TODAY Noon: Sen. Muth, Public Herald Hold Press Briefing On Workers Injured At Oil & Gas Wastewater Treatment Plants

On December 11 at Noon, Sen. Katie Muth (D-Chester) and investigative journalist Joshua Pribanic from Public Herald will join oil and gas industry workers at a press conference at the State Capitol talking about the dangers to workers treating the oil and gas industry's radioactive wastewater and new evidence of pollution entering waterways in the Commonwealth.

The press conference will take place in the Capitol Media Center.

The press conference will also be streamed live at www.SenatorMuth.com/live, www.Facebook.com/SenatorMuth and through the Public Hearld’s X account [Twitter].

This media advisory from Senator Muth is being sent on behalf of Public Herald by the Better Path Coalition.

Background

On December 10, the Public Herald posted a podcast and article sharing the experiences of five workers-- Eric Steppe, Quinn Aughenbaugh, Brandon Barrett, Dalton Trahan and Alijah Kibler-- who work with radioactive oil and gas wastewater at the Eureka Resources wastewater treatment plant in Williamsport.

In this article, Eric Steppe related his experience cleaning up multiple spills at the plant and having to be taken to the hospital as a result of his exposure to oil and gas wastewater being treated at the plant.

Click Here to listen to the podcast and read the entire article.

A study released in May 2022 by Penn State University found conventional drilling wastewater spread on roads in Pennsylvania contains concentrations of barium, strontium, lithium, iron, manganese that exceed human-health based criteria and levels of radioactive radium that exceed industrial discharge standards.  Read more here.

In fact, 25 out of the 31 chemicals and pollutants found in the wastewater exceeded, and in many instances far exceeded, established health or environmental standards, including radioactive radium.  Read more here.

“Combined radium activities in the three OGPWs when applied to the roadbeds ranged from 84 to 2,500 pCi/L, within the anticipated range for OGPWs from western Pennsylvania. Combined radium activities in runoff from the OGPW-treated roadbeds exceeded 60 pCi/L, the effluent standard for industrial wastewater discharges.”  Read more here.

(Photo: Eric Steppe, Public Herald.)

NewsClip:

-- Public Herald: I Turned Blue - Workers Share Horrifying Experiences Treating Oil & Gas Wastewater

Related Article:

-- New Penn State Study Finds Runoff From Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Dumped On Unpaved Roads Contains Pollutants That Exceed Human-Health, Environmental Standards  [PaEN]

PA Oil & Gas Industry Public Notice Dashboards:

-- PA Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Dec. 2 to 8 -- 9 Abandoned Conventional Wells; Failure To Restore Shale Gas Pad; No Progress In Spill Cleanups  [PaEN]

-- PA Oil & Gas Industry Compliance So Far In 2023 - It Isn’t Pretty

-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - December 9  [PaEN]

-- DEP Sets Jan. 23 Hearing On Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Frazer Compressor Station In Chester County  [PaEN]

-- DEP Posted 68 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In December 9 PA Bulletin  [PaEN]

Related Articles:

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Senate Republican Leaders Urge DEP To Withdraw Environmental Justice Policy Saying They Lack Statutory Authority, And Out-of-State Groups Not Actual Residents Express EJ Concerns  [PaEN]

-- PA Business Report: Senate Republicans Urge DEP To Withdraw Updated Environmental Justice Policy

-- DEP Expects $44 Million To Plug Conventional Wells Leaking Methane; $76 Million For 2nd Year Of Federal Conventional Abandoned Well Plugging Program  [PaEN]

-- DEP Plugs 132 Abandoned Conventional Oil & Gas Wells So Far;  DEP Issued 499 NOVs For New Conventional Well Abandonments So Far In 2023  [PaEN] 

-- Roulette Oil & Gas LLC Withdraws Oil & Gas Wastewater Injection Well Application In Potter County  [PaEN] 

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports 3rd Quarter Natural Gas Production Down 0.5% Over 3rd Quarter 2022, But Increased Over Last 12 Months  [PaEN]

-- PA Senate Hearing Focuses On Minimizing Risk And Harm In Development Of PA’s Hydrogen Infrastructure  [PaEN] 

-- House Environmental Committee To Hold Dec. 11 Hearing On Bill To Expand Renewable Energy Mandates In Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards  [PaEN] 

-- Hydrogen Tax Credit Changes, Riparian Buffers, Light Pollution On House Environmental Committee Agenda For Dec. 13  [PaEN] 

-- PennEnvironment, Three Rivers Waterkeeper Sue Styropek USA To Stop Plastic Pollution In Raccoon Creek, Ohio River In Beaver County  [PaEN] 

-- Susquehanna River Basin Commission: Low Stream Flows Trigger Shutdown Of 4 Shale Gas Drilling Water Withdrawals In Bradford, Tioga County  [PaEN] 

[Posted: December 11, 2023]  PA Environment Digest