Stricter Wastewater Regulations Advance in Pennsylvania
This post was written by Nicolle Snyder Bagnell and Ariel Nieland.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board approved two regulations this week to address concerns over the potential for Marcellus Shale fracking operations to lead to groundwater and drinking water contamination. The first measure aims to limit the amount of "total dissolved solid," a measure of combined chemical substances dissolved in water, allowed to reenter streams and other bodies of water by requiring operators to treat all "frac water" containing over a certain amount of the pollutant before releasing it. The second measure would impose a requirement on all new Marcellus Shale developments to have 150-foot "buffer zones" separating them from high-quality streams. These new measures are now en route to the environmental committees of the Pennsylvania House and Senate for further review. The Independent Regulatory Review Commission, along with environmental and gas industry officials will also have an opportunity to provide comments.
