November 24, 2003
Deadline passes for Deep Gas Well Drilling
The Centre Daily Times reported Friday that the deadline for drilling wells for the Trenton-Black River passed without any committment from companies to drill. This is good news for our state forests.
What is disturbing is that the Bureau of Forestry tried to negotiate an eleventh-hour agreement to get Pioneer Natural Resources, supposedly the only company exploring the TBR on state forest land, to commit to drilling these deep wells.
State officials continued to negotiate Friday with the Irving, Texas-based company, Pioneer Natural Resources USA Inc., and other parties in an effort to ensure that the land will be leased and the formation explored, said Ted Borawski, a geologist in the Bureau of Forestry.
Why is the Bureau of Forestry begging oil and gas companies to drill on public land? This is particularly questionable due to the DCNR's less-than-optimal public disclosure of this auction in the beginning.
Posted by Ryan at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2003
Shallow Gas Well Ban
The Post-Gazette reported last Friday about the planned ban on future shallow oil and gas leasing in Pennsylvania's State Forests. The article is misleading in some of its assumptions such as:
"Regardless of whether the forest plan is adopted as written, about 400 shallow wells will continue to operate until they're tapped dry, Leslie said. She also noted that the state's controversial Trenton-Black River deep wells -- the rights to which were auctioned last year -- haven't been drilled, and the state has yet to realize royalties."
The misleading part about this is that it is not revealed that Trenton-Black River deep wells will continue to be allowed to be drilled. The article does not do a good job of clarifying that this is just one auction. Also, anything over 7,000 feet will still be available for leasing. So the state is not ending drilling on state forest lands - they are just making way for the most lucrative kind.
The beginning of the article was misleading also in that it makes it sound like the DCNR has committed to protecting most of the state forest land from drilling
"Environmental groups scored a major victory over commercial loggers this year when Pennsylvania's conservation agency unveiled a new forest plan that prohibits timber harvesting in the state's most fragile forest areas."
This "major" victory for the state's most fragile areas is a good step in the right direction - but most of the 2.1 million acres would still be available for commercial extraction purposes. This also is not a victory yet as the forest plan has yet to be adopted so the conclusion drawn by the reporter is premature.
Posted by Ryan at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2003
Privatization of Public Land
Two Mile Run County Park is located in Venango County. It was recently (in the last year or so) taken over by a private firm, Parks Unlimited, for management. Now, due to the July 21 storms that rolled through the area causing extensive windthrows, the park is bidding out nearly 600 acres for salvage, according to the Oil City Derrick.
Here is a sample of the irrational thinking based on "economics-first" forest management:
"...this is an emergency situation because timber on the ground is deteriorating rapidly" - Ann Rudegeair, Parks Unlimited
No environmental analysis, no involvement with the public -- just log it. This is something to keep in mind with Congressman John Peterson and Allegheny National Forest Supervisor Kevin Elliott exploring ways to privatize the Allegheny National Forest.
Posted by at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)