Pennsylvania's DEP is Incompetent

    
Six months ago, some folks in Sugar Run ( Bradford County PA ) noticed the Susquehanna River was bubbling methane where it had never bubbled before.  I was out there three days later taking pictures and shooting video.

Three days after that, on September 8th, 2010, the following comments were attributed to the DEP in the Citizens Voice:

DEP believes the wells at the Welles site are also the most likely source of the new contamination, but that has not been conclusively proved. The agency and Chesapeake are investigating. DEP expects analysis of lab results to be complete within two weeks.

To refresh your memory, here's the full article. When I recently contacted the DEP for a status, I was told the source of the Susquehanna's bubbling was still "under investigation."

Seriously folks...six months?  What happened to "Two weeks?"

Post-post update: In today's ( 3/3/11) edition of the Rocket Courier comes the following:

As far as the methane in the river, he reported that “it’s still bubbling, even with the river as high as it is.” He said another location off the Tony Adams property where the methane had been bubbling this summer is not so evident now.

Here's the skinny: As a tax-paying resident and native-born son of the commonwealth of PA, the folks at the DEP are on my payroll. They may not quite view it that way, but that's their problem. I'm setting a deadline of Tuesday, March 15th for an update on where this investigation stands. After that, all bets are off. 

  
Six months? Getting kinda cranky here...



Bubbling Waters 2 - Susquehanna River from Don Williams on Vimeo.