Marcellus Shale Newswire 01/20/2012
Vol. 2, Issue 41
A Collection of Marcellus Shale and Gas Drilling Articles from Pennsylvania and Beyond
PennEnvironment
WITF
Environmental activists decry House and Senate Shale bills
By Mary Wilson
January 17, 2012
About a hundred activists took to the Capitol Rotunda steps today, a lively Greek chorus to punctuate the spiels of activists, clergy, and a former local official calling on state lawmakers to spear the working proposals for a Marcellus Shale impact fee.
The Charleston Gazette
Marcellus boom threatens climate change action, study says
http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201201180219
By Ken Ward Jr.
January 18, 2012
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The boom in drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale and other similar formations will likely suppress the development of alternative energies that are urgently needed to combat global warming, according to a new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology.
PennLIve
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett will sign drilling emergency-response bill
By Associated Press
January 19, 2012
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/pennsylvania_gov_tom_corbett_w_1.html
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Tom Corbett plans to sign newly passed legislation designed to provide an emergency response plan and accurate GPS coordinates for each Marcellus Shale well site in Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
South Fayette challenge to drilling rules heads to court
By Andrea Iglar
January 19, 2012
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12019/1204337-55-0.stm
South Fayette is continuing to battle Range Resources over Marcellus Shale drilling regulations, while at the same time working to develop rules for the seismic testing used in natural gas exploration.
PennLive
Corbett administration slashes research funding
By Associated Press
January 18, 2012
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has cut funding for a wildlife research program by nearly 70 percent, eliminating state money for projects meant to examine the impact of natural gas drilling and climate change, according to a report.
Essential Public Radio
Natural Gas From Shale Could Worsen Climate Change
By Jared Adkins
January 19, 2012
http://www.essentialpublicradio.org/story/2012-01-19/natural-gas-shale-c…
Instead of being an answer to climate change, shale gas might actually be a major generator of greenhouse emissions.
Press Releases
NYCLA Environmental Law Committee Urges DEC to Modify Marcellus Shale Drilling Plans
By Ariella Greenbaum
January 20, 2012
http://www.pr.com/press-release/384616
New York, NY, January 20, 2012 –(PR.com)– The Environmental Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) today announced it sent a letter to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in response to the Department’s Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on the Oil, Gas, and Solution Mining Regulatory Program (SGEIS).
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
EPA agrees to test well water for gas-drilling contamination
By Don Hopey
January 19, 2012
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12019/1204630-100.stm
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this afternoon it will begin testing well water supplies at 60 homes in Dimock, in Susquehanna County, where residents say Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations have contaminated water supplies with methane and other pollutants.
Lehigh Valley Live
Fracking not safe; 566 municipalities too many
By Express-Times Letters to the Editor
January 18, 2012
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/01/post_95.html
Right now in Dimock, Pa., 18 families cannot drink or use their tap water. According to the Associated Press, Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. had been delivering truckloads of water to 11 of these families.
The Times-Tribune
Pennsylvania: Marcellus shale, natural gas drilling, fracking
By John L. Micek
January 17, 2012
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-shale-rally-20120117,0,7872417.story
HARRISBURG — Just in case state lawmakers had forgotten about the main challenge facing them as they returned to work Tuesday from a long holiday break, they didn’t have to walk farther than the Capitol rotunda for a reminder.
New Jersey Public Radio
NJ Environmentalists Fight Gas Pipeline Expansion
By Nancy Solomon
January 17, 2012
New Jersey environmentalists are fighting a gas pipeline project that would cut through the protected Highlands, the undeveloped northwest corner of the state.
Times Observer
Developers:? These injection wells are different
By Ben Klein
January 19, 2012
The owner’s confidence in two waste water disposal wells in Columbus Township has not been shaken by a series of recent minor earthquakes and the eventual closure of a similar well in northeastern Ohio.