Marcellus Frack Water
Water Analysis Results Withheld From Public
At least two articles appeared Friday reporting the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection failed to protect rural residents by shortchanging them on its analytical results, denying them critical information for their health. (References below.)
A civil case was brought in Washington county Common Pleas Court (Haney et al. v. Range Resources et al., Case No. 2012-3534) which lead to the new information. The company had placed a 13 million gallon impoundment and a drill cuttings pit a short distance away and above the three wells owned by the litigants. During the case two depositions were given which contain the substance of the charge against the DEP.
The deposed employees of the DEP say the government agency used a special code on water analysis from Marcellus well locations to indicate it came from the politically sensitive sites.
Although the DEP did an extensive set of measurements, only certain information was released to water well owners. The charge is that the PA DEP failed to include heavy metals and volatile organic compounds. These substances, called “markers,” indicate waters from the Marcellus Shale! Simultaneously, they have serious adverse health consequences for someone drinking them.
Rep. Jesse White, a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, called on state and federal agencies to investigate the PA DEP for “alleged misconduct and fraud” revealed by the sworn depositions in the civil case currently in Washington County Common Pleas Court.
See the following sources:
Lawmaker challenges Pennsylvania DEP’s reporting of gas well water safety
Pennsylvania State Representative Calls on Federal Authorities to Investigate Deceptive Marcellus Shale Water Quality Testing Practices
http://ecowatch.org/2012/marcellus-shale-water-quality/
>>> NOTE: S. Thomas Bond lives on a 500 acre cattle farm near Jane Lew in Lewis County, WV. He is a retired teacher of high school and college chemistry. And, he is active in the Guardians of the West Fork and the Monongahela Area Watersheds Compact. <<<
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This sounds like an attempt to cover a major mistake, like allowing everybody to drill without having regulation. Any operator with a rig could drill, but there was not enough inspectors etc. When I worked in Bradford there was possibly an audit on one day out of month if that, the company man would have us put on the show on top of the ground and I didnt see anybody for the state ever come look at whats happening beneath the ground. Down hole is where you do damage to water tables etc. How much work goes into monitoring formation integrity/competency and bonding requirments that insure the wellbore is not polluting surrounding ground and water. Do we want to trust that companies are doing the right thing, lets look to recent media and we can see honesty/environment means little once the lease is signed. At this point it is up to individuals to fight these companies. That makes no sense. Our government knows the problem, but it seems that oil/gas money has a long reach.