Drilling (Pittsburgh, Penn: mineral rights, home, live)

[Justwondering1983]

Just wondering how everyone feels about the drilling going on???

[supertrucker212]

if you're talking about the natural gas drilling I'm all for it. Some tree-huggers are against it and say it's ruining the environment, but you can never satisfy these "go-green" morons anyway. I do want the companies to be as neat and as respectful of the environment as possible. We need the jobs that the industry provides. In the long run this can be a great boost to the economy here in PA. The only down side is that it has driven up the cost of land considerably.

[bethany12]

It has been going on for over a hundred years. No biggie.

[rugerjitsu]

being in the business myself, and having just moved my family from Ft. Worth, TX to Pittsburgh this past December, my lively-hood depends on this business. I know I'm not the only one that's transplanted from the great state of Texas to this area either. With that being said, I have to think it's for the good of Pittsburgh, of course, with any Natural Resource business, much care is needed to be safe and leave the environment as close to the way it was before.

With the Marcellus Shale just starting it's "boom" within the past few years, PA is getting up to speed with correct measures to ensure it's taking the right steps in keeping drilling safe and protecting the land/mineral owners.

I welcome any questions, if I don't have an answer, I'm sure I can find one with time...

**on a side note, my family and I have felt welcomed by locals...and it's appreciated, moving 1300 miles from home is quite stressfull enough alone!

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by rugerjitsu

I welcome any questions, if I don't have an answer, I'm sure I can find one with time...

As you know, I previously worked in the oil and gas industry here in Pennsylvania quite a few years ago, but I do have a few questions and comments.

We've always known Pennsylvania had these resources, and we've always been drilling here.

Why the sudden interest/boom? Where there recent changes in laws making it easier to drill?

Originally Posted by rugerjitsu

With the Marcellus Shale just starting it's "boom" within the past few years, PA is getting up to speed with correct measures to ensure it's taking the right steps in keeping drilling safe and protecting the land/mineral owners.

This statement confuses me. If anything, the DEP might be getting up to speed to handle the sudden increase in drilling now happening in PA, but I really think it's important to clarify that the DEP and the EPA have always had high standards for drilling in Pennsylvania.

[North Beach Person]

Not so much a change in laws Hopes but an increase in price that makes extraction profitable. The same thing is happening with coal in areas of WPA that have been strip mined a couple of times with a third seam below. The price of coal has gone up enough that getting that seam out will make money. My family still holds mineral rights on some properties and I have to check every couple of months that nobody has filed falsified documents and started to mine, which happened back in the 70s on one of the parcels.

[rugerjitsu]

Originally Posted by Hopes

As you know, I previously worked in the oil and gas industry here in Pennsylvania quite a few years ago, but I do have a few questions and comments.

We've always known Pennsylvania had these resources, and we've always been drilling here.

Why the sudden interest/boom? Where there recent changes in laws making it easier to drill?


This statement confuses me. If anything, the DEP might be getting up to speed to handle the sudden increase in drilling now happening in PA, but I really think it's important to clarify that the DEP and the EPA have always had high standards for drilling in Pennsylvania.

good questions Hopes...yes we've known about the Marcellus Shale for a while, but only recently have we gained the technology to tap it's resources. which is why the "boom" has only been the past few years...


and sure, the DEP and EPA have always had high standards, but they need to keep up with the technology to allow them to set guidelines for the safest extraction and keeping the environment a safe place.