Deep in the Loyalsock State Forest, where no cell phone signal reaches, the sounds of rushing waterfalls and forest birds are suddenly interrupted by the sound of a helicopter. Paul Zeph of the Pennsylvania Audubon Society says the noise could be related to gas drilling. Drillers will often drop seismic testing equipment into remote areas [...]
A new report issued this week by the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, centered at Wilkes University, says Marcellus Shale activity is the “prime factor” for recent economic growth in Northeast Pennsylvania. The study looks at development trends in two other shale plays, one in Texas and the other in Arkansas. It compares [...]
Last week, StateImpact Pennsylvania published a series on the dangers posed by the state’s estimated 200,000 abandoned oil and gas wells. These unplugged holes create unobstructed pathways for natural gas to migrate to the surface, where it can pool in water wells, basements, and other enclosed spaces. It turns out, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection [...]
This post has been updated to include a statement from the DEP. On Friday, what a Department of Environmental Protection employee described as a “significant amount” of sediment and mud from a pipeline construction project spilled into Sullivan County’s Loyalsock Creek. When Dean Marshall heard about the spill, he drove to Loyalsock State Forest to [...]
Efforts by environmentalists to block an interstate natural gas pipeline project in northeastern Pennsylvania have been rejected by a federal appeals court. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that federal regulators properly permitted the Marc 1 Hub line for Bradford, Sullivan, and Lycoming counties. A group of residents, along with the Pennsylvania [...]
When it comes to climate change, much of the focus is on sea-level rise and destructive storms. But planning for any eco-system changes pretty much has scientists guessing. The Nature Conservancy just published a report analyzing 156 million acres of land from Maine to Virginia to determine the best “climate resilient” areas, in order to [...]
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