The Daily Digger

From the Times Reporter: Support is growing for a request that the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District temporarily authorize selling water from its lakes. Rich Milleson, the economic development coordinator for the village of Cadiz, made one such request to MWCD board members at their meeting Thursday in Salt Fork Lodge near Cambridge. “It appeared to me that my statements were well-received,” he said afterward. “I’m hopeful that the board will take this under serious consideration.” During the board meeting, MWCD Chief of Conservation Sean Logan told board members he had just received a fax from The Nature Conservancy in Ohio. The letter from John Stark, Ohio Freshwater Conservation director, expressed the Dublin-based group’s support for the MWCD’s temporary water sales to shale gas exploration firms. “We believe than an interim policy of a few water withdrawals, carefully considered on a case-by-case basis from MWCD reservoirs are preferable to contractors removing...

Encore Energy puts out call for anyone interested in leasing 175,000 acres of Ohio Utica Shale land. National Fuel customers can expect an increase on their gas bill. Gasland losing more credibility as time goes by, according to this op-ed. Chefs for the Marcellus hold fund-raiser to protest gas development and provide a culinary feast which was cooked using...you guessed it, natural gas. Alec Baldwin and other frack-fighting celebrities are encouraged to check the facts about the technology they are vilifying. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From The Legal Intelligencer: Despite the intense scrutiny and focus on environmental issues relating to hydraulic fracturing in shale gas plays across the United States, the onslaught of anticipated litigation alleging impacts to human health or the environment has been slower to develop than originally anticipated. Since the first complaints were filed in 2009, there have been more than 40 lawsuits filed in state and federal courts alleging some level of harm to person, property or the environment caused by fracking or related activities. The following provides a brief overview of the current state of fracking litigation. Current Focus: Common Law The majority of fracking lawsuits filed to date have been filed based on common law theories of liability. The predominant claim by plaintiffs has been that, as a result of fracking of natural gas wells located near plaintiffs' property, plaintiffs have suffered medical issues and their property, including groundwater wells, has ...

From CNN Money: One of the worst droughts in U.S. history is hampering oil production, pitting farmers against oilmen and highlighting just how dependent on water modern U.S. energy development has become.  Over 60% of the nation is in some form of drought . Areas affected include West Texas, North Dakota, Kansas, Colorado and Pennsylvania, all of which are part of the recent boom in North American energy production.  That boom is possible partly by hydraulic fracturing. Known as  fracking for short, the controversial practice gets oil and natural gas to flow by cracking shale rock with sand, chemicals, pressure and water.  Lots of water. Each shale well takes between two and 12 million gallons of water to frack. That's 18 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water per well.  "We're having difficulty acquiring water," said Chris Faulkner, CEO of Breitling Oil and Gas, an oil company with operations in many of the new shale regions including Bakk...

The opposing sides of the fracking debate have dug in their heels Can fracking supporters and fracking protesters agree on anything?  Obviously, the answer is no.  Both groups share one thing, though:  a stubborn determination to spin everything that happens in a way that supports their existing viewpoint. At this point I don't think any more evidence is really even needed to show that this is true, but nonetheless, the anti-fracking rally in Washington D.C. last week provides further proof. Ask the fracktivists about the event , and they'll tell you that it was a stirring show of the overwhelming anger and public concern over fracking.  They'll tell you that 5,000 or more concerned citizens showed up, representing the grassroots movement against fossil fuels and the gas industry.  They'll marvel over the...umm..."facts" presented about fracking, such as the claims that it causes anything from breast cancer (despite the fact that this claim has alread...

Maybe the EPA should also have tested the doctored jugs of dirty water that litigants in Dimock like to carry around? From Forbes: “Look what’s happening in Dimock, PA” has been a rallying cry for anti-fracturing forces over the last few years. A scene from the anti-natural gas propaganda film  Gasland  purported to show a Dimock resident lighting their tap water on fire. Just like scenes of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River burning in 1969 inspired Congress to pass the Clean Water Act, activists hoped that this image would ignite a national movement against fracturing. But science has gotten in the way. EPA announced June 25 that extensive testing  of Dimock wells revealed that “there are not levels of contaminants present that would require additional action by the Agency.” This confirms earlier EPA and Pennsylvania environmental officials’ tests, whose results were  denied and decried  by natural gas opponents. The silence from these activists on EPA...

Downtown Canton, Ohio From EID Ohio: The  Canton business community  is both curious and excited about the opportunities that will develop through the exploration of the Utica Shale. Here at the  Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce , we have conducted two sellout business development seminars this year through a partnership with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association and Shaledirectories.com. The first event attracted just over 140 people, the second nearly 160. The daylong seminars have featured presentations by companies like  Chesapeake Energy ,  Superior Well Services and  Baker Hughes  that explained the oil and gas exploration and production process to the seminar audience. We also have offered business marketing advice based on successes achieved by small businesses in the Marcellus Shale. We have coached local businesses on the human resources challenges that may face them when the competition for talented workers increases because of oil an...

Carroll County still the eye of the Utica Shale activity From Columbus Business First: Carroll County continued to be Ohio’s hot spot for shale drilling, with the state issuing 11 new permits there in June,  according to the  Hannah Report . The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued 36 new permits in all for horizontal drilling in the state’s shale play last month, the news service reported. The second-most popular location for drilling permits was Columbiana County, with seven, and Harrison County, with five. Those counties have been among the leaders in the current shale boom playing out in eastern Ohio.  Click here  to see the top 10 Ohio counties for Utica shale activity. Read the rest of the article. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From The Atlantic: Last week the University of Texas provost  announced  he would re-examine a report by a UT professor that said fracking was safe for groundwater after the revelation that the professor pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Texas natural gas developer. It's the latest fusillade in the  ongoing battle  over the basic facts of fracking in America. Texans aren't the only ones having their fracking conversations shaped by industry-funded research. Ohioans got  their first taste  last week of the latest public-relations campaign by the energy policy wing of the US Chamber of Commerce. It's called "Shale Works for US," and it aims to spend millions on advertising and public events to sell Ohioans on the idea that fracking is a surefire way to yank the state out of recession. The campaign is loaded with  rosy employment statistics , which trace to  an April report  authored by professors at three major Ohio univer...

From the Washington Free Beacon: Fracking has brought economic benefits to states such as  North Dakota  and Pennsylvania, while states where fracking is banned, such as California and New York, are suffering economically,  according to Stephen Moore , senior economics writer for the  Wall Street Journal . “To be against hydraulic fracturing is like being against a cure for cancer,” Moore told the  Free Beacon . Fracking represents “the most important revolution in the oil sector in decades,” according to a  study  by Harvard Research Fellow Leonardo Maugeri. “The protest will be full of Hollywood celebrities and emotions,” said pro-fracking filmmaker Phelim McAleer. “You’ll see Manhattan’s finest, D.C.’s finest, but you won’t see farmers from upstate New York.” D.C. police on the scene of the rally estimated that about a quarter of the 1,500 protestors were from various Occupy movements. Todd Stefansky, an Occupier from Manhattan, was amo...

From Shale Daily: The Columbiana County Recorder's Office has been packed with oil and gas company representatives searching out property deeds and mineral rights for months, and the county has issued 55 drilling permits, according to Youngstown's WFMJ-TV.   The Columbiana County Port Authority (CCPA) recently approved a memorandum of understanding to sell a portion of an industrial park in Wellsville, OH, to Marathon Petroleum Corp., which plans to use the property as a staging area for trucks transporting oil and gas collected from area shale wells, according to East Liverpool, OH's Review. The acreage is adjacent to a Marathon storage facility. The CCPA also agreed to lease acreage at the industrial park to Arrowhead Utica Pipelines, which plans to build a transfer facility on the site, the Review reported.   Last month the county's Board of Commissioners approved a three-year gas and oil lease agreement with DPS Penn for 548 acres at $5,850/acre (see Shal...

From WYTV 33 News: There soon could be a new factory in McDonald.   There are plans to purchase a piece of property on an access road at the bottom of Ohio Avenue near McKinley Street for a potential business that would service the shale gas industry. The investors don't want to be named just yet, but they confirmed that they have an option to purchase 212 acres. They said their intentions are to build a mid-stream processing plant to service the shale gas industry, but so far they don't have a company lined up and are continuing to search for one. A mid-stream processing plant is where gas and oil products are processed after being pumped out of the ground.   Read the rest of the article here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Business First: The latest report from ODNR has Jefferson County in third place in the number of horizontal wells in the Utica play to have received drilling permits from the state. It has 26 of those but faces a steep climb to catch up to the current front runner, Carroll County, which also leads in the “completed” category. Completed wells are ones that have been drilled and fracked, the controversial drilling method used to extract oil and gas from shale formations thousands of feet underground. Read the rest of the article, which features a slideshow of the top 10 most active Utica Shale counties in Ohio, by clicking here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

A couple of local investors have purchased former U.S. Steel property in Trumbull County and they are marketing the land with other assets to the oil and gas industry. Oil & gas interests are fighting Governor Kasich's proposed tax plan. Oil pipeline crunch shifts US shale race from drillbits to valves. Natural gas naysayers ignore the facts; Stop the Frack Attack rally is misinformed. Despite Attention, Public's Opinion on Fracking Doesn't Budge Are fracking fears simply created by dishonest people who misrepresent the facts ? EPA's best efforts to condemn fracking failed in Dimock, PA. There is a job fair coming up at the Atwood Lake Resort on August 15th.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Examiner.com: On Friday  shale gas  driller Encana Corporation, the largest natural gas company of Canada announced it had written down more than $1.7 billion in shale gas assets on its books, the majority from its U.S. shale gas operations as it posted its ominous 2nd quarter operating results. Encana Chief Executive Officer Randy Eresman went on record saying to expect his company to have to take additional shale gas asset write downs in the near future. Such asset impairment write downs directly affect the industry’s operating credit lines as reduced value assets on their books results in financial lenders lending the companies less cash going forward. Encana Corporation is also the focus of a U.S. Department of Justice price collusion investigation regarding the allegation it has conspired with  Chesapeake Energy  to fix prices for shale gas land lease agreements with state of Michigan landowners. The investigation is ongoing. Other shale gas develo...

From the Epoch Times: New research suggests the health of newborn babies is adversely affected in areas close to sites undertaking natural gas extraction by way of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking; the method of obtaining natural gas by blasting shale with a solution of water and chemicals. “A mother’s exposure to fracking before birth increases the overall prevalence of low birth weight by 25 percent,” said Elaine L. Hill, Cornell University doctoral candidate and author of the working paper, “Unconventional Natural Gas Development and Infant Health: Evidence from Pennsylvania.” Hill also found a 17 percent increase in “small for gestational age” births, and reduced health scores. She spoke at a fracking forum hosted by Sen. Tony Avella in New York City Wednesday. Hill’s paper looked at birth measures, including birth weight and premature birth, for those born in Pennsylvania starting in 2003, before fracking began. The study used data through 2010 and focused on those livin...

From the Columbus Dispatch: Steve Neeley estimates that he has spent more than $500,000 over the past 12 years to build a country estate in southern Portage County. When a Chesapeake Energy land man approached him months ago with an offer to lease the Utica shale mineral rights beneath his meticulously landscaped 9.5-acre property in eastern Ohio, Neeley declined. That’s when, Neeley says, the land man told him, “We’ll just take it.” Neeley and 23 of his neighbors are the first group of Ohio landowners forced to take part in Utica-shale drilling under a seldom-used state law. The law lets companies add properties to large “ drilling units” even if leases with landowners haven’t been obtained, to maximize access to deeply buried oil and gas.Even the state isn’t immune from the law. The Chesapeake Energy drilling unit of 959 acres in Portage and Stark counties includes a 4-acre corner of Quail Hollow State Park northeast of Canton. That makes it the first state park in line for “f...

Various outlets reported on the anti-fracking rally in Washington D.C. over the weekend.  The pictures look similar to the ones for similar smaller-scale events in the past, and the rally featured the chants, songs, and statements of unvalidated and in some cases outright bizarre accusations about fracking that anyone should expect by now (fracking causing tornadoes?). Read an article from PJ Media about the rally by clicking here .  This is an excerpt: What do you get when you bring hundreds of fervent environmentalists and NIMBYs together on the west lawn of the Capitol to denounce fracking, every single fuel that originates from the ground, and, for old time’s sake, Dick Cheney? You get enviro banjo tunes, the “Ecological Our Father” at the interfaith prayer service (“Our Father, who art in the forest…”), and more punny protest signs built off the F-bomb than even Joe Biden could dream up. Do it on a standard hot, humid July day in D.C., and add in the global warmi...

Union: Oil, Gas Jobs Still Going Mostly to Out-of-Staters Fracking: What Cuomo Won't (or Can't) Tell You - a letter from Alec Baldwin SEJ Award-Winner a Litigant against Industry She Covers AP to Josh Fox: Actually, You’re Wrong Court throws out state zoning for Marcellus Shale drillin g in PA Energy Exploration In Ohio Is A “Win, Win, Win” Scenario - a guest post at EID by Ohio candidate for U.S. Senate Josh Mandel Despite its poor image, fracking causes little mess or disruption Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Free Press Standard: The I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed on the lease agreement for Atwood Lake Resort and Golf Course.   Carroll County Commissioners signed the agreement Thursday along with officials from Radius Hospitality, the group selected to operate and develop the facility over the next five years.   Scott Yaeger, president of Radius Hospitality, told the FPS the “tough part is over and now it is time to move forward.”   The company is planning an Oct. 1 opening.   “We have a lot to do to get ready, but we are already in there working,” he said. “The rooms will all have new beds and TVs and will be nice.”   The company originally announced they planned to open to the oil and gas industry, which Yaeger said is where they expect a lot of their business to come from initially. Read the rest of the article here. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Bloomberg: While polls show the economy as the top concern of voters, a review of political attack ads suggests a different issue dominates: energy. Americans for Prosperity, an organization backed by oil interests, last week began airing its third television commercial since November, a campaign worth $6.1 million, attacking Obama’s green  energy  policies. “Energy is the issue unless the entire economy starts to unwind,” said   Stephen Brown , a lobbyist for oil refiner   Tesoro Corp. (TSO)   of   San Antonio , Texas. The latest round brings the group’s total ad buys to $12.5 million this year, compared with a combined $5.7 million total spent on ads of all sorts by Obama and Priorities USA Action, a Washington-based super political action committee supporting him. Priorities on April 24 teamed with the League of Conservation Voters to begin a $1 million commercial run that accuses presumed Republican presidential nominee  Mitt Romney , t...

The EPA's release: EPA Completes Drinking Water Sampling in Dimock, Pa. Release Date: 07/25/2012 Contact Information: Terri White white.terri-a@epa.gov (215) 814-5567 PHILADELPHIA  (July 25, 2012) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it has completed its sampling of private drinking water wells in Dimock, Pa. Data previously supplied to the agency by residents, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot Oil and Gas Exploration had indicated the potential for elevated levels of water contaminants in wells, and following requests by residents EPA took steps to sample water in the area to ensure there were not elevated levels of contaminants. Based on the outcome of that sampling, EPA has determined that there are not levels of contaminants present that would require additional action by the Agency. “Our goal was to provide the Dimock community with complete and reliable information about the presence of contaminants in th...

From The Times Reporter: The village council approved a lease agreement Monday with Rex Energy to lease 268 acres of village land for oil and gas exploration, netting the community about $938,000 in revenue. The agreement will provide $3,500 per acre in sign-on bonus money, and will pay 20 percent of the gross royalty to the village. You may recall that Chesapeake Energy had offered $5,800 per acre in bonus money (with the same 20 percent royalty) on 275 acres of land, but withdrew that offer after council delayed in providing a response.  The delay in accepting Chesapeake's offer thus made a difference of $657,000. The Times Reporter further stated: Council members Andy Gonda, Mary Ann Miller, Chris Barto and Wilma Lambert voted in favor of the agreement. Members Luke Grimes and Dan Locke voted no. Both men said the agreement should not have been about money but should have been about protecting the village’s water. Most of those 268 acres are on the village well pr...

From the Canton Repository: State College, Pa.-based Rex Energy Corp. has donated $10,000 to the Carroll County Volunteer Fire Department. The donation will allow the fire department to purchase six sets of protective “turnout gear,” including new boots, gloves, pants and coats that firefighters wear when responding to emergencies. “Rex Energy is proud to partner with local organizations and is steadfast in its commitment to safety, the environment and continuous improvement,” said Thomas Stabley, chief executive officer of Rex Energy. “Partnering with first responders in areas where Rex Energy has operations and ensuring that they are well prepared and equipped to respond to emergencies in the community is a key tenant of our operating principles. We thank these men and women and their families for their service to the community, and we look forward to building upon our commitment to this region as our development activities continue in Carroll County.” Read the original art...

Fracking Company Paid Texas Professor Behind Water Contamination Study RIL (an energy giant in India) shale gas set for expansion  France is considering lifting its ban on fracking FrackNation producer Ann McElhinney rails against environmentalists Bloomberg attacks fracking with another article, this time because of water use Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Business Insider: Here are the five settled facts on fracking: There's definitely some weird stuff in fracking fluid "What is in these fracking fluids? Probably organic chemicals like diesel fuel, antifreeze, soap, things designed to make [the fluid] slipperier. "These things are not things you want to be dumping into drinking water." But as long as it's done deep enough, the fracking process should not affect sources of drinking water  "The layer of black shale is down in the subsurface several thousand feet. If you can drill down to that level, the hydrofracturing cracks do not extend more than 1000 feet or so; the ends of the cracks are still going to be several thousand feet below the surface [where wells and aquifers sit]." Natural gas can leak up to the surface, but it's often the result of natural processes " The image of turning on a water faucet and having natural gas leak out , in general those are situations where...

From Josh Fox's Gasland blog comes his response to the AP article that called out fracking critics for basing their claims on bad science.  Fox, in typical fashion, basically just says that the AP article shouldn't be trusted because of the author's bias against fracking, calling out Kevin Bergos for "awful journalism, deliberately trying to skewer important science . " Whereas, of course, Josh Fox would never allow his bias against the natural gas industry to influence his viewpoints, statements, and interpretations of scientific studies. If the facts support Fox's viewpoint, he'd be better served simply stating them and citing his sources.  Accusing others of being invalidated by their bias is more than a little disingenuous when his anti-fracking stance is something he wears as a badge of honor and which clearly influences everything he says. Anyhow, you can read his response by clicking here . Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow...

Two new articles give more insight into the recent discussion about insurance companies not protecting landowners who enter into leasing agreements with companies who will engage in fracking activities, which kicked into another gear when Nationwide Insurance made it clear that they would not cover fracking-related claims recently.  Oil and gas development can have serious implications for individuals who don't lease land, too. First, from 24/7 Wall Street: Shorn of its carefully crafted legalese, the Nationwide Mutual statement is hugely significant for two reasons. First, it is serving notice on current policy holders that even though the  company will investigate fracking claims for indemnity on a “case-by-case basis,” they are unlikely to succeed. But, more  importantly, in its comments about “When information and claims  experience are not available to fully understand the scope of a given  risk , carriers aren’t able to price protection that wo...