Environmental

An updated biannual report posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) shows that the state’s natural gas production saw a more than 40% increase in the first half of 2012 compared to the second half of 2011, and more than doubled in a year.

Reports posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) indicate that the state saw substantial growth in natural gas production during the first half of 2012 (IH2012), perhaps more than 82% higher year/year, although production totals from some operators are missing from the latest report and the reporting criteria had changed.

Reports posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) indicate that the state saw substantial growth in natural gas production during the first half of 2012, perhaps more than 82%, although production totals from some operators are missing from the latest report and the reporting criteria had changed.

The implementation of four recently proposed or finalized U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations affecting coal-fueled electricity generating units could prompt the retirement of as much as 12% of coal-fired capacity, with natural gas expected to replace much of that, according to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Two Washington, DC-based groups representing oil and gas producers have protested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final new source performance standards, which are aimed at restricting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and sulfur dioxide emissions from onshore natural gas operations, including hydraulically fractured (fracked) wells. One of the groups is seeking a stay of the EPA’s action.

The head of Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is retiring, and Gov. Matt Mead said on Monday that he is starting a search for a replacement. DEQ Director John Corra, who has headed the department for two different governors since 2003, will stay on the job until October. Mead lauded Corra for setting “a standard for effective and balanced regulation with fiscal prudence.” Mead has asked for interested candidates to submit a letter of interest and resume to his office (2090 W. 24th St. Cheyenne, WY, 82002).

A federal appeals court in Cincinnati, OH, last week vacated a final U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finding that a natural gas sweetening plant and sour gas production wells owned by Michigan-based Summit Petroleum Corp., which are located within 43 square miles, constitute a single and major source of pollution under Title V of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

A federal appeals court in Cincinnati, OH, vacated a final U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finding that a natural gas sweetening plant and sour gas production wells owned by Michigan-based Summit Petroleum Corp., which are located within 43 square miles, constitute a single and major source of pollution under Title V of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Wednesday a subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc. will pay more than $62,000 in fines to settle charges that the company violated hazardous chemical reporting requirements for the past three years at 52 natural gas drilling sites in Pennsylvania.