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Drilling Resumes In Allegheny National Forest

Natural gas drilling has resumed in the Allegheny National Forest, according to the Tribune-Review.

The oil and gas industry has resumed drilling in the 512,000-acre Allegheny National Forest while several court challenges against the practice work their way through the federal courts, an industry lawyer said on Tuesday.
Matthew Wolford, an attorney representing the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association and the Allegheny Forest Alliance, said an Erie federal judge’s December 2009 order made it clear that companies don’t need the U.S. Forest Service’s permission to drill.
“That’s been the law in Pennsylvania for over 100 years,” Wolford said.
Joe Walsh, a national spokesman for the Forest Service, declined to comment.

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