Hydro Fracking in Philadelphia (#2)

Posted by Thomas Nicolella in American Government - Laufenberg on

            ​In the past five years, Philadelphia’s drinking water has gone from the top five cleanest bodies of drinking water to dead last. Many officials this is due to hydraulic fracturing since fracking has recently started in Philadelphia in the past couple of years. Many feel that the chemicals used to break through bedrock and go through a pipe that is plunged through are drinking water are leaking into the bodies of water, infecting what we drink on a daily basis. However, this cannot be found out entirely because companies that practice hydraulic fracturing will not release a full list of chemicals that are used in the process. However, many of the chemicals that they have told the public about are cancerous substances.

Officials from the Philadelphia Water Department are some of the most avid fighters against fracking. They have realized that hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River is a major factor in the quality of drinking water in Philly, as about 60 percent of the city’s residents get their drinking water from the river. The water department also realizes that drilling is only one of the problems that plagues our city’s drinking water and Christopher S. Crockett, director of planning and research at the water department of Philadelphia says that the company is going to take a scientific approach to the situation as apposed to jumping out of their seat and being sloppy about it.

Other officials against fracking are taking a quicker approach to shutting down hydraulic fracturing in Philadelphia. The executive director of PennEnvironment, David Masur has frowned upon the Water Department because of their lack of urgency when it comes to stopping hydraulic fracking in the Delaware River.

 

For more info on PennEnvironment’s approach on the halt of fracking (http://www.pennenvironment.org/drilling/water)

Detailed Fracking Information


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Comments (1)

Anonymous

November 15, 2011

Science Leadership Academy 55 N. 22nd Street Philadelphia, PA 19103-1314

I am writing in regard to Thomas Nicolella’s November 4 blog on Science Leadership Academy’s website titled, Hydro Fracking in Philadelphia, which states that Philadelphia’s drinking water is last because of hydrofracking in Philadelphia. I would like to clear up a few inaccuracies in your blog by first pointing out that Philadelphia’s water remains safe to drink and meets or surpasses the requirements of State and Federal standards 100 percent of the time.

Secondly, hydrofracking has NOT started in Philadelphia at this time and the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) has been actively following and tracking the development of natural gas drilling of the Marcellus Shale since its introduction to Pennsylvania from the very beginning. Our singular goal is the protection of the Delaware River watershed and the health and well-being of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers.

PWD is working with our partners at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) to ensure that all gas drilling is performed with full respect for our drinking water. It is our expectation that the health and safety of the region's drinking water will not be compromised but undertaken in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.

PWD is a leader in source water protection and we are committed to protecting the quality of our rivers and streams from which we obtain our drinking water. We have an abundance of information about the region’s watersheds that we are happy to share with any interested journalist.

Sincerely yours,

Laura E. Copeland Public Relations Manager Philadelphia Water Department