Our watershed, in the upper reaches of the Delaware River, is home to the highest concentration of gas drilling sweet spots in the Marcellus Shale. Geologists at Penn State call it “the fairway.” It means drillers have a far greater chance of striking a large, shallow methane deposit. To date, 895 wells have been fracked in Northeastern and North Central Pennsylvania, with the heaviest drilling occurring in Bradford, Tioga, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties. Drilling closest to Philadelphia is occurring in Lucerne and Columbia counties. Those in denial about the dangers of fracking refer to this part of Pennsylvania as “up there.”
In December 2010, 2,083 permits were pending approval in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Since January 2011, the PA DEP has approved 956 permits. A large majority of the new wells are in the Upper Delaware River Watershed Region.
A remarkable pace, indeed! In fact, by their own estimate, PA DEP spends a scant 32 minutes on average deliberating each permit, not a lot of time to access environmental impacts.
According to EarthJustice.org’s “Fraccidents Map”, there were over 1,200 violations in Pennsylvania in 2010. That’s many, many times more accidents than all other states in the US combined.
“Fracksylvania” has become a national joke. It really makes one wonder if the PA DEP’s primary function is regulating drilling operations or issuing permits? PA DEP Secretary Krancer believes that “advances in recycling technology have positioned the industry to wean itself from treatment plants that do river discharges.” [SOURCE: Associated Press, April 24, 2011] So now we’re meant to be weaning gas companies, like babies. Using that analogy, recycling technologies such as Mobile Distillation Units are akin to an artificial teat.
The PA DEP is aware, no doubt, that the Delaware River holds another less obvious, and far more insidious, appeal to industrial gas drillers: It’s a great place to dump their unused “recycled” flowback. Unwittingly poised to purge the gas industry’s sins, the Delaware River and its tributaries are the swiftest and most direct route from the drilling region to the Atlantic Ocean. “Fraccidents” happen, as we can see, and polluted water is quickly carried off and dispersed by the Gulf Stream. Of course, the less obvious, localized environmental and health hazards will take much longer to surface. Even AquaAmerica is shoring up sewage treatment operations and appears willing to accept recycled (basically distilled) flowback at plants operating in Chester, Charlestown, Philadelphia and Montgomery counties. Aqua then deposits it back into waterways directly upstream of our drinking water treatment plants. What’s more, it’s likely that we’ll not only receive flowback from our neck of the woods, but from the entire state as well.
It’s the 15.6 million people living in the Lower Delaware Region, in Southeastern PA, who seem to be at greatest risk for potential exposure to large-scale toxic pollution from industrial natural gas drilling. They are also the most unaware. Activists cannot get the word out fast enough. Philadelphia, the “greene Countrie towne” envisioned by William Penn, is not in the eye of the hydrofracking hurricane yet we are squarely in the eddies of its toxic, radioactive landfall. Recycling frack flowback can only help, but it’s not the best answer.
In 2010, Pittsburg passed a largely symbolic law prohibiting fracking within city limits. Buffalo, New York has recently done the same. Yet our Governor, Tom Corbett, wants to drill on Penn State main campus.
What You Can Do:
Don’t panic but do get busy. Whether you send letters old school, or click a few petitions online, our voices add up! The Oil and Gas Industry may have a ginormous ad budget and a multi-tentacled political lobby, but there’s plenty of power in numbers. Policy makers need to hear from us right now!
#1. Support the FRAC Act [H.R. 2766; S. 1215]
If enacted, the laws drafted in the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act will close the 2005 loophole inserted into the Safe Drinking Water Act [SWDA] and require gas drillers to disclose the chemicals they use in the hydraulic fracturing process. The House bill was introduced by representatives Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.). The Senate version was introduced by Bob Casey (D-PA) and Chuck Schummer (D-NY). On March 24, 2011, the FRAC Act was re-introduced in the 112th United States Congress. The Gas Industry currently opposes the legislation.
SOURCE: Wikipedia
# 2. Support the BREATHE Act [H.R. 1204]
Considered a sister bill to the “FRAC Act”, the Bringing Reductions to Energy’s Airborne Toxic Health Effects Act would close exemptions in the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) exemption, and it would prompt industry to deploy the best available emissions control technology. This bill was introduced by Reps. Jared Polis (D-CO), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rush Holt (D-NJ).
SOURCE: environmentallawresource.com, written by Jennifer Smokelin of Reed Smith.
#3. In Montgomery County, PA, support bills SB245 & SB246 proposed by State Senator Daylin Leach (D). These pieces of common sense legislation would define increased protection for natural resources such as drinking water and create a moratorium on gas drilling in PA State Forest Lands. Leach sponsored the Growing Greener Act II and the Renewable Portfolio Standards.
SOURCE: Daylin Leach
eActivism
The following groups are leading the charge against toxic water pollution from industrial Gas Drilling. Their websites feature the latest news, information and online petitions:
http://www.earthjustice.org/features/campaigns/fracking-across-the-united-states
http://www.DelawareRiverkeeper.org
http://www.protectingourwaters.wordpress.com
http://www.cleanwateraction.org/pa
http://www.earthworksaction.org/oil_and_gas.cfm
“Old School” Activism
Copy the letter below and send it to:
Governor Tom Corbett
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Secretary Michael Krancer, PA DEP Southeast Regional Office, Norristown, PA 19401-4915
Senator Pat Toomey
United States Federal Building
228 Walnut Street
Suite 1104
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Senator Bob Casey
22 S. Third Street, Suite 6A
Harrisburg, PA 17101
PA State Senator Daylin Leach
17th District Office
601 South Henderson Road
King of Prussia, PA 19406
Carol Collier, Director, Delaware River Basin Commission, 25 State Police Drive, PO Box 7360
West Trenton, NJ 08628
Dear Sir/Madam:
I have many concerns about pollution from hydraulic fracturing for Natural Gas in Pennsylvania, and I am writing to express my support of the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act (FRAC Act) of 2011 (HR 1084) in the House and the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 587) in the Senate to remove the Safe Drinking Water Act exemption granted in 2005 to this dangerous practice that threatens our clean drinking water.
More than 15 million people get their drinking water from the Delaware River Watershed and we simply cannot sacrifice our water for gas. We cannot tolerate our air being fouled by gas extraction; communities are suffering throughout gas drilling regions, including west of us in Pennsylvania. The FRAC Act would lift the 2005 Energy Policy Act exemption of fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act. In addition, it would require oil and gas mining companies to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations.
I also ask you to support the Airborne Toxic Health Effects (BREATHE Act) of 2011 (H.R 1204), which would require drillers to adhere to the best available technology standards in the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants to reduce pollution and emissions from gas and oil drilling. Gas extraction is a large and diffuse source of harmful methane gas and other harmful vapors that are making communities sick and our air unhealthy. This act would also close the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) exemption under the Clean Air Act; hydrogen sulfide is a hazardous air pollutant but is exempt when emitted from oil and gas operations.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING CLEAN WATER!
Sincerely,
[Name & Address]
Tags: DRBC
Keep Tap Water Safe 
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