An assistant professor of data science at Saint Vincent College in Westmoreland County, PA, recently published a study (based on hospital records) examining whether some chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing affect the occurrence of pre-term births (PTB) and low birth weights (LBW) in the United States. She looked at data from several counties in southwest…
You know you’re a loser when you can’t even spin the results of your own rigged push poll. The Ohio River Valley Institute (ORVI) is nothing more than a front group, another name for the ultra-left, biased, and virulent anti-fossil fuel Heinz Endowments. ORVI pokes its head up periodically to issue “reports” (i.e., propaganda) bashing…
Parts of Ohio (like other areas in the northeast) have experienced a moderate drought over the past several months. The Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) manages ten lakes and four dry dams in southeastern Ohio for purposes of flood control, recreation, and conservation. One of its biggest customers for water sales is the shale oil…
For years, MDN has told you that the very first Marcellus well to be drilled and fracked was done by Range Resources Corporation in Washington County, PA. Beyond that, we didn’t know much. Thanks to an article appearing in the Washington Observer-Reporter, we now know the full story—or at least a lot more of the…
Sally Field as “The Flying Nun” Some 800 delegates are attending the Shale Insight event held in Erie, PA, from Tuesday through today. It’s the premier shale event in the Marcellus/Utica each year. While 800 talented, hardworking, intelligent people are inside listening to speakers, networking (talking to others), and learning how to make shale drilling…
In February, the Ohio Oil & Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) met to award contracts to drill under (not on) several Ohio state parks, including 5,700 acres of the 20,000-acre Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County (see Ohio Awards Drilling Contracts for State Parks – Salt Fork Surprise). The contract for Salt Fork was…
In yet another attempt to deflect attention away from Kamala Harris’ extreme position on fracking (she wanted to ban it completely everywhere in 2019), mainstream news continues to publish stories on other Pennsylvania energy topics. For example, yesterday, the New York Times published a story with this headline: “Big Energy Issue in Pennsylvania Is Low…
According to Pennsylvania regulation 25 Pa. Code § 78a.122(b)(6)(iv), a drilling company must provide a list of the chemicals intentionally added to the stimulation [fracking] fluid by name and chemical abstract service (CAS) number in a Completion Report. The PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says Apex Energy failed to provide that information on its…
It’s really fascinating to watch this presidential election. Yes, we’ve promised to try and keep the politics to a minimum, but we must report on things we notice that have the potential to affect the shale drilling industry in general, and the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Here’s an issue we cannot keep silent about. As we’ve…
In July 2022, MDN brought you news of a possible frac-out, or “inadvertent return” that happens when drilling mud pops out of places where it’s not supposed to — places outside the borehole being drilled (see Possible Frac-Out Reported at EQT Well Site in Greene County, PA). A landowner who lives near a well being…
Yesterday, MDN told you that if The Cackler (Kamala Harris) can turn on a dime and supposedly embrace fracking, why can’t leftist New York Governor Kathy Hochul do the same (see A Plea to NY Gov. Hochul to Overturn the Ban on Fracking in Upstate). Perhaps Harris’ supposed change of heart would inspire (give excuse…
We spotted an opinion piece in the New York Post with the provocative title, “With Kamala Harris now in favor, Hochul should let upstate NY frack, baby, frack.” It’s part tongue-in-cheek and part serious. If The Cackler can turn on a dime and supposedly embrace fracking, why can’t leftist Kathy Hochul? (Of course, Harris hasn’t…
Whoever would have thought both Facebook and Google would turn to fracking to feed the power beast that they are? Unicorn farts (wind and solar) alone don’t do the trick, it seems. Earlier this week, MDN brought you news about Facebook and Google signing agreements with companies that use a process “similar” to fracking (fracking…
Five months ago, the New York Senate passed a bill already passed by the Assembly to ban the use of carbon dioxide in shale drilling (so-called “CO2 fracking”). Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, a reliable anti-fossil fueler, has still not signed the bill into law. What the heck is going on? A small group (seven, by…
A Washington County, PA, man and his anti-fossil fuel lawyer have won the right to force Chevron executives to testify in court in a case where the man accuses Chevron of using PFAS (“forever chemicals”) in fracking fluids in 2011-2012 near his home. He alleges the chemicals spread to his water well and damaged his…