Thursday, October 18, 2012

Dryden & Middlefield Drill Ban Appeals Filed;
NY Media Still Screwing It Up

Trying something new here:  A paragraph-by-paragraph critique of some below-the-radar reporting on a recent development in New York State's ongoing contest over shale gas.

(Yes, yes — I'm familiar with the concept of lost causes; just can't help myself
, at least for today.)


Posted on October 16, 2012 at 4:16 pm by Liz Benjamin

Attorney Tom West has formally appealed two watershed state Supreme Court decisions that upheld local hydrofracking bans in the towns of Dryden and Middlefield.

Statewide story selection bias:  In the day-and-a-half-long period following this post, which represents a minor scoop for Liz Benjamin, writing for the Albany Times-Union's Capital Confidential blog, Google News searches show that not a single mainstream media outlet in or out of New York State followed up with their own coverage of the news developments reported here.  Given the volume of reportage the Dryden and Middlefield cases have received, both prior to and after the early 2012 decisions by the first-round judges — and given the ease with which developments slanting in the drilling opposition's favor receive nearly instantaneous, widespread coverage — this does seem remarkable.

Word choice:  Though I realize it's a little late in the game to be bringing this up, recent in-state public opinion surveys have demonstrated that the words "hydrofracking" and "fracking" are perjorative, as compared to "drilling," "shale gas," or "natural gas."  More to the point, in the context of this particular issue, these descriptors are incorrect:  Both towns, motivated by especially strong local public concern over the issue of fracking for shale gas, have decided to attempt to zone out (within the category of heavy industry) any drilling for fossil fuels, including old-school wells.  (Though not, apparently, salt mining, or geothermal development, both of which involve similar equipment, impacts, and land use.)
The Dryden (Tompkins County) case was initial brought by brought by an oil and gas company, the Middlefield (Otsego County) case by Jennifer Huntington, a dairy farmer and president of Cooperstown Holstein Corporation. Both cases, which essentially held that state law regulating gas drilling does not take away a town’s right to enact zoning, were initially decided in February.

Misleading and incorrect through imprecision:  Neither town sought to keep drilling out of certain zones, such as what is currently being contested in PA (in that state's carrot-and-stick, impact fee showdown); both sought to zone it out completely through townwide bans.
Appeals were expected, so the news that they are now formally in motion does not come as a surprise.

Errant observation:  It's true that lawyers for the pro-drilling side had long previously preserved their clients' right to appeal.  But a number of anti-drilling activists have since put forth the theory that Anschutz, the plaintiff in the Dryden case, had had enough of the deteriorating situation in New York State, was dropping out, and that the appeal would therefore die through lack of funding.  Though Benjamin failed to notice or report a secondary development on this point, this speculation has now been proven as partly true:  The papers show Anschutz is out, and Norse Energy has substituted itself, taking over at least part of the local lease interest, as well as the plaintiff role.  So the perfection of that appeal, especially through this substitution, might come as a surprise to some.
West said the records on appeal, appellate briefs and fees for the appeals were filed in both cases yesterday in the Appellate Division, Third Department

Since the Dryden and Middlefield decisions, the city of Binghamton saw its moratorium struck down by a judge who argued that it was premature because the state hasn’t yet made a decision about whether to allow the controversial natural gas drilling process in the Marcellus – and eventually perhaps the Utica – shales.

Omission:  In addition to the City of Binghamton's (so-far struck down) temporary moratorium — not a permanent ban — a fourth municipality has at least technically entered the realm of litigation on this same issue.  An acreage-owning hunting association, the Highland Field & Stream Club, on Oct. 11 was reported solely by pro-drilling sources as preparing to sue the Town of Highland (Sullivan County) on constitutional "takings" grounds.  Unfortunately — except, by my count, two outlets local to the Catskills — media statewide have either missed or chosen to ignore this story.

Also, errant observation:  The potential of the Utica shale in NY is no longer uniformly discounted by current conventional wisdom.  See, for instance, Norse Energy's list of permit requests, as well as Minard Run's forecast for its Finger Lakes interests, purchased from Chesapeake Energy.

Lastly, this is incorrect through imprecision:  NY's moratorium, impact study, and draft regs concern high-volume hydraulic fracturing within tight reservoir rocks.  No distinction is made between development of Marcellus or Utica shales (nor, for that matter, Upper Devonian shales, ownership of which a partly overlapping set of NY landowners also possess — whether or not in-state media continue to remain ignorant of this fact).
There has been some question as to who would be paying for these appeals. I asked West about that, and this was his response:

“There is very little funding for these appeals. In fact, although one operator has pledged a small amount, we have not been paid yet. Although this issue is critical to industry, the lack of funding is directly related to the apathy towards New York based upon the low commodity pricing and the high degree of regulatory uncertainty.”

“Even in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, which does not have any liquid fractions, most operators have substantially curtailed their operations or mothballed their drilling operations until the commodity price increases. I believe that I read somewhere that the rig count in the US is the lowest in 10 years.”

So, in other words, West is appealing without getting paid? “Yes,” he said.

Bias due to ignorance, bad assumption, and blindness to obvious facts:  As should be clear from Jennifer Huntington's role as the Middlefield plaintiff, industry is not the only interest group with a motive for funding these cases.  In fact, landowners and ideologically supportive non-industry others have fund-raised to support the Middlefield lawsuit (though, for all I know, they may not have raised enough to cover all the costs to date, or future costs).  A phone call to Dick Downey of the Unatego-area coalition, or Binghamton lawyer Scott Kurkoski, who's been involved in the Middlefield case, would certainly firm this up.

Lastly, here are some presumably newsworthy future sequencing forecasts from Tom West that have been left out:  "The Appellate Division, Third Department will establish a briefing schedule and ultimately schedule these cases for oral argument. There will be briefing from the Respondents and Amicus filings in support and in opposition to these appeals. We are cautiously optimistic that the matter will be scheduled for the February Term of the Appellate Division, which occurs in early February. Typically, the Appellate Division renders a decision 6 to 8 weeks after the oral argument."

Monday, October 15, 2012

Albany Rally For Truth & Energy, Oct. 15


Best hat of the day.
Nobody brought pitchforks, except for the one in this image, marking New York's
repeated delays on the question of shale gas (positive spin), or fracking (perjorative spin).
On the left, that's Susan Dorsey of Chenango County, 

one of the primary firebrands to this rally..
Probably the best reporter statewide on this issue (but still not as good as he could be),
Jon Campbell of the Gannett chain, appearing to be in the act of actually counting the crowd. 
But here's how Campbell's count wound up getting reported:  "Several hundred."
Some partisans put attendance at more than 1,000, while I figured it peaked at about 700 —
including construction workers
in hard hats joining late on their lunch breaks. 
I can tell you this for sure:  It took 16 busses to get most of the out of towners there,
probably all of them run on diesel.

Facing the crowd, with the Hudson River behind.
Landowners and supporters filled the amphitheater in Albany's Corning Preserve along the Hudson.
Landowners from Steuben County hit the road at 5:30 a.m., but were among the first to arrive. 
The pro-drilling side has been torn by those who are now ready to attack 

Governor Cuomo directly for his leadership pattern of delay, 
and those who still think it's smarter to counsel continued patience.
U.S. anthem sung by a Chinese choir from Queens, as viewed by one-time chicken farmer
Doug Lee, a landowner activist who emceed for the day, despite his middling accent. 
One of the most interesting, but totally blown, angles to New York's shale gas fight is the
disproportionate number of recent immigrants who are right in the thick of it.
I suspect this phenomenon has to do with New York populations who have personally experienced
oppression overseas — and are now fired up, watching their opportunities again under a
similar threat here in their adopted U.S.  It's a familiar pattern for anyone who's ever hung out

over the last two or three decades
with exiles of Cuba, South Vietnam, China, or
eastern Europe:  Their political outlook has been shaped much more forcefully in the direction of
traditional American values than that of most pre-existing citizens. 
I think that would make a helluva story, and some of it did get rare notice in the Albany paper here.
Crossing the pedestrian bridge into downtown Albany.  City police had officers mounted on
some really nice-looking workhorses to lead the protest march through street crossings.
Out-of-their-depth, anti-fracking celebrities were a frequent target, and rightfully so. 
But, on the same day as this rally, Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon were consulted by
New York media outlets for their expertise on health studies.
Race car van in parade of marchers and vehicles.  Does anyone know if
Kyle DeMetro's Number 15 car actually runs on natural gas?
Rosie the Riveter reincarnated.  I have a soft spot for persuasive material that lives on
in re-purposed forms, especially stuff with appeal to both the left and the right. 
Like peace signs surrounding "Drill a Gas Well, Bring a Soldier Home,"
this is another good one.
Message about mineral rights (in German) for Governor Cuomo.
Again, I ask, what is with these immigrants who seem to take their American rights much
more seriously than the largely jaded majority that's been kicking around here for generations? 
Upstate's remaining, largely old, largely white, largely rural guard has, in fact, counter-intuitively
joined forces with small circles of recent immigrants — to defend property rights and
economic opportunity against the continued onslaught of government control,
which lives on from the Sixties.  Unfortunately, this theme is a nearly complete turnoff for the younger
generations shaping modern media, especially in New York and the rest of the Northeast U.S. 
To most of them, it's just not a story.  I think that's nuts.
State Senator Tom Libous, representing the Binghamton, NY area, and one of the few
pol's statewide to consistently and forcefully support the pro-development cause. 
Most leaders, including Governor Cuomo, seem too afraid of the omnipresent shaming from
drilling opponents to take an unequivocal stand for (what I see as) the middle, regulated ground.

It's a failure of leadership in a democratic society, and New York State has a long,
colorful history of such failures.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Awesome Quotes From NY's Frack War

"Transportation Agreement — I am reserving seats on this bus in order to support the cause of natural gas development by attending a pro-gas rally in Albany.  If it is determined by any of the organizers of this event or their agents that I have another agenda making my claim of support fraudulent, the organizers or their agent shall have the right to refuse seats, to drop me off where ever they see fit, or to refuse any other service with no obligation to me.  The organizers reserve the right to claim theft of services and pursue all legal recourse against me should I act in any manner detrimental to the cause of promoting natural gas development in NY State.  Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
— Legalese accompanying an online sign-up for bus transportation to attend an Oct. 15,
2012 pro-gas rally in Albany, NY, put on by the new Landowner Advocates of NY.

“If you want to discourage fracking, ban gas in New York City, where your other house is.”
— Sidney, NY Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy, pointedly taking on opponents of natural gas
in all infrastructural forms by accusing them of being only part-time residents of NY's Leatherstocking
Region.  This is from an Oct. 11, 2012 article in the Oneonta Daily Star reporting Delaware County's
Board of Supervisors
voted 17-to-3 in favor of the PA-NY
Constitution Pipeline traversing at least
some part of its jurisdiction, despite significant protest from the usual forces.

"Please add my name to the list of citizens opposed to Route M of the Constitution Pipeline.  While I agree that natural gas, taken in isolation, has certain benefits to goals such as cleaner-burning fuels, my own opinion is that the hydrofracturing extraction process used in the Northeast to recover it has many impacts that militate against natural gas on a net basis."
Huffington Post "journalist" — and Burlington, NY, resident — Andrew Reinbach, joining
hundreds of other pipeline/shale gas opponents with his own Oct. 8, 2012 comment,
dutifully posted to the official web-filed record by FERC (search Docket Number PF12-9-000).

"Route M" is the developer's primary alternative
, devised in mid-stream in an attempt to
meet opponents halfway — by running much of the pipeline in or along the government's
Interstate Route 88 corridor.  Pipeline supporter NY Shale Gas Now was the first
statewide to advocate for such an idea in March 2012
.

"...[W]e don't think this is going to happen anytime soon.  And there is a good possibility that by the time all of these things come to be true, all of our leases will have expired."
Carrizo Oil & Gas investor relations officer Richard Hunter, quoted in an Oct. 12, 2012 story by NGI's
Shale Daily
(sorry, paid subscription required).  This was the Texas explorer's avowed lack of a plan for any follow-up to its vertical Marcellus shale test well — "discovered" by drilling opponents and media to be
underway some three weeks after it was started in the Town of Owego, Tioga County, NY.
  Note that this company doesn't seem to view as viable a claim of "force majeure" — which others have argued could legally extend leases on the grounds that New York State's shale gas moratorium has made it impossible to operate.

“We’ve heard of a lot of ways to do outdoor cooking but Troop 57 of Skaneateles certainly pulled a new one out of the bag recently.  The girls hiked along Otisco Lake through Puddin’ Mill Gorge where they cooked their lunch with natural gas which came up through the creek bed.”
— Item headlined “Troop 57 Does Out-Door Cooking in a New Way,” from the Skaneateles Historical
Society’s
"Girl Scout Scrapbook," Skaneateles, NY, Dec. 1942.  This was side-barred in a Sept. 4, 2012
report on New York State's pre-existing condition — regarding naturally occurring methane-infused
water — by
William M. Kappel and Elizabeth A. Nystrom of the United States Geological Survey.
This illuminating report was virtually ignored by New York media, but you can find an intro, and a link to a
downloadable, six-page PDF, here
— complete with flaming water pics from the still-frackless Empire State.

"Man Allegedly Tries to Grab Officer's Handgun During Traffic Stop...  Man Indicted for Using Enemas, Resealing and Returning Them to Store...  Cornell’s International Ag Program Earns First USDA Global Award...  Man Has Pinkie Finger Severed in Machete Attack Over Beer at Daughter's Birthday Party...  Mother Accused of Burning Son's Hands on Stove For Touching iPad...  Man Cooking Squirrel For Lunch Ignites Fire That Destroys Apartments...  Mother Who Beat Toddler, Glued Child's Hands to Wall Sentenced to 99 Years in Prison..."
— Verbatim selection of top news headlines from WBNG TV, Channel 12, of Binghamton, NY
appearing on Oct. 13, 2012.  Only the Cornell one was of local or statewide relevance.

Friday, October 12, 2012

ExxonMobil Gets in NY's Stalled Shale Gas Queue: Two Tickets to Sanford, Please

Two full-on Marcellus shale drilling applications from ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy popped within New York State's electronic records yesterday — mapped with pins marking top and bottom holes below, and summarized at the end of this post (together with links to detailed maps of the proposed units).

(The map has since been updated with three additional applications from XTO, as covered here.)


View XTO Energy (ExxonMobil subsidiary) — Five Marcellus shale gas applications in NYS in a larger map

It's the first of any sort of drilling application statewide for XTO, and the first horizontal shale gas request from a well-known, well-funded developer — at least since New York State started informally refusing such applications sometime during the early months of its now 4.5-year-old moratorium.

Both wells propose more than two miles of drilling, if you count the vertical, one-mile-plus trip down to the Marcellus layer.

XTO's projects are both within Broome County's easternmost Sanford, a township which adjoins the politically significant NY-PA state line (though the shale has been sitting for many years under both jurisdictions without knowing the difference).  Sanford also straddles the equally politically significant watershed divide between the incapacitated Delaware Basin, and the much more accommodating Susquehanna River drainage area.  (Yes, they're both free-flowing rivers; but, again, it's just that the bureaucracies are different.)

The surface pads for both of these XTO wells —
including the Dew Dec A 1H, which I'm told is named for landowner Dewey Decker, Sanford Town Supervisor, and an early advocate for upstate's budding lease opportunities — are proposed for hilltop wooded terrain draining to Oquaga Creek, which in fact feeds the Delaware.

What this all means is that XTO — for reasons that probably only an optimist could explain — is now ready and eager to get into a line that's been long blocked, not by one, but by two, shale gas moratoriums.

For the first moratorium, New York environmental officials have been flat-footed since Feb. 15, 2008 (the date of the first such stalled application anywhere statewide from industry).  Then
— since July 23, 2008, the birth date for the tortured and still-unresolved SGEIS process — these officials were busy coping with studious delay, and unprecedented public commentary, on this question.

For the second moratorium, the federal-state compact Delaware River Basin Commission has been stymied from reaching a consensus (or even just taking a vote) on its own version of over-lapping regulations governing such activity.  Unlike the similar, adjoining federal-state compact Susquehanna River Basin Commission, the DRBC decided early on it had to do much more than simply regulate water withdrawals in its zone of influence.  But then the DRBC's proposed, over-the-top regulatory scheme got bogged down in politics, same as in New York — a pool of quicksand from which the path of least (short-term) resistance always seems to mean... don't sink; don't swim; don't even struggle; just delay, delay, delay.

These XTO applications also represent a challenge to anti-leaning observers (most mainstream reporters, and a handful of pseudo-journalistic bloggers), as well as to basically-burned-out well-wishers for progress (such as myself, at least on certain days) — all of whom have become increasingly hopeful/fearful that indigenous shale gas will never be produced from under gridlocked New York.  (At least not within the foreseeable future.)


It's true that Norwegian penny stock Norse Energy has made similar filings —
camping out in the DEC's stalled shale gas queue since July 2011 with 29 new, mostly horizontal, Marcellus and Utica shale applications.  But it's been easy for many to ignore Norse's efforts as a persuasive stunt, or as a prop to the hopefulness of its investors, or as a sweetening to its underlying assets for an eventual sale.

But, as of just this week, we also have an arm of
Carrizo Oil & Gas — a Houston, TX-addressed driller never before active in New York State — nearing completion on a nearly one-mile-deep Marcellus Shale vertical test well in the Town of Owego, Tioga County, NY.  I reported the original application here back in May 2012, but until very recently nobody had noted that the job had actually gone beyond the paperwork stages. 

Here's how that happened:  NYS DEC computers have been mutely showing Carrizo's Wetterling 1 had been "spudded," or started, as far back as Sept. 18.  But ordinary citizens on the ground appear to have only noticed when the larger rig was moved in and erected to breach the treeline off the sparsely populated McHenry Road.  (So much for the supposed industrialization of the landscape; it took neighbors three weeks to even notice.) 

These folks alerted anti blogger Heavenrich, whose posting in turn was noticed by anti blogger Wilber.  And that publicity appears to have finally spurred a short AP story datelined Owego, NY — which somehow managed to spell the developer's name wrong, use the amateur word "digging" for the professional reality of "drilling," and to also deploy yet again this freakout description for the whole shale gas completion process: 
"Fracking injects millions of gallons of chemical-laced water into the ground to crack rock and release gas."  [Underlining is mine.  "Laced" is neutral?  And why can't these guys just say "into the shalebed"?]

To my knowledge, nobody's asked Carrizo these questions yet:  Are you just gonna test the shale flakes in a lab?  Or are you gonna frack it vertically, at permissible low volumes, and see what happens?

And now XTO gets in New York's line.
 

Here's the cheap, conspiratorial angle, which I'm sure will have great appeal for both audiences — those demanding at last some headway, and those who are deathly afraid of it:  What now has mighty ExxonMobil come to know — or come to believe — about the Cuomo Administration's ultimate plan for finally, reluctantly, coming to terms with this log jam?

Cue ominous background bass noise.  Shouldn't be too hard to get a "no comment," or a "no call back," from the XOM flacks — which always adds some zazzle to the suspicious subtext.  Plus I bet you could get the Mountainkeeper or the Riverkeeper out in the field for an outraged soundbite; they're really good at that stuff.  But, whatever you do, don't bother trying to get ahold of Dewey Decker, or his
fellow Sanfordians, perched above the potential wellbores.  Most of them are probably pretty busy working for a living, anyway.  And it's only technically, on paper, their land, their resource, their leases, and their economic (and environmental) futures.  In reality — and because it's journalistically more rewarding — this conflict belongs to all of us.

API Well Number:  31007300060000 (proposed unit map obtained and uploaded off-site here)

Well Name:  Dew Dec A 1H
Company Name:  XTO Energy
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  10/11/2012
Permit Application Date:  10/3/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.519335
Surface Latitude:  42.064837
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.506605
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.054007
True Vertical Depth:  -75.506605
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  6050
Drilled Depth:  11000
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  619.1
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  10/11/2012

API Well Number:  31007300070000 (proposed unit map obtained and uploaded off-site here)
Well Name:  Cempa Unit A 1H
Company Name:  XTO Energy
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  10/11/2012
Permit Application Date:  10/3/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.503886
Surface Latitude:  42.079922
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.514772
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.091136
True Vertical Depth:  6077
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10795
Drilled Depth:  10795
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  635.2
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  10/11/2012

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Norse Adds 8 Utica Drilling Requests;
NYS Shale Gas Wish List Now Totals 29

Still using sluggish Google Maps to illustrate, so you'll have to be patient and let it load.

View Norse's Shale Gas Drilling Permit Applications in a larger map

These pins pin all proposed surface locations (blue or purple), and all associated "bottom holes" (red or pinkish, if there is a discrete bottom hole) for a long slew of shale gas drilling permit applications from Norse Energy.  The list now totals 29 proposed Marcellus or Utica wellbores, all filed since NYS put out the last draft of its new drilling rules more than a year ago, July 2011.

The locations for the eight most recent applications — all Utica projects in Chenango County, and all horizontal except for one vertical — are marked in purple pins sometimes partially hidden behind their pinkish "bottom holes" (if applicable).  So you'll have to do some zooming for the best view.  The pins should stay put.

These sorts of subterranean news developments are distilled — not from our selectively unentrepreneurial Upstate media — but from checking in occasionally with the NYS DEC's wells database, which all are free to comb for themselves, later on.

Norse applications One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six/Seven, and Eight/Nine were previously covered on this blog, through annotated details, and occasionally maps, so feel free to poke around.

Note that — as of Sept. 28, 2012, through very limited publicity — Norse essentially acknowledged that its Plan A would actually be not to involve itself directly in doing all the work of well pad construction, drilling, completion, and pipeline hookups — when and if NYS gives up its long-running shale gas moratorium.  Instead, the company listed its remaining NYS assets for sale with a specialized broker.

I have also gone to the trouble of collecting from the DEC Minerals Division the associated, as-initially-proposed Spacing Unit Maps.  To get your hands on the more recent ones, look below for well-by-well links to a freebie, off-site document warehouse — or click through the full list of Norse shale gas requests, which I've set up altogether in separate post.

Recapping once again — except for Numbers 11 and 24, the Finelli, J. 1 and the Petkash, T., both vertical drilling proposals — none of these projects can go forward until NYS — and, in what now numbers five cases, the Delaware River Basin Commission — green-light the permitting.  Norse has been taking numbers early, though, on the theory that permits will eventually be issued similarly to the way that deli's deal with their customers.

Here's the 10th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300170000
Well Name:  Hansen, B. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Chenango
Town:  Afton
Status Date:  3/29/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/28/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.539042
Surface Latitude:  42.244539
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.536898
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.251547
True Vertical Depth:  4053
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  6582
Drilled Depth:  6582
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  112.37
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  3/29/2012

The 11th
(proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300180000
Well Name:  Finelli, J. 1
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Coventry
Status Date:  4/3/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/27/2012
Well Orientation:  Vertical
Surface Longitude:  -75.56551
Surface Latitude:  42.24963
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.56551
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.24963
True Vertical Depth:  8500
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  8500
Drilled Depth:  8500
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  39.46
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/3/2012

The 12th
(proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300190000
Well Name:  Simpson, R. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Chenango
Town:  McDonough
Status Date:  4/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/30/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.739669
Surface Latitude:  42.488964
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.745612
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.500695
True Vertical Depth:  2943
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  7636
Drilled Depth:  7636
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  312.75
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/4/2012

The 13th
(proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31007300040000
Well Name:  Woodford, D. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  4/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  3/30/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.461671
Surface Latitude:  42.139871
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.457646
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.134937
True Vertical Depth:  4844
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  6836
Drilled Depth:  6836
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  111.14
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/4/2012

The 14th
(proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31007300030000
Well Name:  WF, D. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  4/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  4/2/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.461241
Surface Latitude:  42.14197
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.466229
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.152367
True Vertical Depth:  4814
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  8650
Drilled Depth:  8650
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:
Spacing Acres:  155.89
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/4/2012


The 15th
(proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31007300050000
Well Name:  Helm, R. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Broome
Town:  Sanford
Status Date:  4/20/2012
Permit Application Date:  4/9/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.480911
Surface Latitude:  42.157057
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.472617
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.143747
True Vertical Depth:  4800
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10313
Drilled Depth:  10313
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  281.86
Integration:
Last Modified Date:  4/20/2012

The 16th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300200000
Well Name:  Lightning Rod Hollow 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Marcellus
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  5/4/2012
Permit Application Date:  4/25/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.741841
Surface Latitude:  42.446041
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.739778
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.433927
True Vertical Depth:  3245
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  7528
Drilled Depth:  7528
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  196.84
Integration:  Integration order pending
Last Modified Date:  5/4/2012


The 17th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300210000
Well Name:  Hardiman, M. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  5/24/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/17/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.854253
Surface Latitude:  42.449786
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.851421
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.438428
True Vertical Depth:  7125
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11519
Drilled Depth:  11519
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  380.21
Integration:  Integration order pending
Last Modified Date:  5/24/2012

The 18th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300220000
Well Name:  Lopresti, W. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  5/24/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/17/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.83699
Surface Latitude:  42.47061
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.828571
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.464042
True Vertical Depth:  6990
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  9977
Drilled Depth:  9977
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  122.89
Integration:  Integration order pending
Last Modified Date:  5/24/2012

The 19th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31017300230000
Well Name:  Handley, G. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  5/24/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/22/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.85276
Surface Latitude:  42.4755
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.860788
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.487368
True Vertical Depth:  6915
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11649
Drilled Depth:  11649
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  423.81
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  5/24/2012


The 20th (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):


API Well Number:  31017300240000
Well Name:  Wolford, C. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  6/13/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/25/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.743664
Surface Latitude:  42.405612
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.737168
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.388422
True Vertical Depth:  7362
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  14193
Drilled Depth:  14193
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  614.85
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/13/2012

The 21st (proposed Spacing Unit Map thrown up for public viewing and downloading here):

API Well Number:  31053300010000
Well Name:  Miller, E. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Madison
Town:  Georgetown
Status Date:  6/13/2012
Permit Application Date:  5/29/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.722614
Surface Latitude:  42.737587
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.740576
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.751741
True Vertical Depth:  4935
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  12314
Drilled Depth:  12314
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  386.57
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/13/2012


The 22nd (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300250000
Well Name:  Lyon, G. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/13/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.690459
Surface Latitude:  42.425999
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.697482
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.435295
True Vertical Depth:  7075
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11119
Drilled Depth:  11119
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  194.66
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/27/2012

The 23rd (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300260000
Well Name:  Smith, D. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Afton
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/18/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.606663
Surface Latitude:  42.202658
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.6084
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.196789
True Vertical Depth:  8810
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10925
Drilled Depth:  10925
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  107
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/27/2012

The 24th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300270000
Well Name:  Petkash, T.
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Coventry
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/18/2012
Well Orientation:  Vertical
Surface Longitude:  -75.619063
Surface Latitude:  42.305772
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.619063
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.305772
True Vertical Depth:  8275
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  8275
Drilled Depth:  8275
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  39.91
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  8/27/2012

The 25th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300290000
Well Name:  Rusweiler, B. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Bainbridge
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/18/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.44643
Surface Latitude:  42.30645
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.453005
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.313939
True Vertical Depth:  7283
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10381
Drilled Depth:  10381
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  186.02
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/12/2012

The 26th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300280000
Well Name:  Faber, P. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  McDonough
Status Date:  6/27/2012
Permit Application Date:  6/19/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.716117
Surface Latitude:  42.477035
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.715093
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.488953
True Vertical Depth:  6755
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11119
Drilled Depth:  11119
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing:  Non-statutory unit under Title 5; review in progress
Spacing Acres:  239.15
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  6/27/2012

The 27th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300300000
Well Name:  Baciuska, V. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Afton
Status Date:  7/30/2012
Permit Application Date:  7/13/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:      -75.610916
Surface Latitude:  42.232063
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.595312
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.215876
True Vertical Depth:  4227
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  15795
Drilled Depth:  15795
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  414.45
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/30/2012

The 28th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300310000
Well Name:  Crumb, E. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  Smithville
Status Date:  7/30/2012
Permit Application Date:  7/23/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.780585
Surface Latitude:  42.421023
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.78843
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.430827
True Vertical Depth:  7000
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  11093
Drilled Depth:  11093
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  428.61
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/30/2012

The 29th (proposed Spacing Unit Map here):

API Well Number:  31017300320000
Well Name:  Brown, K. 1H
Company Name:  Norse Energy Corp USA
Well Type:  Not Listed
Well Status:  App to Drill/Plug/Convert
Objective Formation:  Utica
County:  Chenango
Town:  German
Status Date:  7/30/2012
Permit Application Date:  7/23/2012
Well Orientation:  Horizontal
Surface Longitude:  -75.85321
Surface Latitude:  42.49195
Bottom Hole Longitude:  -75.859457
Bottom Hole Latitude:  42.500737
True Vertical Depth:  6842
Bottom Hole Total Measured Depth:  10480
Drilled Depth:  10480
Proposed Well Type:  Gas Wildcat
Spacing: 
Spacing Acres:  141.82
Integration: 
Last Modified Date:  7/30/2012

Norse Energy's Shale Gas Applications:
Proposed Unit Maps Uploaded

[Original post April 2, 2012, or so, but since updated as more applications and unit maps have come in.]

Here's a list of off-site links to the as-initially-drafted unit maps, in PDF form, for Norse Energy's shale gas drilling permit requests.  Since the SGEIS was put out in draft form more than a year ago, July 2011, there have so far trickled out 29 of these (counting two verticals).

1) Norse-Housing 1H, Town of Smyrna, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
2) Nowalk, R. 3H, Town of Smithville, Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
3) Martin, C, 1H, Town of McDonough (top hole), Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
4) Branagan, A. 1H, Town of Lebanon, Madison County (Utica shale) — unit map.
5) Sage, J. 1H, Town of Smithville, Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
6) Mowatt, J. 1H, Town of Smithville, Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
7) Fernandez II 1H, Town of Coventry, Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
8) Emerson, D. 1H, Town of Sanford, Broome County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
9) Fritzsch, C. 1H, Town of Sanford, Broome County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
10) Hansen, B. 1H, Town of Afton, Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
11) Finelli, J. 1, Town of Coventry, Chenango County (vertical to Utica shale) — unit map.
12) Simpson, R. 1H, Town of McDonough, Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
13) Woodford, D. 1H, Town of Sanford, Broome County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
14) WF, D. 1H, Town of Sanford, Broome County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.

15) Helm, R. 1H, Town of Sanford, Broome County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.

16) Lightning Rod Hollow 1H, Town of Smithville, Chenango County (Marcellus shale) — unit map.
17) Hardiman, M. 1H, Town of German, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
18) Lopresti, W. 1H, Town of German, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
19) Handley, G. 1H, Town of German, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.

20) Wolford, C. 1H, Town of Smithville, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
21) Miller, E. 1H, Town of Georgetown, Madison County (Utica shale) — unit map.
22) Lyon, G. 1H, Town of Smithville, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
23) Smith, D. 1H, Town of Afton, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
24) Petkash, T., Town of Coventry, Chenango County (vertical to Utica shale) — unit map.
25) Rusweiler, B. 1H, Town of Bainbridge, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
26) Faber, P. 1H, Town of McDonough, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
27) Baciuska, V. 1H, Town of Afton, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
28) Crumb, E. 1H, Town of Smithville, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.
29) Brown, K. 1H, Town of German, Chenango County (Utica shale) — unit map.


For the first round, I had also requested "ownership tabulations," which would specify the current oil and gas ownership within each these units, both those signed to the operator, and those unsigned — and therefore in line, at some point, for the formalized process of "compulsory integration," also known as "forced pooling."

But it turns out it's too early in the sequence of events for these records to be filed.  Here's the word on this from Tom E. Noll, Permits Section Chief within the DEC's Division of Mineral Resouces:
"Please note that an ownership tabulation is submitted to the Department as part of the compulsory integration process.  Compulsory integration is not scheduled and will not commence until the spacing unit is established at the time of permit issuance.  Prior to a scheduled integration hearing the well operator is required pursuant to ECL 23-0901 to provide the Department with an ownership tabulation which identifies those parcels wholly or partially within the spacing unit by tax parcel ID number, owner's name and in case of uncontrolled parcels, the owner's mailing address.  Until a spacing unit requiring integration has been scheduled for hearing the operator is not required to submit information on property ownership.  Consequently, we do not currently maintain the ownership tabulations responsive to your request."
Of course, all this could be pieced together at the County Real Property Tax Office, and the County Clerk's Office — should anyone be feeling particularly motivated.  And, naturally, the folks owning land inside each of these draft boxes will certainly know who they are.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Bluestone Pipeline Green-Lighted;
Local Press Still Asleep at Keyboards

[Original post Oct. 8; updated Oct. 9 with some additional details.]

Okay, I'm back from a several-months-long bout with especially complicated paid work.

First thing I noticed is this:  The glacial State of New York, through its Public Service Commission, has finally given the go-ahead on a PA-NY natural gas pipeline interconnect called Bluestone.

In Bureaucratese, this decision-making event is known as the issuance of a "Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need."  Bluestone now has it.  It's all on the web, if you know where to look for it (which is really not that hard).  It's been out there since Sept. 21.  I also put up a more directly linkable copy here. 

Also in the file, I see a letter written afterwards from the developer's lawyer showing an all-day pre-construction meeting is scheduled to take place in Windsor, NY, on Oct. 10.  (If you've ever been to Windsor, you know it doesn't get any more local than that.)  Also, if all the final construction wrinkles are successfully ironed out that day, the developer proposes to get moving on the ground in NY as early as Oct. 20 (the PA end has already started).  A report from one of the main PA drillers contracted to feed this new transmission capacity (see below) claims both the PA and NY phases of Bluestone will be completed by late November (though that does seem remarkably quick to me).

Maybe then there'd finally be some visuals for the news people.

Other developments directly or indirectly related to this:

• A week or so prior to Bluestone finalizing things with the NYS PSC, Southwestern Energy (SWN) officially foresaw the relieving of the takeaway pipeline bottleneck in its Susquehanna County, PA, leasehold area.  This has triggered a push to move from 40 to 90 producing Marcellus wells (most of them already drilled and completed) by the end of this year, and SWN is also boosting its rig count from 3 to 4 in that area.  All this is occurring despite continued, less-than-stellar economics in dry natgas areas, which is where this part of PA falls.  All these details are here.

• Days later, in Broome County's Town of Sanford, Bluestone put the last closing documents of record on a complicated, four-party, land, easement, and conservation easement purchase and swap, including an eminent-domain-forced deal with the anti-shale gas Delaware Highlands Conservancy.  Bluestone also formalized legal proceedings in order to take (for "just compensation") an easement from another reluctant landowner along the pipeline route.  The state's official blessing makes this action essentially a formality.  No, the details are not spelled out in a handy press release, but the nuts and bolts are of public record for any journalist worth his or her salt.  (Note to the file:  Contrary to popular, PA-inspired belief, eminent domain can be a factor for either larger pipeline projects overseen by the federal government, or smaller ones supervised by the State of NY, which is — in fact, in the end, as you can see — capable of not messing around when it comes to essential infrastructure.) 

• About the same time, the subscription-only Binghamton paper finally got around to reporting the remarkable tax impact of a parallel pipeline project nearby:  In one year, Broome County's Town of Windsor saw its overall tax base jump from $310.5 to $342.5 million, on the strength of just its 9.5-mile portion of the PA-NY pipeline interconnect known as Laser, plus a compressor station.  As a consequence, school district tax bills dropped 5.8 percent, and town tax bills can be expected to drop similarly.  (The county portion of folks' land tax bills would presumably be too diluted by the county-wide pool to show much of a response to such a localized bump.)  I have not seen any forecast for the similar pending impact of the Bluestone development on the Town of Sanford and whatever school districts will be affected by the pipeline route there, though certainly that could be pulled together.  You can get by the paywall on the gist of this Windsor story here.

Ordinarily, all this would be the sort of thing which a decent local paper would report, and which TV and radio stations would at least try to cover.  Sure seems like news to me.  But, by my search engine enhanced reckoning, local media have not yet taken notice of this latest development in the Bluestone project. 

Is this because we do things weird in New York, or just in Binghamton, NY?  The Bluestone pipeline job is now a $280 million construction project (according to the developer's latest explanations to its investors — see page 19 of a PDF'd PowerPoint here).  But our media reps don't seem to be able to see any worthwhile angles.  It's just unsubsidized private investment, leading to jobs, landowner income, significant spinoff activity, new tax base, and infrastructure development (including traffic, noise, and dirt) in especially depressed areas of Upstate NY and rural PA — even while the Empire State's indigenous shale gas opportunities continue to be thwarted by ceaseless debate, dragging on toward the 4-and-a-half year mark.

In this case, we see a rare burst of progress goes through, unstoppable, somehow making it non-news. 

I don't get that. 

I have some prickly philosophical questions about this.  Are we getting to the point where modern-day news coverage is inherently biased by: 

1) Lack of training, professionalism, and skill among the current generation of practitioners?

2) Lack of resources, on account of the fading economic fortunes of free-market journalism?

3) Lack of social feedback rewards for actually doing the journalistic work of gathering facts independently, outside the more efficient formula of re-writing press releases from agenda-driven sources?

4) Lack of interest in stories that don't mesh very well with the preferred, more interesting, more comfortable "decision hangs in the balance" narratives of reporters and editors?

5) A news-gathering engine that too often fuels itself on press releases engaged in easily over-dramatized, over-simplified conflict, rather than the sometimes technical flow of actual events?