Send a Letter to the Environmental Quality Board

Take action to protect your drinking water!

Please send the letter below to the PA DEP Environmental Quality Board.

The Marcellus Formation, the grey area on the map (left), is a shale formation which is said to contain large reserves of natural gas.

There have been a growing number of Marcellus wells drilled in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and other states, which the Marcellus Shale underlies. One of the most disturbing environmental consequences associated with Marcellus Shale drilling has been the dangerous contamination of ground water - drinking water, well water - in areas disturbed by Marcellus wells.  Right now the Environmental Quality Board of Pennsylvania is accepting comments on waste water effluent which would include the contaminated waste water from drilling operations. There are currently no regulations in place for hydrofracking, and the number of serious complaints about degraded water quality in drilling areas are growing, and spread across the Marcellus Shale formation.

The Allegheny Defense Project believes that the proposed rulemaking is not setting strong standards to protect our drinking water. The letter below, which you can send to the Environmental Quality Board, calls for the Department of Environmental Protection to stop issuing permits while the rulemaking process takes place, so that our drinking water is not endangered due to an unregulated process.