The Pennsylvania Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee said it won't block new rules requiring Marcellus Shale gas operators to adhere to strict wastewater discharge standards.
Sen. Mary Jo White (R., Venango), the committee chairwoman, said the state's Environmental Quality Board can impose the new rules. In a letter to John Hanger, environmental protection secretary, she said the committee would address its objections in future legislation, but said that "there is no disagreement over our shared responsibility and commitment to protect our natural resources." The new rules require gas operators to treat wastewater heavily to remove salty total dissolved solids – chlorides and sulfides – so streams do not exceed the safe drinking water standard of 500 milligrams per liter. The gas industry says it is increasingly recycling water used in hydraulic fracturing operations and reducing its discharges. - Andrew Maykuth