Department of Conservation and Natural Resources releases second Shale Gas Monitoring Report

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) said in a report on Wednesday that shale gas development on state forest lands has not raised significant concerns about water quality.

According to the second Shale Gas Monitoring Report, “Water chemistry analysis from continuous water monitoring and the widespread monitoring efforts do not suggest that at the monitored sites, shale gas development has impacted water quality.”

DCNR began its shale gas monitoring program in 2011. The report notes that the results of the report are still relatively short-term and that it may take longer to identify trends in resource conditions.

The program continues today with a 15-member monitoring team.

“Ensuring sound management of our state forests and park lands is one of the ways DCNR carries out the responsibility as trustee of the commonwealth’s natural resources,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. “Using science to monitor how we manage our lands, specifically related to gas development, is an important way to assess the impacts of this activity, and adapt management practices to minimize those impacts to our state forests.”

The report also noted that gas development on state forest lands has decreased since the 2014 monitoring report due to market forces on a moratorium on new leasing that was formalized in 2015.

Of the 2.2 million acres of state forest land, approximately 600,500 acres are available for gas development because of historic DCNR-issued leases or because the commonwealth does not own the subsurface rights.