SEND COMMENTS ON PIPELINE
Dear Editor:
According to Maya Van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection intends to issue a 401 State Water Quality Certification for the PennEast/UGi pipeline project (Times News, June 4, 2016, Riverkeeper: Be ready for pipeline fight). If it does so, the state DEP will violate state law that requires the corporation requesting the certification to show that it complies with state requirements of the Clean Water Act. PennEast/UGI has not met all of the requirements, but our Department of Environmental Protection wants to give them the certification now and hope for compliance later! This violates the law.
In Carbon County the proposed PennEast/UGI pipeline route will affect many waterways, including Mud Run, Yellow Run, Stony Creek, Wild Creek, the Lehigh River and Beltzville Lake. The pipeline threatens waterway ecology, water quality, stream flow, fish and wildlife, aquatic habitat, in-stream and downstream recreational uses of these waterways.
Additionally, public lands including Hickory Run State Park, Weiser State Forest, Beltzville State Park and State game lands No. 40 and No. 91 are in the pipeline's path. How will the construction and maintenance of the pipeline impact public use of these public resources? What are the environmental risks to these resources? We need a public hearing to ask these and other important questions.
These resources belong to the people of Pennsylvania and it is the responsibility of The Department of Environmental Protection to protect them.
They are too precious to be handed over to PennEast by issuing a 401 Water Quality Certification without proper data collection or the opportunity for a public hearing. the state DEP should withhold its certification until PennEast provides quality, field verified environmental data to support its application and until a public hearing on the subject is held.
The public has until June 13 to send comments to Joe Bucyzynski, Waterways and Wetlands Program Manager, Department of Environmental Protection, Northeast Regional Office, 2 Public Ave., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711, or you may comment via email to jbucyznski@pa.gov. At the top of your communication note that the comment concerns: Proposed State Water Quality Certification required by Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for the PennEast/UGI Pipeline Company.
Sincerely, Michael Schirra Penn Forest Township
