Dry well: Marcellus shale report comes up short
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Gov. Tom Corbett's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, charged with creating a blueprint for statewide policies related to deep-well natural gas drilling, instead has produced a treatise on the development of the industry in Pennsylvania.
Laden with 96 recommendations, some benign and others controversial, the 137-page report -- submitted Friday by commission chairman Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley -- disappoints on its most pressing issue: Although its 30 members backed an impact drilling fee, their inadequate endorsement puts the burden of proving the need for compensation on the local municipalities that sustain damage and incur costs. Further, and more troubling, it ignores the broader need to make sure all Pennsylvanians share the benefits of the growing industry.
The report -- the result of four months of meetings, public hearings, presentations by experts and reviews of other information and input -- starts with an expansive history of Marcellus Shale extraction in the state, including explanations of the evolution of the geologic formation and methods for withdrawing natural gas through hydraulic fracturing. It details the expansion of the number of working wells and related jobs in the state, and it projects the impact on natural gas prices. Pennsylvania's regulatory structure is laid out in exhaustive detail.
The panel's recommendations don't even start until Page 103. They reach into all aspects of the industry. No one is likely to object to suggestions such as those favoring more low-emission vehicles in the state fleet, training Pennsylvania workers for new opportunities or providing incentives for hiring of military veterans.
That's not true of many of its other suggestions, however.
First Published July 25, 2011 12:00 am
