Interested in sustainable development? Curious about Marcellus shale? Want to know how Allegheny County can become a leader in the current drive towards energy development? Don’t miss - “Building Sustainable Neighborhoods: Powering Sustainable Development in Allegheny County” on Monday, February 13, 2012 at Phipps Conservatory from 8:30am – 4:30pm.
For more info and to RSVP, click here!
Volume 5, Issue 2 is now available in the Issues section of this site.
U.S. Senator Robert Casey, the Democratic Representative from Pa testified earlier this week on the need to keep Pa’s drinkning water safe from the effects of Marcellus Shale drilling:
According to the Post Gazette:
Field inspectors and regional directors for the state Department of Environmental Protection have been told they must obtain approval from DEP Secretary Michael Krancer before issuing permits or enforcing regulations pertaining to Marcellus Shale drilling, according to internal department memos.
…
Jan Jarrett, president and chief executive officer of Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future, a statewide environmental group active on Marcellus issues, said the new procedures “make a joke out of inspections.”
“When they see violations, they have a duty to write them up, but now they must first run them up the chain of command to get a political OK,” she said. “It completely undercuts the independence and professionalism of the inspectors.”
To read the whole story, click here.
PJEPHL’s fifth published volume is now available online. Volume 5 features articles from Robert Reiley, Naomi G. Goldberg, and Gary J. Gates. University of Pittsburgh students Samuel Wolbert and Theresa Miller-Sporrer published notes in Volume 5.
The Center for Healthy Environments and Communities at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health is performing cutting-edge research to highlight the environmental impact of Marcellus Shale drilling.
To showcase their findings, CHEC has created FracTracker.org, a blog that highlights:
Serious economic, environmental & public health concerns surround the gas extraction process, including road infrastructure degradation, explosions & blowouts, agriculture & hunting & fishing impacts, water contamination from the disposal of waste fluids into surface waters, & human exposure to volatile organic compounds that off-gas from production facilities.
PJEPHL encourages all of our readers to support the efforts of CHEC by visiting the blog at FracTracker.org