The Legal Intelligencer: EPA has gotten more forceful with state Department of Environmental Protection
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With a drill-happy new governor in office and increasing public concern over the possibility of Pennsylvania becoming a fracked-over toxic wasteland, federal environmental regulators suddenly seem rather intent on making their presence known in the state.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's traditional role has been to set regulatory standards and then leave it to the states to implement them, occasionally checking in to make sure the plan hasn't completely gone to hell.
But ever since the arrival of Gov. Tom Corbett and new Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer four months ago, the EPA has gone from looking over state regulators' shoulders to telling them how to do their work and, in some cases, just plain doing it for them.
Take, for instance, the letter EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin sent to Mr. Krancer on March 7 saying several studies had shown drilling wastewater to contain "variable and sometimes high concentrations of materials that may present a threat to human health and [the] aquatic environment."
The letter directed the DEP to conduct additional tests on drinking water and to provide federal authorities with "(i) a list of the community water systems that will be required to conduct expedited monitoring, (ii) sampling parameters and frequency, and (iii) your schedule for initiating and completing these actions."
Basically, a homework assignment.
Mr. Garvin also said in the letter that the EPA would be issuing Clean Water Act information requests to wastewater treatment facilities to monitor compliance and assess the "adequacy" of DEP-issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.
Basically, an examination of the DEP's homework.
Mr. Krancer was noticeably offended by the implication that his agency wasn't sufficiently handling its business, replying on April 6 that Mr. Garvin's letter "overlooks DEP's strong and ongoing efforts to protect the environment and public health."
Mr. Krancer added in his response that Mr. Garvin's letter "arrived the same day we announced the results of our in-stream water quality monitoring for radioactive material in seven of the commonwealth's rivers," which showed "levels at or below the normal naturally occurring background levels."
First Published May 23, 2011 12:00 am
