Last Thursday, Pennsylvania Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer announced to officials in Washington D.C., "that drilling wastewater is no longer being discharged to rivers or streams in Pennsylvania without full treatment," Donald Gilliland of The Patriot-News in Harrisburg reports. The announcement came after Krancer asked drillers to voluntarily stop the practice.
"We've gone from millions and millions of gallons being discharged to virtually none," DEP spokeswoman Katy Gresh told Gilliland, but said the agency could not confirm complete compliance with the request. "The agency has reports of a few trucks delivering what may or may not be drilling waste," she said. "We're tracking down those leads to ensure we have complete compliance all of the time."
Can the DEP enforce compliance of a voluntary ban? Gresh said the DEP will "take whatever next step is necessary" when violators are discovered. Four environmental groups on the governor's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission suggest making the voluntary ban "a legally enforceable requirement," Gilliland reports.
"We've gone from millions and millions of gallons being discharged to virtually none," DEP spokeswoman Katy Gresh told Gilliland, but said the agency could not confirm complete compliance with the request. "The agency has reports of a few trucks delivering what may or may not be drilling waste," she said. "We're tracking down those leads to ensure we have complete compliance all of the time."
Can the DEP enforce compliance of a voluntary ban? Gresh said the DEP will "take whatever next step is necessary" when violators are discovered. Four environmental groups on the governor's Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission suggest making the voluntary ban "a legally enforceable requirement," Gilliland reports.
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