by Barb Jarmoska, RDA Board of Directors

The conflict-ridden debate on the topic of oil and gas drilling regulations was certainly in evidence; a clash of values the obvious dividing line. On one side, concern for the future of the planet, the air, soil, water and all life forms that comprise the ecosystem. On the other side - warnings that the economic opportunity provided by oil and gas would be lost due to costly regulations. 

 
If anyone was keeping "score" at this third and final hearing - it was 19/14 among those who testified; money trumped sustainability. 

 
Several RDA Board and Working Group members worked for many hours studying the 168 page final rulemaking proposal for oil and gas operations in order to offer valid and important comments within DEP's established framework of acceptability for such comments. In spite of RDA's position that no new unconventional wells should be drilled until such time as the industry can show that the technology is safe, we also understand the absolute necessity of participation in the regulatory process. RDA's comments therefore followed DEP guidelines and were very specific to those sections of the new regulations that we either agree with or wish to see strengthened.

The panel listens to individual testimony. photo credit: Richard Karp

RDA did not have access to the full testimony of the paid industry representatives and other pro-gas folks who spoke at the hearing, but we can offer you a few quotes:
 

Dale Howard, gas industry employee from McKean County, "DEP should burn these new regulations and return to Act 223, also known as the Oil and Gas Act of 1984."
 

Rich Adams, Environmental Health and Safety Director for Chief, "In the past, DEP has had great success with more general regulations than what is being proposed."
 

Mark Fisher, pipeline surveyor from Lancaster PA, "Hundreds of thousands of jobs are on the line. Our loss would be the middle east's gain."
 

Matt Henderson from Montoursville, "These regulations are strangled opportunities. You (DEP) have endangered my children's future."
 

Tom Gillespie, Director of Health and Safety for Inflection Energy, "PA's economic revolution is in jeopardy...natural gas is the life blood of current and future society."
 

Tammy Donnis, President of the Montrose Chamber of Commerce, "No new regulations are needed. PA needs less competition."
 

Timothy Erikson, subcontractor for the gas industry, "The combustion of methane will contribute more water to the hydrologic cycle than fracking uses."
 

John Augustine, Marcellus Shale Coalition, "The proposed regulations create a competitive disadvantage...don't set our economy backwards."
 

Paul Hart, owner of waste-water treatment company in Indiana PA, "The low price of gas must be factored into the new regulations."
 

John Stewart, conventional driller from Warren, PA, "The restoration performance standards for conventional hillside drilling must be relaxed. Those sites are impossible to restore."
 

Others present at the hearing, both those who offered testimony and those who spoke via their applause, were looking through a scope far beyond the often wildly exaggerated job creation and other "economic benefits" touted by the industry. RDA was among them.
 

For the past 6 years, we have been actively engaged in seeking the truth about the true costs and potential consequences of unconventional gas drilling. We know beyond a doubt that gas industry operations pose a threat to our air, water, soil, ecological systems, and health - and that this threat is impossible to remove from the equation. There has been much research documenting the potential harms and risks posed by the industry. Just this week, newspapers across PA ran front page headlines of a story on drinking well water contamination by drilling chemicals. Click here to read all about it.
 

The potential damages and harm created by the gas industry must be minimized. On that premise, RDA presented both oral and written comments in support of some much-needed new regulations, as well as recommendations to tighten the requirements in crucial areas. I delivered a shortened version of these comments Monday night and the following is the current draft of what RDA plans to submit before the May 19th deadline. We welcome your feedback and suggestions before RDA's final submission is made. Click here to read the current draft of RDA's comments to DEP. And click here to send us your input.

of drinking water quality to pre-pollution standards. Given the fact that the industry continually tells us that gas drilling does not pollute water, and many of our elected officials echo that claim, publicly stating in campaign rhetoric that no drinking water supplies have been contaminated by drilling.

Since we are told this doesn't happen, this regulation should not be burdensome to the industry, nor should they have just cause to push back against its inclusion in the proposed rulemaking. It is a simple, common-sense regulation. If you ruin it, you replace or restore it." 

-excerpt from RDA's draft comments

We also provide you with the testimony of several other folks who attended the hearing. Click on each individual's name to read what Bob Deering and Dan Alters had to say to DEP. Click here for the C.O.G.E.N.T. (Connection for Oil, Gas & the Environment in the Northern Tier) website and link to Emily Krafjack's testimony.

"Overall I strongly support more stringent regulation of the oil and gas industry and urge these regulations, strengthened in keeping with the above comments, be adopted as soon as possible. I trust that the current administration will provide DEP with the staff and other resources needed to fully and timely implement these regulations." 

-excerpt from Dan Alters' testimony
 

Bob Deering testifies before the audience. photo credit: Richard Karp

Written comments will be accepted by DEP through May 19th. We encourage all of you to make note of those areas of greatest concern to you and submit written comments to DEP at this link: http://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/RegComments/Agreement.aspx.
 

The future of Pennsylvania is at stake. Make your voice heard.