DEP Will Limit Expedited Permits for Gas Drillers

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.

January 20, 2012 | 12:27 PM

The Department of Environmental Protection has reversed a policy implemented in 2008, that fast tracked sediment and erosion permits for drillers. In 2009, the DEP went further and limited the role of local conservation district officials. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation appealed a number of these expedited permits to the Environmental Hearing Board.
On Friday, the DEP announced a settlement with the environmental group, opening their proposals to public comment. No expedited permits will be issued to any drill pad proposed for a flood plain, or any that would drain into an exceptional-value or high-quality value watershed.

“Our biggest concerns have been drill rigs constructed in floodplains, and drilling near our most pristine waterways,” said CBF’s Matt Ehrhart in a release. “Floodplains, by their nature, can flood. We felt that the expedited review process should not be available in these locations because of the potential for downstream contamination.”

The DEP will accept comments on the new proposals until March 21, 2012.