Protecting Sensitive State Forest Land from Future Natural Gas Leases
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=14973&typeid=2
Governor Rendell Signs Moratorium Protecting Sensitive State Forest Land from Future Natural Gas Leases
Governor Edward G. Rendell today signed an executive order protecting Pennsylvania’s state forests from any new natural gas development activities that would disturb the surface of these areas and jeopardize fragile ecosystems.
The Governor said a recent and extensive evaluation of the state forest system conducted by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources over a period of seven months found that any additional leases could endanger the environmental quality and character of these tracts and pose a risk to Pennsylvania’s existing certification that it manages its forests in a sustainable manner, which is important for the state’s nearly $6 billion forest products industry.
Governor Rendell added the executive order was necessary now given the state Senate’s failure to act on House Bill 2235, which would have instituted a moratorium on state forest land leases. The legislation passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support in early May, but was ignored by the Senate.
“Drilling companies’ rush to grab private lands across the state has left few areas untouched by this widespread industrial activity,” said Governor Rendell. “We need to protect our un-leased public lands from this rush because they are the most significant tracts of undisturbed forest remaining in the state. The House led the way to protect these lands, but the Senate failed to do so. That’s why it’s clear we need this executive order.
“Failing to protect these acres will significantly alter the ecological integrity and the wild character of our state forest system. That would devastate our ecotourism industry and jeopardize the green certification upon which the state’s forest products industry depends.”
Currently, 700,000 acres of Pennsylvania’s 2.2 million-acre state forest are available for natural gas extraction. When completely developed over the next 30 years, these leased lands will include about 1,000 well pads and as many as 10,000 wells, which, along with the associated roadways and infrastructure, could disturb as much as 30,000 acres of the land already under lease.
Approximately 1.5 million acres of state forest lands sits atop the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation. The remaining 800,000 acres that have not been made available for natural gas development contain significant environmental, eco-tourism, and recreational values, including:
• 180,000 acres of high-value ecosystems designated as wild and natural areas;
• 200,000 acres of old-growth forests;
• 128,000 acres with sensitive environmental resources (wetlands, riparian areas, threatened and endangered species, steep slopes, unique habitats) and valuable recreational resources (scenic vistas and viewsheds, trails, leased camps);
• 299,000 acres in remote areas generally inaccessible by motorized vehicles and offering wilderness experiences paralleling those in the western United States;
• 88,000 acres of highly valued recreational and water resources in the Poconos in close proximity to many residents; and
• 20,000 acres important to ecotourism in the Laurel Highlands region.
“The moratorium is important to the state’s economy because it protects some of our most valuable assets,” said Governor Rendell. “Countless people enjoy our state forests for recreation, which draws tourism dollars into the state, and our lumber industry needs the assurance of knowing we’re going to responsibly manage these resources to protect jobs in that industry.
“After I sign this order into effect, it should remain in place. The stewardship of the public’s forests demands no less,” added the Governor. “We simply cannot risk subjecting these sensitive and high-value tracts to the same kind of environmental accidents and mishaps that have happened on private lands elsewhere in the state because of the drilling industry’s poor practices.”
For more information, visit www.dcnr.state.pa.us.
Media contact:
Gary Tuma, 717-783-1116
Chris Novak, DCNR; 717-772-9101
Read more
Official seeks ordinance barring use of biosolids
http://www.tnonline.com/node/146100
Official seeks ordinance barring use of biosolids
Reported on Tuesday, October 26, 2010
By CHRIS PARKER cparker@tnonline.com
Lansford needs to have an ordinance in place barring the use of biosolids – commonly known as sludge – in the community, Tommy Vadyak of borough council’s Public Safety Committee said Monday.
He hopes that if Lansford adopts such an ordinance, surrounding communities will follow suit to the material, the byproduct of domestic and commercial sewage and wastewater treatment, out of the area.
Council may discuss the matter when it meets at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 9 in the borough’s community center at 1 W. Ridge St.
“It’s a safety matter,” he said. “Years ago, there were two young boys who died … I’m on the down side of life. It’s not to protect me, it’s to protect the youth coming up. I’m just looking out for their safety.”
Vadyak referred to 17-year-old Daniel Pennock of Mohrsville, Berks County, who died in 1995 days after coming in contact with biosolids used as fertilizer in a farmer’s field. Pennock died about six months after an 11-year-old Clearfield County boy, Tony Behun, died after riding his dirt bike across a strip mine where biosolids had been used.
He said there are few areas where biosolids might be used in Lansford. However, Lehigh Coal & Navigation of Pottsville has extensive mine pits in the Panther Valley where the substance could be used.
“I want to get a start here. Maybe if we get something started here, maybe the other communities around us will pick up on it and get one in place in their communities,” he said. “There are proper places to take biosolids; it’s not to dump it in our backyards.”
Vadyak said toxins from the material can be carried up to four miles on the wind. “I want to have a buffer,” he said. “Maybe we can get something going here to protect the whole area. This is not a dumping ground.”
Vadyak said that the biosolids matter surfaced in 1999-2000, when Lehigh Coal & Navigation of Pottsville proposed using the material to reclaim mine lands behind the Panther Valley High School in Summit Hill along Route 209 between Lansford and Nesquehoning. That plan was later dropped.
Lansford In June 2004 expected to adopt an ordinance governing biosolids, after neighboring Summit Hill adopted such an ordinance. That borough’s action was prompted by LC&N’s proposal to use biosolids, along with fly ash and kiln dust, for mine reclamation. The ordinance required that biosolids be tested for germs, chemicals, metals, radioactivity and material that would attract rodents.
Vadyak wants his council and those of neighboring communities to adopt an ordinance modeled after the much tougher one in place in East Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, one that has withstood legal challenges at the state level.
East Brunswick’s ordinance will also likely be adopted Schuylkill Township supervisors. On Oct. 6, the Harrisburg Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility withdrew its plans to use biosolids in a Schuylkill Township mine reclamation project. The mine is on land owned by the county and leased to Premium Coal of Hazleton. The treatment facility and Material Matters, the Lancaster County consultant representing it, ran into a wall of opposition from residents and township officials.
Although Schuylkill Township has an ordinance in place regulating the use of the material, supervisors plan to update the law by adopting one based on the East Brunswick Township ordinance.
Webinars: Water management for Marcellus Shale gas production a growing issue
http://live.psu.edu/story/49365#nw69
Friday, October 22, 2010
Webinars: Water management for Marcellus Shale gas production a growing issue
University Park, Pa. — Billions of dollars already have been invested by natural-gas companies in Pennsylvania for Marcellus Shale gas exploration. Similarly, millions of gallons of water have been utilized to develop billions of cubic feet of natural gas.
The natural-gas industry is pursuing ways to minimize potential environmental impacts during development of the rich Marcellus formation, such as by treating and reusing wastewater produced during the process. However, according to one Penn State expert, as the Marcellus natural-gas play grows, the demand for water for hydraulic fracturing will directly increase, as will the need for infrastructure to treat flowback water for reuse or disposal.
“To minimize the environmental and financial costs of flowback treatment, many operators are now reusing flowback and other impaired waters such as acid mine drainage,” said David Yoxtheimer, hydrogeologist and extension associate with Penn State’s Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research. < http://www.marcellus.psu.edu/ >
Yoxtheimer was one of the featured speakers during an Oct. 21 Web-based seminar titled, “Water Use and Water Reuse/Recycling in Marcellus Shale Gas Exploration and Production.” Sponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension < http://extension.psu.edu/ >, the webinar provided an overview of new strategies to conserve fresh water and reuse waters affected by the gas exploration process.
When shale gas drillers develop natural gas using the hydraulic-fracturing technique, they inject 3 million to 5 million gallons of water, along with sand and a relatively low concentration of additives into the Marcellus formation to release the natural gas. According to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, about 10 percent (300,000 to 500,000 gallons) of the injected hydraulic-fracturing fluids return to the surface via the natural-gas well within about one month.
This wastewater, known as “flowback,” contains relatively high concentrations of salt as well as some metals that were dissolved out of the shale during the fracturing process. The flowback water requires treatment prior to release back into the environment, but many companies are now reusing the flowback for subsequent hydraulic-fracturing operations, which has environmental benefits and reduces truck traffic on roads.
“Simply reusing the water is only the first step, but the lack of processing back to the water-quality standards is a big challenge to conventional thinking,” said Tony Gaudlip of Range Resources. Gaudlip, a co-presenter in the webinar, joined Range Resources in January 2008 following various industry positions in south Texas, Wyoming, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
“We do not need crystal clear water to use as a base fluid for fracturing,” he said. “We do not need to treat the water at all in order to get good production — no distillation, crystallization, reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, etc. That’s all unnecessary to meet new downhole requirements,” Gaudlip said.
“What Range is doing is different,” Yoxtheimer said. “The company is fairly progressive and basically is recycling 100 percent of its water, and other companies are now following that trend.”
Yoxtheimer added that reusing flowback — and using impaired waters such as acid mine drainage and effluent from municipal or industrial wastewater plants — greatly offsets the need to use fresh water drawn from local streams and rivers.
Yoxtheimer said that Marcellus development is “proceeding pretty much full steam ahead” in Pennsylvania despite some opposition. “There are a lot of economic opportunities there that are potentially good, but also some potential environmental consequences. Ideally, a fine balance can be struck by doing the exploration and extraction in an environmentally responsible way.”
The “Water Use and Water Reuse/Recycling in Marcellus Shale Gas Exploration and Production” program was part of an ongoing series of workshops addressing issues related to the state’s Marcellus Shale gas boom. One-hour webinars also will be held at 1 p.m. on the following dates:
–Nov. 18: “Pa. DEP Regulatory Update.” Presenters: Dana Aunkst and Scott Perry, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
–Dec. 16: “Plumbing the Depths in Pa.: A Primer on Marcellus Shale Geology and Technology.” Presenter: Mike Arthur, Penn State Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.
–Jan. 20, 2011: “Marcellus Shale Legislation: What Was Accomplished in the 2009-10 Session and What Issues Remain to be Addressed.” Presenter: Ross Pifer, Dickinson School of Law, Penn State.
–Feb. 16, 2011: “Dealing with Gas Tax Issues: What You Need to Know.” Presenter: Mike Jacobson, Penn State School of Forest Resources.
–Mar. 17, 2011: “Natural Gas Well Development and Emergency Response and Management.” Presenter: Craig Konkle, Lycoming County Office of Emergency Management.
Previous webinars — which covered topics such as water use and quality, gas-leasing considerations for landowners and implications for local communities — can be viewed at Penn State Cooperative Extension’s natural-gas website. <http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas/webinars >
For more information, contact John Turack, extension educator in Westmoreland County, at 724-837-1402 or by e-mail at jdt15@psu.edu.
Polycythemia vera advisory group announces contaminant study
http://www.tnonline.com/node/145322
Reported on Saturday, October 23, 2010
Polycythemia vera advisory group announces contaminant study
Tamaqua Mayor Chris Morrison, Chairman of the Tri-County Polycythemia Community Advisory Committee (CAC), announced Wednesday that Equity Environmental Engineering (EEE) has been chosen by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to conduct a study of possible exposure of area residents to contaminants in air and drinking water.
“We are pleased that ATSDR and CDC have funded this study in response to public concerns about high cancer rates and the many sources of contamination in our area.,” said Morrison.
According to Morrison, EEE investigators will meet with members of the CAC and tour the area on Oct. 28.
“Thanks to the hard work of community members we now have a large number of studies to get to the bottom of the cancer cluster in our area,” Morrison said.
U.S Senator Arlen Specter obtained about $8 million in federal funds for the research programs. On Sept. 22, researchers and government officials were on hand to discuss the major studies now underway; studies include:
Ÿ An epidemiological study by Drexel University designed to determine what factors that PV/MPD patients have in common and what factors separate those with the illnesses and those without.
Ÿ A study by the University of Pittsburgh (School of Public Health) to obtain an accurate and updated account of the number/incidence of PV/MPD cases in the tri-county area.
Ÿ A second study by University of Pittsburg scientists to investigate the incidence of PV/MPD in a four-county area of coal country in southwestern Pennsylvania with similar geography and demographics, coal burning plants and ash disposal sites.
Ÿ Laboratory studies by Dr. Ronald Hoffman (a foremost expert on PV) to determine more on the genetic changes that precipitate the onset of JAK-2 mutations and PV disease. One study will subject blood cells to various contaminants that have been found in the tri-county area.
Ÿ An analysis of thousands of blood samples and data from U.S. residents obtained from the CDC’s NHANES program, one of the largest randomized collections of samples and associated data in existence. The analysis will be used to estimate the frequency of PV, JAK-2 across the country and look for possible correlations with factors such as work history, diet and contaminant levels in blood.
Drilling awareness coalition hosting forum
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Drilling_awareness_coalition_hosting_forum_10-22-2010.html
Posted: October 23, 2010
Drilling awareness coalition hosting forum
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
The Back Mountain-based Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition will again carry its message against natural gas drilling in Luzerne County into the Wyoming Valley.
The group will host an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Kingston American Legion Post 395, 386 Wyoming Ave.
The public event will include a presentation by Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition founder Thomas Jiunta and a question-and-answer session.
“We organized this meeting to alert residents in the Valley that the gas drilling occurring in the Back Mountain will have an impact on them, as well,” Jiunta said, adding that the group believes the quality of the air, water, and roads, as well as property values in the Wyoming Valley, could be negatively affected by natural gas drilling.
The Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition describes itself as a group of primarily “Luzerne County citizens concerned about the many problems horizontal fracturing (“fracking”) will bring to this populated and developed area. … Their goal is to protect Wyoming Valley communities and the environment from exploitative gas drilling.”
Pennsylvania governor declares natural gas tax dead
http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFN2112837120101021?sp=true
Pennsylvania governor declares natural gas tax dead
PHILADELPHIA Oct 21 (Reuters) – Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell on Thursday declared his plan to tax natural gas production “clearly dead this year” due to Republican opposition and accused Republican legislators of reneging on a pledge to enact a tax.
Pennsylvania, home to the Marcellus Shale that is expected to quadruple production in the next 20 years, remains the only gas-producing state yet to impose a tax on shale gas, a largely untapped and relatively clean source of onshore energy.
“Their clear unwillingness to change their previous proposal or to resolve differences with the House Democrats and with my administration makes it obvious that they have killed the severance tax in this legislative session,” Rendell said in a statement.
Senate Republican spokesman Erik Arneson accused Rendell of making a “unilateral decision to end negotiations”.
“We are willing to continue negotiations on Marcellus Shale issues,” Arneson said. “We hope the governor will reconsider his position.”
Talks had already extended past the end of the legislative session, meaning that if any deal had been reached then both houses would need to be called back into special session.
Rendell, a Democrat who will step down in January at the end of his second term, has been calling for the tax for two years to boost state revenue and help pay for the environmental costs of gas drilling.
The Republican-controlled state senate and the shale gas industry had opposed the tax, forcing Rendell to compromise from an original plan that would have raised $307 million in the first year alone. Now that compromise is dead as well.
Lawmakers had agreed during this year’s budget talks to settle details of the so-called severance tax by Oct. 1. The date passed without a deal despite protracted talks, and the legislative session has ended ahead of the Nov. 2 election.
“It is a broken promise, as well as a misguided policy decision that will harm our environment, will leave our local governments without the financial wherewithal to deal with the impacts of drilling in their communities, and will increase the budget challenges that Pennsylvania will face in the years to come,” he said.
Shale gas is extracted through a controversial process known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” in which a mixture of chemicals, sand and water are blasted into rock deep beneath the surface, creating fissures that release trapped gas.
Environmentalists have raised concerns that chemical leaks and spills at the surface of have polluted ground water but the industry insists the process is safe, a contention recently supported by Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator. [ID:nN01279320] (Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Jon Hurdle and Joan Gralla; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)
DEP Secretary Issues Open Letter to Citizens of Susquehanna County
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/14287?id=14827&typeid=1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10/19/2010
CONTACT:
Jamie Legenos , Department of Environmental Protection
717-787-1323
DEP Secretary Issues Open Letter to Citizens of Susquehanna County Community Impacted by Ongoing Gas Migration Issues
HARRISBURG — Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger today issued the following open letter to residents of Dimock, Susquehanna County:
To Whom It May Concern:
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently announced a permanent solution to the drinking water problems in Dimock caused by gas migration from Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation wells. DEP was forced to take action since Cabot continues to deny responsibility for the contamination, despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility. Since that announcement was made, Cabot has launched a public relations campaign and much misinformation has been brought forth concerning who will be party to that solution and who will end up paying for it.
Cabot is responsible for the gas migration that has caused families to be without a permanent water supply for nearly 2 years and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will seek court orders to make Cabot pay for all costs. But we cannot wait for Cabot to fix the problems it caused and to do the right thing. In the interim, PENNVEST, an agency that finances water and sewer infrastructure projects, will be asked to provide funds to pay the estimated $11.8 million cost for Pennsylvania American Water Company to construct a new, 5.5-mile water main from its Lake Montrose treatment plant to provide water service to the residents of Dimock. Again, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will then aggressively seek to recover the cost of the project from Cabot.
No one in Dimock or Susquehanna County will pay for it and local taxes will not be increased as the result of it. Residents along Route 29 will have the option to tap into the line if they so choose. No one will be forced to hook up to the new public water supply. The new water line will also boost the value of homes and businesses near it.
This action is being taken based on overwhelming evidence that proves the Cabot wells are the source of the contamination. DEP has collected ample evidence tying methane found in private water supplies to Cabot’s wells. We have witnessed and chronicled bubbling gas and high pressure readings from a number of wells that prove poor well construction, and taken readings that show excessive gas levels that could only exist in wells that are leaking. Sophisticated testing has “fingerprinted” gas samples and matched the gas found in five homes to the gas leaking from the nearby Cabot wells. Additionally, the gas wells in many cases are less than a thousand feet from the homes where, by law, it is presumed gas drilling caused any pollution of water wells that may result.
The residents of Dimock have already paid a high price for Cabot’s unwillingness to accept responsibility and provide a satisfactory solution. Cabot will be the one paying the final bill. Perhaps next time Cabot will do the job right the first time and avoid expensive repairs.
Sincerely,
John Hanger, Secretary
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120
Senate position firm on Severance tax
http://citizensvoice.com/news/senate-position-firm-on-severance-tax-1.1051756
Senate position firm on Severance tax
By Robert Swift (Harrisburg Bureau Chief)
Published: October 21, 2010
HARRISBURG – Senate Republican leaders reaffirmed their position Wednesday that a state severance tax on natural gas production should start at 1½ percent and exempt up to 100 percent of well production costs.
A short phone conference call between Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders on Tuesday has led to some exchanges on how to move the unresolved issue forward. Whether these exchanges will provide the building blocks for a final compromise on a severance tax in the waning days of the legislative session and Rendell’s tenure is uncertain.
The Senate GOP response doesn’t appear to contain anything different from their previous position, said Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma.
“Senate Republicans remain committed to allowing a full deduction of the costs associated with getting the natural gas to market from the tax owed,” wrote the GOP leadership in a letter to Rendell. “Some individual natural gas companies are spending considerable resources laying pipeline in order to get the gas to market; other companies, due to their proximity to other existing pipelines, are not. To prohibit those costs (or to cap them at 10 percent as you proposed) from being deducted from the tax owed would create a significant inequity of the tax burden company by company.”
Rendell had asked the four caucuses to offer counterproposals to a compromise he offered last week to phase in a severance tax starting at 3 percent and reaching 5 percent by the third year while exempting up to 10 percent of some production and distribution costs.
Senate Republicans want to phase in the tax at 1½ percent during the first five years of a well’s production before a 5-percent rate kicks in. They said there would be no retroactive application of the 1½ percent rate for the full five years to wells already in operation. They also want a comprehensive package addressing drilling-related issues such as zoning rights and spacing of wells in active coal mining areas.
The House approved legislation recently to set the rate at 39 cents per thousand cubic feet, or mcf, of natural gas at the wellhead.
Severance tax revenues are being eyed to plug a $70 million hole in the current state budget and generate new revenue to help communities in drilling boom areas and replenish a state environmental protection fund. Both the governor’s “3-4-5” compromise and the Senate GOP proposal would provide a significant tax break for the natural gas industry, said the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, a Harrisburg think tank that supports a tax.
Elected officials face challenges trying to agree on policy so close to an election, said Terry Madonna, Ph.D., pollster at Franklin and Marshall College. The Marcellus Shale doesn’t rank as a top issue in statewide voter opinion polls with the exception being the drilling boom areas in Northeastern and Southwestern Pennsylvania.
rswift@timesshamrock.com
DEP, Cabot argue over Dimock water contamination
http://citizensvoice.com/news/dep-cabot-argue-over-dimock-water-contamination-1.1051257
Published: October 20, 2010
DEP, Cabot argue over Dimock water contamination
The state Department of Environmental Protection and Cabot Oil and Gas Corp. traded barbs Tuesday about the scope, cause and solution for methane contamination in 18 residential water wells in Dimock Township.
The state agency and the natural gas drilling company have been arguing via press releases and advertisements since late last month when DEP announced that Pennsylvania American Water Co. will construct a new, 5.5-mile water main from its Lake Montrose treatment plant to provide water to the affected families, and Cabot would be made to pick up the tab.
Read Hanger’s letter to Cabot Oil & Gas
“DEP was forced to take action since Cabot continues to deny responsibility for the contamination, despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility,” DEP Secretary John Hanger said in a letter released widely on Tuesday and circulated over the weekend in Susquehanna County.
“Since that announcement was made, Cabot has launched a public relations campaign and much misinformation has been brought forth concerning who will be party to that solution and who will end up paying for it.”
In a press release also sent Tuesday, Cabot spokesman George Stark said that water tests performed by Cabot and DEP showed only four of the 18 water wells have methane at levels exceeding the 28 milligrams per liter limit suggested by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining. He also said the company, which maintains it did not cause the methane contamination, has provided “substantial and persuasive proof that methane gas has been present in water wells in and around the Dimock area for generations.”
Read Cabot’s Dimock well data
Hanger said in an interview Tuesday that Cabot “unfortunately” continues to deny responsibility and the company’s data “must be examined through that prism.”
The state’s environmental oversight agency determined that excessive pressures and faulty casings in 14 of Cabot’s natural gas wells caused methane from a rock layer above the Marcellus Shale to seep into residential water supplies.
The state’s evidence includes video recordings of gas bubbling between the casing in Cabot’s wells and high pressure readings “that could only exist in wells that are leaking,” as well as isotopic analysis – a form of chemical “fingerprinting” – that matched the gas found in five homes to the gas leaking from nearby Cabot wells.
Hanger said DEP testing since April has shown as many as 18 affected supplies. DEP will continue water tests until the Nov. 1 deadline for Cabot to rid the water of gas.
“We, of course, would be delighted, as the families would be, if in fact some of the gas went away,” he said. “We have seen declines at some properties, but not at all. We’ll do some more testing and frankly we’ll make our own judgments based on our own data.”
In the open letter to Susquehanna County residents, Hanger said PENNVEST, a state agency which finances water and sewer projects, will be asked to provide the $11.8 million for the water line project, and then the state will “aggressively seek to recover the cost of the project from Cabot.”
“No one in Dimock or Susquehanna County will pay for it and local taxes will not be increased as the result of it,” he said.
Besides the affected residents, others who live on Route 29 between Montrose and Dimock will have the option to tap into the water line if they choose, Hanger said, adding that the line should boost the value of homes and businesses nearby.
Stark called the project an “unwarranted burden on the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.”
“Given the science and our findings, we question how the secretary could spend the 12 million of taxpayer dollars,” he said in an interview. “He’s going to sue us to get it back. I’m not certain that a court will find in favor of the commonwealth.”
The public feud between Cabot and DEP was joined by a group of Susquehanna County residents and businesses called Enough, Already! last week, when the group bought an ad in the Mulligan’s Shopping Guide criticizing the waterline as a “terrible, big government decision” that is “expensive and unnecessary.”
The group asks residents to sign petitions, hosted at eight area businesses, telling PENNVEST to deny an application by DEP to fund the line.
Many of Cabot’s positions were echoed in the ad, which Cabot and members of Enough, Already! said the company did not place, write or pay for.
llegere@timesshamrock.com
eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072
Taking upbeat look at gas drilling
http://www.timesleader.com/news/Taking_upbeat_look_at_gas_drilling_10-17-2010.html
Posted: October 18, 2010
Taking upbeat look at gas drilling
Citizens for Cleaner Energy started by Lehman Twp. man who says group does best to convey unbiased data.
MATT HUGHES mhughes@timesleader.com
Citizens for Cleaner Energy secretary Barb Mikielski and president Gary Ide display one of the signs the pro-drilling group is posting throughout the Back Mountain to welcome natural gas driller EnCana to the community.
Lehman Township resident Gary Ide said too much negativity has surrounded the prospect of natural gas drilling in Luzerne County. It prompted him to start a new grassroots organization seeking to put a positive spin on the activity.
Those driving through the Back Mountain lately might have noticed the group’s work already.
Citizens for Cleaner Energy began posting yellow “Welcome EnCana” signs around the Back Mountain about a month ago. The group next plans to distribute “A New Lease on Life” stickers, which might start adorning bumpers throughout the region soon.
Ide said the group seeks to provide unbiased information and combat stereotypes about property owners who have signed leases with natural gas drillers.
Citizens for Cleaner Energy does not take an oppositional stand, Ide said, but it became clear from the group’s first meeting that those who had signed leases were frustrated about how they were being portrayed by those who oppose gas exploration in the Back Mountain.
Ide, a business owner who has leased gas rights on his property to EnCana, said he organized the group to give voice to leaseholders.
The group recognizes the environmental concerns that have led others to oppose drilling in the area, Ide said. Its members are likewise concerned about the state of their drinking water and the environment. He said they are “not just greedy people who signed a lease and are out for as much money as they can get,” but, before his group started, none of them was “coming out and saying, of course we’re for clean drinking water.”
Ide also feels opponents have overhyped the dangers of natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
The group recognizes that, in Dimock for example, there have been accidents, but that “you can’t impugn all drilling companies because one had a problem,” he said.
“I don’t think (Dimock) is a reason to frighten people; it’s a reason to be cautious,” Ide said.
The group has thus far held two public meetings, on Aug. 13 and Oct. 4. About 100 attended.
Most were from the area in and around Lehman Township and had already signed gas leases with EnCana, Ide said, though the meetings also attracted others from outlying areas who had signed with other drillers.
EnCana is drilling an exploratory well off Route 118 near Ricketts Glen State Park and another off Zosh Road in Lake Township. Organizers said they were impressed with the safety technology employed by EnCana and are happy to have “one of the biggest and best” drillers working with them.
Ide and group vice president Mary Lansberry said their well water was tested before any drilling was done as part of their lease agreement.
“We researched for two, two and a half years before signing with our company,” Lansberry said. “It proves that there are people who’ve signed leases who are worried about their land, who are worried about their neighbors.”
Ide said EnCana tested his water as far as 5,000 feet away from the drill site, five times the range in which they normally test.
“Not all gas companies are the same, as we know now from Dimock,” Lansberry added. “So, I would hope our community would feel better, knowing we have the best.”
Citizens for Cleaner Energy now has a board of directors and will soon apply for non-profit status in order to collect donations. At future meetings the group will invite experts in drilling-related fields as guest speakers to educate the public.
“We’re here to inform, not to refute,” Lansberry said.
The group is planning a meeting in the first week of November in the Outlet Free Methodist Church.