Penn Land Owners

hunter777:

What are we supposed to be discussing on this thread? It seems to me that beacuse you are hearing things you do not want to hear you are trying to censor the direction. Please add your positive experiences to this thread. I will be visiting the link you left afgter I post this message.
Do either rfs or hunter777 have a well near them? How far ? Is your water still same quality and quantity as before? Sorry but the DImmock I saw in specific areas were unacceptable, that is not to say that there were still nice areas. I did see that as well.But it does not make it right for those that are not as fortunate as others.

cjk
It is not a matter of trying to censor, rather of making sure some truth is available in between all the conjecture.
I live just south of Dimock and all of the Cabot activity. I go to Dimock for various reasons. Just a short time ago I did a tour of the "problem" areas and went around looking at the new work being done, etc.
I spoke to people living in and around the supposed poisoned water area and I drove the road where the methane is in the wells, even saw the water being delivered to the houses on that road.

First, there is methane only in the wells, and no one knows if it was there before. No tests were done by any residents or the company. Keep in mind that if these people were not in such a hurry to sign when they did, they would have negotiated a lease with much more protection. But they saw FREE MONEY and signed the first thing. The houses on that street are very low value, so I assume the people were desperate for money.
I also spoke to others in the immediate area who have had NO problems and believe the residents are looking for more $$ with this.

Second, you have to remember that each well site will have lots of activity for a SHORT period of time, then it will all go away and be replanted. Life returns to normal and you can't even notice the well sites.

I have wells being drilled, so far, 3 miles east of me, one was done 5 miles west, and the activity north is moving toward me now. I have no problem with the increased activity because I have done my homework. I know what is happening in each area, I know it is temporary and will move on, I know jobs are being created and money is flowing in, and I have no problem signing a gas lease when I decide to. I have every intention of signing and having a well, but I am going to make sure problems cannot happen because I took my time to LEGALLY contract for everything to be right.

Dear CJK,rfs,Hunter,

The main focus of this thread was to try to develop the guidelines to help those who are affected, positively and negatively, by the gas play. This is about trying to develop a framework for those who jumped early on, and for those who are planning to jump sometime in the future.

Clearly you are all bright, articulate and willing to address situations that affect you. The points you're currently focusing on are perhaps better addressed in Aquifer Contamination 1 and 2 posts. There the extent, impact, horror and joy stories are laid out in more detail. This section was intended to focus on solutions, in order to encourage a partnership between landowner and O & G companies. There is need for responsibilities to be accepted by both sides for this to be a win-win situation.

Your stories, research and points of view are all valuable. Just place them into the best forum, and let's get back to a focus on solutions.

All good thoughts,
Dan

Exactly.
That was the point Hunter was trying to make.

Quoting comment by CJK:"Please add your positive experiences to this thread. I will be visiting the link you left afgter I post this message. Do either rfs or hunter777 have a well near them? How far ? Is your water still same quality and quantity as before?"

Almost exactly one year ago, and 35 pages of "conjecture" ago, I presented the following "truth":
"It was mentioned before, but it bears repeating - let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Not all drilling is bad, and it doesn't always yield bad results. Our water well is within 1000' of a gas well, has been tested by an independent agency twice, and is still pristine. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, however drilling is a legal, highly regulated process. The DEP is not issuing permits to allow "an intrinsically contaminating process". It has been a good experience for us, even though we live less than three miles from the Carter Road incidents. Just needed to present the other side of the coin... "

Folks, there are those here on the forum (and others) with real-life experiences in gas well drilling. You don't need to guess, or wonder what might happen - just ask!

Thanks Hunter777 for the insight. My point all along has been to take a cautious approach to gas drilling. I believe it's benefits far outweigh it's potential detriments. Learing from other landowners in PA as well as other shale plays and continuing to educate one another is the way to go. Figure out what is important to you as a landowner and work with your neighbors through a landowner group to help in negotiating a protective and lucrative lease agreement.

I truly believe that if someone randomly sampled a sufficient number of landowners to arrive at a statistical conclusion of good experience vs. bad experience, we would find the good far outweigh the bad. With over 1/2 million gas wells currently operating in the US, if there were more bad experiences than good ones would would know by now.

Dear John,Hunter,rfs,
What specifically would you counsel to be included in a lease?
Dan

I believe that the Friendsville Group lease probably contained most everything that a landowner might want. The site has been shut down for a while now, but I know enough people who signed to be able to come up with one as a sample. It was 52 pages, if memory serves me correctly, but one thing that I would definitely recommend would be pre-drill water testing to serve as a baseline.

Dear Hunter,
Water testing should be priority #1, we agree. There are specifics about that, but we need not go into them just yet. Your recommendation as to the Friendsville Group lease would be most valuable. Anything that you can come up with please post here, or give us a web address where it can be viewed. Good stuff.
Dan

Here is a link to the lease agreement:

http://www.thefriendsvillegroup.org/lease.pdf

I hope that this is acceptable to post here. There is a meeting tonight that I wanted to let people know about:
Community Impacts and Responses to Gas Development

Dr. Abby Kinchy and Dr. Simona Perry are the featured speakers and
will share their observations and work related to developments in
similar “boomtown” developments as well as their research related to
Bradford County and the surrounding communities.
Their presentations will be followed by an open discussion.

7:00 pm , Monday, April 12th
Free and open to the public

Unitarian Universalist Church of Athens and Sheshequin
112 North Street ,
Athens , PA

Abby Kinchy is an Assistant Professor in the department of Science and
Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy , NY .
She earned a PhD in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
in 2007. She is in the beginning stages of a long-term research
project examining social conflict and scientific debate regarding gas
development in the Marcellus Shale.

Simona Perry, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts 2009-2010 Visiting
Scholar in Community Mapping & Outreach with the Center for
Environmental and Sustainability Education at Dickinson College.
Organizing a participatory mapping project within the Susquehanna
River watershed that will serve as an interdisciplinary and capacity-
building project through which the Dickinson community can learn about
GIS technology, develop spatial and geographic literacy, and document
rural life-ways in Pennsylvania .

Presented by the Community Shale Network
For more information, Please contact us at:
570-888-0252 or minis...@athensuuc.org

Anyone know of companies interested in leasing land in Beaver county?

Dear Hunter,
You've done us all proud! That lease reference (
http://www.thefriendsvillegroup.org/lease.pdf) should cover the vast majority of the issues that could come back to haunt us, and could serve as a model for those looking to lease. Certainly that lease in place would have eliminated the disaster that hit Dimock and protected the individuals there.

3 questions for your consideration:
a) Was there a 'date certain' that operations could be considered complete?
b) Are there any specifications as to the level/area underground to be accessed? (Basically the 'split horizons' concept limiting drilling to the marcellus shale layer only)
c) Has this lease been accepted by any company yet?

Super good stuff Hunter-thanks for the effort.
Dan

As the lease states, it was with Fortuna Energy, and YES, a large group of landowners belonging to the Friendsville Group signed this lease. Done.

Dear CJK,
Of course you're most welcome to comment and present information. This is an informative seminar and folks should have the opportunity to attend if they wish. To my way of thinking, this all comes under the heading of 'solutions' that we're trying to get a handle on. Read Hunter's great contribution to this.
All good thoughts,
Dan

No need to reinvent the wheel.

Most everything that keeps being argued about here has already been covered by good lease language written over the past two years.
If you have concerns about leasing, getting it covered legally by the lease contract is the way to deal with it.
Simple as that.

Once again for those that have already signed leases that do not give them full protection, when and if anyone comes around to ask you to sign additional agreements (pipeline, surface use right of way, pooling and unitization agreements) you have the right and power to negogiate the terms of these agreements to further enhance protection of your rights. Do not sign these agreements, even if the landman says, "If you don't sign we can do it without your approval" if that was so thye wouldn't be asking you to sign in the first place.

(quoting)"Certainly that lease in place would have eliminated the disaster that hit Dimock and protected the individuals there."

What most people who are "new" to the leasing process don't realize is that when most of the leases were signed in the Dimock area it was late in 2006, and it was not a case of being uninformed - there was literally no information on the internet-none.

Many of you will know this, but some of the younger residents have never heard that years ago the landmen made their rounds leasing the big farms for $1 or $5 per acre. Obviously nothing ever came about on these leases, it was just some help to pay the taxes. So for those being offered $25 back in 2006, it was just a repeat of what had happened before. The Teel #1 changed all that - it was the first well Marcellus drilled in northeastern PA. The rest as they say is history!

Also, there was no altering the boiler plate leases! Cabot simply wasn't accepting any addendums. So to fault the Dimock landowners for not doing their homework at the time is somewhat unfair.

Just a little history lesson....

Dear rfs,
A most interesting site. Many thanks for the reference. Pulling from that site, here are a few of the goodies-more to follow:

Natural Gas Leasing - Understand what you are signing!
By: Ron Stamets | Jan 19, 2009

So... The landman has plopped down a natural gas lease agreement on the table and is offering you more money per acre than you paid for the farm itself! What to do? Start acquiring infomation about what it is that he/she is asking of you.

Be aware of these important facts.

1. Whatever you sign is a LEGAL CONTRACT and you will be bound by it's terms.
2. Whatever you are told by the landman, have it in writing. What is orally told to you may change before the end of the day.
3. You are negotiating a potential $million deal. Not buying a refrigerator. Treat your research as such. Or you will discover, as many have already, that the $25 an acre bonus you accepted before fully investigating your deal, was worth $2000 an acre. Many have cashed checks for $2500 thinking this was good "pin money" later to discover, had they done their due dilligence, the check would have been $200,000.00, for the bonus alone.
4. The lease the landman gives you to sign tips the scales completely to the benefit of the drilling company. It is your responsibility to understand completely what benefits the company is giving themselves, or in a best case scenario, you might have a drill rig pull up to punch a hole through your driveway, or front yard.
5. Hiring a general attorney who has not acquired extra education to deal with gas and oil leasing, will provide a limited benefit. The companies are banking on the fact that although a general attorney may be highly skilled in law, a limited working knowledge of Natural Gas Law handicaps his/her ability to tip the balance of control more towards the landowner.
* Consult a general attorney for your normal legal issues.
* Consult a criminal attorney if you get in trouble with the law.
* Consult a gas/oil attorney to negotiate the terms of your lease.
6. Either join or form a landowners group the benefits are unbeatable.
* A Larger contiguous block of land area commands a stronger position to negotiate terms of the lease.
* The "two heads are better than one" addage is no more true than in considering leasing land for natural gas and oil exploration.
* Retaining a qualified gas lease attorney is expensive. $350 an hour is not unusual for the top lease attorneys. Unless you have megabucks yourself, a landowner group can share the expenses. One group with over 500 members is negotiating with not just one, but two of the most highly regarded (and expensive)gas attorney firms in the country.... for about $25 per property owner.

I am not against the gas drilling companies. As a matter of fact, I am thrilled to see such a valuable opportunity happen to so many people. I would just like to see the opportunity be slanted a little more towards the owner of the natural resource.... You, the landowner. Then, we will have achieved a balance of winning for both the landowner AND the company.

Dan

Dear Hunter and rfs,
Gentlemen, you are both well researched and careful about what you do and sign. Sadly, most of us aren't, and we're paying the price. With that in mind, no finger pointing is intended, no blame or breast beating- we are where we are. Now to try to do the best we can for ourselves, our neighbors and the environment. Your contributions, although sometimes heated, are most appreciated and solid.
Thanks again, and please continue to contribute.
Dan

Dear CJK,
Good cautions, and good advice.
Dan

Hunter777 made an excellent point in the last post.
When many of the leases now being drilled were signed, there had been no gas activity in the area ever. The landowners were blindsided because no one ever heard of marcellus shale or the boom to come...
Those of us who started getting offers after the end of 2007 had Ron Stamets web site where we could find others and start the learning process.

Good point RFS and excellent information Hunter.

rfs wanted to address your comment yesterday:
"Second, you have to remember that each well site will have lots of activity for a SHORT period of time, then it will all go away and be replanted. Life returns to normal and you can't even notice the well sites."
I realize that this has been the practice in the past but the companies are now using existing pads to set up operations for another .First they are drilling only one well on a six pad well site. With the full intention of coming back to drill. In addition, they will need to come back on the land at some point to refrac the wells to increase the production. Dr Engelder states this can happen as much as four times in the life of the well. The gas companies are also using existing pads to place their frac farm on (mixing and dispersing of fracking fluid) and then transporting it via pipelines from the one pad to the pad they are actually fracking on. So with this in mind they can come back as often as they want to conduct operations. This is why it is so important to limit their use when asked to sign a surface agreement. Most people are signing gas company surface use agreements without any negotiation. You need to limit their use and ask for other protections. They may not be there for a short time and you need to protect yourself in case it happens to you.

Is it not to everyone's advantage that there are six wells on one pad as opposed to six separate pads at 1000' intervals?

Is it not in the landowners interest that they come back to re-stimulate the well(s) for increased production (i.e.-cash in their pockets)?

If you want to limit their surface use to a non-drilling application you should write a no-drill clause into the lease, but most people signing a lease want to be drilled on. I'm all for protecting our land and water, but which property do you think a drilling company would choose? You can restrict them right off your property.

Dear All,
Should we consider distilling the great info gathered here to a new post, called LEASES & ADDENDUMS, and include on it the remarks about how to protect oneself, model lease and list of addendums possible?
Dan

Hunter- there may be a financial interest for landowner but I think about the disturbance to the land and those in close proximity as well. It is all what one considers valuable. When they hand you the surface use agreement they do not tell you that it is a never ending ok to use whenever they want to agreement. Somehow that gets lost in the explanantion. Just because you want to limit their access should not be cause for them to pack up and go away. What about a little consideration given to the landowner.

I guess it comes down to: If you don't want any disturbance - don't lease! It really is a personal preference. If you want to keep a certain patch of trees, then you may not want to lease - or better yet, write in a no-drill clause so that you could still be part of a neighbor's unit.
I can tell you from personal experience that the drilling is just not that big of a deal, just a minor inconvenience. Actually the companies can be very accomodating concerning location if you just ask.

Hunter: I respectfully disagree based upon some of the location of well sites I have visited. The disturbance would make it impossible for me live on some of the properties. One that comes to mind is a well pad located behind a barn that has acesss through the same driveway as the house and barn does. Everytime that well is refracked, used for frac farm or storage of trucks for the gas companies they have to go through the owners driveway past their house and behind their barn to access "their" pad. I guess you are a lot more tolerant than I would be. WOuld you be willing to have that all go on in your driveway and 200 feet from your house? Hence the importance of negotiating either the lease or the surface use agreement. Most companies will not change the location of their pad, that has been my experience in this area. What drilling have you experienced and how close were you? Please elaborate. What company was very accomodating and when? That has not been the experiences I have heard about.

The company in Westmoreland county has been very accomodating - there are no wells located anywhere that inconvenience the landowners (at least not in Derry Township.) They have located all wells in areas away from the houses and have been very cooperative with those landowners who want "no surface disruption" clauses. I have such a clause in my lease. Like Hunter777 said, just request a clause and you can still be in a unit with no well on your land.
Also, I think everyone is exaggerating the noise and disruption caused by the well sites - they are not that loud. We have more than 10 recently drilled horizontal wells near us and I have not heard of even one complaint from residents.

The opinion of noise and disruption depends upon what is acceptable to you. Derry Township is in what county? How near are the 10 wells? It is great that you were able to get a no-drill clause in your lease, but many people were not that fortunate. We have recently been discussing how "you can restrict them them right off your property" , just how do you think they would be able to drill if everyone negotiated "no surface disruption clauses" it would not be possible, obviously.

From what I understand, the gas company already knows where they want to place the wells. They don't just randomly have people sign leases. So, if you request a no drill clause, you are not going to chase them away. They know where they want the wells and they will not agree to a no disruption clause if it will affect where the well is placed - they will negotiate with those landowners. They are targeting certain areas obviously. The landowners of the targeted well sites have been approached, at least in this area, before others were asked to sign leases. Most of the landowners were able to get "no surface disruption clauses" in their leases. These wells are all placed in fields that are away from homes and the owners have received substantial additional payment for allowing the wells on their property. 10 horizontal marcellus wells have been completed in approximately a three or four mile radius (maybe a smaller area, not sure) and there are at least 10 additional vertical wells in this same area. They are now drilling three other horizontal wells and have permits for five more. I guess we are very lucky that Williams and Rex have been good to work with. And no, I don't work for any of the gas companies, but I would like to. We are also in an area that was heavily mined for coal so we are aware of the risks and benefits. Fortunately, the benefits seem to be far outweighing the negative aspects at this time.
I just think it comes down to being responsible landowners. Anyone who is approached to sign a lease really should consult with an attorney. The cost of even a very good attorney is minimal compared to the protection it can provide. Once that lease is signed, it's too late to change your mind. However, if you do your research, both sides - you and the gas companies - can benefit.

hubby and i live in little marsh. our neighbor eldon cummings will be receiving 6 wells and a E&S stormwater. have been taking dig pics since they started working there early feb. very interesting.

Here is the resolution of the Dimock, Pa water issue:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=116492&p=irol-newsA...

Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG) ("Cabot") and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ("PADEP") reached agreement on modifications to the Consent Order previously entered on November 4, 2009 concerning certain environmental issues including alleged methane contamination of 14 water wells ..........

Dear Hunter,
Thanks for the timely update. So for now they've bought their way out of trouble , for what seems like chump change, and are gearing up to go full bore later on. Hopefully the increased vigilance and DEP oversight will help to avoid future mishaps, but as you've pointed out previously, we each need to do our homework, hold everyone accountable for what they do, and rely upon our own good instincts and demands for quality work from all parties. Hopefully this can ensure a win-win for all parties.
Dan

A Laboratory Director just told me, if you own the entire grid of gas approx. 550 acres or so. And you’re getting upwards of 15 to 20% royalties, and they are pumping out gas all year around you would be getting upwards of about $2 million a year. And apparently there are few people in Hughesville that are getting that!


The new problem is now the gas companies have is all the transmission lines around here and way too small for handing the gas. Example, the lines that are in the ground now for transmission lines and about the size they would need to put on each individual well head to handle the volume and pressure that’s coming out of the wells. They are getting about 1,000,000 cubic feet of gas out of a well per day. Punch that into your calculator with the price of natural gas….

Here's DEP's news on the same issue:

"Additionally, DEP Secretary John Hanger said his agency is immediately suspending its review of Cabot’s pending permit applications for new drilling activities statewide until it fulfills its obligations under the order issued today. Cabot also is barred from drilling any new wells for at least one year in the Dimock Township area."

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/1...

this info was obtained from rlstore.com whic i belong to and i am glad to share.

The last permit applications were filed



April 8th - East filed 3 applications
1 in Union Twp for Yaggie
2 in Sullivan Twp for Dandois

April 6th - Seneca filed 3 applications in Covington Twp for Wivell



The last issued permits

April 2nd - East had 8 permits approved
5 in Charleston Twp
1 for Barbine and 1 for Shelman
and 3 for Parthemer
1 in Chatham Twp for Cummings
1 in Delmar Twp for Hege
1 in Richmond Twp for Burt

March 31st - East had 4 permits approved
2 in Delmar Twp for
1 for Halteman and 1 for TOPF
1 in Charleston Twp for Newlin
1 in Middlebury Twp for Morral


sincerely, nancy

Can someone tell me what county officials approve gas well permits?
Also can someone tell me what steps a landowner can take if county officials try blocking gas permits?

I'm pretty sure the county doesn't have a say at all. The gas co. submits a permit to DEP for their approval alone. You can view them here:

http://www.ahs2.dep.state.pa.us/eFACTSWeb/criteria_site.aspx

But at least get the facts correct.
Methane is not from fracking.
Maybe Cabot will now learn to test wells before drilling, then they can avoid problems that may have already existed.
Which is not to say that Cabot didn't allow subcontractors run free....

Carolyn, no one is promoting irresponsible drilling and/or fraccing. By all means, Cabot or any other company must be held to the rules. However, responsible drilling has been going on for years, or DEP wouldn't continue to issue permits for it. It is within their rights to withhold those permits when the rules are broken or ignored, but the purpose of the site is to promote responsible drilling, hence the name "GO marcellus shale", not "STOP marcellus shale". You will notice that I posted both Cabot's and DEP's links to the news. I favor presenting both sides of an issue.

Thanks hunter777. When I joined this site, I thought the purpose was to share news, information, and to promote drilling - responsible drilling. Maybe those who strictly oppose the drilling should start the "stop marcellus shale" website. As for me, I'll stay with GO Marcellus Shale.

Carolyn, the truth will prevail, you are correct. In fact it probably already has prevailed. I'll post this one more time. Their are more than a half million gas wells currently operating in the US. Over 50,000 in PA alone, second to Texas. A large percentage of these wells are horizintal wells and we hydro-fracked. Without question, well contamination and methane gas migration has been an exception to the rule. Look at it from a statistical standpoint. If we sampled enough currently operating gas wells the instances of contamination and methane migration would be considered an anomoly. That is truth... Please get educated and stop spreading your scare tactics based upon what happened in Dimmock. Dimock is not a true representation of natural gas drilling as a whole.

John: With all due respect I do not want to be the next anomoly. There have been other anomolies. At what point do anomolies raise a concern for you. What Carolyn is expressing is not a scare tactic, it is reality for some. Have you watched "Split Estate" Dimock is not the only area experiencing problems, it is just that the gas industry does a very good job of damage control. I am educated and I have visited and seen and experienced what is going on in the area and truth be known contamination is happening and one instance of contamination of someone's water source is one too many. There are better ways to be conducting business and the industry should be required to do them.

LOL!!!

CJK, I did watch split Estate. The focus of that documentary was with regard to landowners who owned surface rights but had no oil/gas rights. The companies who leased the acreages had free reign. Within the law, they could perform their drilling activites as they saw fit. Since the landowners had no mineral rights they were at the mercy of the oil/gas companies. We have much more power than the landowners in the documentary. Also, from a geology standpoint our shale is much deeper in the ground than in CO and NM. So we can't assume that what they experienced will happen here. The documentary was very one sided. It did not go into detail as to how many instances of problems vs. the number of wells that currectly exist in those areas. It focused only on the problems. My guess is those involved in creating the documentary were motivated from a political standpoint. Much the same as the news media of today. It seems nobody ever reports both sides of a story. They report what best suits them politically.

Accidents, spills and contamination will occur no matter how diligent any of these companies try to be. Cabot seems to be the only company in the area that may have not been so diligent and didn't do their geology homework prior to drilling. They are paying the price and I am confident those afffected in Dimmock will have their water restored with time. I think DEP cracked down hard on Cabot and sent a message to the entire industry. Whether you want to believe it or not, these gas companies do not want this bad publicity, they want to drill and make money. If they recklessly go into areas and cause contamination over and over again they will be out of business. You tell me, what method of drilling would you have performed to ensure the water contamination didn't take place ? So what are the better ways to conduct business that you mention in your post ? So far I have only read that you would like full disclosure of the chemicals used in the hydrofracking process and that you want the industry to explore other less toxic methods to replace the chemicals. I don't have a problem with this at all. However, this in not relevent to what happened in Dimmock.

Everyone who leases inherits a potential risk. If we all do our homework and limit the risks as much as possible prior to signing we lower the risk factor. Water testing, surface use caluses etc. If the gas company doesn't want to bend and accomodate your requests than don't sign the lease.

In reference to you not wanting to be the next anomoly... Neither do I. However, that potential does exist if and when I sign a lease agreement. So, I intend to to only sign a lease that I feel decreases this risk. That's about all I can do. I realistically understand and accept it. My point is that it is far more likely that my experience with gas drilling will be a positive one, and even more likely if I sign a protective lease. (Something that none of the effected Dimmock residents did) Numbers don't lie. An anomaly is a great exception to a rule.

Excellent points, John Reed.
I agree totally.

John:

Although the landowners of the "Split Estate" did not own the mineral rights the same type of bullying is going on in this area with regards to the surface. The companies are telling people that they can do whatever they want and they do not have any say in it. In part they are right because the subsurface rights supersede the surface rights in PA, but it is my argument that most leases entered into are leases for the minerals and that the companies still have to arrange for the extraction. That arrangement has to be done by negotiating between the parties. So as long as the surface owner and the gas companies negotiate for the terms in their agreements the gas companies cannot come on to the land to extract. This negotiating has to be reasonable.

The first area of concern with me is appropriate casing of a well. Not only are shortcuts taken, they are not being require to case deep enough. Some water wells in the area are drilled to a greater depth than they are requiring casing of the gas wells. Also there is no inspection being done of the casing of the wells. The gas industry is operating virtually without any inspections. We have regulation in this state but the regulatory agency is so understaffed that there are virtually little to no inspections of a well site. They gas companies know this and corners are cut in the interest of time. Most of the work being performed on a well site is done by independent contractors, so that there is very little conformity from one site to another, there is plenty of room for error when there are no inspections and various people doing the job. So one of my biggest gripes is why did the Governor of PA in a year of unprecedented gas boom choose to decrease the budget in the DEP? This was a strategic choice. He also took control out of the hands of local agencies such as the Conservation District, this was wrong and we should not be allowing it! It was done because he wanted the DEP to have the control because he has control over the DEP. The DEP has received orders from the Governor that no one should get in the way of the gas business. We need to change this; he has no right to risk our lives because he wants the money from the industry at all costs. If the DEP is understaffed then the permitting process should be lengthened to accommodate the DEP, not shortened to accommodate the gas industry this is our health and our lives that will ultimately be affected by the drilling. It should be done right and the appropriate inspections should be part of the procedure.

I will add my other comments about what should be done with regards to the drilling next.
FYI DEP only came down on Cabot because there are law suits pending. If the people had been quieted by Cabot, DEP would not have done anything for them.

WIth regards to the political aspect of "Split Estate" you are correct. That is one of the reasons that I do not like the movie. I believe that the mess that we are in is not a party problem as the movie portrays. When you view the movie you need to understand that. I know that whatever party was in office that the loopholes would have happened. In fact, during the Bush administration it was the Democrats that had control of the Congress and the House. So all parties are equaly to blame. As far as I am concerned it is not a political issue, it is a people issue and all parties are responsible.

Accidents happpen, yes, but more than I am willing to accept and there should be real consequences for those accidents not minimal fines that are nothing more than a cost of doing business for these companies. The consequences that exist presently are not meaningful to create change. This needs to be changed.
.

Must see video



Cornell Professor Anthony Ingraffea speaking in Vestal, NY on March 31, 2010.



http://txsharon.blogspot.com/2010/04/videos-cornell-professor-discu...

You need to watch this very enlightening! Makes reference to Dr. Engelder of Penn State as well.