Washington County landfill wants Marcellus Shale waste
July 19, 2011
Spanier responds to “This American Life” | For the Record | CentreDaily.com
July 19, 2011
Spanier responds to “This American Life” | For the Record | CentreDaily.com.
Spanier responds to “This American Life”
Posted: 1:04pm on Jul 18, 2011; Modified: 1:04pm on Jul 18, 2011
Penn State President Graham Spanier said he thinks the recent “This American Life” episode that focused on the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania was unbalanced.
The Public Radio International program, which was broadcast on WPSU, looked at the Marcellus Shale boom, including what it portrayed as an “entwined” relationship between industry, Penn State and Pitt universities and state government. That segment of the program featured interviews with Penn State Professor Terry Engelder and former Pitt professor Dan Volz. Volz is critical of the industry, while Engelder is supportive.
“I’m not sure the purpose of the program was to portray a balanced view of a very complex issue of the exploration and environmental protection around Marcellus Shale,” Spanier said when asked about the show. “We have 500 researchers working in the area of energy and the environment — 500. So, whatever conclusions you’d want to make about what one person is saying and therefore jump to conclusions about what the president of the university is thinking or doing is pretty off-base.”
“Wasn’t one of their main points that we were in collusion with the governor — really?” Spanier asked, before laughing.
Gov. Tom Corbett had proposed cutting state funding for Penn State and the other state-related universities in half this year. In the end, the final 2011-12 budget cuts state funding for the universities by 19 percent.
NYS DOT: NYS isn’t ready for Marcellus shale development | un-naturalgas.org weblog
July 19, 2011
NYS DOT: NYS isn’t ready for Marcellus shale development | un-naturalgas.org weblog.
Leaked to un-naturalgas.org:
NYSDOT Draft
Transportation Impacts Paper
on natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale
for internal use with Governor Cuomo’s office and DEC
From the executive summary:
“The potential transportation impacts are ominous. Assuming current gas drilling technology and a lower level of development than will be experienced in Pennsylvania the Marcellus region will see a peak year increase of up to 1.5-million heavy truck trips, and induced development may increase peak hour trips by 36,000 trips/hour. While this new traffic will be distributed around the Marcellus region this Discussion Paper suggests that it will be necessary to reconstruct hundreds of miles of roads and scores of bridges and undertake safety and operational improvements in many areas.
“The annual costs to undertake these transportation projects are estimated to range from $90 to $156 million for State roads and from $121-$222 million for local roads. There is no mechanism in place allowing State and local governments to absorb these additional transportation costs without major impacts to other programs and other municipalities in the State.
“This Discussion Paper also concludes that the New York State Department of Transportation and local governments currently lack the authority and resources necessary to mitigate such problems. And, that if the State is to prepare for and resolve these problems it is time to establish a frank and open dialogue among the many parties involved.”
Click here for OCR’d version.
MARCELLUS DEVELOPMENT: PENNSYLVANIA ISSUES & ENFORCEMENT PENNSYLVANIA FISH AND BOAT COMMISSION BUREAU OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
July 19, 2011
FishandBoatPart1.pdf (application/pdf Object).
MARCELLUS DEVELOPMENT:
PENNSYLVANIA ISSUES & ENFORCEMENT
PENNSYLVANIA FISH AND BOAT COMMISSION
BUREAU OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
AND DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Mission: To protect, conserve, and enhance the Commonwealth’s aquatic
resources and provide fishing and boating opportunities
