Pennsylvania

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.

A township in western Pennsylvania adopted a conditional use ordinance on Wednesday, the latest development in a kerfuffle with its dominant driller, Range Resources Corp.

The couple at the center of state and federal investigations of alleged water well contamination by gas drilling activities in North Texas has filed suit against Range Resources Corp. and others, seeking damages of $4.5 million plus $2 million for mental anguish, attorney fees, as well as trebling of damages under the Texas Business and Commercial Code.

A new bill introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly last week would give whistleblower protections to workers in the oil and gas industry. House Bill 1605, sponsored by state Rep. Dan Frankel, a Democrat from Pittsburgh, would extend the 1986 Whistleblower Law to include employees of drilling companies and oilfield services companies. “This bill provides greater protection for our communities without imposing any new regulation on drillers,” Frankel wrote to members of the state House of Representatives in late April, searching for co-sponsors. “It simply protects individuals who report wrongdoing or waste to their employer or governmental authority, or who participate in an investigation, hearing or court action when asked.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is proposing significant overhauls to the laws governing Marcellus Shale development in the state, including increased protection for water supplies and stricter permitting and operating requirements.

Following through on his threat (see Shale Daily, May 31), New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued the federal government Tuesday for not conducting a full environmental review of proposed regulations for Marcellus Shale development in the Delaware River Basin.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has granted Empire Pipeline Inc. a certificate authorizing it to proceed with a pipeline expansion in Pennsylvania and New York that would enable Marcellus Shale production to be shipped northward on the Empire system. The certificate authorizes Empire to construct, operate and replace about 15 miles of 24-inch diameter pipeline to extend the Empire Connector Pipeline, an interconnection with the facilities of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., and modifications to an existing compressor station to permit bidirectional flow on Empire’s system. Empire is a subsidiary of New York-based National Fuel Gas.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday signed into law amendments to the state’s 1984 Coal and Gas Resource Coordination Act, which will require natural gas drillers to coordinate their activities with active coal mine operations.

The anticipated surplus of domestic natural gas supplies won’t automatically translate to successful liquefied natural gas (LNG) export operations, according to Terry Engelder, the Pennsylvania State University geosciences professor who helped prove the value of the Marcellus Shale. The United States can expect to face a tough spot market overseas.