FRACKING!
IT MATTERS!
PLEASE LEARN ALL YOU CAN BEFORE YOU SUPPORT THE MASSACHUSETTS SCAM OF A GAS PIPELINE!
This is INFURIATING.
About two years ago, based on some promising research, I drafted legislation that would have mandated the use of "tracers" in Marcellus Shale drilling operations. These tracers would be inert chemicals or DNA unique to each drilling site and would serve as a kind of fingerprint; if a tracer from Drilling Site A shows up in a nearby stream, then we could conclude that Drilling Site A contaminated that stream.
Conversely, if the tracer was not present in the stream, it would effectively clear the drilling company of liability. In theory, the responsible operators would be rewarded and the irresponsible operators would be punished. It's common sense.
But extensive research into the issue of tracers brought a laundry list of excuses from industry and the DEP about how the technology doesn't exist to use them. But as PennLive.com reports today...
THE INDUSTRY HAS BEEN USING TRACERS ALL ALONG AND NEVER TOLD ANYONE ABOUT IT!
In retrospect, this revelation explains a lot. Many constituents with water problems would tell me how a company like Range Resources would show up to conduct their own tests of the water, often before DEP even arrived to conduct the "official" test. Doesn't it make sense that the company was testing for tracers they knew about but kept to themselves?
Apparently DEP also knew about the tracers, but miraculously, none of this was ever disclosed when my staff and I asked specific questions about the possible use of this technology. I'm not saying DEP was/is covering for the fracking industry, but it sure looks that way.
I've been reserving my opinion about the PA DEP under Governor Tom Wolf in the hope things would get better, but I have to say that it looks like more of the same old games are being played. If the Wolf Administration is serious about standing up for Pennsylvanians instead of bowing to the drilling industry, it's time to see some solid evidence. Otherwise, it looks like we may be dealing with a sheep in Wolf's clothing on this critically important issue.
PLEASE SHARE.
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