A local state lawmaker is blasting the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s strategy for limiting methane leaks at oil and gas sites.
In a letter Friday to the acting secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Cranberry accuses the agency of skirting the state’s process for adopting regulations by proposing to institute new methane controls at shale gas well sites through permit changes.
Metcalfe says the move shows “a lack of transparency, accountability and judicious use of regulatory authority. He went on to call the move a “blatant disregard for the law.”
“I believe that the formation of methane limits- absent a federal standard or statutory authority to establish them- as well as required control devices and extensive new reporting requirements, among other provisions, deviate significantly from minor permit revisions and constitute significant changes that are the equivalent of regulatory action,” Metcalfe said in the letter.
A DEP spokesman told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the the agency’s process for changing the oil and gas air pollution control permits is consistent with the law.
A recent study found that natural gas production appears to be the primary cause of an increase in methane concentrations in northeastern Pennsylvania between 2012 and 2015.
Written By: Kayla Molczan for the Butler Radio Network
