From Penn Future:
The spill and its aftermath
Chesapeake Energy shut down all hydraulic fracturing operations in Pennsylvania in the aftermath of a massive spill of 30,000 gallons of frack water in Bradford County. The incident polluted a tributary of Towanda Creek. PennFuture has called on DEP to shut down all Chesapeake operations, not just fracking, until the company can prove it can operate safely.
The Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) pilot policy that prevents inspectors from citing drillers for violations of environmental laws until approved by Secretary Krancer is more than unwise. It is dangerous and must end immediately.
DEP asks drillers to stop dumping waste at sewage treatment plants
DEP Secretary Michael Krancer this week asked Marcellus Shale drillers to stop delivering gas well waste water to 15 sewage treatment plants. This action came in response to new reports showing that bromides that pass through plants without treatment can interact with drinking water treatment chemicals and form new substances that cause cancer. Last year DEP enacted strict limits on the disposal of toxic and salt-laden wastewater into our waterways, but the 15 plants were exempt from the new regulation.
The drilling industry's reaction to the request has been positive so far. Secretary Krancer should order the drillers to comply if any companies do not promptly honor the request.
DEP ASKS the companies to stop delivering frack fluid to sewage treatment plants because it poisons the drinking water? How about they TELL them to or ORDER them to stop? I will NEVER understand why the gas companies have so much more power than the federal and state governments. Is it simply a matter of bribes- I mean "campaign contributions"? I know that Cheny started the ball rolling, but how many people have kept it rolling? Well, I thank God that they have suspended fracking for a little while while they investigate the poisoning of a tributary which winds up in the Susquehanna. I really don't expect miracles or scientific proof pertaining to the "hush-hush" fracking formulae, but any human with a brain can connect the dots- where they are fracking, the wells are going bad and the air is going bad and the people are getting sick.
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