Injection well plans still have hurdles

If Bear Lake Properties successfully demonstrates the Venango formation is able to take sufficient volumes of waste, the company will be taking waste that Kimmich said is mostly salt water, but does contain chemicals associated with hydrofracking.

Since Gov. Tom Corbett asked many of Pennsylvania's waste water treatment plants to stop accepting Marcellus Shale waste, trucks have been transporting the fluid to Ohio which has approximately 170 injection wells throughout the state, according to the Associated Press.

Last June, Ohio tried to slow the increase of waste by raising the tax from five cents a barrel to 20 cents a barrel.

So far that has not worked out.

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Two Oil and Gas Drilling Operators Sentenced on Felony Convictions for Violating The Safe Water Drinking Act

Acting United States Attorney Robert S. Cessar announced today, June 24, 2010, that a resident of Sheffield, Pennsylvania and a resident of La Quinta, California, have been sentenced in federal court in Erie as a result of their felony convictions for violating the Safe Drinking Water Act by unlawfully injecting brine produced from an oil drilling operation.

United States District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin imposed the sentences on John Morgan, age 54, of Sheffield, Pennsylvania, and Michael Evans, age 66, of La Quinta, California.  Mr. Morgan received a sentence of three years probation, a $4,000 fine, eight months home detention and eighty hours community service.  Mr. Evans received a sentence of three years probation, a $5,000 fine, ten months home detention and one hundred hours community service.

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PROFITS OVER PEOPLE ALERT: Lawmakers Call For EPA To Steer Clear Of Gas-Drilling Regulation

By Ryan Tracy, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A group of House lawmakers Thursday called for the U.S. government to stay out of regulating natural-gas drilling, saying the responsibility ought to be left to state authorities.

The calls, from lawmakers from Pennsylvania and other states where drilling occurs, came as two federal agencies study the safety of a controversial drilling technique used to extract natural gas.

Industry supporters fear the Environmental Protection Agency, which is conducting a long-term study on how gas drilling affects drinking water, will adopt policies or rules that slow U.S. gas production. A production boom in recent years has been followed by growing concerns about the drilling's environmental impact.

The Energy Department also has convened an advisory panel to study drilling safety. The panel held its first meeting this week.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201106021519dowjonesdjonline000620&title=lawmakers-call-for-epa-to-steer-clear-of-gas-drilling-regulation