Environmental Groups Cite Problems with Scarnati Marcellus Bill

Letter to Senators Highlights Attack on Local Control and Poor Drinking Water Setbacks

(Harrisburg) – Five environmental organizations representing well over 100,000 Pennsylvanians wrote to State Senators Friday highlighting several problems with Senator Scarnati’s proposed Marcellus Shale legislation, SB 1100. Two main areas of concern were cited on the bill which is still in negotiation between Senate Republicans and Democrats prior to a predicted floor vote this week. Clean Water Action, Sierra Club, PennEnvironment, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, and Earthworks all signed the letter which was sent to all State Senators.

The first area of concerns are provisions that are being prepared that would reduce municipal authority to zone and otherwise restrict gas drilling activities in their townships. While the PA Supreme Court has ruled that the PA Oil and Gas Act gives municipalities the right to zone gas drilling as it would any industry, it has long been a goal of the oil and gas industry to strip municipal rights to zone gas wells. In addition to SB 1100, State House leadership is considering similar legislation to eliminate local zoning control over the oil and gas industry.

a letter to the Pennsylvania State Senate

We are writing concerning Senator Scarnati’s bill to address Marcellus Shale issues, SB 1100, which was recently amended and voted out of Appropriations Committee.  Our organizations have two concerns we would like to draw to your attention.

Read the Campaign for Clean Water Press Release

cleaning our drinking water = the largest public works project in our lifetimes

In Allegheny County, many storm sewers and sanitary sewers are one and the same. This means that when it rains, even just a little bit, the sewers are overwhelmed and raw sewage goes straight into our rivers. Our rivers are the soul of our region and the source of drinking water for 90% of county residents.

fracking & your air

Oil and gas operations in the U.S. produce significant air pollution – everything from drilling to the production and processing of natural gas affects our air. In fact, the oil and gas industry releases millions of pounds of pollutants like methane, benzene, and sulfur dioxide into our air each year.

Oil and gas operations in the U.S. produce significant air pollution – everything from drilling to the production and processing of natural gas affects our air. In fact, the oil and gas industry releases millions of pounds of pollutants like methane, benzene, and sulfur dioxide into our air each year.

Find out more about  EPA's air pollution proposal.

These toxins pose a threat to our air quality and contribute to serious health problems like asthma, cancer, and neurological issues. Currently more than half of Pennsylvanians live in an area that doesn’t meet federal air quality standards for smog and nearly 800,000 suffer from asthma.

Federal air pollution standards for drilling are woefully outdated. In July the EPA proposed new safeguards to reduce air pollution from the oil and natural gas industry to get us back on track.  We need to speak out in support of strong federal standards on air pollution from gas drilling operations! Please come to the EPA public hearing in Pittsburgh on September 27.  Let us know you can make it!

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Last week, Lehigh County judge, Michele Varricchio, overturned a zoning ordinance change which would have allowed turkey farmer David Jaindl to cover over 600 acres of pristine farmland with warehouses, fast food restaurants, and townhouses.

Cathy Frankenberg, Program Arganizer for Clean Water Action, and organizer with Friends for the Protection of Lower Macungie, praised the decision, saying it “will have far reaching impacts, preserving not only the rural character of Lower Macungie, but by avoiding massive runoffs and sewage overcharges, also protecting water quality as far downstream as Allentown.  We are thrilled.”  

in the absence of strong state policy the EPA must step in to protect our health.

Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale produces wastewater that is very salty and polluted with toxins like barium, benzene, and strontium. Most facilities in Pennsylvania are not equipped to properly treat this wastewater and usually just dilute it before dumping it into our rivers and streams.  Some do no treatment at all. Ask the EPA to step in!

Clean Water Action Urges Immediate Action to Protect Public

(Pittsburgh) - A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) advisory panel released their first report today listing recommendations on actions to reduce the environmental and public health impacts of shale gas drilling utilizing hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking.' Clean Water Action released a statement urging that the federal government take immediate action before further drilling damages water and air quality.

"We are glad to see that the federal government is identifying problems that have resulted in damage to communities in Pennsylvania and around the nation. The question now is whether the federal government will take action to stop further damage or continue to ignore the lack of oversight of the gas industry at the state level," stated Myron Arnowitt, Pennsylvania State Director for Clean Water Action.