More than 60 environmental and citizen groups, along with the Green Party of Pennsylvania, expressed their opposition to the road dumping of oil and gas drilling wastewater on rural Pennsylvania roads by signing on to a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection.

As of September 5, the groups include-- Action Together NEPA, Allegheny County Clean Air Now, The Alliance for Sustainable Communities Lehigh Valley, Animals Are Sentient Beings, Inc., Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC), Berks Gas Truth, BigBuilding LLC, Blacklick Creek Watershed Association, Body Synergy, Breathe Easy Susquehanna County, Breathe Project, Bucks County Concerned Citizens Against the Pipelines, Bucks Environmental Action, Camp White Pine, Chester County Marching Forward Social Justice Committee, Citizens' Environmental Association of the Slippery Rock Area, Inc., Citizens to Preserve Ligonier Valley (CPLV), Citizens to Protect Oakmont, Clean Air Council, Communities First Sewickley Valley, Concerned Health Professionals of Pennsylvania, Coalition to Protect New York, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Earth Action, Inc., Edgmont Community Safety Group, Environeers, Environmental Health Project, Exact Solar, Food & Water Watch, FracTracker Alliance, FreshWater Accountability Project , Green Amendments For The Generations, High Flight Arts and Letters, Lancaster Against Pipelines, LAWPA (Local Authority Western PA), League of Women Voters PA, Lebanon Pipeline Awareness, Marcellus Outreach Butler, MarchOnHarrisburg, Mountain Watershed Association, Murrysville Watch, NYC Grassroots Alliance, Paradise Garden and Farm, Patriots From The Oil & Gas Shales, Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Water and Air, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, Project CoffeeHouse, Protect Elizabeth Township, Protect Northern PA, Protect PT, Quittapahilla Watershed Association, RAPP Residents Against the Power Plant, Resolution Media, Responsible Drilling Alliance, Sanctuary Woods, The Solutions Project, Springville Area Women's Club, Three Rivers Waterkeeper, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Upper Burrell Citizens Against Marcellus Pollution, and Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens' Group.

The letter was developed and circulated by Berks Gas Truth.  Read more here.

Meeting virtually on September 18, more than 20 elected delegates from county Green Parties achieved consensus on a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection demanding a ban on use of such waste materials.

Falls Township Auditor Jay Sweeney of Wyoming County, had requested the Green Party to take such action.

Sweeney said, “I submitted the request for GPPA to sign on to the letter demanding an end to the spread of radioactive frack wastewater on our PA roads because this industry continues to be the biggest threat to the environment of rural PA and worldwide. The Green Party holds environmental wisdom as one of its Four Green Pillars.”

“Fracking continues to be the biggest threat to the environment in my opinion,” continued Sweeney, “because it consumes vast quantities of water that cannot be returned to its natural state. It results in this dangerous radioactive wastewater that the fossil fuel industry cannot recycle or dispose of in a benign manner. They use dangerous disposal methods including deep well injection techniques to drive the water underground. This not only threatens our water table, but has also resulted in earthquakes. Using the wastewater for dust control and deicing of roads is another disposal method that introduces radiation and other dangerous elements into our environment. In addition, fracking results in the release of methane into the atmosphere, a major contributor to the greenhouse effect and climate change. Fracking needs to stop!”

The letter to DEP had already been signed by more than 60 organizations which defend the environment.

Sweeney said, “We must join with others who are taking a leadership role on these issues. I hope the Green Party establishes a relationship with these leaders so we can take more timely action with them when necessary.”

“This new proposal to dispose of fracking waste products by spraying them all over PA's roads is just the latest outrageous step in the entirely unnecessary fracking process,” explained GPPA Co-chair Beth Scroggin of Chester County. “The Green Party has been against fracking since it was introduced by PA Governor Ed Rendell in 2008. Fracking is unsafe for the environment, people, and animals alike. There is absolutely no need for anyone to be devising new ways to use fossil fuels at this point. There are all sorts of ways in which the process of fracking can malfunction, causing chemicals to leak into the groundwater or pollute the air. Additionally, it needlessly depletes our supply of freshwater. The fracking industry has already taken a devastating toll on neighborhoods across PA, so that corporations can make more money.”

Click Here for a copy of the letter to DEP.  Click Here to learn more about signing on to the letter.

Related Articles This Week:

-- Environmental Groups Submit Rulemaking Petitions To Environmental Quality Board Asking For Full-Cost Bonding For Oil & Gas Well Plugging

-- PG - Laura Legere: Environmental Groups Push DEP To Raise Oil & Gas Bonds To Cover Full Cost Of Well Cleanup

Related Articles:

-- Groups Gathering Support For Letter Urging DEP, Gov. Wolf, AG Shapiro To Support A Total Ban On Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater; 240.4 Million Gallons Of Conventional Drilling Wastewater Dumped On PA Roads

-- DEP Fails To Address Loophole That Continues To Allow Road Dumping Of Conventional Drilling Wastewater; Members Of Public Register Their Opposition To All Road Dumping

-- Penn State Center For Dirt & Gravel Road Studies: Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Wastewater To Control Dust Is Environmentally Unsound Practice

-- New Penn State Study Shows Road Dumping Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater Has Little Dust Suppression Benefit, Contains Pollutants Harmful To Human Health, Agriculture, Aquatic Life

-- DEP To Propose Regulations Allowing Road Dumping Of Conventional Drilling Wastewater Across PA

[Posted: September 22, 2021]

9/27/2021