The oil giant Shell on Tuesday gave the final go-ahead for construction of a major petrochemical complex in western Pennsylvania where ethane from the Marcellus and Utica shales will be used to make ethylene for the manufacture of plastics. The long-awaited multi-billion-dollar plant will be built in Potter Township, Beaver County, about 30 miles northwest [...]
Writing that the “potential for disaster is too great to ignore,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has sought help from President Obama regarding oil train safety. In a letter to the President, Wolf wrote the “tools and options available to me are limited.” The recent oil train derailment in West Virginia has focused more attention on [...]
A major plan to drill for natural gas under Pittsburgh International Airport is underway. Politicians, including Gov. Tom Corbett, and officials from Consol Energy kicked off the project in a ceremony at the airport today. More from the Associated Press: The Monday morning ceremony featured remarks by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, Democratic County Executive Rich [...]
Global warming and climate change will be what everyone is talking about at a hearing today in Pittsburgh. The public forum is one of four meetings taking place across the country this week as the Environmental Protection Agency seeks input on their newly proposed rules to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the nation’s power plants. [...]
Allegheny County could receive as much as $73 million by leasing a public park for natural gas drilling, including a $3.5 million signing bonus. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained documents from Range Resources that detailed the company’s proposal to county Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Range wants the county to lease all 1,180 acres of Deer Lakes Park [...]
Legislators will soon be considering a bill that would place an “open-ended” ban on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. The bill, introduced Tuesday by Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Allegheny) doesn’t place a time limit on the moratorium in order to allow a seven-member commission, created by the bill, to study a range of impacts of hydraulic [...]
Two companies – EQT and Consol – have submitted bids to drill for natural gas at Pittsburgh International Airport and Allegheny County Airport. Allegheny County owns the land at both facilities, and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald sees the drilling revenue as a way to alleviate airline expenses at the underused Pittsburgh International Airport. “Will that bring every airline [...]
South Fayette, Allegheny County, is not a big fan of the fact that the Public Utility Commission is reviewing whether or not its drilling ordinances fit within the parameters of Act 13. More from the Post-Gazette: In a filing dated Friday, attorneys for South Fayette, which was part of the legal challenge to Act 13, [...]
Allegheny County’s bomb squad was called in to detonate a pipe bomb found next to a natural gas pipeline in Buffalo Township, Allegheny County yesterday. More from the Post-Gazette: A contractor working on a natural gas pipeline in Washington County on Monday afternoon unearthed a pipe bomb that was detonated by the Allegheny County bomb [...]
Pittsburgh’s city solicitor has asked the Public Utility Commission to weigh in on whether or not the city’s fracking ban runs afoul of Pennsylvania’s new drilling laws. The city will have to wait on an answer, though, as the PUC is waiting until Commonwealth Court has ruled on a challenge to Act 13, before it [...]
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives.
Learn More »