Wrongful death suit filed against drilling company and driver

Southeast Directional Drilling of Casa Grande, AZ and company employee James R. Hoffpauir of Montgomery, TX are facing a federal lawsuit filed by the wife of John T. Jones III and his 18-year-old daughter, Allison Jones. The suit claims an overweight truck loaded with drilling mud and driven recklessly, overturned onto a Subaru Legacy driven by John Jones who died despite attempts by his injured daughter to save him. The accident occurred on July 29, 2011 in Susquehanna County.

Penn State Extension sponsors four Marcellus Shale webinars

The Penn State Extension Service will hold a series of webinars on Marcellus Shale-related issues during the first three months of 2012. They include January 19, Seismic Testing: What’s It All About?; February 16, Transportation Patterns and Impacts From Marcellus Development; February 23, Shale Gas Development in Northwest PA; and March 15, Municipality’s Roles, Water Use and Protections. To register, visit http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/events or contact Carol Loveland, Penn State Extension energy development and special projects coordinator, at 570/433-3040 or send email to cal24@psu.edu.

DEP fines Appalachia Midstream for violations at Bradford County compressor station

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined Appalachia Midstream Services LLC of Horseheads, NY, Chesapeake Energy’s pipeline division, $19,510 for numerous erosion- and sediment-control violations originally found last winter at its compressor station in Albany Township, Bradford County. Inspections by the Bradford County Conservation District and DEP’s Oil and Gas staff in February and May found that Appalachia Midstream had failed to implement and maintain effective best-management practices to control erosion and sediment runoff during excavation for construction of a compressor station. The inspections revealed violations of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, Dam Safety and Encroachment Act and state regulations.