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We Will Resist

2/26/2017

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On January 25th, five days after Donald Trump’s inauguration, seven Greenpeace activists climbed a crane and unfurled a massive banner emblazoned with the word “RESIST” in full view of the White House. That brave action sparked newfound audacity in the environmental movement, and that word, resist, became our new rallying cry. We will not allow this administration to destroy our planet for profit.

We will resist when the Denier-in-Chief and his cronies continuously deny the scientific reality of anthropogenic climate change and fail to take action to stop it. We will resist if the new regime tries to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, which China, India, and Russia have all signed, and jeopardize the greatest chance this planet has ever had for global climate action. We will resist when Trump tries to ram dangerous, polluting pipelines down the throats of the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota, farmers in Nebraska, and everyday people right here in Pennsylvania. We will resist when the goons running the Departments of the Interior, Energy, and Agriculture try to turn our precious public lands into extraction colonies or sell them off for destruction by the highest bidder. We will resist when the EPA under Pruitt begins to value profits over people and land. We will resist when species on the brink of extinction are kept off the Endangered Species List because of political or corporate opposition. We will resist when Congress tries to gut the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Antiquities Act, and a whole host of other environmental laws because they know they’ll have a rubber stamp from the Oval Office. And we will resist right here on the ground in Butler County, when the frackers try to poison our air and water, destroy our landscape, and put people in harm’s way.
​
I hope Trump likes a good fight, because he’s in for a long one. The environmental movement is here, we are angry, we are getting stronger, and we are not backing down. We won’t stop fighting.

Sam Hoszwa
0 Comments

Dear DEP Employee

10/2/2015

 
Mr. D.,

I'm the man you met in the drive at the Cratty well (EM Energy, Well API Number 019-22387, OGO Number OGO-39487, Facility ID 782174)  in Allegheny Township in northern Butler County. You may recall that I was concerned about the reckless 4 day flaring (it is still ongoing, by the way) of a well with a low cloud cover four hundred yards from where my granddaughter lives - that's why I called the DEP Emergency number to report the dangerous situation I was witnessing. You may remember that I was concerned because my wife, who has scarring on her lungs from previous exposures, was also experiencing difficulties. You may also remember that I was pretty heated.

Flaring is a dangerous process and one that I've had lots of experience with. Flaring by EdgeMarc (aka EM Energy) is a particularly dangerous proposition because they are so reckless (not that any drillers I have observed are not reckless). I have witnessed them, over and over, flare wells with little concern for nearby residents. In this most recent flaring, we had several days in a row where we had a low hanging cloud cover and little wind. The Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project says that days like this are "very unhealthy." They suggest that people should "avoid extended heavy exertion, close windows, go somewhere else, turn on air filter." At the very least, nearby residents should be warned well in advance of a flaring so they can be proactive, make informed choices to protect their health.


I wanted to get back to you about the studies I cited yesterday that you derided as "skewed" and the product of known foes of fracking.

The first study I cited, out of your alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, was published in June (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0126425 ). You asked about sample size and the length of study. I believe you will find the information you asked about in the link.

The second study I cited, out of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University, was published in July (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131093 ). Once again, the information you requested is available.

I think your derision is a deplorable display by an employee of a state agency.

I don't believe that your degrees, no matter how well you are trained, permits you to slander or impugn the integrity of scholars of high repute; your opinion does not have the weight of systematic study reflected in the scholarly articles published in a well regarded journal. If you can't back up your opinion with anything more than, "I know these people", it's probably better for you to keep your opinions to yourself (and I seriously doubt you know them well enough to slander their work). More to the point, these studies are not isolated utterances by random scientists. They are, rather, reiterations and elaborations of previous studies conducted at other institutions that have reached similar conclusions or conclusions that pointed to the need for more research.

More to the point, there have not been enough studies done to quantify the risks. The studies I cited were just initial forays into the research that should have been conducted BEFORE drilling was permitted and peoples' lives and health were put at risk. For you to contend that the work cited was skewed or that the authors were prejudiced but not point to anything to address my concerns about my granddaughter's (and wife's) health was both irresponsible and betrayed an ignorance on your part. To suggest that your degrees trumped "stuff I got off the internet" also pointed to a sort of arrogance - I've actually devoted a good bit of time the last 5 years meeting with the scientists that you've derided and many, many more. I'd stack my knowledge of the scientific literature surrounding the health concerns around fracking against yours (more so now, after meeting you).

Being an "activist" doesn't equate to being ignorant. I would contend that my "activism" sprung from my increasing awareness. Being an activist doesn't mean that I know all other activists and for you to insinuate that I might know the activists you claim followed you about is both ludicrous and, because I told I didn't know anything about anyone following people, insulting.

During testimony at the EPA hearings on methane emissions in Pittsburgh earlier this week, I said, "many of us in front line communities have little faith in regulatory and enforcement agencies such as PA DEP, which we've labeled Don't Expect Protection, and the EPA". My dealings with you have only reinforced my feelings in this regard.

This point was driven home to me when the air quality inspector that was also on the scene told me that as long as he couldn't see anything coming out of the stack, EM Energy was in compliance with regulations. Apparently, poisoning people is permissible if an inspector can't see the poisons with his naked eye. 

It seems ridiculous to me that an air inspector's only tool is his naked eye. It seems preposterous that an agency that has a mission statement that reads, in part, "protect Pennsylvania's air, land and water from pollution" isn't armed with even rudimentary detection tools.

I realize, as Ed Orris (outgoing supervisor of air in Meadville) told me, you can only enforce what you're mandated to enforce, but it gives me little comfort to know that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania deems the health and safety of a four year old less important than gas production and that you, an employee charged with protecting, deem scholarly research from reputable scientists as nothing more than a propaganda tool and activists as nothing but ignorant hindrances to the continued exploitation of a dirty fuel.

M B-C

We're Not Covered.

5/11/2012

 
In her May 7 letter to the Eagle, “Statements correct,” Sen. Mary Jo White claimed that “hydraulic fracturing — indeed, any activity that might affect ground or surface water — is covered by both the federal and state Safe Drinking Water Act.”

The following is from the U.S. House of Representatives 2011 study, “Chemicals Used in Hydraulic Fracturing”:  “While most underground injections of chemicals are subject to the protections of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Congress in 2005 modified the law to exclude “the underground injection of fluids or propping agents (other than diesel fuels) pursuant to hydraulic fracturing operations related to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities” from the Act’s protections. Unless oil and gas service companies use diesel in the hydraulic fracturing process, the permanent underground injection of chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing is not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“The absence of a minimum national baseline for disclosure of fluids injected during the hydraulic fracturing process and the exemption of most hydraulic fracturing injections from regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act has left an informational void concerning the contents, chemical concentrations, and volumes of fluids that go into the ground during fracturing operations and return to the surface in the form of wastewater. As a result, regulators and the public are unable effectively to assess any impact the use of these fluids may have on the environment or public health.”

This is a direct quote from an official federal document and is factual.

Furthermore, Sen. White's letter states: “Under Pennsylvania’s newly signed Act 13, companies are required to disclose all chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process to the state Department of Environmental Protection and that information will be published on FracFocus.org, which is a publicly accessible Internet website.”

However, not quite “all” chemicals are disclosed. From the “actual language” of Act 13: “When an operator submits its stimulation record... the operator may designate specific portions of the stimulation record as containing a trade secret or confidential proprietary information. The department [of Environmental Protection] shall prevent disclosure of a designated trade secret or confidential proprietary information.”

That these “secret” chemicals constitute potential public health risks is noted in the following passage from Act 13: “A vendor, service company or operator shallidentify the specific identity and amount of any chemicals claimed to be a trade secret or confidential proprietary information to any health professional who requests the information in writing if the health professional executes a confidentiality agreement.”

A logical reading of the above passage is that health professional would be prohibited, by virtue of the confidentiality agreement, from: a.) disclosing the nature of the toxic chemicals to other physicians who may be treating patients suspected of having been exposed to fracking chemicals, b.) disclosing the nature of the toxic chemicals to any public health organizations conducting studies of illnesses and disease clusters in proximity to drilling operations, and c.) alerting the community in which they practice of a potential public health risk due to these chemicals.

Many doctors and health organizations have expressed outrage at this clause in Act 13. Lawyers specializing in health law have publicly stated that healthcare providers have every right to be concerned. Various state officials have made vague statements that physicians have “nothing to worry about,” but none have directly addressed the specific concerns raised. None have said: “Yes, you'll be able to share this information with other doctors treating patients with similar symptoms,” or “Yes, you'll be able to share this information with organizations conducting studies related to these chemicals.”

If indeed there is “nothing to worry about,” if indeed there is “full public disclosure of fracking chemicals,” as Sen. White states, then state officials should have no problem making the above statements. Furthermore, they should have no problem repealing the passage of Act 13 that has become infamously known as the “physicians' gag order.” If everything is “out in the open,” there is no need for secrecy.

J.P.M.

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