Marcellus Outreach Butler to Rally Today at Rep. Ellis Office

Members of Marcellus Outreach Butler plan to rally outside State Rep. Brian Ellis’s office on Chesapeake Street in Lyndora at 10 a.m. today. 

According to the advocacy group, protesters will don tyvek suits and bring water to Ellis’s office from the Woodlands neighborhood in Connoquenessing Township. Members believe water from that area has been contaminated by nearby drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Ellis, R-Butler, also is a cosponsor of Act 13, which regulates oil and gas drilling throughout the state. The act, which was signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett in February, supersedes Marcellus Shale already regulations put into place by local officials.

Several communities, Arguments for the case will take place June 4-8 in Harrisburg

Members of Marcellus Outreach Butler expressed unhappiness Ellis sponsored the act because they say drilling has caused air and water contamination in the area.

“As the prime sponsor of Act 13, Brian Ellis has opened the door to situations like this to occur all over Pennsylvania,” a statement from the group said. “We need to hold legislators accountable for serving the interests of the gas industry over the health, safety and wellbeing of the people of Pennsylvania.

This isn’t the first time Marcellus Outreach Butler has rallied on behalf of the Woodlands neighborhood.

in front of Rex Energy's Butler office to protest the company's decision to stop providing water to 11 families in the Woodlands neighborhood.

Group members claim the homeowners’ water became contaminated after the energy company, which has operations in Appalachian, Illinois and Rockies regions, began natural gas drilling in the area two years ago.

Rex Energy spokesman

The company halted water to the neighborhood after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, as well as a third-party environmental consultancy group, performed a regional groundwater quality investigation in the area. The results determined there were no notable difference in water chemistry between pre- and post-drill water quality tests, according to Rex Energy.

The Rex Energy report also indicated older oil wells in the region—possibly with deteriorated casing and antiquated drilling fluid management around the wellheads—might have affected the groundwater quality.

For more information on today's rally, visit the Marcellus Outreach Butler website by clicking here.