Marcellus Shale Watch

PaDEP has imposed increased fees on non-Marcellus “traditional” vertical well permit applications. This will allow hiring new personnel in its Pittsburgh, Meadville and Williamsport offices.  Vertical wells with a bore length up to 2,000 feet will now have a base permit cost of $250 with an additional $50 applied for each additional 500 feet of length.

Some interesting Marcellus factoids from the DEP Press Release:

Through Oct. 23, DEP issued 5,333 oil and natural gas drilling permits this year—1,516 of which are for the Marcellus Shale formation.

Of the 1,944 wells drilled in 2009, 403 are Marcellus Shale wells.   The department has performed 10,365 inspections of drilling sites during that period.

Since 2005, DEP has issued 2,112 Marcellus Shale permits and there have been a total of 660 Marcellus Shale wells drilled.

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A leak of 8,400 gallons of proprietary fracking fluids (1,900 into a wetland) from a ruptured or leaking pipe resulted in a temporary cessation of drilling.  The incident may have been site-specific, due to pressure on the lines from an unusual ground elevation difference from the tanks to the well.  An engineering study of the incident by Cabot resulted in corrective measures accepted by PaDEP, including improved preparedness planning, pipe testing and observation.  Drilling has been allowed to resume.  Fines are still possible, according to a news report.  More information is available in the DEP press release here and comprehensive Times Tribune news report here.

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