Cancelled Meeting About Polluted Wells Ruffles Feathers Of Environmental Groups
By Kim Glovas
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is getting some heat from environmental groups after cancelling a meeting on short notice.
The focus was water wells polluted by Marcellus shale drilling.
The DEP's Kevin Sunday says the meeting was cancelled after staff saw that one of the 25 environmental groups, Clean Water Action, made a statement on social media that ruffled the feathers of DEP secretary Michael Krancer.
"Clean Water Action, on their own, was planning a separate meeting to plan their quote 'take-down,' end quote, of Secretary Krancer. That language was a bit troubling," Sunday explains.
The cancelled meeting was about polluted wells possibly caused by shale drilling.
"How water is tested, and then reported back to homeowners who suspect that their wells have been contaminated by shale drilling. And for the head of DEP to cancel a meeting in a fit of anger is totally inappropriate," says Tracey Carluccio, with the Delaware River Keepers Network.
The DEP says it is trying to reschedule the meeting, but without Clean Water Action at the table.
