Posts Tagged ‘state’

June 17th, Gov. Tom Corbett’s top health adviser said that he wants to make Pennsylvania the first state to create a registry to track illnesses in communities near heavy drilling in the Marcellus Shale natural gas formation. The registry could determine if fracking imposes a public health risk.

Shale drilling requires blending huge volumes of water with chemical additives and injecting it under high pressure into the ground to help shatter the thick rock, a process called hydraulic fracturing or fracking. In addition to the gas, some of that water returns to the surface tainted with metals like barium and strontium.

Health Secretary Eli Avila told Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission that creating such a registry is the timeliest and most important step the Department of Health (DOH) could take, and that his agency is not aware of anything like it in other drilling states. “We’re really at the frontiers of this and we can make a speedy example for all the other states,” Avila told the commission at its fourth meeting.

Collecting information on drilling-related health complaints, investigating them, centralizing the information in one database and then comparing illnesses in drilling communities with non-drilling communities could help refute or verify claims that drilling has an impact on public health, he said. The aggregation of data and information also would allow the DOH to make its findings public, in contrast to the privacy that surrounds its investigation into individual health complaints and the findings that may result.

The Marcellus Shale formation is considered to be the nation’s largest-known natural gas reservoir. Pennsylvania is the center of activity, with more than 3,000 wells drilled in the past three years and thousands more planned in the coming years. The rapid growth of deep shale drilling and its involvement of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, chemicals, and toxic wastewater are prompting health concerns in Pennsylvania.

 

“As drilling increases, I anticipate, at least in the short term, a proportionate increase in concerns and complaints which the department must be prepared to address,” Avila said. In the past year or so, the Department of Health has received several dozen or so health complaints, he said.

Such health registries are common, and in the past have been created to track measles and influenza, Avila said. To set up a drilling-related registry and fully investigate drilling-related health complaints would require another $2 million a year for the department and possibly require the help of the state’s schools of public health, Avila said.
Posted At: Examiner.com

 

 

New Report Shows Enormous Potential for Marcellus Development in NY

More than “$11.4 billion in economic output”, tens of thousands of much-needed jobs

Canonsburg, Pa. – The environmentally responsible development of the Marcellus Shale’s clean-burning American natural gas resources continues to have a transformative economic impact across the regions: tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, hundreds of millions in tax revenues, and billions in economic activity, investment and development. However, New York continues to misguidedly forgo these historic energy security and economic opportunities.

A new Manhattan Institute report issued this week, entitled “The Economic Opportunities of Shale Energy Development,” underscores the enormous potential that Marcellus development can offer New York’s economy, should leaders in Albany move forward with a commonsense plan aimed to responsibly leveraging the state’s abundant natural gas resources.

Key Manhattan Institute study findings:

• An end to the moratorium would spur over $11.4 billion in economic output.
• The typical Marcellus shale gas well generates about $4 million in economic benefits.
• Some 15,000 to 18,000 jobs could be created in the Southern Tier and Western New York, regions which lost a combined 48,000 payroll jobs between 2000 and 2010.*
• Another 75,000 to 90,000 jobs could be created if the area of exploration and drilling were expanded to include the Utica shale and southeastern New York, including the New York City watershed. (This assumes a regulatory regime that protects the water supply but permits drilling to continue.)
• Localities and the state stand to reap $1.4 billion in tax revenues if the moratorium is allowed to expire.

 

*Based on third quarter data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, maintained by the New York State Department of Labor. Posted athttp://www.labor.ny.gov/stats/lsqcew.shtm.

 

Posted at Marcellus Shale Coalition.org

 

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett wants to lift a statewide moratorium on gas well drilling on state land, including state forests, state prisons, and college campuses. He proposed that campuses situated over the Marcellus Shale Gas Reserve could be opened to natural gas drilling. Preliminary talks with school officials have already begun and a bill has been drafted allowing campus drilling. The announcement comes after he proposed to cut state funding to the schools by 50% in the budget.

There are six college campuses located within the Marcellus Shale Gas Reserve: Mansfield University, Lock Haven University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, and Slippery Rock University. Discussion regarding the ownership of the gas royalties is ongoing.

The University of Texas at Arlington began natural gas drilling in 2009.  The drilling has generated millions in royalties for the university (The Meadville Tribune, 5/29/2011) (Erie Times-News, 5/29/2011).

Posted At: Examiner.com

No Emission Levels Found that Constitute Public Health Concern

“The results show there are no emission levels that would be of concern to the health of residents living and working near these operations,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “They are consistent with the results of our air monitoring in southwest and northeast Pennsylvania, the other two areas of the state with the most Marcellus drilling.”

The report notes that the sampling effort, conducted between August and December 2010, was not meant to address potential cumulative impacts.

DEP’s assessment focused on concentrations of volatile organic compounds, including benzene, toluene and xylene, which are typically found in petroleum products. The department also sampled for other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, near natural gas extraction and processing sites.

DEP first conducted background sampling in early August 2010 at the Sones Pond parking lot in Loyalsock State Forest, Sullivan County.

The air quality sampling was conducted the weeks of Aug. 30, Nov. 15 and Dec. 6. An evening sampling event was held Nov. 17. DEP used its mobile laboratories and the equipment was set up downwind of the target sources during early morning and late evening hours.

“This study provides us with additional valuable information as part of our ongoing effort to determine the impact of these operations on air quality, public health and the environment,” Krancer said.

The air monitoring surveys were located next to Talisman Energy’s Thomas Compressor Station in Troy Township, Bradford County; East Energy’s Shaw Compressor Station in Mainesburg Township, Tioga County; East Energy’s Chicken Hawk well south of Mainesburg; and Anadarko Petroleum’s Hagemeyer well in Gamble Township, Lycoming County.

Those surveys detected the main constituents of natural gas—including methane, ethane, propane and butane—as well as low levels of other compounds, such as MtBE, carbon monoxide and methyl mercaptan, the odor-producing compound.

DEP’s sampling did not find concentrations of any compound that is likely to trigger air-related health issues associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities in the northcentral region.

Results from DEP’s previous air monitoring studies near Marcellus facilities in southwest and northeast Pennsylvania were announced in November 2010 and January 2011, respectively.

To view the report, log onto www.depweb.state.pa.us and click “Regional Resources,” then Northcentral Region and choose the “Community Information” link on the right side of the page.

For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 570-327-3659.

Media contact: Daniel T. Spadoni, 570-327-3659

 

Posted At: Pioga.org

 

No Emission Levels Found that Constitute Public Health Concern

“The results show there are no emission levels that would be of concern to the health of residents living and working near these operations,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. “They are consistent with the results of our air monitoring in southwest and northeast Pennsylvania, the other two areas of the state with the most Marcellus drilling.”

The report notes that the sampling effort, conducted between August and December 2010, was not meant to address potential cumulative impacts.

DEP’s assessment focused on concentrations of volatile organic compounds, including benzene, toluene and xylene, which are typically found in petroleum products. The department also sampled for other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, near natural gas extraction and processing sites.

DEP first conducted background sampling in early August 2010 at the Sones Pond parking lot in Loyalsock State Forest, Sullivan County.

The air quality sampling was conducted the weeks of Aug. 30, Nov. 15 and Dec. 6. An evening sampling event was held Nov. 17. DEP used its mobile laboratories and the equipment was set up downwind of the target sources during early morning and late evening hours.

“This study provides us with additional valuable information as part of our ongoing effort to determine the impact of these operations on air quality, public health and the environment,” Krancer said.

The air monitoring surveys were located next to Talisman Energy’s Thomas Compressor Station in Troy Township, Bradford County; East Energy’s Shaw Compressor Station in Mainesburg Township, Tioga County; East Energy’s Chicken Hawk well south of Mainesburg; and Anadarko Petroleum’s Hagemeyer well in Gamble Township, Lycoming County.

Those surveys detected the main constituents of natural gas—including methane, ethane, propane and butane—as well as low levels of other compounds, such as MtBE, carbon monoxide and methyl mercaptan, the odor-producing compound.

DEP’s sampling did not find concentrations of any compound that is likely to trigger air-related health issues associated with Marcellus Shale drilling activities in the northcentral region.

Results from DEP’s previous air monitoring studies near Marcellus facilities in southwest and northeast Pennsylvania were announced in November 2010 and January 2011, respectively.

To view the report, log onto www.depweb.state.pa.us and click “Regional Resources,” then Northcentral Region and choose the “Community Information” link on the right side of the page.

For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 570-327-3659.

Media contact: Daniel T. Spadoni, 570-327-3659

Posted At: Pioga.org

 

Attorneys Sean Mcdonough and Joseph Price recently attended a two day Seminar on Nursing Home Litigation sponsored by the American Association of Justice.  Speakers from throughout the country gave informative talks on state of the art nursing home litigation issues.  Both Attorney McDonough and Attorney Price are members of the National Sub-Committee on Nursing Home abuse and litigation.  Attorney McDonough recently testified before Congress in Washington D.C. on elderly abuse in nursing homes and personal care homes.

Ground Water Protection Council and Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission unveil the nation’s first single-source website disclosing additives on a well-by-well basis.

Press Release 4/11/11 -The Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), with funding support from the United States Department of Energy (DOE), unveiled a landmark web-based national registry disclosing the chemical additives used in the hydraulic fracturing process on a well-by-well basis. The information on the website covers wells drilled starting in 2011. The initiative provides energy companies involved in oil and gas exploration and production a single-source means to publically disclose the chemical additives used in the hydraulic fracturing process.

The new website, www.FracFocus.org, features an easy-to-use interface that gives the public and regulators access to comprehensive information about hydraulically-fractured wells nationwide. Searchable fields allow users to identify wells by location, operator, state and county, as well as a standard well identification number, known as an API number. The site also contains general information on the hydraulic fracturing process, water protection programs, descriptions of the chemicals used and their function in the process, and the Chemical Abstract Services registry number of each additive. A “Frequently Asked Questions” section is also included. The site also features information on private water wells, outlining steps landowners can take to learn more about operating and maintaining their water wells.

Participating energy companies voluntarily upload information about the chemical additives and the proportion used in each hydraulic fracturing job using a standard template. As of the launch, 24 energy companies are participating in the www.FracFocus.org project. In addition, several state regulators are actively encouraging energy companies to disclose information through the national chemical registry.

“For the past six months, our two organizations have been working together to build this first-of-its-kind web-based national chemical registry,” said Mike Paque, executive director of the GWPC. “As more and more questions were asked about the hydraulic fracturing process the past couple of years – particularly relating to chemical additives used in the process – we recognized an obstacle to greater disclosure was the lack of a uniform and efficient way to collect, report, and ensure public access. Information about additives used in the process was widely distributed, but difficult to access.”

“States have regulated the hydraulic fracturing process for more than half a century,” said Mike Smith, executive director of the IOGCC. “Until now, regulators and the public had no single site where they could easily access useful information on hydraulic fracturing and the additives used in the process. That said, the website will be a useful new tool to help the public learn about the hydraulic fracturing process. Our organizations have a responsibility to keep the public informed. We see this site as a step forward, and we expect it will evolve even more in the future.”

 

Posted at: Pioga.org

 

The Valley News Dispatch published the following workforce/training article on the growth of the jobs and educational providers that now are training for the oil and gas industry.

By Rossilynne Skena, VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Kurtis Fish is only 20 years old and he’s already making $80,000 per year.

Same goes for his 24-year-old brother, Ronald Severin.

The brothers, who completed a Marcellus shale training gas well drilling program at Westmoreland County Community College in September, work as chainhands on a Marcellus rig in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Las Vegas natives were laid off from their sheet metal jobs in Nevada when they heard about WCCC’s roustabout training program.

“We’re both young guys,” Fish said. “There wasn’t very many opportunities in Vegas for us. We really didn’t like staying on unemployment. We didn’t want to waste our time.”

So they ventured to Pennsylvania and graduated at the top of the class.

Within the next three years, thousands of new Marcellus shale jobs are expected to join the region’s work force.

That means Fish and Severin’s story will likely begin to echo.

And it gives local colleges a lot of work to do to prepare Western Pennsylvania’s workers. Some are creating new programs or modifying current ones to meet the demands of expected jobs.

A study last spring conducted by Pennsylvania College of Technology, an offshoot of Penn State University, looked at expected drill and rig activity in Westmoreland, Beaver, Washington, Green and Fayette counties. Other studies have looked at central and northern Pennsylvania.

It analyzed the type and number of Marcellus occupations needed between 2010 and 2014.

In 2014, there will likely be nearly 10,900 Marcellus jobs in that five-county region, the study found.

“There’s a lot of things that impact how fast this goes, but the opportunity and the amount of gas that’s coming up in the high performing wells … it’s jobs for several generations,” said Tracy Brundage, Penn College’s managing director for work force development and continuing education.

There are three main types of jobs needed to bring a Marcellus well into use: predrilling, drilling and production, she said.

So, how do you get one of those jobs?

Many companies offer specific training, Brundage said, but they also want people who bring specific skills. Those things can be learned at community college programs, two-year college programs and four-year college programs.

Williamsport-based Penn College offers training in safety, heavy equipment, welding, commercial driver’s license, electronics, fork-lift operation, instrument and programs, natural gas measurement, safety, supervisory control and data acquisition.

The college also offers roustabout training, a common program among local community colleges, that prepares workers for entry-level laborer jobs.

A two-year or four-year degree is necessary for more technical jobs, like engineering and surveying, applied science, surveying technology, construction management, electronics and computer engineering technology, welding and fabrication technology, CAD technology and heavy construction.

Penn College and WCCC are two hubs for Marcellus ShaleNET, a $4.9 million community-based job training grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Community College of Allegheny County also offers training, and Butler County Community College is readying training programs for this summer.

Local labor

In years past, most Marcellus well workers were from out of state, but that’s changed within the past year, Brundage said.

“A lot of companies that we’re meeting with now are saying most of the workers are Pennsylvania residents,” she said.

But, she pointed out, some of those could be “transplants” to the state, like Fish and Severin.

The jobs are lucrative, but they’re not easy money.

“I know it’s significantly better than the average wages for other industries,” Brundage said. “The opportunity is there, particularly if people are interested in a job where they can earn good money.

“But they have to work hard. The hours are long, the schedules are different than in a typical industry. … It’s a different type of work mentality than a lot of traditional jobs that we’re used to.”

Roustabout work, in particular, is tough.

“It is very, very physically demanding work — outside in all kinds of conditions, getting the well sites set up and getting it ready to produce,” CCAC spokesman David Hoovler said. “It’s definitely not an easy job, not for the faint of heart.”

The majority of people applying for roustabout jobs are young, local residents, Hoovler said. Roustabout base pay typically is about $28,000, but can be considerably more.

“We’re not getting people coming from a great distance away,” he said. “I think the majority have been from Allegheny County and directly in this region.”

WCCC has run several roustabout training programs with classes on average of 15 students, said Byron Kohut, director of Marcellus ShaleNET’s western hub at WCCC.

Area companies partner with the school, providing rig tours and explaining operations. That means the company will present their work to the class and take the students to a rig site for a presentation.

On the last day of class, the company gets first pick of the students.

No money changes hands, he said, between the school and the drilling companies.

The graduation rate is close to 100 percent, and the job placement rate is 60 percent.

“We don’t guarantee employment, but we do provide assistance,” Kohut said. “This industry is going to do nothing but help the region.”

Some roustabouts work two weeks on, two weeks off, while other companies have regular day shifts.

Average hourly starting pay is $18 to $25. Between $50,000 and $100,000 is common for a full-time roustabout, Kohut said.

Classes at WCCC have had both 20-year-olds and 50-year-olds, and those students have been placed locally.

Range Resources, one of the area’s largest local drilling companies, works as a sort-of general contractor, relying upon subcontractor-type companies for the actual drilling. Those service companies are hiring locally, spokesman Mike Mackin said.

Of its workers, 95 percent are local, Mackin said.

“That percentage of local workers is just getting higher and higher,” he said.

Range Resources is the company that completed the well near Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer — the first Marcellus shale well to be drilled in Allegheny County. The majority of its activity is in Washington County.

Drilling one well can require up to 400 people working in 100 different jobs, according to Mackin.

At first, Mackin said, out-of-towners were working in Western Pennsylvania, but that has changed as it’s more cost-efficient for companies to hire local workers and as colleges begin implementing training programs.

The industry wide average salary for those working in the Marcellus shale industry is $60,000.

Halliburton, another service company that contracts with oil and natural gas companies, conducts company-specific training for safety, along with other on-the-job training, said Shawna Melton, human resources supervisor for the company’s Northeast district.

Field operator positions require a high school degree, while field engineers need a college degree, she said.

Halliburton recruits throughout the state and provides training grants through Penn College, she said.

Work for local schools

Both WCCC and CCAC offer roustabout programs.

In addition to its three- to four-week, noncredit roustabout training, WCCC teaches an associate program in welding. It expects to provide more programming in the future.

“Our number one priority is jobs, training falls second, so what we’re doing is developing a system that will identify talented individuals,” said Byron Kohut, director of Marcellus ShaleNET’s western hub at WCCC.

The college will partner with Career Link in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to identify jobs.

Roustabout programs have begun, he said, and the curriculum for the other five positions are still in the works.

CCAC officials talked to Marcellus drilling companies, organizations and government agencies, looking ahead at what jobs would be available.

“We discovered that actually a number of our existing programs, some with some minor changes and some as they currently existed, already aligned with projected needs within the industry,” CCAC’s Hoovler said.

Some examples are the college’s welding program, which now includes a special type of pipe welding used in the natural gas industry, and its first-responder course that now includes training for fires and accidents at wells.

CCAC also has a certification program in bio-remediation and courses in the two-year bio-technology program focusing on water used in the drilling process.

The college’s roustabout program, made up of 10 students, began last week. Hoovler said the college hasn’t decided if it will offer future roustabout programs.

“We are always looking at our course offerings to see when there are changes in the work force (and) how we can develop a program to fit that need,” Hoovler said.

Though BCCC doesn’t offer any specific Marcellus shale related programs yet, it does provide a number that apply to the industry, like emergency responder training and safety training, according to Stephen Catt, executive director of work force development at the college.

BCCC is also a part of the ShaleNET program, Catt said, working with WCCC and Penn College.

The college is trying to also look at sustainable jobs — what will be here after the rigs leave — in the filtration, distribution and environmental fields, he said.

BCCC plans to offer roustabout training this summer.

Some vocational and technical schools also offer Marcellus programs.

Lenape Tech in Manor Township teaches a certification course to be natural gas and oil facility technician. About a half-dozen adult learners enrolled in the program.

Steel Center Area Vocational Technical School in Jefferson Hills a program that provides general knowledge to a variety of jobs in the natural gas industry, like frac operator, welltender, line locator and rig hand.

To learn more about Marcellus ShaleNET, visit here.

Career not for timid, inattentive

On the day brothers Kurtis Fish and Ronald Severin completed their training to be laborers on a Marcellus shale gas drilling operation, there were suitors jumping to hire them.

Three companies interviewed the Latrobe brothers, and drilling company Nomac hired them right away.

It shipped them to Arkansas for an additional three-week training course. Then it was on to Oklahoma to work on a rig for a final company evaluation.

Now, they work near Scranton on shifts that are two weeks on/two weeks off.

The job pays well, but it’s not easy.

While stationed at the rig, Fish wakes up at 3 a.m. and boards a van at 4 a.m. to ride to the rig site. He works from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., then gets back to the main camp by 7 for dinner, a shower and to get ready to do it all again come 3 a.m.

What’s more, it’s hazardous work.

“A lot of people look at the money first, but people have got to realize this is one of the top-paying, most dangerous jobs out there,” Fish said. “If you come to work not paying attention — I don’t mean to scare people — but you could die.”

His crew will take an extra 10 minutes to do a job safely rather than do it wrong.

On the job, the brothers clean the rig, take out trash, and “trip pipe” — changing drilling bits. It’s a promotion over their original job and it puts them one step closer to better jobs, Fish said.

He hopes to move up to the motorman job, a position that checks and works on various motors at drilling sites.

Though it is physical labor, Fish said he and his brother have always been active workers who keep in shape.

“If you don’t mind getting dirty, working in the rain, wind, snow — it wouldn’t bother someone who wouldn’t mind doing that,” Fish said.

As for the future, Fish sees himself progressing in the oil fields.

“They’ve got a saying, ‘You chase the rig,’” Fish said. “So this rig I’m on could go to Wyoming … I can pick up and go with my rig and keep my position, or quit and try to find a rig in Pennsylvania that needs a hand.”

He’s open to going wherever the rigs go.

“It’s a job, and that’s how it works in the oil fields,” Fish said. “You chase the rigs.”

Six high-priority Marcellus occupations

• Derrick operators

• Rotary drill operators

• Service units operators

• Roustabouts

• Welding and brazing operators

• Truck drivers

Source: Westmoreland County Community College

 

University Park, Pa. — The ongoing utilization of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale natural gas deposits has the state weighing the pros and cons of taxing the drilling activity. A study recently released by faculty in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences used state tax information in an effort to begin an objective analysis of the drilling’s impact on local economies and state tax collection.

The research, summarized in a four-page booklet titled “State Tax Implications of Marcellus Shale: What the Pennsylvania Data Say in 2010,” compared counties where there is Marcellus Shale drilling and production activity with non-Marcellus counties. The study was authored by Timothy Kelsey, professor of agricultural economics and Penn State Extension state program leader for economic and community development, and Charles Costanzo, an undergraduate student majoring in community, environment and development.

Data are drawn from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s report, “2010 Wells Drilled by County as of 02/11/2011,” as well as from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue’s “Personal Income Statistics for 2007 and 2008″ and its “Tax Compendium (2007-08 through 2009-10) with Statistical Supplements.”

Kelsey said while it’s still early in the natural gas drilling process, the analysis indicates that Marcellus Shale development brings some positive economic activity for communities.

The study found that state sales tax collections were up by an average of 11 percent in counties with major Marcellus activity, while collections dropped an average of more than 6 percent in counties without any Marcellus. Sales tax collections are an indicator that retail sales are booming in Marcellus counties.

“Tax revenues are only one side of finances, however, so this analysis only considers half of the issue,” Kelsey said. “The impact of Marcellus drilling on state and local government costs is yet unclear, so it is too early to understand the overall impact of Marcellus on the state government. This state tax analysis does not indicate the impact of Marcellus development on local government and school district tax collections, since royalty and leasing income is exempt from the local earned income tax, and local jurisdictions cannot levy sales taxes.”

Kelsey said researchers wanted to find out if state tax records could yield objective financial data on how local economies are being affected by Marcellus Shale development.

“The state tax information provides a glimpse at how sales activity and personal income are changing,” he said. “The state collects objective tax collection information every year, and that can provide a good snapshot of how residents’ income is changing and the amount of retail activity going on.”

Kelsey explained that the booklet can help the average citizen to understand that Marcellus Shale development is having a discernible economic impact on residents and in communities.

“We’re early enough in the development of the shale that much of what we ‘know’ is based on anecdotes and personal stories,” he said. “This analysis provides some real numbers behind those anecdotes. The data show clearly that there are economic benefits that are accruing because of the gas activity — higher personal tax collections, higher sales tax collections. Realty tax incomes in drilling counties are decreasing, but less than in non-drilling counties.

“The booklet will not tell you how those benefits relate to costs, because we weren’t able to look at that,” he added. “So, it is only a partial picture of what’s going on. You know there are dollars coming in but you don’t know if it’s a net gain or a net loss to the community.”

Kelsey cited increased highway repair and maintenance, greater administrative demands, changing human service needs, and law enforcement and courts among the costs that determine whether the drilling activity is adding to or subtracting from a county’s bottom line.

Kelsey stressed that, because the study focuses only on state tax collection, it doesn’t support assumptions about local tax changes. He points out that local governments don’t have the option of a sales tax, and that the personal income tax increases seen in the study are largely the result of leasing and royalty income, which are both exempted from earned-income tax.

“So we know from this analysis that state revenues are going up, but we don’t know if local tax revenues are increasing or decreasing as a result of the activity,” he said. “That’s a huge caveat.”

Single copies of “State Tax Implications of Marcellus Shale” can be obtained free of charge by Pennsylvania residents through county Penn State Extension offices or by contacting the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Distribution Center at 814-865-6713 or by email at [email protected]. For cost information on out-of-state or bulk orders, contact the Publications Distribution Center. The publication also is available on the Web athttp://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/ua468.pdf.

Copyright: PSU.edu

 

New York Times Columnist Joe Nocera: “The country has been handed an incredible gift with the Marcellus Shale. With an estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of reserves, it is widely believed to be the second-largest natural gas field ever discovered. Which means that those of you who live near this tremendous resource have two choices. You can play the Not-In-My-Backyard card, employing environmental scare tactics to fight attempts to drill for that gas. Or you can embrace the idea that America needs the Marcellus Shale, accept the inconvenience that the drilling will bring, but insist that it be done properly. If you choose this latter path, you will be helping to move the country to a fuel that is — yes — cleaner than oil, while diminishing the strategic importance of the Middle East, where American soldiers continue to die. (New York Times, 4/15/11)

“Local Economy Could Benefit From Utica Shale Leasing”: Ohioans are rediscovering oil and natural gas in their own backyards, because of the potential of the Utica Shale deposits thousands of feet below the surface. And Coshocton and surrounding counties are primed for the pumping. Energy companies are looking to lease land to expand west out of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale and into Ohio’s Utica Shale play. … “It’s a game-changer for the economy here,” [Jack Sordoni, president of Homeland Energy Ventures] said, due to the potential for six-figure bonus payments and annual royalties. (Coshocton Tribune,4/17/11)

NY Congressman Tom Reed: “New York – and America – Can Profit From Marcellus Shale”: Responsible development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas field has tremendous potential to help meet both of these challenges, and many, many more. In 2009, the production of Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania had an economic output of more than $3.8 billion, and generated more than $400 million in state and local tax revenues, while creating 48,000 new jobs. There is no reason to believe that we wouldn’t see a similar positive effect in New York. We need this economic development. The 2010 census numbers released recently were, unfortunately, no surprise. Western New York and the southern tier of New York experienced concentrated levels of population decline. … Penn State recently determined that counties in Pennsylvania where Marcellus development has taken place saw, on average, an 11 percent growth in sales tax revenue. Our local governments could derive much needed revenue from Marcellus Shale production. (Washington Examiner, 4/14/11)

“Ohio’s Shale Deposits Hold Potential For Oil, Gas Jobs”: Thousands of feet below the surface of Ohio, encased inside a rock formation millions of years old, is a veritable ocean of oil and natural gas that could be worth billions of dollars and create thousands of jobs. … Eventually, drilling jobs could be created in eastern Ohio, where unemployment rates are much higher than the state and national averages. Some landowners there already have benefited, getting thousands of dollars per acre from mineral extractors competing over increasingly fewer tracts. … Pennsylvania and West Virginia both enjoyed a natural gas boom in recent years spawned from the Marcellus Shale, which sits a thousand feet or so above the Utica and has only a small presence in the extreme east of Ohio. … A Penn State University report, updated last year, on the economic effect of the Marcellus projects expects 111,000 total jobs to be created this year alone. More than $10 billion will be added to the Pennsylvania economy through extraction from the Marcellus, according to the report. (Zanesville Times Recorder, 4/17/11)

“Marcellus Among Reasons Pittsburgh Moves up 48 Slots on Small Business Vitality Rankings”: Credit the Marcellus gas exploration boom for keeping Judy Wojanis smiling these days. The emerging gas industry is fueling double-digit sales growth at Wojanis Hydraulic Supply Co. Inc., a Coraopolis-based supplier of pneumatic and fluid power equipment, said Wojanis, company president. And the company has been hiring, too. Wojanis Hydraulic employs 18 people, three of whom were added in the past year. “There’s been a boom during the last two years,” Wojanis said. “We’re very happy about it.” (Pittsburgh Business Times, 4/15/11)

“Unprecedented Economic Impacts of Shale Gas Development”: Matt Pitzarella, a spokesman for Range Resources in Cecil, said that’s an example of the “unprecedented economic impacts of shale gas development” in the state. He noted an uptick this year in weekly wages in Washington County and an almost 50 percent increase in the number of Pennsylvania mining and logging industry jobs from 2007 to 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Tribune-Review, 4/17/11)