PA Senate candidate Sestak called for EPA oversight of Marcellus drilling.

[Divernan]

Sestak did this in October of 2013, following a blowout 100 miles east of Pittsburgh, which sent a plume of contaminated drilling water & natural gas 75 feet into the air & flowing into the ground for 16 hours before being capped. A failed blowout preventer triggered BP's environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

I post this to illustrate that he is not in the pocket of Big Fracking.

Sestak - the Democratic nominee for Senate - compared the incident, which has initially been linked to a failed blowout preventer, to the circumstances that led to the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sestak wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to ask that the Marcellus Shale development be monitored by the EPA to ensure that drilling does not harm Pennsylvania's water resources.

"This accident highlights the significant dangers of these drilling operations, which are expanding in Pennsylvania at an unprecedented rate and scale," Sestak wrote, noting that American Rivers has declared the Upper Delaware River the most endangered in the country due to Marcellus Shale development. "Proper regulations are not in place to manage them and protect the public." He said Pennsylvania must have proper investigation and testing of groundwater and air contamination and the EPA has the technical expertise to do so.

As a House member, Sestak co-sponsored the FRAC Act, a companion to a Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Bob Casey, that would repeal the "Halliburton Loophole," a Bush-era deal that allows drillers to avoid compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/harrisburg_politics/Sestak_calls_for_EPA_oversight_of_Marcellus_gas_drilling.html#g0rEfW7tm3QUGK72.99

[blue neen]

1. It certainly would be helpful to our citizens and our environment to get rid of the loophole.

I applaud Joe Sestak's, along with Sen. Casey's, efforts on this.