The Allegheny Defense Project announced it has found two
documents that reveal the U.S. Forest Service has filed objections
on well permit applications in two areas of the Allegheny National
Forest.
These are the first two objections filed this year.
In both objections, the forest service cites “irreversible
damage” caused by the visual impact those proposed wells will have
on The North Country National Scenic Trail and the Longhouse
National Scenic Byway.
“The Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Act allows objections to be filed
by the landowner within a 15-day period ” after the drilling
company applies for a permit to drill in an area, said Mary Hosmer
of the public affairs office of the ANF in Warren. “This is not the
first time it’s been done. It allows the landowner, the
(Pennsylvania) Department of Environmental Protection and the
drillers to address concerns.
“With the amount of new wells we have right now, you can just
expect that there may be some wells going into places that you need
to take special care and attention,” added Hosmer.
The first objection was sent Jan. 22 and is an objection to the
well permit applications submitted by Howard Drilling Inc. for four
wells. The ANF’s objection is based on “Well Location Restrictions”
information included in the Oil and Gas Act.
Copies of the letters from ANF personnel to the DEP were
provided by the ADP in an e-mail.
The Howard Drilling project area is in Wetmore Township on lots
186 and 219. The letter suggests there are four wells of concern in
that area, with two of particular concern in lot 219, where they
are in close proximity to the NCT.
The letter reads, “The USDA Forest Service believes this close
proximity will jeopardize and cause irreversible damage to this
national scenic trail. NCT users will visually observe and
experience the impact of this development first hand.”
Hosmer said officials from the ANF, DEP and Howard Drilling have
a meeting scheduled April 3 to discuss the well sites.
She said they come together to discuss would could be done to
minimize the impact of the areas in question. She added that they
discuss things like well layout and visual screening, depending on
concerns at the site.
The other letter dated Feb. 8 is in objection to five well
permits submitted in the Meade Township area, lot 14, in the
Cornplanter Bridge Quadrangle. The company asking for the permits
is U.S. Energy Development Corp.
The letter states that the proposed wells are in “very close
proximity to State Route 59 which was nationally designated as the
Longhouse National Scenic Byway in 1990 by Congress … We believe
that this close proximity will jeopardize and cause irreversible
damage to the scenic value and recreational quality of this
National Scenic Byway.”
According to Jim Seyler, acting technical services staff officer
of the ANF, they, along with DEP officials and U.S. Energy company
have been working on resolving the issues causing concern at that
site.
“U.S. Energy agreed to drop one well, two others are no longer
visual impacts and on the two others – they agreed that those will
be put on hold pending a biological and archeological review,” said
Seyler.
In a press release, Ryan Talbott, Forest Watch coordinator for
the ADP said, “We are encouraged by this new direction. We have
been saying for several years that the Forest Service has the
authority to file objections to the location of wells in order to
protect all of the Allegheny’s other resources and uses.
“The Forest Service is on firm legal ground to do this and we
wholeheartedly support them.”
Hosmer said Tuesday that this is not the first time the Forest
Service has filed objections to permit applications for well
drilling projects, but they are the first this year.
A report in September of last year described an estimated 9,000
oil and gas wells in production. A release from the ANF in 2006
described 688 new wells drilled in 2005, with an estimated 1,000
wells drilled in 2006. The exact number is not known.
