JULY REPORT TO CARBON COUNTY STAKEHOLDERS
By SAVE CARBON COUNTY
PennEast/UGI Pipeline Project- Prepared 8/1/2020
PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro has issued a Grand Jury Report that concludes that
Pennsylvania regulatory agencies have failed to protect the public from the negative
impacts of fracking for gas. The report says that the gas drilling industry has been
allowed to poison the air and water while “…giant fracking companies were given a free
pass by unprepared [regulatory] agencies and the public was harmed. Plain and simple.”
Witnesses from 70 households, mostly in the rural parts of the state, told of being left
with sores after showering with contaminated water, seeing farm animals die or
become infertile and children with a wide array of health problems. The jury concluded
the industry is making children sick, listing rashes, headaches, nose bleeds, bruising,
cramps, nausea, vomiting, burning eyes, tremors and burning sensations. Today, there
are over 10,000 active gas wells in the state.
The PennEast company has reluctantly agreed to submit to the authority of the
Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). They submitted their application to the
DRBC mid-May and opponents submitted a 42-page review of application in June. The
review lists over 32 misstatements or inaccuracies in the PennEast submittal. Save
Carbon County and HALT were two of 18 organizations that signed onto the critique of
the application.
Global emissions of methane (the main component of natural gas) soared to a record
high in 2017, the most recent year for which worldwide data is available. Researchers
warned that the rise is driven by fossil fuel leaks and agriculture. These findings,
published on 7/14/20 in two scientific journals, underscore how methane presents a
growing threat, even as the world finds some success in reducing carbon dioxide
emissions, the most abundant greenhouse gas. While methane is a relatively clean fuel
when burned, it is a potent greenhouse gas when leaked. Leaked methane warms the
earth 86 times as much as carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Some of the main
sources of methane are leaks from pipelines, oil and gas wells, landfills and livestock like
cattle and sheep which burp copious amounts of methane (no kidding). Coal mining is
also a major source because methane is released from deep within the rock as a
byproduct of the mining process. The proposed Kidder Compressor station is slated to
leak over 100,000 tons of methane each year.
Save Carbon County is a member of a regional and two-state effort to stop the PennEast/UGI pipeline. Local information can be found on FaceBook at “Stop the Fracking Pipeline.” Regional Information can be found on FaceBook at “Stop PennEast Pipeline.”
HALT PennEast 