Pennsylvania Limits Authority of Oil and Gas Inspectors

[kpete]

Pennsylvania Limits Authority of Oil and Gas Inspectors
by Abrahm Lustgarten
ProPublica, March 30, 2011, 6:46 p.m.


Oil and gas inspectors policing Marcellus Shale development in Pennsylvania will no longer be able to issue violations to the drilling companies they regulate without first getting the approval of top officials.

That’s according to a directive laid out in a series of emails received by the Department of Environmental Protection staff last week and leaked to ProPublica. The emails say the new edict applies only to enforcement actions related to Marcellus Shale drilling and that failure to seek prior approval “will not be acceptable.”

The memos require that each of the hundreds of enforcement actions taken routinely against oil and gas operators in Pennsylvania each month now be approved by the department’s executive deputy secretary, John Hines. The memos are raising concerns that the state’s environmental inspectors can no longer act independently and that regulations could be overridden by the political whims of the state’s new governor, Tom Corbett.

“What this apparently is saying is that before any final action, the inspector must get approval by two political appointees: the secretary and the deputy secretary,” said John Hanger, who headed the DEP until January under former Gov. Ed Rendell and worked to strengthen the state’s oil and gas regulations. “It’s an extraordinary directive. It represents a break from how business has been done in the department within the Marcellus Shale and within the oil and gas program for probably 20 years.

more:
http://www.propublica.org/article/pennsylvania-limits-authority-of-oil-and-gas-inspectors

[LiberalFighter]

1. What that means is they have to look up the owner of the mine

to see if they had made a contribution to the Governor's campaign.

That would be a very good campaign ad. Inspector goes out and finds a violation. He calls up the boss. Boss calls up the Governor's office. They say no after saying he made a sizeable contribution.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Best practices, if you like the old Tammany Hall style.

[Snoutport]

2. we need to get this public in PA...the people won't like it!

[n2doc]

3. toon

[Festivito]

5. Wow, that is a direct threat to his job.

That is not acceptable to the boss. It is certainly acceptable to the public.