Company Profile: EQT Corporation (NYSE:EQT)
EQT's Distribution unit provides gas to about 276,000 customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. EQT Midstream operates 10,650 miles of natural gas-gathering pipeline and 970 miles of transmission lines. EQT Production exploits proved reserves of 4.1 trillion cu. ft. of natural gas equivalent in the Appalachian region, operating some 13,000 active wells and drilling more than 700 new wells in 2009. EQT Production sells its natural gas products to Appalachian-area utilities and industrial customers and to marketers, including EQT Energy, its own gas marketing affiliate.
The Rock Solid Facts about Shale Drilling [Fracking]
The realities and information are spreading about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The facts are rock solid. Tell newly elected Governor Tom Wolf that fracking fractures Pennsylvania!
Call him now!
717-787-2500
Reality #1: Natural Gas companies don't pay taxes.
--Pennsylvania is the only state with no severance tax. Market value of the gas produced in 2013 was 11.8 billion but companies only paid impact fees of 223 million making the tax rate for them only 1.9%. Drillers pay no property taxes on oil and gas reserves in PA, but in Texas they pay 3.7 billion in local property taxes. State corporate tax paid by gas drilling companies fell below pre-Marcellus levels in 2013.
Reality #2: Fracking is bad for the economy
--Leaseholders say they are not getting paid. Energy companies are skimming profits and increasing expenses to landowners. Home prices are also at risk. Banks refuse to offer mortgages for properties near fracked wells.
Reality #3: Fracking jobs do not goto Pennsylvanians
--Pennsylvania ranks 50th in job creation in the nation. Shale-related employment represents 4% of overall employment in the state. 70-80% of workers are from out of state.
Reality #4: Fracking is under-regulated
--Pennsylvania’s auditor general Eugene DePasquale has released a report critical of the Department of Environmental Protection’s regulation of the natural gas drilling industry. The audit, covering the period of 2009 through 2012, shows that the rapid growth of the shale gas industry caught the Department of Environmental Protection unprepared to adequately protect drinking water and respond to complaints. “DEP is underfunded, understaffed and inconsistent in how it approached shale gas development,” DePasquale said.
Reality #5: Fracking harms the environment
--Fracking is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, Emergency Planning and Community Right To Know Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act. 5-7% of new gas wells leak. As wells age, the percentage of leakage increases from 30-50%. Fracked wells release 40-60% more methane than conventional wells. Methane is 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Fracking displaces coal and also renewables and with the cheap cost of national gas, coal exports are increasing.
Reality #6: Fracking is a threat to public health
--People living near natural gas development are twice as likely to report health problems such as: nosebleeds, vision problems, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, blood pressure issues, stress, skin lesions, cancer, chronic fatigue, difficulty with balance, severe headaches, tumors, low birth weight, difficulty with breathing. Recently, 400 health professionals called for an investigation of the PA Department of Health for ignoring calls from residents concerning health complaints related to gas drilling.
Produced and Edited by Andrew Geller