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Chesapeake Drops 2-Year Legal Fight for Drilling Leases in Fracking-Shy New York
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on August 7th, 2013
Reuters: Chesapeake Energy has given up a two-year legal fight to retain thousands of acres of natural gas drilling leases in New York state, landowner and legal sources told Reuters. Landowners in Broome and Tioga counties, who had leased acreage to Chesapeake over the past decade, had battled the pioneering oil driller in court to prevent it from extending the leases under their original terms, many of which were agreed to long before a boom in hydraulic fracturing swept the United States. But Chesapeake...
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Explosion at West Virginia Gas Fracking Site Injures at Least 5
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on July 9th, 2013
Reuters: An explosion over the weekend at a natural gas well site in West Virginia operated by Antero Resources injured at least five people, prompting state and federal investigations, local officials and Antero said on Monday.
A spark triggered a flash explosion and a fire after a problem during the "flow back" process when drilling fluids are pumped into storage tanks, according to Pat Heaster, director of emergency services in Doddridge County, about 100 miles north of Charleston.
The "flow back"...
Fracking in New York? Not for another year, if ever
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on February 14th, 2013
Reuters: The fracking debate in New York state is hitting new heights as regulators delay a final decision on the controversial natural gas production method, but it looks increasingly clear that it will be a year - if ever - before drilling begins again.
Governor Andrew Cuomo missed a Wednesday deadline for completing a report on the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking, that was to form the basis for new drilling rules.
As a result, a now-four year moratorium on shale...
U.S. EPA to test water in Pennsylvania near fracking site
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on January 19th, 2012
Reuters: U.S. regulators said on Thursday they will perform water tests at about 60 homes in the small town of Dimock in northern Pennsylvania where residents say natural gas drilling has polluted wells.
The Environmental Protection Agency also plans to truck water to four homes in the town where some households have relied on trucked water since drilling by Cabot Oil & Gas began there three years ago, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The tests, which will begin in the coming days, are being carried...
Key Delaware River natural gas drilling vote postponed
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on November 18th, 2011
Reuters: A key vote to lift a ban on drilling for natural gas in the Delaware River Basin has been postponed, prompting claims of victory from environmentalists concerned about water contamination.
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), which regulates water use across the 14,000-square-mile (36,260-square-km), gas-rich basin, suspended a vote scheduled for Monday amid speculation that its five members lacked the three votes needed to allow drilling.
"There are still some open issues that the commissioners...
Insight: NY water at risk from lack of natgas inspectors?
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on July 29th, 2011
Reuters: New York state may have enough natural gas to spark an energy boom, but it could lack the inspectors needed to ensure drilling won't foul its other prized resource -- water.
Home to a portion of the Marcellus shale formation, the country's richest natural gas deposit, New York is mulling plans to end a year-long moratorium on drilling. The ban was put in place due to concerns that a new extraction technique called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, contaminates water wells.
But the state Department...
Chesapeake natgas drilling contaminates water: Pennsylvania
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on May 17th, 2011
Reuters: Pennsylvania regulators levied a record fine for contaminating drinking water against major natural gas producer Chesapeake Energy, a move that threatens to intensify a fierce debate over drilling for natural gas in the state.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection fined Chesapeake $900,000 for contaminating water supplies in Bradford County, a busy drilling area in the prolific Marcellus shale gas formation, the agency said on Tuesday. It was fined another $188,000 for a fire...
Chesapeake seeks permanent plug for natgas well
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: Chesapeake Energy is looking for options to plug permanently a Pennsylvania natural gas well following a blowout this week that sent drilling fluid into local waterways.
Chesapeake, one of Pennsylvania's biggest shale gas producers, used a mix of plastic, ground-up tires and heavy mud on Thursday as a temporary plug for the well, which had spewed thousands of gallons of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, fluid into the surrounding area.
The spill, which occurred late on Tuesday, has stoked...