An arbitration panel established for a little-used natural gas extraction process would be expanded for all natural gas and oil well disputes in Pennsylvania under legislation recently introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate. The General Assembly established the three-member Coal Bed Methane Review Board in 2010 to resolve access roads, placement of pipelines and other disputes between surface land owners and those who own the mineral rights. The coal bed methane process extracts natural gas from coal beds rather than conventional natural gas reservoirs.
“Only five counties, and all in western Pennsylvania, have coal bed methane operations,” said Joe Pittman who works for the sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Don White, R-Armstrong. “The review process has really never been used.”
