FEMA BLocks Emergency Flood Assistance For Properties With Fracking Leases
MESHOPPEN TWP. — In fall 2011, about a month after the flooded Meshoppen Creek spilled over its banks and into their basement, Pete and Sharon Morgan applied for federal flood assistance to help them move out of their home. They won’t get it, at least not anytime soon, due to a little-known policy the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued May 5, 2014.
It’s because of their gas lease with Chief Oil & Gas, LLC. FEMA indefinitely banned the use of hazard mitigation assistance money for properties that could eventually host horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, even if the leases don’t allow for development on the surface.
Under its hazard mitigation assistance program, FEMA pays to acquire properties in flood zones or reduce flood risks by raising or relocating structures. The agency creates these incentives so it doesn’t have to return with disaster dollars after every flood event. The property title usually goes to local governments, which can use it as open space, allowing floodplains or wetlands to act as natural flood buffers.
The Morgans are one of 8 households in Pennsylvania — 5 in Wyoming County and 3 in Lycoming County, according to the state Emergency Management Agency — whose applications for hazard mitigation assistance won’t yield payouts because of their gas leases.
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