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Harrisburg, PA - In releasing its triennial performance audit of the
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) today, the Legislative
Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) recommended that the General
Assembly “consider providing additional resources to the PFBC so it can
continue to make efforts to protect water resources from potential
degradation by Marcellus Shale drilling efforts.”
The LBFC audit specifically cited results from PFBC and state
Department of Environmental Protection inspections which showed
environmental and water quality problems. “These statistics suggest
that, in all likelihood, Pennsylvania will continue to experience high
rates of environmental, health, and safety violations at Marcellus Shale
drilling sites,” the LBFC reported. “Given this new threat, we
recommend the General Assembly take action…to ensure the PFBC…has
sufficient resources to carry out its mission.”
PFBC Executive Director John Arway, testifying before the
committee this morning, reminded lawmakers that the Commission relies
almost entirely on fishing license sales, boat registration fees, and
federal funding tied to fishing and boating to support everything it
does.
“This includes trying to keep pace and stay ahead of the
current and projected impacts of energy development to fishing and
boating recreation and on the resources the PFBC is mandated to
protect,” said Mr. Arway. “If the Commission received a portion of a
severance tax, we would be in a much better position to work with
industry and other agencies to ensure that aquatic resources are
protected during the planning, development, and production of the
Marcellus Shale natural gas field.”
Bringing attention to the ongoing debate in Harrisburg, Mr.
Arway asked the legislature to take advantage of the “historic
opportunity to allocate a portion of the proceeds to conservation and to
dedicate a part of its revenues to the Commission to protect the future
health of our aquatic resources and the fishing and boating recreation
they provide.”
The Marcellus Shale drilling industry has come into
Pennsylvania in full force and has substantially increased the
responsibilities of conservation agencies like the PFBC. Since 2001,
the PFBC has tripled the number of oil and gas well permit reviews it
conducts each year, and Mr. Arway said his staff are struggling to keep
up with the ever-increasing volume. Within the past year, PFBC staff
also have conducted approximately 175 field views of gas well sites and
have observed water quality degradation from a number of these
facilities.
“This limited field presence is completely inadequate if we
are expected to live up to the charge given to us by the General
Assembly in 1909 to enforce water pollution laws and – just as
importantly – to work with other agencies and the industry to try to
prevent problems before they occur," Mr. Arway said.
Referring to the Commission’s formal response found in the
appendix of the audit, PFBC Board of Commissioners President William
Worobec explained that “we must diversify our funding streams if we are
going to meet the growing expectations being placed on the Commission as
we implement our mission on behalf of all Pennsylvanians, visiting
anglers and boaters, and our fragile natural resources.”
The LBFC’s audit is available online at http://lbfc.legis.state.pa.us.
