Will There be Marcellus Drilling in PA State Parks?

So far there has been no Marcellus Shale drilling in Pennsylvania’s 61 state parks that sit over top of the Marcellus (out of 120 state parks total). But that may soon change because the state doesn’t own the mineral rights for most of its parks.

The state does not own the rights to the minerals underneath 80 percent of all park land, said Chris Novak, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The DCNR manages the state parks.

“We are legally required to allow access [for drilling],” Novak said.

On the 20 percent where the state does own the mineral rights, it does not allow drilling, she said.

The state does own 80 percent of the mineral rights in its state forests, she said.

Of 2.2 million acres in the forests, 700,000 of them are leased for drilling.*

*Youngstown (OH) The Vindicator (Jul 8, 2012) – Mineral rights are issue for drilling in Pa. parks