Marcellus Shale

The Marcellus Shale is a black shale formation that is located beneath the Appalachian basin and most of Pennsylvania. Considered to be one of the largest sources of natural gas in America, there is great interest surrounding the economic potential of drilling in the Marcellus Shale. However there are also serious environmental concerns. The Council’s Marcellus Shale Program tracks a wide variety of air quality issues associated with natural gas drilling in the Marcellus formation.
 
Regulatory Compliance:
The Council will examine the natural gas drilling process in Pennsylvania to identify sources of emissions and to ensure that each emission source is adequately regulated at the federal and state level. The Council will also identify best management practices and best available technologies that will be incorporated into future regulations.
 
Bureaucratic Improvement:
The Council will compare air regulations and policies of the Pennsylvania DEP’s various regional offices to ensure enforcement of regulations and to advocate for consistency where necessary. The Council will review and track issued permits to ensue that regional offices are applying policies and regulations as required.
 
Public Participation:
The Council is committed to interacting with community members about shale-related activities and regulations. The Council maintains a database of interested local officials, media, NGOs, and residents interested in getting email alerts and updates on Marcellus Shale developments. The Council has a constant presence at community meetings and industry conferences to stay at the front line of this emerging natural gas play.

April 22, 2013 - Clean Air Council submitted comments in response to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's notification that it intends to issue Title V Permit 31-05019 to Texas Eastern Transmission for their Entriken Compressor Station in Todd, Huntingdon County.

The Council submitted the following comments regarding the proposed permit:

 Last month Clean Air Council, Environmental Integrity Project and multiple Pennsylvania environmental groups submitted comments, attached below, to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection regarding proposed revisions to  "Air Quality Permit Exemptions" guidance. 

April 22, 2013 - Last summer Clean Air Council appealed a permit PA DEP issued to Angelina Gathering for expansion of the Greenzweig Compressor Station. Background on the appeal can be found HERE. The Council's appeal identified three issues: 1) failure to account for all HAPs; 2) failure to respond to all comments; 3) failure to aggregate wells with the compressor station for permitting purposes.

 Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company (TGP) submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in October 2012, for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct, operate and shut down certain compression facilities in Pennsylvania. The project is known as the Rose Lake Expansion and its purpose is to increase pipeline capacity up to an additional 230,000 dekatherms per day along the 300 Line.

The company, UGI, was concerned that their compressor station project could be held up in the courts for too long and are withdrawing their appeal of a local Zoning Hearing Board decision. The Zoning Hearing Board decision had determined that the station could not be given a special permit to operate in an agricultural area. Clean Air Council and Luzerne County Citizens for Clean Air intervened in the appeal process to protect air quality and local decision-making.

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