Pennsylvania groups fight court ruling on pollution fine
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Nearly 100 elected officials, businesses, and environmental groups have signed on to legal briefs in support of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection that could restrict maximum fines for waterway pollution, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The DEP is appealing a Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania decision from January in a suit brought by natural gas production company EQT Corp. The court found that fines for spills into streams and groundwater “must be based on the duration of the initial release and not on the days pollution continues to flow through the hydrologic system or seep out of contaminated soil.”
The case has the potential to revise a 40-year-old interpretation of the state’s signature clean water law.
Learn more: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette > Pennsylvania groups fight court ruling on waterway pollution
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.