Time for EPA to protect our health!

in the absence of strong state policy the EPA must step in to protect our health.

Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale produces wastewater that is very salty and polluted with toxins like barium, benzene, and strontium. Most facilities in Pennsylvania are not equipped to properly treat this wastewater and usually just dilute it before dumping it into our rivers and streams.  Some do no treatment at all. Ask the EPA to step in!

Often this disposal occurs into sources of drinking water for Pennsylvanians. In an effort to address this, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced recently that it was calling on the gas drilling industry to voluntarily stop sending their wastewater to treatment plants for discharge to local rivers and streams. This step marks a positive change from its previous rubber stamp actions but falls short of a mandatory requirement needed to ensure public health is protected. 

Recently, Clean Water Action teamed with Three Rivers Waterkeeper to file legal notices detailing violations of the federal Clean Water Act by municipal sewer authorities in Southwest Pennsylvania who are discharging drilling wastewater without the proper treatment or permits. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shares our concerns and has called upon the DEP to more regularly test watersheds that serve as sources of drinking water and to investigate and aggressively review permits for treatment facilities.

Contact EPA Region 3 Administrator, Shawn Garvin and tell him that in the absence of strong state oversight the EPA must protect our health and environment by using its’ authority to enforce the law and punish violators and requiring DEP to implement mandatory actions.