The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has decided not to seek an “impaired” status for the Susquehanna River under the Clean Water Act, rejecting a plea from the state’s Fish and Boat Commissioner John Arway. Last April, Arway wrote a letter to DEP Secretary Michael Krancer, describing in detail increased incidents of “black-spotted” fish turning [...]
Last month we reported on a battle between the Clean Air Council and the Department of Environmental Protection over air permits. Clean Air Council filed a lawsuit against the DEP challenging the agency’s decision to aggregate two Philadelphia area refineries for the purpose of determining air emission requirements. The CAA says the DEP employs a [...]
Should two refineries be considered one? That’s the question raised by a lawsuit filed last week by the Clean Air Council against the state Department of Environmental Protection. The case has to do with a couple of refineries in southeast Pennsylvania, one in Philadelphia and the other near the Delaware border in Marcus Hook. The [...]
The Department of Environmental Protection says their proposed permit review process will encourage applicants to meet with DEP officials before applying, and is meant to stop wasting employee’s time. DEP Secretary Michael Krancer says that about 40 percent of the permit applications it receives currently, are incomplete. “Setting the clear expectation that every permit application should [...]
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer says deep injection wells are not “an issue that the Commonwealth needs to grapple with at this time.” Deep injection wells take fracking waste water and send it deep within crevices of the earth. Only five of these wells are currently operating in the state. Krancer wrote a letter [...]
Pennsylvania’s shale boom has drill rigs popping up all over rural parts of the state. Pipeline projects, truck traffic, and hotel construction has followed. Now, industry plans to build large-scale natural gas processing plants. State officials hope to create jobs. Industry wants a larger industrial infrastructure to develop the state’s shale gas reserves. Environmentalists wonder [...]
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that it has completed its testing of drinking water supplies in Dimock, Susquehanna County. The EPA says it did find hazardous levels of barium, arsenic or manganese in the water supplies of five households. But the Agency says treatment systems could reduce the amount of toxins to safe levels. [...]
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer took the microphone multiple times at a press conference this week aimed at promoting the conversion of the idled Sunoco refinery into a natural gas processing facility. Krancer wanted to assure any prospective investors that they would experience a friendly and expedited permit process. “We as a Department [...]
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer has sent a letter to the Natural Resources Defense Council, taking issue with a report the environmental group released in May. The report, “In Fracking’s Wake: New Rules are Needed to Protect Our Health and Environment from Contaminated Wastewater,” examines wastewater disposal methods used in the Marcellus Shale [...]
Last month, StateImpact Pennsylvania detailed Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Krancer’s adverse relationship with the federal government: When the EPA began an investigation of whether or not the water in Dimock, Susquehanna County was safe to drink, Krancer essentially told EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson she didn’t know what she was talking about. “We realize and recognize [...]
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