Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

The Potter County Natural Gas Resource Center has arranged for an award-winning geoscientist as guest speaker for its next meeting. Dr. Terry Engelder’s presentation, “Utica Shale: Digging Deeper,” is especially timely, with large Utica Shale drilling projects on the drawing board in at least three sections of Potter County and in other parts of Pennsylvania. Marcellus Shale has been in the headlines for the past several years, but industry leaders say the Utica layer that’s beneath it -- more than two miles underground -- could be where the more intense local gas production takes place. Dr. Engelder will speak at 7 pm Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the Gunzburger Building on Main Street in Coudersport. “There are many things we do not know about the Utica Shale, but there are signs that it’s going to be a very productive source of natural gas in our region, so the more we know, the better prepared we can be,” said Natural Gas Resource Center Director Bob Veilleux. Engelder is a geosci...

Local oil and gas producers, along with other business and community leaders, met with DCED’s Carolyn Newhouse today about the danger of changes to regulations that would be detrimental to the industry, as well as the local economy. The Environmental Quality Board is considering changes meant to further regulate drillers in Marcellus and Utica shales. But shallow well drillers say not only would it be too costly for them to comply with the regulations, it’s not necessary. The local producers are asking the board to allow the shallow wells to operate under the regulations in place before Act 13, and to tell DEP to apply changes to deep wells only. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

(News Release) HARRISBURG -- The Department of Environmental Protection announced today that it has published a new online “Oil and Gas Mapping Tool” on its website. “We understand how important it is for Pennsylvanians to have access to as much information as possible about the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania,” DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo said. “For this reason, DEP created this easy-to-use tool to promote knowledge sharing, increase transparency and provide convenient access to well data.” The online mapping tool displays the location of wells across Pennsylvania and allows users to search and view specific types of wells by county, such as conventional gas, unconventional gas, oil or coal bed methane wells. Users are also able to filter search results based on the status of the well by selecting active, plugged or abandoned. After search filters are applied, users will have the ability to view wells via satellite photo view, topographic map view or animated map view. Once an...

RESTON, Va. — Landscape change in Pennsylvania's Greene and Tioga counties resulting from construction of well pads, new roads and pipelines for natural gas and coalbed methane exploration is being documented to help determine the potential consequences for ecosystems and wildlife, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report released today. USGS researchers, using geospatial data and high resolution aerial imagery from 2004-2010, documented spatially explicit patterns of disturbance, or land use, related to natural gas resource development, such as hydraulic fracturing, particularly disturbance patterns related to well pads, roads and pipeline construction. Spatially explicit data on the level of landscape disturbance -- which is geographic information systems data, mapped to a high degree of spatial accuracy -- is critically important to the long-term study of the potential impacts of natural gas development on human and ecological health. "The widespread use of hydrau...

National Fuel is raising its rates by about 5 percent starting tomorrow. The monthly bill of a typical residential customer will go from $73 to $77. “The primary reason for this change is an increase in the charges the Company must pay to bring the gas supply to our service area, combined with a slightly higher predicted cost for the commodity for the next twelve months from August 1, 2012 through July 31, 2013,” according to Sandra James, Director of Corporate Communications. She says, “Even with this increase, gas supply charges will be 16.9 percent lower than at this time last year.” Back in January, National Fuel had projected that the increase would be 10 percent, but they say the lower rate is a direct result of the increase in natural gas supplies associated with the Marcellus and other shale gas formations. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Speaker of the House Sam Smith (R-Punxsutawney) released the following statement regarding what he says is the misinformation being perpetuated by some special interests regarding the chemical disclosure language in one paragraph of Act 13, the Marcellus/Utica Shale Impact law: “Doctors will be able to provide all of the information needed to discuss any patient ailment. “It is outrageous to think, let alone for anyone to portray, that the state would actually ‘gag’ a doctor in treating a patient. It is irresponsible for an organization to try and create such hysteria. “The language in the Marcellus/Utica law was advocated by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. “The new law explicitly requires fracking chemical information be disclosed to medical professionals so that they may provide treatment should the need ever arise. This will enable medical professionals to meet their highest ethical obligations and to fully inform their patients. “The law w...

A judge has ruled that a preliminary injunction ordering the US Forest Service to resume processing drilling notice for the Allegheny National Forest did not give drillers the right to use surface or groundwater for fracking. Under Pennsylvania law, the federal government does not have the right to block the mineral owner's access to the minerals, but a 1980 federal court decision and U.S. District Judge Sean McLaughlin's 2009 decision give the agency some limited control on how the gas companies drill inside the forest. The Pennsylvania oil and gas industry had asked McLaughlin to find the agency in contempt because it is banning the use of the water and also taking more than 60 days to process the notices. In denying the motion, McLaughlin said neither the 1980 ruling nor his 2009 decision addressed water rights in the forest. On the second point, McLaughlin said the industry didn`t provide clear and convincing evidence the agency is deliberately dragging its feet. He added t...

Senate Democrats used parliamentary procedure to call for a public hearing by the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee on a wide list of bipartisan hydrofracking bills. The Committee chaired by Sen. Grisanti has not held one hearing on the issue of hydrofracking. Because of the maneuver by the Senate Democratic Conference, Sen Grisanti has been forced to accept the petition for public hearing on these bills and must now schedule a public hearing within 14 days. "For too long the Senate Republicans and Senator Grisanti have decided to brush the issue of hydrofracking under the rug. This issue is too important to ignore." stated Senate Democratic Spokesman Mike Murphy. Video of the hearing. http://www.nysenate.gov/event/2012/mar/06/environmental-conservation-meeting The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Directory will connect natural gas industry with Main Street Philadelphia, PA – Today, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) unveiled the first online business directory -- Marcellus on Main Street -- designed exclusively to connect the natural gas industry with small- and medium-sized businesses across the region. This new, interactive web-based portal -- www.MarcellusOnMainStreet.org -- will bring together entrepreneurs and small businesses with energy and services companies, contractors, and suppliers in New York, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. MSC members and staff joined Marcellus on Main Street members and regional economic development partners at five simultaneous events in Philadelphia, Johnstown, Williamsport, Washington, and Cranberry Township this morning for business networking events previewing the directory. “Small businesses are truly the backbone of the American economy, and play an incredibly vital role in the growing and robust supply chain that makes...

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson today joined the House Natural Resource Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources for a field hearing in Steubenville, Ohio entitled, “Natural Gas--America’s New Energy Opportunity: Creating Jobs, Energy and Community Growth.” The hearing focused on the economic benefits of natural gas development, the successful track record of states in overseeing hydraulic fracturing, and also explored the Bureau of Land Management’s recent draft regulations on hydraulic fracturing that could significantly stifle continued development. Members of the Committee heard testimony from numerous local businesses, industry groups, and academic and research institutions. “Hydraulic fracturing in oil and gas shale formations has unlocked previously inaccessible and vast new energy supplies which has lowered energy costs in regions across the country, including in my home state of Pennsylvania and here in Ohio, offering new incentives for more b...

Northwest Savings Bank has launched a new website for people who need information about oil and gas rights, leasing and other issues related to Marcellus and Utica shale. www.Oilandgashelp.com provides information about lease planning, income and royalty management and tax strategies. It also has a section about what landowners should avoid. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

HARRISBURG – Rep. Martin Causer (R-Turtlepoint) issued the following statement regarding his “yes” vote on House Bill 1950, the Marcellus/Utica Shale Impact bill. “My top priority with any impact fee bill has always been to ensure that the bulk of the money stays local. Under House Bill 1950, a full 75 percent of money generated by any impact fees enacted by a county stay in that county and its municipalities to maintain local roads and bridges, preserve and protect water supplies, and enhance emergency preparedness and public safety. “The remaining 25 percent of impact fee revenue will be sent to the Commonwealth, but it is primarily set aside for infrastructure, environmental protection and public safety initiatives in regions where drilling is taking place. I believe this is an appropriate way to invest impact fee dollars. “It was also important that any impact fee measure adopted by the House not put the state at a competitive disadvantage with other Marcellus Shale gas-producing s...

The Natural Gas Expo at the University of Pittsburgh continues from 9 a.m. today. Pictured from Thursday, Dr. Assad Panah, left, director of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Petroleum Technology program, talks with Gene Hillyard of NuWeld Inc.; and Mitch Samuels of Electricord Manufacturing chats at the Natural Gas Expo held Thursday at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Electricord of Westfield in Tioga County, makes power distribution units for use in the field. Photos courtesy of Pitt-Bradford

Today, Governor Tom Corbett presented his 2011-12 budget to the state legislature – a budget that is balanced and does not raise taxes for the residents of Pennsylvania. “I’m proposing something we haven’t had in a long time: a reality-based budget,’’ Corbett said. “To the people of Pennsylvania, the taxpayers who sent us here, I want to say something you haven’t heard often enough from this building: We get the picture. It’s your money.’’ “The electorate, its trust scraped to the bone by lies and half truths, isn’t going to stand for another broken promise,’’ Corbett said. “I said we’d cut. I’m not asking you to read my lips. I’m asking you to read my budget.’’ Specifically, the new, $27.3 billion budget focuses on improving four key elements: fiscal discipline, free enterprise, limited government and reform. “Government will never be cost-free. But it must be freed from the culture of churning through cash that farmers and clerks and mill hands and nurses earned dollar-by-dollar. The...