It\’s Getting Hot In Here

Pittsburgh Student Environmental Coalition gets front row seating at EPA hearing in Canonsburg, PA.

On Thursday, July 22, over 1200 people attended an Environmenal Protection Agency hearing in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on the relationship between Hydrualic Fracturing and water; it was the most well attended event of the EPA’s nationwide meetings thus far. The EPA was gathering feedback regarding a peer reviewed study slated to begin in early 2011 that would detail the effects of Fracking on the quality and qauntity of drinking water.  Over 150+ registered speakers provided feedback and comments. Landowners spoke about existing water quality issues they connected to fracking, professionals pointed out the precedent in analyzing dangerous compounds used in fracking fluid, and a handful of industry representatives urged the agency to conduct “scientific” studies “not based on emotion”.

The urgency and anger communicated by residents was met by supportive applause, high fives, and ultimately a downright feeling of solidarity. Jessica McPherson, a landowner and herbalist from Pittsburgh, offered testimony that accurately summarized the meeting, “It’s as if all the Romans have gathered to ask if Rome is on fire, as it is burning.” Indeed, the presentation of the study was welcomed by those in attendance — but many are hoping it is not too little too late for those already suffering from contaminated water wells.  

EPA panel at hearing in Canonsburg, PA.

Fracking is a process where water, sand and chemicals are injected into the earth at high pressure. The aim of hydro-fracturing is to fracture rock formations deep underground to access natural gas that would otherwise be inaccessible. Fracking is radically different from traditional gas extraction because the resource is trapped in small fissures in the rock layer, instead of lying in shallow reservoirs. Accessing this fossil fuel is framed as part of gaining “energy independence” and boosting local economies with thousands of new jobs at entry and professional levels. Sentiment at the hearing condemned the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for poor regulation of the industry, and invitationed the EPA to use multiple locations in southwestern Pennsylvania as part of their case study component.

Further reporting on the hearing and EPA study can be found at following links:
http://wduqnews.blogspot.com/2010/07/packed-house-for-epa-marcellus-hearing.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10204/1074773-113.stm http://www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/wells_hydrofrac.html

Angela Wiley, Chatham University, gives comment to EPA.

Following is the testimony given by Angela Wiley on behalf of the Pittsburgh Student Environmental Coalition. Many thanks to her and to those who heeded the call to action given at Monday’s rally by writing letters and showing support at this week’s Allegheny County Council, EPA, and PA DEP hearings!

My name is Angela Wiley. I am a rising sophomore at Chatham University, and work with the Pittsburgh Student Environmental Coalition, which supports a moratorium on drilling until this EPA study is conducted and federal exemptions are lifted.

Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale region has pinned me with a sense of urgency – and I see it when I look around rooms like this full of homeowners, citizens, families, humans. We all have a stake in this as those who drink water and depend on fragile ecosystems for survival. It frightens and angers me that this industry is moving forward, exempt from federal regulations like the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, and without the completion of this EPA study. I do not want to dream of starting a career or family in a place with depleted, poisoned water and with hopeless dependency on nonrenewable resources. I feel shame and disappointment when I look to the flat mountain tops of West Virginia and central Appalachia – and I do not want to feel the same sentiment toward this lush portion of Panappalachia in a few years or sooner. Please do your job, EPA, before it’s too late for us.

With the understanding that youth have the power and responsibility to forge and protect a sustainable Earth, the Pittsburgh Student Environmental Coalition seeks to unite and empower the young people of Pittsburgh to influence positive change in our community’s natural environment through action, education, and the sharing of resources.

I came to be interested in environmental issues after growing up in West Virginia and becoming educated about mountain top removal coal mining. Mountain top removal witnesses environmental, economic and social justice issues; I am seeing these realms at work as hydraulic fracturing gears up in the Marcellus Shale region. This spring, I have been part of active learning in Pittsburgh about the fracking process and my connection to it, and have witnessed rising concern among residents of Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania as the issue becomes more relevant. As an activist and environmentalist, I stand in solidarity with those opposed to hydraulic fracturing because of its disruption to natural ecosystems, connection to larger oil and gas industries that finance foreign oil and fossil fuels, and because of blatant disrespect for human rights that is omnipresent with extractive industries.

Despite my personal stance, I do have some feedback for the documents the EPA has put forth regarding stakeholder input. With respect to the study’s proposed criteria, I want to urge special vigilance with respect to “Management of wastewater and residuals” in table 1 of the document addressing selection of case studies. To my knowledge, there are no underground injection control wells in the state of Pennsylvania, so they are currently not an option for wastewater storage. How will this water be properly stored between uses, and will it be possible to dilute it to a safe consistency once it has been exhausted? On that note, I would like to see part of the study dedicated to the effect recycling has on frac water – if more chemicals are added to the fluid each time a well is drilled, the water must become increasingly concentrated with chemicals like benzene and formaldehyde. I am aware that recycling makes sense on a practical level, but I am skeptical about public health issues associated with the life cycle of the water. These concerns all fall under this section of Table 1, and I would appreciate if they are addressed as the study criteria is revised. I also recommend that case study sites are selected in the vicinity of abandoned underground coal mines, as these areas may be particularly sensitive to the high pressure and stress involved in fracking.