GOP House members hear ideas for Marcellus improvements
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After hearing from five different viewpoints at a public hearing today about water safety and the Marcellus Shale industry, members of the Republican House Policy Committee said they heard some new details and ideas that may spur proposed legislation.
"It was a good step," Rep. Dave Reed, the committee chairman who represents much of Indiana County, said of the 3 1/2 hour hearing in Murrysville attended by seven House Republicans.
Some of the testimony from two industry representatives, two regulators and a citizens' group shows that "certainly there needs to be some updates to legislation that could improve this industry," said Mr. Reed, who believes that when legislation is proposed in the future, it will have bipartisan support.
He said in particular he hoped to see the kind of stream water monitoring work being done by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission -- whose Deputy Director Tom Beauduy testified today -- be used as a model for other regions in the state.
Mr. Beauduy said for the last year the basin commission has been using remote monitoring devices that report back to a centralized computer every five minutes about the quality and depth of a series of headwater streams that eventually send their water to the Susquehanna River.
He said he has been told that their system is one of the most advanced water quality monitoring systems in the country.
There is nothing similar to such a system currently in place in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Rep. Tim Hennessey was surprised to find out from another speaker, Calvin McCutcheon, owner of McCutcheon Enterprises, which handles industrial waste, that current state law allows Marcellus Shale drillers to bury the synthetic lining and some of the well waste on drilling sites, rather than put it in a landfill.
"That is rather disconcerting to learn," said Mr. Hennessey, who represents much of Chester County. "I made a note to talk to our environmental committee director about that."
Whether any of the ideas that come out of the hearing end up as real proposed legislation will be in part dependent on what Gov. Tom Corbett's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission has to offer, as well as input from other House committees.
"We want to work with the governor's commission as well as the entire legislature on this," Mr. Reed said.
First Published April 21, 2011 4:07 pm
