Tag "Pennsylvania"
Pennsylvania Lawmaker Advancing Pro-Fracking Legislation Profits from Leasing his Land to Drillers
A Pennsylvania state senator, who is responsible for a slew of legislation favoring the oil and gas industry, leases his own land to fracking companies, recent disclosure documents show.
Last year, veteran lawmaker Gene Yaw of Lycoming County profited from royalties he received from several different drillers.
The counties in the district he represents, located squarely on top of the Marcellus Shale, have thousands of active oil and gas wells.
In late 2016, Yaw co-sponsored a bill to bolster the rights of property owners leasing their land to oil and gas developers.
Soon after, he introduced the “Pennsylvania Natural Gas Expansion and Development Initiative,” a bill that aims at dramatically expanding the production and transportation of natural gas in the state.
In 2013, a local reporter asked Yaw about land he leases in Lycoming County to Anadarko.
The senator denied the lease poses a conflict of interest, noting that he leased the land before his election to the legislature.
Yet as the most recent disclosure indicates, the number of oil and gas companies Yaw profits from has increased since he became a lawmaker.
Yaw’s spokesperson Troutman said questions about potential conflicts of interest are misplaced.
According to Troutman, “you’d have to bring lawmakers in from Maryland or New York if you want to get rid of potential conflicts because legislation affects everyone in the state and/or large groups of Pennsylvanians, some of whom may be lawmakers.
Fracking is not ‘wrecking’ Pa.
A May 2 letter to the editor, “Fracking is wrecking Pennsylvania,” was filled with claims that are false.
To the contrary, Pennsylvania has seen many benefits because of the shale development taking place across our state — and they are not just economic benefits.
The author claims that the “water and air is so contaminated” in Pennsylvania, but that’s not what scientific research has shown.
In fact, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission has conducted water monitoring of the basin — where the vast majority of Marcellus wells have been drilled — for years, and as of October 2017 had found “no discernible impacts” from shale development.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell recently confirmed that, in regard to fracking, “What we’ve seen in the studies that we’ve seen are, it has been fine on the (Susquehanna River Basin Commission) side.” And when it comes to air quality, state and federal data directly contradict what the author claims.
A 2017 U.S. Department of Energy and Penn State study found that methane leakage rates in the Marcellus shale are just 0.4 percent of production.
Total U.S. methane emissions from petroleum and natural gas systems have declined 14 percent since 1990, at the same time production increased by 50 percent.
Asthma hospitalization rates have also declined in the six most heavily drilled counties in Pennsylvania.
The reality is that shale development here in the commonwealth has been a game-changer and a win-win for our economy.
Nicole Jacobs Field Director Energy In Depth Appalachian Basin Hughesville
Pa. court redefines some fracking as trespassing
For more than a century, Pennsylvania law has allowed drilling companies to sink a well and then drain oil and gas from a neighboring property without paying the neighbor.
But a Pennsylvania appeals court upended that idea this week when it said that the legal theory known as the “rule of capture” does not apply to hydraulic fracturing in tight rock formations, like the Marcellus Shale, where gas doesn’t flow freely or generally escape without great effort.
The fractures that are created when high pressure fluid and sand are forced down a well can stretch as far as 3,000 feet from a well bore through the rock.
In 1907, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said that when a driller puts a well right next to a property line, his neighbor’s only remedy is to drill his own well.
Fracking is different, the Superior Court concluded, because oil and gas in shale formations doesn’t “migrate freely” as it does in conventional reservoirs.
Remarkably, the Superior Court found just two relevant cases from the shale era to draw from: a 2008 Texas case that upheld the rule of capture for hydraulic fracturing and a 2013 federal case out of West Virginia that rejected it.
The West Virginia decision — which found that applying the rule of capture to hydraulic fracturing “gives oil and gas operators a blank check to steal from the small landowner” — was vacated after the parties settled.
The federal district court described how company land agents use the rule to pressure landowners during lease negotiations: “The companies may tell a small landowner that either they sign a lease on the company’s terms or the company will just hydraulically fracture under the property and take the oil and gas without compensation.” Another option under the rule, the federal court wrote, is that “a company may just take the gas without even contacting a small landowner.” A Susquehanna County case In the current case — which was brought against Southwestern Energy Production Co. by the Briggs family in Susquehanna County — the Superior Court did not rule on whether Southwestern actually trespassed under the 11-acre Briggs property.
Mr. Pifer said two crucial flaws make it difficult to discern a precise standard in the Superior Court’s decision.
Does it apply to unconventional shale wells or does it apply to all wells that use hydraulic fracturing, even those targeting conventional oil and gas reserves?
Fracking and the environment shouldn’t be afterthoughts in Pa. governor race | Editorial
Take protecting Pennsylvania’s environment, for example.
But when pollsters probed further, they found that 62 percent of respondents think climate change is a problem now, and 69 percent want the state to make renewable energy more available.
Renewable energy?
You won’t see those subjects explored to any appreciable degree on the websites of Republican gubernatorial candidates Laura Ellsworth, Paul Mango, and Scott Wagner.
On energy, Mango only says, “We have some of the largest, cheapest deposits of natural gas and coal in the world.” Ellsworth and Mango don’t even offer that much.
The Democrat also says he still wants a fracking tax.
The Franklin and Marshall poll didn’t include a question about a fracking tax, but its respondents were queried about the industry generally.
Fifty-five percent said they believe the environmental risks of fracking outweigh the economic benefits, and 43 percent have an unfavorable opinion of the industry.
Former Philadelphia Health Commissioner Walter Tsou, a board member of Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsibility, calls fracking the “number one public health threat,” saying it has been linked to “groundwater contamination, air pollution, radioactivity in flowback water, and even earthquakes.” Taxes, politicians, unemployment, crime, drugs, education, and health care were among the topics ranked higher as problems in the Franklin and Marshall poll.
As the campaign to become Pennsylvania’s next governor continues, let’s hope the candidates will give voters a better idea of what they will specifically do in the next four years, if elected, to protect the air they breathe and water they drink while adequately providing for their energy needs.
Where are the Solar Jobs? New Resource Can Tell You
A new tool from The Solar Foundation breaks down the latest solar jobs numbers by state, metropolitan area, county and congressional district, and looks at who makes up the solar industry.
One overarching message from the census and the tool is that a lot of people work in solar in this country: 250,271 in 2017, by their count.
That’s down 4 percent from 2016’s number, but still notable within the energy sector.
The Bay Area is at the top, and California metro areas take more than half the top slots.
Women make up almost half the solar workforce in Vermont, for example: And more than one in six solar workers in North and South Dakota is a veteran (versus one in 14 of U.S. workers as a whole): The makeup of the solar workforce, and changes in it, in part reflect where solar is happening, as The Solar Foundation’s latest census report explains: In 2017, states with large Latino/Hispanic populations, such as California and Texas, and states with large Asian populations, such as California and Hawaii, saw declines in solar jobs.
Meanwhile, states with large African-American populations, such as the District of Columbia and several Southeastern states, saw solar job growth, likely causing the boost in African-American representation from 6.6 percent in 2016 to 7.4 percent in 2017.
Keep an eye on solar job growth overall.
The solar industry has really produced when it comes to U.S. jobs; in 2016, 1 in 50 new American jobs was in solar.
Watch what’s happening to solar workforce diversity.
And data and tools to help us understand it all.
FERC Again Orders Drilling Halt on Rover Pipeline Site After Another Spill
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has again ordered Energy Transfer Partners to halt horizontal directional drilling under the Tuscarawas River in Ohio at its troubled Rover pipeline project pending additional review.
The move came after Ohio regulators requested FERC order a cease of all drilling on the project after nearly 150,000 gallons of drilling fluids were lost down the pilot hole for the pipeline earlier this month.
The spill occurred at the same site as a spill last April of 2 million gallons of drilling fluid.
That incident also led FERC to temporarily ban Energy Transfer Partners from new horizontal drilling.
The 713-mile pipeline project, which will carry fracked gas across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan and Canada once complete, is currently under construction by the same Dallas-based company that built the controversial Dakota Access pipeline.
In September, Energy Transfer Partners was fined $2.3 million for numerous water and air pollution violations across Ohio.
According to Reuters, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has already asked FERC a few times in January to stop Energy Transfer Partners from drilling under the Tuscarawas River.
While operations are currently halted at the site, the company is seeking approval from FERC on a plan submitted on Jan. 22 to continue horizontal drilling.
For this reason alone, Ohio cannot support the plan.” “We have ceased operations at the Tuscarawas site.
Pennsylvania Suspends Mariner East 2 Pipeline Construction
Pennsylvania suspended permits for Sunoco Pipeline on Wednesday, LP’s $2.5 billion Mariner East 2 pipeline project, after finding that the company committed “egregious and willful violations” of state laws.
The order directs Sunoco, a subsidiary of Dakota Access Pipeline builder Energy Transfer Partners, to stop Mariner East II construction activities across Pennsylvania.
State regulators had discovered that Sunoco was drilling under streams without permits when a spill contaminated a high-quality creek in Berks County, Pennsylvania, the order notes—and then found unpermitted construction at over a half-dozen other locations along the pipeline’s route. “Until Sunoco can demonstrate that the permit conditions can and will be followed, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has no alternative but to suspend the permits,” Pennsylvania DEP Sec.
This is not the first time Mariner East II has been halted. “We received an order this morning from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection that instructed us to suspend construction activities in Pennsylvania with respect to Mariner East 2 until reauthorized by the Pennsylvania DEP,” Energy Transfer Partners spokesman Jeff Shields said in a statement.
This fall, Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy Warren told investors during an earnings call that it might try to bring in a joint venture partner to help carry the costs. “If a partner was bringing liquids, bringing value to the project, we would consider that.”
Wolf is to stop Mariner East construction until and unless a public safety risk assessment is available,” Caroline Hughes, a representative from Goshen United for Public Safety said. “We have to go out there and see what they’re doing and report it,” she said.
Fracking Giant Sues Dimock Resident for $5M for Speaking to Media About Water Contamination
Fracking Giant Sues Dimock Resident for $5M for Speaking to Media About Water Contamination.
Now Cabot Oil & Gas, the massive energy company responsible for numerous fracking wells near Dimock, is suing one of the town’s residents for $5 million, claiming that his efforts to “attract media attention” to the pollution of his water well have “harmed” the company.
According to the lawsuit, Dimock resident Ray Kemble’s actions breached an earlier 2012 settlement that was part of an ongoing federal class action lawsuit over the town’s water quality.
Kemble has stated that Cabot’s fracking turned his groundwater “black, like mud, [with] a strong chemical odor.”
Cabot alleged that this lawsuit was a breach of the 2012 settlement contract Kemble had signed, prompting them to counter-sue Kemble.
Cabot’s decision to sue Ray Kemble may be motivated by more than their distaste for his now-dismissed lawsuit.
Days before Cabot’s lawsuit against Kemble was filed, the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry (ATSDR) arrived in Dimock to examine the groundwater of several homes close to Cabot fracking wells, including Kemble’s.
In the past, several drinking water wells in Dimock have exploded due to the high amount of methane now present in the town’s water.
Dimock residents have been expressing concern over the quality of their water for nearly a decade.
In 2009, Pennsylvania state officials determined that Cabot Oil & Gas was responsible for the contamination, though the EPA complicated this decision by announcing in 2012 that Dimock’s water was “safe” to drink.
Fracking is causing invasion of harmful non-native plants in Pennsylvania forests, PSU researchers say
Fracking is causing invasion of harmful non-native plants in Pennsylvania forests, PSU researchers say.
Invasive, non-native plant species are “rapidly invading” northern forests in Pennsylvania because of fracking in the Marcellus shale basin, a group of Penn State researchers say.
The spread of invasive plants could have longterm detrimental consequences for forest ecosystems, animals and birds, timbering and ecotourism, the researchers say.
Invasive plant seeds in gravel and mud are being spread by the tires and undercarriages of fracking equipment and trucks, the researchers found.
The seeds find an ideal home in new openings in the forest created by wells, service roads and pipelines.
A team of researchers in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences did invasive plant surveys on Marcellus shale gas well pads and adjacent access roads throughout the Allegheny National Forest.
Surrounding plant communities also were surveyed on a randomly selected set of 32 well pads.
“Given the fact that, on average, 1,235 one-day truck trips delivering fracturing fluid and proppant are required to complete an unconventional well, the potential to transport plant propagules is significant,” said Kathryn Barlow, a doctoral degree candidate in ecology.
Propagules are parts of a plant that can generate new plants, such as seeds.
“Soon we will see a ripple effect in the forest ecosystem that will affect organisms that depend on the native plants.” Timbering revenue will eventually be affected because deer tend to avoid non-native plants.
Feds back in Pennsylvania town to test water, air amid fracking concerns
Feds back in Pennsylvania town to test water, air amid fracking concerns.
The federal government has returned to a Pennsylvania village that became a flashpoint in the national debate over fracking to investigate ongoing complaints about the quality of the drinking water.
He said investigators from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a federal public health agency, were at his house Monday to collect samples.
State regulators blamed faulty gas wells drilled by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. for leaking combustible methane into Dimock’s groundwater.
Cabot, one of the largest natural gas producers in the state, has consistently denied responsibility, saying methane was an issue in the groundwater long before it began drilling.
The agency is also testing indoor air for radon.
It’s the first time ATSDR itself has tested private well water in Dimock.
The Environmental Protection Agency conducted testing in 2012.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency appears to be ramping up its interest in the Marcellus Shale, a rock formation in Pennsylvania and surrounding states that is believed to hold the nation’s largest reservoir of gas with investigations in both the northeastern and southwestern corners of Pennsylvania.
Kemble, who became a high-profile anti-drilling activist after his water well was contaminated, said his water got worse after Cabot fracked three wells near his house.
