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Panel rejects resolution to protect environment in Fayetteville Shale play Friday, Mar 14, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A legislative committee Thursday rejected a resolution to encourage the creation of a comprehensive plan to protect the environment during development of the Fayetteville Shale play. The nonbinding resolution by state Rep. Betty Pickett, D-Conway, failed in a voice vote in the legislative Joint Performance Review Committee. The committee vote came just hours before results of a new University of Arkansas study were released projecting the economic benefit of drilling activity in the shale play would be nearly $18 billion through 2012. The panel heard comments from Pickett and one of three scheduled witnesses before voting down the proposal. Pickett told the committee the state's oversight of the drilling and operation of oil and gas wells is spread across several agencies. Greater communication and coordination between those agencies would help in mitigating the environmental impact of exploration in the shale play, she said. "I would like to think that government can not only be reactive but proactive, and I'd like for us to have a vision in Arkansas where we are proactive enough that we don't wake up 20 or 30 years from now and say, 'Whoops! We should have had a little bit more oversight on the Fayetteville Shale,'" she said. Several committee members questioned the need for the resolution. Sen. Ruth Whitaker, R-Cedarville, said the resolution "appears to me to be creating just another huge level of bureaucracy here that is unneeded." "Why in the world do you need another agency?" asked Rep. Tommy Dickinson, D-Newport. Pickett said the resolution would not create a new agency and would not do anything to dampen economic development. Sen. Dave Bisbee, R-Rogers, noted the governor already has the authority to tell state agencies to coordinate their activities better, if better coordination is needed. Lawrence Bengal, director of the state Oil and Gas Commission, testified that the commission plans to upgrade its Web site to make more information available about well permits. Pickett said one problem that came up during previous hearings on her proposal was that by the time some agencies became aware of a well permit being issued, the well often was already drilled. Teresa Marks, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, and a representative of the natural gas industry also were scheduled to testify. But Rep. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, moved for immediate consideration of the matter, and the resolution failed. Pickett said after the meeting suggested some committee members did not fully understand her resolution. She said she was disappointed with the vote but believed some progress was made despite the resolutions' defeat. "I think the whole process has been a good process, because I think it brought more awareness to the issues involved. I think it got the agencies working together more than they have in the past," she said. |
