Pa. candidates for governor feud over gas-drilling tax

Associated Press

HARRISBURG

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Dan Onorato charged Wednesday that his Republican rival’s opposition to a severance tax on natural gas drilling is evidence that he’s more interested in helping the industry than forcing it to pay for environmental problems.

“Tom Corbett sees only one side of the issue, and that’s the industry side,” Onorato said, citing state regulators’ recent reports that they have issued 1,500 citations for drilling violations since 2008 and that about half of the 74 companies drilling on the Marcellus Shale formation missed an Aug. 15 deadline for reporting their wells’ production.

Corbett’s campaign spokesman responded that the GOP nominee views the Marcellus Shale drilling rush as an engine for generating construction and other economic activity, not as a direct source of revenue.

Corbett would create a panel of industry officials, environmentalists and representatives of state and local governments to act as a sounding board on issues related to drilling, according to Corbett’s spokesman.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.