Anyone familiar with northwest Pennsylvania knows this is the birthplace of the American oil industry. Unfortunately, this legacy has resulted in degraded watersheds and fragmented forests, on public and private land. For instance, the Allegheny National Forest contains more oil and gas wells than all other national forests in the country combined.
But I never expected that drug money was involved as reported this morning by the New York Times.
Interestingly enough, the Department of Homeland Security has taken over the wells and will auction off the mineral rights to the highest bidder. The best thing to do would be to allow the Forest Service to take ownership of the mineral rights to prevent further oil drilling in the Allegheny National Forest.