The Game Changer

Last Sunday's editorial in the Sun-Gazette, "Separating gas drilling fact from fiction---study is a good first step," observes correctly that the positive impacts described at the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus hearing held July 26 at Pennsylvania College of Technology were not surprising, as it was a pro-gas industry gathering. It was, in fact, a propaganda effort, a cheer for the "great economic benefits" the boom in natural gas drilling has brought to us.

There was no significant mention of the potential impacts to Pennsylvania's huge recreation industry or its even bigger agricultural industry. The ultimate goal of the Caucus appeared to be the diminution of the already-too-weak existing regulations governing the overall drilling/fracking process.

A homeowner's affected water.  IMAGE: ANN PINCA

According to the editorial, the segment of our community that opposes the industrialization of Pennsylvania's rural areas by the gas industry uses "rumor mongering and twisting of facts that the industry has had to endure." Against this statement, consider the vast amounts of money spent by the gas industry in their never-ending campaign to convince the people of Pennsylvania and elsewhere that natural gas drilling is a great benefit and completely safe. To suggest that small grassroots organizations could win this propaganda war by distorting reality is totally ludicrous.

The numerous spills, the compromised water wells as evidenced by recently uncovered Department of Environmental Protection determination letters, the pollution from compressor stations and diesel trucks, the 15,124 recorded violations since 2009, the ravaging and fragmenting of our pristine forests, the serious threat to magnificent places like Rock Run and the wildlife in it: This is the scientific information that the general public must know.

And apparently, the public increasingly does know. Poll results released last May indicated 58 percent of Pennsylvanians join RDA in support of a moratorium until there is a fuller understanding of the risks - and a better trust in state environmental regulators.

Signed by the RDA Board of Directors

Robert Cross, President                       Mark Szybist, Board member 

Barbara Jarmoska, Treasurer                Kevin Heatley, Board member  

Jenni Slotterback, Secretary                 Roscoe McCloskey, Board member 

Ted Stroter, Board editor 

This statement was written in response to the Sun-Gazette editorial published August 4, 2013, which referred to the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus held in Williamsport on July 26. The Sun-Gazette editorial, written by Editor Dave Troisi, is reprinted below. 

Separating gas drilling fact from fiction -  

Study is a good first step

August 4, 2013                                                 

The participants at the recent Congressional Natural Gas Caucus hearings recently at Pennsylvania College of Technology said the economic impact of shale production is a "game changer."

That's hardly a surprising observation coming from a largely pro-gas industry gathering, but the economic realities of recent years support the conclusion.

Without the Marcellus Shale drilling boom in our region the effects of the recession of recent years would have been devastating. With that boom, the region is competing and at least holding its own. That's an accomplishment, given the amount of resistance, rumor mongering and twisting of facts that the industry has had to endure, a reality not lost on those at the caucus.

Rep. Glenn Thompson, a Howard Republican representing some of our region, said lawmakers need correct information to make responsible decisions about the gas industry, particularly scientific data. Unfortunately, lawmakers get a lot of misinformation that, over time proves to be inaccurate.

A good example involves hydraulic fracturing, which is routinely blamed for contaminating drinking water. A landmark federal study recently completed shows no evidence that chemicals from natural gas drilling contaminated drinking water aquifers at a western Pennsylvania drilling site.

The Department of Energy results came after a year of monitoring and represent the first independent look at whether the potentially toxic chemicals used in fracking pose a threat to people during normal drilling operations.

By injecting fluids tagged with unique markers more than 8,000 feet below the surface at the gas well bore, researchers were able to establish that potentially dangerous substances stayed about a mile away from surface drinking water supplies, which are usually about 500 feet below the surface. We would prefer that scientific information such as this be favored by the general public over the agenda-laden film-making that has been passing for fact among the anti-drilling crowd for years. 

Correct environmental regulations must be meticulously and fairly enforced and information gathering continued to assure an ongoing, safe drilling process. If that path is followed, the economic game-changing outlined at the caucus is there for the region to take.

Cement trucks line up at a well pad.                                       IMAGE: ANN PINCA