Marcellus Shale Newswire 3/25/2012

Vol. 2, Issue 49

A Collection of Marcellus Shale and Gas Drilling Articles from Pennsylvania and Beyond

PennEnvironment

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pa. ranks seventh in the nation for total toxins released into waterways

By Don Hopey

March 22, 2012

http://shale.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/news/archives/24411

Forty years ago the federal Clean Water Act set a goal to make all of America’s rivers, streams, lakes and estuaries “fishable and swimable” by 1983, but that didn’t happen and a new report shows some of the nation’s biggest water pollution problems are stubbornly persistent and are found throughout Pennsylvania and surrounding states. 

 

The Times-Tribune

DEP asks gas driller to help remedy Franklin Twp. Methane spike

By Laura Legere

March 20, 2012

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/dep-asks-gas-driller-to-help-remedy-franklin-twp-methane-spike-1.1287791#axzz1pf1SCBiU

The Department of Environmental Protection has asked a natural gas drilling company to step in and help three Franklin Twp. families whose well water contains high levels of methane.

 

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Fayette to vote on Marcellus fee

By Mary Pickels

March 21, 2012

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/fayette/s_787516.html

Fayette County commissioners will hold a special meeting to again consider adopting an ordinance imposing impact fees on Marcellus shale wells.

 

Citizens Voice

Counties flock to Marcellus Shale drilling impact fee

By Robert Swift 

March 20, 2012

http://citizensvoice.com/news/counties-flock-to-marcellus-shale-drilling-impact-fee-1.1287988#axzz1pwvoKicb

HARRISBURG – With a month left to act, a growing number of counties are opting to levy a Marcellus Shale drilling impact fee.

 

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Feds find Dimock well water OK in dispute over Marcellus drilling

By Michael Rubinkam

March 16, 2012

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/marcellusshale/feds-find-dimock-well-water-ok-in-dispute-over-marcellus-drilling-359017/

SCRANTON, Pa. — Federal environmental regulators said Thursday that well-water testing at 11 homes in a northeastern Pennsylvania village where a gas driller was accused of polluting the aquifer failed to show elevated levels of contamination.

 

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Gas pipeline proliferation worries Outreach Butler

By Michael Aubele

March 18, 2012

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_787094.html

A Butler County community group opposed to Marcellus shale natural gas drilling wants elected leaders to know it has concerns about the potential for gas pipelines to crisscross the landscape.

 

MCall.com

Nockamixon set to fight proposed gas drilling

By JD Malone

March 17, 2012

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-upper-bucks-gas-drilling-20120317,0,3929938.story

Rapp Creek, shallow and clear, spills down a rock outcropping and burbles through the woods a few yards from Janie and Larry Stangil’s back deck in Nockamixon Township, a few hundred feet from the proposed site of a natural gas drilling operation.

 

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

South Fayette considers change in Marcellus Shale drilling locations

By Andrea Iglar

March 24, 2012

http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/11083/1134176-57.stm

South Fayette is considering changing its rules for Marcellus Shale development either by expanding or restricting possible drilling locations.

 

The Daily Collegian Online

County to hold hearing on Marcellus Shale Impact Fee

By Adam Lidgett 

March 20, 2012

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2012/03/20/commissioners_to_talk_shale.aspx

Gov. Tom Corbett signed a Marcellus Shale impact fee bill into law in February, but now it’s up to counties to decide if they will impose the fee on gas-drilling companies. 

 

West Virginia Personal Inquiry Lawyer Blog

Gas Drilling in Marcellus/Utica Shale Leads to Earthquakes in Ohio

By Bordas and Bordas

March 15, 2012

http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/11083/1134176-57.stm

West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania have all been overwhelmed by the rapid progress of natural gas exploitation, headed up by companies like Chesapeake. These companies are rushing to exploit the Utica and Marcellus shale formations which are layers of rock located thousands of feet below the surface of the earth and which are believed to contain hundreds of billions (if not trillions) of cubic feet of valuable natural gas.