Nation Takes Notice of Marcellus Shale
Washington
PA Observer
Reporter
6 March 2011
Readers of the Observer-Reporter cannot help but be familiar with
Marcellus shale gas development. Our first extensive article on the
industry's attempts to extract natural gas trapped in rock a mile below
our feet appeared four years ago, in March 2007. A search of our
archives, as of last week, turned up 772 articles, letters and
editorials in which "Marcellus shale" was the topic.
Until recently, however, all of this was just local news to people
living in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and parts of Ohio and New York,
Kentucky and Tennessee. It was old news to people in Texas, Wyoming and
Colorado, who had been experiencing this type of deep, horizontal
drilling for several years. And it was no news at all to everyone
living elsewhere.
The words "Marcellus shale" and "fracking fluid" brought nothing but
blank stares from people in Indiana and Florida and California until
about a year ago, when the world began to notice what has been going on
here - when people began to realize what effects one of the world's
largest deposits of natural gas could have on our nation's economy, and
on our area's environment.
Last Sunday's extensive article in The New York Times, reportedly the
result of a seven-month investigation, has caused a stir here, not so
much for the spotlight thrown on this area but for the troubling
information it contained.
The Times article by Ian Urbina focused on wastewater from Marcellus
drilling operations that is sent to treatment plants and then
discharged into rivers. The wastewater sometimes contains radioactive
materials from deep in the ground, which the industry contends are in
tiny amounts and not dangerous, especially when diluted in rivers. But
how much radioactive materials like radium are getting into the rivers
- and thus our drinking water - is not known because the state has not
required plants to regularly test for them.
The Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry advocate based in
Canonsburg, criticized the Times article for neglecting to mention that
much wastewater from Marcellus drilling is now being recycled rather
than sent to treatment plants. An article by the Associated Press
published March 1 also made the point that as much as 65 percent of
wastewater is now being recycled, but noted that the escalating number
of wells being drilled means that the amount of water being treated and
discharged in rivers is still likely to grow.
In response to the Times article, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey called on the
state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal
Environmental Protection Agency to "increase inspections of
Pennsylvania drinking water resources for radioactive material and to
account for why sufficient inspections haven't taken place."
Also, Pennsylvania American Water Co. and Pittsburgh Water and Sewer
Authority, which draw drinking water from the Monongahela River,
announced they will soon begin testing for radioactivity.
All of this underscores the need for increased oversight of gas
development and water quality in Pennsylvania, a costly endeavor
considering the enormous and rapid growth of the industry here. The
most likely way this state can afford to increase that oversight is by
enacting a severance tax on gas, something that our Legislature has
failed to agree upon and to which our governor is opposed.
For the sake of our health, their attitude had better change.