12/23/24 - 125 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/433fpruj
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Sen. Mary Jo White Applauds Corbett's Repeal Of Rendell State Lands Drilling Permit Policy
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Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Venango), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, applauded Gov. Corbett for repealing the policy of imposing additional restrictions on oil and gas drilling on State Park and Forest Land as part of the Department of Environmental Protection's standard well-permitting process. "The Governor took the appropriate action in repealing the policy," said Sen. White. "As I outlined in my letter to Gov. Rendell last November, the policy was irresponsible, and could potentially cost Pennsylvania taxpayers tens of millions of dollars from the impairment of existing contracts."
Sen. White added by repealing the policy, Gov. Corbett properly upheld a legal precedent set in the case of Belden & Blake Corporation v. DCNR, where the courts prohibited the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources from imposing surface use agreements and drilling conditions on permit applicants who owned the subsurface mineral rights underlying state park land.
"DEP has done a good job of working to ensure that natural gas is developed responsibly, and DCNR has negotiated and executed lease agreements which contain meaningful added protections for publicly-owned lands," said Sen. White. "However, if there is justification for general conditions on natural gas production on all state lands, these should be adopted by statute or regulation, and must adhere to settled case law."
Matt Ehrhart, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation expressed concern about the impact of drilling on state lands where the Commonwealth does not own the mineral rights.
"Given the concerns and unknowns that remain about the impacts of Marcellus production, it makes no sense to remove any protections we have in place for drilling on land that belongs to the people of the Commonwealth," said Ehrhart. "Even on land where the mineral rights are not owned by the commonwealth we should take every precaution to protect the citizens' use of and value in our state forests and parks.
"The cumulative impacts of drilling pads, access roads, pipelines, and associated impacts on our streams and wildlife are significant and only partially understood. The Commonwealth should not minimize our ability to protect these resources on our public natural areas," said Ehrhart.
PA Loosens Rule On Gas Drilling
Corbett Scales Back Policy For Drilling On Public Land Corbett Administration Pulls Policy On Drilling On State Land PA Governor Scales Back Drilling Policy On Public Land Gas Drilling In PA State Parks Draws Fire Column: PA Politicians Aren't Protecting Environment
Editorial: Corbett- Acres Of Drilling Editorial: Imagine Well Pad At Ohiopyle State Park |
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2/28/2011 |
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