Category Archives: “Forced pooling”

A trade group wants state officials to reinforce their authority over natural-gas drilling operations, force some reluctant landowners to sell their gas and tax new wells at a low rate during years when they’re at their costliest but also producing the most gas.
Those are some of the legislative and regulatory priorities that the Cecil-based Marcellus Shale Coalition outlines in an internal policy document obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other media.
The coalition acknowledged the document, marked “draft confidential,” but said many of the proposals had been on its website — http://www.marcelluscoalition.org — since spring.
The document says drilling should be a use by right in all zoning districts, even as Pittsburgh and other municipalities have proposed bans or zoning restrictions. It also says the state should encourage natural gas consumption and oppose anti-drilling arguments that “are not logically or scientifically based.”
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