Mon River Test: PAW Quality Not Impacted by Drilling Compounds

Washington PA  Observer Reporter
17 May 2011
By Christie Campbell, Staff writer
chriscam@observer-reporter.com

Testing at two water intakes on the Monongahela River has not found any harmful levels of radioactive material in drinking water.

The results confirmed that the quality of the water supplied by Pennsylvania American Water's treatment plants has not been impacted by radioactive materials, or volatile organic or inorganic compounds from Marcellus Shale drilling wastewater, according to Josephine Posti, PAW's external affairs specialist.

The water company recently undertook a number of tests along the Allegheny, Clarion and Monongahela rivers as well as Two Lick Creek in Indiana. The water on the Mon River was tested at water intakes at the Elrama plant and one at the intersection of Beck's Run and Carson Street in Pittsburgh.

Posti said the testing was not ordered by the state Department of Environmental Protection but was undertaken by the company in response to an article published February in The New York Times.

In that article, The Times reported that several EPA scientists believed drilling waste is a threat to drinking water in Pennsylvania. The EPA also had, in a confidential study, determined that radioactivity in drilling waste could not be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways. The article said most drinking water intake plants had not tested for radioactivity since before 2006, at least two years before the gas drilling boom.

"We thought just to ensure consumer confidence that we do some additional testing to let folks know that their water meets or surpasses state and federal regulations," Posti said Monday.

The water company's report came as good news to one gas extraction company.

"We now have multiple reports from academics, the state and now water companies confirming that water remains safe to drink. We hope this factual and scientific information will help us to continue to earn public trust that natural gas will not repeat the mistakes of other industries in our region a century ago," said Matt Pitzarella, spokesman for Range Resources.

The water company performed the additional testing for more than 90 contaminants. No detectable levels of radiological contaminants were found, including gross alpha radiation, gross beta radiation, radium-226, radium-228, strontium-90 and tritium.

No VOCs, including benzene, carbon tetrachloride, vinyl chloride, xylenes and others, were found.

Posti said the DEP requested the company test its finished drinking water at three sites in late March for total alkalinity, bromide, chloride, pH, total dissolved solids, uranium, gross alpha radiation, radium-226, and radium-228.

All of the data received showed that they were within acceptable water quality standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the DEP.

However, a report in March by the DEP that area waterways were not being tainted by drilling activities was challenged by a University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health. In addition, Clean Water Action had threatened a lawsuit against the Franklin Township Sewer Authority if it did not stop accepting Marcellus Shale wastewater. That authority stopped accepting the wastewater last month.

Last month the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a group of petroleum producers, agreed with an initial finding by a research team led by Dr. Jeanne VanBriesen at Carnegie Mellon University that showed elevated levels of bromide in the Mon River.

As a result, the DEP ordered 15 water treatment plants to stop accepting wastewater from gas drilling companies by Thursday.

Pitzarella said despite the positive report, "we support ongoing research and scientific analysis. Range and others will continue to develop new and better technologies to reduce our environmental impacts while safely developing natural gas and creating jobs for Pennsylvanians."