Troutman To Testify At House Democrat Committee Hearing

HDPC to examine DEP accountability of Marcellus Shale environmental testing on Tuesday in Washington, Pa.

WASHINGTON, Pa., Feb. 14 – House Democratic Policy Chairman Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, today announced that the committee will hold a public hearing to look at the state Department of Environmental Protection’s accountability standards regarding environmental testing following natural gas drilling from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Courthouse Square Building at 100 W. Beau St. Washington, PA.
State Rep. Jesse White, D- Allegheny/Beaver/Washington, requested the hearing and will serve as its co-chairman. White recently introduced H.B. 268 that would require DEP to disclose the full testing results, including raw data and documentation, of any environmental tests conducted by the department on a landowner’s or leaseholder’s property in Pennsylvania.
The current hearing agenda is:

• 2 p.m. – Welcome and opening remarks
• 2:10 p.m. – Panel One:
  • Kim Staub, resident of Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County
  • Chris Lauff, resident of Mt. Pleasant Township, Washington County
• 2:40 p.m. – Judy Armstrong Stiles, resident of Athens Borough, Bradford County
• 3 p.m. – Panel Two:
  • David Headley, resident of Springhill Township, Fayette County
  • Craig Stevens, resident of Silver Lake Township, Susquehanna County
• 3:30 p.m. – Nadia Steinzor, eastern program coordinator, Earthworks
• 3:50 p.m. – Panel Three:
  • Melissa Troutman, outreach coordinator, Mountain Watershed Association
  • Steve Hvozdovich, policy associate, Clean Water Action
  • Erika Staaf, clean water advocate, PennEnvironment
• 4:30 p.m. – Closing remarks    

The hearing is open to the public and media coverage is invited.