Links for July 16: Positive Buzz For Ohio Utica Shale, Water Workers Upset with Pipeline Activity, Patriot Water Fires Back

By -
MarkWest project manager says Ohio Utica Shale is "very, very rich."



Patriot Water Treatment in Warren, Ohio thanks the city of Warren, neighboring communities, Legislators, Local Governments, Business owners and citizens in the valley and state for their support. We have received letters, emails, telephone calls and positive comments through the news media from many who understand that our company has done nothing wrong. Our most recent victory was against the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) in a trial held by the Environmental Review Appeals Commission (ERAC) (July 3, 2012). OEPA and ODNR chose ERAC to be the arbiter in their dispute with our company rather than having us all appear in Trumbull County Court, which Patriot was willing to do. 
Despite our repeated requests for public information, OEPA and ODNR withheld more than 1,250 records until days before trial, with approximately 330 additional records supplied aftertrial. In fact, these agencies are still withholding public documents today. The facts presented in our ERAC hearing, and the ruling at the conclusion of that hearing, prove that Patriot and Warren present no danger to the environment and confirmed that these state agencies worked together to provide approval for our facility. In short, the ERAC ruling confirms that Patriot can operate pursuant to a lawfully issued permit. These were positions Patriot has asserted from the start of this prolonged legal battle. It should be noted that, during this process, several witnesses from Patriot and Warren were eager to testify before ERAC while OEPA Director Scott Nally refused to testify under oath… not once, but twice. 
We had hoped to work cooperatively with OEPA and ODNR and, in fact, on several occasions, Warren and Patriot asked agency representatives to come to our facilities for a tour. They refused without explanation. We have opened our facilities to visits from USEPA, injection well owners, legislators, mayors, council, media, schools, professors, oil and gas producers, trucking companies, trade organizations and others with questions. We have nothing to hide. To the contrary, we are proud of our innovative process for cleaning water and believe it serves Ohio’s environmental interests. 
OEPA and ODNR continue to make misleading, incorrect statements about our positive ruling from Ohio’s environmental court and our operations. These agencies persist in their aggressive attacks on our small business despite the ERAC ruling, and they do so with no regard to the impact on public health, safety and jobs. If we, as a community, do nothing in the face of this governmental abuse, you can be assured other Ohio businesses will fall victim to similar unfair treatment in the future.

Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter!

Popular posts from this blog

Fracktivist in Dimock Releases Carefully Edited Video, Refuses to Release the Rest

By -
Image
From Energy in Depth: There is something very strange going on along Carter Road, in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and I’m not speaking of natural gas, methane migration, contamination, litigation or even the extensive water testing there by the EPA and others.  No, I’m talking about a new “Watergate” conspiracy, complete with 18 minutes of missing tape (well, video, actually). It seems the ever-present Green Party member and  naturist   Vera Scroggins  (a/k/a  Vera Duerga ) has posted a video of Craig Sautner meeting with the EPA.  Mysteriously, the video is but 14 seconds in length, cutting off conversation in what is obviously mid-stream.  It raises a question Craig Sautner, like  Ronald Reagan in Kings Row , might have asked, “Where’s the rest of me?’  Carter Road, isn’t Kings Row, of course, (at least not until you arrive at  the mansion Scott Ely, one of the Dimock litigants, is building with his royalty money ), but there appears to be a whole lot of film editing going on there to fi
Read more

The Second Largest Oil and Gas Merger - Cabot and Cimarex

By -
Image
       Due to investor pressure, the U.S shale drillers are being pushed to improve financial and operational performance after a few years of poor returns. Even though the industry has improved its numbers, when compared to last year, investors still want more to be done for them to earn more money.      That's why two mid-tier shale drillers, Cabot and Climarex, have decided to merge in order to eliminate $100 million in annual costs, which means more money for the investors. This all-stock transaction is valued at about $7.4 billion, which is relatively high for the oil and gas sector.      The new entity will be renamed and the headquarters located in Houston, Texas. Cabot shareholders will own 49.5 percent of the new entity, and Climarex the rest.       The Cimarex-Cabot merger will address the investor's demand for a higher amount of returning cash. The initial plan is to pay a 50-cent-per-share special dividend on closing the deal while offering a quarterly variable div
Read more

Josh Fox Takes Another Approach to Attacking Oil & Gas Industry: They Don't Care About Worker Safety

By -
TRAILER for "CJ's LAW " A New Short Film on Worker Safety in the Gas Fields by Josh Fox from JFOX on Vimeo . Energy in Depth was quick to respond.  Here's a snippet of their article on the topic: Now, make no mistake: not a single death or a serious injury that happens at an industrial worksite is acceptable to anyone. But in rare cases, accidents and incidents do occur, even with the most stringent regulatory system in place anywhere in the world, and the combined investment of literally billions of dollars each year into new processes, systems and technologies designed and proven to make the workplace even safer. But Fox isn’t just saying that oil and gas companies don’t care about their employees, as scurrilous a charge as that may be. He’s also saying that the industry’s track-record on safety is bad, a contention echoed by a reporter at E&E News  in a piece filed  the week after Josh’s new video hit (and featuring the same interview subjects as Jos
Read more