Marcellus Shale Newswire 12/09/2011
Vol. 2, Issue 39
A Collection of Marcellus Shale and Gas Drilling Articles from Pennsylvania and Beyond
PennEnvironment
The New York Times
E.P.A Says Hyrdaulic Fracturing Likely Marred Wyoming Water
By Kirk Johnson
December 08, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/us/epa-says-hydraulic-fracturing-likely-marred-wyoming-water.html
DENVER — Chemicals used to hydraulically fracture rocks in drilling for natural gas in a remote valley in central Wyoming are the likely cause of contaminated local water supplies, federal regulators said Thursday.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
DEP seeks companies’ emissions data
By Don Hopey
December 08, 2011
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11342/1195447-113.stm
Pennsylvania has asked 99 Marcellus Shale gas drilling and development companies to submit air pollution emissions information that will be used in a comprehensive three-year state inventory of air pollutants required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
AOL Energy
Marcellus Riches May Hurt Sustainable Energy Efforts
By Jon Hurdle
December 08, 2011
http://energy.aol.com/2011/12/08/marcellus-riches-may-hurt-sustainable-energy-efforts/
In a move that may be more symbolic than substantive, a legislative committee yesterday voted to prohibit New Jersey’s sewage treatment plants from accepting wastewater from operations drilling for natural gas in Marcellus Shale deposits in Pennsylvania and other states. The legislation, narrowly approved by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, is unlikely to win final legislative approval in the lame duck session, but both proponents of the bill and foes agreed it would send a signal that New Jersey steadfastly opposes the controversial method of extracting natural gas.
Decoded Science
Fracking at Marcellus Shale Site Increases Radionuclide Concentration
By Judy Haar
December 04, 2011
It’s a controversial subject at best, but there may be solid reasons to regulate hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in areas like the Marcellus Shale site. In addition to the numerous other environmental concerns, such as the unknown chemicals seeping into groundwater supplies, the concentration of radionuclides in the water, pipes, and equipment of a fracking site present a danger to workers and local residents.
The Times-Tribune
County impact fee remains sticking point
By Robert Swift
November 28, 2011
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/county-impact-fee-remains-sticking-point-1.1242405#axzz1g3s7wl7X
HARRISBURG – A county-optional Marcellus Shale impact fee remains a sticking point in three-way negotiations to shape compromise legislation addressing a host of drilling-related issues
The New York Times
Learning Too Late of the Perils in Gas Well Leases
By Ian Urbina
December 02, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/02/us/drilling-down-fighting-over-oil-and-gas-well-leases.html?_r=2
After Scott Ely and his father talked with salesmen from an energy company about signing the lease allowing gas drilling on their land in northeastern Pennsylvania, he said he felt certain it required the company to leave the property as good as new.
Salon News
Petitioner aims to keep local control of drilling
By Adam Federman
December 02, 2011
http://www.salon.com/2011/12/02/did_fracking_kill_dunkard_creek/singleton/
In late August 2009, dead fish began washing up in Dunkard Creek, a small river that runs through West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. During the next month about 22,000 fish washed ashore (some estimates say as many as 65,000 died). At least 14 species of freshwater mussels – the river’s entire population – were destroyed, wiping out nearly every aquatic species along a 35-mile stretch of the waterway.
NJ.com
Cumberland County considers impact of fracking
By Philip Tomlinson
December 06, 2011
http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2011/12/cumberland_county_considers_im.html
Natural gas companies throughout Pennsylvania are hoping to expand their efforts to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale deposit. The Delaware River Basin Commission is presiding over a multi-state initiative that would allow natural gas drilling through hydraulic fracture within a few hundred yards of the Delaware River.
Beaver County Times
EPA critical of Pa.’s Marcellus air pollution regs
By Associated Press
December 06, 2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is criticizing Pennsylvania’s interim rules on air pollution from Marcellus gas wells, saying the regulations apparently would allow for more pollution than federal guidelines do.
StateImpact Pennsylvania
Burning Question: What Would Life Be Like Without the Halliburton Loophole?
By Susan Phillips
December 05, 2011
Our most popular Burning Question, as voted on by StateImpact readers, is one that came from Howard. [He did not give his last name.] Howard wants to know what the impact would be if federal regulations that apply to other industries were applied to the natural gas industry.
