New DEP Marcellus Shale Examiner Newsletter Available

Click here to read this week's Marcellus Shale Examiner newsletter from the Department of Environmental Protection.

Rendell: 1.9 Percent Across-The-Board Cuts To Fill Remaining Medicaid Funding Hole

Gov. Rendell told Senate and House legislative leaders today a $280 million deficit remains in the budget after Congress passed the extra Medicaid funding.
The Governor said he would like to fill the gap with--
-- An across-the-board cut of 1.9 percent in the state budget that would yield $212 million: 1.9 percent cut to "discretionary appropriations," including $50 million to basic education funding; 1.9 percent cut to the General Assembly, Courts and to elected row offices (Auditor General, Attorney General and State Treasurer; and
-- Using $70 million from the proposed Marcellus Shale natural gas production severance tax.
UPDATE: A sheet distributed by the Governor's Office shows DEP cut by $2.4 million and DCNR cut by $1.5 million, but no individual line items were noted.
At a press conference after the call with the Governor, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Delaware) said there is $380 million in the federal bill that goes toward education and stated, “it’s the Governor’s preference to drive that money out through the basic education formula.”
He indicated Senate Leadership would examine the basic education subsidy and warned that there will be difficult budget decisions to make next year.
“I think part of our analysis will be focused on education funding,” Sen. Pileggi said. “Level funding for school districts is a victory when every other line item is taking substantial cuts.”

USGS: Number Of Counties In Drought Watch Condition Grows To 20, 1 In Emergency

The USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center today reported the number of counties in drought watch condition doubled from 10 to 20 in the last two weeks, according to the Palmer Drought Severity Index. One county-- Carbon-- is in drought emergency condition for groundwater sources.
The Department of Environmental Protection is the agency charged with officially declaring a drought watch or emergency and no drought watches, warnings or emergencies have been declared.
The counties in drought watch conditions include: Bedford, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Fulton, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne and Wyoming.
One county-- Carbon-- is in drought emergency condition for groundwater sources. Eight counties are in groundwater drought warning condition: Bradford, Fayette, Lawrence, Mercer, Monroe, Lackwanna, Pike and Somerset counties. These counties are in groundwater drought watch condition: Centre, Columbia, Luzerne, Mifflin, Montour, Sullivan, Union, Wayne andWyoming counties.
One county-- Bradford-- is in drought warning status for surface water sources. These counties are in surface water drought watch condition: Adams, Carbon, Centre, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Montour, Pike, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga and Union.
For current drought conditions, visit the USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center webpage. Visit DEP's Drought webpage for official drought declarations.

Wednesday NewsClips

State Workers In A State Of Confusion About Layoffs
PA To Bet $1 Billion For Teachers, Medicaid
Fish & Boat Commission Lobbying For Part Of Marcellus Tax
Drilling Companies Must File Emergency Plans In Ligonier Twp
Drilling Wastewater Rules To Take Effect
EPA Delays NY Drilling Forum
Editorial: No Level Field In 3 Tier Severance Tax
Editorial: BP Spill Wreaks Damage Closer To Home
Nutrient Trading Could Help Franklin County Farms
Despite Heat, Midstate Ozone Levels On Par With Other Years
Chester Park Officials Blame Heat For Killing Fish
Sellersville Issues Drought Warning
Leak Puts Susquehanna Nuke Site On Alert
DEP Increases Rebate For Energy Efficient Appliances
Hazle Twp Residents Attempt To Curtail Shale Exploration
Judge Reverses Chapman Zoning Decision On Drilling Water Withdrawal
Group Claims Marcellus Shale Drilling Uses Water Illegally

Air Quality Action Day: Southwest, Central PA, Southeast

Today is an Air Quality Action Day for Liberty-Clairton, Lower Susquehanna Valley and Southeast PA. Click here for details and what you can do.
NewsClips: Air Quality Action Day
Despite Heat, Midstate Ozone Levels On Par With Other Years

Tuesday NewsClips

GOP May Push Education Funding Cut To Bridge Funding Gap
Rendells Sees 200 Layoffs, But May Not Be All
Marcellus Shale Industry Seeks Early Severance Tax Break
Marcellus Royalties Could Be Boon For Parks, Conservation
Group Signs Gas Lease Deal Next To Salt Springs State Park
Emergency Crews Set For Natural Gas Wells
Educators Tailor Courses For Marcellus Drilling Job Demand
Editorial: Drilling Watchdogs, DEP, DCNR Are More Crucial Than Ever
Indiana Well Services Company Acquired For $900 Million
Stolen DEP Radiation Device No Hazard
West Nile Virus Detected In 13 PA Counties
Western PA Conservancy Buys Parcel Near Fallingwater
Wildlfire Closes Part Of Appalachian, Other Trails
Pottsville Encourages 322 Property Owners To Deal With Stormwater
Wellsboro Approves Ordinance Regulating Gas Drilling
Editorial: DEP Gas Drilling Report Care Reassures
Residents Disagree With Comments At DuBois Marcellus Meeting

Vote! PA National, State Parks Could Benefit From Coca-Cola Live Positively Initiative

One of five national and State Parks in Pennsylvania could benefit from a $100,000 recreation grant if you vote through the Coca-Cola Live Positively initiative.
The parks in Pennsylvania include: Valley Forge National Historical Park, Flight 93 National Memorial, Norristown Farm Park, Oil Creek State Park, Gettysburg National Military Park and Steamtown National Historic Site.
Vote by August 31.
“We understand that more families are looking for ways to have fun and be active together, but might lack the resources or an outside space to do so,” said Katie J. Bayne, President and General Manager, Sparkling Beverages, Coca-Cola North America. “Coca-Cola has supported America’s national parks for the past 40 years through campaigns like this because of our belief that everyone needs a place to play and spend time with family and friends.”
Through online engagement and community grants, Coca-Cola is donating more than $500,000 to national, state and local parks across the country to restore or rebuild places for people of all ages to play.
The campaign also encourages people to support the national and state parks system by voting for their favorite park on LivePositively.com through August 31 or coming out to local park health and wellness events that Coca-Cola will host this summer – all with the goal of making their communities a better place to live.
Through the support of individual parks and the partnership with the National Park Foundation, Coca-Cola has donated more than $13 million for restoration and renovation of our country’s parks, including the restoration of more than 260 miles of “Active Trails” for families to hike and explore, and is developing the first sustainable recycling program at The National Mall, a national park in the heart of the Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C.
“The rewards of our long-standing partnership with Coca-Cola lie in hundreds of miles of restored hiking trails, renovated landmarks and millions of dollars in renovated park facilities provided throughout the years,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO, National Park Foundation. “The positive impact of ‘America Is Your Park’ and similar campaigns will be felt for years to come by families who will have improved facilities to be active and have fun outdoors.”
Visit Coca-Cola's LivePositively.com website for more information.
This initiative is supported by the PA Parks and Forests Foundation.

DEP: Natural Gas Emergency Responders Locating in PA, Improving Response Times

Recent high-profile accidents at natural gas wells in Pennsylvania have prompted the Department of Environmental Protection to arrange emergency response services with a leading company that is opening a new operation in the state, DEP Secretary John Hanger announced today.
CUDD Well Control will locate a new facility in Canton Township, Bradford County, which means a highly specialized, well-equipped emergency response crew will be approximately five hours from any natural gas well in Pennsylvania.
By comparison, it took 16 hours for out-of-state crews to address a June 3 blowout in Clearfield County and 11 hours to extinguish a July 23 fire in Allegheny County. In both cases, well operators had to wait for response crews to fly in from Texas.
“CUDD Well Control’s presence in our state will ensure fast and expert response to emergency situations at well sites,” said Secretary Hanger. “Recent accidents in our state have shown that the natural gas industry lacks the training and equipment to respond quickly to accidents. This creates a tremendous danger to the public and the environment.
“When an accident occurs, we cannot wait 10 or more hours for a crew to fly in from halfway across the country. Pennsylvanians must be confident that highly trained emergency services are available nearby to respond to a gas well emergency as quickly possible.”
The director of Pennsylvania’s Emergency Management Agency, Robert P. French, echoed Hanger’s comments, saying CUDD’s decision to locate in Pennsylvania brings much-needed expertise to the state.
“Our priorities during a well emergency are the safety and security of the first responders and the public, as well as the environment and property,” said French. “In certain well incidents, specialized equipment and technical advice is needed and this arrangement with CUDD Well Control will certainly enhance our ability to mitigate an incident in Pennsylvania.”
CUDD’s new operation will give Pennsylvania 16 specially trained well-control responders and a senior well-control responder in the state at all times. Senior responders can provide an initial assessment of emergency situations, advise local first responders, and coordinate emergency response measures with other well control specialists.
Equipment at CUDD’s new Bradford County facility also will include:
-- A 2,000-gallon-per-minute pump;
-- Heat shields, which will protect responders as they work near a well fire;
-- Pneumatic cutting devices that clamp onto damaged pipe to allow responders to cut it at a safe distance; and
-- A “hot tap,” which will drill a hole into damaged pipe to either relieve the pressure or allow responders to pump material into the well to kill it.
The Commonwealth will employ CUDD’s services as needed through emergency contracts on a case-by-case basis, meaning there is no cost to taxpayers until CUDD personnel are mobilized. If that happens, the state will work aggressively to recoup those costs from the well operator.
DEP plans to enter into a formal contract with a well control specialty company through a competitive bid process by October 15.
Secretary Hanger noted that emergencies at natural gas wells pose a considerable challenge and cost to local emergency response crews, but said that enacting a severance tax can offset those additional expenses.
“Local fire and police departments are usually the first ones on the scene when the worst happens. These emergency responders are our first line of defense in a community and natural gas wells are creating new burdens and costs for them,” said Secretary Hanger.
“When accidents happen, the natural gas industry should be bearing those costs, not the public or our fire, EMT and police departments. That’s one of the main reasons we need a severance tax: so taxpayers aren’t shouldering this financial burden and emergency response crews have the funds they need to respond appropriately, as well as get proper training and equipment.”

State Worker Layoffs Could Be Fewer Than 200

Gov. Rendell said at a press conference this afternoon fewer than 200 state workers could be laid off as a result of cuts in the basic FY 2010-11 state budget. The Governor had first estimated as many as 1,000 layoffs, then reduced that to 700.
He declined to estimate how many layoffs would be needed to make up for the $250-260 million deficit which remained after Congress finally approves the Medicaid funding saying he will meet with legislative leaders on Wednesday on how to fill that budget hole.
Gov. Rendell said he preferred to make "structural budget changes," i.e. adopt something like the elimination of the 1 percent Sales Tax discounts for businesses, rather than adopt one-time fixes to fill the budget gap.
NewsClip: State Employee Layoffs Could Be Fewer Than 200