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Posted August 20, 2008
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Kane, Pennsylvania
Kane, Pennsylvania
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Large Oil Spill in Allegheny National Forest
On August 17, 2008 two former oil company employees opened the valves on seven oil storage tank batteries in the Allegheny National Forest, releasing thousands of gallons of oil into two nearby streams, one of which is (or was) a wild trout stream.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Department of Environmental Protection have already started collecting numerous dead fish from the streams.
According to a coalition of environmental and recreation groups, the DEP and U.S. Forest Service bear some of the responsibility for allowing Snyder Brothers, the company that owns the oil storage tanks, to locate them so close to these streams.
“These storage tank batteries never should have been located so close to these streams or their tributaries,” said Ryan Talbott, forest watch
coordinator for the Allegheny Defense Project. “Obviously, the individuals who recklessly opened the valves on these storage tanks were responsible for the final step of this disaster, but if the Forest Service and DEP exercised greater concern for our streams before an environmental disaster, maybe they would have realized that permitting so many storage tanks full of oil near a wild trout stream was not in the best interest of protecting this unique habitat.”
According to the groups, the Forest Service does not include the pubic in permitting process for oil and gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest like it does in other national forests. The groups say this is precisely why the public needs to be included.
“This is Pennsylvania’s only national forest,” said Reg Darling from Friends of Rimrock. “The public, however, is completely ignored when it comes to the impacts to surface and water resources from oil and gas drilling. If we are to learn anything from this tragic oil spill, it is that the Forest Service must comply with federal environmental regulations for conducting an environmental analysis with public comment. I’m sure the public can come up with better locations for oil storage tanks.”
Photos by Jim B. and Bill B.
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- environment
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