Thursday, March 31, 2011
Who Is Regulating Who
Imagine your are a police officer, and have been for many years. You've routinely made traffic stops, issued citations, and made arrests. In all these cases, those that you've charged for infractions great and small have had the option to challenge you in court. Now imagine that one day, a directive comes down that your citations and arrests must be reviewed by the police chief first. Not only that but only certain citations must be reviewed, those issued to residents of the 15238 zip code. No explanation for the change is given. Sound far fetched? Well that's what Governor Corbett's appointees have done to Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection's field inspectors and regional directors when it comes to Marcellus Shale drilling. Jan Jarrett, president and chief executive officer of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, a statewide environmental group active on Marcellus issues, said the new procedures "make a joke out of inspections." "When they see violations, they have a duty to write them up, but now they must first run them up the chain of command to get a political OK," she said. "It completely undercuts the independence and professionalism of the inspectors." Bought and paid for.
