Water quality is vital to Pennsylvania

Over many decades Pennsylvania has made progress cleaning up its rivers and streams from industry pollutants.

Rather than continuing this progress protecting the environment for our families, it seems many of our current legislators in Harrisburg now have other ideas.

House Bill 2154 (HB 2154) is an example of this and makes me angry.

HB 2154 amends Oil and Gas Drilling Regulations. Some of the changes included in this bill: (1) Repeals the requirement for oil and gas drillers to maintain the minimum standards established under the Safe Drinking Water Act (Sec. 904); (2) Prohibits local governments from imposing ordinances on the same features of oil and gas operations that are regulated by this bill (Sec. 902); (3) Authorizes the spread of toxic production brines on unpaved roads for dust control (Sec 104); (4) Repeals requirement for the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to review a well’s impact on public resources like parks and historical sites before issuing a drilling permit (Sec. 702).

This bill is an egregious affront to all Pennsylvanians and puts all of us at risk. Whereas drilling and fracking operations occur outside Montgomery County, poisoned water flows downstream. This water pollution is everyone’s concern. When legislators are beholden to these companies for big donations they cannot serve the people of Pennsylvania.

Water quality is a very important issue in our area where individual wells supply much of our drinking water.

Western Montgomery County is a critical part of the Schuylkill River watershed and includes Green Lane Reservoir, Perkiomen, Skippack, and Swamp Creeks. All in direct assault by this bill, HB 2154.

If you too care about Pennsylvania’s waterways, check votesmart.org and see how your representative voted and vote on Nov. 6.