FirstEnergy Uses Questionable Tactics Against Referendum Workers

All we can say is, shame on FirstEnergy. They hired people to block petition gatherers trying to get signatures for a referendum for the November ballot. The tactics used can only be described as bullying–sometimes physical. Workers are trying to get enough signatures on a petition to place a referendum on the November ballot. The

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Eurkea Gets $1.5M Grant to Expand Lithium from Wastewater PA Plant

Eureka Resources, which owns and operates a centralized treatment/recycling facility in Bradford County, PA to process Marcellus watewater, is getting a $1.5 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Projects grant to help the plant launch a high tech solution to recover lithium from Marcellus wastewater. Yes, lithium, like that used to manufacture rechargeable batteries. This post

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Pittsburgh Intl Airport to Generate Electricity Using Shale Gas

In March 2018 MDN brought you the news that Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) was exploring the possibility of producing its own electricity (see Pittsburgh Airport Plans NatGas Microgrid to Attract New Business). You may recall that CONSOL Energy (now CNX Resources) previously drilled a bunch of wells on airport property and now produces a boatload

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Another Small Mariner East Pipe Sinkhole Develops Near Philly

Sinkhole develops near soccer field (Credit: Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety) Another sinkhole developed last Friday near Philadelphia related to underground drilling done to install the Mariner East 2 pipeline. The new sinkhole developed in Middletown Township (Delaware County), in Sleighton Park. Fortunately this latest hole was only about 18 inches in diameter, which is

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FERC Approves Transco Southeastern Trail Expansion Pipe Project

In April 2018 Williams filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand capacity along the mighty Transco Pipeline to increase the amount of gas the pipeline can flow to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern U.S by 296,375 dekatherms (296 million cubic feet) per day (see Williams Seeks OK to Expand Transco to

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PA DEP Seeks Comment on Draft Radiation Monitoring Regs for Shale

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has drafted up new “technical guidance” on “radioactivity monitoring at solid waste processing and disposal facilities” specifically targeted at the shale industry. Translation: new regulations for how dumps (and drillers) monitor and report on radioactivity levels from incoming loads of drill cuttings. The DEP has posted their proposed

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Leidy South Compressors Generate $100M Economic Impact, 680 Jobs

Did you know that building just two new compressor stations in Pennsylvania will bring the state an extra $100 million in economic activity and support 680 direct, indirect and induced jobs? We sure didn’t! Last week Williams filed a newly published study with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the economic impact of their proposed

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Philly Pipe Protesters Go to Harrisburg, Picket Gov’s Empty Office

Credit: WITF Harrisburg (click for larger version) A small group of southeast Pennsylvania pipeline protesters drove themselves to Harrisburg on Wednesday (using fossil fuels to get there) to demand Gov. Tom Wolf put a halt to construction of the legally-permitted Mariner East 2 pipeline, and essentially shut down the operation of the entire Mariner East

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NY Public Service Commission Admits Downstate is Short on NatGas

If this doesn’t beat all. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to allow a new pipeline to get built, so National Grid, the gas utility for all of Long Island and part of New York City, had to ban new customer hook-ups. Cuomo blamed National Grid and got the state Public Service Commission (PSC) to

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Township Loses Appeal to Block Adelphia Gateway Compressor Stn

West Rockhill Twp, Bucks County West Rockhill Township in Bucks County, PA (near Philadelphia) has waged a legal battle to prevent a natural gas compressor station from being built as part of the Adelphia Gateway project, a plan to convert an old oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties,

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Mass. Sens. Markey & Warren Intro Bill Blocking Weymouth Compressor

Talk about disingenuous political posturing by a couple of pompous windbags. Massachusetts’ two U.S. Senators, Elizabeth “Pocahontas” Warren and Ed “Lackey” Markey have introduced a bill in Congress to block the construction of a single pipeline compressor station–slated to be built in Weymouth, Mass. They even made up a catchy name for their bill: the

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PA Bills Would Hold Radical Pipeline Trespassers Accountable

We have an ongoing problem. Some of the more radical protesters in the “environmentalist” movement–those who tend toward anarchy–illegally enter work sites for pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure under construction, and block the work being done in an attempt to cost companies money. Typically they chain themselves to a piece of equipment with a

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Court: OH Marketable Title Act & Dormant Mineral Act Don’t Conflict

There is an ongoing question of whether or not the Ohio Marketable Titles Act (MTA), which impacts Utica shale rights, can be used to return previously severed mineral rights back to a surface landowner, or whether the MTA is superseded by Ohio Dormant Minerals Act (DMA). In February, Ohio’s Seventh District Court of Appeals said

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USGS Says Utica has More Recoverable Shale Gas than Marcellus!

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released a bombshell of a report yesterday. Two reports, actually. USGS periodically updates its estimates of how much oil and natural gas is still not accessed but is “technically recoverable” in various shale plays. The last time USGS evaluated the Marcellus and Utica plays was in 2011, when the two

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PA Landowners Push for “Royalty Check Stub” Law at NARO Conf

The National Association of Royalty Owners’ national convention has been under way this week in Pittsburgh, wrapping up today. One of the big topics at the event has been a push to get a “royalty check stub” bill passed in Pennsylvania. What’s that? It’s a bill that forces drillers to do a better, more detailed

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