In light of a recent letter from the head of the state Department of Environmental Protection to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official that called federal regulators’ understanding of a local well water contamination issue “rudimentary,” it appears relations between state and federal regulators regarding the Marcellus Shale continue to be strained.
John R. Hanger, special counsel in Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott’s Harrisburg office and, up until January of last year, secretary of the DEP, described the current interaction between state and federal environmental regulators as “a relationship showing stress, as opposed to a relationship showing mutual understanding and a commitment to working together.”
