Floor Remarks – SB 995

Natural gas drilling will never be totally risk-free. But, by putting stronger requirements in law, and by encouraging common sense in action, we can dramatically reduce the risk for workers, first responders, and the communities located near drilling sites.

This bill came about because of conversations with emergency response personnel, who alerted me to worrisome holes in the safety net.

At its heart, this bill requires well operators to meet the most basic rules of public safety: Plan ahead. Tell us where your wells are. Give us clear directions to each site. Call at the first sign of trouble.

Today, firefighters, ambulance crews, and haz-mat teams may not be told where wells are being planned, or where the access roads to those sites begin. Such notification should be triggered in the earliest stages of planning, rather than after waste is discharged or chemicals are brought on-site.

This bill requires operators to post the GPS coordinates of their well sites, and reveal them to the proper officials at all levels of government. Then, when a 911 call is placed, the location of the trouble spot is immediately evident.

Today, well operators must file limited information with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Labor and Industry. With heavy equipment and dangerous chemicals on-site, coupled with the ever-present possibilities for equipment failure or human error, accidents will happen, and we need thorough, effective, readily accessible plans in place.

This bill will ensure the development of a complete emergency plan – covering every stage, from road clearing and well-pad preparation through well closure – which is provided to first responders and state and local officials.

Today, when tragedy strikes at a well site, precious minutes are lost as 911 operators seek to locate the site and dispatch first responders. And that is after a 911 call is made. In the Bradford County blowout this past April, several hours passed before 911 was called, as workers attempted to handle the leaking fluid and gas on their own.

In the face of an injury or leak, you cannot recapture lost minutes, much less lost hours. The controllable too easily escalates into the uncontrolled.

This is where we need common-sense reaction, compelled by a sense of responsibility, rather than by state law.

Given the urgency of upgraded standards for emergency planning, emergency regulations are called for. We cannot afford to wait two years for the normal regulatory process to play out, with new wells being drilled at an aggressive pace.

Senate Bill 995 will help prevent accidents. And when accidents occur, it will minimize damage to life, property, and the environment.