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It’s been a slow creep so far this year for natural gas drilling in Wayne County.
Although thousands of land leases were gobbled up by a handful of companies last year, most prominently Chesapeake Appalachia, of West Virginia, actual drilling into the natural-gas rich, Marcellus Shale beneath the county has been practically nil, according to a Wayne Independent review of records from two government agencies charged with regulating the industry.
There is a prevailing opinion, however, that the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are responsible for putting the brakes on natural gas drilling since it is believed that the regulatory agencies are holding back on approving permits, therefore halting the industry’s movement here before it can even boom.
The commission, a federal compact directed with environmentally protecting the basin’s multi-state water resources, and the DEP, the state’s primary environmental regulator, can give the red light or the green light to drilling and extracting natural gas, at any time in the process. An approved permit from both agencies is legally necessary.
Despite the opinion, however, DRBC and DEP are not flooded with permit applications.
The commission has only received two applications since it became known that the Marcellus Shale could be a lucrative place to drill: a one-million gallon per day water withdrawal permit from the Upper Delaware river for Chesapeake Appalachia (not an actual well permit), and the green light for a natural gas well in Clinton Township, according to DRBC records.
“DRBC has two natural gas-related applications that are currently under review,” said Katharine O'Hara, a commission spokesperson. “DRBC has received no other applications related to natural gas drilling.”
DEP also does not have a massive backlog of permit applications for Wayne County, according to its most recent records and phone interviews with DEP staff.
DEP is currently reviewing only one application for a proposed natural gas well in Oregon Township, off Fox Hill Road.
That application, submitted in January, is nearly complete and is almost at the final approve or deny stage.
A DEP spokesperson referred all questions to its website’s content.
Double Review
Both agencies, however, consider its permit applications separately, which could drag out the time it takes until a well can be legally drilled.
“Just because (Pennsylvania) ... may issue a well permit does not automatically mean that DRBC will also issue” one, she said. “ ... The commission is working with Pennsylvania to coordinate agency actions and minimize unnecessary duplication of effort in the issuance of DRBC permits ... to natural gas drilling companies.”
Leased by a private landowner, the Clinton Township well serves as a case in point of the disconnection that has occurred between the two agencies.
It was drilled, albeit briefly; then work was halted last May after the commission notified the driller, Stone Energy Corp, of Louisiana, that it lacked a DRBC permit. The DEP had already given that well the go-ahead prior to DRBC’s warning to Stone Energy Corp.
Recently, Stone Energy Corp., applied for a DRBC permit on February 13.
Other than the Oregon Township well, DEP has not received any other permit applications this year, according to its most recent records.
(There is no DRBC permit application on file for the Oregon Township well, according the commission’s records, which would prevent actual drilling from occurring.)
As of Monday, only one well has been drilled in Wayne County, the Clinton Township well, which remains inactive pending DRBC permit approval.
It’s been a slow creep so far this year for natural gas drilling in Wayne County.
Although thousands of land leases were gobbled up by a handful of companies last year, most prominently Chesapeake Appalachia, of West Virginia, actual drilling into the natural-gas rich, Marcellus Shale beneath the county has been practically nil, according to a Wayne Independent review of records from two government agencies charged with regulating the industry.
There is a prevailing opinion, however, that the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are responsible for putting the brakes on natural gas drilling since it is believed that the regulatory agencies are holding back on approving permits, therefore halting the industry’s movement here before it can even boom.
The commission, a federal compact directed with environmentally protecting the basin’s multi-state water resources, and the DEP, the state’s primary environmental regulator, can give the red light or the green light to drilling and extracting natural gas, at any time in the process. An approved permit from both agencies is legally necessary.
Despite the opinion, however, DRBC and DEP are not flooded with permit applications.
The commission has only received two applications since it became known that the Marcellus Shale could be a lucrative place to drill: a one-million gallon per day water withdrawal permit from the Upper Delaware river for Chesapeake Appalachia (not an actual well permit), and the green light for a natural gas well in Clinton Township, according to DRBC records.
“DRBC has two natural gas-related applications that are currently under review,” said Katharine O'Hara, a commission spokesperson. “DRBC has received no other applications related to natural gas drilling.”
DEP also does not have a massive backlog of permit applications for Wayne County, according to its most recent records and phone interviews with DEP staff.
DEP is currently reviewing only one application for a proposed natural gas well in Oregon Township, off Fox Hill Road.
That application, submitted in January, is nearly complete and is almost at the final approve or deny stage.
A DEP spokesperson referred all questions to its website’s content.
Double Review
Both agencies, however, consider its permit applications separately, which could drag out the time it takes until a well can be legally drilled.
“Just because (Pennsylvania) ... may issue a well permit does not automatically mean that DRBC will also issue” one, she said. “ ... The commission is working with Pennsylvania to coordinate agency actions and minimize unnecessary duplication of effort in the issuance of DRBC permits ... to natural gas drilling companies.”
Leased by a private landowner, the Clinton Township well serves as a case in point of the disconnection that has occurred between the two agencies.
It was drilled, albeit briefly; then work was halted last May after the commission notified the driller, Stone Energy Corp, of Louisiana, that it lacked a DRBC permit. The DEP had already given that well the go-ahead prior to DRBC’s warning to Stone Energy Corp.
Recently, Stone Energy Corp., applied for a DRBC permit on February 13.
Other than the Oregon Township well, DEP has not received any other permit applications this year, according to its most recent records.
(There is no DRBC permit application on file for the Oregon Township well, according the commission’s records, which would prevent actual drilling from occurring.)
As of Monday, only one well has been drilled in Wayne County, the Clinton Township well, which remains inactive pending DRBC permit approval.
What DRBC is looking for
Overall, the commission is concerned with how much water from the basin will be used for drilling (more than one-million gallons is necessary for a single well), what chemicals will be used during the drilling process, and other issues that generally center on ensuring that the basin’s water will not be adversely affected.
DRBC rules state: "No project having a substantial effect on the water resources of the basin shall hereafter be undertaken by any person, corporation or governmental authority unless it shall have been first submitted to and approved by the commission.”
Also, a drill permit can only be approved at one of the commission’s five annual meetings.
“ ... The intent of the DRBC is not to prevent natural gas drilling, but rather to ensure that proper environmental controls are provided to safeguard our basin's water resources,” she said.
DEP approves applications - and enforces active drilling operations - based on a similar sentiment, as defined by state environmental law.
