Marcellus Shale Violations per Inspection and Enforcements per Violation
Marcellus Shale violations issued by the Pennsylvania DEP from January through April, 2011.
Violation information from April was recently posted on the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) website, and two new violations datasets have been posted on our DataTool as well, including:
- PA MS Inspections, Violations, and Enforcements: 1-11 to 4-11, and
- PA MS Inspections, Violations, and Enforcements by County: 1-10 to 4-11
As the titles indicate, these datasets contain inspection and enforcement data in addition to violations, which allow us to take a closer look at both violations per inspection and enforcements actions per violation.
Violations per Inspection
Marcellus Shale violations per inspection, 2010. For a dynamic, zoomable view, please click the map.
[map archived]
Marcellus Shale violations per inspection, January through April 2011
In 2010, Marcellus Shale wells in the northeastern portion of the state had a noticeably higher number of violations per inspection than the southwest. This trend is less pronounced so far in 2011. I should point out that since each inspection on this report lead to at least one violation, it is more accurate to think of this category as “violations per inspection yielding violations”, a cumbersome but significant distinction.
Enforcements per Violation
Marcellus Shale enforcement actions per violation, 2010
[map archived]
Marcellus Shale enforcement actions per violation, January through April, 2011
While the northeastern portion of Pennsylvania has a higher number of violations issued per inspection, the southwest has a higher number of enforcement actions, a category which includes fines and other restrictions imposed on drilling operators by the DEP. This trend seems to continue into 2011, with relatively minor changes in distribution.
