HARRISBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--John Hanger, immediate past secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, former member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, and nationally-recognized expert on energy, the economy, and the environment, issued a statement today on his blog at http://johnhanger.blogspot.com/2011/02/statement-regarding-sunday-nyt-february.html responding to an article, “Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers,” that appeared in today’s New York Times.
The statement says, in part, “No compromises can be made about the safety of drinking water. The Sunday NYT article raises serious issues that must be definitely resolved immediately.
“The most serious issue raised by the NYT is whether or not unhealthy levels of radium are in the drinking water as a result of gas drilling wastewater.
“Good reasons exist to believe that the answer is no, including the new drilling wastewater disposal rule that went into effect in August 2010 and the now widespread use of recycling technology to manage at least 70% of drilling wastewater. But belief is not good enough.
“We must not drift into a war of competing theories or studies. We need the facts…. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection should order today all public water systems in Pennsylvania to test immediately for radium or radioactive pollutants and report as soon as good testing allows the results to the public. Only testing of the drinking water for these pollutants can resolve the issue raised by the NYT.”
Hanger also addresses other issues raised by the article, including whether Pennsylvania’s rules for other drilling operations are too lax for protecting the state’s drinking water, air, land, and citizens. On that account, Hanger details the many actions taken while he was DEP Secretary that resulted in more than doubling the inspector positions, strong action against drillers that violated the law, and more. Details of these actions are contained on Hanger’s blog at http://wwwjohnhanger.blogspot.com.
Hanger is president and CEO of Hanger Consulting, LLC, and Special Counsel at Eckert Seamans.