Pa. underreported no. of gas wells by 495, which underreported lost revenues from lack of a tax

[JPZenger]

The PA. Legislature committed themselves to passing a tax or fee on natural gas extraction THREE YEARS AGO. We are are still waiting, despite massive state funding cuts to public schools and public colleges.

Meanwhile, it turns out that the State under-reported 495 gas wells that were operational or about to become operational. As a result, when legislators estimated the revenues from gas wells that has been missed so far, it was grossly underreported.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/report_pennsylvania_dep_underc.html

[DURHAM D]

1. IOWs the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

is filled with KochHeads.

figures...

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Does this scare the shit out of you

as much as it scares me??? This sounds like one of the simpler things that the DEP has to do regarding wells, and they can't do it right. Can I depend on them to inspect wells properly? Or know where they are if they don't exist????

And "182 of those wells don't even show up on the state's Marcellus Shale permit list". Oy!

I am just glad that this is getting a lot of exposure. There was a large article about this in my humble local paper.