During a press conference last week Governor Corbett responded strongly to suggestions that personnel moves in the administration were a precursor to drilling for shale gas in state-owned forests and parks.
“Can we put that to rest? I don’t know where that came from. We’re not drilling in the state parks,” Corbett said. “There was a moratorium on state forests, we haven’t lifted that – we haven’t even talked about lifting that… We haven’t even talked about drilling in the state parks. We haven’t talked about any kind of strip mining in the state parks. So all the stories that are out there, it’d be nice if people got their facts straight.”
Corbett in responding, noted that drilling in the Allegheny National Forest, is not under state control. A U.S. Circuit Court in Philadelphia ruled last month that the government does not control the mineral rights on lands that were privately held, and that owners should be allowed access to the oil and gas below the surface.