Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Sierra Club Opposes Governor Corbett's Plans to Lease More State Forests and State Parks for New Drilling

February 19, 2014

By Joanne Kilgour, Director of the Sierra Club PA Chapter,   

Over the past several years, the landscape of Pennsylvania has been permanently altered by natural gas development. Now, Governor Corbett plans to open up state forest and parklands to additional gas leases, even before the release of DCNR’s overdue report on the impacts of past drilling in state forests. By including state parks, Corbett will be breaking what has been a permanent policy against leasing ANY state park lands for gas.  This is a bad precedent for state parks that, up until now, were considered sacred.

Both Governor Corbett and DCNR Secretary Ferretti contend that no surface activity or surface impacts will result from this proposed new leasing. These statements may sound comforting, but we cannot rest easy. In fact, Secretary Ferretti in her own testimony earlier this morning admitted that additional wells may be constructed on well pads within the boundaries of state forests. Not only will this kind of direct, incremental surface activity occur, but the very idea that there can be non-surface impact leasing is misleading.

Surface impacts are not limited to new wells, well pads, pipelines, compressor stations, access roads, or open pits, but rather they include loss of critical habitat, changes to the local hydrology and geology, loss of valuable ecosystem services such as flood control, noise and light disturbances, and increased air pollution.

Further, there will be impacts to recreation and the economic benefit to the state from tourism driven by the natural beauty of the state forest and park system. Increased light and noise disturbances paired with forest fragmentation and habitat loss are also likely to result in fewer game animals and a reduction in hunting.

And these are only the certain impacts – in addition, as we have seen recently with the tragic fire at the gas wells in Greene County, there will be risks of leaks, spills, blowouts, and fires – none of which respect the artificial boundary between private land and the lands held in trust by the Commonwealth.

The thousands of Pennsylvanians who have been struggling with the on-the-ground realities of natural gas development can attest to the fact that there is no such as thing as non-surface impact drilling. To suggest otherwise is a misrepresentation of reality, and an insult to those who have lived with wells on or near their property

Joanne Kilgour
Chapter Director
Sierra Club PA Chapter
717-232-0101

Friday, February 7, 2014

PA Marcellus Digest - February 5, 2014

PA Marcellus Digest - February 5, 2014

 

Corbett hopes to raise $75M through natural gas leases in state forests, parks

Trib Live

Timothy Puko

February 4, 2014

Gov. Tom Corbett wants to end a three-year ban on new leases for natural gas drilling beneath state forests to be able to raise $75 million, a proposal in his budget on Tuesday that angers some critics who say it endangers sensitive wilderness.

 

Corbett to OK gas extraction from under state land

Centre Daily Times

Mark Levy

February 4, 2014

Gov. Tom Corbett plans to issue a new executive order that would allow natural gas to be extracted from below state parks and forests only when exploration companies drill on adjacent, privately owned land, his administration saidTuesday.

 

Corbett's fourth budget reopens drilling issue

Citizens' Voice

Robert Swift

February 5, 2014 

The state budget unveiled by Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday would generate new revenue by leasing more state forest and park land for gas drilling, create a new state block grant for school districts, delay the full impact of a public pension cost spike and keep state income and sales taxes at current rates while continuing the phaseout of a business tax.

 

The great outdoors get $245 million boost in state budget

Lancaster Online

Karen Shuey

February 4, 2014

That’s because the governor unveiled an initiative in his spending plan that will pump more than $200 million into repairing and upgrading Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests.

 

An Overview of the Governor's 2014-15 Budget

PBPC

Governor Tom Corbett proposed a 2014-15 state General Fund budget that would spend $29.4 billion, $927 million, or 3.3%, more than the current fiscal year.

 

Corbett wants to lift ban on new gas drilling in state forests

Philadelphia Inquirer

Andrew Maykuth

February 5, 2014

Gov. Corbett on Tuesday proposed lifting a 2010 moratorium on leasing additional state forests for Marcellus Shale natural-gas development, to generate $75 million for state coffers.

 

Jobless rate falls in Pittsburgh region because some people stopped looking for work, state agency says

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Ann Belser

February 2, 2014

Unemployment in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area fell from 6.6 percent in November to 6.3 percent in December as thousands of job seekers gave up looking for work, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported Tuesday.

 

Range Resources adds $10K to Day of Giving pool

Observer Reporter

Scott Beveridge

February 4, 2014

A Marcellus Shale natural gas exploration company has become the newest sponsor of a one-day fundraiser linked to a Web-based platform allowing donors to select the Washington County charities they want to offer financial support.

 

Marcellus drilling company hires former Oklahoma Secretary of the Environment

Patriot News

Donald Gilliland

February 4, 2014

One of the leading companies drilling in the Marcellus Shale has named a former federal environmental prosecutor and state environmental secretary to its legal team.

 

PennFuture: Lifting of leasing moratorium removes protections on Pennsylvania's natural resources

Wallaby

February 4, 2014

he 2014-2015 budget proposed today by Governor Tom Corbett factors in $75 million in drilling revenue to be accrued via the lifting of a moratorium on further leasing of state park and forest lands for gas development.

 

Corbett budget proposal expands drilling in state parks and forests

State Impact

Marie cusick

February 4, 2014

Governor Corbett is seeking to overturn a Rendell-era executive order that placed a moratorium on new gas leases in state parks and forests.

 

President Obama Touts Shale-Fueled Growth in Manufacturing

Northcentral PA

January 30, 2014

Yesterday, President Obama traveled to the Marcellus Shale region and spoke at the U.S. Steel Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, just outside of Pittsburgh.  The president touted the resurgence of manufacturing jobs in the area, which has been fueled by abundant natural gas production.  Mario Langhi, President and CEO of U.S. Steel Corporation, introduced President Obama and provided some much-needed context into how the steel manufactured there is used in our daily lives.

 

Billions Needed To Meet Demand

Wheeling News Register

Casey Junkins

January 31, 2014

The $10 billion worth of natural gas processing infrastructure already built in the Marcellus and Utica shale region is only a fraction of what Blue Racer Midstream CEO Jack Lafield believes is needed in the coming years.

 

Penn Virginia Corporation Announces Closing of Sale of Eagle Ford Shale Natural Gas Midstream Assets

Wall Street Journal

February 3, 2014

Penn Virginia Corporation (NYSE:PVA) today announced that it has closed the previously announced sale of substantially all of its Eagle Ford Shale natural gas midstream assets to American Midstream Partners, LP (NYSE:AMID). The gross cash proceeds of the sale were $100 million. 

 

Elk County well to take fracking wastewater

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Don Hopey 

February 2, 2014

Seneca Resources Corp. has received federal approval to operate a new drilling wastewater injection well in Elk County, and more of those deep injection wells for the disposal of Marcellus and Utica shale gas drilling wastewater are on tap for Pennsylvania.

 

House committee to hold hearing on gas royalty bill

The Daily Review

James Loewenstein

February 3, 2014

A committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives will hold a hearing this week on House Bill 1684, which is intended to address the complaints of many landowners that large deductions for post-production costs are being taken out of their royalty checks.

 

Communities looking into natural gas extensions

Republican Herald

John E. Usalis

February 2, 2014

The lower cost of natural gas to heat homes and commercial buildings has been creating increased interest from homeowners in the past few years, but now the challenge is dealing with the infrastructure costs of adding new distribution lines and customer connections.

 

Municipalities, county support ag preservation

Lebanon Daily News

John Latimer

February 1, 2014

The $42,500 pledge the Lebanon County commissioners recently made for farmland preservation came from its share of the Marcellus Shale drilling fees the state collects.

 

Approving the Keystone XL could be the Obama administration's biggest mistake: Michael Mann

Patriot News

February 3, 2014

I have made my position on the Keystone XL pipeline quite clear. Approving this hotly debated pipeline would send America down the wrong path. The science tells us now is the time that we should be throwing everything we have into creating a clean 21st century energy economy, not doubling down on the dirty energy that is imperiling our planet.

 

Dominion Announces 2013 Earnings

Wallaby

January 31, 2014

 Dominion (NYSE: D) today announced unaudited reported earnings determined in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2013, of $1.70 billion ($2.93 per share), compared with earnings of $302 million ($0.53 per share) for the same period in 2012.

 

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Governor Corbett’s Budget Will Sacrifice State Forests

For Immediate Release

Governor Corbett’s Budget Will Sacrifice State Forests

Contact: Joanne Kilgour, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, 717-232-0101

Harrisburg, PA – Just days after the release of a public opinion poll[1] which uncovered that more than two-thirds of Pennsylvanians oppose more drilling on state lands, Governor Corbett released his plan to do the opposite. The Governor’s 2014-2015 budget includes projected Oil and Gas Lease Fund revenue of $75 million from new leases of state forest land.
“Governor Corbett plans to sacrifice state lands to an under-regulated and under-taxed industry despite the wishes of his constituents,” said Joanne Kilgour, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter Director. “Lifting the moratorium on leasing state forest lands adds insult to injury in this administration’s mismanagement of our natural resources.”
“The Oil and Gas Lease Fund should be used for acquiring mineral rights under our existing state parks and forests to protect them from future development, not to further the exploitation of these lands,” continued Kilgour.
“We must see the study DCNR has been promising that shows the impacts of drilling before any new leasing could even be considered,” add Gary Thornbloom, “Gas drillers already have 700,000 acres of state forest land available to them – how much is enough?”



[1] See http://www.fandm.edu/uploads/media_items/january-2014-franklin-marshall-college-poll-release.original.pdf.