From the BEAVER COUNTY TIMES:
…Last week, the industry got an early hand-out when the state Department of Environmental Protection announced a new policy that requires that the approval of enforcement actions and punishments aimed at Marcellus Shale drilling operators, who contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Corbett’s gubernatorial campaign, go through agency officials who are political appointees. (They didn’t announce the last part, but that’s the reality.)
In essence, the new policy strips the DEP’s field inspectors of their regulatory powers.
The DEP said the move was made to provide consistency in enforcement. However, that argument was undercut because the new policy applies strictly to Marcellus Shale-related drilling activity. It does not cover any other agency activities – mining, construction, water and sewer treatment, power generation and medical X-rays…
Click here to read the full article.
EDITOR: If there is any lingering doubt that we have the “best government money can buy”, here we have a state that is so broke that we are depriving our children of their education and yet we refuse to properly regulate or place a tax as other states do on the gas extraction industry. Has Corbett no sense of responsibility, no sense of shame? Of is it that so long as the public’s attention can be diverted to gay marriage and abortion, no one takes notice!
