Not Such a Myth After All

Narrowsburg, NY River Reporter
4-10 December 2008
By Barbara Arrindell with Ron Gula

In an article on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) response to supposed “myths” about gas drilling in the October 30 River Reporter, Tom Rathbun, spokesman for the DEP, spoke of a complaint it had received from a property owner in the village of Hickory in Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County, on September 8, 2006.

As quoted in the article, Rathbun said, “The individual stated that drilling had killed all the vegetation in his pond. The fish were not affected.

“DEP collected multiple samples in multiple locations in the pond and sent them to the lab for testing. Lab results returned no presence of any drilling or gas well chemicals or fluids. The complaint was closed on October 4, 2006.”

Rathbun went on to say that there was no evidence that drilling had had an effect on the ponds in question, arguing, “Cattails and other aquatic plants are quite hardy, and it is very unusual that something would kill them and not kill the fish. It would be the other way around if the water were contaminated. The fish would die but the plants would merely soak up the contaminants and continue to live. This situation appears to be more the result of some herbicide use, perhaps copper sulfate for algae control.”

The “individual” Rathbun refers to is Ron Gulla. This is his response to Mr. Rathbun’s statements:

“First, the complaint for the vegetation was not dated September 2006, but July 2006. In July 2006 I discussed the condition of the pond with a Range Resources employee, and he stated that a liner of the #6 flow pit leaked. I reported this statement to Mark Keil of the DEP at the same time I reported the condition of the pond, July 2006. We walked the perimeter of the pond and he agreed that there was a problem. The DEP representative, S. Richardson, took samples in/around September of 2006 when he returned to work following a heart attack.

“The samples of water were taken from the shore, while I requested that a sample of the mud from the bottom of pond be taken, as the solid contaminants that flowed into the pond would be at the bottom of the pond. I was told by Richardson that the DEP wouldn’t do that. I also told Richardson about the discolored (blackish) water flowing from the toe of location #6. There is an existing spring that flows from where the bottom of #6 is and feeds the pond. No response or comment was received from Richardson on this.

“Second, there was a fish kill. It was reported in May of 2007 to Mark Keil, and also to Range Resources employees. A Range employee said to me that they could clean and restock the pond after operations.

“[Rathbun] stated that the complaint was closed in October of 2006. It was months down the road before I received any letter in answer from the DEP on the first issue of July 2006. Finally, the water from the well has a metallic taste and we do not drink it. We bring water in. Was this resolved?

“No, nothing was resolved.

“With regard to the statement about herbicide and algae control, I refer you to my video on the www.damascuscitizens.org website ( see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg3ZJ9Hp56w ).

“I told the DEP to check the golf course so that they could see that nothing (such as herbicide or algae control) is coming from the golf course and into the pond.

They refused. In July 2006, I walked the golf course and looked at the last pond that feeds the stream that feeds my pond. All vegetation was fine in their pond; therefore, the contamination cannot come from there.

“We do not use any such chemical here on this property and neither does the neighbor.”

So now you know the rest of the story.

(Barbara Arrindell is a member of DamascusCitizens.org; Ron Gulla is a resident of Hickory,PA.)