The Daily Digger

Canton Office Will Be Firm’s Twelfth Office and Second Ohio Location Bridgeport, W.Va. (PRWEB) January 22, 2013 Steptoe & Johnson has expanded its presence in the  Utica shale  with the opening of a new office in Canton, Ohio. The Canton office is the firm’s second Ohio location – along with an office in Columbus – and its twelfth overall. The Canton office will serve the growing number of energy clients conducting operations in the Utica shale. Eventually, it office will become a full service location with additional resources in the business, labor and litigation practices. “Energy companies throughout the nation know the potential of the Utica shale and eastern Ohio,” said Energy Team Leader  Sharon Flanery . “Adding the Canton location is another step to assist our many clients working in this region.” Steptoe & Johnson attorney  Daniel Kostrub  will transfer from the firm’s Wheeling, W.Va. office to serve as the Canton Managing Member and wi...

From the Kent Patch: Kent residents opposed to fracking within city limits returned to  Kent City Council  seeking action on laws prohibiting oil and gas drilling in the Tree City. Members of the group Concerned Citizens of Ohio offered members of council a plethora of examples of Ohio communities that had taken action to regulate or all-out ban hydraulic fracturing within their towns. Read the whole article by clicking here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Business Journal Daily: EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio -- Two actions taken by the Columbiana County Port Authority Monday moves Marathon Petroleum Corp. closer to building a transfer station in Wellsville. At its meeting Monday evening, the port authority's board of directors approved a $2.4 million land purchase agreement with Marathon for 3.6 acres at its Wellsville Intermodal Facility. Upon approval of the agreement by Marathon, the company will pay the port authority $10,000 in earnest money, which will be applied to the balance due at closing. The port authority will keep $1.8 million of the balance, with the village of Wellsville receiving $600,000. Read the whole story here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

Dana Bohan (left) didn't tell those whom she interviewed that she worked for an industry-backed group From EcoWatch: The industry would try and have you believe they would never misrepresent who they are, that they would never go under cover for their own benefit. Except they do. On July 28, Tina Fisher, of New Plymouth, Idaho, was approached by a woman claiming to be learning more about natural gas development and why people had traveled near and far to attend the day’s  Stop the Frack Attack rally  on the Capitol’s West Lawn. With her long brunette curls pulled into a casual pony tail and a “Ban  Fracking  Now” sticker affixed to her t-shirt, she looked like many on the sprawling green. In one hand she held anti-fracking and Stop the Frack Attack rally memorabilia and in the other hand, a camcorder. Fisher spoke on the record with the reporter. At the time, legislators had passed sweeping new laws setting the stage for oil and gas development in Idaho. Today...

From the New York Post: If frackophobes are to be believed, natural-gas fracking is the most frightful environmental nightmare since Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant melted down after an earthquake and tsunami. In “Promised Land,” Matt Damon’s new anti-fracking movie, one character demonstrates this production technique’s “dangers” by drenching a toy farm with household chemicals and then setting it ablaze. In the new pro-fracking film, “Fracknation,” one Pennsylvania homeowner absurdly claims that fracking polluted his well water with weapons-grade uranium. Read the whole op-ed by clicking here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From the Akron Beacon Journal: A total of 23 drilling companies are in pursuit of Ohio’s Utica shale, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management. That total was as of Jan. 12 and is reflected in the companies that are getting state drilling permits. Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. is No. 1 with 325 permits in 10 Ohio counties including Portage and Stark. Other totals are: Read the rest here. 27 of the 48 producing wells in Ohio are in Carroll County, and all of those 27 are Chesapeake wells. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog

From Shale Reporter: In the news recently there have been several accounts, and opinion pieces published as a result of those accounts, about potential violence against women as a result of fracking. Fracking?   Well, that's a bit of a generalization.   The source of the debate is an article that appeared in the New York Times last week about the explosion of young men who have moved into small towns in North Dakota as a result of the oil boom. These young men also have more than a few bucks to spend. Read the whole article here.  Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @EnergyNewsBlog