EPA Fines Talisman Energy For Fracking Violations

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

July 25, 2012 | 1:30 PM

Mladen Antonova / AFP/Getty Images

Gas workers on a Marcellus Shale drill site.

Talisman Energy will pay more than $62,000 in penalties for violations at 52 natural gas wells and compressor stations in Pennsylvania over the past three years. The company self-disclosed the violations to the EPA. Talisman failed to file health and safety information about the chemicals used on-site with state and local emergency response agencies and fire departments. The EPA announced the consent decree through a press release.

“Compliance with these requirements is important for the health and safety of facility occupants and first responders in the event of discharge or accidental exposure to hazardous chemicals. The required information also provides valuable information to emergency planners.”

Material Safety Data Sheets filed with local authorities are required under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) provide both employees and emergency responders with information on how to safely handle and dispose of harmful chemicals.