Archive for the ‘Pennsylvania Natural Gas Drilling’ Category

The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — City Councilman Doug Shields will introduce a bill next month that would ban corporations from drilling for natural gas in the city.

Shields’ proposal, which one fellow councilman suggested might not survive a court challenge, comes as the number of leases signed by property owners to allow drilling has boomed in recent years.

About 7 percent of Allegheny County’s land parcels have been leased for drilling, mostly for Marcellus Shale exploration, according to the University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research. In the city, only about 362 acres have been leased, said Bob Gradeck, the research project’s manager said.

Still, Shields said it’s time to act. He plans to introduce the bill Sept. 5 when council reconvenes after the summer break.

“We as a city don’t want to have drilling operations going on in the city of Pittsburgh,” Shields said on Tuesday. “Because they’re adverse to our rights to the use and enjoyment of our property; they’re adverse to our rights to our health and welfare, because of the environmental degradation that it produces.”

The bill is being drafted by the nonprofit Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.

Councilman Patrick Dowd said the city law department told him that an outright drilling ban likely wouldn’t survive a legal challenge.

Ben Price, director of the nonprofit helping Shields, acknowledged the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act gives the state authority to regulate those industries.

Copyright The Times Leader

Atlas Resources LLC, a natural gas drilling company with operations in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale region, has been fined $97,350 for a spill of hydraulic fracturing fluids in the southwest part of the state. According to a press release from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the spill, which occurred late last year, polluted a high-quality watershed in Hopewell Township, Washington County.

DEP officials say Atlas failed to report the spill. The violations were discovered on Dec. 5 and 6, 2009, at the Cowden 17 gas well on Old Trail Road off Route 844. Once the unknown quantity of fluid overflowed the impoundment’s banks, it ran over the ground and into a tributary of Dunkle Run.

This spill violated Pennsylvania’s Oil and Gas Act and Solid Waste Management Act, as well as the state’s Clean Streams Law. Atlas corrected the problem once it was discovered, but failed to report it to DEP, the release said.

“It is unacceptable for drilling companies in Pennsylvania to threaten public safety or harm the environment through careless acts, such as this,” DEP Southwest Regional Director George Jugovic Jr. said in the statement.

The Atlas Resources incident is just one of many that have been perpetrated by gas drillers performing fracking operations in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale.

According to a report recently released by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, the state has identified 1,435 violations by 43 Marcellus Shale drilling companies since January 2008. Of those, 952 were identified as having or likely to have an impact on the environment. Keep in mind, there are only about 1,458 Marcellus wells drilled in the state at this time.

The violations listed in the report do not include violations incurred by drilling wastewater haulers. According to the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association, during a 3-day enforcement blitz by the DEP in June 2010, 669 traffic citations and 818 written warnings were issued to trucks hauling Marcellus Shale drilling wastewater.

A separate analysis by Clean Water Action released earlier this summer found 565 violations at Marcellus Shale gas drilling sites between Jan. 1 and June 18 this year alone. The violation included some particularly disturbing instances, including improper cementing/casing of wells (11) and “illegal disposal of industrial waste” (80). The largest number of this year’s violations, 166, were “General Violations” meaning violations of the Clean Streams Law, Oil and Gas Act, and permit violations.

Copyright NewsInferno.com

By Joe Napsha, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Workers looking for jobs in the region’s booming natural gas industry may try their hand as a “roustabouts” — general laborers who work physically grueling 12-hour shifts for 14 consecutive days in all kinds of weather to build and remove drilling pads and assist production.

“It’s demanding labor, working long stretches without days off. You have to be ready to do quality work and do it a long time. Once they start production, they don’t stop,” said Richard Guenther, an employee relations specialist with Chesapeake Energy Corp. in Mt. Morris, Greene County.

Pay can range from $10 to $20 an hour, plus overtime.

The natural gas industry expects to create thousands of jobs in Marcellus shale gas development in this decade, and state agencies and colleges are gearing up to train workers to fill those positions.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group of about 100 gas producers and suppliers, said the boom created 44,000 jobs in the state last year. It is predicting thousands more this decade — some from gas production and some at suppliers, service companies and the spending of dollars generated by the drilling activity.

One complaint is that many jobs, particularly involving production, are going to out-of-state crews from Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Last year, it was estimated that 70 percent of the jobs were being filled by out-of-state workers. Now, more local workers have been hired, and the percentage of out-of-staters has likely fallen to 50 percent to 60 percent, said Danielle Boston, a spokeswoman for the coalition.

Chesapeake has had success hiring workers from the region, which has a history of natural gas operations, Guenther said. The company had to bring in more out-of-state workers for drilling operations in northeastern counties than in Southwestern Pennsylvania, he said.

“We try to hire local workers,” Guenther said.

While Pennsylvania can supply engineering, technical, land acquisition and legal expertise needed by the industry, job training efforts are under way to make sure local workers have the skills needed to land production jobs.

The Western Area Career and Technology Center in Canonsburg has trained more than 100 in a roustabout training program since last year, and the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport graduated about 200 workers from its roustabout program since October. The Westmoreland County Community College plans to begin a three-week roustabout training program for 15 students on Sept. 13.

“We’ve had about 20 companies hire our students, and we’ve been running the program for a year. We’ve got to take care of that work force” by providing training, said Joseph Iannetti, director of Western Area Career and Technology Center.

Community College of Allegheny County is considering how it can tailor programs to meet the job needs of energy companies, said spokesman David Hoovler.

A group of five community colleges — called Marcellus ShaleNet — received a $4.96 million grant from the Department of Labor to conduct a three-year training program for the gas industry. The effort is to focus on low-skilled and low-income workers. The colleges include Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport and Westmoreland County Community College, along with schools in northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio and western New York.

One worker trying to take advantage of a training opportunity is Jeff White of Delmont, who was laid off this spring from a natural gas industry job. He knows all about the special demands of jobs in natural gas production and wants to get back into the field. He registered for the roustabout program at Westmoreland County Career and Technology Center.

“Once you get the bug of being with the guys, it’s hard to get it out. It’s your second family,” said White, who worked at a drilling site where pipe is lowered 8,000 feet underground to the rich Marcellus shale gas reserves.

Another candidate, Tony Bannister of Masontown, wants to replace part-time work with a full-time job. Bannister, 59, said he has a long career as a heavy equipment operator and hopes that helps him land one of those jobs.

“They make a lot of money, and there is a lot of opportunity for advancement. I’m up for anything,” Bannister said.

The state has identified six high-priority production jobs which local workers can be trained to fill, including roustabouts, rotary drill operators, truck drivers and service unit operators. About one in 10 requires a commercial driver’s license. And about 20 percent will be entry-level roustabout jobs, Boston said.

The drilling of one well can require almost 400 people working in almost 150 occupations.

Wages for roustabouts go up to $20 an hour, plus overtime, said Jeffrey F. Lorson, director of the Marcellus Shale Education and Training Center at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. The state estimates that the average weekly wage for an oil and gas production job in Southwestern Pennsylvania is about $1,600.

Some students graduating from Western Area Career and Technology Center in Canonsburg have landed jobs related to gas production and are being paid annual salaries of between $50,000 and $60,000, said Iannetti, director of the career center.

Range Resources Corp., a Texas-based gas producer with offices in Cecil, Washington County, is working with Western Area Career and Technology Center’s roustabout training program. Range hired graduates and placed them with experienced crews to learn on-the-job, said Matt Pitzarella, a Range spokesman.

View article here.

Copyright: PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

By Steve McConnell (Staff Writer)
Published: August 16, 2010

Although a natural gas drilling ban is in effect for much of Wayne County, one company is lining up permits for what may become the county’s first producing wells – in a small area just a hop across the Delaware River watershed boundary.

Hess Corp. has natural gas development permits either pending or recently approved for at least six hydraulically fractured Marcellus Shale wells along the county’s far northwestern border, according to state Department of Environmental Protection and Susquehanna River Basin Commission records.

Nearly all of the county lies within the Delaware River watershed, a vast 13,539-square-mile area that drains into the Delaware River. But this sliver in its far northern reaches is in the Susquehanna River watershed. There, the presiding Susquehanna River Basin Commission has granted hundreds of water-use permits to the burgeoning industry centered regionally in Susquehanna and Bradford counties.

Hess, which has leased at least 100,000 acres in northern Wayne County in a joint-development partnership with Newfield Exploration Co., had received regulatory approval from both the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and DEP for three Marcellus Shale wells in the Susquehanna watershed as of Saturday, according to a record review.

The permits were issued in late June and July. The pending and approved wells are concentrated in an area that encompasses Scott and Preston townships and Starrucca. The company will be “drilling and hydraulically stimulating one or more horizontal natural gas wells,” according to each permit application.

“An accounting of how (the companies) are going to use the water” is made before the commission decides to issue a permit, Susquehanna commission spokeswoman Susan Obleski said.

Efforts to reach officials with the New York City-based Hess Corp. were unsuccessful.

Drilling in Wayne County’s portion of the Delaware River watershed is a different story.

The Delaware River Basin Commission recently enacted a moratorium on the drilling of producing natural gas wells, which may be in effect for at least six months to a year. Meanwhile, Wayne County does not have a single producing well, nor has it seen any wells hydraulically fractured.

The only natural gas company that has attempted to hydraulically fracture a Marcellus Shale natural gas well in Wayne County, Lafayette, La.-based Stone Energy Corp., was issued a stop-work order in the summer of 2008 for its partially completed well in Clinton Twp. because it lacked a permit from the Delaware River Basin commission.

The Delaware River commission, a federal-state environmental regulatory agency charged with protecting the environmental integrity of the watershed, has stringent jurisdiction over the watershed and over natural gas drilling operations there.

It has placed a blanket moratorium on natural gas drilling until it develops its own industry regulations which are expected to exceed some DEP enforced laws.

“(Delaware) River Basin Commission consideration of natural gas production projects will occur after new … regulations are adopted,” said spokesman Clarke Rupert.

Mr. Rupert said draft regulations are expected to be published by the end of the summer. They will be followed by a series of public meetings and comment periods prior to final approval by commission vote.

“I expect those draft regulations will include provisions relating to the accounting of water movement since we would want to know the source of water to be used to support natural gas development and extraction activities in the basin,” Mr. Rupert said.

Meanwhile, the Delaware River commission is allowing 10 natural gas exploratory wells to go forward in Wayne County. They will not be hydraulically fractured, produce gas, or require much water. Hess Corp. and Newfield Exploration Co. received approvals for these wells from DEP prior to the June 14 moratorium.

Contact the writer: smcconnell@timesshamrock.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Scranton Times

By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Former Gov. Tom Ridge this afternoon called Marcellus Shale gas production a “transformative opportunity” for Pennsylvania during an appearance Downtown in his new role as a strategic adviser to an industry group.

Still dressed in the jeans and checkered shirt that he wore to inspect production operations in Washington County earlier in the day, Mr. Ridge hailed the industry’s economic potential but also stressed the need to manage environmental concerns.

“We’re only getting one chance to get it right,” Mr. Ridge said, speaking at an energy conference sponsored by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Speaking to reporters before and after the speech, Mr. Ridge said he hoped Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields’ call to ban natural gas drilling in the city would be the “first chapter in a broader discussion” about the industry’s future here.

Mr. Ridge said he also opposed a one-year moratorium on new drilling statewide that’s been proposed by state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park. Mr. Ferlo proposed the moratorium to give officials time to ponder tighter regulations of the industry, but Mr. Ridge said the concerns can be addressed without a one-year delay in new permits.

Mr. Ridge and his two consulting firms accepted a $900,000, one-year contract to serve as advisers to the Cecil-based Marcellus Shale Coalition.

Earlier today, Mr. Shields unveiled his bill to ban natural gas extraction in the city, saying he won’t let the city return to its steel-era days as a center of pollution.

Mr. Shields said he knows the bill, if passed, would draw a legal challenge from the coalition of gas producers. But he said at a news conference he wants to assert the city’s sovereign authority to protect itself from a potentially harmful industry and preserve the environmental advances made since the smoky-city era.

“You want that back?” he said of the pollution.

Ben Price, who helped draft the bill as projects director for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund in Franklin County, said the city’s right to protect residents from the hazards of drilling should trump any state claim of authority over drilling matters.

“Rights precede the state,” he said. “Rights precede government. Rights precede state statues and are superior to them.”

Mr. Shields plans to introduce the bill Sept. 7. He criticized Mayor Luke Ravenstahl for opposing a ban and wondered which neighborhood the mayor considers suitable for drilling.

In response to Mr. Shields’ bill, Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the coalition, issued a statement saying the industry has a lot to offer.

“At a time when Pittsburghers are feeling uncertain about the current state and future direction of our economy, policymakers and our elected officials should recognize that all economic opportunities should be considered in full,” she said. “The shale gas industry has brought to my hometown new jobs, an expansion of our tax base, and environmental stewardship and a safety culture that pervades our daily work.

“The effort announced today by Councilman Shields furthers none of these tremendous benefits to Pittsburgh residents and taxpayers.”

Joe Smydo: jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.

View article here.

Copyright: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Citing job creation, much-needed tax revenue generation, Mayor Ravenstahl opposes shale gas production ban

Canonsburg, Pa. – Despite the fact that no Marcellus Shale operators have any near-term prospects of producing clean-burning natural gas within Pittsburgh’s city limits, earlier today Councilman Doug Shields formally introduced legislation seeking to prevent private city landowners from generating value from their own private mineral rights – potentially setting a dangerous precedent. According to his spokesperson, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl opposes this effort. Kathryn Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), issued the following statement regarding the legislation:

“At a time when Pittsburghers are feeling uncertain about the current state and future direction of our economy, policymakers and our elected officials should recognize that all economic opportunities should be considered in full. The shale gas industry has brought to my hometown new jobs, an expansion of our tax base, and environmental stewardship and a safety culture that pervades our daily work. The effort announced today by Councilman Shields furthers none of these tremendous benefits to Pittsburgh residents and taxpayers – and in the process, attempts to deny residents in the city some of their most basic and fundamental rights.

“The extent to which the promise and potential of the Marcellus Shale is fully realized for our area will depend on a number of things – chief among them, our ability to demonstrate to the public that our operations are safe, and that the benefits they generate stand to improve the lives and livelihoods of every resident in the Commonwealth. It’s a task we take on with pride every day – and one to which the councilman’s legislation seeks to put an indefinite end, very much to the disservice of all who live in our city.

“Environmentally sound, tightly regulated shale gas development on privately-owned land in the region can and will create jobs and and revenues at a time when they’re most needed. Mayor Ravenstahl understands that; and our hope is that councilman Shields will see the merits.”

NOTE:

• The Pittsburg Post-Gazette reports today that “Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also opposes a ban, in part because drilling would create jobs, tax revenue for the state and spinoff revenue — such as earned-income tax — for the financially strapped city, his spokeswoman, Joanna Doven said.”

• This from a recent KDKA segment: “I believe if we can do it in a city like Fort Worth we can certainly do it in a city like Pittsburgh,” Kathryn Klaber, a spokesperson for the Marcellus Coalition, said. In recent years, natural gas companies have extracted gas from wells in the city of Fort Worth, Texas, and Klaber says drilling could be done safely in Pittsburgh. “Pittsburghers for generations have been able to figure out how to do things and I think they can figure out this one as well,” she said.

Copyright: Marcelluscoalition.org

WNEP-TV
The natural gas industry is booming in many parts of our area and one company is trying to educate the public with a community picnic held Saturday near Montrose. Cabot Oil and Gas has more than 100 gas wells in Susquehanna County and at Montrose Area high school, the company and other contractors brought in equipment, had demonstrations and more to show the community exactly what they do and how they do it.

By Laura Legere (Staff Writer)
Published: August 13, 2010

There are no unleased acres left in Pennsylvania’s state forests where Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling sites, pipelines and access roads could be built without damaging environmentally sensitive areas, according to a new analysis by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Nearly 139,000 acres of state forest have been leased for gas drilling since 2008 and money from those lucrative leases – a total of $354 million – has been used to help balance the last two state budgets.

But DCNR Secretary John Quigley said the era of leasing large parcels of state forests for gas drilling is over.

“We may do some little stuff here and there,” he said, “but in terms of large-scale leasing, we’re done.”

The department’s findings, demonstrated in a series of overlain maps on DCNR’s website, show the forests in northcentral Pennsylvania above the gas-rich Marcellus Shale crowded by leased land, parcels where the state does not own the mineral rights and places where development must be restricted.

Of the 1.5 million acres of state forest underlain by the shale, 700,000 acres have already been leased or the mineral rights under them are controlled by an owner other than the state.

An additional 702,500 acres are in ecologically sensitive areas – places with protected species, forested buffers, old growth or steep slopes. Another 27,500 acres are designated as primitive and remote lands, 49,600 acres were identified through a forest conservation analysis as priority conservation lands, and the last 20,400 acres are so entwined with the other sensitive areas that they cannot be developed without damaging them.

The department began to study the limits of the state forest land that can safely be leased to gas drillers as it developed a series of Marcellus gas leases in 2008 and January and May 2010.

Gas drilling has taken place on state forest land for over six decades, and mineral extraction is one of the forest’s designated uses, along with sustainable timber harvesting, recreation and conservation. But, Mr. Quigley said, “There are limits to how much you can develop the resource and maintain balance. And I think we’re there.”

There are currently about 10 producing Marcellus Shale gas wells in the state forest. The department expects there will be about 6,000 wells on 1,000 separate drilling pads when the resource is fully developed in 15 or 20 years.

The secretary said the prime consideration for any future leasing, “if we do any at all,” will be that drilling or associated activities not disturb the forest’s surface – a possibility with horizontal drilling technology that enables drillers to access the mile-deep shale from adjacent properties.

The impact of the DCNR’s findings is unclear.

Gov. Ed Rendell said earlier this year that no additional forest land will be offered for lease during his tenure, which ends in January, but the department’s findings have no legal bearing on the next administration’s ability to change its forest policy.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House passed a three-year moratorium on new leasing of state forest land for gas drilling in May, but the measure has not been taken up by the Republican-led Senate.

Patrick Henderson, a spokesman for Sen. Mary Jo White, R-21, Franklin, chairwoman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said he does not sense “at all” an upswell of support among the members of the Senate to pass it.

Mr. Henderson said the department’s findings “carry some weight,” but he said the claim that there is no forest land left for surface gas development is subjective.

“I think different people can conclude if there may be some tracts of land out of 1.5 million that lie within the fairway to lease,” he said.

A $120 million lease deal DCNR reached with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in May that is expected to have minimal impact on the state forest’s surface could not have been possible if the House’s moratorium bill had been law, he said.

“There’s something to be said for having a fresh set of eyes under the new administration take a look at it and draw their own conclusions.”

Mr. Quigley was optimistic that if future decisions about forest leasing are left to DCNR, his department’s findings will stand.

“The science tells us that we’ve reached the limit,” he said. “The question becomes whether we will face another occasion when economics looms larger.”

ONLINE http://bit.ly/DCNRmaps

Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com

View article here.

Copyright:  The Scranton Times

Clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas production continues to strengthen region’s economy, local workforce

The responsible and environmentally sound development of clean-burning natural gas from the Marcellus Shale continues to have a potent impact on our region’s economy and its workforce. This production is creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, a robust and growing supply chain network, tremendous amounts of economic opportunity, while at the same time helping to deliver affordable supplies of homegrown energy to consumersthroughout the Rust Belt.

“The potential is limitless,” says Gov. Ed Rendell, who underscores the fact that the “economic benefit of drilling in the Northern Alleghenies is welcome news in the midst of a sluggish economy and weak job market.”

Marcellus development is helping to buck otherwise bleak regional economic and job growth trends. This development has been – and continues to be – a boon for energy consumers, the environment, local businesses, and even for Pennsylvania’s state parks. In short, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas is providing benefits to each and every one of the 12 million folks that call Pennsylvania home, in one way or another.

Call it a “Commitment to the Community.” Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) president Kathryn Klaber writes this under that headline in the Lock Haven Express yesterday, highlighting the steps shale gas producers are taking each day:

We are committed to working tirelessly each day to be good stewards of our land and waterways. We are also taking steps to ensure our operations minimize disruptions and risks in and near energy-producing communities. After all, our families live in these areas too.

While modern shale gas production involves intricate engineering technologies and techniques, our industry’s top priority is far less complex: Safely developing these clean-burning, job-creating resources in a way that benefits all Pennsylvanians – and protects the environment.

And while Marcellus development is still in the early stages, many of these benefits are already being realized. According to a recent study released by researchers at Penn State, our industry will help create nearly 212,000 jobs across the Commonwealth over the next decade. Last year alone, Marcellus development was responsible for the creation of 44,000 jobs.

And like our industry’s commitment to responsible development, we take very seriously our efforts to create job opportunities for locally trained and hired workers. As Marcellus production continues to expand, these opportunities will, too. Under the headline “Making good on a promise; Halliburton plant creates jobs,” the Williamsport Sun-Gazettehighlights this promise in a story this week:

When ground was broken last August on a cement mixing plant owned by Halliburton off Route 405 in Clinton Township, company officials promised they would bring jobs to this area. The company is making good on that promise, said Perry A. Harris, senior district manager for Halliburton’s northeast U.S. operations. “By year’s end we’ll have 75 to 100 (employees) and (add) another 100 to 150 next year,” Harris said during a recent tour of the plant.

Harris said the company plans to develop another 55 acres nearby that will be home to other Halliburton gas field support operations. “Between the two sites, we’ll (be hiring) 400-plus people over the next two to three years,” Harris said.

And local training programs continue to offer and plan for coursework needed to equip the area’s workforce to join our fight for a cleaner and more secure energy future:

• Educators Tailor Courses For Marcellus Drilling Job Demand. “Local educators are creating additional courses commonly required in the Marcellus Shale drilling industry as the number of rigs is expanding across the Northern Alleghenies. Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology secondary education director Todd Taylor told WJAC-TV that there’s been a recent spike in adult students completing commercial driving license classes to drive vehicles used to haul equipment and liquid in and out of drilling sites. CPI officials plan to add an emerging energy course and expect to see of local job-seekers landing drilling rig jobs. (WJAC-TV, 8/9/10)
• Johnson hopes to build gas drilling workforce. “As development of natural gas from the state’s Marcellus Shale continues, the demand has now increased for skilled welders. Johnson hopes to meet that demand through an initiative by the Center for Sustainability at Johnson College, which is dedicated to offering industry-driven curriculum related to clean, green, and sustainable energy concepts. (Times-Leader, 8/10/10)
• Roustabout training offered. “Information on free training for workers seeking jobs as roustabouts in the natural gas drilling and production industry will be available from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4 to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12 in Founder’s Hall, Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood. (Pittsburg Tribune-Review, 8/5/10)
• SCCC may train gas-drilling work force. “Now count Sullivan County Community Collegeamong the institutions planning for a future that could include natural-gas drilling. Workforce Development Dean Stephen Mitchell is researching the kinds of jobs gas drilling would make available and what skills those jobs would require. The research could underpin a new job-training curriculum at the college. (Times Herald-Record, 8/3/10)

Copyright Marcellus Shale Coalition’s (MSC)

Clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas production continues to strengthen region’s economy, local workforce

The responsible and environmentally sound development of clean-burning natural gas from the Marcellus Shale continues to have a potent impact on our region’s economy and its workforce. This production is creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, a robust and growing supply chain network, tremendous amounts of economic opportunity, while at the same time helping delivering affordable supplies of homegrown energy to consumers throughout the Rust Belt.

“The potential is limitless,” says Gov. Ed Rendell, who underscores the fact that the “economic benefit of drilling in the Northern Alleghenies is welcome news in the midst of a sluggish economy and weak job market.”

Marcellus development is helping to buck otherwise bleak regional economic and job growth trends. This development has been – and continues to be – a boon for energy consumers, the environment, local businesses, and even for Pennsylvania’s state parks. In short, clean-burning Marcellus Shale gas is providing benefits to each and every one of the 12 million folks that call Pennsylvania home, in one way or another.

Call it a “Commitment to the Community.” Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) president Kathryn Klaber writes this under that headline in the Lock Haven Express yesterday, highlighting the steps shale gas producers are taking each day:

We are committed to working tirelessly each day to be good stewards of our land and waterways. We are also taking steps to ensure our operations minimize disruptions and risks in and near energy-producing communities. After all, our families live in these areas too.

While modern shale gas production involves intricate engineering technologies and techniques, our industry’s top priority is far less complex: Safely developing these clean-burning, job-creating resources in a way that benefits all Pennsylvanians – and protects the environment.

And while Marcellus development is still in the early stages, many of these benefits are already being realized. According to a recent study released by researchers at Penn State, our industry will help create nearly 212,000 jobs across the Commonwealth over the next decade. Last year alone, Marcellus development was responsible for the creation of 44,000 jobs.

And like our industry’s commitment to responsible development, we take very seriously our efforts to create job opportunities for locally trained and hired workers. As Marcellus production continues to expand, these opportunities will, too. Under the headline “Making good on a promise; Halliburton plant creates jobs,” the Williamsport Sun-Gazette highlights this promise in a story this week:

When ground was broken last August on a cement mixing plant owned by Halliburton off Route 405 in Clinton Township, company officials promised they would bring jobs to this area. The company is making good on that promise, said Perry A. Harris, senior district manager for Halliburton’s northeast U.S. operations. “By year’s end we’ll have 75 to 100 (employees) and (add) another 100 to 150 next year,” Harris said during a recent tour of the plant.

Harris said the company plans to develop another 55 acres nearby that will be home to other Halliburton gas field support operations. “Between the two sites, we’ll (be hiring) 400-plus people over the next two to three years,” Harris said.

And local training programs continue to offer and plan for coursework needed to equip the area’s workforce to join our fight for a cleaner and more secure energy future:

• Educators Tailor Courses For Marcellus Drilling Job Demand. “Local educators are creating additional courses commonly required in the Marcellus Shale drilling industry as the number of rigs is expanding across the Northern Alleghenies. Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology secondary education director Todd Taylor told WJAC-TV that there’s been a recent spike in adult students completing commercial driving license classes to drive vehicles used to haul equipment and liquid in and out of drilling sites. CPI officials plan to add an emerging energy course and expect to see of local job-seekers landing drilling rig jobs. (WJAC-TV, 8/9/10)
• Johnson hopes to build gas drilling workforce. “As development of natural gas from the state’s Marcellus Shale continues, the demand has now increased for skilled welders. Johnson hopes to meet that demand through an initiative by the Center for Sustainability at Johnson College, which is dedicated to offering industry-driven curriculum related to clean, green, and sustainable energy concepts. (Times-Leader, 8/10/10)
• Roustabout training offered. “Information on free training for workers seeking jobs as roustabouts in the natural gas drilling and production industry will be available from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 4 to 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12 in Founder’s Hall, Westmoreland County Community College near Youngwood. (Pittsburg Tribune-Review, 8/5/10)
• SCCC may train gas-drilling work force. “Now count Sullivan County Community College among the institutions planning for a future that could include natural-gas drilling. Workforce Development Dean Stephen Mitchell is researching the kinds of jobs gas drilling would make available and what skills those jobs would require. The research could underpin a new job-training curriculum at the college. (Times Herald-Record, 8/3/10)