-thirds cheaper than oil and greener too. It produces 117 pounds of carbon dioxide per million British thermal units (MMBtu) of energy equivalent compared with 156 MMBtu for gasoline and 205 MMBtu for coal. "This discovery will change the course of world history, not just to de-carbonize the economy but to de-OPEC-ize it," Chesapeake Energy Corp. Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon said in December in Copenhagen as the United Nations climate conference was under way. Chesapeake, based in Oklahoma City, has profited by selling drilling rights and gas reserves for $10.7 billion during the past 2 1/2 years, quadruple the $2.7 billion it paid. McClendon - with $33 billion in assets left to sell - says he's open for business. Shale gas has plenty of detractors. Environmentalists say fracking, a process in which drillers blast water into a well to shatter rock and unleash the gas, threatens pristine watersheds. Dish, a hamlet of 180 residents north of Fort Worth, Texas, has almost as many wells, compressors and pipelines as people. Last year, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality found benzene, which it classifies as a carcinogen, at 10,700 times the safe long-term exposure limit next to a well 6 miles west of town on which a valve had been left open. "We have children, old people, pregnant women," Mayor Calvin Tillman says. "They're not supposed to be subjected to toxins." Switzer, who moved to Dimock Township, Pa., to build a $350,000 dream home with her husband, Jimmy, in 2004, had no idea how shale gas would consume her village of 1,400. She says she found so much methane in her well that her water bubbled like Alka-Seltzer. Neighbor Norma Fiorentino says methane in her well blew an 8-inch-thick concrete slab off the top. The $180 bonus Cabot paid to drill on Switzer's 7.2 acres and the $900 in royalties she gets each month don't compensate, she says. "I feel like one of the Indians who sold Manhattan for beads and baubles," she says. The economics of shale don't look great right now for big companies either. Natural gas prices plunged to $2.41 per MMBtu in September 2009 from $13.69 in July 2008 as the recession cut demand while drilling accelerated. On May 21, gas traded at $4.04.  [Full Story]

May 24, 2010
Natural gas makes headway in latest proposed energy bill
Ft Worth Business Press
JOHN-LAURENT TRONCHE

It appears natural gas continues to garner attention in the minds of elected officials: the recently unveiled American Power Act, a climate change bill put forth by two U.S. senators, includes language that both promotes and provides incentives for increased use of the fuel. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., were the two senators left standing of the three who began working on the bill months ago – South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham dropped out days before its original planned debut. Nonetheless, the bill’s development continued until its May 12 unveiling. Among the most-appealing sections for natural gas proponents are incentives for fleet operators to incorporate more natural gas-fueled heavy-duty trucks, instead of diesel-powered vehicles. The bill also promotes “greater inclusion of natural gas and liquid petroleum gas powered vehicles in federal fleets,” according to the senators. Furthermore, there are incentives for increased use of natural gas in the power sector; however, some critics argue the bill should go further to persuade electricity generators to shun coal for natural gas.   [Full Story]

May 23, 2010
Shale drilling plans create friction
Democrate and Chronicle.com
Erica Bryant

In Pennsylvania, miners are pumping millions of gallons of chemical-laced water into horizontal wells to fracture underground shale formations and release valuable natural gas. Plans to do so in New York are mobilizing citizens by the thousands. "It could be a gold rush," said Kenneth Knowles, chairman of the Steuben County Land Owners Coalition. He looks across the Pennsylvania border and sees new cars and full restaurants. Estimates suggest that horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing has pumped more than $2 billion into the Pennsylvania economy, and Knowles wants the same benefits in his county, where the unemployment rate was 10.3 percent as of March. "It will be the one greatest benefit that this county has ever seen, no question about it." Charles Tauck, principal owner of Sheldrake Point Winery in Ovid, Seneca County, looks south and sees 200-foot drilling rigs, five-acre well pads, hazardous waste holding ponds and accidents contaminating drinking water. He is part of a group of Finger Lakes winery owners and environmentalists who are pushing the state Department of Environmental Conservation to beef up proposed "hydrofracking" rules for fear of environmental destruction, water pollution, chemical spills and loss of quality of life. "It could lay waste to some areas of the Southern Tier," he said. Their sharply contrasting opinions are found among more than 14,000 public comments sent to the state DEC regarding the 800-page draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement for horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing to develop the Marcellus shale. Geologists estimate that up to 516 trillion cubic feet of natural gas lies trapped in this massive underground formation that stretches from West Virginia and eastern Ohio into Pennsylvania and parts of New York, including the Southern Tier and the Finger Lakes.   [Full Story]

May 23, 2010
New gas drilling rules are better late than never
/standardspeaker.com


A decision by the state Environmental Quality Board to upgrade standards for gas drillers in Pennsylvania demonstrates the degree to which the government has been behind the curve in trying to regulate the industry. Last week the board approved regulations to reduce the amount of pollution in wastewater generated by the drilling process. And, in a decision resulting directly from the pollution of residential wells in Susquehanna County, it approved standards for gas well construction that are meant to preclude the migration of gas into water wells. The state government is playing catch-up because its regulatory regime for drilling was devised before technology enabled the methods being employed across the Marcellus Shale gas fields. New York State placed a moratorium on Marcellus Shale deep drilling until its scientists and regulators were able to study the potential environmental impact. Its regulatory upgrade is under way. Pennsylvania, on the other hand, allowed drilling to commence two years ago and has been adjusting ever since, often has problems have developed, such as the Susquehanna County well contamination. This is a case of better late than never for stronger regulation. Unfortunately, the Environmental Quality Board's approval is just an intermediate step in the process   [Full Story]

May 23, 2010
Marcellus drilling spurs calls for higher bonds
thetime-tribune.com
Robert Swift

To avoid future pollution cleanup problems, a bipartisan consensus is emerging that Pennsylvania needs to significantly increase the bond amounts drillers post to cover the cost of plugging or closing natural gas wells. Policymakers have yet to decide on a specific course of action. The current bond requirements date to 1984, when the state tightened oil and gas laws in response to a short-lived drilling boom for shallow gas deposits in northwestern Pennsylvania. At that time, the technology wasn't available to reach the deep gas pockets of what is now called the Marcellus Shale formation underlying Northeast Pennsylvania and other regions. Drillers are required to post a $2,500 bond for a single well and $25,000 blanket bond to cover any number of wells. The bonds are regarded as a financial incentive to ensure a driller will act responsibly and address any problems. The current bonds are inadequate to protect state taxpayers from future liability for any cleanup problems at Marcellus Shale wells, John Hanger, the acting Department of Environmental Resources secretary told the Environmental Hearing Board last week. DEP is developing a bonding proposal for consideration with either House or Senate legislation addressing the topic, he said   [Full Story]

May 23, 2010
Pa. seeks stronger drilling rules to combat methane migration
pressconnects.com
Tom Wilber

Methane migration related to natural gas drilling has caused death, injuries and property damage in Pennsylvania, leading to plans for stronger regulations and enforcement efforts. Officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection called drilling industry officials to a meeting in Harrisburg earlier this month to urge care in preventing underground gas leaks that can cause catastrophes. The warning, along with a plan being developed for stronger regulations, comes in the wake of more than 50 incidents documented by the DEP showing methane migration from drilling implicated in deaths, destruction and evacuations of homes. A recent high-profile case involves the Carter Road area of Dimock, where methane migration linked to drilling caused one residential water well to explode and ruined the aquifer used by a dozen households, according to DEP records. Dimock represents one of more than 50 gas migration cases the DEP is tracking related to new drilling and abandoned wells. All involved dangerous and sometime fatal accumulations of gas in enclosed spaces.   [Full Story]

May 22, 2010
Gasland, award-winning film, chronicles threats posed by largest domestic natural gas drilling boom in U.S. history
7 Bends of the Shenandoah Valley
Press Release

When filmmaker Josh Fox discovers that Natural Gas drilling is coming to his area – the Catskills/Poconos region of Upstate New York and Pennsylvania – sets off on a 24-state journey to uncover the deep consequences of the United States’ natural gas drilling boom. What he uncovers is truly shocking – water that can be lit on fire right out of the sink, chronically ill residents of drilling areas from disparate locations in the U.S., all with the same mysterious symptoms, huge pools of toxic waste that kill cattle and vegetation well blowouts and huge gas explosions consistently covered up by state and federal regulatory agencies. Part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown, Josh and his banjo encounter EPA whistleblowers, congressmen, world recognized scientists, and some of the most incredibly inspiring and heart-wrenching stories of ordinary Americans fighting against fossil fuel giants for environmental justice   [Full Story]

May 22, 2010
League Of Women Voters announces Marcellus Shale Study results
Delaware Country News Network


The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania recently announced the results of a year-long study of the benefits and costs of natural gas extraction from Marcellus Shale. At a press conference announcing the study results, League President Olivia Thorne said, “We recognize the significant economic importance of extracting gas from Marcellus Shale. However, we have serious concerns about the cumulative, long-term consequences of the extraction process.” Thorne called for adoption of a severance tax on the extracted gas and a moratorium on drilling in state forestland. She said the moratorium is needed to provide time to compile data, review implications and develop adequate safeguards. She cited a provision in Article I of Pennsylvania’s Constitution that states “Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people,” and that the people “have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.”   [Full Story]

May 22, 2010
Drilling doubt cast Boom industry concerns anglers, hunters
Times Leader
Tom Venesky

The talk inside Giles Evans’ sporting goods shop has changed recently. For years hunters and anglers have come into Brady and Cavany Sporting Goods, in the heart of Tunkhannock, to swap stories about where the fish are biting and the big bucks are roaming. And every day, Evans leans on the counter and takes it all in. But recently, in addition to hunting and fishing, a new topic has sprung to the forefront: gas drilling. Evans said he hears more and more hunters and anglers expressing concerns about how the drilling boom will affect the streams they fish and the woods they hunt. It’s a concern that continues to grow as quickly as the well pads dotting the ground in Northeastern Pennsylvania   [Full Story]

May 22, 2010
The Great Gas Industry Scam
Northcentralpa.com
Jon Bogle

Scams have two parts: “You are going to be rich” and “All you have to do to be rich is...” Of course, if you actually do the second part you will end up much poorer. Last summer, the gas industry paid for a study, "An Emerging Giant," which essentially laid out the gas industry scam. Pennsylvania was going to be rich and all we had to do, as a state, to be rich was not tax or regulate the gas industry. "An Emerging Giant" vastly over hyped the amount of jobs, taxes, and economic development gas exploration will produce. It has and can be refuted by the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, comparisons of statistics with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, comparisons with studies from the Penn State Extension and most recently from an independent study by J. M. Barth and Associates. Although funded by the gas industry’s umbrella organization, the Marcellus Shale Committee, "An Emerging Giant" acquired undeserved credibility by being portrayed as a Pennsylvania State University research paper. It is a bit difficult to understand how this came about since: •Both principle authors had left Penn State employ before the document was published. •Neither author had a background in community economics -- Robert Watson is an engineer and Tim Considine is a fuel market economist. •The paper was not peer reviewed.  [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
Pipeline extension would bring Marcellus Shale gas from northern Pa. to major Northeastern markets
The Ithaca Journal
Tom Wilber

Next Page1| 2Previous PageConstruction of a branch line to move Marcellus Shale gas from Susquehanna and Broome counties to a major distribution network is expected to begin in late summer and be completed by year's end, according to developers. The project, proposed by Laser Midstream of Houston, would connect gas fields in northern Pennsylvania to the Millennium Pipeline, which bisects Broome and Tioga counties and leads to major markets in the Northeast. It also would service gas fields in southwestern Broome County, if and when they are developed. The construction phase would last about 100 days and require between 120 and 150 workers, said Laser Midstream president Chip Berthelot. The project would employ between eight and 12 permanent workers. Related See more on gas drilling Compression station artist rendering It must pass some significant hurdles before construction can begin, however, including a permit from the New York State Public Service Commission, and a deal with landowners for easements. The company expects to file a permit application for the New York part of the project in coming weeks, Berthelot said.   [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
Official to call for delay in fracking
the daily star
Tom Grace

At Wednesday's Solid Waste and Environmental Concerns Committee, Otsego County Rep. Richard Murphy, D-Oneonta, will introduce a resolution calling for a moratorium on hydrofracking, he said Thursday. "A number of counties and municipalities have done this, and I plan to review what they've done and see which of their resolutions would be best for our county," Murphy, a committee member, said. Cortland, Tompkins and Onondaga counties recently adopted measures calling on state officials to hold off approving widespread hydraulic fracturing — a process used to stimulate natural gas wells — until further study shows it is safe. When wells are fracked, large quantities of water, sand and chemicals are pumped deep into the ground under high pressure to shatter the rock that holds the gas. The practice is used on vertical, as well as horizontal wells, and different substances can employed. Cortland County officials, among others, worry that fracking may pollute water wells. The resolution the Cortland board adopted last month, reads in part: "Whereas, the potential for contamination of our municipal and individual well-based drinking water, Cortland County's aquifers, and the potential water quality impacts from the migration of chemicals and improper discharge of wastewater directly to the watershed are causes of deep concern to this legislative body; and Whereas, the potential damage to local landscapes and wildlife is incalculable, and the possible threat to air quality and public health from drilling operations is immeasurable; and `Whereas it is necessary to pursue further independent scientific assessments of hydrofracking regarding risks to ground and surface water, air quality, public health, wildlife, agriculture, economic development ... "RESOLVED, that the Cortland County Legislature hereby requests that the state ban hydrofracking operations pending further independent scientific assessments ..." The measure adopted by Tompkins County this week is similar. At a recent meeting of an Otsego County subcommittee on gas drilling, members of Otsego 2000 handed out copies of a proposed fracking moratorium resolution. Rep. Stephen Fournier, R-Milford, chairman of Otsego's Solid Waste and Environmental Concerns Committee, said he believes the measure is too broad and unenforceable. "It's essentially meaningless; I think it would be a mistake for us to pass something like that," he said, noting that the state Department of Environmental Conservation is reviewing hydrofracking as it rewrites the rules for horizontal drilling in shale beds. "It's too broad and too vague and doesn't address the issues we need to address to get ready for gas drilling," he said. The county should be preparing to control matters over which it has authority, such as protecting roads, and should prepare local people to take advantage of economic opportunities, he said. Murphy said he believes that if the state gave counties more time to prepare for widespread drilling, they could do a better job of protecting residents and maximizing economic benefits. Committee member Rep. Keith McCarthy, R-Springfield, said he is open to considering the resolution. "We advise the state on issues all the time," he said. "I don't see how this is any different."   [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
THEIRVIEW Drilling proponents in fantasyland
Centre Daily Times
Katherine Watt

Here are the arguments for Marcellus gas drilling: The pain of families already suffering from poisoned well water doesn’t matter now or foreshadow wider pain. Gas and dollars are — and will remain — more intrinsically valuable than clean water and intact forests. Financial investments and profitable activities are morally neutral. Paid employment with firms that profit from drilling isn’t a conflict of interest for local decision- makers. Campaign contributions from coal, oil, gas and utility companies don’t corrupt lawmakers. Economic growth driven by debt and extracted resources can go on forever. Shareholders and executives of multinational drilling corporations can’t undermine the multigenerational viability of the Susquehanna bioregion. We’re immune to extractive boom-and-bust cycles. Even if we’re vulnerable, more drilling is inevitable: Jobs and revenue justify the profoundly dangerous means. Federal and state pollution and safety laws are strong. Drillers voluntarily comply, and if not, there are plenty of well-funded regulators to fully monitor current and planned drilling. Water withdrawals for drilling won’t deplete drinking and irrigation supplies. Toxic slurry explosions deep underground to break ancient rock formations full of methane and natural gas aren’t inherently dangerous and won’t contaminate more water sources. Pennsylvania’s acid mine drainage legacy and fracking’s dismal environmental and economic records don’t count, nor do public concerns about drilling’s moral, social and biological implications. If toxic spills happen, they’ll be found, stopped and reversed quickly, easily and cheaply without harm to public health or ecosystems. Communities will welcome toxic fracking byproducts for concentration and storage. Large irreversible increases in oil prices from declining supplies amid rising demand aren’t imminent. But if oil prices spike, Centre County will still be able to afford to import most of our food and supplies by truck. Relocalized, labor-intense organic agriculture, renewable energy, small-scale repair and manufacturing businesses, education, health care and carbon-sequestering reforestation can’t provide basic life-sustaining food, shelter and work. We can’t reduce our energy consumption to match solar, wind and geothermal capacity as fossil fuels peak, nor build those renewable systems. If we wanted to build relocalized economies, gas drilling is a compatible goal — there’s enough clean, safe water, time and money to do both. From today’s decision-makers, future generations are better off inheriting dollars than clean water, healthy forests, rich, fertile organic soils and renewable energy systems. If gas drilling damages the water system’s ability to support human settlements, we can import drinking and irrigation water or move away. Climate change isn’t happening. Or if it is, carbon emissions from human activities aren’t causing it. Or if they are, gas extraction and burning won’t add to CO2 levels. If climate change is real, it’s not urgent and demands no big changes in how human economies work. Finally, if big changes are needed, someone else will lead; we can postpone our own preparations until leadership emerges. It’s a tight matrix of false premises that’s very hard to see through, causing local and other lawmakers to make terrible decisions. But I’m blinded by some false premises myself. I like to think public planning could be prudent, driven by supported facts, good logic and plausible projections about the back-to-basics, make-do future. And I like to think that America, although foundering, could be a democracy where regular people don’t need superhuman courage to beat back the incentivized greed standing between us and a livable future. Katherine Watt is a State College writer and community organizer. E-mail katherine_watt@hotmail.com. Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/05/21/1990789/drilling-proponents-in-fantasyland.html#ixzz0omsE4OgM   [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
Natural gas impacts discussed
the daily review
Eric Hrin

Some state representatives from around the Commonwealth got an idea of the tremendous impact the Marcellus Shale natural gas play has had on Bradford County during a public hearing in Ulster Thursday. Meanwhile, a state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) official urged the adoption of a severance tax on natural gas during the approximately three-hour proceeding, held at the Ulster-Sheshequin Fire Association Building. "The Marcellus play has changed our lives," Anthony Ventello, executive director of the Progress Authority, based in Towanda, said at the public hearing of the House Republican Policy Committee co-chaired by state Rep. Tina Pickett (R-Bradford/Sullivan/Susquehanna). After hearing Ventello's remarks, one of the several representatives attending, Rep. Dan Moul (R-Adams/Franklin), referenced the saying "make hay while the sun shines" in addressing Ventello. "You're making hay," he told him. Ventello told the panel that the natural gas industry dominates all local conversations and agendas. "The gas field development obviously started with the leasing frenzy, which has escalated from $25 or less an acre to $5,700 to $8,000 an acre, and now we are hearing of some leases totaling $15,000 an acre," he said, reading from his written remarks. "In many leases, the leasing bonus payment exceeded actual land value." He said the leasing impact in the down economy provided much needed money to the region. Bradford County, he said, leads the state of Pennsylvania in new job creation with 2,000 more people employed than one year ago. And he said, contrary to many peoples' belief, many local individuals are now being hired with the support of Penn College's Marcellus Shale Work Force Needs Assessment. Another speaker, Brian Grove, director of corporate development for Chesapeake Energy's Eastern Division, made much of a recent headline that Bradford County leads the state in job growth. "Let me say that again - 'Bradford County Leads State in Job Growth,'" he said. "While I have long been a loyal resident of the region and vocal proponent of its many great qualities and potential for positive growth, I might have lost a wager if you would have asked me if that headline was even possible five years ago." Early last year, he said, Chesapeake employed about 215 people in Pennsylvania. Since then, he said, that number has increased to more than 1,100 employees and continues to grow "every facet of our operation experiences expansion." In addition, Ventello noted that the Progress Authority, in partnership with Penn College and Penn State University, has finalized a special study proposal which will build a model to measure the economic impacts of the industry. "Much like Penn College's workforce model based on a drilling rig count variable, the Progress Authority model will rely on specific measures, such as permit activity, water utilization, productive wells, leasing activity, etc. to harness the economic impact," he said. J. Scott Roberts, Deputy Secretary for Mineral Resources Management with DEP, said the agency is strengthening its regulations in response to the industry's anticipated growth. "On May 17, the Environmental Quality Board approved proposed rules to strengthen our existing well construction standards," he said. "A properly cased and cemented well is critical to containing gas, oil and other fluids within the well bore and avoiding the sort of problems that happened in Dimock." He said the EQB also approved final rules requiring drilling companies to treat highly polluted drilling wastewater to drinking water quality if returning drilling wastewater to rivers and streams. He also noted the department hired 37 news staff members last year, and are in the process of hiring another 68 this year, which more than doubles its oil and gas staff since 2008. But he said local and environmental impacts can be reduced, but cannot be eliminated. "A severance tax is one way to ensure the benefits of gas production outweigh its costs," he said in advocating for such a tax. "Pennsylvania must join nearly every other gas-producing state and enact a reasonable severance tax as part of its development of the Marcellus Shale gas reserve." He said the DEP's new wastewater and well construction regulations and a severance tax on the extraction of natural gas "will give regulators and local governments the tools they need to protect our environment and our residents." Also speaking on taxes, Ventello said, "if the resource is taxed, careful consideration must be given to the amount and revenue returned to the host counties, school districts and municipalities who bear the financial burdens of impacts to infrastructure and communities. The majority of funding should be invested locally. With uprise of drilling this spring, substantial damage to local roads was experienced well beyond any municipal budget; although gas companies are attempting to restore the roads via bonding and agreements, clarification of funding specifically targeted for road repair must be finalized." Thomas W. Beauduy, deputy director and counsel for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, also spoke to the panel. He noted that the organization regulates the withdrawal and consumptive use of water associated with natural gas development activity. He said the commission is seeing a current level of use of less than 1 million gallons a day, and it estimates that use will gradually climb to 28 million gallons a day as the industry goes to full production mode. If it reaches that point, he said, the industry would then be using 10 billion gallons per year. To put that into perspective, he said, 10 billion gallons is what is withdrawn every three days in the basin to produce electricity. According to Beauduy, the commission has issued 111 surface water withdrawal approvals to the natural gas industry, and has also approved the use of 22 public water supply systems as a source for water. According to Beauduy, the use can be accommodated, but it needs to be managed to avoid impacts. He noted that commission is in the process of deploying a remote water quality monitoring network that will continuously measure and report certain water quality conditions of smaller rivers and streams in the Twin Tier watersheds where the Marcellus Shale activity is under way. Others speaking included Kathryn Z. Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition and Stephen Rhoads, director of external affairs for East Resources, Inc. Pickett ended the hearing by urging those in the industry to "be good business partners, good business neighbors and we can all do well with this." Eric Hrin can be reached at (570) 297-5251; e-mail: reviewtroy@thedailyreview.com.  [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
Severance tax sparks heated discussion at Bradford County commissioners' meeting
the daily review
James Lowenstein

TOWANDA - At the Bradford County commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Commissioner Mark Smith lashed out at Commissioner Doug McLinko, saying he had failed to advocate for the needs of Bradford County as state legislators debate how to distribute the revenue from the proposed severance tax on natural gas. Smith had testified on the impact of the growing natural gas industry on Bradford County at a March 13 meeting of the Pennsylvania House Finance Committee in Monroe County, telling the legislators that a share of the state severance tax should be given to local governments. At the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, Smith faulted McLinko for not attending the House Finance Committee meeting and said that McLinko had not taken other opportunities to tell state legislators to give Bradford County a share of the revenue from the proposed severance tax. "When I was at the House Finance Committee saying our county is going through this impact and that our county needs this (money) for this (need), you weren't at the table," Smith said at the commissioners' meeting, as he pounded the table in front of him repeatedly for emphasis. "Just remember that. All you do is oppose, and some of us drove two hours to testify." McLinko responded by saying he has communicated to politicians in Harrisburg about the severance tax and about the needs of the county. "I've driven to Harrisburg and talked to people on this," McLinko said. "I've brought people up (to Bradford County) and given them tours. Don't tell me I'm not doing anything. What we don't need is yet another tax in Pennsylvania. We don't need it." McLinko had previously commented at Thursday's meeting as to why he hasn't attended meetings of legislative committees that focused on how to divide up the revenue from the proposed severance tax. "What I see is that people at the table (at those meetings) support the tax. That's the problem," he said. The issue of the severance tax came up at the commissioners' meeting on Thursday, when a reporter asked Smith about his experience testifying at the House Finance Committee. Smith said that everyone who testified at the hearing was advocating for a share of the revenue from the severance tax. Smith and the other commissioners, along with state Rep. Tina Pickett, who attended the commissioners' meeting to promote the Veterans Appreciation Day picnic next month, then continued to discuss the severance tax and debate whether it is needed. Pickett said that Gov. Ed Rendell has proposed a severance tax as part of his proposed state budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, and that Rendell is proposing that none of the tax revenue be given to local governments. However, Smith said there are several bills pending in the Legislature on how the severance tax revenue would be distributed, with the amount that would be given to local governments ranging from 4 percent to 20 percent. Under two of the bills, a board would be set up, whose members would include a representative from townships and a county commissioner, which would have a role in distributing the severance tax revenue, Smith said. Smith said he was opposed to establishing such a board, saying it would "just add another layer of bureaucracy." Pickett said the amount of revenue that a severance tax would generate would, at this point, be less than people expect. "I think one of the things you have to keep in mind at this point is that there is very little product going to market, and the dollars that would be available from such a tax would be not anywhere near the amount that I think people are envisioning," Pickett said. "To me, it's a question of timing," Pickett said. "I think that if you go out and tour the industry in the area, you get a real picture of the incredible investment at this point on the ground and still to be made - a lot of investment before there's much product going to market." Pickett also said there are other ways the state is receiving revenue from gas drilling. Pickett said there the state will receive hundreds of millions of dollars this year in personal income tax revenue from gas leases and royalties, she said. "That money does come back locally in many ways," Pickett said. "Many parts of the county budget are state money." Smith said that a share of the severance tax revenue needs to go to local governments, noting that the number of 911 calls is increasing locally. "If it gets to the point where you hire two or three more people (to field those calls), who is paying for that?" Smith said. Commissioner John Sullivan said he supports a severance tax. "Whatever we get (from a severance tax) is more than we are getting now, if it is passed," he said. James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.  [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
SRBC official explains agency’s purpose in regard to gas drilling
SunGazette
Cheryl Clarke

ULSTER - The fire hall in this tiny Bradford County village near Towanda filled with about 80 mostly older people Thursday who listened in on a public hearing held by the House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee to discuss concerns about ongoing natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale. The panel of legislators, including moderator Tina Pickett, R-Towanda, came from all over the Northern Tier to listen to industry representatives and officials from the state Department of Environmental Resources, Susquehanna River Basin Commission and Central Bradford Progress Authority give testimony on how concerns about water use, quality and recycling, among other things, are being handled. On the subject of water use, Susquehanna River Basin Commission Deputy Director and Counsel Thomas Beauduy first told the panel what the agency doesn't do. "We don't regulate drilling or the production or transmission of natural gas. Nor do we regulate the treatment, disposal and reuse of flowback and production fluids, including brines," he said. "What we do regulate is the withdrawal and consumptive use of water associated with natural gas development activity," he added. In that capacity, Beauduy said, the agency works closely with DEP to keep the industry's use of water from rivers and streams under control. "Our management objective is to have this industry avail itself of the water resources of the basin in the development of this important mineral resource, but to do it in a way that minimizes impact to the basin's water resources," Beauduy said. The natural gas industry is a "water-thirsty industry," he said, and that only will increase as production ramps up. But, Beauduy said in the larger picture, the gas industry removes a fraction of what golf courses use per year. Even so, the agency has taken steps to better monitor and control water use in the basin. "We effectively eliminated our standard regulatory thresholds applicable to all other types of water use, 100,000 gallons per day for withdrawals and 20,000 gallons per day for consumptive use. If you drill into the Marcellus or Utica shale formations, you need a consumptive use approval from us, and all sources of water used for the operation require advanced commission approval, regardless of the quantity. For this industry it starts with gallon one," he said. "The bottom line is, yes, we can accommodate the use, but it needs to be managed well," he added. To aid in that management, Beauduy said a new office has opened in Sayre, with four full-time personnel. Groundwater contamination such as occurred in Dimock put a "black eye" on the industry and its overseeing agencies. DEP's Deputy Secretary for Mineral Resources Management J. Scott Roberts told the panel that the Dimock situation resulted in fines on the Texas-based Cabot Oil and Gas. The company also must plug the three offending wells by the middle of June and install permanent treatment systems in the 14 affected water wells. DEP also hired 37 new staff members in 2009 and is planning to hire 68 more this year, Roberts said. Industry executives testified that they, too, are concerned about the environmental impact drilling for natural gas is having, and they want to do it in an "environmentally responsible way."  [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
Residents Want Truck-damaged Roads Fixed Now
16 WNEP
Ryan Coyle

It's a bumpy ride for drivers in part of Susquehanna County and many put the blame a natural gas drilling company. Pot holes, torn up shoulders and rough stone roads, all the result of natural gas drilling trucks that have been rolling up and down roads in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties. "It just seems like there's a lot of feet dragging happening. If they can build a well pad within a couple of weeks, I think they can fix the roads also in a couple of weeks," said Tom Cahill of Tunkhannock. He often visits his parents who live in South Auburn. He's had a few close calls. "I was driving a couple hundred feet behind a water truck and a big rock came through my window and it ended up hitting the passenger seat in my car. I just feel someone's going to get hurt or killed up here," Cahill added. Roads maintained by the county become the responsibility of the gas drilling company as soon as a rig goes up along it. The company is then required to fix any problems with the road. The Meshoppen Township supervisor said that will save them money on their road maintenance budget. "They're putting the money into it and actually it's going to help us out in the long run. In the meanwhile, people have got to put up with some of the bad roads and the big rocks and stuff like that," said township supervisor Bouwe Aukema. "I think they will take care of them after they get everything done. I think they'll be alright but you've just got to live with it for now," said Allen Sherwood of Meshoppen Township. Still, Cahill and his parents, who are both in favor of the drilling, want the roads fixed now. "They're for the drilling and I'm for the drilling also. I just look at it as I think there are so many people for it, and why turn the people that are for it against it when the road conditions are so bad, and they can't even help us with that," Cahill added. Chesapeake Energy's Brian Grove said in a statement that they are working on a "substantial improvement project" on these roads, and hope to have work completed by the end of the summer. They say they have invested over $10 million dollars in road improvements in the past three months.   [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
New environmental watchdog for region
SunGazette
Patrick Donlin

A long-serving local Department of Environmental Protection official will become the next northcentral regional office director. Nels Taber, who has been serving as regional legal counsel in the local DEP office since 1993, will assume his new duties at the Williamsport office on Saturday, Secretary John Hanger announced. "Nels Taber is uniquely qualified to lead the northcentral office, given the many issues it faces in regulating the Marcellus Shale gas exploration industry," Hanger said. "He has a strong dedication to protecting the environment and ensuring that all of our laws and regulations are obeyed." Taber will direct an office covering a 14-county area. He replaces Robert Yowell, who retired April 30 after nearly 16 years as regional director. Just over a year ago, the regional oil and gas program was introduced locally, which northcentral DEP Community Relations Coordinator Daniel T. Spadoni said was especially necessary with increased Marcellus Shale exploration in this part of the state. Any leaks or spills occurring since then can be investigated by the local office, which includes Taber, three other attorneys and Jennifer Means, regional Oil and Gas Program manager. As an attorney, Taber said he's helped ensure environmental violators enact proper remediations while he considers civil penalties. Taber has also been progressive, demanding companies follow environmental law, which he said include the Oil and Gas, Clean Streams and Solid Waste Management Acts. Marcellus Shale exploration is an emphasis in local development, although Taber said regulations aren't restricted to natural gas drilling. However, when developers from elsewhere enter the area, Taber said they often need to be educated about local laws. "The industry has to learn how to operate in Pennsylvania and we may be a bit more stringent than where they have been operating previously," he said. Taber, who lives in Montoursville with his wife and two children, moved to the area when he became the DEP's regional counsel 17 years ago. Prior to studying at the University of Notre Dame, where he received in 1981 a bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies, Taber was raised in Cambridge, Ill. He describes his hometown as a quaint farming community of about 2,000 people. Taber's been in Pennsylvania since he began studying law in 1982. In 1985, he earned his juris doctor degree from the Dickinson School of Law. He was in Berks County for a while, serving a one-year clerkship upon his law school graduation, and serving the Berks County public defender's office from Sept. 1986-March 1987. From 1987-1989, he practiced the other legal perspective as a prosecutor, working as a deputy attorney general in the state Attorney General's criminal prosecutions section. A four-year stint as assistant counsel in the DEP's central office ended in 1993, when he left Harrisburg for Williamsport in 1997. In the interim, John Hamilton has been the acting regional director while handling his Water Supply Management program manager duties. Hamilton, a 27-year northcentral DEP office veteran, returns to solely concentrate on his program management responsibilities when Taber becomes regional director. The Oil and Gas Program here is responsible for 45 counties in the eastern half of the state.   [Full Story]

May 21, 2010
Lessons of Dimock are worth heeding
the daily star
editorial

Last week, a Daily Star reporter and photographer went to Dimock, Pa., to investigate the effects gas drilling has had on this rural community of about 1,400 people. Some people there praise the benefits of gas drilling while others say their drinking water is no longer potable and their homes are virtually worthless. Don Lockhart owns a diner in Dimock. He said business was so bad that he thought of closing a couple of years ago. Lockhart said business has picked up since the drilling started, and he can now retire in some comfort. Norma Fiorentino said she signed a lease in January 2008 to allow gas drilling on her property. She has two wells, and neither produces potable water anymore. The one she most recently used exploded Jan. 1, 2009, when a gas well drilled just off her property leaked methane, which migrated into her well. Then there's the company doing the drilling ­—— Cabot Oil & Gas Inc. from Houston. Cabot has been ordered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to stop drilling in Dimock except to plug wells and to install permanent treatment systems for 14 drinking water supplies. The DEP says those water supplies were contaminated because Cabot failed to comply with a consent order to correct problems. "Cabot had every opportunity to correct these violations, but failed to do so," DEP Secretary John Hanger said. "Instead, it chose to ignore its responsibility to safeguard the citizens of this community and to protect the natural resources there." North Abington Township resident John Roba was assured of drilling safety from Cabot before agreeing to leases on two properties, according to a May 10 article in the Scranton Times-Tribune. "They are telling us they are going to go beyond what DEP says," Roba said. Meanwhile, the same article reported that Cabot has paid more than $400,000 in environmental fines to the state since fall. It's likely that natural gas drilling will come to our area. Therefore, we must learn from Dimock. The state Department of Environmental Conservation can set the strictest standards for gas drilling, but corners can be cut when big money is at stake and the DEC isn't looking. Landowners can pretty much do what they want with their land, but we strongly urge them to think long and hard before signing a lease when a gas company makes an offer. We could all use more money in our pockets, but will gas drilling compromise our health and the health of our children?  [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
Grant awarded to aid in public's understanding of Marcellus drilling
The Ithaca Journal


Three Tompkins County organizations will share in a $100,000 federal grant to help promote public understanding of the relative risk associated with natural gas drilling and to help landowners who might consider leasing their land for drilling. The National Science Foundation grant will go to Paleontological Research Institution and its Museum of the Earth, along with researchers in Cornell's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Cornell Cooperative Extension. The award will allow PRI and its partners to continue work started by cooperative extension and to reach a broader audience across New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, states where the Marcellus Shale, and its natural gas reserves, extend. Over the past year, cooperative extension initiated an outreach campaign that has included a website, Natural Gas Resource Development Center, cce.cornell.edu/Community/NaturalGasDev/Pages/default.aspx, webinar presentations and work force investment and regional planning workshops.   [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
Several Sullivan County farmers say the answer to the region's financial woes may lie in the Marcellus shale. Lori Chung explains why some groups are hoping to put pressure on elected officials to rally support for gas drilling.
Your News Now


SULLIVAN COUNTY, N.Y. -- "It is here, it is now and Sullivan County is sitting on an absolute fortune," said Noel van Swol, Sullivan-Delaware Property Owners Association President. Noel van Swol and Bill Graby are part of what they call the silent majority, people who want to participate in natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale but say they're voices aren't being heard. "The politicians in Albany have to understand that the silent majority have now awakened and we are speaking up. No politician can hide from this," van Swol said. "Why shouldn't the farmers in New York be like the ranchers were in Texas or Oklahoma? They're all driving around in fancy Cadillacs and stuff," Graby said. The men run the Sullivan-Delaware Property Owners Association to support farmers and landowners interested in drilling. Horizontal hydrofracture drilling is finding support in the local dairy farming community. Graby is among the dozens of dairy farmers struggling because the price of milk is lower than the cost to produce it. He says gas drilling could change everything. "Every well they drill in the Marcellus shale, right now, it's producing five times what they expected, so once they lease all the property up, they will be here for my life, my kids life and probably my grandkids life," Graby said. Drilling advocates say landowners, like farmers, can expect to earn anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 for a gas lease. And with the industry still in the exploration phase, there's no telling where prices can go. "Natural gas could be a vital economic boom to everyone," Harold Russell said. Russell owns a dairy farm in Bethel and like Graby, he's worried about the future without drilling. But several environmental groups have opposed drilling in the shale fearing problems like water contamination and changes to the landscape. But Graby and Russell aren't worried. "I've always trusted the process completely because the work that's being done is 7,000 feet below the aquifer, through solid rock, through limestone," Graby said. "Everyone deserves clean water and the thing is with our coalition we feel that we will work together," Russell said. Russell also runs a pro-drilling coalition. He says groups like his need to educate the public on the issue. "Everyone says well the farmers want it to save their farms, sure I'd like to save my farms but I'd also like to see my neighbors working," Russell said.   [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
ExxonMobil Shareholders Question Risks of Natural Gas 'Fracking' Resolution Demands Disclosure and Risk Reduction
PR Newswire


As concern grows about the use of toxic chemicals in natural gas drilling, investors are pushing energy companies to disclose what they are doing to reduce risks to drinking water, public health, and shareholder value. Next week the focus is on ExxonMobil, which is poised to become the nation's biggest natural gas company. At ExxonMobil's annual meeting May 26 in Dallas, shareholders will vote on a proposal asking the company to report on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," a controversial practice in which millions of gallons of fluids, containing dozens of known hazardous chemicals, are injected into wellheads under high pressure to force sluggish natural gas reserves to the surface. The proposal was put forth by As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy organization based in San Francisco, representing the holders of 16,746 ExxonMobil shares valued at more than $1.1 million. The proposal has been endorsed by the two largest proxy voting services in the U.S., RiskMetrics Group and Proxy Governance, which both recommend a FOR vote. "Fracking exposes both ExxonMobil and its shareholders to serious financial risks from potential damage to health and the environment, and from the prospect of tougher regulations at both the state and federal level," said Michael Passoff, senior program director of the corporate responsibility program at As You Sow. "Either the company doesn't recognize the risks or it isn't acknowledging them to shareholders. Investors deserve straight answers."   [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
Board of appeals denies Hilliard variances
Star Local News
Chris Roark

After six hours of deliberation and listening to resident feedback, Flower Mound's oil and gas board of appeals decided early Thursday morning that it had too many lingering questions to approve four variance requests that would allow for natural gas drilling on property owned by Ron Hilliard. The property, described by opposition as well within the urban areas of town, is located south of Flower Mound Road, north of Spinks Road, east of FM 2499 and west of Lexington Road. Titan Operating LLC was requesting a variance to reduce the setback from a gas well pad site and the edge of construction to waters of the state from 500 feet to 167 feet. It was also requesting to reduce the setback from the pad site to upland habitat to 173 feet at one corner and 72 feet from the other, from the pad site to a fresh water well to 228 feet and from the pad site to a building that is used or intended to be used for human occupancy to 354 feet. The required setback for those are also 500 feet, per the town's oil and gas ordinance.... "We felt like this was the best place for Flower Mound for a pad site on this property," said G&A Consultants engineer Bobby Dollak, who presented the plan to the board. "We're just going to have to regroup and move the site to a location that's less desirable for us but to where it addresses the concerns of the community and the board."   [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
W.Va. DEP proposing new water quality standards
The Charleston Gazette
Associate Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The Department of Environmental Protection has a recipe for cleaning up West Virginia waterways: It calls for less salt and sewage, and a little more iron. The DEP this week unveiled three proposed water-quality standards it hopes to present to legislators next year. All are subject to a 45-day public comment period and review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. To address concern that is growing with the proliferation of Marcellus shale gas drilling operations, DEP wants to establish a legal limit for total dissolved solids, including salts and chlorides. Gas drilling produces vast amounts of a briny wastewater, and how to dispose of it without contaminating rivers and streams is a challenge facing the industry and environmental regulators. The DEP would limit dissolved solids to 500 milligrams per liter in streams, a standard that would be more stringent than neighboring Pennsylvania. That state has the same limit, but only at intake pipes for public drinking water systems. Dissolved solids can harm aquatic life and make water taste and smell bad. They come from a variety of sources, including coal mines. Pat Campbell, an assistant director of DEP's Division of Water and Waste Management, said the goal is to keep all waters "suitable for consumption by our citizens and use by our industries."   [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
Opponents of natural gas drilling in Flower Mound have gained momentum
Star-Telegram
Mike Norman

People in Flower Mound who want to ban neighborhood natural gas drilling gained strength this month by electing a mayor and a Town Council majority who agree with them. Pre-election debate centered almost exclusively on the issue, and turnout was huge compared with other recent municipal elections. After the election but even before the newbies were sworn in, the town manager slapped a 180-day moratorium on any new applications for certain gas operations and pipelines. The anti-gas council has until June 8 to either write new rules for dealing with the gas industry or extend, maybe even expand, the moratorium. Wednesday night, drilling opponents won again. The town's Oil and Gas Board of Appeals denied a request for a well deemed too close to neighborhoods for comfort. The activists have momentum, but they're a long way from blocking all neighborhood drilling. Odds are against them. The company with the most extensive gas operations in Flower Mound, a unit of The Williams Cos. of Tulsa, says it is "assessing the situation and considering our options carefully." That's often corporate-speak for "we'll see you in court." And Williams might have a good case. State law makes mineral rights owners and the companies that lease from them the kings of the hill when it comes to collecting and selling natural gas. Add to that the history that Williams already has built in Flower Mound and the millions of dollars it has spent there. Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/20/2205707/opponents-of-natural-gas-drilling.html#ixzz0ofAyvnpM   [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
Road Destruction in the Northern Tier
WETM News
Nick Natario

BURLINGTON - Driving on some roads through the Northern Tier can be a scary thing to do. Everyday trucks from natural gas companies make their way to and from Marcellus Shale drill sites.Some of those sites, however, are off the beaten path. They take drivers on roads that weren't equipped to handle that kind of weight. “People drive up and down these roads some of them lose control of their cars when they hit these potholes and they go into ditches and other people wind up getting flats,” said Jerry Borrero. “I had a brand new car. It’s no longer new. It’s ridiculous, you know you hit these potholes; you can damage your car. You know somebody has to take responsibility,” said Darlene Borrero. Right now there are 16 energy companies drilling in the Northern Tier. One of those companies, Chesapeake Energy, which drills heavily in Bradford County, says they'll take full responsibility for the destruction of the roads they damage. They’ve already started work fixing up the roads they damaged.   [Full Story]

May 20, 2010
Asian sovereign wealth targets US shale gas
Financial Times
Sundeep Tucker

The sovereign wealth funds of China and South Korea are set to lead a $900m investment in a leading US producer of natural gas from shale rock, becoming the latest Asia-based groups to focus on the sector. China Investment Corporation and Korea Investment Corp are in advanced negotiations to join a consortium planning to acquire convertible preferred stock in New York-listed Chesapeake Energy, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks follow last week's disclosure that Temasek, the Singapore state investment fund, and Hopu Investment Management, a Beijing-based group, had acquired $600m of its convertible preferred stock. Chesapeake signalled last week that it would issue a further $500m of preferred stock by mid-June, but this second tranche has swollen to about $900m amid strong investor demand in Asia, people familiar with the situation said.   [Full Story]

May 19, 2010
Battlement natural gas activists cheer drilling slowdown for health study ‘This seems to signal a shift away from "drill baby drill" to more concern with public health’
The Colorado Independent
David O Williams

Activists monitoring a massive natural gas drilling proposal that would see rigs sited among the homes of Western Slope retirement community Battlement Mesa say Denver-based Antero Resources appears to be putting the brakes on the plan while it participates in an unprecedented health impact study The Health Impact Assessment or HIA first reported by the Colorado Independent in November is a tool backed by the Pew Charitable Trusts that has been used in other parts of the world adversely impacted by oil and gas development, including Alaska. An HIA has never been conducted in the rich gas fields of Colorado. Although Pew won’t fund the assessment – which examines air and water quality, traffic, noise and other health concerns stemming from drilling activity – it will lend some consulting expertise, according to Garfield County environmental health manager Jim Rada. The county will pay for the $150,000 study from its general fund. The University of Colorado School of Public Health will conduct the assessment. Garfield County also is working with CU on designing a health study for the entire county.   [Full Story]

May 19, 2010
Frack water treatment plant in works
Citizens Voice
Elizabeth Skrapits

Experts are compiling technical information so the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority can look for contractors interested in building a facility to treat and recycle wastewater from natural gas drilling. The engineers and lawyers developing the specifications will hopefully have them ready within the next 30 to 45 days, after which WVSA can start advertising, consultant John Minora of Pennsylvania Northeast Aqua Resources said after Monday's authority board meeting. "Once they OK it, out it goes," he said. Minora noted that it is a solicitation of interest that does not commit the WVSA to anything. Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" is the process of blasting millions of gallons of water deep underground to break up the shale and release the gas. Most of the water stays underground, but what comes up is highly saline and full of chemicals, and has to be disposed of in approved facilities. The plant WVSA is considering would treat the fracking water, dilute it, then sell it back to natural gas companies to reuse   [Full Story]

May 19, 2010
Beyond regulation
The River Reporter
Editorial

One of the main arguments of those who are impatient to see natural gas drilling proceed rapidly in our area is that we can move forward without fear because the regulatory agencies have everything under control. Be careful what you wish for. Even if the regulations already in place or proposed are sufficient (and it’s not clear to us that they are, with gaping holes left in areas like cumulative impact, ultimate disposal of toxic waste, density limits, habitat fragmentation and light pollution), the record of the extraction industries in this country and their ability to flout regulations without consequence is too appalling to be ignored. With the Gulf oil spill following the Upper Big Branch fiasco in quick succession, it is to be hoped that this country will wake up and start making the fundamental changes needed to alter the “regulations are for suckers” syndrome. But until and unless we see such a shift, it seems clear that there is no set of written regulations that will ensure that similar disasters are not coming to the Upper Delaware.   [Full Story]

May 19, 2010
Opening up the gas market to teens
The River Reporter
Tom Kane

WILLIAMSPORT, PA — Pennsylvania high school students will be prepared for jobs in the gas industry through a $294,689 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The competitive grant was awarded to the Pennsylvania College of Technology, an affiliate of Penn State University. High school students from 23 Pennsylvania school districts will receive the training and will be granted advanced college credit in a dual enrollment program that can be used to continue their education at the college after they graduate if they so wished. “The students will follow a specially designed curriculum that will be developed by the college and representatives from the industry,” said Larry Michael, executive director of Workforce Development and Continuing Education at the Williamsport College. “We have formed an advisory committee made up of representatives from the industry, met three times last year and will meet at length again this June to hammer out details. Companies like Chesapeake and Halliburton will be represented on the committee.”   [Full Story]

May 19, 2010
Official: Seek upgraded water protection
Times Leader
Steve Mocarsky

The head of a state environmental regulatory bureau said the public can help protect Pennsylvania waterways from pollution related to natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale by contacting legislators and a review board in support of tough new proposed regulations. Scott R. Perry, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Oil and Gas Management, said last week that the oil and gas industry is "dead-set against these regulations on total dissolved solids in flowback fracking water. We're going to have a huge fight with the Independent Regulatory Review Commission," he said. The hydraulic fracturing process (fracking) used to release natural gas from the shale, requires injecting about 5 million gallons of water into the ground per well. About 12 percent of that water, which contains trace chemicals and high concentrations of dissolved solids such as salt, flows back and must be disposed. DEP Secretary John Hanger said in a press release that the new rules will ensure that the total dissolved solids, or TDS, in drilling wastewater do not pollute drinking water supplies, damage industrial equipment or endanger delicate aquatic life. For the complete story, please see Thursday's edition of The Times Leader   [Full Story]

May 19, 2010
Wayne County Launches Gas Task Force
The River Reporter
Sandy Long

Economic Opportunity the Top Priority  [Full Story]

May 19, 2010
Shale Drilling Prompts Waste Water Concerns
KDKA News
Andy Sheehan

So far 3,000 drilling permits have been issued in Pennsylvania, and 1,200 gas wells are already underway. Conservative estimates say those numbers will triple in the coming years. People like June Chappel who live next to Marcellus Shale operations say they've had to endure round-the-clock drilling, truck traffic, dirt and dust and noxious odors. Just beyond her property line is a pit, which until recently held the water and chemicals used in the drilling process. "You couldn't sit out in your yard because it would give you a sickening headache," Chappel said.   [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Natural-Gas Riches Entice New Yorkers to Risk Poisoning Water
Bloomberg
Mike Di Paola

The Diehl farm in Delaware, New York, is a postcard-pretty place where honey is coaxed from beehives and maple syrup from trees. The six-generation dairy farm, in operation since 1842, is one of many bucolic spots in the state where landowners are under financial, legal and sometimes neighborly pressure to lease their property to energy companies -- in a bad bargain that threatens the water supply of millions. As rich as the topsoil is here in central New York’s Sullivan County near the Delaware River, it can’t compete with the enormous reserves of natural gas a mile below the surface. The Diehls have watched in horror as their neighbors have lined up to lease their land. “This is what it’s all about,” says Pete Diehl, 65, holding up a glass of tap water after we lunch on pancakes and extremely fresh maple syrup. Tapping into the natural-gas reservoir far below ground requires hydraulic fracturing, known colloquially as “fracking.” For an average operation, the process involves drilling 5,000 feet or more down and a comparable distance horizontally, then forcing 3 million to 8 million gallons of water and 80 tons to 300 tons of chemicals into the bores to extract the trapped gas. The Diehls refuse to lease their land, yet they fear their well water will be fouled by fracking chemicals or other contaminants dredged up in a process that might affect broad stretches of local aquifers. Area landowners with well water aren’t the only ones who should be worried. There are also the 8.2 million people in New York City who, like me, get their water from the 2,000-square-mile watershed, some of it in Sullivan County. “I’m really furious that people are considering this,” says Alice Diehl, 58. “All for the good ol’ dollar.” County Ban A mother of four and grandmother of 11, Alice Diehl exudes a powerful combination of domestic warmth and no-nonsense authority. She recently testified before Sullivan County legislators, who then voted to ban drilling on county land. “I told them, ‘You people are in charge of the well-being of every citizen in this county,’” Diehl says. Chesapeake Energy Corp. has leased 1.6 million acres over the Marcellus shale, as the natural-gas reserve underneath parts of New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia is known. Its joint venture partner, Statoil ASA, controls an additional 590,000 acres.   [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Dryden coalition to petition town board on noise control, land use
Ithica Journal
staff report

Residents with the Dryden Resources Awareness Coalition are expected to present two petitions to town officials at the Dryden town board meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The first petition, signed by 452 Dryden residents, calls for an ordinance to place limits on industrial noise. The second petition, with 389 signatures, asks for an ordinance affirming Dryden's constitutional right of home rule. Coalition leaders say loud, persistent industrial noise is disruptive to the well-being of people living in its vicinity and unhealthy in some cases. Dryden residents signing the petition said they believe an ordinance is needed in order to safeguard the health and well-being of residents, to preserve the rural and quiet residential character of Dryden, and to enable residents to quietly enjoy their property. This ordinance is not aimed at transient noise such as that produced by farm equipment or snowmobiles traveling through the area, but at sites of ongoing industrial racket. Last summer, Ellis Hollow residents complained to the board about turbine noise from the nearby Dominion gas company's Borger natural gas compression station. The second petition asks the town board to affirm that town residents have the right to determine rules and regulations pertaining to uses of land, resources (including minerals and other extractives), water and air within the town. The coalition was formed in 2009 when some residents became concerned about the possible consequences that hydro-fracturing of gas wells drilled into the Marcellus Shale might bring to the community. The group plans to begin stream monitoring in association with the Community Science Institute in Ithaca. For more information on the coalition, contact Judith Pierpont at jp28@cornell.edu, 539-6008 or Hilary Lambert at hilary_lambert@yahoo.com.  [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Tompkins legislature adopts anti-fracking resolution Measure calls on state to ban technique pending more study
The Ithaca Journal
Stacey Shackford

Tompkins County legislators were urged Tuesday evening to look to the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as an example of the type of environmental devastation that could hit the county should hydraulic fracturing gas drilling be allowed in New York without strict regulations and further scientific studies. Dozens of people squeezed into the legislative chambers and spilled into the hallway at the county courthouse to address the Tompkins County Legislature as it considered a resolution supporting a moratorium on the new method of natural gas drilling. Public comments lasted more than an hour as 23 doctors, scientists, planners, activists, citizens and elected officials stepped to the microphone to express their concerns about some of the potential environmental and economic impacts of the controversial process, in use in Pennsylvania, which involves the high-pressure injection of sand, water and chemicals to release natural gas reserves trapped in underground shale. Some were landowners who said they were misled by natural gas companies when they signed away their mineral rights several years ago. Ulysses Planning Board chairman Ken Zeserson was among many who stressed the importance of acting early and strongly. "We in New York state are on the proverbial Titantic. We are heading for an iceberg here," Zeserson said. "I know you are busy, but everything else you do is like polishing silverware on the Titanic -- it doesn't matter." Legislators postponed all other business to consider the resolution, which urges New York state to ban so-called "hydro-fracking" operations pending further independent studies and asks that the Department of Environmental Conservation apply the same regulations statewide rather than imposing stricter standards to watersheds serving New York City and Syracuse. They spent another 45 minutes discussing the matter before passing it, 13-1.   [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Natural-Gas Riches Entice New Yorkers to Risk Poisoning Water
Bloomberg
Mike Di Paola

As rich as the topsoil is here in central New York’s Sullivan County near the Delaware River, it can’t compete with the enormous reserves of natural gas a mile below the surface.   [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
GAS DRILLING RESOLUTION for Tompkins County Legislature, May 18, 2010 Calling on the Governor and the Legislature of the State of New York to Ban Hydrofracking Pending Further Independent Scientific Assessments to Determine the Risks, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Social and Economic Costs Associated With Hydrofracking
Tompkins County Legislature


WHEREAS, recent disasters in West Virginia's coal mines and at the drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico highlight the dangers inherent in extractive mining, with particular concern about the possible role of methane (the main component in natural gas) in these events, and WHEREAS, even before these incidents, residents of New York State have raised significant concerns about the safety of high volume, slickwater hydrofracking with horizontal drilling, as proposed for the Marcellus Shale and in the future, the Utica Shale, and WHEREAS, New Yorkers' concerns include questions about the ability of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, with its current staffing levels and its proposed regulations, to protect our natural resources and prevent permanent damage to our environment, and WHEREAS, the Tompkins County Legislature has passed resolutions stating its concerns about gas drilling on December 3, 2008, May 19, 2009, and December 15, 2009, and WHEREAS, based on experience in other states where this drilling has been underway for years, the concerns include but are not limited to: ?? air pollution (ground level ozone and smog) at and near drilling sites; ?? threats to groundwater and surface water supplies from accidents on the surface, as well as subsurface failures of casings and the hydrofracking process itself; ?? depletion and degradation of New York's lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands;? ?? long-term consequences from infusion of potentially toxic chemicals into the ground;? ?? dangers from drill cuttings and flowback water, which may be unsuitable and unsafe for disposal in New York's landfills and wastewater treatment plants; ?? deleterious effects of noise and light from 24/7 drilling on the natural habitat of our region and our residents' health and quality of life; ?? significant damage to roads and bridges, resulting in loss of mobility and economic activity even if drilling companies eventually rebuild the damaged infrastructure; ?? fragmentation of our landscape, with loss of vital habitat for wildlife and significant increase in “edge” habitats which stimulate growth of invasive species; ?? damage to existing economic sectors, including agriculture, hunting and fishing, tourism, and higher education; ?? social disruption, including increase in crime rates and demand for emergency medical services, and greater disparity between high- and low-income households; ?? economic costs to residents and local governments, including higher inflation, increased pressure on housing and consequent homelessness, and precipitous drop in property values; and WHEREAS, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007), methane is 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide in heating the planet over a 20-year time horizon. Therefore when all greenhouse gas emissions are calculated, including emissions from the drilling activity and from the distribution process such as leaks in pipelines, natural gas is not a “cleaner” fuel than other fossil fuels and in fact it might be far more damaging in terms of climate change than coal; and WHEREAS, rigorous scientific investigations of these issues are just beginning, including a study of the full life-cycle emissions of shale gas (R. Howarth, Cornell University), the social and economic costs and benefits of the industry (S. Christopherson, Cornell University), and the EPA's study of potential relationships between hydraulic fracturing and water resources; and WHEREAS, the Council of Scientific Society Presidents, representing 1.4 million scientists in more than 150 scientific disciplines, went on record on May 4, 2010 calling for adequate scientific analysis before implementing untested energy “solutions,” using corn ethanol as an example, and specifically stating with respect to the Marcellus Shale: “Prior, thorough science-based studies are required to evaluate the impact of massive shale development on rural land uses, water supply and quality, and full-life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions;”and WHEREAS, New York State has acknowledged the dangerous potential for negative impacts with its determination that, at the very least, individual permits will be required for any wells in the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, and WHEREAS, New York State has so far not committed itself to a course of action with respect to shale gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale or the Utica Shale, and it could continue to use the “precautionary principle” to guide policy on this issue, now therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Tompkins County Legislature hereby urges New York State to ban hydrofracking operations pending further independent scientific assessments, including the EPA study, research on the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of shale gas, and the social and economic impacts of the industry; and, be it further RESOLVED, that the Tompkins County Legislature hereby supports passage of A.10490/S.7592 (Englebright/ Addabbo, attached) titled “An act to establish a moratorium upon conducting hydraulic fracturing pending the issuance of a report thereon by the federal Environmental Protection Agency”; and be it further RESOLVED, that at the very least, the same standards should be applied to all of New York State that the DEC has indicated it will apply to the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, by requiring individual environmental assessments for each individual well  [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Dryden coalition to petition town board on noise control, land use
The Ithaca Journal


Residents with the Dryden Resources Awareness Coalition are expected to present two petitions to town officials at the Dryden town board meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The first petition, signed by 452 Dryden residents, calls for an ordinance to place limits on industrial noise. The second petition, with 389 signatures, asks for an ordinance affirming Dryden's constitutional right of home rule. Coalition leaders say loud, persistent industrial noise is disruptive to the well-being of people living in its vicinity and unhealthy in some cases. Dryden residents signing the petition said they believe an ordinance is needed in order to safeguard the health and well-being of residents, to preserve the rural and quiet residential character of Dryden, and to enable residents to quietly enjoy their property. This ordinance is not aimed at transient noise such as that produced by farm equipment or snowmobiles traveling through the area, but at sites of ongoing industrial racket. Last summer, Ellis Hollow residents complained to the board about turbine noise from the nearby Dominion gas company's Borger natural gas compression station. The second petition asks the town board to affirm that town residents have the right to determine rules and regulations pertaining to uses of land, resources (including minerals and other extractives), water and air within the town. The coalition was formed in 2009 when some residents became concerned about the possible consequences that hydro-fracturing of gas wells drilled into the Marcellus Shale might bring to the community. The group plans to begin stream monitoring in association with the Community Science Institute in Ithaca.  [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Newfield begins test gas well site preparations
The Wayne Independent


Manchester Twp. - Newfield Exploration Company has begun site preparation work on its first Marcellus Shale geological test well in Wayne County. The vertical well is located on private property in Manchester Township about 20 miles north of Honesdale. This will be the first well conducted as part of a joint venture with Hess Corporation. Newfield operates the venture with a 50 percent working interest. Newfield plans to drill three to five geological test wells in Wayne County during 2010. Preparation for the site, known as Teeple 1-1, will be performed over a period of several weeks by the H&K Group of Hunlock Creek, Pa. The drill site is located along Hancock Highway (191) near the intersection of Legion Road. A pad approximately 1.5 acres (approximately 225’ X 290’) is being built to accommodate the drilling rig. This site preparation is necessary prior to the arrival of the Union Drilling Rig #48, expected in June. The Union #48 is a 900 horsepower, trailer-mounted rig that has been drilling throughout the state. It has a five member crew comprised primarily of workers from Pennsylvania. The rig will work under Newfield supervision and its strict standards regarding safety and the environment and will follow all applicable state and local regulations. The rig will operate on a continuous basis for approximately one month to drill this first well. “The purpose of this well is to gather the geologic information about the formations in the area,” said Donny Torres, Newfield subsurface manager. “We will drill to approximately 8,300 feet to collect core samples and gather technical data. The information we obtain from this well will help determine the volume of gas in place.” Since it is a geological test well, it is not included in the scope of the recent Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) announcement regarding review of natural gas well pad projects. Newfield’s planned geological test well will use several thousand barrels of water during the drilling process. Appropriate permits for site preparation and this first test well have been obtained from a variety of agencies including the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Newfield also has coordinated activities with Township Supervisors on road use agreements. While the company has had open dialog with the DRBC, permitting from that agency is not needed for test well sites. Next steps “We read with great interest the May 6 news release from the Delaware River Basin Commission: DRBC WILL REVIEW NATURAL GAS WELL PAD PROJECTS AFTER ADOPTION OF NEW REGULATIONS,” said Barry Boone, President of Newfield Appalachia. “We are pleased to be moving forward with our test program but the DRBC’s postponement of permits until specific regulatory guidelines are developed will prohibit industry’s ability to complete wells and thereby adequately assess this resource.” Regulations are already in place in Pennsylvania today with industry running about 80 drilling rigs in the state. “We are committed to working with the DRBC to move swiftly in the development of its new framework and to utilize existing regulations in the state of Pennsylvania that allow for the responsible development of the Marcellus Shale,” said Boone. If a local resident has a question about leasing, please contact Newfield’s Honesdale office at (570) 352-3131.   [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Rendell officials defend no-bid natural gas deal
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Andrew Maykuth

Rendell administration officials say the $120 million no-bid deal they struck with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. to develop natural gas on 33,000 acres of public forests was negotiated in Pennsylvania's best interest. The deal, announced May 11 by Gov. Rendell, allowed the governor to generate sufficient revenue from state forests to satisfy a budget deal struck last year with legislators. With his budget obligations fulfilled, Rendell was liberated to throw his support behind a legislative initiative to declare a moratorium on further leasing in state forests until the impact of Marcellus Shale gas development is known. "It gets us to the revenue target we needed without having to put up a lot of other state forest land that is more pristine," said Gary Tuma, Rendell's spokesman. Senate Republican leaders, committed to not raising taxes and worried about budget deficits, are unwilling to declare the state forests off limits to more leasing. About 725,000 of the state's 2.1 million acres of forests have been leased - 65,000 acres this year. But no more public land will be offered during Rendell's remaining months in office. "Enough is enough," said John Quigley, secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). "Continued reliance on the state forests is not sustainable, for both economic and environmental reasons." The Anadarko deal came about serendipitously, Quigley said. He said state officials were considering ways to conduct a new lease sale to generate enough revenue to satisfy a promise to raise $180 million for next year's budget. Because a January auction generated more revenue than expected, the DCNR needed to raise only about $120 million more to hit the target. Though the DCNR typically puts new leases out for bid, a provision in the law allows the department, with the governor's approval, to negotiate mineral leases with adjacent property owners. Anadarko, the largest state-forest operator with 137,000 acres under lease, approached the DCNR in January with a proposal to lease several tracts that would allow it to consolidate its leasehold - filling in the "doughnut holes" in its current holdings. The approach appealed to the DCNR's foresters, who say a single operator reduces the need for surface disturbances because fewer drilling locations and pipelines are required. "If we put those parcels out for bid, we would essentially be doubling the impact on the forest," Quigley said. The deep Marcellus Shale-drilling has created much discomfort among conservationists because it requires five-acre drilling locations to accommodate storage of water needed to hydraulically fracture the wells. But as operators improve their ability to drill horizontally to capture vast swaths of shale, they are able to drill more wells from a single location, reducing the number of well pads that need to be carved out of the forest. State foresters calculated that Anadarko could tap into much of the new land from existing well pads on adjacent tracts, further reducing the surface impact. "There's a real advantage to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by having a single developer for those areas rather than multiple operations," said Matt Carmichael, a spokesman for Anadarko, which is based in Houston. But Anadarko also maximizes its investment in infrastructure, staff, and transportation by concentrating its holdings. "It helps us tremendously," Carmichael said. Anadarko made a formal offer March 12, and the DCNR offered a counterproposal two weeks later. Quigley said DCNR negotiators reminded Anadarko that the state received $4,020 per acre on average in the January auction. "We didn't say we want you to come in at X - that's not the way this works," Quigley said. Anadarko offered $4,000 an acre for 10 of the 11 tracts, and $2,000 an acre for one 5,711-acre tract in Moshannon State Forest that has less promising geology. Anadarko will pay royalties of 18 percent for gas sold from the wells. DCNR accepted the offer April 21. Anadarko is limited to building 72 well pads totaling no more than 360 acres on the 11 leases - about 1 percent of the land. One of the tracts, a 4,200-acre parcel in Sproul State Forest in Clinton County, allows for no surface disturbance at all. The shale must be accessed entirely from wells drilled in neighboring lands. Tuma maintains the state got a fair deal because of the reduced environmental impacts, and Anadarko might have been the sole bidder in an open auction. "Given the fact that some tracts might have been less attractive to other operators in a competitive bidding environment, it's possible we could have gotten less," he said.   [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Lehman Twp. fields shale, road question
Lehman Twp. fields shale, road question
CAMILLE FIOTI

LEHMAN TWP. – Supervisor Dave Sutton fielded questions from a resident Monday regarding expected truck traffic, especially on Route 118, from gas-drilling sites in the area. Sutton said the township doesn’t have jurisdiction over Route 118 because it is a state road. EnCana Oil & Gas USA, which plans to drill a vertical well in the Marcellus Shale off Peaceful Valley Road, as well as one in Lake Township, is working with emergency officials from both townships, as well as Lake-Lehman Junior/Senior High School, to work out a traffic plan, Sutton said. In another matter, Supervisor Doug Ide said he is putting together a list of roads that need paving. He added that patch work is being done throughout the township. Through an intermunicipal partnership, the township and Dallas Borough were able to purchase a paver and roller, with a state community development grant, and share paving projects. “Neither of us could do it alone,” said Sutton. “But working together, we’ve been able to stretch our dollars further.” The township saves 35 percent of paving costs by using township employees, he added.  [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
State environmental board approves tougher standards for gas drillers
republicanherald.com
ROBERT SWIFT

HARRISBURG - Marcellus shale drillers will be subject to tougher state controls over their entire operations under proposals that cleared a major hurdle Monday. The Environmental Quality Board gave final approval to rules to limit pollution in wastewater from the natural gas drilling process and initial approval to rules setting construction standards for wells to prevent natural gas from migrating into water supplies. Also winning the EQB's final approval are rules requiring developers to create natural buffers to protect streams of high water quality. This set of rules marks state government's regulatory response to the surge in well-drilling and permit applications by companies tapping the deep pockets of natural gas in the Marcellus shale formation in Northeast Pennsylvania and other regions. All three proposals still have to wind their way through a complicated approval process before they can go in effect sometime before the year's end. John Hanger, the acting secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, urged board members not to let adoption timetables slip when amendments were offered to schedule more public comment time. Those amendments were defeated. Hanger said the rule to require that more durable cement be used in the casing of Marcellus shale wells and notification procedures for migration problems are needed to prevent explosions and contamination of water supplies. A case in which 14 residential wells have been contaminated by migrating gas in Dimock Township, Susquehanna County, has highlighted the problem. "There are literally people's lives at risk," Hanger said. The well construction rule is very specific, requiring that cement be allowed to settle for eight hours and setting limits on how much pressure can be applied to a well, for example. The wastewater discharge rule is aimed specifically at Marcellus shale drilling. It sets stronger standards to limit the concentration of dissolved solids and substances - like chlorides and sulfates - in wastewater from drilling operations. This was done because drilling wastewater is more polluted than wastewater from other sources. By setting a standard, DEP is hoping to encourage firms to open facilities to treat and recycle drilling wastewater in Pennsylvania. About 60 firms have expressed an interest in such a venture, said John Hines, DEP deputy secretary for water management. Existing industries will be a beneficiary if the wastewater discharge rule is adopted, Hanger said. Currently, drilling operations have the potential to increase water pollution levels in some Pennsylvania waterways above legal limits. If that happens, firms with existing discharge permits could be subject to new state or federal cleanup orders and lawsuits, he said. In addition, drinking water treatment plants and industrial water users are not equipped to process water with high levels of chlorides and sulfates so the limits are designed to help protect them, DEP officials said. The 21-member EQB includes Cabinet secretaries, lawmakers and members of a citizens advisory council. The House and Senate environmental committees and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission will weigh in on the rules, too.  [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
It's a gas for pols, lobbyists
The Times-Tribune
Editorial

On the theory that a modest tax on extraction of natural gas somehow could deter development of one of the world's largest natural gas fields, some Pennsylvania lawmakers have thwarted such a tax even as the industry rapidly has expanded. Fortunately for the politicians, the folks who run the industry are not ingrates. A new study by Common Cause of Pennsylvania, "Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets: The Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of the Natural Gas Industry in Pennsylvania," tracks the rapidly growing amount of money that drillers have injected into the state's political landscape. The report tracks campaign spending by industry figures back to 2002, when Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Fisher received $98,000 from industry sources and Ed Rendell received $10,000. Compared with current contributions, that is pocket change. Republican gubernatorial candidate and current attorney general Tom Corbett has received more than $300,000 from industry sources since January 2008, while Democrat Dan Onorato has received nearly $60,000. State law still bans corporate donations, so the money has been contributed by individuals. Christine Toretti, CEO of S.W. Jack Drilling of Indiana County, contributed $990,000 to candidates between 2001 and 2009, according to the report, about a third of the industry money donated. Terrance Pegula, founder of East Resources of Warrendale, and his wife, Kim, contributed more than $330,000 to candidates over the period. Do you think the recipients answer their calls? On the lobbying side the study goes back only to 2007, when Pennsylvania finally adopted a law requiring disclosure. Since then, the gas industry has spent more than $4.2 million lobbying Pennsylvania government officials, more than $715,000 in the first quarter of this year alone. Do campaign contributions and lobbying affect policy? The industry must think so or it wouldn't spend so much money. The study pointed out that when the state House recently passed a moratorium on further gas leases on state forest land, the 33 representatives who voted against it had received, on average, 3.4 times more campaign donations from industry sources than those who voted for the measure. That bill has not yet moved in the Senate. Industry officials clearly believe that extensive lobbying and heavy campaign contributions are the cost of doing business. That is exactly what an extraction tax should be. The Legislature should adopt one with this year's budget.  [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Flower Mound Prepares For Another Drilling Battle
KERA
Shelley Kofler

FLOWER MOUND, TX (KERA) - Flower Mound residents are preparing for another battle over natural gas drilling on Wednesday. It follows Monday's swearing in of a new council majority that favors more drilling restrictions. KERA's Shelley Kofler reports on the latest efforts to stop a well near the entrance of Flower Mound. Nearly all of the 40 gas wells in Flower Mound are on the west side of the city, a more rural area with fewer residents. Titan Operating wants to build a pad site that could accommodate numerous wells further east on more than 90 acres known as the Hilliard tract. To do that Titan is asking the city's oil and gas appeals board to grant permission for several exceptions or variances to Flower Mound's ordinance. Vijda: This is the first real urban well Tammy Vijda and other opponents say the Hilliard well would be too close to thousands of homes, two schools and the city's entrance. Vijda: It's going to be the first thing people see when they come into our town. If you're looking for a home and you see a big drilling rig or tanks are you gonna want keep going? Vijda is among more than one thousand who have signed a petition asking the oil and gas board to deny the company's permit though Vijda says the board has granted drilling companies many exceptions to the city ordinance in the past. The new city council elected to enforce safer drilling doesn't have the power to overturn the board's decision on this case. But following his swearing in Councilman Steve Lyda said the new council majority wants to make it tougher for companies to circumvent the ordinance. Lyda says he will support expanding the city's temporary moratorium on operations in June. Right now the moratorium prohibits some new drilling facilities and pipelines. Lyda wants a six month halt to all drilling activities, including new wells. Lyda: Definitely. We have to have that moratorium in place while the council reviews the ordinance in its entirety. In the meantime, those opposing the Hilliard tract are hoping the oil and gas board will consider the public outcry that elected a new council. In documents Titan Energy says it's only asking for the same drilling rights granted other companies. It promises to safeguard the environment and aid the development of Flower Mound by allowing over 2,500 acres of gas be developed from a two acre drilling site.   [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
In Gulf Spill, BP Using Dispersants Banned in U.K.
ProPublica
Marian Wang

The two types of dispersants BP is spraying in the Gulf of Mexico are banned for use on oil spills in the U.K. As EPA-approved products, BP has been using them in greater quantities than dispersants have ever been used in the history of U.S. oil spills.  [Full Story]

May 18, 2010
Drilling for disaster near homes and schools?
WKYC.COM
Tom Meyer

CLEVELAND -- A spike in oil and gas well drilling in urban and suburban areas, combined with too few state inspectors and possible equipment failures, has created a potentially deadly situation, according to industry insiders, community activists and lawmakers. While state officials say a disaster like the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico couldn't happen in Ohio because operations here are a fraction of the size, a Channel 3 News investigation found that even smaller wells can lead to large problems. They include explosions, water pollution and leaks that release hydrogen sulfide, a naturally occurring gas that can kill in concentrated doses. Opponents said that's because gas and oil companies are able to drill wells 150 feet away from homes, businesses and even schools. "Oil and gas drilling is an industrial function and where you drill in residential areas close to homes, you increase the risk of public safety," said state Sen. Tim Grendell (R-Geauga). "It's just reckless to allow that to happen so close to people's homes." The Ohio Oil and Gas Association declined to comment. But officials at the state Department of Natural Resources, which regulates oil and gas drilling, denied that drilling is dangerous so close to homes. "I do feel it's safe," said Richard Simmers, the department's statewide enforcement manager. "But the law has to be properly enforced by us and followed by companies." Simmers, however, acknowledged that a lack of regulators has forced the state to inspect drilling at only the most dangerous times. He also said there's no law requiring regulators to do annual inspections of wells after they're installed and pumping gas and oil. "We don't get to cover everything that we would hope to cover," Simmers said. "Most companies are pretty good. They follow the law. But if you have a company that is not following the law, then, of course, the potential for some type of incident or accident increases." State officials say that while residents are safe, they plan to hire more inspectors after a new law raised drilling fees on companies. Channel 3 News found a number of examples of drilling gone bad. Two years ago, gas escaping from a poorly drilled well leaked into a Bainbridge house and exploded, knocking the home off the foundation as a family slept inside. Even after that well was capped, gas was able to seep into a neighbor's home. "We were out of state at the time," said Irving Mesmer. "A neighbor called and here my house was 100 percent full of gas. Every night you went to bed you don't know, you weren't sure, what was going to happen." Just this month, hundreds of gallons of oil leaked from a well into a Pepper Pike stream, officials said. It took a week to clean up the incident. James McCartney, who's drilled more than 1,000 wells, says gas spewed unabated from a Mentor well for more than a day. Luckily, he said it didn't ignite. "They just let it blow for over a day before it gradually settled down," McCartney said. "You'd have got a big fire...I don't know how big, but it'd have been pretty big if they'd have lit it." Then there was a release of hydrogen sulfide gas last September that happened while a crew was trying to cap an old well in Southeast Ohio. The gas release killed one worker and stopped driller Aaron Dumolt's hearing for an hour. Dumolt spent three weeks in the hospital. "The guy that got killed, I went in to get him out of it and that's when I got it," said Dumolt. "You can't really know what's going to happen because, I mean, anybody who works in the oil field knows you don't know everything." Drillers are supposed to use a mix of fluids to keep hydrogen sulfide from escaping, said Simmers, the statewide enforcement manager. But a Lake County Health Department investigation found a Concord boy was rushed to the emergency room with breathing difficulties after drillers hit a pocket of hydrogen sulfide and it drifted into his home. The company was "dry drilling" (using air, not fluid) at the time, the report said. Kari Matsko, who lives a few houses down, said no one notified her of the boy's illness or the drifting hydrogen sulfide gas. The incident prompted her to start the Northeast Ohio Gas Accountability Project to warn others about allowing drilling on their land. "People just hear 'free gas, free money, free lunch' and they kind of sign the check without knowing the risk." Matsko said. No argument from the Gates Mills Fire Chief Thomas Robinson, who has responded to 27 gas well incidents in four years. He says we remain at risk until the law gets tougher. "Those are minimum standards. We shouldn't be settling for the minimum when it comes to public safety," Robinson said.  [Full Story]

May 17, 2010
Norwich Water Building
34 NBC


If natural gas drilling gets going, the City of Norwich is looking to sell water to gas companies that would need it for drilling. Right now, Norwich can put out more water. By selling it, Mayor Joe Maiurano says the city can bring in revenue. Joe Maiurano says, "This will help our water system. It will help the people in the area who are serviced, selling more. Our production, we can produce a lot more than we're selling so this is good for our whole area, keep the water bills where we need them." Norwich is building a new $8.5 million water system facility, which will eventually replace its current one which is more than 100 years old.  [Full Story]

May 17, 2010
Tough New Standards to Protect PA Waterways from Drilling Wastewater Take Major Step Forward EQB Approves New TDS Regulations Strengthens Erosion and Sediment Rules Proposes New Well Construction Standards
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Press Release

HARRISBURG -- The Environmental Quality Board today approved first-of-its-kind regulations that will protect waterways from the effects of natural gas drilling wastewater, better enabling the state’s Marcellus Shale reserves to be developed without sacrificing the health and quality of Pennsylvania’s vital water resources. Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said the new regulations are an appropriate and necessary measure to ensure that drilling wastewater containing high concentrations of Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS, does not pollute drinking water supplies, damage industrial equipment, or endanger delicate aquatic life. “Drilling wastewater contains TDS levels that are thousands of times more harmful to aquatic life than discharges from other industries. Without imposing limits on this pollution, treatment costs for this wastewater are passed along to downstream industries and municipal ratepayers,” said Hanger. “All other industries in Pennsylvania are responsible for the waste they generate and the drilling industry should be no exception.” Next, the EQB-approved TDS rules will move onto the Environmental Resources and Energy committees in the state House and Senate, as well as to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission for a 30-day review period. “These regulations were first proposed in August 2009 following discussions and meetings with stakeholders, including the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, power generators, drinking water companies and environmental groups, and were subject to a 90-day public comment period and four public hearings held around the state,” Hanger said. “This rule has been thoroughly vetted and scrutinized and has been amended in response to industry concerns. It is critical for DEP to move forward with them to protect Pennsylvania’s waters from high TDS pollution.” Under the new regulations, wastewater discharges from new and expanded facilities must meet a concentration threshold of 2,000 milligrams per liter and wastewater discharges from drilling operations cannot exceed 500 mg/l. The lower standard was set for the drilling industry because drilling wastewater is so heavily polluted and because drillers have options other than returning water to rivers and streams such as reusing and recycling it, or injecting it deep into caverns situated below ground water supplies when approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Several states -- including Texas, Oklahoma, New York, Iowa, Virginia, Arkansas and Tennessee -- prohibit returning any drilling wastewater to streams. Drinking water treatment facilities and industrial water users are not equipped to process water with high levels of chlorides and sulfates, so the new rules place limits on the amount of total dissolved solids that can be discharged into surface waters. TDS levels have exceeded the EPA’s secondary drinking water standards of 500 mg/l several times over the past two years in western Pennsylvania’s Monongahela River. The elevated levels led to complaints from drinking water customers about foul-smelling water and damage to laundry and dishes. Industrial users such as USX have complained of equipment damage caused by polluted river water. High TDS levels also led to a toxic algae bloom that killed all fish and aquatic life in a 30-mile section of Dunkard Creek in Greene County in 2009. In addition, EQB members approved proposed rules that will strengthen Pennsylvania’s well construction standards and define a drilling company’s responsibility for responding to gas migration issues, such as when gas escapes a well or rock formation and seeps into homes or water wells. Once finalized, the new rules will require well operators to conduct quarterly inspections of all wells and report the results to DEP. The proposed regulations must now be reviewed by the Attorney General’s office and will then be published in the PA Bulletin for public comment. The board also enhanced existing rules governing erosion, sediment control and stormwater to protect streams from the effects of new development, reduce localized flooding during heavy storms, and cut sediment and nutrient pollution. The new rules, which also include an updated permit fee structure, bring Pennsylvania into compliance with federal requirements for: • Erosion and sedimentation controls and post-construction stormwater runoff; • Creating mandatory requirements for establishing and protecting existing streamside and riverside buffers in high quality and exceptional value watersheds; and • Enhancing agricultural stormwater management provisions beyond plowing and tilling to include animal-heavy use areas. As with the TDS regulations, the erosion and sediment rules will now go on to the General Assembly and to the IRRC for a 30-day review period   [Full Story]

May 17, 2010
State approves water quality protections
Wayne Independent


The Environmental Quality Board (EQB), a state regulatory agency, voted on May 17th to approve new PennEnvironment-supported water quality regulations. One regulation would establish new stringent pollution standards to protect Pennsylvania’s streams and rivers from Marcellus Shale gas drilling contamination. The other regulation would establish new rules requiring stream buffers for our most pristine streams, covering about one in five stream miles in the Commonwealth. “PennEnvironment applauds the EQB for moving forward with this action to protect waterways from the effects of gas drilling wastewater, and believes the regulations will be an important step in ensuring that Pennsylvania’s rivers and streams remain clean and safe, and that drinking water sources throughout the Commonwealth are protected,” said Erika Staaf, Clean Water Advocate with PennEnvironment. Over 5,500 Pennsylvania residents commented on these two rules during their respective public comment periods. Over 90 percent of the comments submitted by concerned citizens stated that the Commonwealth should enact these rules at minimum—if not stronger standards. “Drilling in the Marcellus Shale gas reserve is moving forward in Pennsylvania at a rapid pace and comes with new and significant challenges, not the least of which is how to protect our waterways and handle the harmful wastewater this drilling produces,” said Staaf. “We are encouraged to see the Environmental Quality Board heed the public’s comments and approve these important clean water rules.”   [Full Story]

May 17, 2010
Laser Marcellus Gathering seeks public utility status
citizensvoice.com
Elizabeth Skrapits

Laser Marcellus Gathering LLC has submitted an application to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to be granted public utility status, which could open the door for natural gas companies to seize private property through the power of eminent domain. PUC Spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher said the case was referred to the commission's Office of Administrative Law Judge. She said hearings are scheduled in Harrisburg for July, when parties in the case will bring evidence and have a chance to cross-examine. State Reps. Phyllis Mundy, D-Kingston, and Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake, sent letters asking PUC Chairman James H. Cawley for action. Boback requested a PUC hearing for public input in her district, where Chief Gathering LLC, a subsidiary of Chief Oil & Gas LLC, is exploring laying pipeline to connect planned natural gas wells in Susquehanna and Wyoming counties with the Transco pipeline, which runs through Dallas. Mundy's letter urges the PUC to deny Laser Marcellus Gathering's request. "A public utility must act in the public interest. These companies want to reap the benefits of being a public utility without the obligations," she stated in a prepared release. "I fear that drilling companies would utilize the power of eminent domain that would indirectly be granted to them in order to circumvent discussions and negotiations with property owners on the issues of land easements, property and mineral rights."   [Full Story]

May 17, 2010
Whistleblower Sues to Stop Another BP Rig From Operating
ProPublica
Abrahm Lustgarten

A whistleblower filed a lawsuit today to force the federal government to halt operations at another massive BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, alleging that BP never reviewed critical engineering designs for the operation and is therefore risking another catastrophic accident that could "dwarf" the company's Deepwater Horizon spill.  [Full Story]

May 17, 2010
Cash-drilled: The Marcellus shale flows with campaign dollars
Pittsburgh Post Gazette


The Marcellus shale is more than a rich source of natural gas. It's a rich source of campaign contributions, further evidence of the sort of free-wheeling ways that cast a suspicious shadow over Pennsylvania's politicians. To hear many state lawmakers tell it, the gas drilling industry is in such a delicate stage of its development in Pennsylvania that even a hint of taxing the extractions from deep underground could kill it. That's hard to believe, given how much money the industry has been willing to pump into state election campaigns. Prior to the 2002 gubernatorial election, there was little interest in tapping the deposits trapped deep underground and there wasn't much interest on the part of drillers in the candidates running for office in the state either, according to a report compiled by the public advocacy group Common Cause. Once new technology was developed that made extracting the gas easier and cheaper, though, the money started pouring in. Where in 2002 Democratic candidate Ed Rendell received $10,000 and Republican Mike Fisher got $98,000 from the industry, so far this year Republican Tom Corbett has received $284,000 and Democrats Dan Onorato got $59,000, and Jack Wagner, $9,000. Between 2001 and March of this year, the natural gas industry gave $2.85 million to Pennsylvania political candidates. The contributions have tripled in the last three years, from $579,000 in 2007 to $1.7 million in 2009, with the biggest giver the CEO of S.W. Jack Drilling, a privately held company based in Indiana, Pa. Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10137/1058683-192.stm#ixzz0oHgW2V1K   [Full Story]

May 17, 2010
State board recommends new gas drilling regulations
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tom Barnes

HARRISBURG -- The state's Environmental Quality Board today approved two measures aimed at protecting the cleanliness and quality of state streams and drinking water from potential damage caused by efforts to get natural gas from areas of Marcellus shale. One measure would set standards on how much pollution, known as Total Dissolved Solids, can be allowed in the water from "fracking" operations, where millions of gallons of water are pumped into the shale to free up the gas. Water with more than a certain amount of pollutants would have to be treated before it could be released back into streams or other bodies of water. The other measure would set up "buffer zones" -- at least 150 feet wide -- to separate new developments from high-quality streams, said the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water, a coalition of 150 environmental and conservation groups. Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10137/1058828-100.stm?cmpid=latest.xml#ixzz0pK2KCZVw   [Full Story]

May 16, 2010
Natural gas: transition fuel or greenhouse menace?
Green Left
Renfrey Clarke

Say what you will about coal, but at least it stays where it’s put. On its way to the user, coal doesn’t gush from the rail trucks, spreading itself through the atmosphere and warming it at about 70 times the rate of carbon dioxide. Natural gas is different. A new draft study provides evidence that, in the US, enough natural gas leaks into the air to give gas-fired electricity, megawatt-hour for megawatt-hour, a bigger greenhouse impact than electricity from good-quality steaming coal. This news will be unnerving for the many people who point to natural gas as a relatively clean alternative to other fossil fuels. Conventional wisdom has been that a state-of-the-art natural gas power plant can produce electricity with barely 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions of a typical brown coal plant, and less than half of those for black coal. The modest climate impact of natural gas, however, applies only from the point where the gas is burnt. In the study mentioned above, Professor Robert Howarth of Cornell University in the US examines the fuel’s broader effects. “The most recent data I could find for the US (from 2006)”, Howarth reports, “suggest a leakage rate from the oil and gas industry of an amount of methane equal to 1.5% of the natural gas consumed.” Methane, with the chemical formula CH4, makes up about 87% of natural gas after various contaminants have been removed.   [Full Story]

May 16, 2010
Chesapeake lands Asian cash to pay down debt
thetimes-tribune.com


News of foreign investment and plans to pay down debt helped drive shares of oil and gas exploration company Chesapeake Energy Corp. up 3.3 percent last week to a Friday close of $22.64 per share. The company Tuesday announced plans to raise as much a $5 billion from Singapore's Temasek Holdings and Chinese private-equity firm Hopu Investment Management. Chesapeake said it would use $3.5 billion to pay down debt and $1.5 billion to invest in development of the Marcellus natural gas play. The following day, the company sold $600 million worth of convertible preferred stock to institutional investors in North America The Oklahoma-based company said its $12 billion debt load has prevented the market from recognizing the company's value. In addition to using foreign investment to reduce debt, the company will sell 20 percent of its stake in the Marcellus, a move that is expected to raise about $2 billion. Chesapeake is a major holder of mineral rights throughout the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania   [Full Story]

May 16, 2010
Gas-drilling deal shouldn't disturb environmentalists
republicanherald.com


A new deal to lease previously "disturbed" state forest land in northcentral Pennsylvania for natural gas drilling is being hailed as partial solution to Pennsylvania's budget woes. Anadarko Petroleum Co. is paying $120 million to drill on nearly 33,000 acres in Lycoming and Clinton counties, thus enabling the Rendell administration to reach a target of using a $180 million transfer from the separate oil and gas fund to help balance the fiscal 2010-11 budget. The remaining $60 million comes from an earlier leasing of drilling rights for state forest land in January. This transaction should assuage the immediate fears of environmentalists and a bipartisan coalition of House lawmakers about additional acreage of untouched forest land being made available for drilling. But a push to enact House-approved legislation to place a three-year moratorium on additional leasing of forest land will continue. The idea that thousands of acres of disturbed land exists within our state forests may surprise some who think of these holdings as a wilderness preserve. Yet, most of the acreage in the state forests was purchased a century ago from timber firms that had clear-cut large areas of trees and left a gullied and eroded landscape. The 2.1 million acres of state forest land are managed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources under multi-use plans that allow for a wide range of activities, including selective timbering, oil and gas drilling, recreation, hiking and camping, public water storage and strict conservation practices in designated wild and natural areas.   [Full Story]

May 15, 2010
Our area's future? Residents divided by effects of gas drilling in Pennsylvania town
The Daily Star
Tom Grace

As New York state residents wait for the state Department of Environmental Conservation to decide whether to permit horizontal gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing here, gas drillers have been going full bore in northern Pennsylvania, just across the New York border. This week, The Daily Star sent a reporter and photographer to Dimock, Pa., about 25 miles south of Binghamton, to find out how widespread gas drilling has affected one rural town in a neighboring state.  [Full Story]

May 15, 2010
Shale-Gas Producers Obey New Pennsylvania Rules Early (Correct)
Bloomberg Business Week
John Lippert

Shale-gas producers told Pennsylvania regulators most of them are already complying with new regulations for protecting aquifers that aren’t scheduled to be adopted until October. Thirty-five shale-gas producers, members of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, also agreed today to work with the state to develop better tests, record-keeping and drilling procedures to prevent methane gas from contaminating groundwater. “We want a world-class regulatory environment and a world- class industry environment in Pennsylvania, since we have a huge opportunity in front of us,” Ray Walker, chairman of the coalition and a senior vice president at Fort Worth, Texas-based Range Resources Corp., said today in an interview. The state Environmental Protect Department called energy companies to Harrisburg today to make sure they understand proposed rules for cementing metal casings around their wells. The meeting came after the state last month ordered Houston- based Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. to cap three wells with defective casings in the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania.   [Full Story]

May 14, 2010
Shale: The next energy game changer
Globe and Mail Update
Shawn McCarthy Global Energy Reporter

.After eking out a living for decades with a beef cattle operation on the rugged border of Pennsylvania and New York state, Fran Westcott has hit the jackpot. In the oil industry equivalent to a claims rush, energy companies have been flooding into this long-depressed patch of rural Appalachia to tie up land in the gas-rich Marcellus shale. Last year, Mrs. Westcott signed a lease with Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. that will allow the company to drill for gas on the 210-hectare parcel in northern Pennsylvania where she grew up and her daughter now raises horses. She reaped a $489,000 (U.S.) initial payment, plus the promise of future royalties. But the 65-year-old farmer has yet to cash in on her 371-hectare property in neighbouring New York state, where she has lived for the past 12 years with her husband. Regulations in that state prevent energy companies from employing the technology they need to unlock the natural gas trapped in the shale rock thousands of metres below the surface. Companies rely upon a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing that shoots chemical-laced water deep underground to crack open the shale rock so the gas can escape. They must then dispose of waste water that flows back up the wells. Echoing concerns from residents across the region, Ms. Westcott fears that hydraulic fracturing will taint the aquifers that feed local water wells. “I am really concerned about the water – I think it’s got to have an effect on the water when you start drilling like they’re doing in Pennsylvania,” she said. “I don’t know how something is not going to happen because they have to go down through the aquifer.” The recent shale gas boom has been called a “game changer” in the North American energy picture. It promises to deliver abundant, cheap natural gas for decades to come. Utility companies are counting on it to generate electricity with half the greenhouse emissions of coal, while gas producers are touting it as the truck fuel of the future. But energy companies will have to assuage the worries of voters like Ms. Westcott if they want to capitalize on shale gas’s enormous potential. In New York and Pennsylvania, rural residents are struggling to figure out if the appeal of immediate cash and new jobs from the drilling boom is adequate compensation for the potential environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing. The residents – and their elected representatives – are also grappling with the sudden industrialization of their communities. Many are demanding tougher environmental regulations and higher taxes that could slam the brakes on the development of a major new source of energy.   [Full Story]

May 14, 2010
DEP Penalizes Range Resources $141,175 for Spill in High Quality Waterway
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Press Release

PITTSBURGH -- The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Range Resources $141,175 for an Oct. 6, 2009, spill of fluids from a gas drilling operation that killed fish and aquatic life in a high-quality waterway in Hopewell Township, Washington County. Approximately 250 barrels of diluted frac fluids were released from a broken joint in a transmission line and flowed into an unnamed tributary of Brush Run. At least 168 small fish, primarily creek chubs and blacknose dace, and some salamanders and frogs were killed. Brush Run is designated as a high-quality, warmwater fishery under the state’s special protection waters program, which protects waterways that feature a rich and diverse aquatic life population due to the quality of the water. In addition, Range Resources did not immediately notify DEP of the spill, a violation of its pollution, prevention and contingency Plan. For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 412.442.4000.   [Full Story]

May 14, 2010
DEP head asks gas drillers to comply with new rules
thetimes-tribune.com
robert swift (harrisburg bureau chief)

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's top environmental official called on the natural gas industry Thursday to comply with proposed state rules to strengthen controls on well drilling even before they are adopted. John Hanger, acting secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, made the request at a summit attended by many of the natural gas firms holding state permits to drill for deep gas pockets in the Marcellus Shale formation. The goal of the summit is to prevent a recurrence of the pollution of 14 residential water wells in Dimock Twp., Susquehanna County, due to the migration of natural gas from wells drilled by Cabot Oil & Gas Co. Cabot officials were among nearly 100 people attending what Mr. Hanger described as a "working meeting" to go over technical details with DEP's Bureau of Oil and Gas Management. "I urged the industry to implement the stronger standards immediately and not wait for the rule to be finalized," Mr. Hanger said. "I challenged the industry to set a world-class example." The summit came ahead of action by the state Environmental Quality Board on Monday on several proposed regulations to require that oil field-grade cement be used in Marcellus Shale wells, to delineate responsibility and notification procedures for gas migration problems and to strengthen requirements for treating drilling wastewater and limiting sediment erosion from wells. Mr. Hanger expects the rules to be adopted by fall. An industry spokeswoman said she anticipates many drilling companies will heed Mr. Hanger's call to start implementing all or some of the new rules ahead of adoption   [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
‘Produced’ Water an Economic Opportunity What is produced water? It bubbles up from the ground when you drill for oil.
Greentechmedia
Galen Sanford

When the Massey coal mine exploded last month, other mines continued to produce. When an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico exploded a few weeks ago, other platforms kept pumping. The natural gas industry has weathered its own tragedies, as it will in the future. Until renewable and sustainable energy sources enter mass production, citizens in the developed world will ensure that demand for carbon-based energy remains steady. And so long as demand for carbon-based energy exists, there will be an industry devoted to treating the water produced during energy exploration and extraction. Drill beside produced water containment pit, photo courtesy of the Produced Water Society The term 'produced water' refers to effluents that rise to the surface during energy drilling or extraction. This includes water naturally occurring alongside energy deposits, as well as water injected into the ground during a drilling process called 'hydraulic fracturing.' Current energy exploration and extraction in the United States creates 15-20 billion barrels of produced water each year. Worldwide, estimates top 50 billion barrels. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, for every barrel of oil produced globally, an average of three barrels of water are produced. In the United States, the water to oil / gas ratio (WOR) averages seven barrels of water to one of oil. In the worst cases, the WOR reaches 50 to 1. Energy companies pay between $3 – $12 to dispose of each barrel of produced water. That’s a lot of water to clean -- and a steep premium to pay. Further, traditional practices face increased opposition by environmentalists, local and state governments, and public lawsuits that allege produced water is escaping containment pits and entering streams and ground water.   [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
DEP to Drilling Companies: Gas Migration Events Are Preventable with Proper Well Construction and Oversight Stray Gas Endangers Lives, Threatens Water Supplies
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Press Release

Companies drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale must follow proper well construction procedures to prevent gas migration problems that endanger public health and safety and threaten residential water supplies, Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger told a group of drilling company representatives meeting today in Harrisburg. Hanger and staff from DEP’s Bureau of Oil and Gas Management met with industry officials to review state regulations governing the proper construction of deep, high-pressure natural gas wells. Hanger called the meeting after natural gas migrating from Marcellus Shale wells contaminated residential water supplies in Dimock, Susquehanna County. “As we have seen in Dimock, stray gas migrating from improperly constructed wells can build up to explosive levels near and inside homes and can make residential water supplies unusable,” Hanger said. “The drilling industry is ultimately responsible for ensuring their wells are properly constructed and must use the best casing and cementing practices to prevent problems. We will hold drillers in Pennsylvania accountable for problems caused by drilling.” In addition, the secretary also stressed the need for companies to respond promptly to complaints of gas migration from natural gas wells and to immediately notify the department and local emergency responders to ensure that lives and property are protected. “The marcellus gas industry in Pennsylvania can and must be the very best in the world. Strong rules and enforcement combined with companies dedicated to production, environmental and safety excellence is the way to become world class,” Hanger added. DEP staff and drilling operators discussed the status of ongoing gas migration investigations at drilling sites and reviewed proposed regulations that strengthen well construction standards and establish procedures for reporting gas migration problems. Those regulations will be presented to the Environmental Quality Board for consideration on May 17.   [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
DEP Fines Rex Energy Operating Corp. $45,000 for Environmental Violations in Clearfield County Company Agrees to Correct all Violations within Six Months
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Press Release

The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Rex Energy Operating Corp., of State College, $45,000 for numerous environmental violations at the company’s Alder Run natural gas well site in Cooper Township, Clearfield County. Rex Energy also signed a Consent Order and Agreement requiring all violations to be corrected within six months. “Inspections conducted by DEP’s Oil and Gas program staff in late December 2009 and in January revealed a number of significant wetland encroachment and erosion and sediment control violations with the improper construction of the Alder Run Land LP 3H well site and centralized impoundment,” said DEP Acting North-central Regional Director John Hamilton. DEP inspectors found that the well pad had been built 300 feet to the northeast of what was specified in the erosion and sediment control general permit and had encroached upon wetlands identified in the company’s permit application. The company also constructed the Alder Run centralized impoundment differently than what was approved in the permit, and that also impacted a wetland. These illegal activities violated the Oil and Gas Act, Clean Streams Law and the Dam Safety and Encroachments Act. “These violations are significant, not only due to the actual environmental impact, but also because they totally undermine the department’s permitting process,” said Hamilton. “It is imperative that accurate information is submitted in a permit application and that the sites are constructed exactly as they are permitted.” The legal agreement requires Rex Energy to halt all activities at the two locations within 15 days; submit to DEP a restoration and mitigation plan addressing all wetland encroachments at the well site and the impoundment within 30 days; begin removal of all fill material placed within 100 feet of all wetland areas of more than one acre within 60 days of approval; submit to DEP a new erosion and sediment control general permit within 90 days; and complete all restoration work within 180 days.   [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
DRBC Decision Gets Mixed Reviews
The River Reporter
Fritz Mayer

What about test wells?  [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
Natural gas companies are anxiously waiting the green light to tap into the Marcellus Shale in New York.
WBNG News
WBNG NEWS Binghamton

Natural gas companies are anxiously waiting the green light to tap into the Marcellus Shale in New York. Multimedia Watch The Video But some municipalities are already cashing in on drilling. Action News reporter Reed Buterbaugh joins us from the live desk with more. Gas companies have been operating in New York for decades... But even with a small operation, gas companies are trying to show they're making a big difference. Norse Energy presented four checks totaling more than $650,000 to Chenango County municipalities. The novelty checks represent tax dollars given out in 2009. Norse has been drilling in the county for 15 years into the Herkimer sandstone formation. But only operates one or two wells at a time. And says its profits and tax contributions would rise drastically if it could tap into the gas-rich Marcellus shale. "But when Marcellus starting actually getting going and everybody's busy we may have up to eight, nine, ten rights throughout the area," said Steve Kies with Norse Energy. "Our estimate is it could easily be ten times that if you were doing Marcellus and Utica shale drilling and upwards even of those numbers," said David Holbrook, Vice President of Norse Energy. That would translate to 6.5 million dollars in taxes. It has leases on over 130,000 acres in the Southern Tier. Holbrook doesn't expect New York State to make a decision on drilling until this fall. Last year, gas drilling proponents had hoped for wells to be tapped by this summer.   [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
Gas Pipeline To Run Through Shawangunk Far Eastern Edge of the Town Targeted
Shawangunk Journal
Chris Rowley

WALLKILL – Iroquois Gas Transmission System L.P. has set out proposals for a natural gas pipeline to run through the Hudson Valley. The pipeline would run up from New Jersey through the Town of Montgomery into the eastern edge of the Town of Shawangunk. It would then run into Plattekill and continue to the Town of Lloyd, where it would head beneath the Hudson River to Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County, and then to Pleasant Valley where it would connect with an existing pipeline. The proposed 36 inch wide pipeline would cover 66 miles and take gas from New Jersey, through the Hudson Valley into Connecticut and ultimately to Long Island. It has still to be approved by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The natural gas would be derived from the Marcellus Shale a massive subterranean formation of sedimentary rock that is thought to hold trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. John Valk, Supervisor of the Town of Shawangunk, notes that the pipeline goes through just the eastern edge of the town.   [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
‘Women Speak Out’ on gas New exhibit probes differing perspectives
The River Reporter
SANDY LONG

HURLEYVILLE, NY — A new exhibit set to open this weekend at the Sullivan County Historical Society in Hurleyville examines the complex and nuanced perspectives of women landowners on the topic of natural gas extraction. “Women Speak Out” features photographic portraits by Joyce Baronio and edited transcripts by Ellen Bay. The body of work focuses on 14 women in the Upper Delaware region, ranging in age from 25 to 81—those who have leased their land, those who haven’t and those who remain undecided. Over the past year, Bay interviewed the women while Baronio photographed them. The conversations proved highly variable, from “I’ll shoot the landman who comes onto my property,” to “I need the money to pay hospital bills.” The common denominator? “Every farmer loved her land and life,” said Bay, who notes that the issue is anything but black and white. “Farming is an occupation of the heart,” said dairy farmer Dawn Erlwein.   [Full Story]

May 13, 2010
Delaware River protectors hold fate of massive Wayne County gas development
the Times-Tribune
Steve McConnell (Staff writer)

Backed by an investment of more than $100-million in lease acquisitions covering at least 100,000 acres, a substantial natural gas development effort has begun in Wayne County, with site work beginning last week. Hess Corp. and Newfield Exploration Co. will drill the development's first of 14 planned exploratory wells in Manchester Twp. by summer as regulators continue to examine the impact of the new industry. Turning those exploratory wells - which measure the viability of natural gas drilling in northern Wayne County - into production wells could be on hold for up to a year, perhaps longer, as the Delaware River Basin Commission develops its first set of regulations for natural gas drilling in the watershed. "This is a relatively new type of project to make its appearance in the Delaware River Basin," said Clarke Rupert, commission spokesman. "We wouldn't be talking about this three, four years ago." The commission, which regulates water resources and any industry that may impact the 13,539-square-mile watershed that encompasses nearly all of Wayne County, announced this month that commission staff would develop its own environmental regulations pertaining to producing natural gas well sites. Exploratory wells are exempt, however   [Full Story]

May 12, 2010
NYRI, Gas Drilling, the Oil Spill
The River Reporter
Fritz Mayer

What does an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have to do with the Upper Delaware Valley? Well, there may be a connection with the spill, which is currently pumping 210,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf, and the regulations surrounding gas drilling and power lines that have much been in the news here over the past few years.   [Full Story]

May 12, 2010
U.S. to Break Up Oil-Rig Regulator
The Wall Street Journal
STEPHEN POWER, NEIL KING JR. And SIOBHAN HUGHES

WASHINGTON—The Interior Department plans to split the primary regulator of the oil industry into two parts amid controversy over its oversight of the doomed Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, marking the biggest political fallout so far from the Gulf of Mexico disaster. The Minerals Management Service, a small division of Interior, now has dual roles, both to ensure the safety of oil drilling in federal waters and land, and to collect royalties from oil and gas companies. Some government watchdogs have said that amounts to a conflict of interest, as employees must focus on keeping oil revenue flowing while also overseeing safety. A Wall Street Journal article last week quoted former regulators and industry people as saying the MMS has shifted most of the job of crafting safety regulations to the oil industry itself. The article found several instances of the agency identifying potential safety problems and then either not requiring follow-up or relying on the industry to draft a solution. Now, the safety regulation function will be split from royalty collection. Senators on Tuesday pressed for answers to what caused the explosion, taking testimony from executives of BP PLC, the owner of the well that blew out, as well as from rig owner Transocean Ltd. and contractor Halliburton Co. Each executive raised questions about the performance of other companies. Kenner, La., was the scene of a separate hearing, held by the MMS and the Coast Guard, which also monitors the offshore industry. Questions emerged about disaster preparedness.Coast Guard members testified that despite the spreading fire, there was no coordinated fire response. Kevin Robb, a Coast Guard specialist in search and rescue, said the Guard was focused on that function, leaving fire-fighting entirely to about five private commercial vessels that responded to the scene. That prompted Coast Guard Captain Hung Nguyen, co-chairman of the panel conducting the hearing, to suggest that the boats independently "throwing water onto a disabled vessel," with no central coordination, "could have had a role in sinking the vessel." Maritime experts say that too much water can essentially cause a rig to overflow and sink; therefore, it's important to coordinate. At the Senate hearing, Halliburton executive Tim Probert testified that his company hadn't placed a final cement plug within the well when the blowout occurred. Such plugs, designed to keep gas from escaping up the pipe, are normally put in before heavy drilling fluid known as "mud" is removed, some industry experts say. In this case, mud was removed before a final plug was placed, Mr. Probert testified, in a scenario outlined in Tuesday's Journal. Mr. Probert said Halliburton was contractually bound to comply with the well owner's instructions on such matters. When senators asked a BP executive, Lamar McKay, about that matter, he said he wasn't "familiar with the procedure on that particular well." A rig worker cited Tuesday in the Journal said permission had been sought from the MMS to do the procedures in the unusual order, withdrawing mud before placing the final cement plug. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar declined to comment on whether the MMS, part of his department, had given such permission. BP's Mr. McKay focused attention on the failure of the blowout preventer, a heavy stack of valves that sits on the sea floor and is supposed to avert a blowout. It is the responsibility of the rig owner, Transocean. That company's president, Steven Newman, told senators the device didn't cause the explosion, and added that the "root cause" of the accident was "a sudden catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing or both." At the hearing in Louisiana, an MMS official, Jason Mathews, said the agency requires prospective drillers to submit proof their blowout preventers have the capability to sever and seal an oil pipe in an emergency. But a local MMS drilling engineer, Frank Patton, testified that he wasn't aware of such a requirement. Mr. Patton, who approved BP's drilling permit, said he didn't require proof from oil companies that their blowout preventers have enough power to do the job. "I have never been told to look for" a statement that the preventer is adequate, Mr. Patton said. Interior Secretary Salazar said he has asked the National Academy of Engineering to conduct a probe of the Gulf disaster, which took 11 lives and is causing a large oil spill. There are proposals in Congress for an independent commission similar to one that looked into the space shuttle Challenger's explosion. The Louisiana inquiry also heard from Alwin Landry, the captain of the Damon B. Bankston, a 260-foot vessel that traveled with the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. He testified that at about 9 p.m. the night of the blowout, he heard a "high pressure release of air or gas" coming from the rig. Mud flew out of the derrick and came down on the Bankston like a "black rain," he said. At about 9:53 p.m., he said, came a green flash, and an explosion followed by a "Mayday" call from the rig's radio.  [Full Story]

May 12, 2010
Tests show no gas drilling contamination in Dish residents
The Star Telegram
BILL HANNA and AMAN BATHEJA

Residents of the small town of Dish do not have high levels of contaminants in their bodies due to natural gas drilling, according to a state report applauded Wednesday both industry representatives and Dish's mayor. The level of benzene and other contaminants in the blood and urine of Dish residents was no greater than in the rest of the U.S. population, according to a Texas Department of State Health Services investigation. The health department took biological samples in late January from 28 Dish residents after reports of high levels of benzene at two area natural gas wells. The department wanted to determine whether the levels of benzene and other volatile organic compounds in their blood were higher than those measured in the broader population. "We were looking to see whether a single contaminant or a handful of contaminants were notably elevated in many or all of the people we tested. We didn't find that pattern in Dish," Dr. Carrie Bradford, the DSHS toxicologist who led the investigation, said in a news release. Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/12/2185348/tests-show-no-gas-drilling-contamination.html#ixzz0nzvEcgUS   [Full Story]

May 12, 2010
In Senate testimony, oil executives pass the blame for massive gulf spill
The Washington Post
Steve Mufson and David A. Fahrenthold

Three major oil industry executives agreed on one thing in a pair of Senate hearings Tuesday: Someone else was to blame for the drilling rig accident that triggered the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The senior executives from the oil behemoth BP, the offshore oil drilling company Transocean and the oilfield services contractor Halliburton pointed fingers at each other in seeking to explain what caused the accident that set afire and sank the Deepwater Horizon rig, killing 11 people. Getting to the bottom of the accident took center stage for a day even as BP and federal agencies sought to contain or stop the three-week-old oil spill. BP blamed the failure of Transocean's blowout preventer and raised a new question about whether Transocean disregarded "anomalous pressure test readings" just hours before the explosion. Transocean blamed decisions made by BP and cited possible flaws in the cementing job done by Halliburton. And Halliburton said that it had faithfully followed BP's instructions and that Transocean had started replacing a heavy drilling mud with seawater before the well was sealed with a cement plug. Senators, striving to become fluent in the language of offshore drilling technology, pressed the executives to explain the failures of the exploration well and pressed BP America's president, Lamar McKay, to explain the precise meaning of his pledge that BP would pay "all legitimate claims" stemming from oil spill damage. Lawmakers opposed to wider offshore drilling said they were sadly vindicated. "The bottom line is: If you drill in the ocean, an oil spill cannot be a surprise," Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said. "All it takes is one oil spill to destroy a coastline."  [Full Story]

May 12, 2010
Gunther reaffirms support for moratorium on drilling
Times Herald Record
Steve Israel

Despite what she told two leading supporters of gas drilling, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther will not withdraw her support of a bill that would essentially put drilling on hold for two years — until a federal study on its safety is complete. "My name is on the bill for the moratorium and it's going to remain on the bill," said Gunther, D-Forestburgh, who didn't deny saying she was backing off the bill she co-sponsored. She did say it's likely it won't be passed. "If that's what it takes to have safe drilling around New York State, then that's what it takes." This infuriates the two drilling supporters, who say Gunther told them during an 11 a.m. meeting on April 23 that she was taking her name off the bill. They promise to make her support of a moratorium an issue in the November election. "Pardon me while I bite my tongue and keep from cursing," said Noel Van Swol of the western Sullivan County hamlet of Long Eddy. He also says Gunther repeated her intention at a subsequent Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce meeting, although he said she said it would take a while. "She has just stabbed every farmer and property owner in the region in the back," added Bill Graby of Callicoon, a dairy farmer. "If this is the way she feels, she is obviously out of touch with the people who elected her." Graby and Van Swol head a property owners association with 70,000 acres they plan to lease for drilling of the gas-rich Marcellus shale — once the state issues its new rules, after the summer. When first asked about what she told Van Swol and Graby, Gunther seemed to back off the moratorium, saying she supports waiting for the state to issue those regulations. She also said she couldn't withdraw her name. "Natural gas is a great thing," she said, adding later, "But I support no drilling until we know it's safe." Graby and Van Swol were more direct about the consequences of Gunther's support of the moratorium, qualifications or not. "She will find out come election that there are thousands of us who vote," said Graby.  [Full Story]

May 11, 2010
Rendell OKs leasing 32,896 acres of state forest for gas drilling
times leader


HARRISBURG - As a bill calling for a moratorium on leasing state forest land for natural gas exploration languishes in the Senate, Gov. Ed Rendell announced today that the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources finalized a lease agreement with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. for 32,896 acres of forest land in Centre, Wyoming and Bradford counties. Read more Natural Gas Leases - Marcellus Shale articles In a press release, Rendell said the "responsible natural gas lease agreement" will allow Pennsylvania to meet its need for revenue while fulfilling its obligation to protect Pennsylvania's natural resources. Under the agreement, Anadarko has paid the commonwealth $120 million to access 32,896 acres that are surrounded by tracts of land for which drilling companies already hold lease agreements. Because these newly leased tracts can largely be accessed by gas operations on the adjacent tracts, the amount of new state forest surface area that must be disturbed is minimized, according to the press release. Other than the agreement, the commonwealth will not have to make any additional state forest land available to reach its revenue goals for natural gas drilling in the 2010-11 fiscal year. "This is a responsible approach that meets our revenue targets and limits the impact of additional natural gas exploration in our state forests," Rendell said. "We do not need to expand our drilling footprint in state forest lands to meet our revenue goals, because these parcels are already surrounded by other leased acres," Governor Rendell said. "They also are within areas leased in the 1970s and 1980s by DCNR, but not all the acreage was drilled because technology wasn't available to exploit Marcellus Shale deposits. "In order to develop the acreage, DCNR and Anadarko have agreed to certain provisions to make certain there is minimal impact on the surface. Horizontal drilling technologies allow Anadarko access to most of this acreage from already disturbed areas on their adjoining leased lands." The newly leased acres cover 11 tracts in the Moshannon, Sproul and Tiadaghton state forests where Centre, Clinton and Lycoming counties meet. For 27,185 acres on 10 tracts, Anadarko agreed to pay $4,000 per acre, consistent with the average price paid during DCNR's January 2010 competitive lease sale. For the remaining 5,711 acres on one tract, the commonwealth will receive $2,000 per acre because the geology underneath is not as promising for gas production. The lease of the 11 tracts totals about $120 million. DCNR's January 2010 lease sale generated $128 million-$60 million of that went toward this year's General Fund budget and the additional $68 million will be applied to a target of $180 million to help balance state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2010. "With this agreement negotiated and the money in the bank, we can safely be on board with the moratorium which passed the House and is now in the Senate. If the Senate passes the legislation and it comes to my desk, I will sign it," Rendell said.  [Full Story]

May 11, 2010
Drilling’s effect on ‘Clean and Green’ land uncertain Bill would have rollback taxes assessed only on land impacted by wellhead permanently.
times leader
Steve Mocarsky

Luzerne County Assessor’s Office Director Tony Alu still doesn’t know how Marcellus Shale development on land with “Clean and Green” designation will affect the land’s tax status. Read more Natural Gas Leases - Marcellus Shale articles click image to enlarge Select images available for purchase in the Times Leader Photo Store “We don’t have a clear-cut plan yet. … I’m turning over every stone to get as much information as possible. We won’t be doing anything until I’m sure what our options are,” Alu said Monday. Clean and Green is a program authorized by state law that allows land devoted to agricultural or forest use to be assessed at a value for that use rather than at fair market value. The intent of the program, which is administered through county government, is to encourage property owners to retain their land in agricultural, open-space or forest-land use by providing real estate tax relief. Property owners benefit through lower taxes as long as their land isn’t used for housing developments or other uses inconsistent with agricultural production, open-space or forest-land use. If a property owner decided to use the land for a purpose inconsistent with the program, the landowner would have to pay “rollback taxes” – the difference between fair market value and use value of the land – for as many years as the property had been designated Clean and Green, up to a maximum of seven years. Although it’s a state-authorized program, with maximum use values set annually for each county by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation, the bureau offers no guidance on how drilling for natural gas on a Clean and Green parcel would affect the tax status. “The (state Farmland and Forest Land Assessment) Act is silent in that regard, so it’s left up to each individual county how to address it,” said bureau director Doug Wolfgang. However, Wolfgang said, in March 2009, state Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, introduced a bill that would amend the act, allowing for natural gas drilling on Clean and Green land, with rollback taxes being assessed only on the portion of land that would be permanently impacted by a wellhead. State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, was a co-sponsor of that bill. Yaw represents Union and Sullivan counties and parts of Susquehanna, Bradford and Lycoming counties, which together boasted a total of about 200 natural gas wells by the end of last year. The bill won Senate approval in February and is before the House for consideration. Yaw has said the bill would provide counties across the state with “a consistent interpretation” to follow and would “help to prevent differing opinions on how many acres of roll-back taxes should be levied on landowners who have leased for natural gas development.” He has said farmers and landowners need the bill to become law “so that there isn’t any confusion on how the Clean and Green Program operates.” The bill also would exempt land with underground transmission or gathering lines from roll-back taxes and would allow for one lease for temporary pipe storage facilities for two years. Each property would have to be restored to its original use. Regardless of whether the bill becomes law, Lake Township Supervisor Amy Salansky said neither she nor her husband, Paul, will have to pay rollback taxes on their Clean and Green land, on which EnCana Oil and Gas USA intends to drill a natural gas well in August. If county officials decide to assess rollback taxes, the lease with EnCana makes the energy company responsible for paying them. Salansky noted neither she nor her husband own the mineral or gas rights to the land. The couple bought the land after the owner died so they could farm it, but the owner had willed the mineral and gas rights to his nephew, who retained them in the sale. The Salanskys are crop farmers, growing oats, corn and hay. They own and work more farmland nearby, Amy Salansky said. Even if the entire 50-acre parcel is kicked out of the Clean and Green program, Salansky said she would reapply to have the parcel accepted back into the program, minus the 6 acres that would be used for the gas-drilling operations.  [Full Story]

May 11, 2010
How to sue an oil company: Tips for the Gulf from a veteran of the Valdez spill
The Washington Post
Brian O'Neil

Alaska's Prince William Sound. As an attorney for 32,000 Alaskan fishermen and natives, I tried the initial case in 1994. My colleagues and I took testimony from more than 1,000 people, looked at 10 million pages of Exxon documents, argued 1,000 motions, and went through 20 appeals. Along the way, I learned some things that might come in handy for the people of the Gulf Coast who are now dealing with BP and the ongoing oil spill. Brace for the PR blitz. BP's public relations campaign ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/11/AR2010051102231.html ) is well underway. "This wasn't our accident," chief executive Tony Hayward told ABC's George Stephanopoulos earlier this month. Though he accepted responsibility for cleaning up the spill, Hayward emphasized that "this was a drilling rig operated by another company." Communities destroyed by oil spills have heard this kind of thing before. In 1989, Exxon executive Don Cornett told residents of Cordova, Alaska: "You have had some good luck, and you don't realize it. You have Exxon, and we do business straight. We will consider whatever it takes to keep you whole." Cornett's straight-shooting company proceeded to fight paying damages ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/25/AR2008062500663.html ) for nearly 20 years. In 2008, it succeeded -- the Supreme Court cut punitive damages from $2.5 billion to $500 million. As the spill progressed, Exxon treated the cleanup like a public relations event. At the crisis center in Valdez, company officials urged the deployment of "bright and yellow" cleanup equipment to avoid a "public relations nightmare." "I don't care so much whether [the equipment is] working or not," an Exxon executive exhorted other company executives on an audiotape our plaintiffs cited before the Supreme Court. ( http://www.scotusblog.com/archives/07-219_bio.pdf ) "I don't care if it picks up two gallons a week." Even as the spill's long-term impact on beaches, herring, whales, sea otters and other wildlife became apparent, Exxon used its scientists to run a counteroffensive, claiming that the spill had no negative long-term effects on anything. This type of propaganda offensive can go on for years, and the danger is that the public and the courts will eventually buy it. State and local governments and fishermen's groups on the Gulf Coast will need reputable scientists to study the spill's effects and work tirelessly to get the truth out. Remember: When the spiller declares victory over the oil, it's time to raise hell. Don't settle too early. If gulf communities settle too soon, they won't just be taking a smaller amount of money -- they'll be paid inadequate damages for injuries they don't even know they have yet. It's difficult to predict how spilled oil will affect fish and wildlife. Dead birds are easy to count, but oil can destroy entire fisheries over time. In the Valdez case, Exxon set up a claims office right after the spill to pay fishermen part of lost revenue. They were required to sign documents limiting their rights to future damages. This was shortsighted. In Alaska, fishermen didn't fish for as many as three years after the Valdez spill. Their boats lost value. The price of fish from oiled areas plummeted. Prince William Sound's herring have never recovered ( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/us/06alaska.html?scp=1&sq=valdez&st=cse ),. South-central Alaska was devastate In the gulf, where more than 200,000 gallons of crude are pouring into once-productive fishing waters every day, fishing communities should be wary of taking the quick cash. The full harm to fishing will not be understood for years. Hire patient lawyers. After the Valdez spill, 62 law firms filed suit against Exxon. Many lawyers thought they would score an easy payday when the company settled quickly. They were wrong. My clients resolved their last issue with Exxon just last month. The coalition of firms that stayed with the case expended $200 million in billable hours and $30 million in expenses. Exxon only began paying compensation to lawyers two years ago. In the end, we were able to recover about a fourth of losses suffered by fishermen and natives. And no matter how outrageously spillers behave in court, trials are always risky. Though an Alaskan criminal jury failed to find Hazelwood guilty of drunken driving, in our civil case, we revisited the issue. The Supreme Court noted ( http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/07-219P.ZO ) that, according to witnesses, when "the Valdez left port on the night of the disaster, Hazelwood downed at least five double vodkas in the waterfront bars of Valdez, an intake of about 15 ounces of 80-proof alcohol, enough 'that a non-alcoholic would have passed out.'" Exxon claimed that an obviously drunken skipper wasn't drunk; but if he was, that Exxon didn't know he had a history of drinking; but if Exxon did know, that the company monitored him; and anyway, that the company really didn't hurt anyone. In addition, Exxon hired experts to say that oil had no adverse effect on fish. They claimed that some of the oil onshore was from earlier earthquakes. Lawrence Rawl, chief executive of Exxon at the time of the spill, had testified during Senate hearings that the company would not blame the Coast Guard for the Valdez's grounding. On the stand, he reversed himself and implied that the Coast Guard was responsible. (When I played the tape of his Senate testimony on cross examination, the only question I had was: "Is that you?") Keep hope alive. Historically, U.S. courts have favored oil spillers over those they hurt. Petroleum companies play down the size of their spills and have the time and resources to chip away at damages sought by hard-working people with less money. And compensation won't mend a broken community. Go into a bar in rural Alaska -- it's as if the Valdez spill happened last week. Still, when I sued BP in 1991 after a relatively small spill in Glacier Bay, the company responsibly compensated the fishermen of Cook Inlet, Alaska. After a one-month trial, BP paid the community $51 million. From spill to settlement, the case took four years to resolve. Culturally, BP seemed an entirely different creature than Exxon. I do not know whether the BP that is responding to the disaster in the gulf is the BP I dealt with in 1991, or whether it will adopt the Exxon approach. For the sake of everyone involved, I hope it is the former. Brian O'Neill, a partner at Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis, represented fishermen in Valdez and Glacier Bay in civil cases related to oil spills.   [Full Story]

May 11, 2010
After Spill, More Gulf Drilling Plans Got Environmental Exemptions
ProPublica
Marian Wang

Regulators at the Minerals Management Service exempted 27 additional offshore drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico from performing an in-depth environmental analysis—even after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, according to reporting by McClatchy. One of those exemptions went to BP. The Deepwater Horizon rig had also been exempted from having to perform an in-depth environmental analysis using something known as a “categorical exclusion.” Categorical exclusions are used to fast-track drilling plans by eliminating paperwork that is deemed to be unnecessary or redundant because the drilling would probably have no significant effect on the environment. While the granting of an exclusion is not the final step before a company is free to drill, it does expedite the review process.  [Full Story]

May 11, 2010
Two Oil Firms Link Rig Blast to 'Plug'
The Wall Street Journal
RUSSELL GOLD, STEPHEN POWER And VANESSA O'CONNELL

Executives from BP PLC, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. began pointing fingers on Monday over who bears ultimate responsibility for the April 20 oil-rig explosion that took 11 lives and is spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The question will loom large at a Senate hearing Tuesday that will hear from executives of the three companies. BP, Transocean and Halliburton are set to blame each other in Congressional hearings for last month's big oil-rig explosion and spill. Neil King, Bob O'Brien and Neal Lipschutz discuss. Also, Kara Scannell weighs in on Congressional hearings intended to find out what caused Thursday's sudden market plunge. .BP, the well owner, blames the failure of a big set of valves on the sea floor, known as the blowout preventer, to halt the blowout once it started. A different account comes from Halliburton, a contractor in the drilling. This account is corroborated to some extent by Transocean, as well as by two workers on the drilling rig, The Wall Street Journal has determined. This account describes a failure to place a cement plug within the well. The plug is designed to prevent gas from escaping up the pipe to the surface. Before such a plug is placed, the job of keeping underground gas from coming up the pipe is done by heavy drilling fluid inside the well, commonly known as "mud." The plug is normally put in before the mud is removed, but according to the account of Halliburton, Transocean and the two workers, in this case, that wasn't done—drilling mud was removed before a final cement plug was placed in the well. It is not clear why such a decision would have been made. Rig owner Transocean says that BP, as owner of the well that was just being completed, made key decisions on how to proceed. BP declined to comment on this account of the drilling procedures. Tim Probert, Halliburton's president of global business lines, plans to testify Tuesday that his company had finished an earlier step, cementing the casing, filling in the area between the pipe and the walls of the well; pressure tests showed the casing had been properly constructed, he will testify. This U.S. Coast Guard image released on April 22 shows fire boat response crews as they battle the blazing remnants of the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. .At this point it is common practice to pour wet cement down into the pipe. The wet cement, which is heavier than the drilling mud, sinks down through the drilling mud and then hardens into a plug thousands of feet down in the well. The mud then is removed and displaced by seawater; the hardened cement plug holds back any underground gas. In this case, a decision was made, shortly before the explosion, to perform the remaining tasks in reverse order, according to the expected Senate testimony of Mr. Probert, the Halliburton executive. "We understand that the drilling contractor then proceeded to displace the riser with seawater prior to the planned placement of the final cement plug…," Mr. Probert says in the prepared testimony, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The "riser" is part of the pipe running from the sea floor up to the drilling rig at the surface. Lloyd Heinze, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Texas Tech University, agrees that this is an unusual approach. "Normally, you would not evacuate the riser until you were done with the last plug at the sea floor," he said in an interview. A worker who was on the drilling rig said in an interview that Halliburton was getting ready to set a final cement plug at 8,000 feet below the rig when workers received other instructions. "Usually we set the cement plug at that point and let it set for six hours, then displace the well," said the worker, meaning take out the mud. According to this worker, BP asked permission from the federal Minerals Management Service to displace the mud before the final plugging operation had begun. The mud in the well weighed 14.3 pounds per gallon; it was displaced by seawater that weighed nearly 50% less. Like BP, the MMS declined to comment on this account. Suspected tar balls washed up Monday on Dauphin Island, Ala. .As the heavy mud was taken out and replaced with much lighter seawater, "that's when the well came at us, basically," said the worker, who was involved in the cementing process. The worker's account is corroborated by an email account sent by another person on the rig. He said that engineers wanted to flood the well with sea water before setting the final plug. As they were taking out the mud, the blowout began with a flood of drilling fluid being pushed out of the well, followed by a series of explosions. Halliburton's Mr. Probert's prepared statement says: "Prior to the point in the well construction plan that the Halliburton personnel would have set the final cement plug, the catastrophic incident occurred. As a result, the final cement plug was never set." Transocean Chief Executive Steven Newman is expected to tell the Senate the explosion occurred "after the well construction process was essentially finished." His prepared testimony then blames the blowout on a failure of the well's lining, saying the blowout had to be caused by "a sudden, catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing or both." When asked Monday night, Transocean agreed that the cement plug had not been placed in the well but that it had started the process of removing the mud, which it said was at BP's behest. Such plugs are placed only temporarily. The idea is that the well owner can later reopen the well and begin producing oil from it. The chairman of BP unit BP America Inc., Lamar McKay, is expected to testify that "we are looking at why the blowout preventer did not work because that was to be the fail-safe in case of an accident.…Transocean's blowout preventer failed to operate." According to his prepared statement, reviewed by the Journal, he will say, "All of us urgently want to understand how this vital piece of equipment and its built-in redundancy systems failed and what measures are required to prevent this from ever happening again." Mr. Newman of Transocean says in his prepared testimony that it "simply makes no sense" to blame the blowout preventer. At the point that the blowout occurred, "the well barriers—the cementing and the casing—were responsible for controlling any pressure from the reservoir," his testimony says. Two Senate panels, on Energy and Natural Resources and on Environment and Public Works, are to hear the testimony. In addition, the U.S. Coast Guard and the MMS are holding hearings Tuesday and Wednesday in Kenner, La. BP's efforts to control the leaking oil haven't worked so far. As a result, reverberations from the disaster could affect BP's global ambitions to expand its already large footprint in deep-water drilling. No other company has invested as heavily as BP has in the high-risk, high-reward business of deep-water oil exploration. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said Monday that the global oil industry "has drilled over 5,000 wells in greater than 1,000 feet of water and has not hitherto had an issue of this sort to contend with."   [Full Story]

May 11, 2010
Steuben County may allow Marcellus shale debris to be dumped in landfill Steuben County officials are currently looking into a plan that would allow Marcellus shale gas drilling companies to dump their "cuttings" in the county landfill. It's a similar proposal to one in a neighboring county that has many people enraged. Our Vince Slomsky tells us about the proposal and what it could do for the county.
YNN: Your News Now
Vince Slomsky

STEUBEN COUNTY, N.Y. -- The Steuben County landfill in Bath may soon allow Marcellus shale gas drilling cuttings from Pennsylvania to be dumped at the site. A study is currently underway to see if it's safe. "Right now, we're just talking about relatively small amounts we would bring in, if we brought it in. We want to be sure of ourselves though," said Steuben County public works commissioner Vince Spagnoletti. If this sounds familiar, it's because the Chemung County landfill just recently started allowing the rocks, soil and debris known as the cuttings at their site. Residents there were upset with the plan and say the materials contain radioactive chemicals. But Spagnoletti says so far, he doesn't think that's the case. "It appears that it's low level, but we're concerned what about long term. What's going to happen to the leachate, the liquid that comes out of our landfill, how's it going to affect that?" Spagnoletti asked. Much like the decision made in Chemung County, allowing the waste to be dumped in Steuben would have a lot to do with the revenue it may bring in   [Full Story]

May 10, 2010
Shale Gas Will Rock the World Huge discoveries of natural gas promise to shake up the energy markets and geopolitics. And that's just for starters.
Wall Street Journal
AMY MYERS JAFFE

There's an energy revolution brewing right under our feet. Journal Report Read the complete Energy report . Read More Topics: Shale Gas .Over the past decade, a wave of drilling around the world has uncovered giant supplies of natural gas in shale rock. By some estimates, there's 1,000 trillion cubic feet recoverable in North America alone—enough to supply the nation's natural-gas needs for the next 45 years. Europe may have nearly 200 trillion cubic feet of its own. We've always known the potential of shale; we just didn't have the technology to get to it at a low enough cost. Now new techniques have driven down the price tag—and set the stage for shale gas to become what will be the game-changing resource of the decade. I have been studying the energy markets for 30 years, and I am convinced that shale gas will revolutionize the industry—and change the world—in the coming decades. It will prevent the rise of any new cartels. It will alter geopolitics. And it will slow the transition to renewable energy.   [Full Story]

May 10, 2010
Natural gas drilling leases saving farms
the times-tribune.com
JAMES HAGGERTY (STAFF WRITER)

Manning Farm Dairy exhibits the benefits of its natural gas lease agreement. "It let us build a heifer barn" for female cattle that have not produced calves, owner Paul Manning said of a lease covering 147 acres of his North Abington Twp. farm. "We put up a grain bin, too, so we could store our soybeans." Improvements, such as the $240,000 investment in the heifer barn in 2008, would have been unlikely without the gas lease, Mr. Manning said. Price volatility ravaging the dairy industry and economic distress from the financial markets disaster puts additional bank financing beyond reach for many farmers. "Every cent went to continuing the business operation," Mr. Manning said of the lease. "We're trying to be self-sufficient.... "Everything has some risk. We need to weigh the benefits against the costs," said Keith Eckel, a Schultzville farmer who has gas leases and grows corn on more than 1,200 acres in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties. "Absolutely, we want to maintain our environment. Absolutely, we want to protect our water." John Roba, who owns Roba Family Farms, a North Abington Twp. agribusiness that sells Christmas trees and pumpkins, said he received assurances about drilling safety after agreeing to leases on two properties he owns with his wife, Sue. "They are telling us they are going to go beyond what DEP says," he said. "They need to do that to make sure the water table is safe." Others, including Mr. Manning, have reservations about their commitment. "If I had a few hundred thousand, or a million, in the bank, I'd tell them to go whistle," Mr. Manning said. "We wouldn't even consider signing a lease. The water table was too valuable." The financial payoff, though, is valuable, too. "Farmers have said that receiving the lease payments has allowed them to stay on the farm and without that, they would not have been able to survive economically," said Timothy Kelsey, Ph.D., an agricultural economist at Penn State University. "In Northeastern Pennsylvania, it has saved a tremendous amount of farms," said Richard Pallman, whose family operates Pallman Farms, a South Abington Twp. poultry and strawberry operation. The Pallmans agreed to a gas lease recently on 128 acres of their property. "It's going to save a lot of land from being developed," Mr. Pallman said of gas's positive impact on agriculture. "The pressure to sell to pay taxes is gone." In an ironic twist, the gas industry may help conserve farm land and limit developmental sprawl. "A lot of agriculture is hanging on by its fingernails and people end up selling the farms because they can't afford to farm anymore," Mr. Roba said. "At the very least, this makes life easier." The potential value of mineral rights is slowing property transactions in some rural areas, Mr. Messersmith said. "People are not selling large acres within the Marcellus footprint. They are holding on to that," he said. But the longer-term impact of natural gas drilling leases on regional agriculture stirs debate. "There's concern that it will encourage farmers to sell the property and get out of business," Mr. Messersmith said. "Given the dollars going in, is that going to change the type of agriculture that people want to do?" Dr. Kelsey wondered. "Millionaires don't want to milk cows." The impact also spreads to farm labor, putting upward pressure on agricultural wages. "Guys, instead of working on a farm for $9 or $10 an hour, are working in the gas fields for $18 an hour," Mr. Pallman said. Although dozens of leases have been signed in Lackawanna County, only one well has been drilled. Some farmers with leases wonder if the environmental setbacks will cease before larger-scale drilling gets under way. "I don't see them coming to our area for a few years, at least," said Jim Schirg, a vegetable farmer who sells produce at the Scranton Cooperative Farmers Market and agreed to a lease on 178 acres in West Abington Twp. "What the effects are going to be in two years, yeah, it worries us." Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com Sign up for Text Alerts Sign up for e-mail newsletters Ads by Yahoo! Marcellus Shale Leasing Use Our Site To Make Gas Companies Compete For Your Lease. www.leaseauctionhouse.com Horizontal Shale Drilling Animation Animation shows Horizontal Shale Drilling, its history and processes. www.GeoArt.com Northwest Natural Gas job online (Hiring) Positions Available at Northwest Natural Gas Hiring Now - Apply Today! Hiring.SearchWorkListings.net Write your comment here Your name Word verification Type in the characters you see in the picture below. If you have trouble reading the characters in the picture, click it to see a new one. I have read and accepted the website's terms for commenting 123Next » 56 posted comments You people have no idea what you are talking about. You have been lied to by organizations that are supposedly environmental, but if you look into their real reason for existence you will find it is MONEY. These farmers have every right to sign leases. They will not ruin their water or land. They may never even be drilled! Stop reading the bull from the extremists and start learning from science. You are looking very stupid. Report Rfscala, 05/11/10 11:14 EXCO in the neighborhood? How nice. They just finished a 3 week evacuation in Caddo Parish Louisiana. They had a blow out much like one in Dimock. Homes within a 1 mile radius -- yes 1 mile - were evacuated for a week due to methane in the water and concern about explosion. The unlucky neighbors within a 1/2 mile radius had to stay away from their homes (pets too) for a full 3 weeks. Woops. This had nothing to do with fracturing, simply drilling. Yes drilling. EXCO hit an unexpected shallow pocket of gas and the well blew out. Took them 3 weeks to get it contained, no word yet on more permanent water damage to the area. You see, the earth isn't exactly uniformly perfect under ground and, well, it's hard to tell where the gas pockets may be... I strongly suggest that those anywhere near the "test well" get their water tested immediately -- in PA you have to prove that your water was OK before you say someone contaminated it, assuming you're beyond 1000 feet from the gas well. If you can't prove it, you're out of luck and they will say it was contaminated before the drilling (like Cabot is doing in Dimock). Use a certified laboratory or your water test means nothing in court. You might also want to see if your town has an evacuation plan. This farmers vs. the world thing is ridiculous. We don't have to choose between the two -- it's just that farmers have the land and they can take in many thousands of dollars if they lease it. We just have to make sure the government balances things to make sure that the process is safe and the costs and risks are born only by people who stand to make the money and who chose the risk, not the neighbors who get nothing but problems. Unfortunately, they don't know how to do that yet so they need to stop and regroup until they do. They just don't want to face that reality and are in the palms of the gas companies right now. We need to tell them that is not OK to put the tax burden and risks on us. VOTE WISELY. Remember -- one farmer may own a lot of land, but that is the voice of only one taxpayer. There are many, many more taxpayers/voters who own smaller pieces of land and they need to get smart and exert control. Only a small percentage of taxpayers/voters have leased, many more taxpayers/voters have not leased and can use that power to control the situation. Just don't sit back until it's too late -- you can make sure they are responsible, but, like little kids, they will do what they want if you do nothing. Report drill maybe drill, 05/11/10 10:44 If you are against drilling their is a petition that you can sign to hold all drilling in the state! http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?pagas99&51 click on the link below and sign the petition. We deserve safe drinking water and safe air to breathe that is our right! We will not be able to survive without water nor will any of our wildlife or vegation. Report Danielle, 05/11/10 9:30 Said to a friend signing a gas lease: "What if the drilling ruins your water?" "That's ok, they'll truck water in for us each week." "What about your neighbors water?" "Who cares?" said the "friend" And these people dare call themselves "christian". Didn't Christ command you to care for your neighbor? Enough said. Report Enough said., 05/11/10 8:13 Irreversible pollution is not progress. The price & risk is too high! In reality, what we need is to build more electric producing plants; be it wind, solar or nuclear. But it needs to be done pretty soon and carefully. We are destroying the earth one dollar at a time. "a developer is one who wants to build houses in the woods: an environmentalist already has his/her house in the woods". Report consider the sparrow, 05/11/10 8:06 dont drill off shore dont drill in alaska dont drill in the usa and of course dont drill in northeast pa then when a gallon of gas is 10 bucks and you cant afford it you can go out a hug a tree--if you happen to own one oh but tree huggers usually dont own their own bring the rigs to my farm Report drill baby drill, 05/11/10 5:46 Linda, I'm not "doubting the integrity of those with a social consciousness." I'm saying that nothing has happend on Mannings property and we've already got comments about tainted ice cream, milk, etc. I think its jumping the gun and a typical NIMBY reaction. Just because land is leased does not mean it will automatically be drilled on. And my statement about DEP scrutinizing drilling applications more closely, is a direct belief I have that the public's outcry against issues that have already occured (like Dimmick) will force the state to look more closely at what's going on...I think that's pretty much what your calling people to do...get after elected officials and agencies to do the right thing in protecting our environemnt. DEP has already hired more people to work exclusively on gas and they have already institued a three year moratorium on drilling on state forest land, both of which indicate to me they're taking a step back to reassess and try to do the right thing to protect our environment. Report looney for Linda, 05/10/10 6:43 radical "boycotters"? Why does having doubts and questions about the safety of gas drilling make someone radical? And what is wrong with cloth bags? I just don't get it. Report NEPA grandma, 05/10/10 6:36 What you do on your land is one thing. But when it has the potential to affect everyone around you,and change the area we live in forever and the future generations, then you should accept the liability for that as well. If you ruin our watershed or air or roads with your money making operation, are you going to reimburse your neighbors for their loss? Can we sue you? Report gas minds no fences, 05/10/10 6:29 "It's going to save the land from being DEVELOPED." ??????!!!!! Boy, will you be surprised. I guess making your farm into a industrial zone doesn't count. Once you lease you don't own your land anymore, you are a sharecropper. Cept' you pay the taxes. Report collateral damaged, 05/10/10 6:03 Cabot is not the only culprit, According to a DEP news release dated May 4, 1009, Schreiner Oil and Gas company was held responsible for contamination of at least 7 water supplies in McKean County PA. Spectra Energy sprayed 1,629 lbs. of lubricating oil onto fertile farmland and residential property in rural PA. Crops had to be burned to prevent toxic contamination to consumers. Atlas Energy is being sued in Washington County for contaminating land and water. In Hickory , Bradford County, Gibbs Hill and others communities in Pa citizens state water became contaminated after drilling. Simply read. Report Linda Nealon, 05/10/10 6:02 A drill and operate permit was issued in Dec. 2009 on a property in North Abington Township. It will expire a year from said date. It is in the realm of possibility that the Gas co. will drill within that year. To "loonies" I hope I have enlighten you. Stay aware my friend. My best to you. It saddens me to see neighbor against neighbor but this is how drilling has played out in other communities, perhaps we should work together to ensure the health and safety of all. Report Linda Nealon, 05/10/10 5:49 "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Franklin D. Roosevelt Everybody really needs to grow up a bit. With progress comes some setback. I ask all of you who write such rubbish in regards to the actions of these fine farmers, where were you when land was for sale? Why haven't you been actively working day in and day out, to till the land, make a crop and provide for your family. Every $ that these farmers have made have gone back into the land, buying it up in order to provide each and everyone of you with food on your plates. All of you had the same oppurtunities to buy up the land in NE PA, instead, most were too busy working five day work weeks and vacationing all over the place. How dare you question the actions of our farmers. Most farmers care for the land much more then any one of you could ever possibly wish for. The next time you sit down to eat, look at what is on your plate. Now imagine if each farmer was not able to produce the foods that you want...what would you eat? And stop with the stupid ignorant talk about all the land being ruined by drilling....if that was the case,stop driving you vehicles, stop heating you pools and homes and stop getting on planes to vacation. Your actions may be far worse than any farmers decisions to sign a lease. These Farmers, Manning's, Pallman's and Eckel's care more about this area and our enviroment more than most could imagine. Their families committment go generations deep to caring for this land and we should be so lucky to have them as a part of our community. Shame on all of you who would even question their desires to keep their businesses operating. Most of you dont even know what it takes to provide food and fiber to our country. Ignorance falls upon those who make such inaccurate statements. Report Doug, 05/10/10 5:35 I'd rather pay more for food from a farmer who didn't lease than less from a farmer who did. Report Jerry, 05/10/10 5:29 Dear Loonies, There is a drill and operate permit on the Bogamil property in North Abington Township, in close proximity to the Manning farm. It is a verticle drill. It was issued in Dec. 2009 and will expire in one year from that date. So it is in the realm of possiblity that Exco North will drill within the year. Report Linda Nealon, 05/10/10 5:19 Tree Huggers, Try eating for a week without using any produce,meats,fish,dairy products of foods that contain any of the previously mentioned. Try for one week going without using any petroleum products or products that are manufactured using petroleum. Examples would include a short list of heating, cooling, travel, deliveries, cooking, electricity or entertainment. Keep in mind that petroleum is used in the shingles on your roof and the asphalt that you drive on and the compueter that you are reading this on. By weeks end you will be chewing the bark off of trees for nourishment and looking for an artisan water well to walk to for drinking and bathing water. On your way walking back home you might consider stopping by and THANKING a Farmer for doing what they do. Then again you might not !! Report originaltiger, 05/10/10 5:16 Do not waste your time trying to use logic on these radical "boycotters". Let them live their lives in a bubble & think another farm will have safer food. As you know gas drilling is ONLY here & it is only GREEDY farms who sign the lease (LOL). Then there is the comment that they hope they read the WHOLE contract for whatever reasons they gave...that just brings back the old stigma that farmers are dumb, just see $$$'s & sign on the dotted line. PLEASE take your "tree hugging" mentality back to the city & enjoy your NON-POLLUTED air & breath deep. You better believe that most of these people against it is because 1 of 2 reasons. They either live on a postage size parcel of land & couldn't sign or this is new to this area and anything new MUST be bad. By all means please take your cloth bags & buy your food someplace that puts a little sticker or sign up that says "organically grown", you would be very surprised where that organic food comes from & just how organic it is!! Again LOL! Report Leased it & HAPPY!, 05/10/10 5:10 Drill baby drill quotes an infamous buffoon. Loonies doubts the integrity of those with a social consciousness. I notice that they don't post their names..........interesting. Again I state that the industry has been deregulated via the 2005 energy policy. REGULATE THE GAS/OIL INDUSTRY. Local government must get involved even those who have leased their land in order to serve and protect, as their elected office dictates. People must stand up for their PA State Constitutional Rights Article I Sec. 27 for clean air, water...The air and water are common property as stated in our constitution. People must assert their Rights as PA citizens, go to township meetings, insist that your gov't work to protect your rights, go to senate hearings make your voice heard if you want the industry to behave responsibly - be proactive if you are truly concerned. Report Linda Nealon, 05/10/10 5:07 some are saying they'll only eat organic? there are organic farmers who have signed leases. that is a fact. there is no 'rule' by their producers etc that says they cant lease/drill. so whatcha gonna do? this may not be what some of us want, but it is a reality. get educated on the issues. get the legislators to pass some bills that will protect our air, water, land etc. there are plenty in committees, they just sit there. if you are living in marcellus shale, be educated about marcellus shale. dont be a tree hugger -- be a letter writer. get involved for safety. its not just leases, its drilling, fresh water, fracing, flowback water, pipelines, and lots of 'em, relief valves, compressor stations, a whole gambit of things to learn about. get yourself educated so you can make coherent comments, not i'm not gonna eat ice cream anymore nananannaa.... Report ohmarcellus, 05/10/10 4:49 All the destruction of the environment in Susquehanna County with a company such as Cabot. How can these farmers even consider dealing with these corrupt destroyers of Earth? If you’re selling dairy, poultry, beef or produce and you’re negotiating with drillers, you’ve lost my business. Greed is disgusting! Report Carl, 05/10/10 4:34 123Next » Beauty and Your Beast Photo contest Submit your favorite photo of you and your pet for a chance to win a VIP Box for 6 on the opening night of the musical, Beauty and the Beast, at the Scranton Cultural Center opening June 1st. Submission opens on May 8th with voting beginning May 17th. 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He Vanaskie takes the oath as federal appeals judge Investigation of fatal Lake Winola collision continues as classmates grieve Prom bomb threat puts an abrupt end to festivities Raceway's solar power plan picks up speed Featured recent stories Natural gas drilling leases saving farms Authorities seek answers as community mourns girl killed in boat crash Brookings: Education, migration up in region, along with childhood poverty Mother's love conquers all: Old Forge woman selflessly opens heart and home to family Teen's body recovered after Lake Winola boat crash Governor to nominate Scranton's Burke as economic development secretary Latest Twitter updates Top story: Ex-employee charged with McCarthy Cabs robbery http://bit.ly/bcmURO 42 minutes ago Top story: Scranton School Board appoints chief nurse, union vows fight http://bit.ly/c422tS about 5 hours ago Top story: Baby oil burglar slips into Hallstead massage parlor http://bit.ly/a0WtTk about 8 hours ago   [Full Story]

May 10, 2010
DEP Launches Comprehensive Marcellus Shale Web Feature on NYC.gov Public Can Sign Up for Regular Gas Drilling Updates
NYC DEP
Press Release--Farrell Sklerov

Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway today launched an expanded Marcellus Shale web feature on DEP's website, which outlines in detail the basis for the City's position that natural gas drilling cannot be permitted in the upstate watersheds through a process known as hydraulic fracturing. The site contains a number of new tools, including a reader-friendly overview of Marcellus Shale with maps and photos of natural gas drilling; a new "Get Involved" page that will direct people to the appropriate State and Federal agencies and local elected officials to help them have their voices heard on the issue; and a "Stay Informed" page, which will enable interested members of the public to receive weekly updates on the most recent Marcellus Shale news. The information and interactive features can be viewed by visiting www.nyc.gov/dep. "Nine million New Yorkers rely on more than one billion gallons of unfiltered drinking water that is delivered every day from New York City's upstate watersheds," said Commissioner Holloway. "Our obligation is to protect this irreplaceable resource, and this new web feature will be an invaluable tool for those who want to learn more about this critical issue, and assist in the effort to protect our pristine water supply." Hydraulic fracturing — also known as hydrofracking — poses a significant risk to the quality of New York City's water supply. As part of the drilling process, millions of gallons of proprietary chemicals and pressurized water could be injected into thousands of gas wells throughout the State to break up and capture natural gas from a rock formation known as the Marcellus Shale. These chemicals could potentially contaminate New York City's drinking water, and the heavy industrialization that hydrofracking requires would result in millions of truck trips that could further impact the water supply. In addition to the risk to public health, gas drilling could also force the City to construct a filtration plant at a cost of $10 billion to $20 billion, which would translate into a minimum 30 percent increase in water rates. The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released a draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement to develop regulations on hydraulic fracturing in 2009 and is currently reviewing public comments. Recently, DEC announced that, at a minimum, any proposal to conduct hydrofracking in the watershed of an unfiltered water supply like New York City's would require a case-by-case environmental review. This is a step in the right direction, and the City expects that the State will ultimately agree with its conclusion that hydrofracking cannot safely be permitted in New York City's watersheds. The website now offers an easy-to-read description of the Marcellus Shale and the process of hydraulic fracturing, and other background and scientific information, including a photo tour of a gas drilling website in Pennsylvania and maps which highlight where the Marcellus Shale is found and its proximity to New York City's watersheds. Members of the public interested in speaking out about the risks of gas drilling can find resources on how to contact local elected officials; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which recently announced that they would study the risks of hydraulic fracturing in water supplies; and an email address for the EPA's "Eyes on Drilling" tipline, which was established to report non-emergency suspicious activity at oil and natural gas drilling sites. The public can also keep up to date on the most recent Marcellus Shale news by subscribing to DEP's new email distribution list. In addition to these features, the website also contains a running list of relevant news stories and reports about hydraulic fracturing and a page devoted to resources and links that contain additional information on the topic. Watershed protection is considered the best way to maintain drinking water quality over the long term. DEP has spent more than $1.5 billion to protect New York City's watershed by acquiring more than 108,000 acres of sensitive lands, upgrading existing upstate wastewater plants to the highest levels of treatment, building new upstate wastewater plants to address areas with substandard septic systems and working with farmers to reduce runoff from agricultural areas. DEP manages the City's water supply, providing more than 1 billion gallons of water each day to more than 9 million residents, including 8 million in New York City, and residents of Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties. DEP also manages storm water throughout the City, and ensures that the City's facilities comply with the Clean Water Act, and other federal, state and local rules and regulations.   [Full Story]

May 9, 2010
Drilling firm will offer safety info
citizinsvoice.com
Elizabeth Skrapits

The company poised to drill Luzerne County's first natural gas wells plans to provide safety information that will be accessible to residents, representatives say. Encana Oil & Gas USA Inc. will work with local authorities on traffic management and emergency response plans, as well as the preparedness, prevention and contingency plan required by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Copies will be filed with the municipalities. These plans have to be on file before the drilling starts, Encana spokeswoman Wendy Wiedenbeck said. Encana, in partnership with WhitMar Exploration Co., is preparing to drill an exploratory natural gas well starting in July on a parcel of land behind the Ricketts Glen Hotel off Route 118 in Fairmount Township. Drilling for a second well at the Salansky property on Sholtis Road in Lake Township will most likely start in August, according to Wiedenbeck.   [Full Story]

May 9, 2010
Company defends its environmental record EnCana’s hydraulic fracturing has never impacted a water well, spokeswoman says
Times Leader
Steve Mocarsky

Wendy Wiedenbeck acknowledges that Luzerne County residents might be troubled by the fact that EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. paid $1.5 million in fines over the past four years. Read more Natural Gas Leases - Marcellus Shale articles click image to enlargeWiedenbeck Related headlines New gas entry alters picture Select images available for purchase in the Times Leader Photo StoreBut Wiedenbeck, the community and public relations adviser for the natural gas company that will begin drilling in the Back Mountain and Red Rock areas this summer, said the company is “committed to responsible development” and today is “a leader in environmental stewardship.” According to data Wiedenbeck provided at the request of The Times Leader, EnCana was assessed $542,000 on nine fines in 2006; $663,000 on 19 fines in 2007; $306,000 on 19 fines in 2008; and $3,000 on 10 fines in 2009. The data for 2009 is subject to change, she said. Some Back Mountain residents and elected officials have expressed concern that drilling activities could contaminate water private water wells or the Huntsville and Ceasetown reservoirs. Wiedenbeck said EnCana has never had an instance in which the company’s hydraulic fracturing process affected a water well.   [Full Story]

May 9, 2010
More Marcellus Madness
gracenomics.blogspot.com
Grace van Hulsteyn

My little Sullivan County town seems to have caught the petrophilia virus from the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The symptoms are acute myopia and – a new word to me – paralogia, a type of reasoning disorder. While the rest of us have been riveted to the point of distraction by photos and stories on the latest legacies of fossil fuel mania in West Virginia and the Gulf of Mexico, these two paladins have been preparing the way for New Yorkers to experience these legacies first-hand. What a pair. Both appear to think they can play the role of David and tame the savage Goliath by being a welcoming host. History says otherwise. The step my town is taking is to amend its zoning to provide that gas drilling will be a permitted use, subject to “special use” restrictions, throughout districts which comprise 90% of the town’s land area. I’m not sure yet why the town thinks this is a good idea and I’m going to assume for now that its intentions are defensive. But I am quite sure that substantially all those special use restrictions, setbacks being only one example, will fall within the ambit of the DEC’s regulatory scheme which, legal authorities agree, will therefore place them off-limits to local enforcement. As everybody knows, the DEC, with its shrunken corps of inspectors, is not set up for much enforcement itself. So what is likely to happen? Well, a driller who has been invited in, subject to special use, may wish to knock out those special use restrictions by tying up the town in litigation – the towns’ greatest of all fears -- and with a pretty good cause of action, at that, meanwhile banking on inaction by the DEC. The invitation and the fray will logically attract more drillers, who, like water, have repeatedly displayed a tendency to run toward the places of least resistance, and the operations of those drillers will be similarly ungoverned. This is the way they behave; I’m not making this up. Our town, as Keith Lambert, the mayor of Rifle, Colorado predicted, will be overrun. He knows. His almost was. Dish, Texas, really was. Its mayor, Calvin Tillman, came to New York communities at his own expense to warn about the realities of drilling.  [Full Story]

May 9, 2010
Clean water proposal would benefit parks
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
John Hayes

How clean is clean? Pennsylvania state park waters would be among those impacted by a Department of Environmental Protection proposal mandating that water used in drilling for natural gas be cleaned to drinking-water quality before it's discharged back into the environment. In most cases, the proposal would require companies to return the water cleaner than when they got it. Last week, the state House approved a three-year moratorium on leasing additional state forestland for Marcellus shale gas drilling until the impacts of the drilling can be evaluated. Department of Conservation and Natural Resources secretary John Quigley said the proposed DEP regulations would be an additional commonsense precaution. "DEP has proposed [in April] a set of water quality regulations that basically says, if you're going to discharge treated frac water to a waterway of the commonwealth, that discharge has to be drinking-water quality," he said. "And they've similarly proposed a watershed-wide drinking-water quality standard."   [Full Story]

May 9, 2010
Town of Maine residents getting $3 million for gas rights Plans depend on pending N.Y. drilling regulations
pressconnects.com
Tom Wilber

A Colorado company is paying 130 Town of Maine residents about $3 million for a jump on Marcellus Shale development in Broome County. While regulatory and environmental uncertainty has stalled Marcellus Shale prospecting in New York, Inflection Energy has issued checks to finalize a deal to lease 3,000 acres for natural gas drilling. The area falls generally between Pollard Hill and Twist Run Road roads north to south; and Farm to Market and Edson roads east to west. The deal, announced in February, calls for $6,000 per acre over eight years. About 130 residents with more than 3,000 acres have begun receiving checks for the first year's payment of $1,000 per acre, said Robert Wedlake, a lawyer with Hinman, Howard & Kattell representing the group, called the South Maine Millennium Coalition. Inflection is applying for permits from the county to begin seismic studies on county routes, with drilling to follow this year or next, said Mark Sexton, CEO with Inflection. Plans depend on when the state finalizes a policy for the type of drilling necessary to tap the Marcellus. Unlike traditional wells drilled vertically into porous pockets of gas, Marcellus wells travel horizontally through the shale. They also require the injection of millions of gallons of chemical solutions under intense pressure to fracture the rock and release gas -- a process called fracking   [Full Story]

May 8, 2010
Companies seek eminent domain status to lay gas pipelines
citizensvoice.com
David Falchek

When Laurie and Brian Kaszuba of Dickson City received a $16,000 offer from a pipeline company to run a natural gas pipeline through their Great Bend property, they didn't see it as a windfall. Having a natural gas line three feet below the surface with a right-of-way on the surface, would have made it more difficult to build their retirement home or subdivide the land. So they turned it down. If pipeline companies eyeing the Marcellus Shale region have their way, property owners won't likely have that option. Laser Marcellus Gathering LLC, of Houston, has applied to the Public Utility Commission to be declared a utility in Pennsylvania, a designation that would give the company the power to condemn any property it needs and to use eminent domain to obtain easements for pipelines. The company is planning to build a 30-mile pipeline, costing about $37 million, to connect gas wells in western Susquehanna County and New York with the interstate Millennium pipeline that runs across New York state's southern tier. The outcome of the request before the Public Utility Commission could change the way easements are negotiated. With the Marcellus gas rush well underway and millions of Pennsylvania acres leased by gas exploration companies, pipeline easements are the new wave of legalese to arrive in mailboxes throughout the Marcellus region. Susquehanna County, a hot-spot for shale gas, is destined host an underground web of pipes from every wellhead.   [Full Story]

May 8, 2010
Radioactive Drilling Waste Coming to a Landfill Near You
The Marcellus Effect
Sue Heavenrich

Last month the Chemung County Legislature voted to allow the landfill to accept more waste - an extra 60,000 tons a year. The landowners bordering the landfill have already complained about odor, noise, rats and the ever-increasing population of gulls. And now families living near the landfill have one more thing to worry about: potentially radioactive drill cuttings from wells drilled into Marcellus Shale. "The county landfill is a municipal solid waste disposal facility," one resident pointed out at recent hearing. "It's not adequate for hazardous waste, and disposal of radioactive waste is not allowed in municipal facilities." In fact, he pointed out, if it weren’t for the exemptions the oil and gas industry enjoys, the drill cuttings and other Marcellus waste would be classified as “hazardous”. Seems that over the past few months the landfill has been accepting drill cuttings from Marcellus wells drilled in Pennsylvania. Aside from filling up the landfill faster, the county executives don't see anything wrong with allowing drill cuttings in the landfill. As one of them said to the press, "It's just wet soil." The problem is that the Marcellus drilling waste contains radioactive elements: barium, strontium, radon. In fact, that's how drillers know they've found the Marcellus layer when they're drilling, explained one resident: the Geiger counter goes wacky. Granted, the landfill has a liner - well, at least the more recent part of the landfill. But what happens if that liner rips? What happens if the heavy metals and radioactive isotopes leach into the surrounding soil or even the aquifer that lies only a few feet below the landfill? The resulting contamination could affect people far beyond Chemung County. Earlier in the evening Larry Shilling, a district manager for Casella (the company operating the landfill), acknowledged the lack of information about the levels of radioactivity in Marcellus drill cuttings. He passed out copies of a laboratory analysis that Casella had requested. "The information we saw indicate radiation would not be an issue,” Shilling said. According to the Casella-commissioned study the level of radiation in the drill cuttings ranged from 2.1 pico Curies/gram (pCi/g) for Radium-226 to 14.2 pCi/g for Potassium-40. Background levels for local soil and rock are 0.9 pCi/g for Radium-226 and 24.1 pCi/g for potassium. Shilling emphasized that these levels fall below the EPA cleanup guidelines for unrestrictive use (5 pCi/g above background). However another study conducted by Radioactive Waste Management Associates (RWMA) recommends against land-filling Marcellus drill cuttings and waste. Their analysis of rock cuttings from NY wells found Radium concentrations of 12 to 24 pCi/g or higher. Dr. Marvin Resnikoff, who authored the analysis, expressed concerns regarding the potential for radioactive isotopes to leach from the landfill, pass through the Elmira wastewater treatment plant and contaminate the Chemung River.  [Full Story]

May 7, 2010
U.S. facing 'grievous harm' from chemicals in air, food, water, panel says
The Washington Post
Lyndsey Layton

An expert panel that advises the president on cancer said Thursday that Americans are facing "grievous harm" from chemicals in the air, food and water that have largely gone unregulated and ignored. The President's Cancer Panel called for a new national strategy that focuses on such threats in the environment and workplaces. Epidemiologists have long maintained that tobacco use, diet and other factors are responsible for most cancers, and that chemicals and pollutants cause only a small portion -- perhaps 5 percent. The presidential panel said that figure has been "grossly underestimated" but it did not provide a new estimate. "With the growing body of evidence linking environmental exposures to cancer, the public is becoming increasingly aware of the unacceptable burden of cancer resulting from environmental and occupational exposures that could have been prevented through appropriate national action," the panel wrote in a report released Thursday. Federal chemical laws are weak, funding for research and enforcement is inadequate, and regulatory responsibilities are split among too many agencies, the panel found.Children are particularly vulnerable because they are smaller and are developing faster than adults, the panel found. The report noted unexplained rising rates of some cancers in children, and it referred to recent studies that have found industrial chemicals in umbilical-cord blood, which supplies nutrients to fetuses. "To a disturbing extent, babies are born 'pre-polluted,' " the panel wrote. Health officials lack critical knowledge about the health impact of chemicals on fetuses and children, the report said. In addition, the government's standards for safe chemical exposure in workplaces are outdated, it said. In 2009, about 1.5 million American men, women and children had cancer diagnosed, and 562,000 people died from the disease. "There are far too many known and suspected cancer-causing chemicals in products people, young and old, use every day of their lives," said Kenneth A. Cook, president and co-founder of Environmental Working Group, an environmental advocacy group. "Many of these chemicals are believed to be time bombs, altering the genetic-level switching mechanisms that lead to cancerous cellular growth in later life." The panel said the country needs to overhaul existing chemical laws, a conclusion that has been supported by public health groups, environmental advocates, the Obama administration and even the chemical industry. The current system places the burden on the government to prove that a chemical is unsafe before it can removed from the market. The standards are so high, the government has been unable to ban chemicals such as asbestos, a widely recognized carcinogen that is prohibited in many other countries. About 80,000 chemicals are in commercial use in the United States, but federal regulators have assessed only about 200 for safety.  [Full Story]

May 7, 2010
Some Marcellus Shale drilling put on hold
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Sandy Bauers

Drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania's easternmost counties has been put on hold for months, if not longer. On Wednesday, the Delaware River Basin Commission voted unanimously to draft new regulations to govern natural gas projects and not to issue any permits until the new rules are in effect. The decision means that even as activity escalates throughout the state - nearly 900 Marcellus permits have been issued this year - no production drilling can be done in the Delaware watershed. Adopting new rules could take six months to a year, commission Executive Director Carol R. Collier said Thursday. It will stall indefinitely the lone application before the commission - for a well site in Wayne County at the northeastern tip of the state. "I know there are many that want the gas-well drilling to move along quickly because of the economics and the issue of national security and providing clean fuel," Collier said. "But I really think we have to do it correctly and smartly. There's just too much at stake in the Delaware River basin." Environmental groups cheered the decision, saying it was the "pause button" they have long sought statewide as the tally of explosions, spills, and pollution incidents mounts. So far this year, the state Department of Environmental Protection has initiated 116 enforcement actions against drillers. "The DRBC has taken a sensible and laudable step today toward keeping gas drilling from running wild here," said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware riverkeeper. Spokesman Tim O'Leary of Stone Energy Corp., which is seeking commission approval for a well, said only one of its 14 wells in the region was in the Delaware watershed. "Stone Energy looks forward to working with the DRBC in answering any remaining questions," he said. The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, did not respond. John Hanger, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, which also has regulatory authority over natural gas drilling, said the two agencies should work together so no conflicts arise and "to provide strong oversight of this industry." The commission is an interstate agency, formed by a federal compact, that has legal authority over water quality and quantity in the basin. The governors of the four basin states - Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware - plus a federal appointee are commissioners, but they often send representatives. The New Jersey representative at Wednesday's meeting, Fred Sickels of the state DEP water-supply division, said that with all the activity, "the cumulative impacts could be significant if there aren't appropriate safeguards." Pennsylvania's northeastern counties - where the shale region and the Delaware watershed overlap - have been deemed a high-stakes area. The pressure to drill there could be even more intense than elsewhere. Geological maps indicate that corner of Pennsylvania is a sweet spot with huge quantities of natural gas. More than 6,000 leases have been signed in Wayne County alone, said Brian W. Smith, chairman of the Wayne County supervisors. No drilling other than test wells, which are still allowed, has been done in the watershed. But environmental concerns are high. The Delaware River from Hancock, N.Y., south to Trenton is so clean that it is under stricter, "special protection waters" regulations. Also, the federal government has designated portions of the river wild and scenic areas worthy of enhanced protection. And downstream - where the river's quality is the sum of everything that has occurred upstream - are Philadelphia's water intakes. Proponents say natural gas drilling is adding millions of dollars to local economies and has environmental benefits because the fuel burns cleaner than coal. Critics say the drilling process is fraught with hazards and the regulatory baseline is inadequate. In March, Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the commission not to approve any applications in the Marcellus Shale until a full environmental impact assessment is done. At the time, the commission was considering the Stone Energy proposal. A decision, which many felt would have set a precedent, was not expected until July at the earliest. Stone Energy received DEP permission for the well in March 2008 and began construction without commission approval. That December, the commission and Stone Energy reached a settlement agreement that required the company to submit an application and pay a $70,000 penalty. Stone Energy submitted two applications - one for the well and one for a withdrawal of 700,000 gallons of water a day from the west branch of the Lackawaxen River - a basin waterway - for fracturing the well so the gas can be extracted. The application was submitted to the commission more than a year ago. But unlike the DEP, which has 45 days to consider a well permit and can deny one only under specific conditions, the commission has no deadline. No clock is ticking. During a public-input period, the commission received more than 2,000 comments. "We're looking at things that have happened to the west of us and what needs to be put in place to prevent that," Collier said. "We're learning a lot, and we want to do it right."   [Full Story]

May 7, 2010
Since spill, feds have given 27 waivers to oil companies in gulf
McClatchy Newspapers
Marisa Taylor

WASHINGTON — Since the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded on April 20, the Obama administration has granted oil and gas companies at least 27 exemptions from doing in-depth environmental studies of oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico. The waivers were granted despite President Barack Obama’s vow that his administration would launch a “relentless response effort” to stop the leak and prevent more damage to the gulf. One of them was dated Friday — the day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he was temporarily halting offshore drilling The exemptions, known as “categorical exclusions,” were granted by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and included waiving detailed environmental studies for a BP exploration plan to be conducted at a depth of more than 4,000 feet and an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. exploration plan at more 9,000 feet. “Is there a moratorium on off shore drilling or not?” asked Peter Galvin, conservation director with the Center for Biological Diversity, the environmental group that discovered the administration’s continued approval of the exemptions. “Possibly the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history has occurred and nothing appears to have changed.” MMS officials said the exemptions are continuing to be issued because they do not represent final drilling approval. To drill, a company has to file a separate application under a process that is now suspended because of Salazar’s order Thursday. However, officials could not say whether the exemptions would stand once the moratorium is lifted. MMS’ approvals are expected to spark new criticism of the troubled agency and the administration’s response to the spill. Salazar announced Thursday that there’d be no new offshore drilling until the Interior Department completes the safety review process requested by Obama. The department is required to deliver the report to the president by May 28. Given the MMS approvals, however, Galvin said the administration’s pledge appears disingenuous. “It looks to me like they’re misleading the public,” he said. MMS spokesman David Smith said his agency conducts a thorough review before it determines whether to grant such exemptions. “It’s not a rubber stamp,” he said. BP did not return calls for comment. MMS set out rules that allow for the exemptions from some environmental requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as long as the sites in question are not relying on new or unusual technology, or within high seismic risk areas, or within the boundaries of marine sanctuaries or in regions with hazardous bottom conditions. MMS also assesses the impact on biological and archeological resources. In the gulf, Smith said, MMS has a “wealth of environmental data” from studies of the region that it can rely on when reviewing the requests from the energy firms. That’s why oil and gas companies that were given the exemptions said the approvals were routine and shouldn’t have raised any environmental concerns. Apache Corp. said it was granted four exemptions for updating production equipment and drilling wells on existing sites and for drilling in the vicinity of an existing site. Appropriate environmental studies were conducted before the purchase of the leases for those sites, said Bill Mintz, a spokesman with Apache.   [Full Story]

May 7, 2010
Workers on Oil Rig Recall a Terrible Night of Blasts
The New York Times
Ian Urbina

NEW ORLEANS — Nearly 50 miles offshore at the big oil rig floating on a glassy-calm sea, a helicopter landed early on the morning of April 20, carrying four executives from BP, the oil company. The men were visiting the Deepwater Horizon to help honor the crew for its standout safety record.The rig workers were buzzing for another reason. They were nearly done with the latest job. It had been a little tricky, but it was nothing they could not handle. As night fell, Micah Joseph Sandell, 40, was in the small cab of his crane, three stories above the bustling deck. Two floors down from the helipad, men in red coveralls waited for dinner in a hall lined with gold safety plaques. Eugene Dewayne Moss, a 37-year-old crane operator, realized he needed to tear himself away from a movie to get ready for his overnight shift. “I thought, Oh man, I’ve got to go,” Mr. Moss recalled. “I got up, turned my TV off.”Seconds later, a thundering explosion rocked the rig, the beginning of a terrifying night for the men who would survive one of the most harrowing disasters in the history of the oil business. All over the ship, men snapped into action. Sleeping workers leapt from their beds. Then came a second explosion, even louder than the first. They later struggled to describe it — a tornado of fire, a nuclear bomb, a jet engine exploding. But a half-dozen rig workers interviewed this week all agreed on one thing, recalling that moment: “We all were sure we were going to die,” said Dennis Dewayne Martinez, 30, a supervisor on the rig. The Deepwater Horizon was one of the most sophisticated drilling rigs on the planet. Commissioned in 2001, the ship, 396 feet from stem to stern, could park in the water, lock onto satellites to measure an exact position and shoot water out of a series of thrusters to maintain that position. Even with waves crashing against the keel, the rig could steady itself for the precision work of sending drill pipes more than six miles down, dead straight, through the ocean floor and deep into the earth’s crust. Only the year before, the Horizon had set a world record by punching through 35,000 feet of water and rock — nearly seven miles — in the Gulf of Mexico, creating a well called Tiber for BP, the oil giant once known as British Petroleum. This time, the Horizon was drilling an exploratory well about 47 miles off the Louisiana coast, in a stretch of the sea floor known as Mississippi Canyon Block 252. BP and some partners had paid the federal government $34 million for the lease, and the Horizon crew had celebrated when they found oil there. But the Horizon was a drill ship, not a production vessel, so the workers had been told to cap the well for later use and move on to the next job. Up on the bridge that April night, the officers were keeping close watch on the Damon B. Bankston, a 260-foot cargo ship that was pumping special drilling mud through a hose from the rig. The job of sinking the well had gone relatively smoothly — extending the well, pipe by pipe, until it punched through to the oil below. Then the crew shoved a final long stretch of pipe deep into the reservoir. Trouble With Gas Buildup As the job unfolded, however, the workers did have intermittent trouble with pockets of natural gas. Highly flammable, the gas was forcing its way up the drilling pipes. This was something BP had not foreseen as a serious problem, declaring a year earlier that gas was likely to pose only a “negligible” risk. The government warned the company that gas buildup was a real concern and that BP should “exercise caution.” At one point during the previous several weeks, so much of it came belching up to the surface that a loudspeaker announcement called for a halt to all “hot work,” meaning any smoking, welding, cooking or any other use of fire. Smaller belches, or “kicks,” had stalled work as the job was winding down. By mid-April, the crew was in the mop-up stages of the operation. The day before the blast, workers from Halliburton, the oil services contractor, had finished one of the trickiest tasks in building a well: encasing it in cement, with a temporary plug of cement near the bottom of the pipe to seal the well. The Halliburton workers used a less common technique for the cement, whipping nitrogen gas into it to create a kind of mousse. This type of cement, if used correctly, forms a tighter seal, but it is trickier to handle. Still, all in all, it had been a pretty routine job for the Horizon. “Almost there,” said one supervisor as he left the 11 a.m. daily meeting on April 20. “We’re almost done, baby!” Some of the men had heard they might even get a bonus for finishing ahead of deadline. Explosive Fury It happened so fast. Just before 10 p.m., the crew was using seawater to flush drilling mud out of the pipes. Suddenly, with explosive fury, water and mud came hurtling up the pipes and onto the deck, followed by the ominous hiss of natural gas. In seconds, it touched some spark or flame. Three stories above the deck, the blast blew Mr. Sandell out of his seat and to the back of his cab. As he scrambled down the ladder, fire leaped up to envelop him. Another explosion sent him flying 25 feet to the ground. “I took off running,” Mr. Sandell said. “How, I can’t tell you.” He joined the other men in a sprint to the two lifeboats on the rig’s bow. Men were climbing over one another to get inside the covered lifeboats, which look like capsules and can hold up to 50 men each. The assistant driller who was supposed to take muster — or roll call — panicked. Instead, he handed Mr. Martinez the clipboard before climbing into a lifeboat. “Hurry up!” the men already in the boats screamed. “Lower the lifeboat!” Mr. Martinez said they needed to wait for others. The men in the boats yelled that there was no more time — the 242-foot steel tower in the center of the rig was engulfed in flames. They were certain it was going to fall their way. In one lifeboat, a worker lay on the deck, trying to stanch the blood flowing from a deep gash in his neck. Others tried to rub the insulation from their eyes, after the walls of their cabins collapsed. Still others were caked in the clay-brown mud that had shot out of the well after the first explosion. Most of the men had on bright orange life jackets. Some men, having been thrown from their bunks, wore little else. Not everyone could get to the boats. Through a porthole, Mr. Moss watched as some co-workers — black silhouettes against the flames — jumped from the rig. “You can’t see them good enough to tell if they had life jackets on or anything,” he said. Within 10 minutes, the two lifeboats closed their doors and dropped about 100 feet down to the water below. A small boat was nearby. Albert Andry III, a recreational fisherman, and his buddies were bobbing near the rig, trying to catch the fish that schooled near it. When Mr. Andry — who was contacted by a reporter after he posted an account of his experience on the Internet — noticed water gushing from the center of the rig, one of his friends, who had worked on rigs, knew something was wrong. “Go! Go! Go! Go! Gooooo!” the friend yelled. Mr. Andry opened his throttle wide, covering 100 yards or so before the rig exploded. “The rig blew a few more explosions after that and began to burn down,” he wrote later on a Web message board, where he also posted photos and videos of the scene. “Some of the rig began dripping into the water and the platform tilted in and turned RED HOT.”  [Full Story]

May 7, 2010
Want Energy Independence? Don't Look to Drilling.
Oceana
Simon Mahan

After the Deepwater Drilling Disaster began 17 days ago, we’ve all tried to figure out why we should continue to expand drilling offshore. For those who think it’s because it will help us achieve energy independence, think again. There is no way that we can drill our way to energy independence – and the government knows it. Right now, we get about 65% of our oil from other countries, the biggest sources being Canada and Mexico. And government studies show that all the oil in US waters wouldn’t change that figure much. It would only lower it to about 60% at best. A government study expected to come out soon shows that even that much is unlikely. The Department of Energy (DOE) was supposed to release its full Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) last week, but its deadline has been pushed back to May 17th. Fortunately, the DOE provides us a sneak peak of what some of its figures are figuring. The new AEO methodology shows that drilling all of our oceans will not give us energy independence. The study assumes that all of the Pacific and Atlantic are open for oil and gas drilling, and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico is opened up in 2022. For the Atlantic, DOE assumes there’s a 50-mile “buffer” where offshore oil and gas drilling wouldn’t be allowed, but otherwise, the entirety of the Atlantic and Pacific are up for grabs. This graph shows the new figures – and it says that, at best, we could hope to get to a point where we are only importing 58% instead of the 62% we are importing now. Basically, opening all of our oceans to offshore oil drilling will not result in energy independence. Drilling offshore to gain “energy independence” is a sham, a hoax, a lie. The only real way to achieve energy independence is to cut and eventually eliminate our oil addiction, and move to clean, renewable, domestic energy sources, like offshore wind power. Previous estimates of offshore oil resources off the Atlantic Coast have been a lot higher. This AEO estimates that there might be 2.7 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the Atlantic – about 30% less than previous estimates. The AEO from last year estimates that complete offshore drilling might lower gasoline prices to $3.88 in 2030, from $3.91 without additional drilling. So we open our coasts to offshore oil and gas, and it does almost nothing to gas prices? That’s less than the amount prices change if the wrong button is pressed on Wall Street. Obviously, a lower offshore oil supply estimate would likely make those 3 cents worth of savings disappear. With this little oil out there, there is clearly no reason to expand offshore drilling and take the risk of having another Deepwater Drilling Disaster somewhere else. The Arctic, and places like the Chesapeake Bay, the Outer Banks, California Coast, and the beaches of Florida are too precious to trade away for no public benefit.  [Full Story]

May 7, 2010
DRBC imposes moratorium on new gas wells, pending study
Pocononews.net


The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) at its May 5, 2010 public business meeting directed commission staff to draft regulations for natural gas well pad projects in shale formations in the Delaware River Basin. The commissioners will consider specific natural gas well pad applications after the new regulations are in place. “The drafting process is already underway, so it made logical sense for the development of new regulations to move forward in advance of any individual project decisions,” DRBC Executive Director Carol R. Collier said in describing the action taken yesterday by the commissioners representing Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and the federal government. The rulemaking process will include public notice and a full opportunity for public comment before the commissioners adopt the regulations. The DRBC has already conducted a public hearing and received over 2,000 written comments regarding a proposal previously submitted by Stone Energy Corporation for the Matoushek #1 well located in Clinton Township, Wayne County, Pa. The commissioners’ decision to rule upon this and other pending and future specific natural gas well pad project applications after the new regulations are adopted is consistent with many of the public comments submitted.   [Full Story]

May 7, 2010
Offshore Drilling Regulators Had Concerns, but Let Industry Self-Police
Pro Publica
Marian Wang

When regulators at the Minerals Management Service had concerns about the safety equipment for offshore oil rigs, the agency did not impose stronger regulations and instead allowed industry to police itself, according to two pieces in The New York Times [1] and The Wall Street Journal [2] today. The agency has been scrutinized for its role in the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, particularly for failing to follow up on concerns it had—several years before the BP incident—about equipment that should have stopped the spill but did not.   [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Gulf oil spill: Did Big Oil run roughshod over regulators?Why didn't the US Minerals Management Service require that Big Oil install secondary blowout preventers on oil rigs, as other countries have? Congress is investigating this and other issues.
Christian Science Monitor
Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer

After the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion turned into the potential ecological and economic nightmare now known as the BP spill, the Obama administration vowed to keep "the boot on the neck" of the British oil giant, which leased the rig and managed the drilling operation. But even as Congress considers challenging the constitutional restraints against ex post facto laws in order to raise the $75 million damage cap for oil spill disasters, evidence is mounting that, despite myriad warnings of deepwater drilling risks, US regulators, in the run-up to the BP spill, hardly kept the boot on the necks of Big Oil companies working the depths along the US continental shelf. Quite the opposite, in many cases.   [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Gas Transforms a Landscape and Way of Life
The River Reporter
Sandy Long

Is life better, or worse, once gas drilling settles into a rural community like Bradford County, PA? That’s a question on the minds of many in the Upper Delaware region, where the imminence of gas drilling seems to intensify daily.  [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Gas At a Glance
The River Reporter


  [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Gas drilling on hold until regulations are set
Pressconnects.com


The Delaware River Basin Commission announced it is drafting regulations for gas drilling in shale formations and will not approve any projects until the new rules are established. Commission Executive Director Carol Collier said Wednesday that the drafting process is already under way, so it makes sense to hold off approving any projects before establishing the regulations. That includes a controversial proposal by Stone Energy Corp. of Lafayette, La., to extract gas from a well in the northern Pocono Mountains.   [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Pa. leases land under Susquehanna River to gas driller
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Andrew Maykuth

Pennsylvania has devised a new way to make money from the Marcellus Shale natural gas boom: leasing the mineral rights beneath the Susquehanna River. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources signed a $6.15 million agreement Monday with Chesapeake Energy Corp., giving the company the right to drill the shale under a seven-mile stretch of the Susquehanna in Bradford County. Under the lease, which applies to 1,500 acres of river between Towanda and the Wyoming County line, Chesapeake Energy is permitted to access the shale with wells drilled on either side of the river. No well bores will penetrate the river itself. Horizontal-drilling technology makes drilling for gas beneath the waterway feasible. With wells that reach laterally for thousands of feet, operators can capture gas under a large area from a remote surface location. The state Department of Environmental Protection says that under-river gas exploration poses no more risk than any of the 1,400 other wells drilled into the Marcellus formation, which is a mile below the surface. Shale wells are hydraulically fractured, a controversial technique in which the rock is shattered with injections of high-pressure fluid to release the fossil fuel.   [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Local Law to Protect County Roads From Gas Drilling
WICZ Binghamton


In an effort to protect county roads from gas drilling traffic, Broome County is considering a new law. County officials met with local businesses and the community Tuesday to discuss legislation that would require all overweight vehicles operating on county roads to have a special permit. Each permit would cost ten dollars and would apply to any business with overweight vehicles, even though the law was introduced in anticipation of gas drilling. "The first local law we discussed targeted just the (gas) industry itself, however the industry responded that there were some Constitutional issues with that and we did a road assessment study, and we think the industry is right so instead of that we have to come up with an approach that applies across the board to all industries," said County Attorney Joe Sluzar. The legislation must still go before the entire legislature on May 18 before it becomes law.   [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Information is Power
The River Reporter
Editorial

Possibly the most persistent recurring theme in our conversations last week with officials from Bradford County, PA, a hotbed of natural gas drilling activity (see page 1), was the importance of communication. Repeatedly, they would mention one problem or another that had arisen and then been resolved via communication with the gas drilling companies. The importance of having individual, personal contacts with those companies was key. The other point that was notable was that in all cases except those involving roads, the counterparty to the drilling companies was the individual property owner. With regard to one issue after another, the officials emphasized the extent to which local municipalities and agencies are virtually powerless with regard to drilling activity. If there is to be any mitigating influence, it must be through the individual lease or lessee. The importance of information was also apparent in our conversations, having a crucial influence on the effectiveness of leases signed and therefore on the quality of life for the lessee. One property owner leased his large farm, expecting to see wells drilled off somewhere in the woods, only to find out that the drilling company had decided that the best place to put its first well was 300 feet from his front door. Only then did he refer back to his lease to check the language. Sure enough, 300 feet from the house (the state minimum) was allowed. (Incidentally, we suspect that this is just the kind of fine print that the property owners’ associations in our own area have taken care to pay better attention to; certainly, from that point of view this area is better prepared for the advent of gas drilling than Bradford was.) So, not surprisingly, information is power, and communication—or its opposite, the withholding of information—are ways of wielding it. But here’s the hitch: despite the fact that, by the estimates of the officials we spoke to, 85 to 90 percent of Bradford County land has been leased, lessors account for only 20 percent of the population (again by their estimates); the rest either don’t have enough land to lease or don’t want to.  [Full Story]

May 6, 2010
Gas drilling on hold until regulations are set
pressconnects.com


The Delaware River Basin Commission announced it is drafting regulations for gas drilling in shale formations and will not approve any projects until the new rules are established. Commission Executive Director Carol Collier said Wednesday that the drafting process is already under way, so it makes sense to hold off approving any projects before establishing the regulations. That includes a controversial proposal by Stone Energy Corp. of Lafayette, La., to extract gas from a well in the northern Pocono Mountains. Opponents contend gas drilling will threaten their drinking water and aquifers. Supporters claim that the environmental impact is overblown and the drilling will bring money and jobs to an area that needs both. The rule-making process will include opportunities for public comment before the regulations are adopted, Collier said. The commission did not give a tim