Fees keep Marcellus drilling inspectors on the job

by robert swift (Harrisburg Bureau Chief)
Published: November 3, 2009

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HARRISBURG - Fees paid by drillers are supporting the activities of natural gas inspectors in the Marcellus Shale formation even as large job layoffs loom at the state Department of Environmental Protection.

DEP was hit with a 30 percent funding cut in the $27.8 billion budget adopted last month. Up to 400 staffers could lose their jobs when Gov. Ed Rendell announces a second round of state employee layoffs sometime this month.

Staffers in DEP's oil and gas division based at several offices in Northeast and Northcentral Pennsylvania are expected to be spared from the job cuts, however.

The breakdown is 11 positions at the Williamsport regional office, two at the Wilkes-Barre regional office, and two each at the Mansfield and Moshannon district offices. Three oil and gas positions are vacant.

These regional staffers and approximately 20 colleagues based in western Pennsylvania are paid with state fees collected on new well permits rather than from the tax-supported General Fund.

"We are very confident we will have the resources to manage the gas well drilling," said DEP spokeswoman Teresa Candori Monday referring to the fee revenues.

DEP will collect nearly $20 million from the fee this year, helping to ease the impact of budget cuts, said Sen. Mary Jo White, R-21, Venango, chairwoman of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

The agency started implementing a higher fee scale earlier this year to replace a flat $100 well application fee. The action was taken so new oil and gas inspectors could be hired to monitor the Marcellus Shale drilling boom. The new fee scale is based on the length and type of wells being drilled.

The higher fees for Marcellus wells went into effect last spring; the higher fees for the traditional oil and gas wells took effect last week.

Marcellus Shale wells have a basic cost of $900 for the first 1,500 feet with an additional cost of $100 for every 500 feet beyond that length.

Traditional wells with a length up to 2,000 fee have a basic cost of $250 with an additional cost of $50 for every 500 feet beyond that length.

DEP has issued over 5,000 oil and gas drilling permits this year, of which 1,516 are in the Marcellus Shale formation.

Despite these changes, an environmental group charges that DEP's well-permitting process is inadequate based on its recent revocation of permits for three gas drilling sites in Tioga and Potter Counties. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation says that County Conservation Districts should have a role in review. "There is not enough staffers at DEP to do the permit reviews now," said Matthew Royer, a Chesapeake Bay Foundation attorney.

Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com

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2 posted comments

Sounds as if our water is going to be even more at risk than ever. There are gas wells planned all around me. I hope to God I'll be able to continue living in my home. The water in my house has been A-1 for forty years, from the day our well first was drilled. But regardless, if there's a problem, I know the gas company will say it's not their fault. Disclaiming responsibility is what they do. And with the DEP eviscerated, my family and I will be very much on our own. God help us.
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Sam Stovall,  11/04/09 7:17
Bumping rights will push anyone out of the Marcellus Program, as they are the lowest amount of time spent on the job (lowest Seniority)... So what little experience that is had in that program so far will be replaced with a worker that doesn't want to be there to begin with and has no experience... So how is that not going to affect the Marcellus staff in DEP?
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Someone who knows.,  11/03/09 9:55