Posts Tagged ‘Staback’

The Luzerne County legislator has higher hopes for another bill related to drilling.

By Andrew M. Sederaseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer

State Rep. Phyllis Mundy said her proposal to establish a one-year moratorium on the issuance of new permits for drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation is well intentioned, but she does not believe it has the support of enough of her colleagues to be passed this year.

“The moratorium bill is a long shot,” Mundy, D-Kingston, said on Thursday, responding to questions related to two bills and a resolution she introduced on Wednesday. The three were referred Thursday to the state House Committee on Environmental Resources and Energy.

House Bill 2608 would prohibit natural gas drilling companies that use fracking, or horizontal drilling, from drilling wells within 2,500 feet of a primary source of supply for a community water system, such as a lake or reservoir. The current restriction is only 100 feet.

That bill gained the largest number of cosponsors, including the other six state representatives who serve Luzerne County: Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake; Mike Carroll, D-Avoca; Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre; Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township; Jim Wansacz, D-Old Forge; and John Yudichak, D-Plymouth Township. In total, the bill has 47 cosponsors, and Mundy.

She said that legislation has the best chance of being approved, but it will likely have to be offered as an amendment to another bill.

House Resolution 864, if approved, would urge the U.S. Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals (FRAC) Act. The resolution urges Congress to repeal a provision in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, known as the “Halliburton loophole,” that exempts oil and gas drilling industries from restrictions on hydraulic fracturing near drinking water sources.

The act would also require oil and gas industries to disclose all hydraulic fracturing chemicals and chemical constituents currently considered proprietary rights of the company.

That resolution has the support of Mundy and 43 of her colleagues who signed on as cosponsors. Eachus, Pashinski, Wansacz and Boback were the other Luzerne County representatives who signed on as cosponsors.

House Bill 2609 seeks to establish a one-year moratorium on the issuance of new natural gas drilling permits, which Mundy said would give state officials more time to analyze the drilling industry and ensure proper protections are in place and if they’re not, what measures should be enacted.

That bill received the cosponsor support of 18 of Mundy’s colleagues, but of her fellow Luzerne County Caucus members, only Pashinski signed his name as a cosponsor. Two Lackawanna County-based state House members signed on, Kevin Murphy, D-Scranton, and Ed Staback, D-Sturges. They were among a handful of House members who signed their names as cosponsors to all three measures.

Mundy’s opponent in November, Republican Bill Goldsworthy, said the 20-year lawmaker is using Marcellus Shale exploration “to help her re-election campaign.”

“First Ms. Mundy votes to increase spending and pay for it with a new tax on gas drilling, then turns around and calls for that drilling to stop. This is the type of political double-talk that has gotten our state where we are today,” said Goldsworthy in a written statement.

Goldsworthy, the mayor of West Pittston, said he supports gas exploration, as long as it is done in an environmentally responsible manner.

“I do not think a moratorium would pass the House at this point, let alone the Senate. Perhaps a few more disasters will change people’s minds,” Mundy said, continuing to voice frustration with the way things work in Harrisburg that she expressed at a House Transportation Committee field hearing in Scranton two weeks ago. At that time, speaking about the gaping hole in the transportation budget and the state of disrepair of hundreds of roadways and bridges throughout the state, she quipped “We in Pennsylvania don’t do anything unless there’s a crisis.”

In addition to Mundy, Pashinski, Staback and Murphy, only 14 representatives signed their names as cosponsors on all three pieces.

Copyright: Times Leader