Grand jury gas probe deserves attention

Following two years of investigation by a statewide grand jury, Attorney General Josh Shapiro has issued a report highlighting the weaknesses in Pennsylvania’s regulation of the shale gas industry. The most practical elements of the report are the recommendations for improvements. They deserve the full attention of the governor and legislators.

The economic impact of this industry is significant. Since the first so-called unconventional well in the state was drilled in 2004 in Washington County, 12,500 wells have been drilled. Last year, Pennsylvania produced 6.2 trillion cubic feet of gas from shale beds, more than any other state except Texas. Experts predict that an additional 30,000 to 40,000 wells will be dug in the Marcellus shale in the coming years.

The adverse health impacts of the industry are documented in the report, and they provide some gutwrenching reading. Since the state allows a well to be drilled only 500 feet from a private home, homeowners have experienced around-the-clock noise, bright lights and pollution of their water, air and land. One of the top recommendations of the grand jury is to increase the required distance between homes and wells to 2,500 feet.

The negative health effects should not come as a surprise. In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette series published last year, “The Human Toll: Exposure and Risks in the Gas Lands,” reporters Don Hopey and David Templeton documented an unusual number of childhood cancer cases in Washington County near well sites. One of the recommendations in the report is that drillers be required to make public the names of all the chemicals they use in the drilling and fracking processes. Currently they reveal this information only to state officials.

The report criticizes, at great length, the actions of the state Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health in the early days of shale development. This leads to long written rebuttals by the staffs of those departments. However, what is needed at this time is to put aside the fingerpointing and address the recommendations for improvements. The health of our citizens depends on it.