President Barack Obama’s Interior secretary, Sally Jewel, recently stated that “There is a lot of misinformation about fracking.”
She’s absolutely right, and a Jan. 5 online editorial (“Natural gas era unfolds in Pennsylvania without a cohesive strategy to make it sane and safe”) reflects that. While we absolutely agree with the newspaper’s Opinion Board that shale “should be extracted only with proper oversight and safety guidelines,” its suggestion that strong regulations are not currently in place is verifiably false.
Consider these facts. Pennsylvania has some of the nation’s strongest environmental regulations. The State Review of Oil and Natural Gas Environmental Regulations (STRONGER) – a nonprofit environmental review organization – found that Pennsylvania’s regulatory program is “proficient and ready to address” shale-related activities. Moreover, there are nearly 70 state regulations that apply to shale in the commonwealth alone. And according to Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection, since 2008 “Pennsylvania has added more staff, done a more comprehensive strengthening of its rules and more aggressively enforced its rules than any other state.”
Additionally, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, “requirements from eight federal environmental and public health laws apply to unconventional oil and gas development.” And regulatory officials – including top Obama administration officials – have made clear that shale development and hydraulic fracturing are well-regulated. Indeed, former Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said that shale development “is something you can do in a safe way.”
Our industry remains laser-focused on environmental compliance and across-the-board safety. It’s our hope that the Times Leader – which importantly states that shale is providing “a much-needed boost to the region’s economy” – will acknowledge these facts.
David Spigelmyer
President, Marcellus Shale Coalition
Pittsburgh
NOTE: Click HERE to view this letter online.
