Learn About Shale

Why is this specific to the Pennsylvania area?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:48:26 +0000

Not sure what your question refers to, but we’ll attempt to answer it in two ways.

Learn About Shale is an community conversation sponsored by the Marcellus Shale Coalition to answer questions of those who live and work in the commonwealth. As a Pennsylvania-based trade association, we want to ensure that our friends and neighbors have their questions answered in a straight-forward and fact-based manner.

If you’re question refers to the Marcellus formation itself, and why “it” is in Pennsylvania, that’s a question of geology. The Marcellus Shale formation is roughly 95,000 square miles and spans five states (New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky). To learn more about the formation itself and how it was created, we encourage you to visit the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Marcellus Shale webpage.

Given lower price of natural gas, is there a benefit for being close to the development?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:46:44 +0000

Absolutely. Historically, local utilities had to transport natural gas from the Gulf coast of the United States and the Midwest to serve their customers. With that transportation, comes added costs. By sourcing gas locally, some utilities no longer have to transport gas from hundreds of miles away, in turn saving ont eh transportation costs. Ove the past few years (between 2008-2011), the region’s largest natural gas utilities – PECO, NFG, PGW, Columbia, Equitable, UGI, UGI Penn, and Peoples – averaged a 41.25% cut in rates for consumers, equating to nearly $3,200 in average savings per customer during that period.

Is the industry willing to enlist the “army” of volunteers that could help reduce negative impacts and create more positive impacts?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:45:41 +0000

Our industry is always looking for new innovative ideas and approaches aimed at ensuring that facts and science serve as the foundation of the broader public dialogue about safe, job-creating natural gas development. As one way to help ensure fact-based information is readily and widely available, we’d encourage you, and others, to sign-up to receive our periodic updates by clicking here. And as you know, social media is playing an increasingly important role in the way that we all consumer and share news. To that end, we’d encourage to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and visit our blog for the latest news about clean-burning American natural gas.

Why do you get tax breaks?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:44:41 +0000

Since 2006, the natural gas industry has paid more than $1.6 billion in state and local taxes and paid $400 million in impact fees these past two year. When you consider the more than $500 million the industry has invested in road improvement project, only then can you begin to realize the tremendous revenue and Read more >

What are we waiting for?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:42:50 +0000

What’s great about safe, job-creating natural gas development is that it’s already underway in Pennsylvania. In fact, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Between 2009 and 2011, Pennsylvania’s natural gas production more than quadrupled due to expanded horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing.” The result? More jobs, more revenue and cleaner air. This responsible development is Powering an American Renaissance.

Why does my tap water explode now?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:41:24 +0000

Given that we do not have any details regarding these claims, it is impossible to address them. However, and as you may know, Pennsylvania has an aggressive, modernized regulatory framework aimed at ensuring that natural gas production occurs in way that protects our environment, especially our water resources. In addition to the strict environmental regulations in the place in Pennsylvania that protect groundwater resources, the MSC has released several Recommended Practices on this subject, including Pre-Drill Water Supply Surveys and Responding to Stray Gas Incidents. Further, a U.S. Department of Energy report states this about hydraulic fracturing and groundwater:

“Hydraulic fracturing has been a key technology in making shale gas an affordable addition to the Nation’s energy supply, and the technology has proven to be a safe and effective stimulation technique. Ground water is protected during the shale gas fracturing process by a combination of the casing and cement that is installed when the well is drilled and the thousands of feet of rock between the fracture zone and any fresh or treatable aquifers.”

How do we train our workforce appropriate for the region’s role?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:40:13 +0000

Given the geographic and geologic footprint of the Marcellus Shale, there will never be active development of this resource in southeastern Pennsylvania. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities in the region. There is a host of companies in the region that are actively supporting this development. From environmental, engineering and law firms, to manufacturing facilities building drilling rigs, there are opportunities directly tied to Marcellus development available. Visit the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s (MSC) Jobs Portal to view the companies currently hiring.

The Community College of Philadelphia also has a energy training center that is working to prepare students for opportunities in the industry, as recently outlined by the Philadelphia Inquirer and ShaleNET, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor is also working to train workers for careers in the natural gas industry.

Town Image

mscqaadmin — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:39:20 +0000

What are you doing to increase awareness of fracking safety?

admin2 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:38:40 +0000

Hydraulic fracturing – a more than 60 year old well completion process – is critical in the safe development of job-creating American natural gas. We certainly recognize that many questions about this tightly-regulated process exist, but our industry – along with a host of strong regulations – is committed to transparency and operational excellence, all aimed at protecting our environment. For example, Marcellus Shale Coalition member companies disclose fracturing fluids on a well-by-well basis through FracFocus, national online registry administered by environmental regulators – even before this was required by the state.
FracFocus is also supported by the Obama Administration. This from E&E News:

President Obama’s top energy adviser today endorsed FracFocus.org, the industry’s favored way of disclosing hydraulic fracturing chemicals, as the best method of disclosure for the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies. “As an administration, we believe that FracFocus is an important tool that provides transparency to the American people,” Heather Zichal, deputy assistant to the president for energy and climate change.

And for those interested in seeing how the fracturing process works, click here and here to view educational videos.

Liberty Bell

mscqaadmin — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:36:31 +0000