Friday, November 4, 2011

Marcellus News for Pennsylvania: Nov. 3

Midnight Pennsylvania Explosion Fuels New Marcellus Gas Safety Concerns
A natural gas compressor station in southern Pennsylvania exploded overnight Thursday, prompting the evacuation of about 150 people and raising concerns about safety amid the shale-gas boom that is spreading throughout the state.

A local resident reported a "loud noise" at the Artemas Compressor Station in Mann Township, Bedford County, at about 12:30 a.m., according to Shawn Trahan, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Columbia Gas Transmission, part of NiSource, which operates the station.
Pa. House panel OKs shale fee bill on party lines

Pennsylvania House Republicans on Wednesday passed a measure out of committee that would impose a local impact fee on natural gas drilling and establish new state regulations on the growing industry.
The 127-page bill, approved 15-9 in the Finance Committee along party lines, was patterned closely on an approach favored by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. It also would fund environmental programs.
Federal probe into hydraulic fracturing and its effects on drinking water to begin
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released the outlines of its long-awaited probe into whether hydraulic fracturing — the unconventional drilling technique that’s led to a boom in domestic natural gas production — is contaminating drinking-water supplies.
Investigators will try to determine the impact of large-scale water withdrawals, aboveground spills of drilling fluids, and the fracturing process itself on water quality and quantity in states where tens of thousands of wells have been drilled in recent years.
Chesapeake, Enterprise to run ethane pipeline
Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Wednesday it will anchor Enterprise Products Partners LP's proposed ethane pipeline from northeastern states to the Gulf Coast....The companies said the pipeline would deliver ethane produced in the Marcellus and Utica shale formations of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio about 1,230 miles to their storage complex for natural gas liquids in Mont Belvieu, Texas.

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