Friday PA Environment & Energy NewsClips - 9.22.23

Pursue Your Constitutional Right To A Clean Environment In Pennsylvania!

Senate next voting day October 2, 3, 4  [Unless Sooner Recalled]

-- Committee Schedule

House next voting day September 26, 27; October 2, 3, 4, 16 [Unless Sooner Recalled]

-- Committee Schedule

TODAY’s Calendar Of Events 

-- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, NERC Final Report On Winter Storm Elliott Says Legislative Action Needed To Establish Reliability Rules For Natural Gas Infrastructure  [PaEN]

-- Reuters: US Energy Regulator Recommends Revising Reliability Standards For Natural Gas, Power Grid Infrastructure During Extreme Weather

-- PUC To Seek Public Comment On Proposed $100,000 Penalty Settlement With Mifflin Energy Corp. For Natural Gas Explosion Destroying Home/Business In Greene County  [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 8 Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawals - 1 In Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek, Home To The Hellbender  [PaEN] 

-- Game Commission Board OKs More Shale Gas Drilling In Lycoming County, Home To The Hellbender, And Sullivan County  [PaEN]

-- What It’s Like To Raise A Family In The Most Fracked County In PA - Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- Uncontrolled Natural Gas Emissions From Equitrans Steelhead Compressor Station, Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- DEP Hears Concerns, Some Support From Water Resources Committee On Draft Reg. On Reporting Unauthorized Spills, Releases  [PaEN]

-- DEP Publishes Notice Of Availability Of Final Air Quality General Permit For Installation Of Coal Mine Methane Enclosed Flares

-- DEP Announced $38.76 Million In Funding For 6 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Projects In 5 Counties; Next Round Of Applications Due Dec. 2  [PaEN]

-- Tribune-Democrat: DEP Awards Funds For Mine Reclamation Projects In Cambria, Somerset Counties

-- Shenandoah Sentinel: DEP Awards $38 Million For Abandoned Mine Reclamation, $0 Awarded In Schuylkill County

-- Stroud Water Research Center Partner Hillendale Elementary School Awarded U.S. Green Ribbon School Award For Environmental Education, Sustainability In Chester County  [PaEN]

-- Celebrate Riparian Buffers Month In October!  With Penn State Extension, Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, Penn State Agriculture & Environment Center  [PaEN]

-- Master Watershed Stewards Celebrate 10 Years Of Making A Difference  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Master Watershed Steward Coordinator Erin Frederick Honored By Lehigh Valley Business Council  [PaEN]

-- Penn State Extension Future Master Watershed Steward Program Scaling Up  [PaEN]

-- Introduce Students Ages 8-10 On How They Can Be Stream Doctors In The New Book -- Brooke Meets A Stream Doctor  [PaEN]

-- Warren Times: Oct. 9 Audubon Community Nature Center Camp For Ages 4-12

-- Warren Times: Oct. 1 Audubon Community Nature Center First Sunday Story Time

-- ClearWater Conservancy’s Deb Nardone Resigns As Executive Director To Step Into The Role Of Executive Director For Foundation For PA Watersheds  [PaEN]

-- Tribune-Democrat: New Executive Director Named For Foundation For PA Watersheds

-- EPA Awards Carnegie Mellon $1.8 Million Grant To Study Protecting Water Quality During Enhanced Aquifer Recharge

-- Penn State Research: 87% Of Rivers, Streams Rapidly Warming, 70% Losing Oxygen; Aquatic Life May Be At Risk, Study Finds  [PaEN]

-- 17 PA Farmers, Organizations, Businesses Call On Congress To Expand Support For Agroforestry  [PaEN]

-- Delaware RiverKeeper Sept. 22 RiverWatch Video Report

-- Scranton Times: Multi-Agency Response Center Opens In Lackawanna County To Assist Sept. 9 Flood Victims

-- Scranton Times: Dalton Officials Assessing Flood Damage To Borough Buildings

-- AP: US East Coast Under Tropical Storm Warning With Landfall Forecast In North Carolina

-- Williamsport Sun: Lycoming County Approves 2nd Round Of Federal American Rescue Fund Grants For Sewer, Water Projects

-- DEP Took Action On 827 Permits, 95% Within Permit Decision Guarantee Deadlines; Conducted 1,381 Inspections; Responded To 7 Environmental Emergencies During Week Ending Sept. 17 

-- September 23 Pennsylvania Bulletin Now Available

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: PA Turnpike Gets First Federal Grants To Install Electric Vehicle Charging Stations At Service Plazas

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: National Energy Technology Laboratory’s Pittsburgh Innovation Could End Up Decarbonizing US Steel’s Mon Valley Works

-- PA Municipal League, Sustainable Pittsburgh Host Sustainable PA Annual Conference Set For Nov. 1-3 In Gettysburg  [PaEN]

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: What Can I Do About Climate Change? Part 7: Speak Up 

-- PA Resources Council: Registration Open For Weekday Electronics Waste Collection In Allegheny County  [PaEN]

-- EPA And Lincoln University Expand Partnership To Include Department Of Environmental Protection  [PaEN]

-- PUC Approves 5.6% Rate Increase For UGI Electric Division

-- PUC 2022-23 Audit Investigations Identified Over $50 Million In Savings For Utilities, Customers

-- PUC Appoints David E. Screven As Chief Counsel

-- PennLive: Minks Missing From PA Fur Farm Now Believed To Be In Hundreds, Not Thousands

-- DCNR Conservation & Natural Resources Advisory Council Meets Sept. 27

-- DCNR Experts Offer Fall Foliage Tips; Weekly Fall Foliage Reports Begin Sept. 28  [PaEN]

-- Observer-Reporter: This Year’s Leaf-Peeping Season Should Be Spectacular

-- Inquirer: Five (More) Fall Hikes Near And Far From Philadelphia

-- Erie Times: DCNR Extends Presque Isle Weekend Swim Season Thru Oct. 1

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Investing In Penn’s Woods For Tourism

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Hays Woods Park Has A Bright Future, But URA Transaction Merits Further Review

-- DCNR Publishes Final Regulation Making Changes To Native Wild Plant List

-- Game Commission Hosts 8 State Game Land Tours Across PA Starting Oct. 1

-- Post-Gazette - Mary Ann Thomas: Tens Of Thousands Of ‘Fat Birds’ Moving Through Western PA For Fall Migration

Train Derailments

-- WESA/AP: Biden Says Norfolk Southern Must Be Held Accountable For Ohio Train Derailment, But Won’t Declare Disaster

-- WITF/AP: Railroads Working To Make Sure Firefighters Can Quickly Look Up What Is On A Train After A Derailment

6th Oil/Natural Gas Spike: True Energy Independence Means Renewables

[There Is No Limit To What Oil/Natural Gas Industry Can Make You Pay]

-- The Economist: Why Uranium Prices Are Soaring

Other States/National/International

-- WITF/NPR: Biden Unveiling The American Climate Corps, A Program With Echoes Of The New Deal

-- The Economist: Parts Of America Are Becoming Uninsurable

PA Politics - Everything Is Connected

--Spotlight PA: Judge Rules Delaware County Must Accept In-Person Votes From Residents Whose Flawed Mail Ballots Were Rejected

-- AP: Republican David McCormick Launches 2nd  US Senate Bid In PA

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Fetterman Owes The People A Decent Outfit

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: PA House Democrats Fire Director Of Campaign Committee Over Money Mismanagement

-- WESA: PA Republicans, Democrats Like Their Own Schools, But Believe Other Districts Are Failing Kids

-- WESA: Class Of 2028 Will Be Last To Receive Pittsburgh Promise College Scholarships

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[Posted: September 22, 2023]  PA Environment Digest

Game Commission Board OKs More Shale Gas Drilling In Lycoming County, Home To The Hellbender, And Sullivan County

On September 16, the Board of Game Commissioners approved another oil and gas agreement with PA General Energy allowing it to extract oil and gas from beneath a portion of State Game Lands 134 in Gamble and Plunketts Creek townships, Lycoming County and Hillsgrove Township, Sullivan County, provided it confines all of its equipment to one right of way.

In exchange, PA General Energy will convey to the Game Commission 3,931 acres in Jay Township, Elk County – the heart of the elk range – for what will become State Game Lands 338. 

PA General Energy will also make a $500,000 contribution to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for use in creating elk habitat in cooperation with the Game Commission.

In addition to the land gained, these two gas leases will generate future revenues to the Game Commission, with a 16% royalty rate due on all gas produced.

Home Of the Hellbender

Gamble and Plunketts Creek townships in Lycoming County have been ground-zero for a controversy over construction of a PA General Energy withdrawal on the Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek.

The construction of PA General Energy Company’s Shawnee Water Withdrawal last summer on the Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek resulted in multiple Clean Streams Law violations, an out-of-court settlement with the Fish and Boat Commission for other violations and threatened the habitat of the rare Eastern Hellbender, Pennsylvania’s clean water ambassador.

The construction resulted in multiple, heavy sediment plumes as PA General Energy constructed the water withdrawal and related freshwater and natural gas pipelines on both sides of the Loyalsock to service planned unconventional shale gas well pads on DCNR State Forest Land.

PA General Energy also failed to construct the water withdrawal structures as authorized in their DEP and Susquehanna River Basin Commission permits and they now have to be amended.  Read more here.

No monetary penalties or enforcement actions other than issuing notices of violation by DEP have been taken by either DEP or the Susquehanna River Basin Commission for any of these construction violations.

PA General Energy came to a private agreement with the Fish and Boat Commission covering some of the construction violations.  Read more here.

No enforcement actions have been announced by DEP or SRBC for the failure of PA General Energy to build its water withdrawal and pipeline corridor across the Loyalsock Creek in compliance with its original permits, except for notices of violation.

(Photo: PA General Energy constructed an SRBC-approved water withdrawal in the Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek attracting notices of violation from DEP and the Fish and Boat Commission.)

NewsClips:

-- PA Chapter Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Oppose Transfer Of $150 Million From Game Fund To Clean Streams Fund In Senate Budget Bill; Could Make State Ineligible For Federal Wildlife Funds  [PaEN] 

-- PA Federation Of Sportsmen & Conservationists Oppose State Budget Bill Transfer Of $150 Million From Game Commission Fund To Clean Streams Fund

-- Growing Greener Coalition Opposes Senate Amendment Taking $150 Million From Game Commission Fund That Threatens Federal Wildlife Funding  [PaEN] 

-- Lancaster Farming: Game Commission Braces For Impact Of $150 Million Transfer Out Of Game Fund

-- Citizens Voice: Game Commission Could Lose Nearly $150 Million In Revenue If State Budget Bill Passes

Related Articles - PGE Violations:

-- DEP Finds PA General Energy Installed Its Shawnee Water Withdrawal On The Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek At Sizes Larger Than Authorized By Its SRBC, DEP Permits  [PaEN] 

-- Fish & Boat Commission Investigation Of Pollution From PA General Energy Natural Gas Development Construction Site On Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek Results In Settlement Agreement  [PaEN]

-- Citizen Complaints Result In DEP Issuing PA General Energy More Violations At Loyalsock Creek Gas Pipeline/Water Withdrawal Construction Site In Lycoming County   [PaEN]

-- Bay Journal: Hellbender Habitat Slammed By Pollution From Shale Gas Development In PA's Loyalsock Creek - By Ad Crable, Chesapeake Bay Journal  [PaEN]

-- Rare Eastern Hellbender Habitat In Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County Harmed By Sediment Plumes From Pipeline Crossings, Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawal Construction Projects   [PaEN]

-- DEP: PA General Energy Cited For More Water Pollution Violations, Blocking The Whole Width Of Loyalsock Creek At Gas Pipeline/Water Withdrawal Construction Site In Lycoming County  [PaEN]

-- NO SPECIAL PROTECTION: The Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek In Lycoming County Is Dammed And Damned - Video Dispatch From The Loyalsock - By Barb Jarmoska, Keep It Wild PA  [PaEN]

-- DEP Issues 2 NOVs Against PA General Energy For Water Pollution Discharges Into The Loyalsock Creek From Gas Pipeline/Water Withdraw Construction In Lycoming County   [PaEN]

-- DEP, Fish & Boat Commission Investigate Multiple, Continuing Water Pollution Discharges From PGE Natural Gas Pipeline Construction Site On Loyalsock Creek, Lycoming County   [PaEN]

-- Exceptional Value Water Quality Designation, State Forest Land, River Honors Were Not Enough To Protect Loyalsock Creek From Natural Gas Drilling & Pipelines In Lycoming County - By Friends Of The 'Sock  [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- Williamsport Sun: Locals Help Give Hellbenders A Voice

-- What It’s Like To Raise A Family In The Most Fracked County In PA - Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

-- Uncontrolled Natural Gas Emissions From Equitrans Steelhead Compressor Station, Washington County: PA Physicians For Social Responsibility [Video]

Related Articles This Week:

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission Approves 8 Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawals - 1 In Exceptional Value Loyalsock Creek, Home To The Hellbender  [PaEN]  

-- Senators Santarsiero, Comitta To Introduce Bill Increasing Setback Safety Zones From Shale Natural Gas Drilling Sites From 500 To 2,500 Feet, Based On Latest Science  [PaEN] 

-- Petro Erie, Inc. Appeals 2nd DEP Order Requiring The Operator To Restore The Village Of Reno’s Water Supply Contaminated By A Spill Of Conventional Oil Well Wastewater In Venango County  [PaEN]  

-- DEP Issues NOVs To Roulette Oil & Gas LLC For Abandoning Another Conventional Well In Potter County; Roulette Applying For Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Permit  [PaEN]

-- DEP Hears Concerns, Some Support From Water Resources Committee On Draft Reg. On Reporting Unauthorized Spills, Releases  [PaEN]

-- FracTracker Alliance Now Accepting Nominations For 2023 Community Sentinel Award  [PaEN] 

-- DEP To Increase Monitoring, Develop Surface Water Standard For PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' After Study Shows 76% Of Streams, Rivers Contained At Least One Of These Chemicals  [PaEN]

-- DEP: Widespread Presence Of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Fresh Water Leading Shale Gas Operators To Use Contaminated Water In Fracking Operations; DEP Doesn’t Require Routine PFAS Testing  [PaEN]

-- House Environmental Committee Meets Sept. 26 On Cryptocurrency Mining Moratorium Bill [PaEN]

[Posted: September 21, 2023]  PA Environment Digest