Science panel faults EPA fracking probe for excluding baseline water testing
Jon Hurdle StateImpact PA January 6, 2016
The Environmental Protection Agency’s landmark investigation into the impact of fracking on drinking water lacked baseline testing that would have made its results more illuminating, according to a scientific panel that assessed it, and independent analysts.
The Hydraulic Fracturing Research Advisory Panel, a unit of the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB), published its evaluation of the EPA’s report on Jan. 7.
The panel said
Pa. Taxpayers Foot Growing Bill for Gas Subsidies
Marc Levy Associated Press November 4, 2013
HARRISBURG The discovery five years ago that the Marcellus Shale, the nations largest natural gas reservoir, could spew big profits and cheap, homegrown energy has, in turn, spurred gas-friendly state officials to run up a growing taxpayer-funded tab to encourage the use of the hydrocarbons.
Bills pending in the Republican-controlled Legislature could deliver hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies over a decade possibly approaching $1 billion and thats in
Loyalsock State Forest Development Plan Released
Morgan Myers Williamsport Sun-Gazette October 16, 2013
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Tuesday released Anadarko Petroleum Corp.s development plan for the Clarence Moore tract of the Loyalsock State Forest following a Right-To-Know Law request from the environmental group PennFuture.
The proposal is more than a year old and does not in any way reflect a final decision or plan for the 25,000 acres known as the Clarence Moore lands, DCNR Press Secretary Christina Novak said Oct. 15.
The
Court Affirms That Surface Rights Owners, Even Uncle Sam, Are Subservient
Zack Needles The Legal Intelligencer October 7, 2013
Pennsylvania energy attorneys said a recent appeals ruling restricting the U.S. Forest Services regulatory authority over drilling in the Allegheny National Forest reaffirms the long-standing legal tenet that mineral rights owners have primacy over surface owners and could apply more broadly to other federally owned land.
Other attorneys said the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruling also provides guidance as to when the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, which
DCNR Quietly Begins Gas Drilling Study in Bucks, Montgomery Counties
Katie Colaneri StateImpact PA October 2, 2013
The South Newark Basin stretches from New Jersey down into Bucks and Montgomery Counties. screenshot from the U.S. Geological Survey The South Newark Basin stretches from New Jersey down into Bucks and Montgomery Counties. The state is quietly taking the next steps to study the potential for gas drilling in a Southeast Pennsylvania formation known as the South Newark Basin. The basin stretches from New Jersey down into Southeast Pennsylvania in Bucks and
DOE Approves Proposal To Export Marcellus LNG From Dominion Facil
Katie Colaneri StateImpact PA September 11, 2013
Marcellus shale gas is now well on its way to changing the global energy market.
The Department of Energy today approved a proposal to convert Dominion Resource’s Cove Point, Maryland import terminal into an export facility for liquefied natural gas.
The terminal is already connected to an interstate pipeline system that draws from wells in Pennsylvania that is also owned and operated by Dominion.
“The development of U.S. natural gas resources
Gas Industry: Change PA Endangered Species Laws
Kevin Begos Associated Press September 10, 2013
PMEnvironmental group warns against modifying existing law
PITTSBURGH — As gas drilling booms in Pennsylvania, major industry groups are backing efforts to change the state’s endangered and threatened species laws, alterations that environmentalists say could have far-reaching effects on wildlife.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association, and the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania outlined their support in an Aug. 26 letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Oil, Gas Firms Scrutinized to Monitor Labor Practice
Anya Litvak Pittsburgh Post-Gazette August 4, 2013
Its amazing how many times Rodney Bean has heard the phrase but everyones doing it from oil and gas companies, big and small.
Everyone hires independent contractors instead of employees. Everyone pays a flat day rate instead of a salary or hourly wage.
When these companies get a notice from the U.S. Department of Labor, they call Mr. Bean, an attorney with Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, and he tells them,
Corbett Signs Controversial Bill Giving Drillers Power To Pool Leases
Marie Cusick StateImpact PA July 9, 2013
Governor Corbett signed a controversial bill into law today, giving drillers the power to combine or “pool” leases for horizontal oil and gas drilling.
The legislation was originally promoted as an effort to bring more transparency to the deductions companies take out of royalty payments. Complaints over those deductions lead to a recent Senate hearing on the issue.
An organization representing Pennsylvania’s mineral owners was angered over language added later on, which allows
U.S. Rules on Fracking on Public Lands Seen Costing Drillers Dearly
Chicago Tribune July 22, 2013
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Reuters) Oil and gas companies in the U.S. West would face at least $345 million a year in extra costs if rules on hydraulic fracturing on public lands proposed by the Obama administration are finalized, industry groups said on Monday.
The Bureau of Land Management has estimated the rules itproposed in May would cost drillers only $12 million to $20 million per year. The BLM proposal scaled back some measures from
