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truth + creativity
Editorial I was moving from Virginia to Colorado in the summer of 2010 when I stopped for a visit at my family’s home, adjacent to the Susquehannock State Forest in northcentral Pennsylvania. That’s when I heard the words [...]
On May 12, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent Pennsylvania DEP Secretary Michael Krancer a letter asking “Pennsylvania to do a better job sampling, monitoring and regulating Marcellus Shale wastewater discharges near public drinking water sources.” Specific requests from the EPA included using “stricter public drinking water standards” and enacting “legally enforceable wastewater disposal regulations instead of relying on voluntary actions.” Brine Treatment Corporation in Franklin County, Pa. has not stopped receiving Marcellus waste altogether but is now limiting the amount of Marcellus wastewater it accepts, treats, and discharges into waterways.
Barndt resides in Richlandtown, Pennsylvania but owns 150 acres of family land in Hebron Township, Pennsylvania, five hours northwest from his home. He does not own his mineral rights, which were severed from the land in Hebron before his grandfather purchased it about 50 years ago. Triana Energy, LLC, a natural gas company from Charleston, West Virginia, leased the minerals under Barndt’s land in 2010. Now, even though Barndt has never signed anything or come to any agreement with Triana, over a dozen acres of his forest land has been cut, cleared, and drilled without his consent.