Law requires Marcellus companies to have emergency response plans

Governor Tom Corbett signed eight senate bills into law on Thursday.

One of those bills included Senate Bill 995.

The bill requires companies to adopt emergency regulations.

Companies must adopt GPS coordinate addresses for each unconventional well at both the access road entrance and well pad site.

According to the bill, an unconventional well is "a bore hole drilled or being drilled for the purpose of or to be used for the production of natural gas from an unconventional formation."

That address for the GPS coordinate must be registered with the Department of Environmental Protection and the county emergency management organization.

Another part of the bill requires companies to develop an emergency response plan and file that plan with DEP and the local EMA organization.

Companies are also required to post a reflective sign at the entrance of each unconventional well site with the coordinates of that site, and the emergency contact number for the operator.

The law is effective immediately.