Posts Tagged ‘New Jersey’

Landowners, communities challenge Delaware River Basin Commission to explain rationale, authority behind denying opportunity of the Marcellus to Northeast PA

Translated literally from French it means “superior force,” but translated practically into American law, the term force majeure is a clause used by parties that encounter a situation so severe that it’s actually designated as an “Act of God” by the courts. Floods, famines, earthquakes, volcanoes – these are the kinds of events that trigger the rare invocation of the clause, allowing all parties involved in a contract to shield themselves of obligation in light of the extraordinary and unforeseen events that transpired after it was signed.

Actually, there’s one other event that has historically fallen under the rubric of force majeure: acts of war. Unfortunately, in the case of the West Trenton, N.J.-based Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), that’s precisely the action that was taken against landowners in eastern Pennsylvania last month, with the Commission instituting a de-facto, back-door moratorium on all activities within its sprawling jurisdiction even tangentially related to the development of clean-burning natural gas from the Marcellus Shale.

The upshot? This description comes from the June 30 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Of course, with potentially thousands of jobs at stake in the area – and millions of dollars in much-needed payments to landowners and state and local governments – folks who actually live and work in the Northeast PA counties affected by the DRBC promulgation aren’t exactly taking the decision lying down.

Case in point: Later today, the DRBC will hold a regularly scheduled hearing on a whole slate of issues related to regional water use and management, including a draft water withdrawal request from an energy operator in the area. Among the folks expected to attend? A busload of landowners from the Northern Wayne Property Owners Association (NWPOA), and from the information we’ve been able to glean from its website, the group is expecting a significant showing among residents in the area concerned by the implications of DRBC’s historic overreach on natural gas. To wit:

Back in June, the Marcellus Shale Coalition released an issue alert on the DRBC moratorium decision, wondering aloud if the modern-day DRBC would have let George Washington cross the Delaware without first initiating a years-long review procedure aimed at stalling the process and ultimately executing a pocket-veto of the entire enterprise. Needless to say, the denial of energy and mineral rights to landowners across the border in Pennsylvania wasn’t exactly what the creators of DRBC had in mind 50 years ago when the commission was created.

Earlier this week, the MSC expanded on its previously stated objections to the DRBC moratorium in a letter sent to Commission director Carol Collier. You see, in extending its initial ban to include a moratorium on doing even the most basic things to test the future viability of natural gas wells in the affected counties, the Commission cited “the risk to water resources” as the reason for pulling the plug on exploratory work in the area. But as MSC president and executive director Kathryn Klaber makes plain in her letter to DRBC this week, no water would be put at risk under such an approach – and very little of it will need to be withdrawn from surface areas under DRBC jurisdiction:

Of course, if DRBC’s review and approval of permits in this context is considered appropriate, then “it likewise would be appropriate for the development of a multitude of projects over which the Commission, appropriately, has not sought to assert jurisdiction, such as malls, hotels, restaurants, and residential subdivisions,” according to the letter from MSC.

So why is natural gas so different? That question, unfortunately, is not one that DRBC has answered with any degree of specificity just yet –content instead to simply assert its primacy over the matter and issue sweeping, multi-state declarations with significant implications for the clean-energy future of Pennsylvania and the economic security of those who live here. Hopefully, with the help of groups like NWPOA, the Commission will soon find itself in a position to better understand that the actions it makes from West Trenton, N.J. have real-world consequences for residents in the Commonwealth.

Copyright: Marcelluscoalition.org

WILKES-BARRE – Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato said Thursday he doesn’t support a moratorium on drilling in the Marcellus Shale region, but he does want to see the gas industry grow in “a responsible way.”

“I will grant permits,” Onorato said. “But I want these companies to hire Pennsylvanians. I don’t want to see a bunch of Oklahoma and Texas license plates here.”

Onorato visited the Scranton Chamber of Commerce to speak to members and young professionals of POWER Scranton to discuss the opportunities for economic growth in Scranton.

“Northeast Pennsylvania is in a unique situation to benefit from great economic growth,” he said. “The combination of location, resources and infrastructure could lead to an economic boon for the region’s economy.”

Onorato is opposed by Republican Tom Corbett, who has served two terms at the state’s attorney general.

Onorato knows Northeastern Pennsylvania – he is married to the former Shelly Ziegler of Mountain Top. Onorato said he has traveled to the region regularly for the past 20 years to visit his in-laws, Bill and Sue Ziegler.

“The northeast region is very important to me,” he said. “I will be campaigning here a lot over the next 17 weeks. I see a lot of similarities between here and my home area of Pittsburgh.”

Onorato, 49, has served as the Allegheny County executive for seven years. He boasts that when the next budget is passed in October, it will mark 10 straight years of no tax increase in the county.

“I’ve run the second largest county in the Commonwealth,” Onorato said. “We’ve downsized government – going from 10 row offices to four and we consolidated five 911 centers to one. Those two moves alone saved taxpayers $7 million per year.”

Onorato, the father of three teenagers, said he is optimistic about the governor’s race. He said he doesn’t believe a poll released last week that showed Corbett ahead by 10 percentage points.

“The same people that did that poll also had McCain ahead of Obama in 2008,” He said. “All the polls I’ve seen show this race to be neck-and-neck. I know it will be a battle, but I believe I can win.”

Onorato said the northeast region’s proximity to New York and New Jersey makes it the perfect location to become the warehouse distribution center for the eastern part of the country.

“I see a lot of potential here,” he said.

The Democrat said he would seek to enact a severance tax on the Marcellus Shale drillers and he would use the revenue to fully fund the state Department of Environmental Protection. Onorato said DEP took a 28 percent budget cut last year and he wants to return the department to full capacity.

“If we’re going to allow drilling, then we need a department to watch over it and protect the water and the environment,” Onorato said.

Bill O’Boyle, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7218.

Copyright: Times Leader

NJ-based Delaware River Basin Commission places unnecessary moratorium on Marcellus production, denying economic benefits, jobs to Pennsylvanians

It’s hard to imagine President Kennedy had the denial of jobs and revenue for residents of Pennsylvania in mind when he signed a bill in 1961 creating the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). But nearly a half-century later, the DRBC of today bears little resemblance to the compact established almost five decades ago — one that was put in place to promote economic growth by providing a mechanism for equitable distribution of the Delaware’s waters.

Today, unlike similarly structured, intergovernmental bodies – such as the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) – the DRBC is working aggressively to shut down any and all natural gas exploration that may take place, now or in the future, in the eastern portion of the Marcellus Shale.

This week, following the decision last month to ban new shale permits in the area, the West Trenton, N.J.-based organization took additional steps to bring responsible Marcellus Shale natural gas production to a standstill by putting forth a de facto moratorium. How’d it do that? Easy: DRBC simply gave itself the authority to unilaterally freeze exploratory Marcellus production wells in the basin altogether.

Well aware of exactly what’s at stake, the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) wasn’t bashful in telling the Philadelphia Inquirer what it thought of the DRBC decision:

Kathryn Klaber, executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition…said extending the temporary ban on new permits to include exploratory wells only added “layers of unnecessary red tape” without any environmental benefit.

“The DRBC’s decision to deny Americans the benefits of clean-burning, job-creating natural gas from the Marcellus Shale is misguided and unfortunate,” she said. New technologies, she added, are reducing the overall water usage and land disturbance.

“At the same time, this production is creating tens of thousands of jobs and delivering affordable, clean-burning energy to struggling families and small businesses. Our hope is that the DRBC will recognize this fact and act accordingly, putting commonsense solutions and policies ahead of agendas,” she said.

Safely producing clean-burning natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania remainsa powerful job creation engine. In fact, according to a recently updated Penn State University economic impact study, this tightly regulated production is projected to create nearly 212,000 jobs over the next decade.

Many in Pennsylvania understand how important this opportunity is for the Commonwealth, especially in regions of the state facing high unemployment and ongoing economic struggles. And like the MSC, supporters of environmentally safe natural gas production understand how critical it is to get this right, balancing commonsense environmental safeguards with the economic opportunities before us.

Here’s what one northeastern Pennsylvania natural gas advocate told the Associated Pressabout safely developing these abundant, domestic and clean-burning resources near the Delaware River basin:

Energy companies have leased thousands of acres of land in Pennsylvania’s unspoiled northeastern tip, hoping to tap vast stores of gas in a sprawling rock formation — the Marcellus Shale — that some experts believe could become the nation’s most productive gas field.

Plenty of folks like Matoushek are eager for the gas, and the royalty checks, to start flowing — including farmers who see Marcellus money as a way to keep their struggling operations afloat.

“It’s a depressed area,” Matoushek said. “This is going to mean new jobs, real jobs, not government jobs.”

Adding new and unnecessary layers of burdensome regulations and red tape – aimed at halting job-creating Marcellus Shale natural gas production – will not help deliver more affordable supplies of homegrown energy. The DRBC’s shale gas moratorium will not help drive down our dependence on unstable regions of the world to keep our economy fueled, nor will it help create jobs at a time when they’re most needed. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Copyright: Marcelluscoalition.org

The presence of an enormous volume of potentially recoverable gas in the eastern United States has a great economic significance. This will be some of the closest natural gas to the high population areas of New Jersey, New York and New England. This transportation advantage will give Marcellus gas a distinct advantage in the marketplace.

Gas produced from the shallower, western portion of the Marcellus extent might be transported to cities in the central part of the United States. It should have a positive impact on the stability of natural gas supply of the surrounding region for at least several years if the resource estimate quoted above proves accurate.
Copyright: Geology.com

N.J. gas firm eyes $300M income

ANDREW MAYKUTH The Philadelphia Inquirer

A southern New Jersey gas firm that bought a $2 million Marcellus Shale interest in 2008 says it might generate $300 million in income over its lifetime.

South Jersey Industries Inc., the Folsom, N.J., company that owns South Jersey Gas and several nonutility energy businesses, disclosed to analysts that its purchase of mineral rights in northern Pennsylvania could pay off handsomely.

Chief executive officer Edward J. Graham, speaking to analysts about the company’s annual earnings, said two horizontal wells in which South Jersey Industries has a stake will begin producing income this quarter.

He said the gas operator, St. Mary Land & Exploration Co., of Tulsa, Okla., was still tying the wells to a pipeline, but feels “really good about the prospects.”

Two more wells are planned for this year on the 21,000-acre property in McKean County.

In early 2008, South Jersey Industries paid $2 million for an interest in a partnership that owns the deep-gas rights on the property, Stephen Clark, the company’s treasurer, said in an interview. Since then, the value of mineral rights has skyrocketed.

South Jersey Industries estimates that its combined royalties and ownership rights will net 10.25 percent of the value of the gas produced — the company’s share would be about $300 million, based on an average price of $6 per thousand cubic feet.

“It has the opportunity to be very productive for us,” Clark said.

Graham told analysts that it was premature to estimate earnings, which depend upon the number of wells drilled and the price of natural gas. Production could take years, or even decades, to realize.

The estimates illustrate the huge potential in the Marcellus Shale, which lies under much of Pennsylvania and several surrounding states.

Copyright: Times Leader

By Rory Sweeneyrsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

TUNKHANNOCK – As if responding to previous community criticism about a similar facility, company officials hoping to build a drilling-waste treatment plant near Meshoppen said Tuesday recycling water is part of their plans.

“It makes sense to reuse this water,” said Ron Schlicher, an engineer consulting for the treatment company. “The goal here is to strive for 100-percent reuse, so we don’t have to discharge.”

Wyoming Somerset Regional Water Resources Corp. is proposing a facility in Lemon Township in Wyoming County to treat water contaminated during natural-gas drilling in a process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

To do so, it requires a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

That process includes a period of public comment, for which the hearing at the Tunkhannock Middle School on Tuesday evening was held.

Wyoming Somerset is the second company to propose such a facility in Wyoming County. Two weeks ago, DEP held a similar hearing for North Branch Processing LLC, which wants to build a plant just outside Tunkhannock in Eaton Township to discharge up to 500,000 gallons daily of the treated waste into the Susquehanna River.

Citizens attending that hearing complained that the discharges could potentially harm the river’s ecology and suggested that the waste simply be recycled into other fracking jobs.

Wyoming Somerset’s proposal is to discharge up to 380,000 gallons daily into the Meshoppen Creek, but company officials said they hoped to sell it all back to drillers instead.

“The discharges need to be in place to make sure that the weather doesn’t have an adverse effect on operations of cleaning the water,” said Larry Mostoller, Wyoming Somerset’s president. “I’ll be willing to drink what we produce. I’ll be willing to drink what comes out of this plant, and you can hold me to that.”

That promise and the vague goal of full reuse didn’t sit well with the roughly 75 citizens who attended the hearing. Questioning everything from why the facility couldn’t guarantee zero discharges to its proposed site, residents came out squarely against the plan.

Many non-residents joined them, including two from Bucks County, one an environmental scientist and the other a lawyer, and a man from New Jersey.

Don Williams, a Susquehanna River advocate from Lycoming County, warned that cashing in on the gas-laden Marcellus Shale is “jeopardizing our land and our feature for the false promise of jobs” and money.

Of particular frustration for many were the unknown details about the plant’s design. Schlicher presented an overview of it, noting reverse-osmosis filters, evaporation tanks and a three-tiered output to provide drillers with water at various levels of treatment.

The water that could potentially be discharged would be “essentially meeting drinking water standards for most things,” Schlicher said, but not everything, including lead, aluminum and iron “because the surface water body can handle them,” he said.

Design specifics won’t be known until the second part of the application, when the company proposes how it will meet its discharge limits. That part likely won’t have a public hearing, DEP officials noted.

Those wishing to comment on the proposed facility may do so until Oct. 30 by contacting the DEP. The number for its Wilkes-Barre office is (570) 826-2511.

Copyright: Times Leader