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.)