Preserve Monroeville's Home Rule Charter. Vote NO on all five ballot questions and One More thing!

Hello, and Happy November,
Preserve Monroeville's Home Rule Charter. 
Vote NO on all five ballot questions on Tuesday, November 6. 2018! Why?

Our understanding is that there has been a committee in Monroeville working on the Home Rule Charter. For now, Sustainable Monroeville endorses leaving the Home Rule Charter intact so the citizens of Monroeville are able to stand up for protecting its citizens.

Join us tomorrow evening, Monday, November 5, 2018 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at the Monroeville Public Library in the downstairs program room to discuss what's written below and to get an update on what's going on with fracking IN and AROUND Monroeville, PA right NOW! 

Feel free to share widely to those who will ACT on Tuesday! If you know anyone who lives in the state of PA, encourage them to spend a few hours at the polls Tuesday to get folks to sign petitions from the Better Path Coalition to preserve Article 1 Section 27 of the state of PA's Constitution which assures us citizens of PA clean air and fresh water. Note: Details for this initiative are at the BOTTOM of this e-mail including a link to the petition!

Even if you've never done work with petitions, please step out of your comfort zone, take a clip board and a stack of petitions with you Tuesday to the polls and for the rest of your day Tuesday. You will be happy you did!

This has been a wild week in Pittsburgh, PA. From the darkness emerges the light. Yet, it's important to get involved in order to watch the positive unfolding. Here's a few simple ways to get involved this Tuesday and it goes just a bit beyond voting if you have the courage to step just a tad outside of your comfort zone. If you need courage to do this and a bit of healing of your spirit, let us know *sustainablemonroeville@gmail.com, and we'll be happy to send encouragement in a variety of ways!! :)

The bottom line from our perspective is vote NO on all five ballot questions at the polls on Tuesday. We MUST keep Monroeville's Home Rule Charter intact at this time! Another bottom line is to read what's way down at the bottom of this e-mail, print out and take some petitions and a clip board for people to sign the petition to preserve Article 1 Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution which ensures clean air and fresh water for the citizens of the Commonwealth of PA. We've GOT this!

Blessings, Peace, and Namasté to all of my friends and relations! Elisa Beck :)

From Lois Drumheller: "The bottom line is this... If we don't pay attention to the subtle changes in local government, it won't be easy to locally get the government we want - especially when it comes to public input, fair elections... you know what I mean. So.... anyone to comment at this point? Thanks for listening. I intend to show the ballot questions, and compare/contrast them with the current HRC.

Question 1, according to Monroeville's municipal website is recommended to be "yes" vote, which contradicts the "no" recommendation we heard at the last council meeting from at least 2 members of council. When you examine what an elected tax collector's duties are, it's clear that they shall NOT include collection of what's known as "511 taxes" (business privilege, mercantile, local service taxes). The way it's already set by HRC, the tax office employees are continue their work on 511 taxes. Those employees report directly to the municipal manager, who should be responsible for how those are collected. It makes sense to leave the HRC alone and allow the manager to administrate, which is in line with what that position does with the financial manager in budget planning and implementation.

Question 2, is also recommended on Mrv's website to be "yes", but if you read the HRC, all contracts or purchases > $4,000 may be increased by Council to the extend of the maximum permitted from time to time. Why change something that has method to be adjusted under current rules? Every provision currently allows the bidding process to be fair.

Question 3 is also recommended to be Y, which is another reason to ask, "why?" Council has power to investigate hearings and subpoena power. Why is it necessary to change for the sake of being able to do it out of state, as each state has it own provisions. Give us a reason. I see none, and I don't take it for granted to fix something that is not broken.

Question 4 is also recommend to be Y, but uses no reasoning to remove a section that aligns with the state constitution as defined by the Local Government Commission, which DOES allow under the PA Constitution the exclusive grounds for removal of an official. So, why strike down the paragraph that aligns with this and just refer to section 2109 of the HRC, which is nebulous in what is intended for removal from or forfeiture of office of elected officials. The municipality's explanation of this in my view is disingenuous. "Infamous crimes" are those that include forgery, perjury, embezzlement of public monies. That makes me more than suspicious.

Question 5 on Recall is another one recommended for Y, but I ask again, "Why?" When officials commit malfeasance, misfeasance or violation of the oath of office, they should be called out on it. True, it's almost impossible to recall an elected official, but it is legal. It takes 2/3 of the state legislature under the Senate to follow through, and true, people have to be pretty pissed off to even coordinate a petition to start this process off. But, IT'S OUR PROCESS.  I say this, as surely many other people say this. We need to take note of Home Rule seriously!  Why take a process away that may account for these violations? Why shouldn't we remind locally officials to act in accordance to the law? They should operate in accordance to law. It's time we all took our own little civics course, got a copy of the Home Rule Charter (it used to cost $3.00) and bring it to every meeting we attend. Yes, the public has a right to refer to this document, which means, READ IT. Remember... An elected group of citizens studied the conditions we should be governed by locally. They were elected by referendum, not by the closed door process we saw a few years ago. In 1974, this was a decision by everyone in Monroeville to study the conditions to open up government, not restrict it! Before then, things were a little too restricted under borough code. They went through an OPEN process that resulted in the HRC being developed. It's time we remembered that, and WHY this group of people, some who are still alive (thank you, Mary Lou Span) and they did us all a favor of having the vision to determine what was right LOCALLY, BY LAW. It's our constitution!  Realize this.... Since last year, we are looking at referendums that haven't even seen a ray of sunshine in the process of their development. Never let something become MORE restrictive. ALWAYS keep the public aware of how the people we elect are using the rules. NEVER make the implementation of those rules restrictive by introducing legislation to limit our ability to hold them responsible."

Please vote NO on all five ballot questions! Thanks Lois Drumheller for letting us know why!

On another note, The Better Path Coalition is planning to kick off 2019 with a HUGE event celebrating Article 1, Section 27 of the PA Constitution. As a founding member of the coalition, we're working with our partners to plan an amazing day of action on Sunday, 1/27 and a delivery of this petition to every office in the capitol on Monday, 1/28 (with some very special help). We want whoever wins the election in November and whoever returns to Harrisburg to uphold the amendment, which happens to be the strongest of its kind in the country. We want elected officials who will lead on climate, take aggressive action against pollution, and prevent new sources of pollution from entering PA.

We'll be at the polls on November 6th with paper copies of this petition we'll be asking voters to sign as they leave. We're looking for volunteers across the state to spend an hour or two (or more) gathering signatures. If you'd like to take part, please register here! http://bit. ly/petitionatthepolls 

That's why I signed a petition to Gubernatorial and Legislative Winners of 2018 PA Midterm Election, which says:

"You will serve during the period climate scientists agree is the last chance we have to act if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. You will also be charged with taking on threats to our water, air, and environment that have harmed our communities and natural resources, in some cases, for years.

Pennsylvania’s constitution contains the strongest environmental rights amendment in the country. Article 1, Section 27 says “The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.”

We call on every newly-elected official and every elected official who returns to Harrisburg in 2019 to fulfill their Constitutional obligation to uphold Article 1, Section 27 by taking aggressive action to address the urgent environmental and climate challenges that confront us and establishing policies that prevent new sources of pollution from entering the Commonwealth.

Will you sign the petition, too? Click here to add your name: 

https://petitions.moveon.org/p/e_9lP_pRs5 

Thanks! 

One more thing y'all:
Subject: Uphold PA's Environmental Rights Amendment & Act on Climate

Hi,

I signed a petition to Gubernatorial and Legislative Winners of 2018 PA Midterm Election.

Will you sign this petition? Click here:

https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/uphold-pas-environmental-1?source=s.em.cp&r_hash=JDTRJIEU

Thanks!

Like Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!

Monroeville's Ordinance for Stormwater Management....

Thursday evening, September 6, 2018 at 7:00 pm is the Monroeville Council Study Session. 
Take a look at the draft ordinance on the MS4 plan for Monroeville. This will be discussed tonight. 
http://www.monroeville.pa.us/PDF/PollutionControlFloodReductionOrdDraft.pdf

See the Monroeville web site for details.

Tonight, Tuesday, July 11, 2017 in Monroeville, PA. Share Widely!

Please join us tonight, Tuesday, July 11, 2017, in the Monroeville Council Chamber at 6:00 PM. Let's talk  about preserving the value of our homes and properties! 

Share widely with all of your friends and neighbors!

Grandmother Earth is calling us!
Some breaking fabulous news!
1) On June 20, 2017, the Supreme Court affirmed by majority, the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article 1, Section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution to assure Clean Water and Clean Air for all Pennsylvania citizens.
2) On Monday, July 3, 2017, the borough of Oakmont, PA, held a special meeting and enacted by unanimous vote, a very limiting Marcellus ordinance.
3) Please join us tonight, that's Tuesday, July 11, at 6:00 and 7:00 PM for the July 2017 Citizen's Night and Council Meeting, to hear the proposal for a similar very limited Marcellus ordinance for Monroeville, PA.
If you care about limiting or eliminating chemicals in our water causing hormone disruption, limiting, or eliminating both air and water pollution from the Marcellus Shale industry, please join either or both of these meetings as a supportive observer, or to share your opinion.

In case you did not hear the front page Times Express News a few weeks ago, Seismic Testing is being conducted in Monroeville. Tim Little, Municipal Manager met with the gas company Huntley and Huntley to approve this Seismic Testing. Mr. Little was able to approve the Seismic Testing in our Municipality without putting the information in front of the citizens of this municipality because the Municipality of Monroeville does not have a law on the books yet, to limit these activities.
Individual citizens are being, and have been approached since April, 2017 by Huntley and Huntley to ask if it is fine to test for both Marcellus Shale and the Utica Shale under their private properties. Please know that you, as a private land owner in Monroeville, or anywhere, can deny the testing.

The following essay was written by an intentionally unnamed individual about the Fracking process:
"This is what has happening in Pennsylvania and all over the world.
The Fracking process:
1. A gas company identifies an area with underground gas.
2. The company leases the right to extract gas from many sites in the area without revealing the risks.
3. The company uses seismic tests to map the locations of underground shale and natural fractures.
4. The company applies for permits to drill and extract gas. Companies will subvert any local zoning laws made by communities to keep fracking out, appeal straight to the federal government and bankrupt municipalities in court. See Grant Twp, PA.
5. The gas company removes all the trees from a 5-10 acre swath to build the "well pad".
6. Initially one or two wells are drilled for every square mile. Eventually there can be 10-12 wells per square mile.
7. First, a vertical well is drilled in the bare ground, cutting through different rock layers and pushing toxic drilling muds into aquifers.
8. A cement casing is poured to protect the groundwater, but casings are fragile and can crack under the extreme pressure of hydraulic fracturing or earthquakes. Eventually the casing will fail, allowing chemicals and gas to leak through the cracks. 6% fail the day they are put in.
9. The horizontal well is then drilled, cutting across natural faults and fractures in the rock. These wells can be up to two miles long.
10. Each Frack= 5 million gallons of water, 1,000 truck trips, 100 tons of toxic chemicals X up to 10 fracks for each well X 4 to 12 wells per pad. This mixture of water, chemicals, and sand are forced into the well under extreme pressure to shatter the shale rock and release the gas.
11. 60-80% of this fluid remains underground contaminating groundwater. The radioactive wastewater and drill cuttings that return to surface are stored in tanks or open pits. Later it will be buried on site, dumped in landfills, injected back underground or into aquifers and they have even illegally dumped at sewage treatment plants.
12. Processing facilities, compressors, and pipelines are built to separate and transport the gas. Pipelines fail, explode, and leak methane into the atmosphere which is 80 times more potent than Co2 as a greenhouse gas.
13. A chemical dryer removes moisture and light oils from the extracted gas using the hazardous chemical 2-butoxyethanol.
14. The gas is compressed before being put into pipelines.
15. Gas is vented out along the pipeline to relieve pressure in the system.
16. Gas is then liquified for export overseas or odorized and delivered to your home.
Some of the most important laws that protect the public don't apply to oil & gas companies due to loopholes put into the Safe Drinking Water Act including community right-to-know laws. We must end this invasive, destructive, and devastating process now! Ban fracking worldwide!!"

Tonight, we plan to propose an extremely conservative fracking, and fracking related activities ordinance for Monroeville, PA.  

Please join us at Citizen's Night at 6:00 PM and also at the Monroeville council meeting following at 7:00 PM to show your support for this ordinance.

Thanks,
Elisa Beck:)
Ward 2 Resident, Monroeville, PA
Sustainable Monroeville, Founder

June 1, 2015 at Sustainable Monroeville! Six PM Pot Luck and 7:00 PM Meeting at the Monroeville Public Library!

 The June meeting of Sustainable Monroeville on June 1, 2015 is in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. At 6:00 PM we'll have a plant based, as locally sourced as possible, including your yard as a source of foraged food!!!, pot luck dinner followed by our meeting at 7:00 PM. Please pack in and out. Bring utensils, plates and cups!

Lois Drumheller who has spearheaded the Monroeville Food Garden along with several other amazing volunteers will give an overview of what's coming this season! 

Pamela Barroso who has been participating in Sustainable Monroeville since the group was founded in 2009 is spearheading the effort to document Monroeville as a Sustainable Community through the certification program of Sustainable Pittsburgh. Go to www.sustainblepittsburgh.org for more details about this program.

Pam's topic at the June 1, 2015 meeting of Sustainable Monroeville will focus on Local and Regional Cooperation. Questions to be addressed for Local and Regional Cooperation are below: 

 

The numbers on the right hand side of the statements are the maximum number of points that can be acquired for these items on the questionnaire that is being filled out. I am looking forward to the meeting to learn a lot, as I have not a clue what the Council of Governments is, nor how our municipality might work with the ICA's mentioned above!!

What is this Sustainable Community certification process all about and why is it important for the Municipality of Monroeville to participate in this program of Sustainable Pittsburgh? 

In my view this questionnaire is getting the conversation started community wide about the meaning of the word sustainability and is key to facilitate documentation of what is already sustainable about our amazing community! As  the conversation continues, community members, educators, school children, businesses, and politicians have questions we work on answering. We are all working together to manifest a more and more sustainably oriented community as we move along into the middle of the 21st century!

Looking forward to seeing you in June! 

All meetings of Sustainable Monroeville are free and open to the public.

Thanks so much to all of our volunteers, and Happy late Springtime!

Elisa :)

Elisa Beck, Founder

www.sustainablemonroeville.com

LIKE Sustainable Monroeville on Facebook!

Sahar Arbab on Sustainable Community Certification for Monroeville, PA, and Party; 7:00 to 8:30 PM on Monday evening, December 1, 2014!

You Are Invited! Join us on Monday evening, December 1, 2014, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM, for our fun plant based pot luck dinner and to hear Sahar Arbab, of the Student Conservation Association (SCA) and working this year with Sustainable Pittsburgh, brief us, and work with us on our Sustainable Community Certification for the Municipality of Monroeville! Bring a plant based dish along with a cup, plate and utensils as we strive towards zero waste events!

Sustainable Monroeville meetings are free and open to the public and happen in the downstairs program room of the Monroeville Public Library. Invite a friend or two, come listen and learn, and share some delicious plant-based food! We do not limit our meetings to the residents of Monroeville, so feel free to invite friends and family from far and wide!

If you have time over the next few days, watch the movie ORIGINS on-line. You'll learn all about why eating a mostly plant based diet is a great sustainable, environmental thing to do! Here's the link: http://origins.well.org/movie/?contactId=466018&inf_contact_key=150fab727b0095191f4f813d22e96e6313c70467a284f8c280060c53fcedfead&inf_field_Email=elisabeck%40aol.com&inf_BH3oNHedtWJ98YNq=
the movie and related amazing videos are free to view for the next few days!

Someone said to me recently that I cannot consider myself an environmentalist if I eat meat. Chew on that line for awhile!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Elisa Beck :)
LIKE Sustainable Monroeville on FACEBOOK!

Alaina Conner of the Allegheny County Health Department speaking at Monday August 5, 2013 at 7:00 PM meeting of Sustainable Monroeville!

Alaina Conner of the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) will be our guest speaker at the August 5 at 7:00 PM meeting of Sustainable Monroeville.  Alaina is an Air Pollution Administrator at the Allegheny County Health Department and a University of Pittsburgh graduate. She will speak about the Air Quality / Pollution Control Program in our county. 

“The Allegheny County Health Department Air Quality Program is responsible for protecting the public's health by regulating air pollutants within Allegheny County, enforcing federal pollution standards, and permitting industrial sources of air pollution.” ACHD.  There are 18 air monitoring sites throughout the county with headquarters in Lawrenceville.  One of the most challenging areas is Clairton because of the coke plant located at the base of the valley.  

Alaina will speak about certain weather conditions generating an inversion layer which makes the situation worse! There are six air quality responsibilities at the state and local level: Manage Air Quality, Measure Air Quality, Regulate Pollution Sources, Plan Transportation Controls, Develop Overall Plan, and Track Emissions.

The staff seeks public participation.  Contact them at 412-687-ACHD or go to their web site, or contact Alaina 

Greening of Pittsburgh

We are excited to use these occasional updates to share news about the innovative initiatives we are working on, as well as to update you on existing “green” projects in the City of Pittsburgh.

In October 2008, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl hired the City’s first-ever Sustainability Coordinator and created the Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency to provide guidance on greening the City’s operations and facilities. The Sustainability Coordinator is tasked with implementing the municipal recommendations of the Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan, adopted in August 2008, as well as collaborating with individuals from all departments to strengthen existing environmental initiatives and ensure that sustainability is integrated into all City operations.

Staffed by the Sustainability Coordinator and Energy and Utilities Manager, the Office of Sustainability and Energy Efficiency also serves as a work and learning space for students and young adults who work with the City through class projects, independent studies, internships and fellowships.

Did you know that the City of Pittsburgh…

Recently created a Green Guide to aid citizens in “going green” in Pittsburgh?
Gave away 2,000 tree seedlings to residents in April 2010?
Was recently recognized with ‘Bicycle Friendly’ status by the League of American Bicyclists?
Replaced all of its traffic signals with energy efficient LED models in 2008, saving nearly $20,000 per month?
Purchases 15% of its electricity from renewable wind sources?
Is one of only 25 U.S. cities to be awarded a Solar America Cities grant through the Department of Energy?
Has transformed over 120 vacant lots around the city into common green spaces through the Green Up program?
Uses a B20 biodiesel blend in all of its diesel equipment?
Collected over 13,200 tons of recyclables curbside in 2009, which is a 19.5% Increase from 2008?

To learn more about these projects, click on City of Pittsburgh

A Toxic Spew

The horrific news about the BP offshore platform explosion is raising our awareness about drilling, oil dependency and corporate profits. With events unfolding, many point to simple pure negligence resulting in a bleeding oil gusher.

This event prompts us to connect more closely with the concern in the what underlies our community connection in the Marcellus Shale. To focus more clearly, hot off the press from Newsweek is insight into "fracking" oil and gas. How do you think this story unfolds for Western PA?

Image Source: Newsweek 2010

Rally To Save Our Forests

Start your day by making a difference, and join us for a rally to support our remarkable state forests on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 from 9-10AM at the Governor's office (301 Fifth Avenue).

You will hear from:

Jan Jarrett, PennFuture President and CEO
Doug Shields, Pittsburgh City Council Member
Lisa Brown, Director of Operations and Outreach, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association
Tom Hoffman, Western Pennsylvania Director, Clean Water Action

Currently the state legislature is moving forward with a budget plan that relies on new natural gas drilling leases on state forest land to cover the budget shortfall - threatening our public natural resources and compromising public access to our forest land. We need forest heroes- our legislators and Governor Rendell must pledge not to support a budget that relies in drilling in forests. Instead, they need to enact a gas extraction impact fee to pay for the damage to natural resources and communities that drilling causes. Our legislators need to support the impact fee and the Save our Forests legislation (HB 2235), which puts a five year freeze on new deep natural gas drilling leases in state forests.Gather your friends and come downtown to show your support for protecting our state forests.If you'd like to attend this event, click here.

Best wishes, and let me know if you have any questions.
Joylette Portlock
Ph.D.Western Pennsylvania Outreach Coordinator
Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture)
412-258-6682

Watchdogs of Toxic Waters

Stephanie Simmons, the Water Chair for the Sierra Club asked at our March meeting: Have you heard of the Marcellus Shale? If you haven’t, then you might have asked at one point…can we utilize the kind of drilling processes currently undertaken safely, without significant damage to the environment, communities, and water quality? Stephanie guided us through the lack of disclosure from companies concerning types of chemicals used in the process including the lack of legislative prowess to get in front of the process, instead of significantly behind it. Also DEP's role in regulating, taxing, and leaving one with a simple question: is that enough to protect the commonwealth and its people from a potentially devastating hazard? Has the true cost of operating unconventional horizontal well drilling been calculated? Everyone, even the oil and gas professionals agree, the answer is no. To the degree of liability and culpability there is a dividing line. Some companies have sold their land to sub-contractors because they now realize the risk may be too great to absorb for them, and probably, for us as well.

What follows is Jay Sweeney's enlightening story behind the Marcellus Shale. Jay is the Green party candidate running for the 111th District of the State of Pennsylvania.

In 2008, I was running for State Representative in the 111th District. I attended a League of Women Voters meeting. Everyone was asking, “Did you sign a lease yet?” It was then that I learned of the Marcellus Shale. The Marcellus Shale is a sedimentary black shale. It is located beneath most of Pennsylvania with the exception of the southeastern part of the state. It is also found beneath parts of Ohio, West Virginia and New York. It is named the Marcellus due to it’s outcropping near the town of Marcellus, New York. In Pennsylvania, it is located between 5,000 and 10,000 feet below the earth’s surface several thousand feet below the fresh water aquifer, which is around 400 feet. Trapped between the shale is natural gas. The Marcellus also contains uranium, and the radioactive decay of the uranium-238 makes it a source of radioactive radon gas.

I then learned about the landsmen. They approached landholders to sign mineral leases with them. They were given sign on bonuses and the promise of future royalties. This all began quietly as early as 2005 with landsmen offering large landholders such as farmers $15.00 per acre. Today they are paying $6000.00 per acre. Dr. Terry Engelder, Professor of Geology at Penn State University was the co-author of a scientific paper on the economic and geologic opportunities of the Marcellus Shale formation. He estimates there is between 160 and 525 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Marcellus with about 50 tcu recoverable. This is enough to meet the nations needs for 2 years. Since then estimates have rapidly risen to a 14-year supply, 50 year supply and finally to 100 year supply.

Drilling in the Marcellus is considered unconventional and utilizes a procedure developed by Halliburton called hydrofracturing. As the name suggests, water mixed with sand and chemicals is forced through the shale under pressure to crush the shale and release the gas. Each fracking operation requires 1 to 3 million gallons of water per well. Wells can be fracked several times. While only 5% of the fracking fluid is composed of chemicals, 50,000 gallons of chemicals are used per million gallons of water. The fracking companies claim the formula for their fluids are proprietary. They do not want to release the information about the chemical content.

Before the hydrofracturing, a borehole is drilled. It goes through the aquifer and continues for at least a mile. When it approaches the shale it is curved to run horizontally through it. Then the borehole is cased with pipe. A second layer of pipe is inserted and the well is cased with concrete. A series of explosives are detonated in the area to be fracked, initiating the fissures needed to release the gas. Horizontal drilling allows drilling in several directions from one well and several wells can be drilled from one pad. The number one environmental problem associated with this drilling is the threat to our water, although there is also fragmentation of the land. Drilling pads of up to 5 acres are cleared for each operation. There is also the release of methane, the principal component of natural gas. As a greenhouse gas, Methane is 20 times more dangerous than Carbon Dioxide. Truck traffic, road damage and noise are just a few more of the environmental problems associated with natural gas drilling.

Getting back to water, millions of gallons of water are used in the hydrofracturing process. Roughly one half of the water remains in the ground and the rest returns to the surface. This water contains total dissolved solids that make it 5 times saltier than seawater. It contains the chemical additives, which have been found to include carcinogens and endocrine disruptors. It is also potentially radioactive. This water is now industrial waste and must be treated as such. However, there are few facilities available to handle this type of waste. The drilling pads contain pits where this water can be stored. It is subject to leaks, overflow from heavy rain or snowfall and exposes waterfowl and wildlife to these toxins. It is going to municipal wastewater treatment plants, which are not equipped to properly handle industrial waste. This water is being diluted with the treated water and dumped into our rivers and streams. This resulted in problems with total dissolved solids in the Monongahela River this summer. The Monongahela provides drinking water to many downstream communities.

In addition, this wastewater is dumped on roads for dust control and can be used in the winter to pretreat roads prior to snowfall. All of these activities were permitted by DEP even before it was gutted in the recent budget signed by Governor Rendell. DEP has not lived up to its mission, which reads as follows to protect Pennsylvania’s air, land and water from pollution and to provide for the health and safety of its citizens through a cleaner environment. We will work as partners with individuals, organizations, governments and businesses to prevent pollution and restore our natural resources.

DEP is understaffed, underfunded and cannot possibly monitor activity at the wells. The Oil and Gas industry expects to apply for 5200 permits in 2010; three times more than in 2009! DEP has raised the cost of a permit and these funds will be used to hire more employees. This means that the industry that is subject to DEP regulation and monitoring is now funding the agency. DEP does not plan to regulate the wastewater until treatment plants come online in 2011. Yet, it has streamlined the permitting process to drill a well. The treatment plants that do come online in 2011 will not be sufficient to handle the volume or properly cleanse the wastewater before it is dumped into our rivers and streams. That volume has been estimated to be nearly 20 million gallons per day. At the request of the oil and gas industry DEP Secretary John Hanger removed the County Conservation districts from any oversight or regulatory role in natural gas drilling. Hanger stated that with all of the drilling, there is bound to be environmental impact, but the economic benefit would outweigh the environmental harm. The Green Party of PA called for his resignation.

There have been numerous environmental incidents in the past couple of years. In western PA, there was the contamination of the Monongahela River and the drinking water supply of many area residents. There was the destruction of Dunkard Creek. Atlas Resources was cited for violations at 13 wells, including spills of fracturing fluids and other contaminants onto the ground around the sites. M.R. Dirt, a company that removes waste from drilling sites, spilled more than 7 tons of drilling dirt along a public road. Range Resources spilled nearly 5,000 gallons of wastewater, including hydraulic fracturing fluids, into a tributary of Cross Creek Lake, a protected watershed near Pittsburgh. In NEPA, There was a diesel spill of several hundred gallons in a wetland, there was a frack fluid spill of several thousand gallons that resulted in a fish kill, and there were unregulated water withdrawals from streams. DEP responded with fines that could hardly be described as punitive to companies that generate revenues of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Atlas resources paid $85,000 for its offenses. Mr. Dirt paid $6,000 for its violations. Cabot Oil & Gas Company had a litany of violations. Cabot entered into a consent agreement with DEP and negotiated a $120,000.00 fine. One of Cabot’s most egregious violations occurred on January 1, 2009. There was the explosion of a well housing for the water supply of Norma Fiorentino in Dimock. Methane had accumulated beneath the concrete slab over her well. A spark from the electrical connection to her pump ignited the methane.

Norma and others in Dimock could no longer use their once pristine water supply. Water from the faucet could be ignited. It looked and smelled bad. People got sick from drinking it. Cabot denied that this was a result of their operations. DEP studied and recommended that Cabot supply water to some, but, not all of the affected homes. Norma Fiorentino was not one of the residents to receive water. She and other Dimock residents pleaded with Cabot. Cabot still refused. When she asked if she would have to initiate a lawsuit, a Cabot lawyer told her you’ll lose. Finally fed up, a group of 15 families filed a lawsuit against Cabot for polluting their water, medical problems and the loss of value of their property.

I should point out that the Oil and Gas industry is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Air Act, EPA hazardous waste regulations which require a cradle to grave tracking system and more. Other regulatory agencies involved in the process in NEPA include the Susquehanna and Delaware River Basin Commissions. They regulate water withdrawals from streams and rivers associated with their respective rivers. Drilling companies must apply to these agencies before they withdraw any water from the basin. In fact, at least one company was fined for illegally taking water from a stream. Despite claiming to produce local jobs, many of those employed in the drilling industry are transients and bring with them an increase in crime. There has also been a housing issue. As these people move into the area rental values go up and locals are finding difficulty locating affordable housing.

What can we do?

We have formed a watchdog group called Citizens for Clean Water. Members of our group attend public meetings held by DEP and others including Penn State. These meetings are supposed to answer questions and suppress the fear of the public. They tend to be favorable to the industry, but the opposition is growing. One thing that I have learned over the course of attending these meetings for the past year or so is that no one owns the water. It is a commonwealth resource. This is where we have a right and a need to speak out. Private landowners have a right to lease their land, but, they do not have a right to utilize and deplete our water resources to enrich themselves and even more so the oil & gas companies.

Citizens for Clean Water were on hand when an 8,000 gallon frac fluid spill occurred at a drilling site. They documented the spill with video recorders and called DEP to complain. Cabot Oil & Gas was supposed to report this incident, which were actually 3 separate spills over a couple of days, but they did not until Citizens for Clean Water discovered it. Cabot was prohibited from hydrofracturing in the area until they complied with DEPs requirements. Unfortunately, that only lasted 2 weeks. We had Ben Price from the Community Environmental Defense Fund come and speak about the CELDF strategy of passing local ordinances prohibiting offensive behaviors. While I think this is a great strategy, in an area where most have signed a lease and expect to become millionaires, this would be extremely difficult to implement.

Another thing I have learned is that DEP is answerable to the Environmental Protection Agency. We must address our grievances to the EPA. The gas companies would rather deal with the state agencies and why not. They have had their way with DEP. Senator Casey is a co-sponsor of the Fracturing Responsibly and Awareness of Chemicals Act, FRAC Act for short, which would require the industry to disclose the chemicals it uses in hydrofrackturing and subject it to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The oil & gas industry opposes the Act. I personally don't think it goes far enough.

If drilling is planned near you, you should get a comprehensive water test done. If your water becomes contaminated, you will need this water test to validate your claim. To stand up in court, a professional must do it with no interest in your property. A chain of custody needs to be established for the water samples and an EPA certified lab must test them. This is costly, about $1,000, but necessary. You may also want to get an appraisal of your property. If your property value declines due to drilling, you could also present this evidence to the courts.

Finally, there is direct action. I believe we should use Earth Day to assemble outside DEP offices across the Commonwealth to demand that DEP fulfill its mission and protect our environment from the oil & gas industry. The Governor and General Assembly are also responsible. They have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which includes, Article I, Section 27. The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people. The failure of the Governor, our State Senators and State Reps to uphold the constitution makes them liable for damages and potential defendants in future lawsuits. We must stand up to these elected officials and challenge them at the polls.