1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fly Fishing
›
3. Stop Wholesale Pollution of PA Streams

I've cut and pasted the below appeal from a Sierra Club email, editing it lightly. It's on a topic we've discussed previously. I just sent a letter to my representative asking that no more drilling be authorized until the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources could study the potential damage done by pumping chemicals into streams as a result of the fracturing process. Please learn what you can about this and if you live in PA, send a letter to your state representative and to Governor Rendell expressing your views:

"You have probably heard about the new "gold rush" in Pennsylvania to lease more state forest land to drillers. Drilling rigs from all over the country are moving into the Keystone State, to tap into the Marcellus Shale natural gas deposit that lies under large parts of Pennsylvania. And these companies, like Exxon and Chesapeake Energy, want to drill in our precious State Forests, threatening our water supplies, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities that belong to all Pennsylvanians.

Legislation has been introduced to stop the expansion of drilling on our public State Forests until current drilling can be evaluated.

Please send a message to your representative to protect our state forests.

Our 2.1 million acre State Forest system comprises some of the best, most remote wildlife habitat in Pennsylvania. The 1 million acre "Pennsylvania Wilds", in the northcentral part of our state, is in the bullseye of the drillers, degrading the environment and quality of living in this tourism-based region. Currently, almost 700,000 acres of State Forests are already open to gas drilling.

80 new Marcellus gas wells are expected to be drilled in state forests in 2010. But the drillers want more! And Governor Rendell is supporting them while ignoring the environmental professionals in his Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), who have cautioned him no that additional state forests lands should be leased for gas drilling. Stop more gas leasing in our state forests.

Water pollution and habitat destruction have already occurred as a result of the poorly-regulated drilling industry. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is supposed to regulate the drillers. Instead, DEP has been rubberstamping drilling permits for well pads with inadequate erosion controls, and in flood plains. DEP has already been forced to rescind permits it has issued, including one in Tioga State Forest, due to inadequate permit application review, site inspections and regulations. And this is on our land, the PA State Forest system."

Please ask your state representative to stop the shale drilling on State Forest Lands. For more information see

http://pennsylvania.sierraclub.org/PA_Chapter_2008/Conservation/Energy/MarcellusDrillingResourcePage.htm

Louis,
It will be happening in New York as well, We have tried to make it harder for them to get permits to drill, concentrating on water quality.
and while some new laws are in place, we do not have the force to watch over the drillers to make SURE they are following the laws. I know it will not have a good result except making a lot of people rich, money-wise, but will ruin many watersheds.

Mark

Thanks for posting that, Louis..

I think additionally that it would be wise to be sure that EPA becomes a full player in all this. The Obama EPA is not like the Bush EPA. They've already dealt a pretty healthy shot to mountaintop mining for example.

Traditionally, as I recall, the Federal CWA has primacy over state regs and there has been more than one situation in the past, under the Clinton, Carter and Bush I EPA's where they have forced states who get all starry-eyed with the economic potential of some of these extraction operations into compliance.

Also, I think it bears remembering, if it comes to that, that the Federal CWA has a citizen's suit provision where anybody who can prove standing (which in this case can be as simple as demonstrating harm to your personal recreation interests) can bring an action in Federal court against a polluter or a state or municipality that fails to enforce the law. There are a number of non-profit foundations in PA who handle these cases and it has been a very effective tool in restoring some sanity in some of these situations. Very, very few of these cases ever see a courtroom. Usually, the preliminary saber rattling is enough to get everybody talking.

But if Rendell is intent on putting the state up for sale to the drillers, the Feds are probably going to be the best friend these resources are going to have. And we should not hesitate to use them fully, if need be.

Just a few thoughts...

Guys,

We went through this just a few years back when a nat-gas company tried to place a well just yards from the famous Mason Tract on the South Branch of the Au Sable and the fishermen's chapel there.

You may want to go to the Angler's of the Au Sable web page for info. The Sierra Club really stepped up and joined with our fight and we, so far, have prevented it from going in.

I have nothing but good things to say re Sierra Club and their help. We had a little controversy here because the national and state TU directors, not the members, didn't want to get involved. Mr George Mason who donated the land for the Mason Tract was the guy that originally spoke to George Griffith and others about forming TU in the first place.

Enough of that! I'm watching the Canadian/Russian hockey game...If you have questions just ask...Get ready to open your wallets for legal aid and Sierra Club can give you some tug with their national profile and membership.

Gook Luck!

Spence

Go get 'em Pennsylvania Fly Fishers. This reminds me of the book, The Ice Hunters, by Joseph Heywood.
Spence may know it, or even the author.
eric

Eric,

Good call!

Guys...If you find yourselves with some spare time or you are at work and looking for something to do...Go to www.josephheywood.com, toggle down to "Seriously" along the left side, then on the right side toggle down to "Archives" and read December 2009...There are three posts there from Joe re: Rusty Gates and his passing in December 2009...

Once you have read his posts about Rusty feel free to look around and you can thank me and Eric for it later! Sound good Eric?

Rusty was the un-official promo-man for Joe...He left one of his books in every room at the Lodge and once you got interested/hooked he'd sell you your own copy...

We angler's think a lot alike...On Joe's post about visiting Rusty's funeral on the 23rd of December in Grayling he drove to the Lodge and up on the North Branch to connect somehow with his friend...I headed to the South Branch for the same reason...

Spence

I didn't know Rusty, but Joe introduced me to his name through his website. I didn't mean to take this thread off-topic, so please continue.
eric

They are also going after the Lackawaxan. This just in from Trout Unlimited. Go to http://takeaction.tu.org/c.ntJSJ8MPIqE/b.5824071/k.4C3D/Upper_Delaware_River_Watershed/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx to take action:

Stone Energy Corporation, a Louisiana-based company is requesting permits from the Delaware River Basin Commission for two Marcellus Shale gas drilling projects, one of which would withdraw up to 700,000 gallons of water per day from the West Branch of the Lackawaxen River in the Upper Delaware River watershed.

WHY WE CARE
Stone Energy Corporation is requesting two permits for Marcellus Shale gas drilling projects in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, in the Upper Delaware River watershed. This area has been classified as Special Protection Waters by the Delaware River Basin Commission with "exceptionally high scenic, recreational, ecological and/or water supply values."

One application seeks to legalize a Marcellus Shale exploration and development project at an existing gas well in Clinton Township that was already drilled in 2008 by Stone Energy without first obtaining approval from the DRBC. The second permit application proposes to withdraw 700,000 gallons of water per day from the West Branch of the Lackawaxen River in Mount Pleasant Township. The water would be used for hydraulic fracturing, the process by which natural gas is extracted from the Marcellus Shale, deep underground.

The West Branch of the Lackawaxen River is a valuable, high-quality coldwater fishery that could be adversely impacted, over time, by the proposed water withdrawal. Stone Energy Corporation has not adequately developed an operational plan showing that fish and other wildlife will not be affected by these water withdrawals. The Upper Delaware River watershed offers one of the finest wild trout fishing destinations in the East and simply cannot afford to be an experiment for water withdrawals and potential toxic contamination related to natural gas drilling activities.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Tell the DRBC to reject both of the Stone Energy permit applications and not to issue any permits for Marcellus Shale gas drilling activities in the Delaware River watershed until it is has adopted 1) new regulations that include an analysis of, and take into account, the anticipated cumulative impacts of all gas drilling activities in the Delaware River watershed, and 2) an ecologically protective flow management plan for the Upper Delaware River. Visit our online action center and take action before March 12, 2010.

Sincerely,

Amy Wolfe
Acting Vice President for Eastern Conservation
Trout Unlimited

Dave Rothrock
Chair
Pennsylvania TU Council

Ron Urban
Chair
New York TU Council

John sent me this website also:


http://www.grist.org/article/polluters-ignore-the-clean-water-act/