Out of the Woods: Sierra Club Wants National Park Service to Halt Gas Drilling on State Lands

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

July 6, 2011 | 3:40 PM

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club sent a letter to the National Park Service, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources on Wednesday seeking a natural gas drilling moratorium on all state lands.
The letter says the state is violating the Land and Water Conservation Act by allowing gas drilling on lands purchased with LWCA funds.
The Sierra Club letter says if those lands are used for anything other than recreation, the state needs the approval of the National Park Service.

“Pennsylvania is allowing extensive drilling on Conservation Act-protected lands, but has not, to our knowledge, requested NPS approval of these actions, or even secured a formal NPS Solicitor’s opinion as to when drilling is likely to constitute a “conversion” under the Conservation Act.”

Lands purchased with LWCA funds also require compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

The Sierra Club estimates 19 state parks are protected by the Conservation Act.
National Park Service spokesman Phil Sheridan says NPS will investigate the Sierra Club’s claims to determine if any of the state’s drilling activities are taking place on LWC funded lands. And if so, will work with state agencies on compliance.
For a more personal view of how drilling has impacted state parks, check out Harold Brubaker’s piece in Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer.