Pennsylvania has more fresh water wells in private use than any other state in the US. We also have an abundance of natural, mineral-laced springs. Most of these wells and nearly all of the springs, however, exist undocumented. That means, if you use a well, the Department of Environmental Protection has no record of your water’s baseline composition, and it probably doesn’t even know your well exists.
Many water advocates in the state recognize that this one of the weakest links in the DEP’s plan to regulate, and therefore enforce, the shale gas drilling industry. After all, how can they determine if a homeowner’s water has or has not been polluted when they do not know the quality that existed before gas drilling began, right? If you’re a water well owner, don’t let it come to that. Make sure your water quality is tested and certified, and becomes part of public record. This could be especially important of you are seeking to sell your home in the future, as any potential buyer could be denied financing if your well water quality is in question.
Get Started Registering You Water Well
One tool that activists love, and fracking advocates hate, is the expanding database at Fracktrack.org. This useful tool has recently evolved to include a registry of private water wells and springs across Pennsylvania. It includes useful links such as the DEP water testing portal and a super-current gas drilling sites & permits map. Developed with the mission: “to help landowners bridge data gaps and protect their water supplies,” FrackTrack is timely data resource. By placing practicality above politics, and accounting for people’s privacy concerns, the database also serves as an invaluable ray of sunshine into the miasma of Pennsylvania’s gas drilling pollution reality. Check it out.
Tags: DEP, Fracktrack, Pennsylvania Watersheds, well
Keep Tap Water Safe 
September 3, 2011 at 12:39 pm |
you may want to participate in the Citizens Groundwater Database – a grassroots effort to educate, inform, and compile baseline water quality data. For more information got to and become of this effort, http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NMG6RQ3
October 30, 2011 at 9:58 am |
Thank you for this information. I recently read in the The River Reporter Online the Brain Oram has written a free booklet on interpreting your private water well test results. It’s exactly the kind of information I think we need. Thank you, Mr. Oram!
Here’s the link:
http://www.bfenvironmental.com/pdfs/Waterbooklet070610.pdf