Former DEP Secretary David E. Hess Thursday sent a letter to members of the Senate urging them to pass House Bill 343 (Miller-R-York) which would set standards for the construction and abandonment of private water wells. The text of the letter follows–
There are 20,000 new drinking water wells drilled every year in Pennsylvania, according to the Penn State Cooperative Extension, many of those in areas where thousands of Marcellus Shale natural gas wells are being drilled.
Over 3.5 million residents depend on wells for clean water, yet a 2009 Center for Rural Pennsylvania Study found 41 percent of private water wells in Pennsylvania failed to meet at least one of the health-based drinking water standards.
Poorly or improperly constructed water wells can result in pathways for bacteria and other contaminants, such as naturally occurring shallow methane, to migrate into rural potable water supplies.
As many reports did before it, the 2011 Governor’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission recommended the adoption of drinking water well standards, yet Pennsylvania remains one of only two states without statewide private water well construction standards.
These clear threats to rural drinking water supplies, and the embarrassment of not having well standards, can be overcome if the Senate passes House Bill 343 (Miller-R-York) in the remaining five days of session this year.
Members of the Senate have also recognized this threat and want to deal with it, among them Sen. Vance and the co-sponsors of Senate Bill 1461 which also sets water well standards.
As Secretary of DEP under Governors Ridge and Schweiker, I have seen first-hand the problems improperly constructed water wells can cause and the threats they pose to groundwater. Without useable water supplies, residents have to rely on bottled water, drill new wells at added expense or abandoned the homes they’ve worked hard to maintain.
I encourage you to act on House Bill 343 to protect rural water supplies and the people that rely on them for drinking water.
The PA Environmental Council and other groups have also urged the Senate to pass House Bill 343.