Pa. must step up to protect bay, DEP chief says here

The state's top environmental official said here Thursday that the state must make tough decisions that result in cleaner water flowing into the Chesapeake Bay or face unwanted dictates from the federal government or a judge.

John Hanger, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection secretary, acknowledged that Pennsylvania, like other states whose water feeds the struggling bay, has failed to meet its cleanup promises.

And now, the Obama administration has issued an executive order giving the states marching orders to do a vastly better job of keeping manure, soil, sewage, lawn fertilizers and other pollutants out of local waterways.

Much of the reductions in nutrients will have to come from farmers, and Lancaster County is squarely in the sights of state and federal regulators.

Pennsylvania must devise an accelerated cleanup plan and do it swiftly, Hanger told the multistate Susquehanna River Basin Commission, meeting at the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square.

"If we don't make these decisions now, we're not going to make them, and somebody else will be making these decisions for us," Hanger warned.

"And that somebody may not be the (federal) Environmental Protection Agency. It may well be a federal judge adjudicating an action lawsuit for long, persistent violations of the Clean Water Act.

"That's what I want to avoid, almost as much as I want to clean up the bay, because we have accomplished a lot."

Hanger said Pennsylvania has reduced the amount of nitrogen flowing into the bay via the Susquehanna River by 46 percent since 2000. And phosphorus has been reduced by 63 percent.

"There has been significant progress made," Hanger declared.

"I want Pennsylvania to make these decisions ourselves. We know our state best. I'm hopeful and eager to show what Pennsylvania can do here."

Hanger also addressed the SRBC commissioners on another environmental concern at the forefront: the accelerating drilling for natural gas under the Marcellus shale formation that covers much of the state.

Hanger vowed the agency would be able to protect Pennsylvania's waterways while seeing that the natural gas, which he considers a valuable asset, is tapped "sensibly."

When extracting energy of any sort, there is no such thing as zero impact, he said.

But he contended DEP has levied regulations, and will lay down more, to protect the state's high-quality streams.

The state has issued 2,468 violations so far on the 800 wells drilled to date. Another 2,500 wells have been permitted.

Overall, he said he has found drilling companies to be good members of local communities and willing to face the consequences when mistakes are made.

Hanger said he has read "wildly inaccurate" concerns that the state can't adequately monitor the drilling because of its budget cutbacks.

In fact, Hanger said drilling fees will raise $10 million to pay for additional inspectors. Some 37 have been added by the agency so far.

He also criticized as inaccurate reports that the well-publicized finding of total dissolved solids pollution in the Monongahela River was caused by Marcellus shale drilling.

In reality, the pollution came from a variety of sources, including industrial operations and active and abandoned mine sites. Natural gas drilling also was a contributor, he said.

acrable@lnpnews.com