House Committee Sets Sept. 17 Hearing On PA One Call Underground Utility Notification Program Reauthorization; Almost All Conventional Gas/Oil Pipelines Specifically Excluded

The House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on House Bill 2189 (Matzie-D-Beaver) reauthorizing the PA One Call underground utility notification program for seven years  (sponsor summary) 

When this program was last reauthorized in 2017, the prime sponsor Sen. Lisa Baker noted there are more than 6,000 incidents of striking utility lines every year, with approximately half involving natural gas lines because facility owners do not join the PA One Call program or for other reasons. Read more here.

The 2107 law specifically exempts any natural gas or oil gathering lines serving conventional oil and gas wells, unless regulated by the federal Pipeline Safety Act.  The federal law only includes pipelines with an outside diameter of 8.625 inches or greater located in certain areas.  Read more here.

This excludes almost all conventional natural gas an oil gathering lines and means contractors and the public are unprotected from the consequences of accidental hits on these pipelines.

The hearing will be held in Room G-50 Irvis Building starting at 10:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch live.

Rep. Robert Matzie (D-Beaver) serves as Majority Chair of the House Consumer Protection, Technology & Utilities Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-4444 or sending email to: rmatzie@pahouse.net.  Rep. Jim Marshall (R-Beaver) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-260-6432 or sending email to: jmarshal@pahousegop.com. 

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - September 7 to 13 - 12,600+ Gallon Shale Gas Wastewater Pipeline Release; 1,000 Gallon+ Subsurface Conventional Wastewater Spill; 28+ Abandoned Wells; Stray Gas Investigation In Elk Viewing Area  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Finds Shale Gas Wastewater Pipeline Sprayed & Leaked 12,600+ Gallons For Nearly 3 Hours In Gilmore Twp., Greene County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Reports Subsurface Release Of An Estimated 1,000 Gallons Of Wastewater At Hebron Gas Storage Field Conventional Well In Hebron Twp., Potter County; Water Supplies Impacted, Report Well Problems To DEP Near This Facility  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Issues Violation To Apex Energy (PA) LLC For Failure To Submit List Of Fracking Chemicals For 37 Shale Gas Wells Over 6 Years In Westmoreland County  [PaEN] 

-- DEP Declares 21 Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Owned By Schreiner Oil & Gas Inc. Abandoned, Not Plugged In Erie, McKean Counties; 747 Violations For Conventional Well Abandonment This Year  [PaEN]  

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices, Opportunities To Comment - September 14 [PaEN] 

-- DEP Posted 82 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In September 14 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]  

Related Articles This Week:

-- Cecil Township Supervisors Direct Solicitor To Prepare Ordinance Increasing Setbacks From Shale Gas Well Pads By At Least 2,500 Feet; Another Hearing, Vote Expected Nov. 4   [PaEN] 

-- WESA: New Freeport, Greene County Residents File Lawsuit Against EQT Gas Drilling Company Over Contaminated Water Supplies  [PaEN]

-- Southwestern PA Community, Health Organizations To Hold Sept. 17 Online Press Event - One Year After Pitt Shale Gas Health Impacts Studies And The Failure To Fulfill Essential Promises Made To Residents  [PaEN]  

-- Susquehanna River Basin Conditions Trigger Low-Flow Water Use Restrictions At 7 Shale Gas Water Withdrawals In Bradford, Susquehanna, Tioga Counties  [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves Water Withdrawal Requests - Including 8 For Shale Gas Development; Total Of 23 In 2024  [PaEN] 

-- Senate Hearing: Landowner Concerns About Liability For Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells May Be Impediment To Plugging Leaking Wells; Need To Make Plugging Programs More Effective To Deal With ‘Growing Problem’  [PaEN] 

-- Groundbreaking Initiative Using Drones To Locate Orphan, Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells In Pennsylvania Kicks Off  [PaEN] 

-- Baker Hughes: PA Shale Gas Drilling Rigs Drop Another 2 From Last Week To 14 - On Aug. 23 There Were 21 - 33% Drop [Effort To Raise Natural Gas Prices Continues]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Coterra Energy Pulling All Active Marcellus Drilling Rigs From Susquehanna County Until Natural Gas Price Recovers  [PDF of Article]  [Dimock Is In This County] 

-- WITF StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: PA Shale Gas Drilling Slowed In 2024, Prices Expected To Rise This Winter

-- US DOE Now Accepting Applications For $15 Million In Funding To Reduce  Methane Emissions From Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells

-- House Committee Sets Sept. 17 Hearing On PA One Call Underground Utility Notification Program Reauthorization; Almost All Conventional Gas/Oil Pipelines Specifically Excluded  [PaEN]

-- PUC Publishes Final Public Utility Owned Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Standards In Sept. 14 PA Bulletin  [Read background here ]

-- Ohio River Valley Institute: $55 Million Federally-Funded Tenaska Carbon Geologic Sequestration Project Expected To Permanently Employ 4 People, According To A WV University Study  [PaEN] 

NewsClips:

-- WESA: New Freeport, Greene County Residents File Lawsuit Against EQT Gas Drilling Company Over Contaminated Water Supplies 

-- PublicSource.org: New Freeport, Greene County Residents In Federal Court Demanding Clean Water From EQT Natural Gas Company After Frack-Out  

-- Natural Resources Defense Council Blog: Fracking Loopholes Remain, With More Sick Families In Communities [Includes Pennsylvania Examples] 

-- TheDailyClimate.org: PA’s CNX Resources Gas Drilling Company With More Than 2,000 Environmental Violations Selected For Federal Hydrogen Hub Environmental Justice Funding 

-- TribLive Letter: Between 2016-2023 PA Households Paid 51% More For Natural Gas As LNG Gas Exports Surged; Shale Gas Drillers Accumulate 81,289 Environmental Violations - By Jan Milburn, Westmoreland County

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Coterra Energy Pulling All Active Marcellus Drilling Rigs From Susquehanna County Until Natural Gas Price Recovers  [PDF of Article]

-- The Derrick - John Barlett: An Eye In The Sky Will Seek Old Oil, Gas Wells  [PDF of Article]

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: State’s $100,000+ Cost To Plug Abandoned/Orphan Wells ‘Outrageously Enormous;’ Taking Care Of Problem No Simple Task  

-- WITF StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: PA Shale Gas Drilling Slowed In 2024, Prices Expected To Rise This Winter

-- RealClearEnergy.org: EQT Gas CEO Says Gas Reserves Could Sustain A 50% Increase In Production, Leaving ‘Enough Resources For Over 30 Years Of Supply;’ [Natural Gas Prices Would Be Lower If We Had More Pipelines, Storage] 

-- Governing Magazine: Oil & Gas Towns Don’t Need Help Now, But They Will As World Shifts To Clean Energy 

-- Bloomberg: Europe At Peak LNG Gas Consumption; LNG Overcapacity Heightens Risk Of Stranded Assets, IEEFA Says

-- Bloomberg: China’s LNG Gas Imports May Suffer As Caverns Are Filled To The Brim

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Markets Point To Steep Price Rise In 2025; Prices Drop In Anticipation Of Latest Hurricane Hitting LNG Gas Export Facilities In Louisiana    

-- Reuters: Transco Applies For FERC Emergency Certification To Keep Operating Regional Energy Access Expansion Natural Gas Pipeline Project After Court Threw Out Permit 

-- Bloomberg: NextDecade LNG Gas Export Project Paying Price For ‘Wrist Slap” Putting Thousands Of Jobs At Risk [Federal Court Ruling Striking Down FERC Permit Sending It Back For Required Environmental Review] 

-- WITF StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: Methane Emissions Much Higher Than Gas Industry Targets, EDF Study Says  

-- AP: Pollution Of The Potent Climate Warming Gas Methane Soars, People Mostly To Blame

-- US DOE Now Accepting Applications For $15 Million In Funding To Reduce  Methane Emissions From Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells

[Posted: September 13, 2024]  PA Environment Digest