For years now, I have been a vocal critic of the Department of Environmental Protection under the Corbett Administration, particularly when it comes to their failure to properly regulate the Marcellus Shale industry. While I am in favor of responsible natural gas development, history has repeatedly proven my point that the DEP cares very little about ensuring drilling is being done the right way. Unfortunately, a shocking article recently published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reveals the reality of the situation was far worse than anyone could have feared.
During a trial before the Environmental Hearing Board, DEP officials admitted under oath that the “short term air quality study”, used by the natural gas industry to justify the placement of many compressor stations, wastewater impoundments and other drilling facilities near residential areas, was actually faked. We’re not talking about an innocent mistake here; this was an intentional effort to hide critical information from all of us.
DEP officials testified that when they conducted the air quality study, they failed to calculate the health hazard for 25 of 38 chemicals they tested for. Despite DEP’s failure to look at the effects of over two-thirds of the chemicals, the agency still concluded that the levels of those air pollutants emitted by shale gas development sites were not likely to trigger air-related health concerns.
Not only did the DEP not calculate the overwhelming majority of chemical hazards, but its determination that public health would not be harmed was not made by anyone with training in medicine, toxicology or environmental or occupational health. In simpler terms, they just made everything up to fit the narrative they wanted the public to believe, which was that the health risks from drilling were minimal or nonexistent.
In retrospect, this sure explains why DEP still refused to provide the public with the air quality testing results from when Cornerstone Care closed back in 2012. I was denied access to over 400 pages of data from the air testing I pushed for whenever Cornerstone was forced to close its doors due to an odor that was making people sick.
Just out of curiosity, I recently submitted another request under the Open Records Law to see the air testing results from Cornerstone Care again. I was denied again, based on the bogus excuse that the records were part of a “noncriminal investigation” and therefore not available to the public. What could the DEP possibly be hiding in those test results?
In reality, their investigation at the time consisted of bringing down a local television news crew to tell everyone that the nearby drilling activity had nothing to do with any of the problems. Amazingly, a spokesman for Range Resources said exactly the same thing before attempting to blame the problem on some paint cans in the outside tool shed.
While Range Resources and the DEP got the good press they were looking for, the story had a considerably less happy ending for others. Cornerstone lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and many of my constituents struggled to get medical care because the DEP cared more about covering for Range Resources than they did about the people of Pennsylvania.
As I have long maintained, the public simply deserves to know what is being emitted into the air and water from drilling operations. If one wants to argue there aren’t any problems, that’s fine. But show us the test results, and all of them. Show us that the DEP isn’t actively trying to hide the facts from the public. At the very least, you certainly deserve better than being lied to by your own government.
Unfortunately, this recent story about the DEP’s misbehavior goes beyond simple negligence. This is criminal. If one of these drilling facilities were built near my home based on a phony DEP report, I would sue the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for every penny I could get. Even better, I’d want Tom Corbett and everyone at the DEP who lied to me to live next to one of these things and see how much they like it.
Scridb filter
