SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Private Water and Fracking, a Dubious Duo
Last week, I got to be a fly on the wall at Shale Insight 2015 in Philadelphia, the annual conference of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which includes companies working at all stages of gas drilling, fracking, processing and distribution As you can imagine, I heard some concerning things I while there, but among the more revealing "break-out sessions" was a love-fest between the oil and gas industry and private water industry, sponsored by American Water, the largest private water company in the country.
Sep 25, 2015
Last week, I got to be a fly on the wall at Shale Insight 2015 in Philadelphia, the annual conference of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which includes companies working at all stages of gas drilling, fracking, processing and distribution As you can imagine, I heard some concerning things I while there, but among the more revealing "break-out sessions" was a love-fest between the oil and gas industry and private water industry, sponsored by American Water, the largest private water company in the country.
American Water has aggressively privatized water systems in Pennsylvania and sees dollar signs in the fracking industry's relentless thirst for water -- up to 10 million gallons of water to frack some wells.
Kathy Pape, Senior Vice President of American Water and head of the company's Pennsylvania arm, chaired the session, titled "Working with Public Water Utilities: Reliable and Beneficial Water Sources for Hydraulic Fracturing." In her opening remarks, she shared her disbelief that, years ago, American Water's decision to sell water for fracking was actually a subject of heated debate within the company. Smiling from ear to ear, she explained how American Water "got over that hump" by making the argument that the company shouldn't discriminate and not sell water to a sex shop, so it likewise ought not miss the opportunity to sell water to the fracking industry. Of course, unlike the fracking industry, sex shops don't have a reputation of polluting drinking water.
American Water, a company with a track record of raising water rates and providing poor customer service, seized the opportunity for a new source of revenue, and has partnered with Rex Energy and XTO, the latter being one of the largest shale gas producers in the country and a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil. The two industries have since fostered an unholy alliance based on profiting off of our shared resources. American Water has built water pipes and upgraded pumping stations to service the fracking industry. In recent years, American Water has earned about $3 million in revenue by selling 460 million gallons of water to Rex Energy to frack 88 wells in Pennsylvania.
The Rex Energy panelist explained the many benefits it reaps from the partnerships, saying "we were very grateful for private water." The XTO engineer on the American Water-sponsored panel read his own lines somewhat flatly, stating "It's been a great partnership and we are thankful" to American Water.
Though this partnership may be great if your goal is to generate profits, it is not in the best interest of Pennsylvania residents, who are concerned with ensuring safe affordable water for generations to come.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2021 Food & Water Watch
Hugh Macmillan
Hugh MacMillan is a senior researcher in the water program at Food & Water Watch. Previously he served one year as a legislative fellow and science advisor in the U.S. Senate and five years as an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Clemson University. He has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He can be reached at hmacmillan(at)fwwatch(dot)org.
Last week, I got to be a fly on the wall at Shale Insight 2015 in Philadelphia, the annual conference of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which includes companies working at all stages of gas drilling, fracking, processing and distribution As you can imagine, I heard some concerning things I while there, but among the more revealing "break-out sessions" was a love-fest between the oil and gas industry and private water industry, sponsored by American Water, the largest private water company in the country.
American Water has aggressively privatized water systems in Pennsylvania and sees dollar signs in the fracking industry's relentless thirst for water -- up to 10 million gallons of water to frack some wells.
Kathy Pape, Senior Vice President of American Water and head of the company's Pennsylvania arm, chaired the session, titled "Working with Public Water Utilities: Reliable and Beneficial Water Sources for Hydraulic Fracturing." In her opening remarks, she shared her disbelief that, years ago, American Water's decision to sell water for fracking was actually a subject of heated debate within the company. Smiling from ear to ear, she explained how American Water "got over that hump" by making the argument that the company shouldn't discriminate and not sell water to a sex shop, so it likewise ought not miss the opportunity to sell water to the fracking industry. Of course, unlike the fracking industry, sex shops don't have a reputation of polluting drinking water.
American Water, a company with a track record of raising water rates and providing poor customer service, seized the opportunity for a new source of revenue, and has partnered with Rex Energy and XTO, the latter being one of the largest shale gas producers in the country and a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil. The two industries have since fostered an unholy alliance based on profiting off of our shared resources. American Water has built water pipes and upgraded pumping stations to service the fracking industry. In recent years, American Water has earned about $3 million in revenue by selling 460 million gallons of water to Rex Energy to frack 88 wells in Pennsylvania.
The Rex Energy panelist explained the many benefits it reaps from the partnerships, saying "we were very grateful for private water." The XTO engineer on the American Water-sponsored panel read his own lines somewhat flatly, stating "It's been a great partnership and we are thankful" to American Water.
Though this partnership may be great if your goal is to generate profits, it is not in the best interest of Pennsylvania residents, who are concerned with ensuring safe affordable water for generations to come.
Hugh Macmillan
Hugh MacMillan is a senior researcher in the water program at Food & Water Watch. Previously he served one year as a legislative fellow and science advisor in the U.S. Senate and five years as an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Clemson University. He has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He can be reached at hmacmillan(at)fwwatch(dot)org.
Last week, I got to be a fly on the wall at Shale Insight 2015 in Philadelphia, the annual conference of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, which includes companies working at all stages of gas drilling, fracking, processing and distribution As you can imagine, I heard some concerning things I while there, but among the more revealing "break-out sessions" was a love-fest between the oil and gas industry and private water industry, sponsored by American Water, the largest private water company in the country.
American Water has aggressively privatized water systems in Pennsylvania and sees dollar signs in the fracking industry's relentless thirst for water -- up to 10 million gallons of water to frack some wells.
Kathy Pape, Senior Vice President of American Water and head of the company's Pennsylvania arm, chaired the session, titled "Working with Public Water Utilities: Reliable and Beneficial Water Sources for Hydraulic Fracturing." In her opening remarks, she shared her disbelief that, years ago, American Water's decision to sell water for fracking was actually a subject of heated debate within the company. Smiling from ear to ear, she explained how American Water "got over that hump" by making the argument that the company shouldn't discriminate and not sell water to a sex shop, so it likewise ought not miss the opportunity to sell water to the fracking industry. Of course, unlike the fracking industry, sex shops don't have a reputation of polluting drinking water.
American Water, a company with a track record of raising water rates and providing poor customer service, seized the opportunity for a new source of revenue, and has partnered with Rex Energy and XTO, the latter being one of the largest shale gas producers in the country and a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil. The two industries have since fostered an unholy alliance based on profiting off of our shared resources. American Water has built water pipes and upgraded pumping stations to service the fracking industry. In recent years, American Water has earned about $3 million in revenue by selling 460 million gallons of water to Rex Energy to frack 88 wells in Pennsylvania.
The Rex Energy panelist explained the many benefits it reaps from the partnerships, saying "we were very grateful for private water." The XTO engineer on the American Water-sponsored panel read his own lines somewhat flatly, stating "It's been a great partnership and we are thankful" to American Water.
Though this partnership may be great if your goal is to generate profits, it is not in the best interest of Pennsylvania residents, who are concerned with ensuring safe affordable water for generations to come.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.