Josephs supports Marcellus shale position of League of Women Voters

HARRISBURG, May 3 – State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., joined the Pennsylvania Chapter of the League of Women Voters at a Capitol news conference today to support the group's findings on the impact of drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.

The League conducted a year-long study on the impact of drilling for natural gas in the largest natural gas reserve in the United States, the Marcellus Shale formation, which lies about a mile underground under two-thirds of the Commonwealth. As a result of the study, the LWV said it favors a severance tax on the gas extraction and the imposition of a moratorium on drilling in state forestland.

"Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale is a growing industry," Josephs said. "It makes sense to share in the benefits from this new industry with a tax on the extraction of the natural gas, as well as enjoy the jobs the industry will create and the money that will be spent. But our progress must be careful and measured.

"Because this industry is so new, we do not know the cumulative impact it will have on our forestland and our water quality. That is why I also support legislation that would impose a moratorium on the leasing of state forestland so that we can investigate the effects to our environment," Josephs said.

"Drilling has a significant impact on the land, from the construction of roads and other infrastructure, to the consumption of large quantities of water and injection of chemicals into the ground for the extraction process. This is disruptive to the forest ecosystem and makes it a less desirable place for hunters, fishermen, tourists and the timber products industry, all of which are important to our economy.　 The effect on our largest industry, agriculture, is unknown, because the forest plays a crucial, but poorly understood, role in the control and retention of groundwater."

Josephs said that the governor has leased nearly 32,000 acres of state forestland to natural gas drillers to generate money for the state budget, and more leasing is anticipated.

"Leasing public forestland to drillers is not a cash windfall without consequences. Before we continue down this path, we need to take a serious look at how drilling impacts the forest, which does not belong to us, but to our children and to theirs, as well.

"A moratorium will end, a tax can be repealed, but if we destroy the forest, it is gone forever," Josephs said.