Gas Wells Can Cost You: Glenn Aikens of Bradford County, PA

Published on Nov 4, 2014

Mr. Aikens received checks for ten cents and $1.10 from a division of Chesapeake Energy as royalty payments for his three Marcellus shale gas wells, after the company deducted post-production costs from his royalty payments.

Read the full story here.

"In Litchfield Township, Glenn Aikens, a member of the Bradford County Planning Commission, also has three shale gas wells on his land. Signing a lease brought a host of unexpected costs, Aikens says : $22,000 to set up an L.L.C. to make sure that his children could inherit the farm's suddenly valuable acreage in spite of estate taxes, pre-drilling water testing for the farm's seven wells (“He charged me $14,500 dollars, but I wouldn't have had a leg to stand on had I not,” says Aikens. “If they ruin the water, what do I do with this farm?”), and perhaps most painfully, the permanent loss of a valuable tax credit for farmland, now that the leased land is considered commercial property instead. Land that was assessed at $500 an acre was now assessed at $2,500 – and taxes were due retroactively."

Mr. Aiken had to pay literally thousands and thousands of dollars for the privilege of having gas wells on his property.  One royalty check from Chesapeake Energy was for 10¢.  The cost of testing the water was $14,500.  Does this sound like a lucrative enterprise for a land owner?

Royalty=10¢

Unfair Share: How Oil and Gas Drillers Avoid Paying Royalties

by Abrahm Lustgarten
ProPublica, Aug. 13, 2013

"Don Feusner ran dairy cattle on his 370-acre slice of northern Pennsylvania until he could no longer turn a profit by farming. Then, at age 60, he sold all but a few Angus and aimed for a comfortable retirement on money from drilling his land for natural gas instead.
It seemed promising. Two wells drilled on his lease hit as sweet a spot as the Marcellus shale could offer – tens of millions of cubic feet of natural gas gushed forth. Last December, he received a check for $8,506 for a month’s share of the gas.

Then one day in April, Feusner ripped open his royalty envelope to find that while his wells were still producing the same amount of gas, the gusher of cash had slowed. His eyes cascaded down the page to his monthly balance at the bottom: $1,690.  Chesapeake Energy, the company that drilled his wells, was withholding almost 90 percent of Feusner’s share of the income to cover unspecified “gathering” expenses and it wasn’t explaining why."

Read the article here.

Who's Funding the NY League of Conservation Voters?

Look who is funding and sponsoring the NY League of Conservation Voters for its gala this week:

http://nylcv.org/2013_Gala_Sponsors

A few notables:

Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Con Edison
Edward Cox
CSX Transportation
Roz and Richard Edelman
Christopher Elliman/Open Space Institute
Paul Elston and Frances Beinecke
Environmental Defense Fund
Barbara J. Fife
FMC Engineering, P.C./Greg T. Felner, P.E. and Edward T. McCune, P.E.
Lorance Hockert Esq.
Arthur and Marian Imperatore/NY Waterway
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
New York State Laborers/James Melius MD
NRG Energy
Structure Tone Inc.
Waste Management

SUPPORTERSAECOM
Cablevision
Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP
Ann Davlin/Carbon War Room
Dewey Pegno & Kramarsky LLP
Dragados USA
The Durst Organization
Entergy
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Gardiner & Theobald Inc.
General Contractors Association
Gensler
Gibbons P.C.
Hank and Karoly Gutman
Marjorie and Gurnee Hart
Robin and William Hubbard
IUOE Local 94
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Kasirer Consulting, LLC
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
League of Conservation Voters
Liberty Natural Gas LLC
Evan Mason and Garrard Beeney/Sustainable Yards
McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
National Grid
Nixon Peabody LLP
Nouveau Elevator/Robert Speranza
NRDC
Glenn Pacchiana/Thalle Industries
The Pataki-Cahill Group
Gail S. Port/Proskauer Rose LLP
Roux Associates, Inc.
Sims Metal Management
Spectra Energy
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP
Damien Tener/Tener Consulting Services LLC
Tishman Construction, An AECOM Company
Tonio Burgos and Associates, Inc.
Transmission Developers Inc.
United Water
Verizon
Walentas Foundation Ltd.
Edward C. Wallace/Greenberg Traurig LLP
Earl D. and Gina Ingoglia Weiner
Weidlinger Associates Inc.
Williams

Something doesn't look right here.

Read more here.

After the Boom in Natural Gas

The New York Times has published an article today (Clifford Krauss and Eric Lipton) which tells another sad story related to the gas industry. What happens after the drilling is finished and the roughnecks leave town? Here is what is happening in Louisiana where the Haynesville Shale is located: Click here.

"The bust has certainly hit the Haynesville hard. Some local landowners, having spent their initial lease bonuses, are now deeply in debt. Local restaurants and other businesses are suffering steep losses now that so many drillers have left town."

At its peak, Chesapeake Energy ran 38 rigs in the region.  It has drilled more than 1200 wells into the Haynesville (Louisiana and Texas). Now only 2 rigs are in use. The drillers drilled so many wells and extracted so much gas that they have driven the price of natural gas to near-record lows.  The NYT article explains who is making a lot of money and who is suffering financially now.

Is Chesapeake Energy Abandoning the Marcellus Shale Region?

This is huge news! 
The Marcellus Shale releases dry gas (no oil mixed in).  But dry gas is so cheap that it is not economically feasible to extract and sell.  Wet gas which contains some oil is much more profitable.  The oil separated from it can be sold for $90 a barrel.  Even T. Boone Pickens has dumped his investments in Chesapeake Energy.  Wet gas is found in the Utica Shale, a formation below the Marcellus and prevalent in SW PA and Ohio. 

The June shareholders meeting of Chesapeake Energy was tense as shareholders became aware of the difference between dry gas and wet gas.  Might they have been told of this from the beginning, they asked.  They are understandably very upset and confused.  Leaseholders are wondering if they will ever get the royalties they were promised. 

The Marcellus Shale Play is still at the speculative stage.  Now the actual figures are looking quite bad in comparison to the wildly optimistic predictions that landmen made to convince landowners to sign leases.

Read the article here.

Aubrey McClendon was stripped of his chairmanship of Chesapeake.  Now some are calling for his resignation from the Board of Directors.  Chesapeake may be headed for disaster as its cash flow dwindles by the day.

PA Streambed Moving: A Strange Sight

Don writes, "Folks, there should be solid rock in the streambed under my feet. It's anything but solid." He describes the creek bed: "I found sediment several feet deep that shakes like pudding."

More on this story HERE.

WHY ARE THESE ROCKS "FLOATING"?

Rolling Stone Responds to Chesapeake Energy on "The Fracking Bubble"

If you have read the MUST READ article in the current issue of Rolling Stone,  you will be interested in this:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/rolling-stone-responds-to-chesapeake-energy-on-the-fracking-bubble-20120306#ixzz1oPRNlpBl

Specific points addressed by Chesapeake:

• The "reality" of 100 years of shale gas
• The credibility of Arthur Berman
• Chesapeake's convoluted off-book accounting practices
• The economic benefits of cheap natural gas
• The credibility of Gasland
• Fugitive methane emissions
• The cerdibility of Deborah Rogers
• Bias in the Duke study
• Methane levels in the Vargson well
• Consequences of Chesapeake's well blow-out in Bradford County
• Fracking fluid disclosure

The Big Fracking Bubble: The Scam Behind the Gas Boom

"It's not only toxic- it's driven by a right-wing billionaire who profits more from flipping land than drilling for gas." That man is Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon. He dominates America's supply of natural gas the same way the Tea Party-financing Koch brothers control the nation's pipelines and refineries.....

Read more. This article appears in the March 15th issue of Rolling Stone.

Chesapeake Energy Gets Award: It's just wrong

Last fall the Wyoming County Chamber of Commerce awarded Chesapeake Energy this plaque for Outstanding Steward of the community.

The irony of this award defies description.  Chesapeake Energy represents an extractive industry which turns rural and urban areas into industrial zones, often called "sacrifice zones."  Every gas well pad becomes a superfund site when the well is closed down.  Water, air, and soil pollution occur on every well pad, sometimes ruining aquifers, rivers, lakes, and streams.  The health costs to local residents are great.  People have died from illnesses caused by toxic chemicals introduced into the environment by the process known as hydrofracking.  This is not a company or an industry that deserves in any way an award for being good stewards.

What is stewardship?

U.S. Cuts Estimate for Marcellus Shale Gas Reserves By 66%

By Christine Buurma - Jan 23, 2012

The U.S. Energy Department cut its estimate for natural gas reserves in the Marcellus shale formation by 66 percent, citing improved data on drilling and production.

About 141 trillion cubic feet of gas can be recovered from the Marcellus shale using current technology, down from the previous estimate of 410 trillion, the department said today in its Annual Energy Outlook. About 482 trillion cubic feet can be produced from shale basins across the U.S., down 42 percent from 827 trillion in last year’s outlook.

“Drilling in the Marcellus accelerated rapidly in 2010 and 2011, so that there is far more information available today than a year ago,” the department said. The estimates represent unproved technically recoverable gas. The daily rate of Marcellus production doubled during 2011.

The estimated Marcellus reserves would meet U.S. gas demand for about six years, using 2010 consumption data, according to the Energy Department, down from 17 years in the previous outlook.
The Marcellus Shale is a rock formation stretching across the U.S. Northeast, including Pennsylvania and New York. Shale producers use a technique known as hydraulic fracturing, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals underground to extract gas embedded in the rock.

Geological Data

The U.S. Geological Survey said in August that it would reduce its estimate of undiscovered Marcellus Shale natural gas by as much as 80 percent after an updated assessment by government geologists.

Shale gas will probably account for 49 percent of total U.S. dry gas production in 2035, up from 23 percent in 2010, the Energy Department said today.

Gas’s share of electric power generation will increase to 27 percent in 2035 from 24 percent in 2010, the report showed.

The department also said the U.S. may become a net exporter of liquefied natural gas in 2016 and a net exporter of natural gas in 2021. U.S. LNG exports may start with a capacity of 1.1 billion cubic feet a day in 2016 and increase by an additional 1.1 billion cubic feet per day in 2019, the department said.

LINK to article.

So the Marcellus Shale gas will provide about six years of energy?  And we are destroying huge areas of the country for this?  Six years?  Is that a worthwhile plan?

Chesapeake Energy Blowout, Rig Lost

Jan. 5th 2012 10pm

Nomac Rig #17 drilled into a shallow gas pocket soon after spudding in at a drilling depth of 900' northwest of Sweetwater, Oklahoma this evening around 6pm and burned to the ground. No injuries were reported.

Workers stated that they encountered the abnormally pressurized zone at relief time around 6pm when the relief crew was in the change house. It was first thought that they had encountered a shallow air pocket but after testing with a "sniffer" (a device to determine the presence of hydrocarbons) the well soon caught fire.

Witnesses 3/4 of a mile to the north reported hearing a loud "boom" from their residence "and then it sounded like a jet engine was right outside our home". When they drove down to the drill site to investigate the well was discharging fluid, soon after that something ignited the gas and the rig caught fire.

Bar Hoppers (used to increase the mud weight and counter downhole pressures) were not yet rigged up. A gas separator, chokes and a BOP stack were also on location and waiting to be rigged up and tested as soon as the surface portion of the hole was completed. Without these blowout prevention devices in place there is little to nothing that can be done to control the well.

It's very unusual to hit a shallow air pocket in the area and even rarer to encounter any hydrocarbons at this shallow depth above the planned surface casing.

El Reno based Nomac Drilling is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy, one of the nations most active drillers.

Read more.

Gas Drilling Gone Bad: This just in from West Virginia....

A well pad in West Virginia, the Marshall pad, has been shut down by the state's DEP.  Violations include chemical releases into adjacent streams.  Read the whole sordid story here.

Retirement Ruined: Personal Story of Truman Burnett (2009)

Mr. Burnett's simple story of how his beautiful property was ruined forever by gas drilling spills nearby speaks for itself. The gas corporation that is responsible for this tragedy? Chesapeake Energy. Our good neighbors.

Chesapeake CEO McClendon Has Harsh Words For Protestors

Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon
Why is he smiling?  We know.

Billionaire Aubrey McClendon smiles because he is filthy rich.  He gets millions and millions of dollars every year for being CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, a company that drills and drills and drills into our Mother Earth to get the final dribs and drabs of un-natural gas out of her before we all have to develop sustainable energy.  He minimizes Mother Earth's agony and the suffering of human beings because, well, he really is more focused on money.  Here are some of the sensitive, caring  (and inaccurate) things he said a few days ago in Philadelphia at a big gas conference:

“Looking back, was anybody hurt? Was there any permanent or even temporary environmental damage? No, no and no. Some folks were inconvenienced, for sure, and for that we're deeply sorry,” McClendon said. But he said the industry's benefits — including lower home-heating bills, tens of thousands of new jobs, and millions of dollars of landowner wealth — more than outweigh the isolated cases of contamination.

“We moved into an area that hadn't seen a lot of drilling, that had pretty unusual surface geology,” he said. “We had some problems in the beginning. We think we've got them fixed.”

“Remind me: What value have the protesters outside created? What jobs have they created? You know the answer and so do I,” he said. “So it's time that we contrast what we do for a living with what they do for a living.”

“What a glorious vision of the future: It's cold, it's dark and we're all hungry,” said McClendon, who co-founded Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, the most active gas driller in the Marcellus Shale and nationwide. “I have no interest in turning the clock back to the dark ages like our opponents do.”

Read the article here.

Aubrey McClendon Has a Hard Time at Lecture in Boston (2010)

CEO Aubrey McClendon

Poor old Aubrey is confronted with real people about the real problems they are experiencing due to his gas drilling ventures in Pennsylvania.  Watch as he tries to stay above water.  It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

Click here to see the video.

Note:  I was recently in Pennsylvania (Bradford County) where I just happened to run into three young men who work for a company that constructs well pads.  One of the men told me that Mr. McClendon recently did a flyover of several Chesapeake well pads in a helicopter.  The men had to clean up the well sites so that McClendon would be pleased with the neatness and orderliness of the pads.  They said even a stray Coke can would be noticed.  Wouldn't it be great if McClendon would be so concerned about what he is putting in the ground underneath these beautifully kept well pads? 

Pennsylvania Gas Industry: Not Everyone Loves Gas



On Route 187 in Bradford County, PA
Photo by Carol Manuel

Not everyone is happy about natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. 

[The finger on the left hand is not the index finger.]

Chesapeake Energy: "Good" Neighbors

The Big Check from Chesapeake Energy
Photo: The Rocket-Courier

Chesapeake Energy spends a fair amount of time coming up with ways to endear themselves to the local residents of Bradford County (PA).  They have given money to schools, given an old vehicle to a charitable organization, and even replaced the roof on the local Elks Club.  Now they have given a little money ($25,000 chump change to them) to the Hometown Heroes street banner program which was started two years ago by Kelly Bradley.  The money is enough to cover the cost of 193 banners which feature pictures of veterans from the county, both young and old, dating from the civil war to the present.  If you drive down Main Street in Towanda, you will see them mounted on lamp posts.  There is going to be a dedication ceremony today, June 4th, for these banners.  I am almost certain that Chesapeake Energy will be represented at this ceremony and that Chesapeake will be thanked profusely for its donation. There will be entertainment, singing of the National Anthem and patriotic songs, even an invocation by the pastor of the Wyalusing Presbyterian Church.  Local dignitaries will speak, including congressional leaders.  Refreshments will follow. 

Why does this interest me?  On the surface it seems like a very nice gesture to give money for a project honoring the U. S. military.  People will drive by these banners daily and see the faces of these men and women who have served our country.  The problem is this: The money is dirty money.  It comes from an industry which is slowly but surely destroying the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, one well, one compressor station, one flare, one accidental spill at a time.  Despite claims that this natural gas industry is an economic boon to the community, and there is some truth to that,  I ask, At what price?  Is this a safe industry?  What about the many water wells in the county which have been ruined for good?  What about the people who have become seriously ill?  What about the air pollution which is unavoidable in a gas field like this?  What about habitat destruction which disrupts the ecology of this beautiful area?  What about the long term effects of a boomtown?  Where will we be in 40 years?  Some of us will be dead, but hopefully not all of us.  Who will be taking the helm from us, and what will they have to work with?  Our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  What will they face because of our misuse of the environment?  What will be our answer when they ask, "Mom and Dad, did you do all you could to preserve the Earth for us? 

It will take more than a little money thrown our way to make up for the damage being done every single day by the natural gas industry.  And just in case you are wondering what the CEO of Chesapeake Energy, billionaire Aubrey McClendon, gets paid, he got $21 million in 2010, $2 million of which was a bonus!   McLendon earned more than the CEOs of Chevron, GE, and Conoco Phillips which are much bigger corporations.  His 6-year average compensation package is $51.65 million.  So while PA is being destroyed, he is raking in the dough.  Read more here.

The next time you read in the newspaper about the generosity of Chesapeake Energy, Cabot Oil, or any other gas drilling company, just remember the reason behind the seemingly nice donation.  In my opinion it is an attempt, and a successful one at that, to keep us quiet and cooperative and supportive of what they are doing.  It is nothing more than a tactic.  I don't think there is much heart behind it.

This is my humble opinion.

Read the article published in Wyalusing's Rocket-Courier here.  LINK

Marcellus Shale: You Be the Judge- Interviews With Bradford County Residents

Lawyer Todd J. O'Malley interviewed local people in Bradford County, PA.  These people, the faces of fracking, are sick, their children and babies are in jeopardy of becoming sick, their dreams have been shattered.  Why?  Because they live near gas wells, and most of them have suffered the loss of their water wells which are now ruined with no chance of getting their good water back.  They drink bottled water.  They cannot cook or wash with their bad water.  Their lives are turned upside down.

To visit O'Malley's website, click here.  There you will find links to recent articles related to the problems caused by un-natural gas drilling.  A sandbox within feet of a wellhead?  Gas company says this poses no problem.  Read more and watch the You Tube videos.

*I get no money from Todd O'Malley!  I just like the work he is doing in Bradford County to help those in need.  We have never met.  We need more people like him to work with families in distress due to Big Oil/Gas Greed.

Read about the lawsuit O'Malley filed in April on behalf of Bradford County residents who have been harmed by gas drilling here.

PA DEP Says: "We can't tell you yet..."

Towanda Creek was contaminated by this spill.
Photo credit: Don Williams

Remember the 30,000 gallons of wastewater that spilled at the Atgas 2H well in Leroy Township, Bradford County, PA, April 19th?    PA DEP sent a violation notice to Chesapeake Energy demanding answers.  The deadline for a response from the gas company was April 29th. However, DEP spokesman Daniel Spadoni said:

We are not making this information available at this time as we need to carefully examine it as part of our on-going review of the blowout.

Chesapeake Energy is supposed to supply information as follows:

1)what chemicals and other materials were used at the well, 2)what failed at the wellhead and caused the spill, 3)what exactly spilled into the environment, and 4)why it took Chesapeake 12 hours to bring a well control specialist to the site from Texas when a similar firm is located in Pennsylvania.

In my opinion, chemicals used during fracking should be right on the computer and should therefore be available at any time for any reason.  Many of these chemicals are toxic for humans, animals, and plants.  We should know what we have been exposed to without waiting for weeks.  Are we being kept in the dark unnecessarily?

Read the article from the Towanda Daily Review here.

DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY!

PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IS A MUST!

Leroy (PA) Well Spill: Update?

Here is an excerpt from the Daily Review article published today:

Progress has been slower than anticipated due to the adverse weather conditions that were experienced throughout the weekend, hampering work efforts, according to Chesapeake spokesperson Brian Grove.

The Atgas 2H has remained in stable condition since late Thursday and is expected to continue in this state through final preparations.

Katy Gresh, community relations director for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, reported that DEP personnel remained on the scene Monday, testing the water of Towanda Creek, as well as an adjacent tributary, and where Towanda Creek empties in the Susquehanna River in Wysox 16 miles away. Gresh reported that not all testing results are back yet from the scene, but no adverse effect has been detected at this time.

My questions are several.

•  Do gas drillers NOT realize that Pennsylvania has actual weather which can actually be adverse, especially in winter and spring?
• What is "stable condition"?  Is this like a report on a sick patient who is expected to pull through given time?  Does it mean that no more spillage is occurring?
• What are "final preparations"?   Is that like getting ready to kill and bury this well?
• Why is a premature report of "no adverse effect detected at this time" even put in print?  This statement can conveniently be lifted out of context and reprinted anywhere, possibly giving people the impression that this actually caused no adverse effect at all.  Once people read that, they can feel free to go back to their lives and forget about it.  It leads to a false security which can be deadly. 

Another way to put it is this:  Media can create a baseless sense of optimism, and worse, a belief that spills and blowouts are fixable.

  When accidents happen at gas wells,  reports so often use wording like this, very vague and also bordering on or actually misleading the public.  Readers want to believe that there were no adverse effects of 30,000 gallons of frack fluid spilling out on the ground and flowing out over farmland and into streams and rivers.  We know in our heart of hearts that such a wish will not be granted in the real world.  But when the media provides only general information based on very little actual fact, or at least not enough facts, it is a disservice to us all. Will the public take the time to follow up and keep abreast of what is happening, or will people just console themselves that all is well because they saw an article in the paper or, for that matter, heard an interview on NPR?
 
LINK

FRACCIDENTS HAPPEN