The sole purpose of the Shallenbergerplant (located in Masontown, PA in the southwestern corner of the state) is to treat polluted water from industrial gas development in the Marcellus shale, including the process known as hydraulic fracturing – in which drillers blast millions of gallons of chemically-treated water into the earth to extract the gas. The agreement was issued quietly – without any formal notice in the official Pennsylvania Bulletin – and comes as the state is undergoing a gas drilling boom. “We know that Pennsylvania is facing enormous pressure from gas drillers who are generating contaminated water faster than the state’s treatment plants can handle it,” said Earthjustice attorney Deborah Goldberg. “Still, the health of the 350,000 people who depend on the Monongahela River for their drinking water should come first. We’re asking the State not to skimp on its due diligence.” DEP is requiring other proposed treatment plants that expect to handle gas well waste-water to limit or monitor the amounts of toxic chemicals they discharge into drinking water sources. Not so with the Shallenberger plant. The agreement allows dumping of untreated fluids into the Monongahela River without any testing for most of the dangerous chemicals common in gas wastes, including known carcinogens such as benzene. http://www.cleanwateraction.org/press/ backroom-marcellus-dri
