Environment

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Thursday is scheduled to vote on the nomination of Gina McCarthy to head up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Unlike many producers today, Vanguard Natural Resources LLC is not necessarily focused on oil and natural gas liquids (NGL)-rich acquisitions. The company has done recent deals for both liquids and dry gas assets, instead focusing on margin and how the properties fit into its structure, CEO Scott Smith said Monday.

Dry gas player Southwestern Energy Co. is having “success in a low gas-price environment,” not just surviving, said CEO Steve Mueller.

In the midst of two lawsuits filed by Colorado officials against locally passed oil and natural gas drilling rules, Longmont, CO, gained some support Thursday when the Sierra Club and Earthworks’ attorneys filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to invalidate an ordinance passed last year.

Guidelines put in place last year by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to expedite the drilling permit application process have significantly reduced the agency’s backlog, DEP said Thursday.

A six-foot section of a 20-inch diameter Columbia Gas Transmission system that ruptured Dec. 11 in West Virginia had wall thickness measured as low as 0.078 inches, significantly thinner than the nominal wall thickness of 0.281 inches when the pipeline was installed in 1967, according to a preliminary report issued Wednesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

As drillers compete for access to water for their operations, researchers are looking for new ways to reuse and recycle wastewater for the good of the environment, as well as looking ahead to the possibility of more restrictions at the state or federal level that may be imposed on underground injection wells, according to Accenture.

The New York Independent System Operator (NY-ISO) expects to operate “in an environment of expanded dependency on natural gas-fired generation, renewable generation and retirements of less efficient generation” over the next five years, the electricity grid operator said in its 2013-2017 Strategic Plan.

Independent researcher Battelle is deploying scientists and engineers to Ohio to collaborate with state regulators about solving water issues at Marcellus and Utica shale drilling sites with new technology.