Home ›

Gas Drilling

Marcellus Shale gas drilling updates

Train to Be a Pine Creek Waterdog

By Pine Creek Headwaters Protection Group
in
3 days 15 hours ago

WELLSBORO -- Become a Pine Creek Waterdog. It’s simple and could make a huge difference in protecting our environment and assisting the DEP in enforcing compliance with our regulations. more»

PA Environment Digest: March 8, 2010

By PennEnvironment
in
3 days 18 hours ago

* more»

Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Wastewater Treatment Issues

By Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee
in
1 week 2 days ago

HARRISBURG -- The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee held a public hearing on January 27 in Hearing Room 1 of the Capitol's North Office Building on the topic of Marcellus Shale natural gas wastewater treatment issues. more»

PA Filmmaker Wins Sundance Prize for ‘Gasland’

By NorthcentralPA.com
in
1 week 3 days ago

When Pennsylvania filmmaker Josh Fox discovered that natural gas drilling was coming to his area, he set off on a 24-state journey to uncover the consequences of the gas drilling boom. more»

Tour Marcellus Shale Drilling Site

By Focus on PA
in
1 week 3 days ago

The December edition of Focus on Pennsylvania follows Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Venango) and Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) as they tour Chief Oil&Gas Marcellus Shale natural gas operations in Lycoming County. more»

Schreiner Oil, Gas Ordered to Restore Water Supplies

By Department of Environmental Protection
in
1 week 3 days ago

MEADVILLE -- The Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Schreiner Oil and Gas Co. to provide a permanent solution to water supply issues at two homes the company’s drilling activity impacted near Hedgehog Lane, McKean County. more»

CBF, TU Call for Ban on Marcellus Gas Wells in Floodplains

By Chesapeake Bay Foundation
in
1 week 3 days ago

Hydrofracking in Floodplains is an Environmental Disaster Waiting to Happen more»

Gas Drilling Using Best Management Practices

By Dr. Anne Harris Katz
in
1 week 3 days ago

The Texas Oil and Gas Accountability Project has published a best management practices guide for its state's oil and gas development. This could be a model for state's newly under pressure for unconventional shale drilling -- like Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia. more»

Can Gas Well Casings Protect Us from Leaks - Long-Term?

By Dr. Anne Harris Katz
in
1 week 3 days ago

When looking to answer the question of whether well casings are adequate to protect water supplies and public health and safety, look no further than the release posted below from DEP. It describes a situation where an old well casing failed, resulting methane gas release. more»

Bookmark the Bureau of Oil & Gas Management

By Dr. Anne Harris Katz
in
1 week 3 days ago

Would you like to keep up with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s work in the area of gas and oil extraction? Consider visiting its Bureau of Oil&Gas Management Web site: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/oilgas/reports.htm. more»

Drilling Concerns: Make Your Voice Heard

By Dr. Anne Katz
in
1 week 3 days ago

Here are two places on the Internet where you can add your voice to those of many others concerned about natural gas drilling issues. more»

Marcellus Shale Topic of Wildlife Society Conference

By Pennsylvania Chapter of the Wildlife Society
in
1 week 3 days ago

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the Wildlife Society will host the 2010 annual Spring Conference and Workshop, “Marcellus Shale Gas Extraction: Lessons Learned from Past Natural Resource Extraction and What the Future Holds” March 19-20 at the Ramada Inn, State College. more»

DEP's Failure

By Jon Bogle for Responsible Drilling Alliance
in
1 week 6 days ago

BEFORE: Muncy Creek floodplain, north of Tivoli, flooded on Jan. 25, 2010.
AFTER:  By Feb. 21, 2010, XTO had a well in full operation.   more»

Fate of Hyner View State Park Vista Remains Unresolved

By James Nevins, Western Clinton Sportsmen’s Association
in
2 weeks 1 day ago

CHAPMAN TOWNSHIP -- Interest in what some are calling “The Battle of Hyner Mountain,” continues to draw local, state-wide and even international interests to enter the fray. more»

Congress Launches Investigation Into Gas Drilling Practices

By Sabrina Shankman and Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica
in
2 weeks 6 days ago

Two of the largest companies involved in natural gas drilling have acknowledged pumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel-based fluids into the ground in the process of hydraulic fracturing [ http://www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing-national ], raising further concerns that existing more»

Hyner View State Park/water withdrawal hearing

By Jim Nevins, Western Clinton Sportsmen’s Association
in
2 weeks 3 days ago

CHAPMAN TOWNSHIP -- The issue of the safety of Hyner View State Park and the vista from its summit remains unresolved. 

At the Feb. 18 hearing before the Chapman Township Zoning Board, considerable testimony from various parties was given -- so much, in fact, that a second hearing must be scheduled.  more»

Jersey Shore Plant Fined $75,000 for Gas Wastewater Violations

By Department of Environmental Protection
in
2 weeks 6 days ago

WILLIAMSPORT – The Department of Environmental Protection has fined the borough of Jersey Shore $75,000 for operation and discharge violations at its sewage treatment plant in Lycoming County during 2008 and 2009.  “The borough had several violations of its gas well wastewater acceptance plan in addition to violations of its DEP discharge permit,” said DEP Northcentral Regional Director Rober more»

Help Us Stop Illegal Water Pollution

By David Masur, PennEnvironment Director
in
3 weeks 26 min ago

As gas drilling ramps up across the state, many companies are already running roughshod over environmental laws like the Clean Water Act, and illegally polluting our environment. We need companies to follow our environmental laws -- but we need your help. more»

Natural Gas Pipelines Are Next

By Dr. Anne Harris Katz
in
3 weeks 40 min ago

First it was well pads, frac ponds and access roads. Now, that gas is coming out of the ground, the industry is ratchetting up its efforts to build the infrastructure necessary to get gas to the markets where people and industries use it. So, it's pipelines. In our area of Pennsylvania, pipeline construction -- and the land leasing efforts associated with this -- are up and running. more»

How Big is the Gas Drilling Regulatory Staff in Pennsylvania?

By ProPublica
in
3 weeks 1 hour ago

How to read these graphs:

The graphs on the left show the rate of growth compared to the earliest year for which we have data -- in most cases 2003. The gray lines represent a theoretical constant annual rate of change. more»

Ask a Legislator: Mirabito Discusses Environmental Standards

By Robin Van Auken
in
3 weeks 22 hours ago

Pennsylvania State Representative Rick Mirabito, D-Lycoming, discusses why reinforcing environmental standards for the Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling industries in Pennsylvania will not deter companies from coming to the state.  more»

Interesting Economic Upside to Gas Drilling

By NorthcentralPA.com
in
3 weeks 3 days ago

Northern Pennsylvania charities – hospitals, libraries and scholarship funds – expect to benefit from the royalties and lease deals linked with landowner coalitions in Wayne and Susquehanna counties. more»

Texas Mayor Travels Northeast to Talk About Gas Industry

By NorthcentralPA.com
in
3 weeks 3 days ago

On February 15, 2010 the mayor of the tiny town of DISH, TX will travel to upstate New York for a nine city speaking tour regarding natural gas drilling.  He will be in the region speaking about the gas industry and Marcellus Shale until February 21, 2010. more»

Telling Us What We Want to Hear

By Jon Bogle for www.responsibledrillingalliance.org
in
3 weeks 5 days ago

I find that the gas drilling industry manipulates the facts to their advantage on a number of issues.  Recently, a gas industry talking point has appeared designed to calm our concerns.  We are told it isn’t the practice of the industry to return and refrack their wells. Too expensive is the explanation. more»

DEP Issues Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit

By Department of Environmental Protection
in
3 weeks 5 days ago

DEP Issues Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit to Williamsport’s TerrAqua Resource Management
First New Permit for Treating Drilling Wastewater to Be Issued in West Branch Susquehanna River Watershed more»

League of Women Voters Meet on Marcellus Shale

By NorthcentralPA.com
in
4 weeks 1 day ago

On February 11th the League of Women Voters of the Lewisburg Area will hold its final public meeting on Marcellus Shale gas extraction. more»

Hyner View State Park - View in peril from gas trucks

By Jim Nevins, Western Clinton Sportsmen's Association
in
4 weeks 1 day ago

 I am the Information and Education Coordinator for the 1000+ member Western Clinton Sportsmen's Association.  We have been an environmental watchdog for this section of North Central Pennsylvania for over 80 years.  more»

State budget a raw deal for the environment

By David Masur for PennEnvironment
in
4 weeks 1 day ago

New budget causes massive rollbacks

Last fall’s prolonged budget debate resulted in massive rollbacks to the state’s conservation programs—leaving Pennsylvania’s environment vulnerable to increased destruction. more»

New Gas Drilling Rules, More Staff for Pennsylvania’s Environmental Agency

By Sabrina Shankman, ProPublica
in
4 weeks 2 days ago

For months, the gas drilling industry and environmentalists alike have been fixated on New York, waiting for its environmental agency to hash out final drilling regulations so companies can take advantage of the vast gas reserves buried there. more»

Understanding Units and Managing Bonuses and Royalties

By Penn State Cooperative Extension
in
4 weeks 2 days ago

LAPORTE -- Penn State Cooperative Extension will be holding a workshop, “Marcellus Shale – Understanding Units&Managing Bonuses and Royalties” on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at the Sullivan County High School, Beech & South Streets, Laporte, PA in the auditorium.   The meeting will start at 9:30 AM and end at approximately 12:00 noon.  Speakers include Extension, legal, and fi more»

Be a Voice for Clean Water; Only Four Days Remain

By Barbara Jarmoska
in
4 weeks 3 days ago

Friday is the last day for you to comment on the proposed standards to reduce new TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) discharges into Pennsylvania’s rivers. New, enhanced restrictions are recommended by the DEP’s Environmental Quality Board in hopes of offsetting the hazard posed to PA streams and rivers from millions of pounds of salt in gas well drilling waste water (also known as frack water). more»

ProPublica Podcast: Gas Drilling Wastewater

By Joaquin Sapien and Sabrina Shankman
in
5 weeks 23 hours ago

The ProPublica Podcast is a weekly program featuring interviews with reporters about the latest investigations published by ProPublica. The program is produced by Sharona Coutts and hosted by Mike Webb.

Guests Joaquin Sapien and Sabrina Shankman talk about their latest report “Drilling Wastewater Disposal Options in N.Y. Report Have Problems of Their Own.” more»

Drilling Wastewater Disposal Options in N.Y. Report Have Problems of Their Own

By Joaquin Sapien and Sabrina Shankman, ProPublica
in
10 weeks 2 days ago

The site of one of Canada-based Gastem USA's wells in Otsego County, N.Y. The well produced far less wastewater than most Marcellus Shale wells will, but it still took the drillers more than a year to get permission to drill it, because they couldn't find a place to dispose of the water. (Joaquin Sapien/ProPublica) more»

Oil, Gas Office in Scranton to Improve Oversight

By Department of Environmental Protection
in
5 weeks 23 hours ago

HARRISBURG -- Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger today announced plans to open a new Oil and Gas Management office in Scranton, Lackawanna County, to improve the agency’s ability to oversee and respond to issues stemming from increased natural gas drilling throughout the region. more»

Ask a Legislator: Mirabito Discusses Severance Tax

By Robin Van Auken
in
5 weeks 3 days ago

NorthcentralPA.com is introducing a new series: Ask a Legislator. more»

Fortuna Energy Fined $3,500 for Well Drilling Violations

By Department of Environmental Protection
in
5 weeks 3 days ago

WILLIAMSPORT – The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Fortuna Energy Inc. of Horseheads, N.Y., $3,500 for violations discovered last year at three of the company’s natural gas wells in Troy Township, Bradford County. more»

Pennsylvania’s Gas Wells Booming—But So Are Spills

By Sabrina Shankman, ProPublica
in
6 weeks 15 hours ago

As more gas wells are drilled in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale, more cases of toxic spills are being reported. Earlier this month, Pennsylvania's environmental officials fined Pennsylvania-based Atlas Resources after a series of violations at 13 wells, including spills of fracturing fluids and other contaminants onto the ground around the sites. And just last week the agency fined M.R. more»

DEP to Hire New Staff to Monitor Gas Drilling

By Department of Environmental Protection
in
6 weeks 15 hours ago

Governor Rendell: PA Taking Aggressive Action to Protect Public,
Environment as Marcellus Shale Drilling Operations Expands

Directs DEP to Hire 68 Additional Staff to Bolster Inspections,
Environmental Compliance New Regulations Planned to Improve Well Safety Standards more»

Place a Moratorium on Drilling in Forests

By David Masur, PennEnvironment Director
in
6 weeks 21 hours ago

Pennsylvania's state forests are some of the most pristine, wild parts of our natural heritage. Unfortunately, state officials in Harrisburg are threatening to do irreversible damage to our state forests for short-term gain. [1]

Politicians in Harrisburg want to give gas companies carte blanche to carve up and drill throughout our precious state forests. more»

Centre County to Study Gas Drilling Implications

By NorthCentralPA.com
in
6 weeks 1 day ago

BELLFONTE -- Centre County commissioners voted to form a board to study natural gas drilling in the following areas: economic development, education and environmental issues, planning and zoning, public policy and legal issues. She is anticipating the board being in place within two weeks. more»

NY Congressman Vows to Protect State from Gas Industry

By NorthcentralPA.com
in
6 weeks 1 day ago

New York Congressman Eric Massa authored an article in the Pen Yan, NY Chronicle-Express vowing to protect the region from natural gas industries intent on creating toxic dumps.

Read a few excerpts: more»

Keeping an Eye on the Gas Industry

By Dr. Anne Harris Katz
in
6 weeks 1 day ago

For those watching the gas drilling industry's activities, keep in mind that the federal EPA now has a hotline (they call it a tip line) for reporting issues that the public spots. details are available at this website (also in the attachment): http://www.epa.gov/region03/marcellus_shale/tipline.html more»

Latest Comments on Wastewater Treatment Requirements

By NorthcentralPA.com
in
6 weeks 1 day ago

Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has
proposed new regulations for industrial wastewater that is high in
total dissolved solids (TDS). more»

Marcellus Shale Updates: PA Environment Jan. 25

in
6 weeks 5 days ago

Follow one of the links below to read more Marcellus Shale-related updates from PA Environmental Digest.

* more»

DEP Fines M.R. Dirt Inc. $6,000 for Residual Waste Sludge Spill

in
7 weeks 2 days ago

Seven Tons Spilled in Clinton County Last Fall

WILLIAMSPORT -- The Department of Environmental Protection has fined M.R. Dirt Inc. of Towanda, Bradford County, $6,000 for a residual waste sludge spill last September at the Avis exit of U.S. Route 220 in Pine Creek Township, Clinton County. more»

Marcellus Shale Coalition Announces New President

By PA Environment Digest
in
7 weeks 2 days ago

The Marcellus Shale Coalition this week announced Kathryn Klaber as the new organization's first President and Executive Director.

The announcement was made before about 700 people at the Second Annual Marcellus Shale and Department of Environmental Protection Best Management Practices Workshop and Training Seminar in State College. more»

Sierra Club Urges Adoption Of Severance Tax

By PA Environment Digest
in
7 weeks 2 days ago

Responding to the announcement that the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources had successfully auctioned $128.4 million in gas exploration leases, the Pennsylvania Sierra Club called on Gov. Rendell to restore the funding to the agencies that administer state lands. more»

Governor Calls for Gas Severance Tax

By PA Environment Digest
in
7 weeks 2 days ago

At a press conference this week announcing $128.3 million in revenues from State Forest Marcellus Shale natural gas leasing, Gov. Rendell called on the General Assembly to pass a natural gas production severance tax. In a letter to the General Assembly the Governor said in part-- more»

Syndicate content