Pennsylvania is centered over the heart of the Marcellus Shale formation (65 million acres of land from West Virginia to New York). This tract of land has an estimated resource value of 500 trillion cubic feet equivalents of natural gas.

There are a myriad of environmental compliance and permitting obligations that apply to the variety of activities related to gas drilling, extraction and transmission, including the process for hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale. Therefore, it is critical that the application of Pennsylvania's air, water and waste programs be clearly understood in order to maintain compliance and work effectively with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and other interstate agencies. MGKF has longstanding relationships and credibility working with each of these government agencies that have overlapping jurisdiction surrounding Pennsylvania’s complex environmental regulatory programs. Compliance counseling, permitting and strategic planning relating to the applicable regulatory programs are within our firm’s central practice areas.

Our attorneys, many of whom also have technical and engineering backgrounds, are knowledgeable in multiple facets of federal and state air quality and water laws. Our team is also anchored by two in-house technical consultants, who understand the technical underpinnings of environmental regulations. Together, they can craft solutions to emerging environmental issues that arise from the extraction and transmission of Marcellus Shale gas.