More Abnormal Winter Weather is Likely for US

December 8, 2012

Scientific American: Climate & Weather “The Winters of Our Discontent” By Charles H. Greene, Director of the Ocean Resources and Ecosystems Program, Cornell University. The full article was published in Scientific American, Volume 307, December 2012, pages 50 thru 55 and online on November 13, 2012. Loss of Arctic sea ice is stacking the deck [...]

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Highlights from a SkyTruth Fracking Flyover of Wetzel County, WV

December 7, 2012

Heat Intensity, Wetzel County, WV By David Manthos, SkyTruth, December 4th with some of the photos “here.” For all that we do working on satellite and aerial images, it’s extremely refreshing to actually get a chance to go up in the air ourselves. Last month we had the opportunity when we were asked by the Environmental [...]

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Shale Gas Development Abroad Hits Many Hurdles

December 6, 2012

By S. Tom Bond of Lewis County, WV The Wall Street Journal article “Global Gas Push Stalls,” published on December 2nd represents a major shift in the shale drilling story. No longer is the Marcellus the largest shale field in the world, the “Saudi Arabia of the U. S.”   No longer is the U. [...]

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Nova in Canada and Ineos in Norway to Use Marcellus Ethane

December 5, 2012

Nova Chemicals — Canada Selected material from an article by Shailaja Nair in Dubai (Platts) on November 29th. The first barrel of ETHANE from the Bakken field will go to Nova Chemicals’ Joffre, Alberta facility to be value added and converted into polyethylene next year, according to CEO Randy Woelfel. His company is well placed [...]

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Marcellus at Your Door: When the Industry Says “It’s Proprietary”

December 4, 2012

Marcellus at Your Door When the Industry Says to You “It’s Proprietary” By Diane Pitcock, December 3, 2012 On Sunday evening, December 2nd at approximately 9:15 PM, there occurred what appears to be a major drilling “mishap.” A tanker truck owned by US Well Services ran off the road and plunged into Meathouse Fork Creek. [...]

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Pictures and a Crisis: Robert Crum’s “A Short History of America”

December 3, 2012

Pictures and a Crisis: “A Short History of America” Commentary by S. Tom Bond of Lewis County, WV (This cartoon series may best be seen on the internet at http://rcrumb.com/files/AShortHistoryOfAmerica15pan.jpg) My five-year-old grandson gets out the framed poster every week or two and we talk about it. All the family knows it well. It shows [...]

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Question: Has our two-party political system failed?

December 3, 2012

Ethics of disclosure require that I tell you up front that I don’t have the answer to the question which serves as the title of this post.  I invite debate on the topic here in the Comment section. Personally, I would like to think that there is still hope for the current system. But I [...]

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Revised ‘Fracking’ Regulations Released in New York State

December 1, 2012

NY State Health Commissioner Proposed Fracking Regulations in NY State By George M. Walsh,  Associated Press, November 30, 2012 A revised set of proposed regulations for hydraulic fracturing natural gas has been released by New York environmental officials who will begin taking public comment on them soon. The voluminous technical document was made public by [...]

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An Overview and Recent Experiences in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Play

November 30, 2012

Professor Anthony Ingraffea Fluid Migration Mechanisms Due To Faulty Well Design and/or Construction By Anthony R. Ingraffea, Ph.D., P.E., October 2012. SUMMARY.  See full paper “here.” The most recent experience with shale gas wells in the Pennsylvania Marcellus play reflects long term, world-wide industry data with respect to new wells with compromised structural integrity. Operator-wide [...]

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Scratching for Surface Owner Rights in the Fracking Debate

November 29, 2012

EDITORIAL: Morgantown Dominion Post, November 29, 2012   Ruling scratches surface of rights: The decision to recommend that lawmakers take up the appeal of DEP gas well permits is right   Which should come first: Judicial review of proposed gas well permits or complaints and hearings about any resulting damages?  About a year ago, the Legislature passed [...]

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