In a move that will directly affect Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf struck down efforts to create tougher regulations of the oil and gas drilling industry in the Marcellus Shale region of the state. It’s where Chesapeake has nearly made its home for the past several years, becoming a major player in Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry.
The tougher rules were approved in April by an independent regulatory board, but the bill signed by Gov. Wolf, a Democrat, was part of a deal by lawmakers to settle a lingering fight with the governor’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Governor Wolf now says his administration will begin work redrafting new regulations for the traditional shallow drilling industry. He said the new regulations were required by a 2012 law aimed at modernizing Pennsylvania’s oil and gas drilling rules.
“DEP has a responsibility to ensure that these operations are being conducted safely and with best contemporary practices,” said the Governor in a statement.
The new rules will require drillers to identify schools and playgrounds near wells. If water wells or supplies are damaged, the drillers have to fix them or replace them.
Drillers will also have to stop storing waste in pits or using brine to keep down dust. The Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association opposes the new regulations. Louis D’Amico, the president of the association said he hopes the Wolf administration will draft regulations with input from oil and gas drillers.