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Endangered Animals Vs. Marcellus Wells

Can an endangered bat stop a Marcellus Shale well?
Sometimes, it can. The Post-Gazette takes an interesting look at the role wildlife plays in permitting natural gas drilling wells:

Does that Greene County property sit atop bountiful shale gas reserves? Better make sure the endangered shortnose sturgeon doesn’t swim in a nearby stream. Think that pasture would make a great place to lay pipeline? Check for the beleaguered snow trillium first.
Tracking Pennsylvania farmland for sensitive communities is part of the state permitting process for a Marcellus well, and it has fueled a cottage industry of ecological consultants trolling the hills for threatened wildlife and foliage to help companies avoid costly fines. The inspection process, which sometimes takes longer than actual drilling, has inspired some unlikely partnerships between gas firms drilling underground and the advocates interested in the life that’s above it.
Legless creatures have long brought powerful industries to their knees. Take the snail darter. In 1973, the discovery of the paper clip-sized fish slowed construction of a Little Tennessee River dam, inspiring Congressional infighting and eventually forcing a Supreme Court decision that temporarily halted construction.
Forget worries about lease expirations. Chesapeake Energy hustled to complete a tree clearing in Beaver County last month before an eight-month moratorium went into effect allowing the Indiana bats to hibernate in peace. The Oklahoma City driller filed an injunction in district court forcing the tree-clearing to make the hibernation deadline or risk having to renegotiate the area’s leases.

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