NoPetroPA succeeded in live streaming all three hearings. See them + excerpts at: https://nopetropa.wordpress.com/videos/ .
The hearings have passed but you can submit your own comments directly to the DEP via the following addresses:
MAIL LETTERS TO:
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Southwest Regional Office
Waterways & Wetlands Program
400 Waterfront Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
EMAIL LETTERS TO: RA-EPWW-SWRO@pa.gov
And now for that press release…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2018
Contacts:
Sarah Martik, Center for Coalfield Justice, smartik@coalfieldjustice.org
Matt Mehalik, Breathe Project, mmehalik.aqc@gmail.com
Robert Schmetzer, Citizens for the Protection of the Ambridge Reservoir (CPAR), schmetzer4008@comcast.net
Three Days of DEP Public Hearings To Highlight
Concerns Surrounding the Shell Falcon Ethane Pipeline Route
Allegheny, Beaver and Washington County residents, environmentalists and service organizations will ask the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to deny Shell Pipeline Company’s application based on the pipeline’s close proximity to the only source of drinking water for many and to community and recreational areas.
The hearings will be held this week – April 3, 4, 5 – one in each county — starting at 6:30 p.m.
Shell is seeking permits that would allow the company’s pipeline to cross dangerously close to some 550 family homes, 20 businesses, 240 groundwater wells, 12 public parks, 5 schools, 6 daycare centers, major hiking and biking trails including the Montour Trail, 16 emergency response centers and the service line of the Ambridge Reservoir.
The Ambridge Water Authority, community organizations and citizens in the three counties will ask the DEP to deny the permits based on some of the following concerns:
- In Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties, the Shell Falcon pipeline will put water resources at risk. The pipeline will also cross directly below the service line of Ambridge Reservoir. The reservoir supplies 6.5 million gallons of water a day to 30,000 residents of Beaver and Allegheny counties.
- These pipelines have a history of leaking over time as evidenced by Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipeline. Inadequate permitting processes and oversight, lack of adherence to permitted activities on the part of industry and inadequate geotechnical studies at proposed horizontal directional drilling sites (HDDs) can have a catastrophic effect on nearby groundwater wells, streams and wetlands.
- Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) data shows that Shell has one of the worst safety records in the nation. Shell was responsible for 194 pipeline incidents since 2002. These incidents spilled 59,290 barrels of petrochemical products totaling some $183 million in damages.
“The Falcon pipeline route should qualify as a high concentration area as defined by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration,” said Robert Schmetzer of Citizens to Protect the Ambridge Reservoir. “Should anything go wrong with this pipeline, the damage to the quality of the water would be irreversible to the people who rely on the Ambridge Reservoir.”
“Keeping the failures in construction and operation of other pipelines in mind, and considering the fact that Shell’s safety record is one of the worst in the nation, I have no faith in Shell’s ability to competently construct, operate and maintain a pipeline in areas where so many people’s lives would be impacted,” said Sarah Martik, community organizer, Center for Coalfield Justice.
“Our region is already a major source of industrial carbon pollution,” added Matt Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project. “If we don’t push back against the gas industry and ancillary developments like pipelines and fracking, we will go down in history as one of the regions that pushed the planet over the edge on Climate Change – and all for the sake of plastic production, which the world already has too much of and cannot figure out what to do with as waste.”
FracTracker Falcon Pipeline Maps:
FracTracker Alliance, “Shell Not Quite the Good Neighbor”
DEP Hearing Information:
NoPetroPA is re-posting this press release on behalf of the parties listed within the release. The contents of this release represent the views of those organizations listed in the release and are not necessarily those of NoPetroPA.
#NoPetroPA 