Event drills into Marcellus Shale issues

The first panel, comprised of a geographer, two attorneys, a professor of English and a professor of law, examined environmental issues in Marcellus Shale production. Moderated by Penn State Professor James McCarthy, the panel discussed how the surface estate has become severed from the subsurface estate in Pennsylvania; the role of local government; forced pooling; as well as a quick sketch of existing laws and regulations.

 

R. Timothy Weston from K&L Gates gave a brief roundup of existing regulations and predicted a need for more clarity in federal regulation. He gives Pennsylvania regulators a lot of credit for their understanding of environmental issues. “We have learned a lot in this state that others may not recognize. This state has pretty much addressed the range of issues and risks.”

 

Panelist Professor Seth Blumsack, an economist and agricultural scientist, weighed in on the risks of Marcellus Shale drilling. “We know that people are bad at perceiving risk in an analytical way,” he said, explaining that many accidents are the results of one individual’s error in judgment. He said that the gas industry could learn from how the mining industry has changed practices to reduce industrial accidents.

 

Moderated by Penn State Law Professor Ross Pifer, the second panel focused on the future of Marcellus Shale production. Panelists included a professor of agricultural economics at Penn State, a member of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, a professor of law, and the vice president of legal and governmental affairs of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

 

Several panelists agreed that stronger, more organized oversight is needed. “There is no entity that comprehensively pulls together all the pieces so that we can know what is occurring. For example, how many acres of land are leased in Pennsylvania? Nobody knows. It’s recorded in individual county offices but there’s no entity pulling that information together,” said agricultural economist Dr. Tim Kelsey of Penn State, who focuses his research on a variety of economic development issues in Pennsylvania, including taxation and tax reform, fiscal impacts of land use change, economic impact of Marcellus Shale development, and local government.
 

Dr. Kelsey also underscored the need for carefully planned development. “At some point the gas is going to be gone,” he said. Panelist Patrick McGinley of the West Virginia University College of Law agreed, pointing out that the area surrounding West Virginia’s “billion dollar coal fields” has some of the nation’s worst roads, schools, and public services.  

 

The panel continued for a two-hour discussion of long-term environmental impacts of Marcellus Shale drilling and the various regulatory approaches and the political realities standing in the way.

 

Founded and edited by Penn State Law students, the Penn State Environmental Law Review is a forum for articles discussing all aspects of environmental issues, a rapidly growing and evolving legal discipline.