Hanger Defied Stereotypes
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
9 January 2011
By Brad Bumsted
HARRISBURG - It's hugely ironic that John Hanger, the state regulator
in the infancy of the Marcellus shale industry, came into office in
2008 portrayed as a wild-eyed environmentalist and he leaves office in
a little more than a week painted in some quarters as a stooge of
industry.
Hanger is neither.
"The problem is I'm a raging centrist," he said in an interview. "I
approach issues based on the facts."
Hanger, 53, spent the last two years as secretary of the Department of
Environmental Protection. Gov. Ed Rendell raised eyebrows and some
concern in the business community when he appointed Hanger to the post
while Hanger was serving as the head of PennFuture, an environmental
advocacy group.
But Hanger was portrayed as an anti-drilling villain in the documentary
"Gasland," which received national attention. He took a huge hit last
week -- by implication -- in an Associated Press story that made
Pennsylvania's regulation of natural gas drilling look like that of a
Third-World nation.
Pennsylvania was the only state that allowed discharges of partially
treated water into rivers, the AP story said. The fact that
Pennsylvania put new regulations into place last year that requires
water running by water treatment plants to meet tough standards was
largely ignored, Hanger believes. It was allowed in the past on the
argument that it's diluted in the mass of water flowing through rivers.
It wasn't until the eighth paragraph that you found out, "State
officials, energy companies and the operators of treatment plants
insist that with the right safeguards in place, the practice poses
little or no risk to the environment or to the hundreds of thousands of
people who rely on those rivers for drinking water."
Today, about 70 percent of hydraulic wastewater is recycled in part due
to the tougher standards, Hanger said.
You can take this to the bank. If past practice posed the slightest
risk, Hanger would have been screaming about it.
"As of today," Hanger said last week, "every single drop of tap water
from public water supplies is safe." He said he knows this because of
rigorous, daily testing done by state regulators.
"I'm not going to say there's no threat ever," said Hanger.
Here's another thing you can bank on. It's a good thing for Republican
Gov.-elect Tom Corbett that AP chose to run this investigative story
last week and not after his inauguration Jan. 18. Even though Corbett
would have had nothing to do with past policies, it would have fit with
perceived notions among some that Republicans want nothing better than
to let the shale industry run wild.
But what took place -- unfair as the presentation was -- happened under
a Democrat governor's environmental stewardship.
Hanger, an attorney and former state Public Utility Commission member
appointed by the late Gov. Robert P. Casey, has been an outspoken
proponent of taxing the extraction of natural gas to fund environmental
protection and to help pay for vital state services. Hanger differs
sharply with Corbett's no-tax approach to the industry.
But Hanger was "heartened" by Corbett's recent remarks in the Trib that
when it comes to regulation of the shale industry, the career
prosecutor views himself as a "cop." Corbett said in effect, let the
chips fall where they may. The regulations will be enforced.
"Those are the right words," Hanger said. "The real test is action."
Brad Bumsted can be reached at bbumsted@tribweb.com or 717-787-1405.