Private equity backed 2Co wants to build a new coal plant above the Hatfield coal mine and pump the gas to North Sea oil fields where it can be used for enhanced oil recovery.
They are encouraging drillers to use tainted coal mine water to hydraulically fracture gas wells in the Marcellus Shale formation, with the twin goals of diverting pollution from streams and rivers that now run orange with mine drainage and reducing the drillers' reliance on fresh sources of water.
This is the same gas responsible for recent coal mine accidents, and it can infiltrate the water reservoir if there is too much pumping, which creates a pressure draw down.
In 2010, a forward-thinking friend of mine took me for a ride in a Ford Fusion, a gas-electric hybrid that gets more miles per gallon than comparable cars with conventional engines.
Tom West, who represents Norse in the challenge to Dryden's zoning law, said he'll argue that the Frew Run case, which involved a gravel mine, doesn't apply because the state mining law is fundamentally different from the oil and gas statutes.