Big Sewickley Creek Watershed (click for larger version)
In July 2021, a Pennsylvania Democrat lawmaker from Beaver County (southwestern PA) who professes to support the Marcellus industry, Rep. Rob Matzie, wrote a letter to Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Pat McDonnell (a fellow Dem) asking him to deny a request by PennEnergy Resources to withdraw as much as 3 million gallons of water a day from Big Sewickley Creek and one of its tributaries for shale fracking (see Dem PA Lawmaker Wants to Block Use of Creek Water for Fracking). McDonnell honored his fellow Dem’s request and blocked PennEnergy’s request to use creek water in October (see PA DEP Blocks Use of SWPA Creek Water for Fracking). Matzie is back, this time to oppose a second request by PennEnergy to withdraw half the amount of water from Big Sewickley Creek.
