Landscaping – Energy – Environment
Bethany WV residents continue their fight against new forced pooling law In the September 10, 2022 blog, WEST VIRGINIA: Federal Court Throws Out ‘Forced Pooling’ Lawsuit, we saw where a lawsuit seeking to stop West Virginia’s new natural gas unitization law was ruled invalid.… Continue Reading “ROUND 2: West Virginia Forced Pooling Law Fight”
This guest essay first appeared on Inquirer.com on September 16, 2022. and was reprinted in the PA Environment Digest Blog on September 17, 2022. The deadline for submitting public comments on this process to DEP is Monday September 19. PA DEP Needs to Evaluate… Continue Reading “Another Chapter in the ‘Stuck on Stupid’ Marcellus Shale Gas Saga”
“Catholic nuns fought pipeline on their Lancaster County land. Now, citing religious freedom, they seek damages in court.” According to a September 15, 2022 story by Susan Phillips on StateImpact Pennsylvania, The Adorers of the Blood of Christ say Transco’s Atlantic Sunrise natural gas… Continue Reading “Religious Freedom from a Pennsylvania Pipeline”
That subtitle is part of a September 15, 2022 Environmental Health News story, The Titans of Plastic, in partnership with Sierra Magazine, where reporter Kristina Marusic writes about Shell’s new Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex in Monaca, PA, as it nears production of plastic ‘nurdles.’ “Shell ranks in… Continue Reading “Pennsylvania becomes the newest sacrifice zone for America’s plastic addiction”
Pennsylvania DEP, Fish & Boat Commission Investigating Multiple, Continuing Water Pollution Discharges from PGE Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Site on Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County By David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | September 13, 2022 (Photos: Top– three DEP inspection report photos… Continue Reading “PA: Ongoing Water Pollution Discharges from Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Site”
Fracking photos of shale gas production in 3 states during 2012 We logged eleven flights in 2012 to capture aerial images of Marcellus Shale gas production in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. To see dozens of these photos, CLICK HERE or watch the video… Continue Reading “EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: What would Rachel Carson say?”
September 10, 2022 news headlines spelled it out: “The latest work unveils this mechanism through a series of meticulous experiments showing that cells carrying dormant mutations can turn cancerous when exposed to PM2.5 particles. The pollutant is the equivalent of the ignition spark on… Continue Reading “STUDY: Fossil Fuel Pollution Likely Accelerates Lung Cancer”
…or Show They Can Pay for Damages if They Explode, Leak or Kill Someone (Photos: Top– Revolution Pipeline explosion in Beaver County; Blast zone around Mariner East Pipeline in Chester County from risk assessment report; Bottom— Mariner East 2 Pipeline construction spill into Marsh… Continue Reading “Natural Gas, Hazardous Liquids Pipelines Are NOT Required to Carry Insurance”
Lawsuit seeking to stop West Virginia’s new natural gas unitization law ruled invalid A September 10, 2022 story by Steven Allen Adams, Federal Court Throws Out Bethany Residents’ Natural Gas Unitization Lawsuit, in the The Intelligencer | Wheeling News Register details a West Virginia… Continue Reading “WEST VIRGINIA: Federal Court Throws Out ‘Forced Pooling’ Lawsuit”
Fracking could resume in England within six months Photo: Hydraulic fracturing (aka ‘fracking’) American-style c. 2010 in Pennsylvania Calls to resume fracking have met with ongoing resistance from campaigners who say the risk of earthquakes (see below) and water contamination, as well as extensive… Continue Reading “New British PM Liz Truss lifts 2019 fracking ban”
With some Marcellus Shale gas production requiring 17-million gallons of water just to frac one well, one has to wonder how it can be justified under drought conditions Map: Red Dots are withdrawal locations with water use restrictions. Susquehanna River Basin Commission Monitors Hydrologic… Continue Reading “OXYMORON: Ruining Millions of Gallons of Water to Frac During a Drought”
New! Photo gallery of drilling and hydraulic fracturing the Marcellus Shale in 2010 and 2011 can be found here. Sample photo:
Pa. DEP held 2 public hearings last week about a plan by a Westmoreland County landfill to build a gas-fired leachate evaporator (data sheet PDF). Environmentalists and nearby residents testified about their concerns, pointing out that the landfill accepts solid fracking waste that can… Continue Reading “Proposed Landfill Leachate Evaporator: 45,000 gallons per day”
On Wednesday October 5, 2022 community members and reporters are invited to hear about the progress that has been made and ask questions about the Childhood Cancer Study being conducted by researchers at PITT. Center for Coalfield Justice (CCJ) hosts meeting CCJ will host a panel discussion with… Continue Reading “Childhood Cancer Study near Fracking in S.W. Pennsylvania”
More Oil & Gas Well Pad Cleanups and Facility Permits by David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | September 2, 2022 Highlights of the environmental and energy notices in the latest PA Bulletin– The Department of Environmental Protection published notice in the… Continue Reading “PA DEP Posts 59 Pages of Permit-Related Notices in Sept. 3 PA Bulletin”
Small Penalties no Deterrent to Future Abandonments by David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | August 30, 2022 Only 15 of the 256 conventional oil and gas operators who received notices of violation for abandoning wells without plugging them over the last… Continue Reading “Only 15 out of 256 Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Who Abandoned Wells Were Fined by PA DEP”
In this newly released 41-minute video, we get a behind-the-scenes look at the turmoil and travesty of those ‘Dimocked’ by shale gas production, and the 9 square mile area of Pennsylvania that was once banned from further fracking. Hear about the shortcomings of state… Continue Reading “EXCLUSIVE: The Story Behind ‘Fracked Water Wells’ in Dimock PA”
Funding From Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law On August 25, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it has formally awarded an initial $560 million from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 24 states to begin work to plug, cap and reclaim orphaned oil and… Continue Reading “US Department of Interior Awards Pennsylvania $25 Million in Conventional Oil and Gas Well Plugging”
Company wants to add a second injection well at the Sedat site in Plum Borough, Allegheny County, PA The August 30, 2022 story by Michael Divittorio in the TRIB, Plum residents, environmentalists and other officials speak out against injection well conversion proposal, details a… Continue Reading “Residents, environmentalists and officials speak out against injection well”
Post-production costs for transportation and processing ‘gutting’ gas royalty payments below the required 12.5% minimum An August 25, 2022 story by Mike Jones “Farmers discuss natural gas royalties with state, local leaders” in the Observer-Reporter included quotes from several local farmers lamenting their shrinking… Continue Reading “Pennsylvania Farmers with Gas Leases Feel Shortchanged”
Threatens Dimock Waterways With Radioactivity From Fracking File photo: Dimock billboard in August 2011 A story and podcast by Public Herald on August 29, 2022 tells of serious deficiencies and questionable practices at the PA DEP: Radium is not a required part of testing… Continue Reading “Pa. Senator Says Pennsylvania Bypassed Feds & Issued “Illegal” Permit”
Just when we thought we had seen an end to leaky frac wastewater impoundments – the size of football fields – we see new permit requests. Be sure to comment! PA DEP Invites Comments On 2 Proposed Oil & Gas Wastewater Impoundments by Range… Continue Reading “Fracking ‘Groundhog Day’ in Washington County PA”
This same landfill created major problems for a Westmoreland sewage plant. Is this radioactive waste ending up in your morning coffee Pittsburgh? Photo: Landfill leachate in a storm water drainage ditch during an inspection by the PA DEP on August 25, 2022 at the… Continue Reading “Westmoreland Landfill Leachate Back in the News”
Oil & Gas Well Drillers Notified DEP They are Cleaning-up Soil & Water Contaminated with Chemicals Harmful to Human Health and Aquatic Life at 272 Locations in PA by David E. Hess | PA Environment Digest Blog | August 24, 2022 Conventional and unconventional… Continue Reading “Creating New Pennsylvania Brownfields”
Q&A: Eliza Griswold Reflects on the Lessons of ‘Amity and Prosperity,’ Her Deep Dive Into Fracking in Southwest Pennsylvania Inside Climate News published that story by David Schribman with that same headline on August 21, 2022. While Shribman’s story focused on updates from the… Continue Reading “Reflections on the Lessons of ‘Amity and Prosperity’”
‘We never had cancer or anything like that before, and in one year, we had over 13 people diagnosed with cancer… all within a mile of my house’ Those were the headlines written by reporter Shauna Corr in an August 8, 2022 story and… Continue Reading “Pennsylvania man whose life was destroyed by fracking urges Irish Government to block Shannon LNG“
By Lisa Graves-Marcucci | EIP | August 10, 2022 Reprinted from Oil and Gas Watch Tucked into the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania are rural communities once home to generational farmland – Smith Township among them. The blessings of prime open spaces once reserved for… Continue Reading “Natural gas development transforms Pennsylvania farmland”
Misplaced Faith: How Policymakers’ Belief in Natural Gas is Driving Rural Pennsylvania Into an Economic Dead End by Sean O’Leary | Aug 8, 2022 | Ohio River Valley Institute Key Takeaways: Policymakers’ pursuit of natural gas development is failing rural Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania policymakers of both parties are driving efforts to… Continue Reading “NEW REPORT: Ohio River Valley Institute”
Hickory and Mt. Pleasant Township were ground zero when Marcellus Shale fracking began in Pennsylvania back in 2004. As with many communities, gas development became an extremely divisive issue among neighbors. Today’s story by Mike Jones in the Observer-Reporter, DEP investigating mysterious odor emitted… Continue Reading “What’s That Smell?”
Let’s call it the “Joe-Joe Dilemma” — and we aren’t talking cookies. More like “all the marbles.” Blockage of climate action by Senator Joe Machin could now lead to ‘climate emergency’ action taken by President Joe Biden. Things like ending offshore drilling, banning U.S.… Continue Reading “An End to US Oil Exports and Offshore Drilling?”
Many of the stories surrounding drilling and fracking over the past 20 years have been “Stranger than Fiction” and this latest story qualifies. It was first reported in THE DAILY BEAST four days ago, and saw a follow-up story in today’s THE INTELLIGENCER. WHEELING… Continue Reading “The Texas Attorney and West Virginia Judge”
On Tuesday, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) demanding action on the air pollution emitted by Colorado’s oil and gas industry. The news story appeared in THE HILL, “Conservation group sues EPA over fracking smog in Colorado” and… Continue Reading “Will the EPA also get Sued over Pennsylvania Air?”
You can thank ‘frac happy’ Republican legislators like Yaw and Metcalfe for keeping our Commonwealth in the ‘stone ages’ when it comes to promoting a healthy environment. Also, their latest ‘gas buddy’ enabling efforts will likely cause Pennsylvania to lose federal highway funds. David… Continue Reading “Backwards Pennsylvania”
There was a May 23, 2022 story in Louisiana’s ‘Natchitoches Times’ with a headline that really caught my eye: “Pipeline Compressor Station to Bring Major Revenue” “An example of a similar facility is a gathering station near Robeline that has an assessed value of… Continue Reading “Pennsylvania’s ‘Giveaway’ Tax Rate for Gas Processors”
Washington County, Pennsylvania wants to hear from county residents on their new Comprehensive Plan, last adopted in 2005. The updated plan is being developed with an advisory committee and stakeholder/public input. The final plan will be adopted in Fall 2022. Take the short Public… Continue Reading “Washington County Comprehensive Plan”
The June 8, 2022 explosion and fire at the FREEPORT LNG export terminal in Quintana, Texas, dropped the Henry Hub commodity price for natural gas, from $9.34 two days before the incident to $7.26 a week later, a huge 23% price drop. Conversely, LNG… Continue Reading “LNG Export Outage Helping US Prices”
While the CEO of the largest US shale gas producer keeps talking about “unleashing” Marcellus Shale natural gas, and more specifically, it’s condensed liquid form, LNG, we’re suddenly snapped back to its radioactive realities. Reporter JUSTIN NOBEL spelled it out in his June 9,… Continue Reading “Unleashing the American LNG ‘Trojan Horse’”
Allegheny County Council held a public hearing June 9, 2022 on legislation to prevent the leasing of additional county parks for gas production activities, following the non-surface oil and gas lease signed in October 2014 for Deer Lakes Park, to allow hydraulic fracturing under… Continue Reading “‘Protect Our Parks’ in Allegheny County, PA”
Today’s PA Environment Digest Blog contained important testimony from the Pennsylvania Senate Hearing held last Thursday and seen in its entirety in this video. Brian S. Schwartz, MD, MS laid it out with crystal clarity in his June 2, 2022 testimony: “We’ve studied asthma… Continue Reading “Pennsylvania Must Act”
Yesterday, Pennsylvania Senators Katie Muth and Jim Brewster hosted a public hearing in Monroeville, PA: “Pennsylvania’s Shale Gas Boom: How Policy Decisions Failed to Protect Public Health and What We Can Do to Correct It.” Watch the 2 hour and 44 minute hearing video… Continue Reading “Fracking Public Health and Policy in Pennsylvania”