How would you go about rendering a governmental department
useless or make it more amiable to your policies while still preserving the
façade of operating in the public interests?
1.
Appoint a Director or Secretary who is in
agreement with your policies, or will follow those policies regardless of
personal views.
2.
Cut the budget for that department which will
result in loss of staff and resources needed for optimal management and
operations.
3.
Create a work environment which will force out
those in opposition to the policies. If
they do not leave in protest – fire them.
4.
Public
Relation events to maintain the façade and distract the public from what is
really being done.
This is what is happening at the Pennsylvania Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
Mr.
Allan, a Luzerne County native, is at the helm of an
agency set
to receive $69 million from the separate Oil and Gas Lease Fund in fiscal
2012-13 to help support operation of state parks and forests and other
administrative functions. This fund collects rents and royalties paid by oil
and gas firms drilling on state forest land. The fund has been tapped for
decades to pay for a wide range of conservation and recreation projects under
terms of a 1955 law, but since 2009 a significant chunk of fund revenue has
gone to prop up DCNR's budget.
A
total of 152 wells are producing gas in state forests while another 442 wells
have been drilled, said Mr. Allan. About half of the 1.5 million acres of state
forest land in the Marcellus Shale formation has been leased to drillers.
As
you well know the degradation of council is a result of multiple actions. They
include the:
1)
loss of council’s independence as an advisory body,
2)
removal of the executive director’s position,
3)
reassignment of council’s secretary,
4)
extremely disproportionate budget reduction,
5)
low response time for requested information,
6)
quality of information that is eventually shared and
7)
displayed hostile atmosphere created by the administration for public input
during a council meeting
Viola’s resignation was soon
followed by the October 2012 “resignation” of State Parks Director John
Norbeck. Technically, Norbeck did resign
after being given a termination notice or the choice of resigning.
On Wednesday he agreed to resign
and asked for, and was granted, a two-week extension, through Oct. 19, to
prepare a transition document for a new parks director.
Mr. Norbeck said he wasn't told
why the administration wanted him out. The closest anyone came, he said, was
when Adam Gingrich, an executive assistant to DCNR Secretary Richard J. Allan,
said the "administration has decided to go in a different direction."
Although Mr. Norbeck said he
didn't know of any one issue that caused the administration to sour on him, he
cited several on which he differed with it.
Norbeck is known to be an opponent of drilling in state
parks.
Eric
Martin, one of two remaining original council members, accused the
administration of trying to pre-empt public oversight of gas drilling on forest
land.
"Aside
from what we the council feel was an illegal firing, this is a clear message
from the executive suite regarding citizen paper in an e-mail. “Funny that one
of our hot topics is Marcellus Shale."
"Here in the Pocono Mountains, there is a
long tradition of defending the Delaware,"
Corbett said. "Because of that awareness, there is also a tradition of
enjoying the waters, mountains, lakes and trails.
"We want clean rivers, lakes, skies and
forests to leave to our children and grandchildren," Corbett said.
"Each of us has a role to play in that cause. And if we all do, this
region and this river will bring us not only prosperity, but joy."
Meanwhile, behind closed doors, the DCNR is in “discussions”
with Anadarko Petroleum Corporations of Woodlands TX, to “develop” the Loyalsock State Forest
and at the same time Anadarko is staking out drilling locations along the Old
Loggers Path.
"DCNR has given us permission to
perform
preliminary survey studies, which includes staking the area to show where
development locations could be and guide our environmental assessment of the
area," Mary B. Wolf, an Anadarko spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
The Old Loggers Path is a 27-mile
loop which the DCNR describes as having “stunning vistas and clear, cold
cascading streams.” The area also
includes Rock Run stream which the DCNR has touted as being “exceptional”.
"
Few
streams in Pennsylvania can match Rock Run's rich tapestry of deep,
crystal-clear pools, cascading waterfalls and massive, weathered rock
formations," an agency official said in a 2008 DCNR news release.
Say good-bye to the stunning vistas, crystal-clear pools, cascading waterfalls
and massive rock formations, they will soon be replaced by bare dirt, cement
pads, frackwater pools, drilling spills and massive drill rigs.
Appeals by public groups for information on the drilling
plans and requests for hearings have been ignored.
DCNR says the issue is not open to discussion. Neutering complete.
Rep. Camille George (D-Clearfield),
Minority Chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee,
Tuesday called for a hearing into the resignation of John Norbeck as director
of the Bureau of State Parks within the state Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources.
”If smoke indicates fire, this has
turned into an inferno,” Rep. George said. “We need to get to the bottom of
this, and quickly.”Rep. George noted that the House Environmental Resources
& Energy Committee has not held a voting meeting in more than four
months.“Many important environmental and energy issues are begging for
attention, including the need for stronger oversight over deep injection wells
for Marcellus waste water and bolstering pre-drilling water quality surveys near
proposed Marcellus shale gas wells,” Rep. George said. “The days are getting
shorter, but that doesn’t mean our attention span to critical issues should
wane.”
© 2012 by Dory Hippauf
In response to a request for the well logs, to examine whether the wells reached the Marcellus shale formation, the USGS researcher said they had none.
