Michael Rubinkam of the Associated Press reports that Pennsylvania is reviewing – and approving – natural gas drilling permits in 35 minutes. There are several ways to interpret this data; these come to mind:
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has already done the requisite research on applicant(s) and location(s) in some other process not reflected in the 35-minute process;
- They’ve decided there’s no risk associated with natural gas drilling;
- Something is wrong with this process.
We believe the safe bet is the last of those three.
From Pennsylvania is approving gas drilling permits with scant review by Michael Rubinkam, in USA Today:
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Pennsylvania environmental regulators say they spend as little as 35 minutes reviewing each of the thousands of applications for natural gas well permits they get each year from drillers who want to tap the state’s vast Marcellus Shale reserves.
And the regulators say they do not give any additional scrutiny to requests to drill near streams and rivers, even though the waterways are protected by state and federal law.
Staffers in the state Department of Environmental Protection testified behind closed doors last month as part of a lawsuit filed by residents and environmental groups over a permit that DEP issued for an exploratory gas well in northeastern Pennsylvania, less than a half-mile from the Delaware River and about 300 feet from a pristine stream.
Their statements, obtained by The Associated Press, call into question whether regulators are overburdened and merely rubber-stamping permit applications during the unprecedented drilling boom that has turned Pennsylvania into a major player in the natural gas market, while also raising fears about polluted water and air.
The agency has denied few requests to drill in the Marcellus Shale formation, the world’s second-largest gas field. Of the 7,019 applications DEP has processed since 2005, only 31 have been rejected — less than one-half of one percent.
Pennsylvania is approving gas drilling permits with scant review (USA Today, 13 April 2011)