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Two of the country's largest private water utility companies are participants in a massive lobbying effort to expand controversial shale gas drilling -- a heavy industrial activity that promises to enrich the water companies but may also put drinking water resources at risk.
The situation -- which some watchdogs describe as a troubling conflict of interest -- underscores the complex issues raised by the nationwide push to privatize infrastructure and services like water, prisons, and roads.
The water companies -- American Water and Aqua America -- are leading drinking water suppliers in Pennsylvania, where drilling is booming. They also sell water to gas companies -- which use a drilling technique that requires massive amounts of water -- and have expressed interest in treating drilling wastewater, a potentially lucrative opportunity.
These investor-owned, publicly traded water utility companies are also dues-paying "associate members" of the gas industry's powerful Marcellus Shale Coalition, a fact confirmed by coalition spokesman Travis Windle, who says associate members pay $15,000 annually in dues. "Our associate members are really the backbone of the industry," adds Windle.
Both water companies serve millions of people across the country -- Aqua America operates in 11 states and American Water in more than 30.
The coalition, which is led by major gas producers, contends that "responsible development of natural gas" will bolster the region's economy while providing an important source of domestic energy. It has reported over $2 million in Pennsylvania lobbying expenditures since 2010.
Aqua America joined the coalition in 2010 and Pennsylvania American Water -- a subsidiary of American Water -- joined in 2011, according to the coalition's quarterly magazine, which publishes a full member list in each issue.
Shale gas drillers use a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to extract gas from the Marcellus formation in Pennsylvania. The controversial technique forces millions of gallons of water -- mixed with sand and chemicals -- into the ground to crack the shale rock and release gas. In addition to the potential risks posed by actual fracturing, the process produces large amounts of toxic wastewater that can be difficult to dispose of safely.
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently conducting a congressionally-mandated study "to investigate the potential adverse impact that hydraulic fracturing may have on water quality and public health." Pennsylvania is home to three of the seven sites selected for the nationwide study.
Separately, the EPA is testing the water of some Pennsylvania residents who say that nearby gas drilling contaminated their wells. According to the EPA, early test results indicate the water is safe to drink, however, some environmentalists disagree with that analysis.
In the meantime, the water companies are selling water to the drillers while calling for fracking to be done in an environmentally responsible manner. In a presentation to investors last month, American Water stated that it is "realizing additional revenues from water sales to drilling companies while remaining vigilant in protecting our water sources." In the presentation, the company noted it is "currently selling water to gas drillers at 34 distribution points in Pennsylvania," and that it "sold 250.4 million gallons of water to gas drillers from January through December of 2011, producing $1.6 million in revenues."
(Some public water utilities sell to drillers too, but no public utilities are part of the Marcellus Shale Coalition.)
American Water spokesman Terry Maenza says the company's support for environmental protection is unchanged by its role in the shale coalition and that it is also a member of numerous environmental groups.
That's the result of too much fracking for natural gas as seen in its market price that keeps going south as with real estate before it, no one seems capable of 'just saying no'. Add the collateral gas capture from oil well drills and little storage left and you have a race to the bottom, so no wonder ever more companies/utilities are switching to it as a fuel source. Perhaps California can thank Bush 2 for his support of Enron's exploitive push for their current NG facilities?
It takes years to get pipelines in place to ship it all overseas, same as Canadian and Dakotan shale gas and oil deposits that seek to export through pipeline connections to previous pipelines going to Texas processing facilities and exportation of same.
The water companies really won't stop this overdrive of greed as the price continues to decline as expected.