MonticelloLive

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the site of a significant economic-development project. As most of you have read, the northern part of our State is beginning to produce large amounts of natural gas. The geologic term being used is the “Fayetteville Shale Play.” In order for the natural gas to be transported to markets, Arkansas needs a pipeline that will connect to existing infrastructure in the region. Boardwalk Pipeline Partners and its subsidiary, Texas Gas Transmission, along with Southwestern Energy Company, are working hard to complete such an interstate, natural-gas pipeline project as quickly as possible, but more importantly they’re working cooperatively with Arkansas landowners to minimize the environmental impact of this huge undertaking.

I want to highlight some of the positive results that the Fayetteville Shale Play is having in Arkansas - the jobs it’s producing, the economic activity it’s spurring, and the tax revenue it’s generating.

This pipeline project represents an $821-million-dollar investment - one of the largest single projects within this region to date. At its peak, it is estimated that 1,350 people will be employed building the pipeline with an estimated construction payroll of $57 million. Estimated sales tax on local purchases will be around $1 million, and estimated property taxes will top $2.9 million.

I want to thank our State legislators, once again, for their leadership last spring in passing a fair and appropriate increase in Arkansas’s severance tax on natural gas. As you know, there were naysayers who told us that any increase in the severance tax would crush the development of the Fayetteville Shale. I can think of no better example to the contrary than this pipeline and the jobs and revenue it’s creating for Arkansas. I said at the time, and I’ll say again today, that I believe we struck an appropriate balance between encouraging further economic development and ensuring that the people of Arkansas are compensated for the removal of an important non-renewable resource.

The explosion of activity around the Fayetteville Shale couldn’t come at a better time for Arkansas and for this area of the State. While we’ve experienced some of the effects of the national economic downturn, Arkansas is faring better than many other states, and one big reason is the stimulus being provided by the Fayetteville Shale exploration and production. Secondly, this area of our State has been hit hard this year by tornadoes, and these jobs and others related to the Fayetteville Shale are providing good income for folks who need help recovering from the aftermath of those storms.

Arkansans are blessed to live in a State that has such plentiful natural resources, and even though we will benefit financially from this latest discovery, we must never forget that we are the stewards of this beautiful and bountiful land. It is the responsibility of each one of us to ensure that the balance between economic development and the environment is maintained. I am excited about this billion-dollar investment in infrastructure and look forward to its success.