Milne Announces Bill for Monitoring of Natural Gas Wells and Pipelines

State Rep. Duane Milne will introduce legislation to mandate monitoring of planned natural gas wells and pipelines, according to a statement from his office. The monitoring would fall to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

The purpose of such a directive would be to better ensure the safety and security of the public as natural gas drilling continues to grow in the state. The methodology for doing so is feasible and cost-effective via implementation of a wireless mesh network (WMN), which allows electronic communication to take place at sites where there is no access to the Internet. [...]

More than 5,000 wells and thousands of miles of pipeline related to Marcellus Shale development are already planned in Pennsylvania. Most of these wells and miles of pipeline will be rurally-sited and unmanned. As the Gulf oil spill last year illustrated, there is a critical need for real-time reporting of incidents such as leaks, system failures and other damage to critical infrastructure involved in drilling operations. WMNs provide this real-time alerting capability and thereby help to assure the public that the natural gas industry is acting safely and has the public’s best interests in mind.

Milne announced his intentions to introduce the legislation Monday at the East King Street headquarters of , a Malvern business that could supply some of the technology involved in the monitoring. For more information, read the full press release.