Marcellus

The influx of natural gas in the Northeast brought on by ramped-up Marcellus Shale development is keeping the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) busy, as evidenced by two new authorizations for gas transportation projects.

The influx of natural gas in the Northeast brought on by ramped-up Marcellus Shale development is keeping the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) busy, as evidenced by two new authorizations for gas transportation projects.

Former Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary John Hanger has joined the Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott law firm in Harrisburg, PA. Hanger will support the firm’s practices in the areas of energy, utility and environment, concentrating in alternative energy, clean transportation infrastructure, energy efficiency, competitive energy markets and smartgrid, according to the firm. Hanger, a former CEO of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future and a former member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Duke University. He left DEP last month after a tenure of more than two years during which activity in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale mushroomed.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) has hired three full-time senior staff members to advance the organization’s communications, outreach, education and policy objectives. Steve Forde, the new policy and communications director, was senior director of corporate communications for Education Management Corp. He previously was deputy communications director for House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and also served as communications director for the House Education and Workforce Committee. Christopher Heck, who will lead membership services, joins the MSC after serving as vice president and relationship manager at Fifth Third Bank. Heck is current chair of the Enterprise Forum Pittsburgh. The new conference director, Helen Goodman, founded Pittsburgh-based Event Resources 20 years ago to provide services to corporate, nonprofit and public-sector organizations. She also worked for the Pittsburgh Technology Council. “Having our membership more than double over the past year, we’re continuing to grow our core team of experts with our focus remaining on effectively conveying our industry’s long-term commitment to the environment, safety, and a cleaner, more competitive energy economy,” said MSC President Kathryn Klaber.

Questerre Energy Corp. said late Monday it is deferring two exploration projects in its primary development area, the Utica Shale in Quebec’s St. Lawrence Lowlands, and will decide whether to proceed after the provincial government’s environmental review panel issues a report on shale gas development in February.

Chief Gathering LLC, a subsidiary of Chief Oil & Gas, has been fined $34,000 and has agreed to surrender a discharge permit for operations in four counties in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale area after “illegally discharging hydrostatic testing water at a pipeline project” in Lycoming County, PA, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said.

The debate over hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is sparking concerns about drinking water safety in the Marcellus Shale area and nationwide, according to the results of a trio of surveys released by the nonprofit Civil Society Institute (CSI).

Shale giant Chesapeake Energy Corp. “has one of the industry’s best collections of natural gas assets,” but “continuing concerns about the company’s profligate spending” and accounting methods led veteran analyst Philip H. Weiss of Argus Research to trim his recommendation to “sell” last week.

Houston-based Savoy Energy Corp. said it has completed a 300-acre lease acquisition in Central Texas within the “oil window” of the Eagle Ford Shale formation.