AP: PA Accused of Rubber Stamping Gas Well Permits

From centredaily.com

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Pennsylvania environmental regulators say they spend as little as 35 minutes reviewing each of the thousands of applications for natural gas well permits they get each year from drillers intent on tapping the state’s lucrative and vast Marcellus Shale reserves.

And the regulators say they do not give any additional scrutiny to requests to drill near high-quality streams and rivers even though the waterways are protected by state and federal law.

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2011/04/13/2645828/ap-pa-accused-of-rubber-stamping.html#ixzz1JPrB0A5U