Woman Files Suit Over Smelly Marcellus Wastewater

Source: Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Woman files suit over smelly Marcellus wastewater
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Something stinks around a Marcellus Shale wastewater reservoir operated by Range Resources in Amwell, Washington County, according to local resident's lawsuit, but a state inspector said administrators told him to ignore complaints.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg by Beth Voyles, states that John Carson, a Department of Environmental Protection field inspector, said superiors in Harrisburg and the southwest DEP regional office in Pittsburgh told him he was not permitted to accept any complaints, investigate or file any citations against Range for noxious odors allegedly coming from the reservoir known as the "Yeager impoundment."


The court case comes as the DEP struggles with news reports about procedural changes that require field inspectors to get approval from administrators in Harrisburg before issuing violation notices to Marcellus Shale drilling operations or other state agencies.

The lawsuit asks the court to force the DEP to accept and investigate Ms. Voyles complaint, take water, soil and air samples and issue notices of violation if warranted.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11145/1149196-100.stm#ixzz1NPMd7GI7

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Range basically responds: "Odor, what odor? We don't smell no stinkin' odor." Pennsylvania's GOP Governor Corbett's Dept. of Environmental Protection refused to answer reporter's questions as well, saying it could not because DEP might be "subject to litigation." So instead of the state budgeting for the necessary additional inspectors to protect the public health and safety, the state will be putting out $$$ paying to defend in lawsuits, pay judgments, etc.

What is needed is for the courts to nail Range Resources AND the DEP bigtime to force them to clean up their respective acts.