MSC to Allegheny Health Board: Your Own Data Says Shale Is Safe

Last Wednesday, MDN told you about the Allegheny County Board of Health's latest move against shale drilling (see Antis Cheer as Allegheny Co. Moves to Pull Shale Air Exemptions). Right now, shale well pads in the county don't need an air permit from the county health department because they're exempt under Article 21, the county's air pollution rules. In September, the board voted unanimously to have the health department study getting rid of that exemption. It turns out the industry saw this coming and tried to head it off. The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), the main trade group for Pennsylvania's shale drillers, sent MDN copies of two letters MSC President Jim Welty sent the board before that vote, one dated Aug. 20 and the other Sept. 15. The letters accuse the board's "Fracking Committee" of doing its work in the shadows. And they point to something the board seems to want everyone to forget: the county's own data.

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