Marcellus Shale Newswire 11/25/2011

Vol. 2, Issue 37

A Collection of Marcellus Shale and Gas Drilling Articles from Pennsylvania and Beyond

Explainer

PennEnvironment

Democrat and Chronicle

Second hearing on fracking draws more 1,000

By Steve Reilly

November 18, 2011

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20111118/BUSINESS/111180330

BINGHAMTON — Emotions ran high in a downtown theater Thursday, when proposed guidelines for natural gas drilling in New York took center stage in a region at the crux of the state’s drilling debate.

Some 1,050 people converged inside the venue to voice opinions on the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing. During the first of two three-hour sessions, 63 people spoke, divided almost evenly between the two sides of the drilling discussion.

 

North County Public Radio News

Hearing expose deed divide on hydrofracking

By Associated Press

November 18, 2011

http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/571177/SHALE-AND-US.html?nav=5014

 (11/18/11) The Department of Environmental Conservation held public hearings on hydrofracking in Binghamton yesterday. The city is the epicenter of expected development of New York’s share of the Marcellus Shale formation. 

 

StateImpact Pennsylvania

Growing Tensions Within the Delaware River Basin Commission Halt Decision on Gas Drilling

By Susan Philips

November 18, 2011

http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2011/11/18/growing-tensions-within-the-delaware-river-basin-commission-halt-decision-on-gas-drilling/

The DRBC’s decision to cancel Monday’s vote shows how difficult it may be for the five member multi-state commission to come to an agreement on regulating energy production in the basin. Marcellus Shale deposits lie below only two of the four states that comprise the DRBC. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers represents the federal government as a fifth voting member. But the river and its tributaries supply drinking water to about 15 million people in the metropolitan area that stretches from the river’s headwaters in upstate New York, down river to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and into the Delaware estuary.

 

Standard Speaker

Official seek local control on gas drilling

By Laura Legere

November 19, 2011

http://standardspeaker.com/news/officials-seek-local-control-on-gas-drilling-1.1234577#axzz1egXYcqMz

When a great opportunity comes along, the first rule of government should be: Don’t screw it up.

That’s the case with the enormous opportunity offered by the Marcellus Shale, the geologic formation that contains a great deposit of natural gas buried under New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.

The deposit could help the country ease its energy needs for a long time … if tapping into it doesn’t create greater problems..

 

The News Journal

Markell is right on natural gas extraction

By Editorial

November 18, 2011

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20111119/OPINION11/111190328/Markell-right-natural-gas-extraction?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CHome%7Cp

a controversial method of natural gas extraction staged a last-ditch effort on Monday, November 14 to stop an interstate regulator from giving the go-ahead for gas production in the Delaware River Basin.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), consisting of the governors of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, plus Army Corps of Engineers which represents the federal government, is due to vote on Nov. 21 on proposed rules that would allow tens of thousands of gas wells to be drilled in the basin. Approval would lift a moratorium.

 

Westminister Patch

Maryland Weighs Fracking’s Potential Impact

By Greg Masters

November 19, 2011

http://westminster.patch.com/articles/maryland-weighs-fracking-s-potential-impact

GARRETT COUNTY – Garrett County resident Dana Shimrock was relieved when Maryland put the brakes on drilling in the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale before a single well could be drilled.

“They had just completed a well not far from me across the border in Pennsylvania,” Shimrock said. “I knew they were ready to roll over here into Maryland, and I really felt that we weren’t ready for that.”

 

Auburn Pub

DEC must pay attention

By Bill Balyszak

November 22, 2011

http://auburnpub.com/news/opinion/columnists/article_0a60cc7c-14b9-11e1-a62a-001cc4c002e0.html

The state Department of Environmental Conservation began public hearings last week on horizontal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) process in drilling for gas in the Marcellus Shale formation.

The oil and gas industry has put on full-court presses, inundating the airwaves, print media and Internet with repeated messages such as: “Energy Independence,” “It’s a Cleaner Fuel” and “Fracking Won’t Damage Our Aquifers, Wells or Environment.” And don’t forget the massive lobbying going on, especially in Albany.

 

The State

Abandoned Wells May Complicate New Marcellus Leases

By Pam Kasey

November 23, 2011

http://www.statejournal.com/story/16102792/abandoned-wells-may-complicate-new-marcellus-leases

Pollution of surface and groundwater may not be the only potential harm from the 13,000 abandoned gas wells across the state.

For some mineral owners, an abandoned gas well may complicate the possibility of negotiating a more profitable lease in the Marcellus shale.

“Lots of leases are being held by non-producing wells, and people don’t know it or don’t have the knowledge or means to terminate that old lease so they can lease again,” said David McMahon, a lawyer and founding member of the West Virginia Surface Owners’ Rights Organization.

 

Bloomberg

EPA Accepts Environmental Petition on Fracking Chemicals

By Mark Darjem

November 23, 2011

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-23/epa-partially-approves-petition-on-fracking-chemicals.html

The Environmental Protection Agency said it will weigh rules requiring disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic-fracturing fluids. Companies such as Halliburton Co. (HAL) and Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB), which supply oil and natural-gas producers, should be required to reveal substances used in the mining technology known as fracking, according to a petition filed with the EPA by the environmental group Earthjustice. In a response posted on its website today, the EPA said it will begin gathering that data.