Although
Responsible Drilling Alliance has been aware of Anadarko Petroleum
Corporation's plans to develop gas rights in and around the Old Loggers Path,
Rock Run, Pleasant Stream and other Lycoming and Loyalsock Creek headwater
streams for some time now, the plans have yet to be revealed to the public.
Apparently such information can be considered “proprietary” despite the fact
that the development will take place on public land.
When
will this information become public? The people of Pennsylvania deserve the
right to offer input on the management of public land before another
insider deal is done. Why don't stakeholders other than the developer and an
administration with huge campaign contributions from the gas industry have a
seat at the table with the DCNR? A true gem of our public lands is on the
chopping block, and no direct benefit to the public - in fact, only detriment -
will accrue from shale gas development.
On
September 7th, Responsible Drilling Alliance, the PA Forest Coalition, Citizens
for Pennsylvania’s Future, the Keystone Trails Association and the Sierra Club
sent a letter to DCNR Secretary Richard Allan asking for environmental impact
studies, public meetings on development alternatives, and public comment
periods on any proposed agreements between DCNR and Anadarko. We have yet to
receive a response.
RDA
President Ralph Kisberg and PA State Senate candidate Luana Cleveland spoke to
a high level DCNR staff person in Harrisburg on Tuesday who denied any talks
between DCNR and Anadarko about developing the Clarence Moore tracts. On
Monday, State Rep. Garth Everett told RDA that Anadarko and DCNR are
"discussing development of the Clarence Moore tracts". On Wednesday,
RDA found stakes for a "preliminary" pad site on a portion of
Clarence Moore where maps tell us DCNR controls surface development. We also
saw flagging for road widening and the placement of gas and water pipelines.
If
Rep. Everett was mislead and there are no disucssions between DCNR and
Anadarko, how would the latter be able out a portion of forest that the former
has jurisdiction over? Something doesn’t add up.
The
stakes and flagging RDA discovered Wednesday are in addition to those found on
Crandall Town Trail last week. This new "preliminary" site is along
John Merrell Road, about 0.4 miles west from Cascade Road on Burnett’s
Ridge.
Well
pads around here have typically been constructed following a loose southwest to
northeast trend line, with each pad along that line ideally about 1/2 mile
apart. By extrapolating this pattern you get a rough idea of Anadarko’s planned
layout for the Clarence Moore 25,000 acres of mineral rights. In the case of
other developments on large tracts of land, a trend line will emerge
approximately every 2 miles to the north and south. The discovery of the sites
planned for Burnett’s Ridge and Sullivan Mountain confirms this basic well pad
layout pattern, although topographical and water features have modified it
somewhat.
The
length of some operators' laterals has approached 10,000 feet. By exercising
its surface control of ¾ of the Clarence Moore tract, DCNR could force the
company to push their trend lines farther apart. This would mitigate surface
disturbance to the state forest by about half. If development were delayed for
a longer period, hydraulic fracturing technology might evolve to the point
where the surface need not be disturbed at all. If the administration were
willing to include the public in its negotiations with Anadarko, perhaps this
region's beauty, tranquility and decades of forest equity would not be thrown
away so easily.
DCNR’s
furtive behavior concerning its negotiations with Anadarko does not serve its
mission or the interests of the people. Why are surface use plans on public
land allowed to be considered proprietary? Why does DCNR deny negotiations with
Anadarko when all evidence points to the contrary? Most of all, why is public
land being developed without public input?
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