PA Permit Violation Issued to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Center Twp, Indiana County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 3/18/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Center Twp, Indiana county. SWMA 302(A) – DISPOSAL, PROCESSING AND STORAGE OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person disposed, processed, stored, or permitted the disposal, processing or storage of residual waste in a manner which is contrary to the rules and regulations of DEP or to any permit or to the terms or conditions of any permit or any order issued by DEP.
Incident Date/Time: 2021-03-18 00:00:00

PA Permit Violation Issued to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Center Twp, Indiana County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 3/18/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Center Twp, Indiana county. SWMA 301 – MANAGEMENT OF RESIDUAL WASTE – Person operated a residual waste processing or disposal facility without obtaining a permit for such facility from DEP. Person stored, transported, processed, or disposed of residual waste inconsistent with or unauthorized by the rules and regulations of DEP.
Incident Date/Time: 2021-03-18 00:00:00

PA Permit Violation Issued to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Center Twp, Indiana County
Description: Environmental Health & Safety violation issued on 3/18/2021 to DIVERSIFIED PROD LLC in Center Twp, Indiana county. 78.57(a) – CONTROL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF PRODUCTION FLUIDS – Operator failed to collect the brine and other fluids produced during operation, service and plugging of the well in a tank, pit or a series of pits or tanks, or other device approved by the Department or Operator discharged brine or other fluids on or into the ground or into waters of the Commonwealth.
Incident Date/Time: 2021-03-18 00:00:00

SkyTruth Project
P.O. Box 3283
Shepherdstown, WV 25443

In “Fractured” we followed the stories of five families living in or near fracking country in southwestern Pennsylvania. All are coping to various degrees with unexplained illnesses, anxiety, depression, social strain.

Tests of their urine found biomarkers that suggested high levels of exposure to toxic compounds commonly used in fracking operations – ethylbenzene, styrene, toluene.

We found chemicals like benzene and butylcyclohexane in drinking water and air samples.

These five families are not alone. We asked readers and organizations to share their stories. Here’s how they reacted.

We want your story, too: Fill out our short three-question fracking survey, and we’ll be in touch.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdaZmyExIxuvlGHeoF97g1KQBjX5re7ojr9-4No_TzUXC9Z0w/viewform

Letter from Annie Deely, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 7, 2021

On Feb. 14, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published the letter “Natural Gas Provides Materials to Fight COVID-19,” by Kevin Sunday of the PA Chamber of Business and Industry. The letter shapes natural gas to be a “hero” in the fight against COVID-19. Mr. Sunday correctly links natural gas extraction to the production of single-use plastics, but he fails to acknowledge the environmental and human health degradation that comes along with resource extraction and plastic production.

Do single-use medical materials offset the respiratory illnesses linked to plastic production? Living near petrochemical cracker plants or gas drilling causes asthma, a pre-existing condition that exacerbates harmful symptoms of COVID-19. Fracking, a popular method of extracting natural gas, spews pollutants — such as volatile organic compounds benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene and n-hexane — into air and water sources; long-term exposure to these chemicals is linked to birth defects, neurological problems, blood disorders and cancer.

Suggesting that natural gas is in any way “clean” is an industry tactic that attempts to justify unnecessary and unsustainable drilling to create single-use consumer products such as the plastic wrap on grocery store bananas. I would like to see Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Shell, build his mansion next to Shell’s petrochemical cracker in Beaver County to show how “clean” plastic production is.

While Mr. Sunday’s “unsung heroes” of the natural gas industry are patting themselves on the back, they are also putting the U.S.’s most vulnerable communities at risk by strategically placing their well pads, pipelines and processing facilities into Black, brown, Indigenous and poor communities. These populations — which the natural gas industry openly exploits — are also the most affected by COVID-19 due to racial and ethnic health disparities.

There is no question that PPE like masks, gowns, face shields and gloves are keeping front-line workers safe during a deadly pandemic. Do valuable medical materials have to be attached to the fossil fuel industry? There are innovative solutions to the health, waste and climate problems caused by natural gas extraction. Medical plastic can be made with hemp, algae or even mushrooms — and natural gas can be left in the ground.

>> ANNIE DEELY, Squirrel Hill

The writer is a community organizer for Protect Penn-Trafford.