Hoeffel to ALL Candidates Running in PA Primaries for Governor: Put Aside Differences and Join me on Marcellus Shale – TOGETHER we can get this right

By HOEFFEL FOR GOVERNOR

“This morning I sent a fax to each of the candidates running for governor in Pennsylvania asking them to join me in advocating for policies which balance the creation of jobs and revenue with strong regulations to protect our health and environment.”

“It’s clear that wastewater contamination is going to be the key health and environmental issue of 2010 — and Pennsylvania is going to be ground zero in the debate over these health risks and environmental dangers,” said Democrat Joe Hoeffel, candidate for PA governor.

Hoeffel asked the DEP — and his colleagues running for governor through the aforementioned faxed letter — to enact several protections concerning wastewater treatment, issue no new drilling or discharge permits until the Chapter 95 revisions are in place, AND exercise caution in issuing new drilling and discharge permits until an EPA-conducted cumulative water usage study can be conducted.

Already a growing story in the national mainstream media, the issue of enacting stricter contamination standards has come to the foreground in Pennsylvania as the Department of Environmental Protection concluded a week of public hearings across the commonwealth last night to solicit views on proposed new standards for wastewater contamination.

“At Allentown’s hearing last night, I submitted testimony expressing strong support for some of the DEP’s proposals while urging them to adopt even stronger stands on others to better protect Pennsylvania’s public health and environment,” said Joe Hoeffel, “I sent my Issues and Research Director up to Allentown to deliver my testimony to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on proposed Chapter 95 revisions for wastewater treatment standards.”

“The Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve represents a tremendous opportunity for Pennsylvania: the creation of thousands of jobs for Pennsylvanians, an economic stimulus to communities and businesses across the commonwealth, and important revenue from extraction taxes. And the extraction tax is an essential part of the equation. An extraction tax on natural gas will provide funding to help DEP with these regulations as well as fund a renewed Growing Greener program. But we must approach this opportunity carefully and manage it responsibly: the stakes are high, and protecting ourselves and our environment must come first.”

In the statement delivered on behalf of Joe Hoeffel for proposed Chapter 95 Revisions for Wastewater Treatment Standards Presented to PA DEP, yesterday, Hoeffel said:

We must take strong, swift action to ensure drilling is conducted safely and responsibly, and the proposed Chapter 95 revisions are a very good start. But we believe aspects of the DEP’s proposal should be even stronger to provide greater protection for the commonwealth.

We agree with the DEP’s proposal of 500 mg/L for Total Dissolved Solids and 250 mg/L each for Sulfates and Chlorides, and we urge the DEP not to weaken these proposals. The TDS, Sulfates, and Chlorides standards proposed will help ensure federal Safe Drinking Water standards are met across Pennsylvania.

We further encourage the DEP to add discharge standards for additional contaminants frequently found in natural gas drilling wastewater. We hope the DEP will adopt strict standards for levels of arsenic, benzene, bromides, magnesium, and radium in wastewater. These contaminants pose great difficulties for water treatment facilities and are toxic to both humans and wildlife.

We urge the DEP to clearly express each discharge standard as a daily maximum — not as a monthly average. We also urge the DEP to clearly forbid dilution of wastewater as a means of avoiding the applicability of these limits.

It is imperative that the DEP enact these regulations as swiftly as possible. Moreover, we ask that the DEP not issue new drilling and discharge permits until the Chapter 95 revisions are in place. The wastewater from future natural gas wells must be regulated by these new standards for contaminant levels. The threat to our public health and our environment if we do otherwise is too great.

Finally, we would like to see the DEP exercise caution in issuing new drilling and discharge permits until an EPA-conducted cumulative water usage study can be conducted so we can better understand the wide-ranging effects of wastewater contaminants on the Delaware River watershed.

Strong regulations for generation, treatment, and reuse of Marcellus Shale gas drilling wastewater are critical in order for Pennsylvania to safely benefit from the tremendous economic potential of the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserve. Commissioner Hoeffel thanks the DEP for its excellent start on this work to protect the health and safety of our commonwealth and for the opportunity to offer recommendations on these issues.

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