PAGES

Friday, August 29, 2014

Online list names all oil and gas companies in Pennsylvania that harmed private water wells

A list of oil and gas companies that were found to have contaminated private drinking-water wells in Pennsylvania is now available online, Kevin Begos and Michael Rubinkam report for The Associated Press. The list from the state Department of Environmental Protection includes 243 cases from 2008 to 2014.

"Pennsylvania’s auditor general said in a report last month that DEP’s system for handling complaints 'was woefully inadequate' and that investigators could not even determine whether all complaints were actually entered into a reporting system," AP says. "DEP didn’t immediately issue a statement with the online release, but posted the links on the same day that seven environmental groups sent a letter urging the agency to heed the auditor general’s 29 recommendations for improvement."

The cases "include some where a single drilling operation impacted multiple water wells," AP reports. "The problems listed in the documents include methane gas contamination, spills of wastewater and other pollutants, and wells that went dry or were otherwise undrinkable. Some of the problems were temporary, but the names of landowners were redacted, so it wasn’t clear if the problems were resolved to their satisfaction. Other complaints are still being investigated." (Read more)

No comments:

Post a Comment