Federal Panel: Pay Attention to Gas Drilling in Pa., Elsewhere
Morgantown Dominion Post
8 December 2011
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH — The final report from a federal panel on natural gas
drilling warns that the industry and the government need to do
more to address environmental concerns.
The panel was convened by Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the
request of President Barack Obama. Subcommittee chairman John
Deutch, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, warned
in a statement that “environmental issues need to be addressed now
— especially in terms of waste water, air quality, and community
impact.”
The focus of gas drilling companies has shifted in recent years to
the Marcellus shale, a massive rock formation underlying New York,
Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Pennsylvania is the center
of activity, with more than 3,000 wells drilled in the past three
years and thousands more planned.
The drillers use a procedure called hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking, which involves blasting chemicallaced water into the
ground. Environmentalists and other critics say fracking could
poison water supplies, but the natural gas industry says it’s been
used safely for decades.
The report, issued Nov. 18, noted that the panel still feels that
“the development of shale gas is one of the biggest energy
innovations, if not the biggest, in several decades” and that the
resource has reduced energy costs and created hundreds of
thousands of jobs.
But on several issues the report said that the progress to date is
less than the panel had hoped.
“If action is not taken to reduce the environmental impact
accompanying the very considerable expansion of shale gas
production expected across the country — perhaps as many as
100,000 wells over the next several decades — there is a real risk
of serious environmental consequences and a loss of public
confidence that could delay or stop this activity.”