Rendell's position on the severance tax hardly came as a shock. What annoyed the industry was his "selective" recollection of events and facts, including his own administration's success at strengthening regulation, said Kathryn Z. Klaber, the president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which sponsored the Shale Gas Insight conference.
"What was the most surprising to everybody is how outdated Ed Rendell's comments were," Klaber said.
For instance, Rendell chided his hosts for discharging inadequately treated wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, the extraction process that involves the injection of high-pressure fluid into deep gas-bearing rock.
"Opposition is growing because some public water utilities that sit downstream from big gas wastewater treatment plants have struggled to stay under the maximum for contaminants," Rendell said.
"You need to take the steps to make sure that frack water is disposed of in an environmentally responsible way," he said.
Actually, the industry said, that issue has already been addressed.
What Rendell did not mention is that wastewater rules were tightened dramatically in the last year of his administration. But the rules did not apply to about 15 treatment plants that were allowed to continue discharging under a previous agreement with his administration.
Facing a lawsuit from environmentalists, Gov. Corbett's secretary of environmental protection, Michael Krancer, in April called for all Marcellus drillers to halt discharges. For four months now, the industry has complied, according to DEP.
Klaber said both administrations should take credit for creating higher standards for natural gas wastewater discharges than those imposed on any other industry.
