So yes, it snowed a lot last night, but don’t you worry: City Council braved the cold and convened for its citizenry.

If you’re quizzed about today’s meeting, you’ll need to know about two main things: Marcellus Shale and DROP.

Marcellus Shale:

Resolution 100864 passed unanimously and it states that council agrees to adopt “the report issued by Council’s Joint Committees on Transportation and Public Utilities and the Environment on the economic and environmental impacts that hydraulic drilling of Marcellus Shale will have on Philadelphia and the surrounding region.â€�

That report can be found in its entirety here as a PDF and its basic conclusions can be found here in HTML format. The basic premise of the report is that hydraulic fracturing needs to be safe and until governing bodies like the EPA come to some conclusion about what that means and how that should be done, “There must be no drilling, or projects related to gas drilling.� Fracking should also be taxed, etc.

Advocates in favor of strict policies regulating Marcellus Shale drilling say the report and its conclusions need time to sink in for Philadelphians. A bunch of them showed up at council this morning and Iris Marie Bloom was one of them. During public comments, she — and a host of other like-minded speakers — spoke about being in favor of resolution 100864, but she took her message one step further: She wants council to take the new resolution to the Delaware River Basic Commission and encourage them to move a March 16th deadline for public comment on fracking regulations for the Delaware River basin to September. She also asks that the commission hold a meeting in Philadelphia.

“[S]tand up and fight for our watershed,” she said to council, “and make sure the DRBC allows Philadelphia’s voices to be directly heard.”

The DRBC’s meetings are currently scheduled for:

* Feb. 22 – Honesdale High School Auditorium, 459 Terrace Street, Honesdale, Pa.

* Feb. 22 – Liberty High School Auditorium, 125 Buckley Street, Liberty, N.Y.

* Feb. 24 – Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, N.J.

More on that here.

DROP:

When is DROP not an issue in Philadelphia city politics? Well, the answer to that was technically supposed to be today (DROP wasn’t on the agenda). But that didn’t stop Fred Fisher, a retired City Hall employee, from offering his perturbed opinion to council during public comments.

Almost immediately after he began speaking, however, City Council President Anna C. Verna asked him to table it for another time. Fisher got pissed:

“I walked up here in the snow because I wanted to speak,� he said before reinforcing his belief that public employees should not be allowed to double up on retirement and salary benefits. Verna in effect said, Yes, I’m with you on this (and, for that matter, so is CP), but seriously, not today. Fisher relented and stepped away from the podium but then threw his written speech toward his seat and shouted, “I am a tea party member and we will be voting against you guys come November!�

Which got him a clap or two.

Turns out, he wasn’t the only one thinking DROP.  Councilman Frank DiCicco introduced a bill this morning that would allow city employees who have enrolled in the DROP program to opt out – which they can’t do, currently. Read more here.

…and while we’re on the topic of public comments.

Public comments during city council meetings are a good thing. But anyone who wants to speak should remember that council expects you to 1) keep your comments to around three minutes and 2) remember that comments are limited to “the bills or resolutions that are on Council’s Calendar … for possible action at that day’s Council session, even if those items are not actually called up for a vote.” This consists of “any items on the ‘Final Passage’ and ‘Second Reading and Final Passage’ sections of the [c]alendar.â€�

The three-minute rule was bludgeoned today during a few occasions when advocates against widespread Marcellus Shale drilling spoke. What happened in each of these occasions – and in one particularly – was that after three minutes passed, a noise that sounded like a wake-up alarm went off. Then about 30 seconds later, a horn-type noise went off – like the electronic sound that goes off between class periods in high school (saying, in code: “Seriously, stop talkingâ€�). Then councilor Verna interrupted the speaker, saying something like, “Please come to some kind of conclusion because your time has been up.â€� The speaker would respond something like, “Uh, ok,â€� and then keep talking for another minute or so. It wasn’t malicious – the ignoring of the three-minute rule – but it really served to take the focus off the message and place it on the point that the speakers had declined to limit their speeches to three minutes. Something to keep in mind if you’re planning to speak your truth to city council.

Secondly, it appears council is really trying to make sure that people don’t get off topic. So when a South Philly business owner stood at the podium this morning to complain about a relatively new tax he was unaware of and obviously didn’t like at all, Verna just straight up told him to take his comments elsewhere because, she said, “I just have no idea what you’re talking about.” This really pissed the guy way off.

“If you don’t come to look into my problem, it’s your problem,â€� he said. Which kinda sounded like a threat. Then – much like Fisher – he turned around and yelled something. But this businessman said nothing about the Tea Party. Instead, he yelled: “You’re a disgrace!â€� to, I guess, everyone. He wasn’t exactly escorted out by police, but two police officers followed him out of the room closely and I’m sure most in the crowd thought that was just fine. The guy seemed seriously upset. And as a result, I’m not sure anyone on council gave much consideration to what he was upset about; they just knew he was upset. Not great for the guy’s politics, one would think. But who knows.

Here are the other bills and resolutions passed unanimously by council today (copied directly from the agenda):

* Resolution 100877

INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Blackwell

Resolution recognizing Vivian T. Miller for a Career of Service to the Citizens of Philadelphia in her Roles as Community Organizer, Ward Leader and Philadelphia Clerk of Quarter Sessions.

* Resolution 100878

INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Tasco for Councilmember Council President

Verna City of Philadelphia -1 -

CITY COUNCIL Calendar for Thursday, January 27, 2011

Resolution approving the redevelopment contract and disposition supplement of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia for the redevelopment and urban renewal of a portion of the Point Breeze Urban Renewal Area, designated as Parcel Nos. 103 and 104 and also sometimes identified by house addresses and street addresses for Parcel No. 103 as 1626-1636 Federal street and for Parcel No. 104 as 1218-1228 South Seventeenth street; authorizing the Redevelopment Authority to execute the redevelopment contract with Community Ventures and to take such action as may be necessary to effectuate the redevelopment contract and disposition supplement.

* Resolution 100879

INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Miller

Resolution authorizing the Commissioner of Public Property to execute and deliver to the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia, without consideration, deeds conveying conditional fee simple title to certain City-owned lots or pieces of ground with the buildings and improvements thereon, situate in the Seventeenth Ward of the City of Philadelphia, pursuant to Chapter 16-400 of The Philadelphia Code and authorizing the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Philadelphia to dispose of such properties for rehabilitation and/or improvement in accordance with the terms of Chapter 16-400 of The Philadelphia Code.

* Resolution 100880

INTRODUCED BY: Councilmembers Sanchez and DiCicco

Resolution authorizing Council’s committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and Homelessness to hold hearings on the consequences of mass foreclosure in the Kensington and Port Richmond neighborhoods of rental properties owned by Landvest, LLP and related companies associated with Robert N. Coyle, Sr.

* Resolution 100079

INTRODUCED BY: Councilmember Jones

An Ordinance amending Title 14 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Zoning and Planning,” by adding a new Section 14-1640, entitled “Ridge Avenue Special District Controls,” under certain terms and conditions.

Everything else was tabled until a later date.

Over the weekend, I received an email from some anti-fracking activists alerting me to two incidents of spilled fracking materials which, although different, share at least a few things in common: they invovled discharge of unknown amounts of unknown concentrations of toxic materials; they went entirely unobserved by the companies responsible; and they appear to have resulted from distubringly inept practices.

Dateline Lycoming, Co., PA: About two weeks ago, a DEP inspector visited a hydraulic fracturing well pad maintained by XTO Energy to find a valve on a wastewater tank open and spewing watsewater, some 13,000 gallons of it (according to the company), straight into the ground. The inspector was able to close the valve himself/herself.

According to the Department of Environmental Protection, a local tributary was impacted as well as a freshwater spring.

The company has yet to explain why the valve was open.

Dateline Hughesville, PA: In early October, local police were alerted to reports of a truck carrying fracking fluids — not wastewater, apparently, but raw chemicals — that was leaking.

In an article in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette — the only paper in Pennsylvania to cover the incident, as far as we can tell —  local police chief Jason Gill said the spill might extend “35 or 40 miles.”

As to what, exactly, had been spilled, no one seemed to know. “It’s not hazardous at al,” assured police chief Gill, “until it mixes with water.”

According to Gill, the “freak accident” resulted when a strap holding in place several 100-gallon containers of chemicals broke lose and punctured one of the containers.

Sounds like a pretty strong container, doesn’t it?

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Pennsylvania State Police announced yesterday that a crackdown on trucks hauling wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling operations yielded the following results: of 1,175 trucks inspected, 1,057 were found to be violating state laws.

To put it another way: 89.96% of all Marcellus Shale wastewater trucks were breaking the law and, until yesterday, getting away with it.

It gets better:

207 trucks had violations severe enough that they were removed from service.

52 drivers were removed from service.

The most common problems, says yesterday’s press release, were “unsecured loads and inoperable vehicle lights and lamps”– not exactly comforting, considering that these trucks “loads” are highly-toxic (and possibly radioactive) water.

Common Cause Pennsylvania just released the latest numbers on gas industry donations on MarcellusMoney.org — Corbett raked in at least $835,720 (incidentally, he doesn’t think Shale driller should be taxed at all; wonder why that is?), while Onorato has received at least $112,800 — but those numbers aren’t even the only cause of concern: As pointed out by both Common Cause and an article in yesterday’s DN, both candidates are having problems disclosing their contributors’ employment information, which means, well, there could be more money pouring in from Big Gas that we just don’t know about. Corbett’s latest report isn’t perfect (he failed to disclose employer information for about 3 percent of his large individual donors), but it’s nowhere near as egregious as Onorato’s — he provided employer information for barely a third of his individual donors. 

Alex Kaplan, Project Coordinator for Common Cause, tells The Clog that he doesn’t think the holes in the report are intentional obfuscation, but rather, carelessness due to the quick pace of the campaign. Nevertheless, he says, disclosure is important — especially in Pennsylvania, where there are no contribution limits. Kaplan said that disclosure is crucial in understanding “the size of the influence� of any one donor. Technically, the candidates are breaking state law by failing to disclose employer information for any campaign donations over $250, but it’s not likely any legal action will be taken, Kaplan says. 

Part of the problem is that we’re still living in the dark ages: Pennsylvania doesn’t require computerized filing for candidates, which is the main reason these reports aren’t readily accessible to the public, according to the DN. Kaplan says Common Cause has been working to change this for a long time, but the legislature (shockingly) hasn’t gone along. Similarly, Common Cause has been working to set contribution limits for over two decades, but since that’s proving nigh impossible, Kaplan said the organization will focus on disclosure “in a big way� next year.

So, let’s, uh, be optimistic, shall we?

Isaiah Thompson

Fracktrack is CP’s ongoing coverage of the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania. For updates, bookmark this link or join our Google Group to receive email notifications.

At a press conference in Penn Treaty Park yesterday, Governor Rendell signed an executive order placing a moratorium on leasing more state forest land for natural gas drilling.

This author did readers the disservice of calling the event “a huge victory for environmental groups.” That is simply not the case.

In fact, Rendell’s order marks a largely-symbolic act, delivered too late to make much of a difference and only after the governor himself authorized several leases of state forest for drilling, over repeated warnings from his own forestry officials to the potential impact to Pennsylvania’s award-winning forests of doing so.

(In fact, after being warned against leasing a proposed 40,000 acres of forest in 2009, Rendell doubled the request to the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, asking for 80,000 acres instead).

Rendell’s power to enforce this executive order ends the moment he ceases to be an executive – I think we’ve got about 80 days.

Efforts to impose a meaningful moratorium on further forest leasing have to happen in the state legislature, where a small core of environmentally-minded legislators – among them Democratic House representatives Greg Vitali (above, far left) and Dave Levdansky – have fought a so-far losing battle to protect the sensitive forest land that hasn’t been leased.

The key part of this equation is a decades-old provision in state law known as the Oil and gas Lease Fund, masterminded by longtime forest steward Maurice Goddard who is legendary for reviving Pennsylvania’s forests during his tenure from coal and gas industry-devastated wastelands to some of the most expansive forests east of the Mississippi.

The law said this: if you lease forest land for oil & gas exploration, you put the profits of the lease back into the forests. The law not only allowed forest stewards to balance competing interests in the forests, but – most importantly – prevented the governor and legislature from using the state’s forests as one big, green slush fund for their own budgets.

That precedent held for more than fifty years until, under Rendell’s leadership, it was broken: last year, the state legislature raided the Oil & Gas Lease Fund for the state budget – largely in order to plug the hole left by Rendell himself when he backed down on imposing the tax on gas production that now, as a lame duck governor, he finds himself begging from a legislature with its eyes on the next executive.

What’s more, an obscure provision in the FY09-10 fiscal code imposed a cap on the amount of money the DCNR may take in from gas royalties – effectively stealing for the state money that was suppoed to be earmarked for conservation, recreation, and new projects.

As DCNR’s budget gets slashed year after year, the agency, rather than using the proceeds of gas drilling in its own forests for the restoration or expansion of forestland elsewhere, is increasingly forced to use that money just to fund its basic operations.

In a few words: the DCNR is increasingly becoming dependent on hand-outs from the legislature, whose members increasingly demand forest land for drilling as a condition for those hand-outs. If nothing changes, those charged with protecting our forests will increasingly be forced to sell them off.

Without new laws in place this – more than any moratorium – will be Rendell’s lasting environmental legacy.

CP’s breaking news and analysis of the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania. Click here to join the “Frack Track� Google group and receive email updates.

Governor Rendell announced yesterday that the proposed (and agreed upon in the last budget session) tax on natural gas extraction is officially “dead” for this session, after Senate Republicans refused to make a counter-proposal the governor would accept.

And while the gas industry and the politicians it bankrolls light cigars and roll naked in piles of money – or whatever they do after such victories – the rest of us ought to take a good hard look at how exactly one of the largest and most lucrative industries to arrive in this state in recent history has, in the middle of a recession, managed to avoid paying taxes on the extraction of the most valuable natural resource we have left.

With money, that’s how: in just a few years, the gas industry has poured millions of dollars into lobbying and campaign contributions to our elected officials – Republicans especially.

According to the website MarcellusMoney.org, a project of Common Cause Pennsylvania, the industry has spent more than $5 million lobbying Harrisburg since 2007 alone in installments of ever-increasing value (see the graph above).

Topping the list is none other than Republican Gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett ($372,270), followed by Senate President Pro Tem Joseph Scarnati ($117,575), followed by Governor Ed Rendell ($84,100), followed by  Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato ($74,300), all followed by a sizeable chunk of the Republican wing of the State Senate – the same that just couldn’t seem to propose a tax on the enormous profits the gas industry expects to make here.

MarcellusMoney.org, a project of Common Cause PA

Gas industry lobbying since 2007

The industry, of course, argues that taxation will hamper its growth, cost jobs, drive the industry out, etc.  But there are few issues in state politics that are more cut and dry: the argument is utter nonsense.

Marcellus Shale gas, it so happens, is confined to the Marcellus Shale. The gas is here, and if there exists a tax that would actually discourage the fossil fuel industry from coming here to get it, nothing close to it has ever been proposed. Even if the tax did slow down the pace of development, it would be slowed from what is now a dangerous free-for-all that, in just a few years, has destroyed the water supply of an entire town (state regulators have ordered Cabot Oil & Gas to supply Dimock, PA’s water), involved dozens of spills of toxic waste, ruined the infrastructure of municipalities hosting the industry, and begun already to deplete fresh water supplies across the state – activity which has, and continues to go, untaxed.

Tom Corbett gets the biggest cut of the proceeds of that activity while the public gets zilch – and, if elected, he’s promised to keep it that way.

It’s looking like a good night for Ting Wong.

We go to City Council meetings so you don’t have to.

As far as Council meetings go, this was a fairly enthralling one, so let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? But first, our weekly attendance record: Councilwoman Joan Krajewski wasn’t at the meeting. Everyone else was. Moving right along …

- The bill abolishing the Office of the Clerk of Quarter Sessions — and transferring all of its duties to the First Judicial District — passed unanimously. Congrats, Committee of Seventy. Now just three more row offices to go, y’all.

- Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez introduced a bill that would reform the city’s long-criticized business privilege tax: It would raise the gross receipts tax and eventually kill the net income tax. (It would also add a tax credit to fresh food retailers to “address the problem of ‘fresh food’ deserts,” says Sánchez in a press release.) According to co-sponsor Councilman Bill Green, this will remove the “disincentive for businesses” — especially small businesses — “to locate to Philadelphia.” This, of course, differs from Mayor Nutter’s plan kill the gross receipts tax and lower the net income tax by 6 percent. Should make for an interesting showdown. You can check out a copy of the bill here. (For an easier — though longer — read, here’s a PowerPoint on the bill from Sánchez and Green’s offices.)

- Also, in Nutter/Council showdown news, the deeds bill that aims to prevent property theft passed, with everyone voting in favor except for Councilman Brian O’Neill, who abstained from the vote.

- And finally, Council passed a resolution to call on the Delaware River Basin Commission to enact a three-year moratorium on Marcellus Shale drilling and create a Marcellus Shale Study Commission to assess its environmental impact. If elected, gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett vows to place a moratorium on all such moratoriums.

This morning, following a press conference in which Governor Rendell acknowledged and apologized for a state-contracted agency’s spying on anti-drilling activists (among others), a Pittsburgh City Councilman, Doug Shields, demanded a probe into the company, the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response. (Read more about the somewhat-mysterious company here)

Reports the Post-Gazette:

“I want to see the 990s on this group,” he said, referring to the IRS document nonprofits must file. “Where do the fingerprints lie on this organization?” Mr. Shields said.”

However, City Paper has found no 990s so far: In fact, the organization is not listed on several nonprofit databases, including one maintained by the IRS.

An email seeking clarification of the group’s nonprofit status was not returned. Co-Director Michael Perelman, reached by phone for clarification, declined to say whether the group is, in fact, a nonprofit, saying a press release was forthcoming and that there would be no other comment.

He was unable to say when the release will be issued.

Last night, Governor Rendell called reports prepared for the state by the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR) — which covertly monitored the activities of anti-drilling activists (along with  such terroristic events as a gay rights parade) — “ludicrous.”

He also said the state would not renew its $125,000 contract with the company.

But who and what is the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response? The answer isn’t obvious.

(more…)

Jeffrey Billman here with your morning fix:

Delaware teabaggers have elected Democrat Chris Coons their next senator.

Three people in Atlantic City told authorities they saw someone fall out of a plane without a parachute. The cops have yet to find a body.

Ed Rendell is “appalled” that his administration was tracking anti-gas drilling activists — a story broken, in part, by our very own Isaiah Thompson. From the Inky:

“Let me make this as clear as I can make it,” the governor said at news conference Tuesday night, pounding his fist on the podium. “Protesting against an idea, a principle, a process, is not a real threat against infrastructure. Protesting is a God-given American right, a right that is in our Constitution, a right that is fundamental to all we believe in as Americans.”

After the Teamsters union refused to budge on renegotiating their contract, the prospective deal for Philadelphia Media Network, led by a New York hedge fund, to buy the Inky, DN and philly.com has fallen apart. A new auction is set for next week. The Newspaper Guild is not happy, and claims the drivers union has threatened “thousands of jobs and the entire company by hijacking and derailing the closing process.”

In a visit to the Masterman School, Barack Obama told students at the elite charter magnet: “Your life is what you make of it,” Obama said. “And nothing — absolutely nothing — is beyond your reach. So long as you’re willing to dream big. So long as you’re willing to work hard. So long as you’re willing to stay focused on your education.”

Philly has paid out more than $32 million to settle lawsuits over the last year or so. Fox 29 is there.

Cole Hamels* struck out 13, and the Phils’ 2-1 win against the Marlins — by the way, did anyone else notice how empty the Fish’s stadium was? Jesus — gives them a two-game lead over the Braves in the NL East, after the Braves lost to the Nationals. The Braves are coming to the Bank next week in what could well be a decisive series, and I will be there.

*Corrected.

An email obtained by City Paper suggests collaboration between the state Department of Homeland Security and gas drilling interests.

The email, authored by Pennsylvania Homeland Security chief James Powers, was written in apparent error: addressed to a participant in anti-drilling forums, the letter indicates that Powers mistakenly mistook its recipient for someone associated with pro-drilling interests.

In the email (full text below), Powers warns against distributing information gathered by the Pa. DHS on anti-drilling activities, saying that: “We want to continue providing this support to the Marcellus Shale Formation natural gas stakeholders while not feeding those groups fomenting dissent against those same companies.”

The “support” he speaks of consists at least partly of confidential updates on anti-drilling activists and activities. A report yesterday evening by nonprofit investigative journalism outfit Pro Publica broke the news that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Homeland Security included in its regular newsletter, the Pennsylvania Intelligence Bulletin, descriptions of various activities and gatherings of activists opposed to gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Included in a list entitled “Dates of interest” are a series of local meetings about gas drilling issues — a drilling ordinance in Cranberry County, a hearing in Damascus, Pa. on zoning regulations — as well as the recent screening in Philadelphia of the “controversial Gasland movie,” a documentary by filmmaker Josh Fox on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, the process used to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale.

City Paper emailed Mr. Powers to confirm authenticity of the email and was contacted instead by Governor Rendell’s chief spokesman Gary Tuma, who acknowledged that the email was authentic and said that the Pa. Dept. of Homeland Security was sharing such information with certain local interests – including gas drilling companies — because of “recent acts of vandalism” against drilling operations.

“There have been five acts of vandalism against Marcellus Shale drilling facilities,” in the last two weeks, he said, “including two of which involved firearms … shotguns fired at equipment.”

A third incident involved theft, he said after being asked for details, and the other two were “minor incidents.”

Tuma added that “There have been peaceful protests related to MS drilling by people who oppose drilling and the increased amount of drilling — certainly no one is trying to restrict the rights of peaceful protest conducted within the parameters of the first amendment.”

Asked whether there have been any protests that were not peaceful, Mr. Tuma acknowledged, “There have not been any that I’m aware of.”

The full text of the email appears below:

For Your Information & Situational Awareness

Just a short note of clarification regarding the intent of the PIB. The information provided to you via the PIB is not for dissemination in the public domain. As indicated in the caveats on the first page, the PIB is solely meant for owners/operators & security personnel associated with our critical infrastructure & key resources.

Although an internet forum is certainly a great way to spread the word and receive input from forum participants, it’s still in the public domain and thus be accessed by both pro and anti-natural gas drilling folks.

Please assist us in keeping the information provided in the PIB to those having a valid need-to-know; it should only be disseminated via closed communications systems.

Thanks for your support. We want to continue providing this support to the Marcellus Shale Formation natural gas stakeholders while not feeding those groups fomenting dissent against those same companies.

Jim

James F. Powers, Jr. | Director

Office of Homeland Security

2605 Interstate Drive | Suite 380

Harrisburg, PA 17110-9382

717-651-2715 | Cell: 717-307-5335

gaslandthemovie.com

Filmmaker Josh Fox is in town and will be visiting our own weird, quasi-public venue — The Piazza at Schmidts — for a screening by Rooftop Films and the Philly Underground Film Festival of Fox’s documentary, Gasland.

The film is a disturbing — but also, lest you be on the fence, surprisingly entertaining — portrait of the natural gas industry and the method of gas extraction known as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.” It’s already a major, major presence in Pennsylvania and whose environmental consequences deserve, at the very least, a level of scrutiny that has been absent so far.

This paper has covered the subject, most recently under our little monikers of “Frack Track” and “Marcellus Shale,” Click on the blue for recent articles.

In the meantime, here’s a snippet of my recent interview with Fox, in which he describes the strange phenomenon of people coming from around the state to his screenings … with jugs of contaminated water!

If you like this teaser, just wait: the full interview will be available next week in … The resurrection of our long-dead podcast!

Here are show details:

(more…)

CP’s breaking news and analysis of the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania. Click here to join the “Frack Track” Google group and receive email updates.

This isn’t quite breaking news – it’s been covered by a few papers in western Pa. and I mentioned it briefly  in a recent “Man Overboard” column – but it’s gotten surprisingly little play in the media, considering the severity of the claims being made.

The Allegheny Defense Project, a grassroots group dedicated to preserving the environment, ecology, and wilderness of the Allegheny mountains, has charged the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection with illegally permitting water withdrawals.

Here’s the breakdown: Hydraulic fracturing, the process used to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation underlying much of Pa., requires water –  lots and lots of water. In eastern and central Pennsylvania (the Delaware and Susquehanna river basins, respectively), that water can be drawn from Pa streams and rivers only with the permission of that watershed’s river basin commission.

But in the part of western Pa. which lies in the Ohio River Basin, there is no basin commission to permit water withdrawals. Instead, argues the ADP, those rivers and streams are governed by riparian rights: governed, in other words, by the property owners themselves.

The group charges that DEP has been illegally giving drilling companies permission to withdraw water – charges which they outlined in a letter to DEP Secretary John Hanger (download the full letter here).

According to Board Director Bill Belitskus, the DEP – more than a month later – has yet to respond.

From the Allegheny Defense Project press release:

“The fact is, the DEP has absolutely no authority to permit water withdrawals in Pennsylvania,� said Cathy Pedler, ADP’s forest watch coordinator.  “Outside of the Delaware and Susquehanna River watersheds, water withdrawals are governed by riparian rights common law, which means only those who live adjacent to the water can make reasonable use of the water on their land.  A gas company cannot take water that flows through property it does not own.�

Nevertheless, documents obtained by ADP reveal that the DEP is unlawfully authorizing water withdrawals from western Pennsylvania streams and rivers.  On March 31, 2010 the DEP approved a Water Management Plan for Hanley & Bird, Inc.  The Water Management Plan allows Hanley & Bird to withdraw 1.44 million gallons of water a day from the Redbank Creek in Jefferson County for five years.

What to say? The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has said it all:

A Monroeville drilling company could tap natural gas beneath 15 cemeteries in Allegheny and Washington counties under a lease signed by the Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, the association’s director said Tuesday.

The association leased nearly 1,060 acres of cemetery land in 2008 to Huntley & Huntley Inc., including the 200-acre Calvary Cemetery in Hazelwood, which City Councilman Doug Shields called “ground zero” in the debate over whether natural gas drilling should be permitted in Pittsburgh

In case you missed that last phrase: “the debate over whether natural gas drilling should be permitted in Pittsburgh,” – it is, in fact a debate and a distinct possibility: Pittsburgh, unlike Philadelphia, is located on top of the Marcellus Shale and the drilling industry is moving in quickly to begin drilling within city limits.