One the biggest fears for people living near drilling is the possibility of their drinking water being polluted.  We expect the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to look out for us, to safeguard this vital resource and to alert us when issues arise that may impact our health and drinking water. Unfortunately, DEP has let us down -our trust has been shaken and eroded by the recent uncovering of a controversial DEP policy and practice. You can help us change it and protect our communities today!

It was revealed, in testimony by the DEP Bureau of Laboratories Technical Director Taru Upadhyay, that DEP is not reporting all the contaminants discovered when it tests residential drinking water. Instead DEP’s  policy is to use a specialized code system that only reports the findings for 8 out of 24 total contaminants tested for.  Many of the contaminants that aren’t reported are carcinogenic and known to pose human health hazards and some have been found in flowback and produced water from drilling operations. This is unacceptable – tell our elected officials that this policy must change!

There is no justification for intentionally releasing partial information to residents. These procedures lack transparency, withhold vital data from affected households and the public, force residents to potentially undergo prolonged exposure to contaminants that can impact health, and delay action necessary to correct pollution of drinking water supplies.

It’s time to change this practice and report all contaminants. Send a message to your legislators and Governor Corbett today!