elizabeth royte,    Environment,    News,    pennsylvania pipeline

Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission Endangering Fishing Waterways For... Cash?

By Tom Chandler 7/13/2011

Ãœber-environmental writer Elizabeth Royte recently fired up an article about the Pennsylvania Fish && Boat Commission conducting some remarkably questionable sales to energy companies. To whit:

Gas companies in southwestern Pennsylvania are leasing portions of streams from Pennsylvania's Fish and Boat Commission to build a 16.5-mile pipeline to move locally drilled gas to larger markets. Why is an agency that promotes sport fishing making it easier for gas companies to operate in and around waterways used for fishing? Because it's $36 million short on cash to repair dams in danger of collapse (the dams are classified as high risk because they're incapable of holding 50 percent of the maximum precipitation that a region could receive). The Fish Commission also plans to sell water to the gas companies for use in drilling operations. (Wait: aren't surface waters in the public trust"”owned by the people? Maybe they're selling groundwater – the story is unclear.) So far, about one-third of the commission's waterways"”some 14,000 acres–are potential drilling sites.

It gets worse; not only will the pipeline cross a few bazillion streams and wetlands, but they're going to let the industry police itself?

The pipeline will cross wetlands 71 times and streams 41 times. Kelly Swan, a spokesperson for Williams Production Appalachia, which is pursing a permit to drill under Donegal Lake, a popular trout-fishing spot in Donegal Township, among other sites, minimizes the potential for environmental damage: "Company inspectors will be stationed along the pipeline daily to ensure that construction adheres to state DEP requirements." Very reassuring: the company guards itself, under requirements set by a notoriously drill-friendly agency. (We've seen how well this worked with BP in the Gulf, ExxonMobil in Yellowstone, and so on.)

Royte is not a fisheries person, but she is a meticulous writer and researcher, and I wonder if any of the Undergrounders in Pennsylvania can offer any information or perspective?

See you at the pipeline, Tom Chandler.
AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

7 comments
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I've worked all over Washington state; Centralia, Everett, Sedro Wooley. All for contractors working for Williams Northwest. So many people on the outside think they know what's going on in an industry by reading a couple of media reports. How many times have you watched the news and thought "that's BS!"? Add this statement to the list.
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List some references please, because I'm calling BS!! If you are a protester, be a protester not an impersonator. In 22 years I've never worked anywhere (including overseas twice) that the contractor furnished their own inspection. Many of the streams in Pa. and West Virginia already have had pipelines cross them for decades, I've still yet to see one look like a coal slurry pipeline. Sir, you have ... more NO credibility.
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I have worked in the pipeline industry for 22 years now. The way professional pipeliners do their construction now is so much different from the past. I can understand all of your concerns, my only concern is that the contract goes to a PLCA affiliated contractor. The difference is in the workforce. PLCA contractors use a trained, experienced American workforce comprised of 50% company hired "key" ... more workers and the remainder from the local organised labor force. ALL are required to have proper safety and environmental courses. If the contractor is not PLCA affiliated, they have no rules and requirements in their hiring practices. Look for Spanish speaking immigrants and want ad replies. I will not try to change your opinion, but ask you to simply come out and look for yourselves at the work practices and environmental responsibilities that take place everyday. Our industry is simply harvesting American energy, adding/updating the energy infrastructure, putting hundreds to work, and pumping cash into the local economy. Until renewable energy is perfected and in place, this is the hand our nation has been dealt.
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The Williams Company tried this with a gas pipeline here in Washington state. Going from an area Called Maltby to some where clear across state to hook-up with another of their pipelines. The line was to go through some wilderness where they couldn't even get at it and a lot of residential areas. The people stood up and told them to take a hike.
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As a Project Manager and inspector, I've seen several projects where the contractor had to hire their own inspector; disaster! The fox can't watch the chicken coop. While I recognize some inspectors can be a PITA, you need checks/balance. PA needs to recall that D-Bag guvn'r asap, as WI will in Jan 2012. For those of you who are apolitical, take some time to research what the GOP just passed in the ... more US House; turns over EPA to states! Hello, West Virginia, your streams are going to be coal slurry pipelines.
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As a Pennsylvanian, the only thing I can offer is that any hope of regulation or oversight--or even taxation of gas companies to pay for cleanup of the inevitable messes they make--of Marcellus Shale matters died the second the current governor was elected. What's sadder is that the president of the commission is a member of the Donegal chapter of Trout Unlimited. I can imagine how that's going over ... more right now.
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