12/02/24 - 90 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/5xpcbut8
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Opinion- Rep. George: Attack Of The Gas Industry!
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Rep. Camille George (D-Clearfield), Majority Chair of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, this week said money and misinformation are the hallmarks of a gas industry attack titled, "Rep. George's fact-free fact-finding mission." "The gas industry can neither buy the truth nor claim to present 'real genuine facts' about Marcellus Shale gas drilling in Pennsylvania," said Rep. George. "To insinuate that citizens concerned about gas drilling are crackpots because their personal experiences with drilling do not square with the industry's version of the facts is reprehensible."
Rep. George said the most troubling aspect of the attack by Energy InDepth, whose members include the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, is its slur of concerned lawmakers and citizens of northeastern Pennsylvania as anti-energy activists.
"From Day One, I and others have stated that Marcellus Shale gas is a tremendous economic opportunity for Pennsylvania," Rep. George said. "However, it will be a boondoggle – economically and environmentally – if not done in a responsible manner."
Rep. George said Energy InDepth claimed he held a House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee meeting in Kingston Township, Luzerne County, "as far away as he could from his home in Clearfield Co." and devoid of "anyone in possession of real, genuine facts…"
"The committee held a hearing on February 18th in Clearfield where Kathryn Z. Klaber, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition testified," Rep. George noted. "Previous committee meetings featured the Marcellus Shale Coalition and executives from some of the leading gas companies in Pennsylvania, including Range Resources and Chesapeake Energy.
"Two weeks ago, I participated in a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing in Ebensburg – not too far from my home -- which included testimony from Chief Oil & Gas and Chesapeake Energy," Rep. George said. "The industry has not been an unwanted stranger at hearings."
Energy InDepth, in a website segment titled "Screams and Cheers from the Echo Chamber," took issue with concerns about an inadequate number of treatment plants capable of removing hazardous chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing," the process of extracting the gas from the earth.
Rep. George noted that the secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection warned that the Commonwealth must protect water resources from drilling wastewater.
"The treating and disposing of gas drilling brine and fracturing wastewater is a significant challenge for the natural gas industry because of its exceptionally high [total dissolved solids] concentrations," DEP Secretary John Hanger said in a news release issued Tuesday. "Marcellus drilling is growing rapidly and our rules must be strengthened now to prevent our waterways from being seriously harmed in the future."
Rep. George said his House Bill 2213, which would require full disclosure of the myriad of chemicals used in fracking, also came under attack.
"Full disclosure of the chemicals – not just the trade names -- and how they are used is not required," Rep. George said. "The precise chemical identities and concentrations and how and when they are employed can be crucial to emergency responders and remediation efforts after spills, and is at the crux of efforts to remove the infamous 'Halliburton Loophole' that exempts the industry from oversight by the Environmental Protection Agency."
The Energy InDepth website and news release also attacked the need for more stringent inspections of drill sites, even as the DEP served notice on Thursday to a gas-drilling firm that its operations apparently had contaminated yet another well in Susquehanna County.
"The DEP's budget has been cut, county conservation districts' authority to review permit applications has been stripped and the DEP has revoked permits after the Chesapeake Bay Foundation noted numerous technical deficiencies in permits granted," Rep. George said. "The well-oiled industry spin can't gloss over these facts.
"I've long tried to make a simple point: Extraction of ANY natural resource will always come at a cost," Rep. George said. "Our challenge is to recognize those costs and devise a fair way to mitigate the costs and protect and preserve our precious natural resources – especially water.
"I have strived for a civil discourse on the Marcellus Shale issues that we will be confronting for many years," Rep. George said. "The Energy InDepth attacks – on the truth, affected citizens and fellow lawmakers – are not a step in that direction.
"The gas industry can bloat campaign coffers with money, buy discredited and ridiculed studies and poison the debate by taking statements out of context," Rep. George said. "However, its 'best management practices' should never be taken at face value to be the best for Pennsylvania."
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4/19/2010 |
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