Murphy: EPA Must Work With DEP

U.S. Congressman Tim Murphy says the federal Environmental Protection Agency should do a better job of communicating with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

At a Natural Gas Caucus hearing, DEP Secretary Michael Krancer said contact from the EPA has been limited to press releases, where the agency expresses its concerns about the enforcement of Marcellus Shale drilling regulations.

Murphy says the EPA has not responded to his communications in months and did not show up at the hearing.

“The EPA feels the need to continue to state that they’re going to do something, and yet we’re not sure what their concerns are,” says Murphy. “So, we did not hear from the EPA. I’m still waiting to hear, from my March question, what concerns they have about any of Pennsylvania’s regulations or enforcement thereof.”

The Republican lawmaker says the DEP is better suited to deal with drilling issues unique to Pennsylvania, and the EPA should bring any concerns straight to the state department.

Flow of Fracking Water to Treatment Plants Stopped?

Officials with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection believe that companies drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation have just about stopped shipping chemically-treated waste water to treatment plants. The DEP had said a May 19th deadline for companies to voluntarily stop taking the waste water to the treatment plants that discharge into rivers. The agency says the plants are ill-equipped to remove all the pollutants. Department spokeswoman Katy Gresh says they've confirmed the transport of the fracking water is down to possibly a handful of trucks in the past 2 weeks, and they are trying to determine if those trucks did indeed carry the waste water.

Radiation Levels Normal in 7 PA Rivers

A week after the New York Times reported high levels of radioactivity in natural gas drilling wastewater, the Department of Environmental Protection has released data from tests monitoring Pennsylvania rivers.

Studies conducted in November and December in seven Pennsylvania rivers, including the Allegheny, the Monongahela, the Beaver and the Conemaugh, show “normal” or below-average levels of radiation. “Here are the facts,” said acting DEP Secretary Michael Krancer in a statement. “All samples were at or below background levels of radioactivity; and all samples showed levels below the federal drinking water standard for Radium 226 and 228.”

The results come nine days after the high-profile New York Times story which warned waste treatment facilities don’t have the capacity to remove radon and other elements from drilling wastewater. “… [C]oncern is based partly on a 2009 study, never made public, written by an E.P.A. consultant who concluded that some sewage treatment plants were incapable of removing certain drilling waste contaminants and were probably violating the law,” wrote the paper. “The Times also found never-reported studies by the E.P.A. and a confidential study by the drilling industry that all concluded that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways.”
DEP conducted tests after the Times first contacted DEP about radiation concerns, according to the initial article.
Earlier on Monday, before the results were released, former DEP Secretary John Hanger told WITF-FM that radiation concerns are overblown. “The radioactivity that comes – that it is in the wastewater is a result of coming into contact with those elements naturally. They’re in the ground, and there’s a certain amount of radioactivity associated with the ground,” he said. “There is a lot of information. There’s been a lot of review. I understand the sort of - the dramatic effect of the word “radiation” and “drinking water.” And we don’t need to argue about this. Let’s get the results of the test. It’s underway. I think they should be testing everywhere.”

Hanger said DEP took a hard look at radiation levels during his tenure, and concluded it wasn’t a threat. Among the questions asked, he said, were, “Do these numbers pose a threat to gas drilling workers? The answer was no. Do they pose a threat to anybody who transports the materials – truck drivers? The answer was no. do these numbers pose a threat to anybody who processes the water at a plant? The answer was no. And then last and most importantly, do these numbers post a threat to our drinking water and the public? And the answer was no.” He’s criticized the Times report at his blog, johnhanger.blogspot.com.

Two western Pennsylvania water suppliers, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and the Pennsylvania American Water Company, are conducting their own radiological tests, as well.

Proposed 3 Year Ban on New Drilling in PA Forests

A group of Democratic State Senators is trying to head off an end to the moratorium on new drilling permits in state forest land. This comes after Governor Tom Corbett last week repealed a 4 month old policy instituted by the Rendell Administration aimed at limiting any environmental damage caused by Marcellus Shale gas drilling in state parks.
Michael Krancer, acting Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, called the Rendell policy regarding state parks "unnecessary." He said the DEP would continue to review all comments from interested parties concerning drilling on state lands. The state owns the "surface rights" to the state parks but mineral rights are privately owned and court rulings have indicated that the mineral rights owners must be given reasonable access.
Governor Corbett indicated earlier that he also intends to end the moratorium, issued in October by then Governor Rendell,on awarding new leases for drilling in state forests. The state, which owns nearly 85% of the mineral rights in its forests, has leased about a third of the 2.1 million acres of forests for drilling.
State Senator Wayne Fontana (D-Allegheny County) is co-sponsoring legislation that would enact a 3 year moratorium on additional drilling leases in the state forests...."We have to be concerned about the environment. We have to be concerned about our green spaces. We have to be concerned about our water, our water supply, our watersheds."
Fontana says they also have to think about the people..."We have residents of this state that are campers, that are hunters, that are fishermen that don't want to go out and pitch a tent and look out of their tent and see drilling rigs."

The legislation faces an uphill climb in the General Assembly and could quite likely be vetoed by Governor Corbett.

Gas Well Blast Injures Three

State officials say an explosion and fire at a Marcellus Shale gas well in Washington County sent three workers to the hospital. Emergency officials say the blast in Avella, Independence Township was reported shortly before 6:30 last night. Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Katy Gresh says workers were transferring water used in the hydraulic fracturing process into five tanks at the time of the blast. Several tanks caught fire and crews battled the blaze for hours. Two of the injured workers were taken to the hospital by helicopter and the other was taken by ambulance. Gresh says the three wells at the site appear unaffected and a spokesperson for Chesapeake Appalachia LLC Powers says there was no danger to the public.

New Mine Safety Facility Opens

A mine rescue and training facility in Indiana County opened today; it is the last of four to open for the state to be in compliance with federal rules. State Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger says the rule was brought about after the Sago Mine tragedy in West Virginia in 2006, mandating that rescue teams arrive at a mine location within a one-hour response time. Hanger says the facility in Marion will serve 15 mines, and there is new equipment and trained teams that are ready to go.

DEP turns down Water Permit

The state Department of Environmental Protection turned down an application for a local bottling company to draw water from a Laurel Hill Creek tributary. Regional DEP spokesperson Helen Humphreys says if they had approved the application for Cooper Springs Trout Hatchery, it would have drained 40 percent of the water from Shafer Run, which is unacceptable. Cooper Springs now has the option to either appeal the DEP’s decision within 30 days, or reapply for the water permit. Humphreys says unless the results change significantly, they will not approve. Laurel Hill Creek was recently listed as one of the nation’s 10 most endangered streams by nonprofit American Rivers, and a bottling company on a tributary would put significant strain on wildlife.

DEP Urges Action Against Ozone Today

Today has been declared an "air quality action day" in 20 of Pennsylvania's counties, including Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington, Beaver and Butler. Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John Repetz says today's action day was called because high ground-level ozone forced a "code orange" to be called -- warning at-risk people like the elderly, children, and those with respiratory problems. He says people can chip in by carpooling or taking public transportation, using less energy in their homes, and even filling up their gas tanks in the evening when less emissions will be absorbed by the air. Repetz says these days are usually called for high ozone levels but can also be due to fine particulate matter emmitted from diesel and combustion engines and electric generators. Heat generally exacerbates such engines, increasing their negative outputs.

DEP Takes Closer Look at Coal Ash Basins

In the wake of the disaster in Tennessee last month, DEP Spokesperson Teresa Candori says DEP Acting Secretary John Hanger has requested extra inspections of Pennsylvania power plant ponds and dams. All dams are to be tested by the end of the January, and inspectors will take the next several months to carefully examine ponds. These checkups come in addition to annual inspections.

Candori says the extra inspections are to give a peace of mind more than anything else. However, she says the tests are not to check the toxicity of the coal ash pond, but to be sure that the waste is properly being contained.

In the Tennessee accident, more than one billion gallons of coal ash mixed with water spilled across more than 300 acres.

Lowered Rates for Mine Subsidence Insurance

Effective Jan. 1, mine subsidence insurance will become more affordable for Pennsylvania residents. Residential premiums will decrease by 25 percent, while commercial rates will decrease by almost 60 percent. Acting Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger says more than one million Pennsylvania homes sit on top of abandoned mines. He says it is a very real problem.

Hanger says homeowners can purchase mine subsidence insurance for $157 per year for $250,000 of coverage. Business owners are able to get the same amount of coverage for $314 per year.

To apply, property owners can call the Department of Environmental Protection at 800-922-1678 or visit www.pamsi.org. The Web site includes information that tells visitors whether or not an owner's property sits on top of an abandoned mine.

DEP is Testing Air at Three Area Schools following USA Today Report

A recent report in the USA Today found poor air quality at a long list of schools nationwide including 6 in Pennsylvania. Two of them are in Allegheny County (Montessori Children’s School and Highlands High school) and one is in Beaver County (Midland Elementary-Middle School). The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection says it has set up air quality monitors at all of the schools. A spokesperson for the DEP says it is unclear how long those monitors will stay in place but they will be in place at least 6 months. While the newspaper did not contact the state, officials from the Midland school district spoke to the DEP after being contacted by reporters from the USA Today. The DEP responded by placing an air monitor at Midland Elementary-Middle School November 24th. So far the equipment has not found dangerous levels of any chemicals. The DEP feels its monitoring equipment will be more accurate and provide a longer view of the air quality rather than a “snapshot.” In its initial evaluation of the newspaper’s methodology, the DEP found an instance where outdated Toxic Release Inventory data was used, consequently inflating the level of pollution estimated to be around the schools. The Department also concurred with the EPA’s assessment that the modeling tool used by USA Today was inappropriate for this kind of analysis.

Water plan gets hearing

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has been working on a new State Water Plan for several years and is now set to hold a series of information sessions and public hearings. The first will be held Monday Sept 8 at the seven fields community center. It will focus on the Ohio River watershed. The plan looks at what resources the state has right now and what demand is expected to be as far as 30 years out. The plan deals with drinking water, industrial needs (including navigability), and recreational needs. The plan can be found on line at the DEP web site and public comment can be made there.