Author Archive

Canonsburg, PA – A new study released yesterday sheds light on the robust economic impact that the responsible development of clean-burning, American natural gas continues to have throughout the Commonwealth. Conducted by Penn State University researchers, the analysis underscores how far-reaching, genuine and sustained the growth is associated with Marcellus Shale natural gas production, particularly for Pennsylvania consumers and taxpayers, as well as local small businesses along the supply chain that support the industry. Be sure to visit our Facebook page for photos from yesterday’s event announcing the study’s findings. Following are highlights from the release:

JOB CREATION, ECONOMIC GROWTH, TAX REVENUES

• “Penn State report even more bullish on Marcellus Shale”: An updated Pennsylvania State University economic study of the Marcellus Shale gas boom is even more bullish than past reports, projecting that Pennsylvania could supply a quarter of the nation’s natural gas by 2020. The industry-sponsored study, which will be released Wednesday, says that Marcellus natural gas production is outpacing predictions made only a year ago. Production from Pennsylvania wells, which already supply more fuel than is consumed in the state, could multiply eightfold by the end of the decade. “Our estimates suggest that in 2020 the Marcellus industry in Pennsylvania could be creating more than $20 billion in value added, generating $2 billion in state and local tax revenues, and supporting more than 250,000 jobs,” said the authors associated with Penn State’s department of energy and mineral engineering. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/20/11)

• “Marcellus shale added $11.2 billion to economy, report says”: Development of the Marcellus shale added $11.2 billion to the state’s economy last year and may mean a $12.8 billion boost this year, according to an industry-backed study detailed at a U.S. Steel facility in Duquesne. It also supports a growing number of jobs, 140,000 through last year with prospects for another 16,000 this year, according to the Penn State University study commissioned by the Marcellus Shale Coalition. “The Penn State study clearly highlights the impact (of natural gas production),” said coalition president Kathryn Klaber. (McKeesport Daily News, 7/21/11)

• “Penn State forecasts boom for Marcellus Shale”: Thanks to the Marcellus Shale development, the amount of natural gas produced in Pennsylvania could nearly triple within the next decade, according to an industry-funded report. … The Penn State report saidthe total tax impact from drilling in 2010 was $1.08 billion in state and local taxes and $1.43 billion in federal taxes. In 2010, Marcellus development in Pennsylvania accounted for $11.2 billion in so-called “value added,” according to the report. … During 2010, the industry supported nearly 140,000 jobs in the state, the report said. By 2020, that value-added figure could jump to $20.2 billion per year and the supported jobs could total 256,000 — all to produce more than 17.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/21/11)

New Marcellus Shale Study Featured on Fox News’ Special Report With Bret Baier

• “Marcellus Shale natural gas production jumps, as job opportunities skyrocket”: At its current rate of increase, the prolific Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania could soon lead the United States in natural gas production while employing hundreds of thousands of people, according to a recent study by Penn State. On Wednesday, PennState released a study by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences … showing a strong support for the regional economy and a major boost to jobs in the area. (Oil & Gas Journal, 7/20/11)

• “New industry report says Marcellus production up”: Investment in the Marcellus Shale natural gas field is growing faster than expected in Pennsylvania, with both the number of wells drilled and the amount of gas extracted soaring between 2009 and 2010, according to an industry-sponsored report released Wednesday. Gas production quadrupled during the one-year period. … The report estimates that this year’s production will be more than 2 1/2 times last year’s, and projects steady growth through 2020. … Total Marcellus spending is projected to rise to $12.7 billion this year from $3.2 billion in 2008, according to the report. It also claims robust employment growth, with about 60,000 jobs in 2009 growing to nearly 140,000 last year. The industry projects it will have more than 156,000 employees this year. (Associated Press, 7/20/11)

• “Growing industry Report spells out economic impact of Marcellus Shale”: By the year 2020, the Marcellus Shale could become the single largest producing gas field in the U.S., supplying one quarter of America’s natural gas. In just five years, the industry drilled 2,300 wells into Pennsylvania’s Marcellus. Estimates are that gas drilling will be a $12.8 billion industry this year, supporting more than 156,000 jobs, generating $1.2 billion in state and local tax revenue and paying about $1.6 billion in leases and royalties, according to an industry report released Wednesday. (Washington Observer-Reporter, 7/21/11)

• “Shale gas boom for PA, not NY”: An new industry-sponsored report of the economic opportunity from natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania has got to have all the various stakeholders — energy companies, reasonable environmentalists, lease-holders and of course politicians — smiling today. According to the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Pennsylvania could lead the nation in natural gas production by 2020. The total economic impact of natural gas drilling from the Marcellus Shale could exceed $12 billion for 2011, the report concludes. “In 2011, Pennsylvania could produce nearly 3.5 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, making the Commonwealth a net exporter of natural gas right now. This development could support more than 156,000 jobs and generate $12.8 billion in economic activity in Pennsylvania alone. By 2020, according to the study, Marcellus development could support 256,420 jobs,” reports the study. (New York Post, 7/21/11)

• A study funded by the natural gas drilling industry on Wednesday said Pennsylvania’s economy will get a $12.8 billion boost from drilling this year, more than double the amount from 2009, while reaping nearly 140,000 jobs. … The study, funded by the industry group Marcellus Shale Coalition, measured investment and expenditures minus salaries at $4.7 billion in 2009 and $11.1 billion last year, forecasting a rise to $14.5 billion in 2012. (Reuters, 7/20/11)

“MARCELLUS MULTIPLIER” SUPPLY CHAIN

• “Study Examines Economic Impact Of Marcellus Shale Industry”: Drilling in the Marcellus Shale is generating tens of thousands of jobs, according to a new Penn State study. … The study estimates 140,000 jobs – directly and indirectly – are dependent on the industry. “These are all jobs that but for the presence of this industry would not exist,” Kathryn Klaber, a spokesperson for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said. (KDKA-TV,7/20/11)

• The booming natural gas industry in Pennsylvania is benefiting U.S. Steel Corp., which makes line pipe, trucking companies like PGT Trucking Inc. of Monaca that transport it, and a host of other businesses, representatives said on Wednesday. “This is a really good story for a lot of businesses,” said Douglas Matthews, senior vice president of U.S. Steel’s tubular operations. “We’re starting to see an increase in jobs and a relocation of people back to Pennsylvania.” A supply chain of local manufacturers is developing to support the gas industry, Matthews said. … They are examples of a “cascading impact” on the state’s economy since 2009 from the explosion of activity in the Marcellus shale natural gas reserves, said Kathryn Klaber, executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition. …Another company that has benefited from the Marcellus shale boom, Dura-Bond Pipe Inc. of Export, plans to build a pipe-coating plant at the site of the former Duquesne steel mill, said Jason Norris, vice president of commercial tubular products. The operation will create about 75 jobs, Norris said. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 7/21/11)

• Marcellus Coalition Executive Director Katie Klaber tells Gas Business Briefing the data show fewer wells being drilled that had been projected, but at a greater cost per well and with more gas, on average, flowing from each hole. … “But if you spend more per well that’s more money to the service companies and other businesses to create jobs.” (Gas Business Briefing, 7/21/11)

• “As the largest domestic pipe producer in North America, U.S. Steel is well positioned to serve customers who are working to develop shale natural resources,” said Douglas R. Matthews, USS vice president-tubular operations. (McKeesport Daily News, 7/21/11)

ENERGY SECURITY; CONSUMER, LANDOWNER BENEFITS

• “Penn. shale gas output to more than double in 2011”: Natural gas production from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale should reach the equivalent of 3.5 billion cubic feet per day this year, more than double 2010’s output, according to new research by a trio of Pennsylvania State University professors. The study, released Wednesday, furtherestimates that production in the state from the deeply-buried rock formation will rise to the equivalent of 6.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2012 and 17.5 bcfe in 2020. That level of production would make the Pennsylvania basin the largest supplier of natural gas in the U.S., able to meet about 25% of the country’s demand, said Kathryn Klaber, who heads the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an oil and gas industry advocacy group. (Dow Jones/MarketWatch, 7/20/11)
• Fmr. PA DEP sec. John Hanger: “Pa Marcellus Production Numbers Are Humongous! No Ponzi Scheme”: The United States Senate held a hearing yesterday to review the charges made by the disgraced NYT gas reporter that shale gas is a ponzi scheme but meanwhile in the real world Pennsylvania Marcellus gas production will reach in 2011 3.5 billion cubic feet per day or approximately 6 per cent of total US gas supply. At least that is the conclusion of 3 researchers at Penn State University in a report with other eye-popping production numbers that was commissioned by the Marcellus Shale Coalition. … Pennsylvania is on course to produce 1.2 trillion cubic feet this year and clearly will reach annual gas production of 2 trillion cubic feet before 2014, the year that I thought the 2 trillion cubic feet milestone would be achieved. These are real and humongous production numbers. (“Facts of the Day” blog, 7/20/11)
• “New Numbers Show PA Gas Production Will Lead Nation”: Pennsylvania has become a net exporter of natural gas and could become the nation’s leading gas producer. A report released Wednesday by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, says theirproduction for 2010 was higher than expected. Penn State University researchers conducted the study, which was commissioned by the Coalition. (State Impact/NRP,7/20/11)
• “Study: Marcellus gas could provide 25% of US supply by 2020”: Advanced well stimulation techniques used in the Marcellus Shale to “dramatically” increase well production have forecasters scrambling to keep up with just how massive levels of production could reach. In July 2009, a Pennsylvania State University study said Marcellus production could reach 4 Bcf/d by 2020. In 2010, an updated version of the study said 13.5 Bcf/d by 2020 was in play. Now, the third rendition of the Penn State study forecast that production could hit 17.5 Bcfe/d in 2020 if gas prices do not drop. (SNL Energy,7/20/11)
• Pennsylvania is now a net exporter of natural gas, and has the potential to account for 17.5-billion cubic feet of natural gas, per day.  President of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Kathryn Klaber, says that would be one-quarter of the nation’s natural gas production. … Kathryn Klaber says PA’s shale industry has blown its projections out of the water.  “At the beginning of 2010, it was projected that Pennsylvania would be producing a billion cubic feet equivalent  per day by the end of 2010, and we saw that it was double that.” (Radio PA, 7/21/11)
• “Pennsylvania Gas Output Exceeds Expectations”: The explosive development of the Marcellus Shale gas formation has exceeded expectations and placed Pennsylvania on track to become the second largest producer in the country in the next few years, according to a new Pennsylvania State University analysis. At the end of 2010 there were nearly 1,500 gas wells in Pennsylvania — where most Marcellus activity has been concentrated to date — producing a combined total of nearly 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day. … Klaber’s organization touted the analysis as proof that the shale drilling boom is likely to benefit local economies, particularly in southwestern Pennsylvania. (Energy Intelligence, 7/20/11)
• “PA soon to be net exporter of natgas: report”: The report’s lead author, Tim Considine, director of the Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy at the University of Wyoming, says his projections are conservative. “The wells in Northeast Pennsylvania are tigers,” Considine tells GBB. (Gas Business Briefing, 7/21/11)
• Pennsylvania Marcellus wells produced an average of 300 million more cubic feet per day of natural gas and petroleum liquids in 2010. … They now estimate the Pennsylvania Marcellus could produce 17.5 billion cubic feet per day by 2020, “which would make the Marcellus the single largest producing gas field in the United States, if real natural gas prices do not fall significantly,” they wrote. … Marcellus Shale Coalition president Kathryn Klaber called the study results “dramatic.” She pointed to sections of the report that link the highest Marcellus production areas in the state to lower than average unemployment and higher than average local tax revenues. “Pennsylvania now is producing more natural gas than it’s consuming,” she said. “These findings underscore the longevity, the sustainability of this resource in Pennsylvania for generations to come.” (Citizens Voice, 7/21/11)
• That 17.5 billion would rank Marcellus Shale as the No. 1 supplier of natural gas in the United States, enough to provide one-fourth of the nation’s natural gas needs. … The report said that, as a result of Marcellus Shale development, natural gas prices in Pennsylvania dropped 12.6 percent in 2010. That decrease resulted in Pennsylvania consumers saving nearly $633 million on utility bills, the report said. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 7/21/11)
• The study found that companies paid about $1.85 billion in lease and royalty payments in 2010. That figure is expected to fall this year to about $1.5 billion, and then rise again in 2012. (Associated Press, 7/20/11)
• The study found that in just five years, the Marcellus has become so profitable that by 2015 Pennsylvania Marcellus drilling could be producing more than 12 billion cubic feet of gas per day, second only to Texas in natural gas production, and transforming Pennsylvania into a major exporter of natural gas. Klaber said the industry is producing more gas with fewer wells and believes it is a direct function of longer laterals giving drillers the ability to reach higher yields. “With those higher yields come higher royalties paid to landowners,” she said. The study forecasts that by 2020 there will be nearly 2,500 wells with an output per day of 17.5 billion cubic feet. If natural gas prices do not fall significantly, the Marcellus will be the single largest producing gas field in the U.S.(Washington Observer-Reporter, 7/21/11)

NOTE: Click HERE to view the study, and HERE for a study fact sheet.

Posted at: MarcellusCoalition.org

People monitoring the gas drilling industry in Pennsylvania are debating whether the lack of government regulations in Pennsylvania may actually end up harming the gas drilling industry.  Pipeline construction, gas drilling on state game lands, gas drilling near rivers and lakes supporting homes and vacation communities and other areas at risk for devastating pollution events could result in multi billion dollar exposure to the gas drilling industry if not performed properly. Environmental regulation proponents note that  well thought out regulations may actually protect the gas drilling industry from unnecessary liability exposure.  New York State is currently working on just such regulations prior to issuing drilling permits.

In a tragic accident in Susquehanna County a tanker truck affiliated with the gas drilling industry in Pennsylvania collided with a car occupied by local residents resulting in the death of one of the car’s occupants and serious injury to the other.  Initial reports place blame on the truck driver.  Investigation is continuing.  The twelve lawyers at DLP are experienced in handling serious truck/tractor trailer accidents.  Recently the firm has resolved several cases for well into the seven figures.*  DLP is investigating several new truck accident cases in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania at this time.

*Past results do not guarantee future results.  All cases are different.

Energy Policy: A new study documents a mini-boom caused by the development of the Marcellus Shale formations in Pennsylvania, creating jobs and revenue. Maybe the second rule of holes is that when you’re in one, start drilling.

While Washington unravels over hitting the debt ceiling, fretting over a stagnant economy, a shortage of revenues and an abundance of spending, a quiet economic boom is occurring in Pennsylvania that shows much of our economic wounds are self-inflicted.

That developing domestic energy could go a long way toward generating the revenues, jobs and energy we desperately need is shown by the third and final study by researchers at Penn State on the development of the Marcellus Shale and its economic impact on Pennsylvania and the U.S.

“Large-scale development of the Marcellus is reshaping the economic landscape of Pennsylvania,” concluded authors Timothy J. Considine, Robert Watson and Seth Blumsack. They note that in 2010 alone, the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry triggered $11.2 billion in economic activity, generated $1.1 billion in state and local taxes, and supported nearly 140,000 jobs.

Don’t expect the Obama administration to tout the Marcellus experience as an example of American ingenuity and innovation. If it had its way, the Marcellus would be paved over with solar panels and the hillsides dotted with wind turbines, hoping for the sun to shine and the wind to blow.

President Obama once said that energy prices would “necessarily skyrocket” as we were weaned off fossil fuels and forced to use so-called green energy. According to the Penn State study, development of the Marcellus has lowered residential natural gas and electricity bills in the Commonwealth by $245.1 million. Thanks to the 12.6% reduction in natural gas prices due to rising Marcellus output, total energy costs for all Pennsylvania consumers declined by $633 billion in 2010.

The study projects that by 2020, Marcellus development could support 245,000 jobs and generate $20 billion in added value to the Pennsylvania economy.

The success of Marcellus is staggering but not unique. Drilling in the Bakken formation along the North Dakota-Montana border helps explain North Dakota’s unemployment rate of 3.2%, the nation’s lowest.

In one of the few areas where we’re allowed to develop domestic energy, Pennsylvania contains a major portion of the Marcellus Shale Formation that covers 34 million acres in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky. SUNY-Fredonia geologist Gary Lash and colleague Terry Engelder of Penn State estimate that Marcellus holds 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Extrapolate this success nationwide and what it would mean to the economy if restrictions imposed by the Obama administration on drilling offshore and in Alaska were lifted and if a truce was called in the EPA’s war on fossil fuels and CO2.

A recent study done by SAC Corp. at the request of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, the Gas Technology Institute and others shows that the U.S. economy will suffer $2.3 trillion in lost opportunity costs over the next two decades, monies that would go a long way toward reining in runaway deficits and creating economic growth.

Out west we may have what could be called a “Persia on the Plains.” A Rand Corp. study says the Green River Formation, which covers parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, has the largest known oil shale deposits in the world, holding from 1.5 trillion to 1.8 trillion barrels of crude. But most of it is locked up by federal edict.

Earth to Washington: While you’re figuring ways to stem the tide of red ink you might consider tapping into the black gold and other riches right under your feet.

NOTE: Click HERE to view this editorial online.

Posted at MarcellusCoalition.org

by Kathryn Z. Klaber
Date: Friday, July 29, 2011

If Pennsylvania’s deep history has taught us anything, it’s that compromise is crucial, particularly in the public policy arena. Nearly 225 years ago in Philadelphia, the “Great Compromise of 1787” was struck during the Constitutional Convention, ensuring that all states — irrespective of population — had an equal voice in the Senate. And while the “Great Compromise” was hatched in 1787 — the same year Pennsylvania followed Delaware into statehood — the art of compromise indeed remains critical.

Last week, the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission — a diverse panel of stakeholders and experts assembled by Gov. Tom Corbett — issued a sweeping set of recommendations on how best to move forward with responsible shale gas development in the state.

Totaling some 137 pages, and outlining 96 policy recommendations — nearly half of which address environmental, health and safety policies — the unanimously approved report serves as an important step in further strengthening the regulatory framework to safely leverage the Marcellus Shale’s abundant, clean-burning natural gas reserves. With action by the General Assembly and other decision-makers, these recommendations can bolster what are already considered some of the most forward-leaning oil and natural gas policies in the nation.

While some of these recommendations may increase the cost of producing natural gas, our industry believes that collectively they strike a common sense balance. A true compromise that, if implemented properly, can help further ensure that our environment — above all — is preserved and protected for the next generation.

Here are key recommendations:

• Offering additional protection to the state’s water supply, the commission recommends increasing the minimum setback distance from 200 feet to 500 feet from private water wells and 1,000 feet for public water supplies. It’s a common sense proposal we support.

• We also support the recommendation to give the Department of Environmental Protection authority to require Water Management Plans, designed to protect the ecological health of water resources.

• We recognize that with the tremendous financial benefits our host communities enjoy, there are local impacts, albeit short-term in most cases. Providing these communities with additional resources to address these impacts is a policy that we support. Additionally, providing regulatory certainty across municipalities provides a framework to enable the most environmentally and economically responsible means for natural gas production.

• The sharing of best management practices between state regulators and the industry, is a policy we put forth under Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration, and one that will continue as this administration continues to strengthen the regulatory framework to ensure natural gas development continues in an environmentally responsible manner.

This is a snapshot of the many recommendations put forth by the multi-stakeholder commission in their report to Corbett last week. Others aim to strengthen pipeline safety requirements.

We understand the scope of this opportunity and, as outlined by the commission’s report, value the importance of working with key stakeholders to make certain we get this historic opportunity right. There is, of course, no room for compromise on that principle.

Klaber is the president and executive director of the Canonsburg-based Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC). Visit www.MarcellusCoalition.org to learn more.

NOTE: Click HERE to read this op-ed online.

Posted at: MarcellusCoalition.org

July 29, 2011
The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

As usual, the Environmental Protection Agency says a new set of rules will eliminate pollution while saving consumers and industry money. We hope so.

On Thursday, the EPA issued a proposal to regulate air pollution at oil and gas wells. Those using hydraulic fracturing to release gas and oil from rock formations deep underground are of special concern, the agency noted.

Airborne pollution including soot and emissions that cause smog will be eliminated by the rules, according to the EPA. It noted the rules will involve not just drilling sites, but other gas and oil facilities including pipelines.

“The EPA says the rules will save companies about $30 million annually,” The Associated Press reported.

As we reported just a few days ago, air pollution allegedly from drilling sites, compressor stations and other gas industry facilities is of concern to some West Virginians. That very issue was brought up at a hearing on gas industry regulations held earlier this month by state legislators in Wheeling.

And the EPA has heard similar complaints from throughout the country, involving gas drilling in states as far apart as Pennsylvania and Wyoming.

Some new rules indeed may be required to control pollution from well drilling sites and related gas and oil facilities.

But we urge EPA officials to work closely with the gas and oil industries to ensure new rules are not more expensive than necessary. Frankly, as we have commented many times, we believe the agency has been unnecessarily harsh regarding the coal industry.

The Marcellus Shale gas drilling boom has pumped millions of dollars into local economies – and probably billions into our state and others. Tens of thousands of new jobs have been created and more are on the horizon. Economically depressed regions are getting new leases on life.

Perhaps most important, the new supplies of gas being unlocked by drilling into the Marcellus formation are important to the nation as a whole. We need the energy – desperately, some would say. EPA officials, while safeguarding air quality, should not make the mistake of crippling an important industry.

NOTE: Click HERE to view this editorial online.

Canonsburg, PA – At its one-year mark, Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) president and executive director Kathryn Z. Klaber provided the following update regarding the organization’s truly unique and momentous partnership with former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge and his team of subject matter experts and professionals:

“Gov. Ridge has provided valuable insight and leadership over the last year for our young organization. We are grateful for the strategic counsel and positive contributions that he and his team have offered to the MSC and our membership.

“An effective advocate for the responsible development of American natural gas, Gov. Ridge has helped bring national attention to the Marcellus Shale – the world’s second largest natural gas field.

“The governor, who played a leading role in developing our industry’s Guiding Principles, is always quick to remind us that ‘We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.’ He’s absolutely right, and his thoughtful counsel – working with our more than 200 member companies – has helped ensure that our industry appreciates and embraces the deep, rich history of Penn’s Woods.

“Responsibly developing clean-burning American natural gas from the Marcellus Shale represents a historic opportunity to help put the Commonwealth and our nation on a path toward a cleaner, prosperous and more secure energy future. Gov. Ridge understands this, and has been instrumental in conveying this potential to the public. On behalf of our entire organization, we thank Gov. Ridge for his dogged commitment to the Commonwealth, our environment, our economy and our homeland.”

HARRISBURG — Lt. Governor Jim Cawley on July 22 released the final report of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, which a state Department of Environmental Protection statement says takes the first step toward developing a comprehensive and strategic plan for responsible natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania.

Governor Corbett formed the 30-member commission in March, giving them 120 days to develop recommendations on all aspects of natural gas drilling. The commission held 21 public meetings, heard 60 expert presentations and reviewed more than 650 emails and letters from the public.

To see the full 137-page report, visit:http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/marcellus_shale_advisory_commission/20074.

Report Summary

Stronger Regulations for Drilling.

Increase bonding amounts from $2,500 to $10,000 and more for deeper wells. up to $250,000 for blanket bonds.

Triple well setback distance from streams, ponds, and other bodies of water from 100 to 300 feet.

Posted at: Pike County Courier

Canonsburg, PA – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a series of proposed air emission regulations surrounding the development of American natural gas and oil. The proposed regulations are a result of a “consent decree”, or settlement, stemming from a federal lawsuit brought forth by two groups – based in New Mexico and Colorado, respectively – opposed to the responsible development of American natural gas. Kathryn Z. Klaber, president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) issued this statement in response:

“While we understand that EPA is required by law to periodically evaluate current standards, this sweeping set of potentially unworkable regulations represents an overreach that could, ironically, undercut the production of American natural gas, an abundant energy resource that is critical to strengthening our nation’s air quality.

“As this process moves forward, we look forward to providing EPA with fact-based information regarding our best practices and industry-leading operations, which are ensuring that the region’s air quality is not impacted. In fact, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection studies have determined that Marcellus activities do not present any ‘air-related health issues.’

“Our state regulators are keeping an eye on the ball. However, it’s not clear if EPA is as well.”

BACKGROUND

PA DEP, 11/1/10: Southwest Pa. Marcellus Shale Short-Term Air Sampling Report

• Short-term sampling did detect concentrations of certain natural gas constituents including methane, ethane and propane, and associated compounds such as benzene, in the air near Marcellus Shale drilling operations.
• Results of the limited ambient air sampling initiative conducted in the southwest region did not identify concentrations of any compound that would likely trigger air-related health issues associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities.

PA DEP, 1/12/11: Northeastern Pa. Marcellus Shale Short-Term Ambient Air Sampling Report

• Results of the limited ambient air sampling initiative in the northeast region did not identify concentrations of any compound that would likely trigger air-related health issues associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities.

PA DEP, 5/6/11: Northcentral Pa. Marcellus Shale Short-Term Ambient Air Sampling Report

• Results of the limited ambient air sampling initiative in the northeast region did not identify concentrations of any compound that would likely trigger air-related health issues associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities.

FLASHBACK: “EIA reports a record-setting 5.8-percent decline in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2009”

• “There was also a decline in the carbon dioxide intensity of U.S. energy supply (CO2 per unit of energy) in 2009, caused primarily by a drop in the price of natural gas relative,” as “more natural gas consumed for the generation of electricity.” (EIA release, 3/31/11)

Posted at: MarcellusCoalition.org