Grants Offered to Study Impact of Marcellus Shale Drilling

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
21 December 2010
By Kim Leonard

The Colcom Foundation is offering nonprofit organizations $1 million in grants to study Marcellus shale development, and provide lessons and advice about environmentally sound natural gas drilling practices.

Amid controversy and mixed messages about the effects of well-drilling, "Who can you trust? There is a great deal at stake," said John F. Rohe, vice president of philanthropy for the Downtown-based foundation that focuses on conservation and the effects of overpopulation.

Colcom announced its Marcellus Environmental Fund on Monday to address the "accelerating environmental impact" of drillers boring into the deep Marcellus layer and fracturing shale to extract gas.

"The foundation would like to see a higher sense of trustworthiness and integrity" as drilling expands, Rohe said. The main question is whether the industry follows safe practices, or whether Western Pennsylvania might repeat one of its past mistakes, such as uncontrolled coal mining, he said. Colcom has funded cleanups of old mining sites.

Applications can be submitted until Jan. 14 for grants to be given out in February. A second round of proposals is due March 14, for awards to be distributed in May.

The foundation, created by the late Cordelia Scaife May, hasn't specified a number of grants, or amounts to be given out. Money will go toward public education, environmental monitoring and identifying best practices for the industry, for example.

"This is not designed to be anti-drilling," Rohe said of the grants. "Possibly, the primary beneficiaries of this fund are the responsible drillers."

Kathryn Z. Klaber, executive director of drilling industry trade group the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said yesterday the industry "recognizes that an educated citizen and landowner are the best partners in developing this clean-burning, job-creating resource."

Working with regulators and others, gas drillers have "enhanced well-casing standards to protect drinking water and backed a permitting fees increase, enabling DEP to hire additional inspectors at no cost to the taxpayer. To the degree that other organizations seek to contribute to this fact-based debate, we encourage that."

Kim Leonard can be reached at kleonard@tribweb.com or 412-380-5606.