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 safetyhttp://pipeline.post-gazette.com/news/archives/24893-lawmaker-challenges-pa-dep-s-reporting-of-gas-well-water-safetyPennsylvania 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. <<<