Another interactive map of the Marcellus shale boom in WV : http://ims.wvgs.wvnet.edu/mar/viewer.htm

A fully interactive map of the Marcellus Shale play – shows active and completed wells, pipelines, etc.

http://www.ugcenter.com/maps/marcellus.php

Source : www.theintelligencer.net

Sheriff: Alien Labor Used Drilling contractors used illegal immigrant workers, Hoskins says

February 8, 2011 – By CASEY JUNKINS

NEW MARTINSVILLE – Studies show West Virginia’s natural gas drillers employed nearly 10,000 people in 2009. However, some of the workers may not have been legal residents of the United States.

“We have caught 13 undocumented workers in the last few years, several of whom were working for drilling contractors in the area,” said Wetzel County Sheriff James Hoskins.

On Friday, Hoskins testified before the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee regarding his experiences with Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers working in his county. The Legislature is considering some bills that would impose new regulations on the drillers and that could increase the cost for drilling permits.

Hoskins did not immediately recall which companies were employing the undocumented workers at the time of their arrests, but he emphasized though Wetzel County law enforcement has caught just 13, he is confident many more have so far evaded authorities.

See the rest of this entry »

Source : ProPublica | by Nicholas Kusnetz | Jan. 5, 2011, 9:20 a.m.

The McKeesport Sewage Treatment Plant, one of nine plants on the Monongahela River that has treated wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling operations. (Joaquin Sapien/ProPublica)

As gas-drilling operations proliferated in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale over the past couple of years, most of the hundreds of millions of gallons of briny wastewater they produced was eventually dumped into the state’s rivers. Much of the rest is unaccounted for. That news, from a detailed look at the state’s management of drilling wastewater by the Associated Press, should come as no surprise to readers of this site.

As we reported in October 2009, Pennsylvania was largely unprepared for the vast quantities of salty, chemically tainted wastewater produced by drilling operations in the Marcellus, the gas-bearing shale formation that stretches under that state and into West Virginia, New York and Ohio. While the state Department of Environmental Protection called for the fluids to be sent through municipal treatment plants, those facilities are largely unable to remove the salts and minerals, also known as Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), from the waste.

See the rest of this entry »

By Kate Coil for The Register-Herald : Mon Jan 17, 2011, 12:02 AM EST

UNION — Though acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has announced he intends to utilize the natural gas of the Marcellus shale, residents of Monroe County, who live above the shale, say drilling into the area will decimate their culture, safety and even endangered species in the area.

Jill Fischer, co-president of the Save the Water Table organization, said drilling on the Marcellus shale puts citizens at risk.

“It sounds to me like Gov. Tomblin wants to exploit West Virginia,” Fischer said. “The state has been a supplier of the nation’s coal and supplies power and industry. Though we supply all of these corporations, if you look around at our income, health and other factors, we are at the bottom when compared to every other state.

“What has been exploited in West Virginia is not our natural resources but our people. We are facing a pretty hard thing. When it comes to them prospecting for drilling sites, Monroe County’s prospects aren’t good.”

Fischer said county residents are working to prevent hydrofracture drilling or “fracking” in their area. Fracking is a process in which a well is drilled several thousand feet into the ground. From that one well, several other well holes are then created in a variety of directions with multiple horizontal bores, covering a wide area underground.

Next, Fischer said around 1 million to 2 million gallons of water are injected into the well holes, augmented with various chemicals to release natural gas within the shale. Each drilling site requires 4 to 5 acres of land and are in constant operation.

Fischer said Save the Water Table has been working to energize the rural communities in Monroe County about the issue.

See the rest of this entry »

Source : Joseph Spector | Albany Bureau | December 11, 2010

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20101211/NEWS01/101211002/Paterson+vetoes+gas+drilling+moratorium++but+orders+temporary+ban

ALBANY – Gov. David Paterson on Saturday vetoed a bill to temporarily ban natural-gas drilling in New York, but issued an executive order to prohibit the hydraulic fracturing process until at least July 1.

In doing so, Paterson sought to find a middle ground between environmentalists concerned about the potential harm of the so-called hydrofracking and business groups critical that the moratorium bill would impact all gas drilling in the state.

Both sides praised Paterson for his decision – a rare sign of agreement in the contentious battle over natural-gas drilling.

Follow Marcellus Shale reporter Jon Campbell on Twitter | Read our Marcellus Shale blog

The executive order requires the state Department of Environmental Conservation to continue its review of the effects of hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale, a formation that stretches across the Southern Tier.

The order would essentially ban high-volume, horizontal hydraulic fracturing until at least July 1, the outgoing Democratic governor said.

“We in government must always focus on protecting the well-being of those whom we represent and serve, but we also have an obligation to look to the future and protect the long-term interests for our state and its residents,” Paterson, who leaves office at month’s end, said.

Permits for hydrofracking cannot be issued until the DEC completes its Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement, which isn’t expected until sometime next year. As a result, Paterson has expressed doubt in recent weeks about the need for the moratorium bill, saying the state essentially has had one since the review process started in 2008.

But the Assembly passed the moratorium bill last month after the Senate did so in August, forcing it to Paterson’s desk. He had until Monday to act.

The bill would have established a moratorium until May 15, but Paterson said it would have also applied to the more conventional, low-volume, vertical oil and gas wells. Environmental groups applauded Paterson’s decision, saying he set a national precedent and provided a “timeout on horizontal wells for fracking for natural gas.”

Still, the groups cautioned that the state Legislature’s moratorium bill was stronger and urged incoming Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take an aggressive stance on the issue. Cuomo has said that drilling should only be allowed if it is deemed safe.

“Governor Paterson has signaled that he understands fracking is a dangerous process that poses serious health and environmental threats,” a coalition of environmental groups said in a statement.

“The moratorium makes New York the first state to insist on protecting the health and safety of its citizens and drinking water, before allowing drilling to proceed.” Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, Broome County, said Paterson struck the right balance in his decision.

“I voted against the moratorium bill for the very reasons that he vetoed it,” Lupardo said in a statement. “The May 15th moratorium deadline was pointless given the current pace of the DEC’s review of horizontal hydraulic fracturing and that the bill would have inadvertently suspended the issuance of new permits for vertical wells.”

State Sen.-elect Tom O’Mara, R-Big Flats, said he supported Paterson’s veto.

“Governor Paterson’s veto is the right decision, and I credit him for recognizing that the proposed moratorium was flawed, unreasonable and unnecessary,” O’Mara said in a prepared statement. “It unnecessarily jeopardized jobs, revenues, and future economic opportunities for thousands of Southern Tier landowners, farmers and workers.

“The future of the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry is already undergoing a careful, deliberate, multi-year review by New York’s regulatory and scientific experts, and that’s where this future deserves to be determined. The Department of Environmental Conservation is being given ample time to ensure that environmental safety will remain the overriding priority for the industry moving forward.”

The hydrofracking process uses a cocktail of chemicals and water to blast into the shale and access the gas underneath. Environmental groups have raised concerns about the impact that type of drilling would have on groundwater, in particular, and said the bill would have at least slowed the review process.

But Paterson said the bill, while well intended, would have a negative impact on the economy and prohibit drilling that “causes no demonstrated environmental harm, in order to effectuate a moratorium that is principally symbolic.”

He added, “Symbols can have great importance, but particularly in our current terrible economic straits, I cannot agree to put individuals out of work for a symbolic act.”

Business groups agreed, calling Paterson’s veto a “courageous” act. Brad Gill, executive director Independent Oil and Gas Association, said, “We are grateful to Governor Paterson for his courage and clear-headed judgment.”

The group estimated that the moratorium passed by the Legislature would have imperiled 300 companies in New York already drilling, along with 5,000 employees.

“This bill would have had far-reaching consequences to the state’s oil and natural gas industry, and to the communities in which our member companies work,” Gill said.

Paterson said his budget office estimated that the bill would reduce state revenues from the loss of permit fees and tax revenue amid the state’s own fiscal troubles.

But Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, ripped Paterson for vetoing the bill, saying the governor “caved” to the oil and gas companies. He warned that the executive order is too limited and pointed to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this year as a reason to move cautiously with any drilling.

He claimed much of the state, including the Southern Tier, Hudson Valley and New York City, draws its drinking water from areas that will not fully be protected by the governor’s order.

“Allowing the special interest influence of the few to outweigh the public safety interests of so many is disappointing,” Sampson said.

####