January 7, 2002

For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim Kleissler, (814) 223-4996

Conservationists File Appeal to PA Environmental Hearing Board Over Oil and Gas Permits

Harrisburg, PA - Two conservationists and members of the Allegheny Defense Project, a forest protection group, filed a motion today in front of the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board as an effort to overturn erosion and sedimentation permits granted to Pennsylvania General Energy (PGE) by the Department of Environmental Protection for an oil and gas development. The initial appeal was filed December 26, 2001.

The development at issue is within the Salmon Creek watershed in the Allegheny National Forest. The oil and gas development planned by PGE lies entirely on publicly-owned land. The Salmon Creek area in the southern part of the national forest is an extremely popular area for hunters, fishermen, campers, and hikers. The oil and gas development will lead to the obliteration of part of the North Country National Scenic Trail, a trail that, once completed, will stretch from northern New York to North Dakota. The Salmon Creek watershed is home to many threatened, endangered, and rare species such as the Indiana bat, Northern Goshawk, Bald Eagle, and several species of dragonflies and damselflies.

On November 7, 2001, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued three permits to PGE for erosion and sedimentation related to the construction of the wells and associated road building. PGE already owns over 500 oil and gas wells in the Salmon Creek and adjacent watersheds. The permits issued by DEP authorize an additional 75wells. Under the federal Clean Water Act and the state Clean Streams Law, any development that will disturb more than five acres of land must be permitted through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Since 1992, oil and gas corporations have been required to obtain these permits prior to drilling. Aside from the recently issued permits challenged in this appeal, PGE has obtained a stormwater permit for only eight of these wells. This, despite the fact that PGEÕs development now exceeds 750 acres of disturbance, including 500 oil and gas well sites.

The appellants allege that PGE's applications for the permits were inadequate, and that DEP did not fulfill their obligations under state and federal law for public notice and comment. "PGE failed to specify the location of their wells, provided embarrassingly inadequate Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plans, and has failed to deal appropriately with threatened and endangered species concerns," said Jim Kleissler, one of the appellants, and Forest Watch Director for the Allegheny Defense Project. "Additionally, PGE has an abysmal compliance record, which must be taken into account. PGE has been cited for failure to control erosion on the only stormwater permit they have bothered to obtain."

Erosion and sedimentation as a result of run off from construction sites is a major threat to water quality. Many species of bottom-dwelling invertebrates, freshwater mussels, and fish are directly affected by a build up of sediment in a stream. Damage to these species can affect other species farther up the food chain, such as trout, by decreasing their food supply.

"The Salmon Creek area of the Allegheny National Forest is considered by many to be the last best place in the southern part of the forest," said Ryan Talbott, another appellant. "Already PGE has significantly impacted the area, and the DEP and the U.S. Forest Service are allowing them to destroy what's left. The fact is that we simply don't need the miniscule amount of oil that will be extracted from this area. Just the tiniest measure of conservation would more than make up for the energy that we could drill from this amazing place. It's just not worth it."

Kleissler and Talbott filed the appeal before the Environmental Hearing Board pro se, representing themselves.

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