As reported by The Times-Tribune in Scranton, four winners were chosen in the 3rd Annual Shale Gas Innovation Contest. The winners were KCF Technologies, Inc., NG Innovations, Inc., OPTIMUM Pumping Technology, and TM Industrial Supply, and each recei(…)
The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) recently published its recommendations for improving the effectiveness of FracFocus. The report entitled, “Task Force Report on FracFocus 2.0,” recommends improving the accuracy and completeness of regist(…)
On January 13th, the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee voted in favor of a senate bill that encourages oil and gas operators to re-use mine-influenced water for hydraulic fracturing. Senator Kasunic (D-Fayette/Somerset) re-introduced the b(…)
The New York Court of Appeals on September 30, 2013 set a schedule for the parties to file briefs in two cases that will likely have a substantial impact on the future of hydraulic fracturing in the state. In August of this year, the Court of Appeals(…)
An environmental advocacy group reportedly filed a lawsuit against the New York Department of Health on September 13, 2013, seeking to force the release of documents related to the agency’s public health review of hydraulic fracturing. The Seneca Lak(…)
On September 6, 2013, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Deputy Commissioner for Administration told a legislative committee there is no timeframe for a decision on whether to lift a state moratorium on hydraulic fracturing.(…)
The Bureau of Land Management’s revised proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal lands remains controversial, inviting more than 600,000 comments from 250 public interest groups calling for stricter regulations, as well as strong oppositio(…)
New York’s moratorium on hydraulic fracturing has entered its sixth year. On July 23, 2008, former Governor David Paterson directed the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to conduct an environmental review of high-volume hy(…)
Updating previous posts, the Western Energy Alliance (WEA) recently released an economic analysis in response to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) latest version of its proposed fracking rules for wells on federal lands(…)
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett recently sent a letter to the Delaware River Basin Commission urging the Commission to end a three-year moratorium on hydraulically fractured wells. Corbett reportedly wrote that “[o]perators interested in developing(…)
On Thursday, U.S. EPA announced that the State of Wyoming will lead further investigation of drinking water quality in Pavillion, Wyoming. In 2009, EPA began working with the state and local tribes to investigate water quality in the Pavillion area i(…)
Democrats in the Monroe County Legislature are seeking to permanently ban fracking on county-owned land. If they succeed, Monroe County would join 13 other counties in New York that have enacted similar fracking bans on county land. However, the Dem(…)
The U.S. Department of the Interior has extended the comment period by 60 days for the revised proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell indicated that various interest groups had requested more time to(…)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently stated that he would make a decision on whether to lift the state moratorium on hydraulic fracturing before the 2014 election. Cuomo said that the results of a review of potential health effects from hydraulic(…)
Maryland recently enacted legislation, Senate Bill 854, which amends Title 14 (Oil and Gas) of the Environment Article, Annotated Code of Maryland, and imposes reclamation and financial assurance requirements. The new legislation adds the requirement(…)
On May 20, 2013, the Town of Canandaigua, New York, adopted a local law to extend by nine months a moratorium on all natural gas exploration and extraction activities within the town. The new local law extends the initial 18-month moratorium passed b(…)
Managers of FracFocus, the national database containing operator-disclosed information on substances used in hydraulic fracturing fluids, expect to officially launch an updated version on June 1, 2013 to improve the site’s functionality. The new vers(…)
On May 16, 2013, the U.S. Department of Interior announced the release of its updated draft rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. The 30-day deadline for submitting comments on the new proposal will run from the date of publication of the(…)
The federal Bureau of Land Management’s proposal for regulating hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, which was submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review in January 2013, is expected to be released soon in the form(…)
New York State officials said on May 1, 2013 that there is “no timetable on a decision” to lift the state moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. The Commissioner of the New York Department of Health said that new information obtained during a recent mee(…)
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has reportedly concluded that high levels of methane found in three private water wells in Franklin Forks (Susquehanna County) are not attributable to the nearby gas drilling operations of(…)
Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is extending by more than six months the deadline for the public to submit scientific data and literature to inform EPA’s study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinki(…)
On April 10, 2013, the Oneida County Board of Legislature reportedly approved a resolution that prohibits the extraction of shale gas on property owned by the county. Oneida County is located in central New York to the east of Syracuse. The resoluti(…)
The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York reportedly filed a formal complaint with New York’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics on March 26, 2013, requesting an investigation into whether the group known as “Artists Against Fracking” is vi(…)
The State Journal reported earlier this week that New York Health Commissioner Nirav Shah plans to make a recommendation to Governor Andrew Cuomo “in weeks” on whether the state should approve hydraulic fracturing, despite reports that the Pennsylvani(…)
The New York State Assembly recently passed legislation to extend the moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing until May 2015, but the measure faces an uncertain future in the state Senate. Supporters of the moratorium, which has been in place(…)
This week the Joint Landowners Coalition of New York, Inc. (JLCNY) announced that they are seeking landowner plaintiffs for a lawsuit against New York State. JLCNY announced in early February its plan to sue the state. According to JLCNY, the lawsui(…)
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) missed a Wednesday, February 27th deadline to issue a final version of its proposed regulations for high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. DEC Commissioner Joe Martens reported(…)
Youngstown city council approved a citizens group’s charter-amendment proposal to ban fracking in Youngstown and placed the proposal on the May 7 primary election ballot. Backed by over 3,800 signed petitions, the group, Frack Free Mahoning Valley, a(…)
On February 12, 2013, two environmental groups reportedly filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the Town of Sanford, New York, alleging that the town board unconstitutionally restricted free speech rights by passing a resolution that precl(…)
As we anticipated in a previous post, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has reportedly submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget its revised proposal for regulation of hydraulic fracturing on fede(…)
The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently announced that it will revise its draft proposal to regulate fracking on federal lands. According to BLM, approximately 90 percent of wells drilled on federal and Indian lan(…)
Pennsylvania state Senator Daylin Leach (D-Montgomery County) recently circulated a memorandum to state senators stating that he would re-introduce legislation in the 2013-2014 Regular Session to amend portions of Act 13 of 2012 that relate to disclos(…)
An anticipated decision by the U.S. Coast Guard will determine when oil and gas producers can start transporting “frack water” by barge through West Virginia for treatment. “Frack water” is water containing chemicals used by oil and gas production com(…)
The New York Times recently uncovered an eight-page New York Health Department analysis which concluded in early 2012 that fracking could be conducted in a safe manner in New York. The analysis states, “the Department expects that human chemical expo(…)
On December 21, 2012, EPA released a much-anticipated progress report as part of its major hydraulic fracturing study. EPA began research in 2011 under its “Plan to Study the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources,” in(…)
Acknowledging the agency’s limited authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing under the principal environmental statutes such as the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act, the United States Environmental Protection A(…)
On October 9, Michael Hohn, director of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, briefed the West Virginia joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee A with the findings of a report of the National Research Council entitled “Indu(…)
In July 2011, PIOGA filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania seeking to hold the United States Forest Service in contempt of court for allegedly failing to adhere to the Court’s December 2009 preliminary injun(…)