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New forest drilling plans face long delay |
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Written by Publisher
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Tuesday, 14 April 2009 |
Photo by Ted Lutz
A crowd estimated at 90 attended a forum Monday on oil and gas drilling issues in the Allegheny National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service hosted the meeting at the Holiday Inn in Warren.
By Ted Lutz
Republican Staff
WARREN -- New plans for drilling oil and gas wells in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) face a delay of at least a year as the U.S. Forest Service prepares a "forest–wide site specific environmental analysis."
During a forum Monday at the Holiday Inn in Warren, Forest Service officials outlined steps for the plan, which comes in the wake of an anticipated settlement in one of five lawsuits linked with drilling in the state's only national forest.
The Forest Service has asked oil and gas operators who own or lease mineral rights in the ANF to file proposals for drilling within a three–year period from 2010 through 2013. But none of these proposals will be processed by the Forest Service until the announced environmental analysis is completed and sent through a mandatory appeals process that could extend until July 2010.
Meanwhile, the Forest Service plans to "immediately" begin to issue "notices to proceed" for 54 drilling "packages" previously submitted by operators. These "packages" represent 588 wells, two pipelines and one seismic testing line. A total of 22 companies are involved in the 54 "packages."
The issuance of the "notices to proceed" will end an unofficial three–month moratorium on new drilling in the 513,000–acre forest. No notices have been issued since the authority shifted from the ANF base in Warren to the Forest Service regional office in Milwaukee.
Leanne Marten, the supervisor of the ANF, said Monday that a signed settlement in a lawsuit has given her back the responsibility of issuing the notices to drillers.
She said the go–ahead for all 54 drilling projects should be given within the next 10 days. Some operators still need to pay for timber fees at their sites and obtain certain permits before they will receive clearance to drill.
The processing of the 54 drilling projects was part of the unofficial settlement in the lawsuit filed by the Allegheny Defense Project, the Sierra Club and Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE). Although the settlement has been filed in federal court, it still awaits final approval by a judge.
Marten said she plans to issue the notices to proceed "unless a judge's order tells me differently."
About 90 attended the two–hour forum, which featured a Forest Service presentation following by a question–and–answer session.
State Rep. Kathy Rapp (R-Warren) and State Rep. Matt Gabler (R-Elk/Clearfield), who both represent communities in the ANF, were among those to speak.
Rapp said she has spoken with the state attorney general's office about the state's role in the controversy involving the Forest Service and the oil and gas operators, who own or lease 93 percent of the subsurface mineral rights in the ANF.
According to Rapp, "the state has a say–so with what's going on here."
Gabler said he is "concerned about my constituents who are trying to make ends meet" with jobs in the oil fields. He said the delay in issuing notices to proceed for drilling came at the "most inconvenient time" due to the area's poor economic climate.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 12 June 2009 )
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