Chesapeake

In a challenge that could have repercussions in small towns across Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale, Range Resources on Tuesday filed an appeal of South Fayette Township’s ban on drilling in conservation areas and all residential zones, including suburban communities and rural farmland.

A voluntary first-in-the-nation effort to start a baseline groundwater quality sampling program before and after drilling was announced Tuesday as a joint effort among oil/gas producers, Gov. John Hickenlooper and the state Department of Natural Resources at an annual energy conference in Denver hosted by the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA).

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued 262 permits for Marcellus Shale drilling and operators reported drilling 154 wells into the formation in June, according to information released Monday.

Having stonewalled shale gas drilling for three years, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released its recommendations on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) late Thursday. The list includes requiring full disclosure of fracking chemicals and a ban in all primary aquifers, the watersheds of New York City and Syracuse, and all state-owned land, including state parks.

With time running out, New York officials say the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is “working full-time” to complete its supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS) on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) by a Friday deadline.

As Marcellus Shale development accelerates in Pennsylvania, it is also expanding.

SM Energy Co. said it has agreed with undisclosed buyers to divest a portion of its Eagle Ford Shale position.

West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Randy Huffman told NGI’s Shale Daily it is unlikely that the DEP would honor a request by the City of Morgantown to issue a stop work order on two Marcellus Shale gas wells in the city’s industrial park.

City officials in Morgantown, WV, were scheduled to meet Tuesday night to discuss two resolutions targeting two Marcellus Shale gas wells in the city’s industrial park and take up a proposed watershed protection ordinance.