Tighter wastewater rules advance for gas wells
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HARRISBURG -- New rules approved by the state's Environmental Quality Board Monday would protect the cleanliness and quality of state streams and drinking water from potential damage caused by drilling for natural gas from areas of Marcellus shale.
The regulations, first proposed in August, would set standards on how much pollution, known as total dissolved solids, can be allowed in the water. The pollution is a result of fracking operations, where millions of gallons of water are pumped into the shale to release the gas.
The solids can kill aquatic life in streams and contaminate drinking water, which occurred along a 30-mile section of Dunkard Creek in Greene County last year.
Under the proposed regulations, which still must be approved by the Legislature and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, water with more than a certain amount of pollutants would have to be treated before it could be released back into streams or other bodies of water.
John Hanger, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the new standards are needed to protect the public.
"Drilling wastewater contains TDS levels that are thousands of times more harmful to aquatic life than discharges from other industries," Mr. Hanger said. "All other industries in Pennsylvania are responsible for the waste they generate, and the drilling industry should be no exception."
Mr. Hanger noted the regulations were developed and adjusted in conjunction with industry and environmental groups.
"This rule has been thoroughly vetted and scrutinized and has been amended in response to industry concerns," he said. "It is critical for DEP to move forward with them to protect Pennsylvania's waters from high TDS pollution."
The other measure would set up buffer zones -- at least 150 feet wide -- to separate new developments from high-quality streams, said the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water, a coalition of 150 environmental and conservation groups.
Drilling deep into the ground to extract resources "entails risks and costs," said Rep. Bud George, D-Clearfield. "The regulations approved today address those risks, especially the total dissolved fluids that are allowed into our watersheds and stream buffers. [We need] to protect our exceptional and high-quality streams."
First Published May 18, 2010 12:00 am
