DEP’s  Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board is scheduled to meet on December 5 with a very full agenda. 

Among the topics are--

-- DOE Methane Emission Reduction Grant Program: Pennsylvania has been allocated $33.6 million to develop a program to monitor and reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells and related facilities with a focus on low-producing conventional wells.

-- Update On Chapter 78 Conventional Oil & Gas Regulation Changes and PA Grade Crude [Oil] Development Advisory Council comments

-- Proposed Certified Oil & Gas Inspector Program: Possible development of a program modeled on certified storage tank inspector program.  Read more here.

-- Update On Oil/Gas Wastewater Underground Inspection Well Primary

-- Spill Policy and Remediation

-- Update On Acid Producing Rock FAQ

-- Update On Trenchless Pipeline Construction Technologies Technical Guidance

-- Well Plugging Costs

Click Here for the full agenda.

Public Comment Period

Individuals interested in providing public comment during the meeting should contact Todd Wallace at least 24-hours in advance of the meeting at twallace@pa.gov or by telephone at 717-783-6395.

Join The Meeting

The meeting will be held in Room 105 of the Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg starting at 10:00 a.m. 

To join the meeting remotely through Microsoft Teams Click Here: meeting ID: 268 715 872 827 Passcode: EDyntN or by conference call: 267-332-8737 Passcode: 672 138 374#

For more information, visit DEP’s Oil and Gas Technical Advisory Board webpage. Questions should be directed to Todd Wallace by calling 717-783-6395 or send email to: twallace@pa.gov.

Recent Oil & Gas Articles:

-- DEP Issued At Least 472 Violations To 90 Conventional Oil & Gas Operators; 20 NOVs To 10 Shale Gas Operators For Abandoning Their Wells Without Plugging Them So Far In 2023  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues Record 5,653 Notices Of Violation To Conventional Oil & Gas Operators So Far In 2023; ‘Culture Of Non-Compliance’ Continues  [PaEN]

-- Shale Gas Operators On Track To Have More Violations In 2023 - Frozen Gas Infrastructure; Explosion; Pad Fire; Uncontrolled Gas Venting; Frack Outs; Major Spills;  Pipeline Crashing Thru A Home Highlight 2023 So Far  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 18 to 24 - 5 More Abandoned Conventional Wells; 2nd Spill At Same Shale Gas Pad This Month; Village Of Reno Wastewater Cleanup Slow Going  [PaEN]

-- The Derrick: DEP: Little Headway In Reno Oil Well Wastewater Cleanup In Venango County  [PaEN]

-- State Dept. Of Health Pushing For Changes To Reduce Adverse Health Impacts From Natural Gas Development  [PaEN]

-- House Committee Hearing On Increasing Safety Setbacks Zones Around Natural Gas Facilities Heard About First-Hand Citizen Experiences On Health Impacts, From Physicians On Health Studies And The Gas Industry On Job Impacts  [PaEN]

-- Sen. Yaw, Republican Chair Of Senate Environmental Committee, Calls Bill To Reduce Shale Gas Industry Impacts On Health, Environment ‘Stupid’  [PaEN]

-- The Daily Item Guest Essay: State Senator Calls Natural Gas infrastructure Public Health And Safety Bill 'Stupid' - By Scott and Jessica Mathias, Health Care Providers  [PaEN]

-- New NERC Winter Reliability Assessment Finds Elevated Risk Of Blackouts In Extreme Weather Conditions; Natural Gas Supplies Still Vulnerable To These Conditions With 'Devastating Consequences'  [PaEN]

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Winter Storm Elliot’s Natural Gas Infrastructure Failures Not An Isolated Event; Report Says Electric Grid Still Vulnerable: ‘Winter Is Coming’

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 - 13 More Abandoned Conventional Well NOVs; Failure To Report Water Supply Impact In July  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Compliance So Far In 2023 - It Isn’t Pretty

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - December 2  [PaEN]

-- DEP Invites Comments On Proposed CNX Midstream Project To Expose Natural Gas, Water Pipelines To Prevent Longwall Mining Damage In Washington County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 71 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In December 2 PA Bulletin  [PaEN] 

Related Articles This Week:

-- DEP- EQT Settlement Agreement Allows Fracking To Resume From 2 Shale Gas Well Pads In Area Impacted By Frack-Out In New Freeport, Greene County; Does Not Address Water Supply Issues Of Residents  [PaEN]

-- DEP Oil & Gas Advisory Board Meets Dec. 5 On Methane Reduction Program; Spill Policy; Chapter 78 Update; Certified Inspector Program; Injection Well Primacy  [PaEN]

-- EPA Finalizes Rule To Reduce Methane Emissions From Oil & Gas Infrastructure; DEP’s  Oil & Gas Methane Regulations 1 Year Old  [PaEN]

-- Sen. Gene Yaw Announces He Received The Marcellus Shale Coalition 2023 Shale Gas Advocate Award [After Calling Gas Infrastructure Health, Safety Proposal ‘Stupid’]  [PaEN]

-- PUC Again Reminds Consumers Of Dec. 1 Price Changes: Natural Gas (+149% to -64.2%); Electric (+18.8% to -25.7%)  [PaEN]

NewsClips This Week:

-- Beaver County Times: Ground Flares Burn Brighter As Shell Petrochemical Plant Reintroduces Ethane To Operation After Weeks Of Maintenance At Site

-- PA Capital-Star: A Year After Winter Storm Elliot, Natural Gas-Fired, Other Power Plant Problems ‘Still Likely’ In Extreme Weather

-- The Allegheny Front: Tour Of PA Natural Gas Fracking Sites Connects Activists From Appalachia And The Gulf Coast

-- Environmental Health News: Gov. Shapiro Directs Agencies To Draft New Regulations Improving Disclosure Of Fracking Chemicals

-- PA Manufacturers Assn. Opposes Bill To Reduce Natural Gas Infrastructure Threats To Public Health, Safety; Praises Sen. Yaw’s Position [Who Called The Bill ‘Stupid’]

-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: Time To Move On Natural Gas Development Safety Measures - By Molly Parzen, Conservation Voters Of PA

-- TribLive Letter: Stop Fracking In Murrysville Parks - By Meredith Juchniewicz

-- Bloomberg: Just One Stranded Natural Gas LNG Tanker In Australia Could Cause Rise In Global LNG Prices

[Posted: November 28, 2023]

12/4/2023