DEP Rolls Back Approval Process for Shale Violations
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
3 May 2011
By Don Hopey
The state Department of Environmental Protection has completely rolled
back a controversial, 5-week-old procedural change that required all
field enforcement actions involving Marcellus Shale gas drilling
operations be pre-approved by political appointees in Harrisburg.
Katy Gresh, DEP spokeswoman, said the department's oil and gas field
inspectors are again allowed to write violation notices as they did
prior to a March 23 internal department memo that directed them to take
no action on violations until they received "final clearance" from DEP
Secretary Michael Krancer and a handful of other administrators.
"The notice of violation process is just as it was. The inspectors
don't need pre-approval and that has been communicated to them," said
Ms. Gresh, who added that department administrators will continue to
review the violations after they are written to ensure regulations are
enforced consistently.
"That's a very welcome development. I'm glad to hear the directive has
been rescinded," said former DEP secretary John Hanger, who criticized
the procedural change for undercutting public confidence in
environmental enforcement. Monday he said it "amounted to a detour that
was unnecessary and unwise."
Staff at the DEP's regional offices grumbled at the March 23 memo and
-- after it was leaked to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other news
organizations -- a storm of protests from environmental organizations
and businesses followed. They feared the change would reduce
enforcement of the state's fast-growing Marcellus gas drilling industry
and endanger the public.
The DEP said the procedural changes were only meant to be a three-month
"pilot program" aimed at improving enforcement "consistency." But 42
environmental groups, faith groups and businesses sent a letter to Gov.
Tom Corbett on April 7 asking him to rescind the new procedures
immediately.
An April 27 letter from Mr. Corbett to Jeff Schmidt, director of the
Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter, states that while administrative
reviews will continue to "enhance effectiveness," field inspectors will
"maintain the same ability to issue notice of violations as they have
in the past." Other groups signing the April 7 letter received the same
response from the governor.
"I wouldn't complain about [the review], as long as they're not putting
handcuffs on the environmental cops," Mr. Schmidt said. "I'm glad to
hear it's rescinded."
Jan Jarrett, president and chief executive officer of Citizens for
Pennsylvania's Future, a statewide environmental advocacy organization
active on Marcellus Shale drilling issues, characterized the DEP's
attempt to change the enforcement procedure as "a stumble."
"The three-month pilot program amounted to backpedaling, and the
department was not sensitive to how worried and concerned the public is
about Marcellus Shale drilling issues," Ms. Jarrett said.
"We're satisfied with this change back to the way it was, but we're
taking a trust-but-verify approach going forward. We'll be doing our
own independent monitoring of the department's enforcement across all
programs with a special eye on the Marcellus drilling."
DEP inspectors issued 1,227 notices of violations in 2010 and 68 in
January 2011.
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.