Rights and regulations

UDC hears from private property rights advocates

By SANDY LONG

NARROWSBURG, NY — Hoping to hear more about how the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) intend to regulate gas drilling, landowner Marion Schweighofer attended the Upper Delaware Council’s (UDC) meeting on February 5. Neither agency provided updates, but those in attendance learned that the UDC is in the process of developing a position statement on the issue of gas drilling.

Executive director of the Northern Wayne Property Owner’s Alliance (NWPOA), Schweighofer took the opportunity to acquaint the council with some personal information and her group’s position. She stated that she and her husband derive their full income from a sixth-generation family farm on 712 acres in Damascus, PA and that the NWPOA is a group of landowners representing 80,000 acres.

Schweighofer described the group as, “pro-responsible drilling and pro-responsible development of the resource,” adding, “We are not leased. If the energy companies are willing to work with us, we would be.”

Schweighofer said she would like the DRBC to provide information on rights with respect to sources of water on private properties. “Water issues are of critical importance to us and the integrity and production of our farm, and for our children and grandchildren.”

Charles Wieland, the UDC representative for the Town of Tusten, said that the council is working on a position paper on gas drilling. “Mostly, we’re concerned with protecting the environment and the watershed and wells, because this stuff all happens underground. We don’t want any slip-ups.”

“I’ll look forward to seeing that,” said Schweighofer.

Also addressing the UDC was David Jones, co-owner of Kittatinny Canoes, who advocated for the release of more water from the Delaware River reservoirs during the summer and suggested that water consumption issues related to gas drilling could be mitigated by “looking for small impoundments throughout the basin that would be filled during high flow periods.”

A long-time private property rights advocate, Jones is also invested in gas drilling in the western United States and owns local land not currently under lease. He told the council, “The reason people come here is because of its natural beauty. But I do fear that when the economy comes back, it’s going to be very attractive for a lot of development. It’s a landowner’s right to develop. We have the landowners to thank for this beautiful valley. We need to look at their needs and their problems, look at gas drilling as a way for larger landowners to have a substantial income and a reason not to sell and develop the land.”

Regarding his preference for drilling over development, Jones said, “Obviously, there’s going to be impacts. But personally, a four-acre well pad on a square mile is a lot more pleasing than a hundred houses with a hundred wells and a hundred septic systems and a lot of ongoing traffic daily, and a lot of truck traffic building those homes and a lot of school buses and a lot of schools.

“I feel that the revenue, the clean energy that’s going to be provided, and the longevity of this shale play, which should last beyond all of our lifetimes, I would expect 50 years at least, will benefit the region. We just might have our cake and eat it too. We do need to take care of the landowners; let’s not deny them. Let’s try to work together to make sure we do it right, try to make it work so everybody comes out a winner.”

“Those are some of the items that the committee is going to be wrestling with,” responded UDC chairman and Shohola Township, PA representative George Fluhr.

Harold Roeder Jr., UDC vice chairperson and Town of Delaware representative, added, “This board itself stands for what I think could be the answer to the gas situation, in that you have a board that has come about out of such a conflict. The result is the Upper Delaware Council and the River Management Plan. We should all be interested in both sides of the issue.”