Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

HARRISBURG, PA -- Despite the recent precipitation events, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is maintaining a drought watch for 27 counties across Pennsylvania because parts of the state have below-average groundwater and in some areas surface water levels. “We are still recovering from a very dry fall and below-normal precipitation this winter,” Acting DEP Secretary John Quigley said. “These factors have contributed to low groundwater and surface water levels mostly in the northeast and central portions of the state.” The 27 counties under the drought watch are Berks, Bradford, Cambria, Carbon, Clinton, Columbia, Indiana, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Luzerne, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Monroe, Montour, Northumberland, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, Westmoreland, and Wyoming. The lack of groundwater recharge can cause well-fed water supplies, both private and public, to go dry. All Pennsylvanians are advised to heed this drought ...

Agencies in McKean, Elk, Warren and Potter counties are among those sharing more than $300,000 in grant money that will go toward educating young people about environmental issues. Conservations districts in McKean, Elk and Potter counties will all receive $3,000, as will the Austin Area and Warren County school districts. The Department of Environmental Protection says the money will be used for a variety of initiatives, including summer camps, farm field days and exploratory learning activities. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced a settlement with Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, LLC (TGP) for multiple violations of the Clean Streams Law during the construction of a natural gas pipeline in 2011 and 2012 through four counties in northeast and north-central Pennsylvania. The violations occurred during construction of the company’s “300 Line Project.” According to the agreement, TGP will pay a penalty of $210,000 and will fund a $540,000 clean-up program of illegal dumpsites in Pike, Potter, Susquehanna and Wayne Counties. The fund will be administered by the Pennsylvania Environmental Council over a four year period. TGP has also agreed to pay cost recovery monies to four Conservation Districts and the Department in the amount of $50,002. “This civil penalty is two-fold in its benefit to the public,” DEP Northeast Regional Director Mike Bedrin said. “It eliminates unsightly and illegal dumpsites that are problematic for many communities across the ...

Charges have been withdrawn against the Lewis Run man who had been cited for telling a DEP employee he was driving too fast on Chapel Fork Road in Lafayette Township. State Police had said 49-year-old Daniel Brinsky would be getting a citation for disorderly conduct. The incident happened on the afternoon of October 28. The charge was withdrawn last week. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Former DEP secretary Katie McGinty is headed back to Harrisburg. Governor-elect Tom Wolf has named her his chief of staff. The 51-year-old Philadelphia native was DEP secretary under Governor Ed Rendell. She's also worked for Al Gore in the Senate and in the White House for President Bill Clinton. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery has announced his retirement, amid the state government email pornography scandal. McCaffery has sent a letter to Governor Tom Corbett announcing his plans to retire from the bench, and the Judicial Conduct Board released the following statement: "Based on a limited waiver by Justice Seamus P. McCaffery of the confidentiality provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the Judicial Conduct Board’s Rules of Procedure that would otherwise prohibit the Board from commenting on the matters pending before it, the Board issues the following statement in light of Justice McCaffery’s retirement from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: Pursuant to its constitutional mandate, the Judicial Conduct Board has been investigating allegations involving Justice McCaffery for several months, including some of very recent origin which have been disclosed in the media. If the Board were to continue its investigations and institute proceedings agains...

A member of the state Supreme Court is caught up in the email pornography scandal in the attorney general’s office. Pennsylvania chief justice Ronald Castille issued a news release today saying Justice Seamus McCaffrey was the sender or recipient of 234 emails with sexually explicit material or pornography in them. Castille says McCaffrey sent most of the emails to a now-retired agent with the AG’s office, who then forwarded them to other. The circulation of porn in the attorney general’s office happened from late 2008 until early 2012, and has led to the resignation of several people, including now-former DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo. The emails surfaced during a review of how the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State was handled by the attorney general's office. Castille says the attorney general’s office told him the 234 emails involving McCaffrey contained 1,502 sexually explicit images and 60 sexually explicit video files, some of which were duplicates. He estimated the number...

Range Resources has been fined more than $4 million for violations at six of its Washington County impoundments. The DEP consent order requires the company to pay the $4.2 million fine – the largest against an oil and gas operator since Marcellus and Utica shale drilling started in Pennsylvania – close five impoundments and upgrade two others to meet higher standards that are currently under development. DEP Secretary E. Christopher Abruzzo said. “This landmark consent order establishes a new, higher benchmark for companies to meet when designing future impoundments, which is an environmental win for Pennsylvania.” Violations at the impoundments include various releases of contaminants, such as leaking flowback that affected soil and groundwater. To date there has been no impact on drinking water. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has released details of 243 cases where companies prospecting for oil or gas contaminated private drinking water wells – and 35 of those are in McKean County. DEP posted online links to the documents after the agency conducted what it called a “thorough review” of paper files stored among its regional offices. Pennsylvania’s auditor general said in a report last month that DEP’s system for handling complaints “was woefully inadequate” and that investigators could not even determine whether all complaints were actually entered into a reporting system. DEP hasn’t issued a statement yet. While most of the incidents in McKean County were in Bradford Township between 2008 and 2010, they were also reported in Foster, Corydon, Lafayette and Hamilton townships. The most recent in Foster Township was 366 days ago. The most recent in Lafayette Township was in November. The problems listed in the documents include methane gas contamina...

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced it has fined Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. of Pittsburgh $76,546 for a January well control incident at the company’s Huston well pad in Brooklyn Township, Susquehanna County. “Cabot lost control of the Huston J1 gas well for 27 hours, to which the department responded to promptly to ensure there were no significant environmental impacts,” DEP Director of District Oil and Gas Operations John Ryder said. “In this incident, mostly gas was released, which dissipated quickly to background levels within 100 feet from the well.” The incident began the morning of Jan. 5 when a Cabot subcontractor was replacing equipment on the wellhead. The subcontractor did not follow standard operating procedures for the process by failing to first warm the wellhead prior to conducting any work in the freezing temperature. This resulted in damage to a wing valve. A subsequent analysis of the damaged wing valve indicated that it was in the ...

Investigators say site managers are to blame for a natural gas well fire that killed a Warren native in February, according to a report released today. The Department of Environmental Protection says in the report a contract worker with no oil field experience worked on the well, contrary to company policy, but did not identify a specific cause for the fire. The report also says Chevron's well site managers did not always provide enough oversight to contractors at the site about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. The blast killed 27-year-old Ian McKee, a field service technician for Houston-based Cameron International. DEP previously said Chevron improperly restricted state access to the well site for the first two days. A Chevron spokesman says they are reviewing the DEP report. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

HARRISBURG - Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today said that a recent audit shows that the meteoric growth of the shale gas industry caught the Department of Environmental Protection unprepared to effectively administer laws and regulations to protect drinking water and unable to efficiently respond to citizen complaints. "There are very dedicated hard-working people at DEP but they are being hampered in doing their jobs by lack of resources - including staff and a modern information technology system -- and inconsistent or failed implementation of department policies, among other things, "DePasquale said. "It is almost like firefighters trying to put out a five-alarm fire with a 20-foot garden hose. There is no question that DEP needs help and soon to protect clean water." The audit covered the period of 2009 through 2012 and was launched by DePasquale in January 2013 immediately after he became auditor general. The audit's purpose was to assess DEP's a...

Police in Pittsburgh are looking for a missing portable gauge containing sealed sources of radioactive material. As long as the device is not tampered with or damaged, it presents no hazard to public safety, according to the DEP’s David Allard. But he says that’s why it’s critical for anyone who has information about the lost nuclear gauge to contact DEP or police immediately. The gauge belongs to Solar Testing of Pennsylvania. It was last used Friday in the Mount Lebanon area. DEP investigators are inspecting the facility where it is usually stored and interviewing management and employees. DEP is warning anyone who finds the gauge to leave it alone, and a trained person will be sent to recover it. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The Department of Environmental Protection will apply treatments tonight (June 30) in Port Allegany, McKean County, to control adult mosquito populations. The treatments will be administered by truck-mounted equipment to spray open spaces in residential and recreational areas. The application materials have a very low toxicity profile to mammals and are safe for the environment. Certain mosquito species carry the West Nile Virus, which can cause humans to contract West Nile Encephalitis, an infection that can result in an inflammation of the brain. Mosquito samples in nine counties have been identified with the West Nile Virus so far this year. No human cases have been identified this year. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will apply treatments the evenings of Tuesday, June 17 in Eldred Borough and Eldred Township and Wednesday, June 18 in Eldred and Kane boroughs, and Eldred and Wetmore townships to control adult mosquito populations. The treatments will be administered by truck and ATV-mounted spray equipment to spray open spaces in residential and recreational areas. The equipment dispenses Biomist 3+15 applied at a rate of 0.75 ounces per acre. These products are designed to provide quick, effective control of adult mosquito populations. The application materials have a very low toxicity profile to mammals and are safe for the environment. Certain mosquito species carry the West Nile Virus, which can cause humans to contract West Nile Encephalitis, an infection that can result in an inflammation of the brain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all residents in areas where virus activity has been identified are at risk of...

State DEP Secretary Christopher Abruzzo and other agency officials met with several McKean County oil and gas producers and area lawmakers recently to learn more about the differences between conventional and unconventional drilling and how proposed regulations impact them differently. State Rep. Marty Causer says they visited a site in Hamilton Township outside of Kane, where a well was being actively drilled; Big Shanty Road in Lafayette Township, where a conventional well was being fracked; the Penn-Brad Oil Museum; an old-time well site in Ottow Township in the Village of Rixford; and American Refining Group. Causer will be introducing legislation soon that would ensure that regulations for conventional and unconventional drillers are different, and will not negatively impact the conventional drillers. Picture from Causer's office. See more pictures at Facebook.com/1490wesb . The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary E. Christopher Abruzzo announced today that John Guth, Environmental Program Manager for Air Quality, has been named regional director of the agency’s Northwest office effective today. “John’s strong background working with the regulated community, coordinating with local governments, directing and managing staff and serving with the region’s emergency response team has more than prepared him for his new role as regional director,” Abruzzo said. “His vast experience and dedication to the department’s important mission has earned him respect both inside and outside DEP. I am confident that he will continue to serve with diligence.” Guth began his career at DEP conducting field investigations for the Waste Management Program in 1985, and was promoted to Solid Waste Supervisor in 1993 to supervise employees conducting municipal, residual and hazardous waste inspections, compliance assistance and enforcement. Guth was again promoted ...

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced it will hold a public meeting and formal hearing concerning the Ridgway Borough landfill site in Ridgway Township, Elk County, on April 29 at 6 p.m. at the Ridgway Borough building, 108 Main Street, Ridgway. The landfill site consists of about 15 acres that once operated as a mixed waste landfill between the early 1960s and June of 1975. During a department investigation, lead-containing industrial waste and 55-gallon drums containing trichloroethylene (TCE) were encountered in several trenches throughout the landfill. “This is an opportunity for the department to share important information with the public concerning the hazards at this landfill as well as DEP’s planned response,” Staci Gustafson, Acting Northwest Regional Director for DEP said. “We will be answering questions in addition to a formal hearing.” DEP, under the authority of the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act, 35 (HSCA), has determined that a ...

PITTSBURGH -- The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is fining Halliburton Energy Services $1.8 million for 255 violations of the Solid Waste Management Act between 1999 and 2011. DEP became aware of the violations in 2011 during an inspection of the facility, and further investigation revealed violations dating back to 1999. “Our regulations are in place to protect the health and safety of our residents and to preserve our environmental resources,” DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo said. “Halliburton’s repeated disregard of these regulations is unacceptable.” The violations occurred when the company, at its Homer City facility in Indiana County, stored, treated and transported waste hydrochloric acid without obtaining proper permits from DEP. During the 12-year time period, Halliburton transported acidic waste, which had originated from various gas well sites, without identifying the waste as “hazardous waste,” without proper hazardous waste trucking records, and without usin...

HARRISBURG -- The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) announced today that the public comment period and series of public hearings on the proposed oil and gas surface activities regulation will be extended. "One of the clear messages we’ve been getting through this hearing and comment process, from both industry and environmental groups, is that we should hold additional hearings and extend the comment period," DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo said. "Public participation is a key component when crafting these regulations, and we are happy to accommodate this extended period." The public comment period, originally scheduled to end on Feb. 12 is extended for 30 days to March 14. Two additional public hearings will also be held, both beginning at 6 p.m. Dates and locations for the additional hearings are as follows: • Feb. 10: Troy High School, 150 High St., Troy, PA 16947 • Feb. 12: Warren County Courthouse, 204 4th Av...