Pa. county chides Forest Service drilling delays

WARREN, Pa. (AP) — County commissioners from a northwestern Pennsylvania county that includes part of the Allegheny National Forest have passed a resolution expressing their “disagreement, opposition, and unhappiness” with what they say is U.S. Forest Service interference in gas and oil drilling.

The Forest Service temporarily halted drilling in April 2009, until an environmental assessment could be done, to settle litigation brought by environmentalists. But a federal judge has since ruled forest officials can’t require environmental assessments before drillers can access their mineral rights beneath the forest. The forest service owns the surface of the forest, but private owners control the oil, gas and mineral rights.

The Warren Times Observer reports the Warren County Commissioners passed the resolution. The Forest Service has until Aug. 8 to respond to a request by the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association to hold it in contempt of court for allegedly violating the judge’s order to lift the drilling ban.