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Md. senators write FERC about natural gas proposal
MYERSVILLE — Maryland’s two U.S. senators are asking federal regulators to pay close attention to residents’ concerns about a proposed natural-gas compressor station near Myersville. The letter from Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin follows similar letters by county officials and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett. The compressor station is part of a Dominion Transmission project to […]
Bay foundation links fracking, air pollution
An environmental group said Wednesday that infrared video shows air pollution streaming from natural gas sites that have been sprouting up across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said it sent the videos to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency along with a letter saying they show that emissions are not being adequately controlled. […]
‘Fracking’ revenue looms large
ANNAPOLIS — Maryland lawmakers are starting to debate how much “severance tax” should be imposed on the natural gas that might be produced from the Marcellus Shale rock formation in Western Maryland. Though it is not clear when, or even whether, Maryland will allow drilling in the Marcellus Shale using the controversial gas extraction method […]
Risk-reward of ‘fracking’ is still debated
WASHINGTON — Critics have blamed hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” for environmental disturbances including landscape degradation, air pollution and groundwater contamination — conditions that may affect the health of surrounding areas. But the jury is still out on whether these claims are valid. “We still see it as very early days of the process here. … […]
EPA to probe gas drilling’s toll on drinking water
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is set to start the first federal probe into whether the controversial drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing is spoiling and diminishing drinking water supplies. The agency’s final study plan was released Thursday. The research will look at where companies performing hydraulic fracturing get their water and how much […]
Gansler says mineral-rights leases may endanger homes
HAGERSTOWN — Maryland’s attorney general is urging people in the western part of the state to check with their mortgage lender before signing a mineral-rights lease. Douglas Gansler says some federally approved mortgages have requirements that conflict with mineral-rights leases. He says property owners who are considering a mineral-rights lease should have their bank or […]
Dominion seeks exports of Marcellus Shale gas
HARRISBURG, Pa. — An energy company is seeking federal approval to allow exports of liquefied natural gas from the booming Appalachian drilling industry, saying that the nation’s natural gas supply is outpacing demand. Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Resources Inc. announced last week that it has applied to the Department of Energy to allow 1 billion cubic […]
Lawsuits over ‘fracking’ spread across U.S.
Litigation over oil and natural gas industry techniques that include hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is underway across the country and expected to spread. Over the past few years, the use of fracking to drive natural gas out of shale rock has increased dramatically. The technique involves drilling a hole deep into the rock, then pumping […]
Dinegar talks Maryland, Virginia competition
Jim Dinegar, the president and CEO of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, has a unique point of view on the Maryland vs. Virginia economic development battle because his constituency hails from Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and the city in between. He briefed the Maryland Senate Budget and Taxation Committee on Tuesday about a range […]
Panel says fracking chemicals should be revealed
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A U.S. Department of Energy panel wants energy companies to reveal all the chemicals they use in a drilling technique that has allowed them to reach huge and previously inaccessible deposits of natural gas and paved the way for tens of thousands of new wells but that critics say could poison water […]
Gas drillers, skeptics clash as Maryland board meets
FLINTSTONE — Energy industry representatives and skeptics clashed Thursday over taxation issues and a three-year timeline for studying the risks and benefits of natural-gas drilling in Maryland’s section of the Marcellus Shale. With lucrative production from Marcellus wells under way in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Maryland should expedite its rule-making, said Drew Cobbs, executive dir[...]
Exxon Mobil 2Q earnings rise 41 percent
NEW YORK — Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday that profit rose 41 percent in the second quarter, when the price of gasoline and other fuels jumped to three-year highs. Exxon’s second-quarter income of $10.68 billion is the largest since it set a corporate net income record of $14.8 billion in the third quarter of 2008. […]
