Posts Tagged ‘natural gas workers’

Citing crime rise, truck-damaged roads, Rendell eyes fee. Drillers argue economic benefits ignored.

STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com

Pennsylvania’s state police commissioner on Monday raised concerns about an increase in crime associated with the natural gas industry, including the failure of some sex offenders employed by drilling companies to properly register in the state.

 Gov. Ed Rendell’s office cited those crime problems as well as road damage caused by overweight and unsafe trucks serving the natural gas industry as just two reasons a state severance tax should be imposed on the industry.

In a press release from Rendell’s office in Harrisburg, state police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski reported more arrests and incidents involving drugs, assaults and illegal weapons in northern Pennsylvania, where much of the drilling into the Marcellus Shale is taking place in the state.

“More and more, it seems the police reports coming out of the northern tier include arrests because of drug use and trafficking, fights involving rig workers, DUIs and weapons being brought into the state and not registered properly,” Pawlowski said.

“We’ve even encountered situations where drilling company employees who have been convicted of a sexual assault in another state come here to work and do not register with our Megan’s Law website. Each of these issues is unacceptable and places an even greater burden on our law enforcement and local social programs meant to help those in need,” he said.

Another aspect providing additional challenges to troopers working in the northern tier are overweight and unsafe trucks, Pawlowski said.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Allen D. Biehler said hundreds of miles of secondary roads in the northern tier have been damaged or made impassable because of heavy truck traffic associated with drilling activities. And while drilling companies have committed to repairing roads they use, Biehler said, their efforts have not kept pace with the damage in a number of cases.

“In a few cases, such as in Bradford and Tioga counties, we’ve had to close roads and revoke a drilling company’s permit to use those roads because repairs were not made in a timely manner. The condition of some of these roads has made travel a safety concern,” Biehler said.

PennDOT has ordered drilling companies to post bonds for 1,711 miles of roads, and that number is expected to double this year. Drilling companies have posted $16.1 million in security for bonded roads.

Pawlowski attributed much of the road damage to overweight trucks serving the gas industry. He cited a Feb. 9 enforcement effort in Susquehanna County that found 56 percent of 194 trucks checked were found to be over the weight limit. Fifty percent of those trucks were also cited for safety violations.

“These trucks are large and heavy, so for the sake of those drivers sharing the road with them, it’s important that they follow the law,” Pawlowski said. “We’re monitoring these roads closely and targeting areas where we know drilling-related traffic is heaviest, but it’s still important that anyone witnessing unsafe behavior on the part of drilling companies or their drivers report it to the state police.”

Pawlowski and Biehler both said the state and local governments need additional resources to address the problems that have accompanied the arrival of drilling companies.

Rendell has proposed a severance tax, which he says will ensure that the industry “pays its fair share and helps support the programs and services the state, counties and municipalities must provide to accommodate their presence.”

Under Rendell’s plan, the state would take in about $1.8 billion during the next five years, with $180 million of that being shared directly with local governments in areas where there is drilling activity. Local governments could then use those funds to repair roads and other infrastructure, bolster local law enforcement efforts or provide programs to help those in need.

A representative of Energy in Depth – an organization representing natural gas and oil producers – says state officials are ignoring the economic benefits of the industry when considering the severance tax issue.

“There used to be a time, and it probably wasn’t too long ago, when states were thankful for industries that found a way to create tens of thousands of new jobs and billions in annual revenue – especially during a deep recession,” Chris Tucker, a spokesman for Energy In Depth, said in an e-mailed response.

“If this is the way that state administrators show their thanks for bringing enormous economic opportunities to the Commonwealth, they sure have a funny way of showing it,” Tucker said.

Tucker also believes Pawlowski is using too broad a brush to paint an unfair picture of natural gas industry workers.

“The explicit suggestion by the state police that all natural gas workers in the state are a bunch of common criminals is especially reproachable and should be retracted and apologized for immediately,” Tucker said.

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