The state Department of Environmental Protection has completely rolled back a controversial, 5-week-old procedural change that required all field enforcement actions involving Marcellus Shale gas drilling operations be pre-approved by political appointees in Harrisburg.
Katy Gresh, DEP spokeswoman, said the department's oil and gas field inspectors are again allowed to write violation notices as they did prior to a March 23 internal department memo that directed them to take no action on violations until they received "final clearance" from DEP Secretary Michael Krancer and a handful of other administrators.
"The notice of violation process is just as it was. The inspectors don't need pre-approval and that has been communicated to them," said Ms. Gresh, who added that department administrators will continue to review the violations after they are written to ensure regulations are enforced consistently.Read More
