Pennsylvania's top environmental enforcement official said Tuesday that he is confident that wastewater discharged into rivers and streams by the booming natural gas industry hasn't degraded the state's drinking water.
At least 3.6 million barrels of the ultra-salty, chemically tainted wastewater produced by gas drilling operations were discharged into state waterways in the 12-month period that ended June 30, according to records reviewed by The Associated Press. Drinking water for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians is drawn from those rivers and streams.
Those discharges have troubled some environmentalists. Most of the big drilling companies digging thousands of new wells in Pennsylvania have committed to curtailing or ending the practice.
John Hanger, the outgoing secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, said he believes the new regulations are adequate to protect water supplies. . . . [continued]
January 9, 2011
"Pa. official defends rules on gas drilling waste"
By David B. Caruso, Associated Press, January 5, 2011:
