Krancer And House Dem Pen Dueling Inky Letters

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

October 12, 2011 | 12:51 PM

Scott Detrow / StateImpact Pennsylvania

DEP Secretary Michael Krancer, announcing department reorganizations in September

Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer and noted drilling opponent Greg Vitali, a Democratic Delaware County state representative, have penned dueling letters to the editor in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Vitali’s letter, published September 25^th, objected to Krancer’s reorganization of the DEP.

“Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” was the phrase that came to mind as I read the Sept. 21 article “DEP reorganizes to oversee Marcellus drilling.”
Although I appreciate Secretary Michael Krancer’s attempt to improve the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the fact remains that this department’s budget has been decimated in recent years.
The budget signed by Gov. Corbett in June dropped the DEP’s state funding to $135 million — $10 million less than last year and $65 million less than 2006-07. Former DEP Secretary John Hanger recently stated that “DEP cannot do its mission reasonably” with a budget below $170 million. DEP staff has been cut about 10 percent over the past five years. In February, Corbett proposed eliminating 69 more positions.
I have spoken with DEP personnel charged with regulating Marcellus drilling and they tell me they need more help: more oil and gas inspectors, more water quality and solid waste specialists, and more staff for air permitting and sampling. In addition to rearranging the deck chairs of the DEP, Corbett needs to restore the DEP’s funding to a reasonable level.

Krancer responded in today’s paper.

Rep. Greg Vitali’s letter “Budget cuts hurt drilling oversight” (Sept. 25) ignored the fact that it was the Rendell administration’s budget cuts that resulted in 97 furloughs at the Department of Environmental Protection. Gov. Corbett managed to close a $4.2 billion deficit left by the Rendell administration without making layoffs at the DEP.
As Vitali must know, the oil and gas program is funded by permit fees and not general funds. In fact, the DEP substantially increased the well permit fee and more than doubled the staff charged with overseeing this industry, so his claim of budget cuts hurting drilling oversight is simply false.
Vitali’s constant resorting to unnamed sources lacks credibility. Through our reorganization, the program will be even more efficient and effective. As we reorganize, we will be thoroughly evaluating our oil and gas program needs and will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure effective enforcement of the law.
Further, the governor’s vision of the impact fee he recently announced stands to deliver tens of millions of dollars to the DEP over the next decade for us to dedicate not just to enforcement, but to application of all aspects of the oil and gas program. And the governor’s initiative will actually ensure that the funds do come to the DEP for that purpose, instead of going to the general fund and being diverted away.