Gas news at a glance

• DEP TO OPEN NEW GAS OFFICE: The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will open a new office for its Bureau of Oil and Gas Management, to be located in Lycoming County, PA, where 250 wells are expected to be drilled this year. The new site will be the third in the state devoted to overseeing gas drilling permits and site inspections. The other two are located in Pittsburgh and Meadville. The office is expected to be open by summer and to employ approximately 17 staff members.

• DIESEL SPILL IN DIMOCK: Cabot crews have cleaned up a 100-gallon diesel fuel spill that occurred on January 30 at a site where natural gas drilling is taking place in Dimock Township, PA. Contaminated soil has been removed and the spill is not believed to have contaminated any water sources, according to Mark Carmon, spokesman for the DEP. The spill is the second resulting from Cabot drilling operations during the past year, following an 800-gallon spill last spring. Cabot is also attempting to address a situation involving the contamination of nine wells in the Carter Road area with methane. DEP water test results indicate the source of the gas to be the Devonian shale layer, which lies above the Marcellus Shale, said Carmon. Another round of testing will be scheduled to determine whether measures being implemented by Cabot are resolving the problem. Cabot has hired a hydrogeologist familiar with Pennsylvania geology to investigate further.

• BACK TAX BACKLASH: Under pressure from protestors threatening a lawsuit, two of three Bradford County Commissioners in Towanda, PA voted in favor of delaying tax penalties imposed when land enrolled in the state’s Clean and Green program becomes leased for gas drilling, thereby changing its special use and causing back taxes to become due. Under the new measure, the tax will not be due until 60 days after the well goes into commercial production.

• LAND LEASE SALE STALLED: A lawsuit challenging the sale of 110,000 acres of federal lands for natural gas drilling in Utah has helped to temporarily halt the deal. U.S. District Court judge Ricardo M. Urbina found that air pollution and other impacts on lands bordering Arches National Park and other areas have not been adequately studied. The decision allows the court time to fully evaluate the legal challenge to the sale. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has ordered the Bureau of Land Management to stop proceeding with the six-million-dollar sale at least until the new administration can take an in-depth look.