New state drilling regulations on the way
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HARRISBURG -- A set of proposed rules to modernize well-drilling safeguards in Pennsylvania's booming natural gas fields is practically final.
The Independent Regulatory Review Commission approved the proposal at its Thursday meeting, and a state environmental regulatory official expects the rules to become final no later than January.
The Department of Environmental Protection wrote the proposal in response to a rush to drill deep, high-pressure wells into the vast Marcellus Shale reservoir beneath Pennsylvania.
The regulations would lower the maximum allowable well pressure, raise standards for well cement and pipes and strengthen the response to reports of gas migration into water wells.
New electronic reporting requirements also will help the state create a map that shows which chemicals were used at each drilling site.
First Published November 18, 2010 12:30 pm
