Bortz gathering evidence for oil/gas drilling hearing
By BRIAN FERRY bferry@timesobserver.comOne side says the economic impacts are devastating.
The other side doesn't see it that way.
The judge in a case filed by representatives of the oil and gas industry against the U.S. Forest Service and environmental groups wants to hear the specifics of those economic impacts.
Warren County Commissioner John Bortz will be one of the witnesses testifying at an evidentiary hearing scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in federal court in Erie.
To prepare for that event, Bortz, with the help of Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry (WCCBI) Director of Workforce Development Heidi Powley, is gathering evidence.
"I've asked Heidi Powley from the WCCBI to do a survey," Bortz said.
Bortz did not disclose the results of the survey that had come in as of Monday, but gave a preliminary outline of the findings.
"There is a degree of confirmation" of negative effects on the economy, he said. "They are pointing to a direct impact from the moratorium on new development."
"This is having a direct effect on us locally," Bortz said.
Powley explained that she has been polling local businesses via email.
"I basically asked them how the ruling... has impacted their business," she said.
Those polled include all chamber members and various other business contacts in Warren, Forest, McKean and Elk counties, Powley said.
She did not disclose the results of the polling but said she has been getting responses.
In July, U.S. District Court Judge Sean McLaughlin scheduled the evidentiary hearing after a hearing to rule on a defense motion to dismiss the lawsuit and a plaintiff motion for a preliminary injunction against a prior settlement.
In that prior settlement, the Forest Service and plaintiffs Allegheny Defense Project (ADP), Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE), and the Sierra Club agreed that the appropriate level of National Environmental Policy Act analysis be done before new drilling development is allowed on the Allegheny National Forest.
The Forest Service agreed to allow several hundred new wells, for which applications were already in place, but to otherwise put a hold on new drilling until a forest-wide Environmental Impact Statement can be prepared. That process is expected to take at least a year.
In the current lawsuit, Minard Run Oil, Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association (POGAM), Allegheny Forest Alliance (AFA) and Warren County are the plaintiffs and the Forest Service, the agency's local and national leaders, ADP, FSEEE, and Sierra Club are named as defendants.
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ranger52
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08-18-09 6:45 PM
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Fragmentation of the forest is the real concern with the extensive drilling going on now. I remember when a request to the Forest Service for a well package of 300 sites would cause terrible disruption. The thousands of wells drilled already have created large swaths of dismembered forest that can no longer be managed for the public. The public owns these lands and when the timber is harvested correctly every 80 to 100 years there is a large amount of money generated for the school districts and roads. Once the forest is broken up and removed for oil drilling it loses it's value forever. Because of this intensive drilling the public has lost vast sums of money and have seen their investment in the forest disappear. The public really gets screwed badly, the drillers make a fortune and the public looses theirs.
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Riggle
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08-18-09 2:14 PM
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Milkman hits the nail on the head. What will be Warren County's fate in the future. It is obvious all JB is worried about is his own political future. Fact: The oil industry is, and always has been ruled by the market. Why would we tie our counties and our National Forest to that "Star"? Less and less of the Forest is suitable for enjoyment--even for sustainable timbering. The Esolen study told us that Warren County is "inextricably" tied to the ANF. Our overlooks, our picnic areas, our camping areas, our streams, and our wildlife are THE most valuable asset we possess. Wake up, John.
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KMartin
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08-18-09 1:34 PM
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John Bortz is going to commit political suicide with this sort of showboating.
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fivealive
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08-18-09 10:31 AM
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Excellent questions, Milkman!! Maybe the Commissioners should be putting their energy (and county money) into answering your questions instead of into a legal battle that doesn't really change the fact that the oil industry in not sustainable/profitable in the long run. Bortz says there is a "degree of confirmation". What is that degree? Neither collector of evidence wanted to comment on how much there is...makes you wonder if the results are proving their theory wrong.
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Kinzuaqueen
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08-18-09 9:50 AM
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The Commissioners joined a lawsuit without having any evidence??? Normally you have evidence before you file a suit...not a file a suit and then gather (generate) the evidence. How much is this costing the Warren taxpayers? What about other interests in the ANF that are negatively impacted by the drilling. Oh I forgot no one else matters but the oil/gas companies.
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Milkman
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08-18-09 9:27 AM
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I have posted this question before. No one has ventured an answer: What if the ANF gave the drillers permission to drill the rest of the forest? Much of it is already drilled. How long would it take? One year? Five years? Ten years? When the oil is all gone what is your local economy going to look like then? What are the residents of this region doing today to face that reality in the future? Who is looking at things for the long haul? Does anyone really believe that the current oil boom is going to last forever? Many people use synthetic oil already. GM is bragging about the Chevy Volt getting 230 mpg. Even if there is oil left in 10 years who is going the buy it? Does Commissioner Bortz have any ideas about how people in Warren and Bradford are going to be earning a living 10, 20, or 30 years from now?
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