This story is in from the
Centre Daily Times. In the rush for the natural gas under the Marcellus Shale there is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that there is a lot more going on than
just some "wetlands encroachment" by Rex Energy, one State College company.
As the DEP tells it according to the story:
Dan Spadoni, DEP spokesman, said he did not know whether the impoundment pond contained fresh water or frack water — a by-product of the hydraulic “fracking” process used to extract Marcellus Shale natural gas.
In a news release outlining DEP’s actions, John Hamilton, acting regional director, called the violations “significant.”
“Not only due to the actual environmental impact, but also because they totally undermine the department’s permitting process,” he said.
If you read the March issue of
Voices of Central Pennsylvania or check out the
Allegheny Front, you'll get a lot more on this issue. In the coming weeks, we'll be talking with an energy economist to get to the bottom of the taxing issues and then speak to wetlands biologists, environmental advocates, and perhaps industry representatives to see where this is all going. As this issue affects water and the organisms (human and non-human both) that rely on it, this will be on the blog's radar at the least.
For more depth on the potential for reusing wastewater from the hydrofracking process, listen
here or read
here.
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