To: DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell

PA DEP, We Deserve to Know the Full Story on PFAS and Fracking

We now know, thanks to the Editorial Board of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that PFAS chemicals have been used for fracking in PA in at least 8 wells. We demand and deserve the full story on which PFAS chemicals have been used, where they've been used, and in what quantities. We demand that your agency put in place a process for testing waste and informing the public of the results. We demand to know where PFAS contaminated waste is going. We further demand that you immediately ban their use in the future.

Why is this important?

In revealing that PFAS chemicals have been used in fracking here in PA, the Editorial Board of the Philadelphia Inquirer has done the work your state regulators have failed to do. This failure comes on the heels of so many others that a Grand Jury convened to look at the industry couldn't help but report a year ago on how badly our regulators have failed us. The Editorial Board describes DEP's attitude as "willful ignorance." That's putting it mildly. Time for an attitude adjustment at DEP for the good of all Pennsylvanians.

Philadelphia Inquirer editorial - https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/fracking-pennsylvania-pfas-toxic-chemicals-water-20210805.html

PFAS report by PSR - https://www.psr.org/blog/new-report-fracking-with-forever-chemicals/

Grand Jury report - https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/taking-action/press-releases/43rd-statewide-grand-jury-finds-pennsylvania-failed-to-protect-citizens-during-fracking-boom/