governor bans further drilling!

[bikerfish]

looks like governor rendell took a step in the right direction by putting a moratorium on further drilling in our forests.
kinda what most of us have been saying all along, lets go slow with this and do it right, the gas isn't going anywhere.
heard it on the news yesterday.

 

[troutbert]

The governor has not banned further drilling in our state forests. A very large portion of the state forests has already been leased, and that land will be drilled and fracked and the pipelines put in, etc. just as before. No change at all to operations on those leased lands. They will be out there working today.

The change is that there is now a moratorium on FURTHER LEASING of state forest lands. Much of the unleased state forest land is wild areas, natural areas, wetlands, etc.

There have been many inaccurate, misleading headlines attached to this story that make sound is if Marcellus activity has been ended on PA state forest land. Not true and not even close.

 

[jayL]

Regardless, I applaud this move.

 

[JackM]

They need to get a tax in place as well as stiffer regulations and fines for disregarding them before the environment gets raped again without any means of remediating it. We're still dealing with the effects of mining that occured 100 years ago.

 

[osprey]

I'm with JayL on this one , i also like the fact that at least there is some restraint being put on this , maybe it's not the greatest but at least it's something , i also applaud the move.

 

[jdaddy]

They need to get a tax in place as well as stiffer regulations and fines for disregarding them before the environment gets raped again without any means of remediating it. We're still dealing with the effects of mining that occured 100 years ago.

You are damn right! I make that exact statement all the time. What happened to all the folks who go on and on about learning from history?

 

[bikerfish]

I meant to say further leasing, not drilling. still a move in the right direction. according to a source I saw, 660,000 acres are leased right now out of 2.2 million, which is roughly a quarter of our state forest land if I'm doing the math right?
and yes, WE NEED A TAX!! I'm tired of seeing these commercials about the poor gas companies, blah blah blah. the gas is there, they WILL take it, tax or not.
like Jack said, didn't we learn anything from the last 100 years?

 

[osprey]

I agree there should be a tax also , but i'm glad Rendell did something to put the brakes on this a little , the tax is what should be up next fer sure.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Amen brother!

 

[sandfly]

6 wells behind me are going in on state land they are running a pipeline along side straight run (class A) what do you think is going to happen to it..

Problem is the tax will never help. It will just go into general fund to pay for the politicians raise in January. none for reclamation, or envioment.

 

[osprey]

Sandfly.........they have been operating one here in Somerset county along Little Paint creek for awhile now it's not class A but it is ATW and so far so good but there are a few of us that made it a point to let them know we are watching every move , vigilant observation and reporting anything funny looking is the key , there is a hotline number and an 800 number for DER , but so far the four that we've been keeping an eye on are ok. Now it's time for Rendell to tax them.

 

[pratt]

Pennsylvania Governor-elect Tom Corbett says one of his first acts in office will be to lift a moratorium on Marcellus Shale gas-drilling permits on state lands -- a move that would reverse a drilling halt imposed by outgoing Gov. Ed Rend

Read more: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/10307/1100246-100.stm#ixzz14EviDG1q

As I understand the moratorium, Corbett is wrong (he doesn't even get what was signed). Moratorium was only on future leasing of addition land, not for drilling on already leased land, right?

sandfly wrote:
Problem is the tax will never help. It will just go into general fund to pay for the politicians raise in January. none for reclamation, or envioment.

That's not how I understand it - while the majority would go to the general fund, a portion of the tax was slated to go to the green fund and another portion to local municipalities impacted by the drilling....

 

[bikerfish]

yep, I fear corbett's willingness to apease the gas machine.
hopefully he will change his mind, hopefully he will listen to the large percentage of people that care about this land. drill, but do it right.
we shall see.
I've been looking into property in central virginia, out of the marcellus region, and close to some great brookie fishing. I'm a life long pa resident, but I really dread what could happen here in the not-too-distant future.

 

[cjfives]

one of corbetts first acts in office will be to lift the moratorium on drilling on state lands (pittsburgh post gazette)

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10307/1100246-100.stm

 

[jdaddy]

I meant to say further leasing, not drilling. still a move in the right direction. according to a source I saw, 660,000 acres are leased right now out of 2.2 million, which is roughly a quarter of our state forest land if I'm doing the math right? and yes, WE NEED A TAX!! I'm tired of seeing these commercials about the poor gas companies, blah blah blah. the gas is there, they WILL take it, tax or not. like Jack said, didn't we learn anything from the last 100 years?

Interesting thing about the game lands. They only own about 20% of the mineral rights. Apparently another party owns the mineral rights. My wife went to a seminar yesterday on the impact of MS activities to insurance companies. She had a bunch of interesting stuff. Anyone know who owns the 80% mineral rights of PA state game lands?

BTW, those who say the "poor gas companies" are absolutely right. It only cost $5 million to get one of these things up and running. The ROYALTIES alone on one state game land well in particular has been over $100,000 per MONTH. Figuring they maybe negotiated a 20% royalty (min is 12%) then gas company is getting $400,000 a month or $4.8 million per year. That is a pretty quick recovery. Also, as to the "we'll take our ball and go home" attitude of the gas companies, a company spokes person said that the PA wells are producing 4x more gas on average than any other state in the country.

 

[tomgamber]

I think the other shoe just dropped...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/news/s_707875.html

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Are they drilling on State GAME lands? I thought all the leases were on State FOREST lands. There is a difference. Game lands are bought and managed by the Pa. Game Commission not DCNR.

 

[bikerfish]

I wouldn't put it past them. it's all about the money. if they were concerned with energy needs, they would all drive prius's

 

[RyanR]

sandfly wrote:
6 wells behind me are going in on state land they are running a pipeline along side straight run (class A) what do you think is going to happen to it..

Problem is the tax will never help. It will just go into general fund to pay for the politicians raise in January. none for reclamation, or envioment.

Really?... did you not see the tax bill and its breakdown that we posted here? The bulk went to the genrral fund but significant money went to the environment and regulatory improvement. Corbett is not for a tax but rather fees on the companies (which may just be a matter of semantics), however I'm not sure what his plans would be for earmarking percentages of those fees to things like environment, regulation, enforcement, etc.

 

[jdaddy]

Are they drilling on State GAME lands? I thought all the leases were on State FOREST lands. There is a difference. Game lands are bought and managed by the Pa. Game Commission not DCNR

Yes, state GAME lands. The PGC manages 1.4 million acres of land. About 67 percent, 961,000 acres, are in the Marcellus shale. But the PGC owns mineral rights on only about 500,000 acres of these lands. In the past ten years, about 38,000 acres have been leased and developed. These acres have generated $11,257,000 in bonus payments and a total of $33 million to the game fund. The game lands are unique in that they were created piecemeal from small ownerships dating back to the late 1800s. So several gas companies may operate on one game land and the mineral rights may be owned by several different entities. In contrast, the DCNR bought huge pieces of land in the 1930s and the mineral rights are less complicated. Even if the PGC doesn’t own the mineral rights, it is paid for surface damages caused by gas development. The PGC provides input for road placement and is paid double stumpage for any timber removed — both land and wildlife habitat impacts.