Opinion: Open records’ an oxymoron with DEP
July 29, 2012 Sunshine Act
OPINION
The Observer-Reporter
Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records has denied an appeal by state Rep. Jesse White for the raw data gathered when the state Department of Environmental Protection tested the outside air quality at Cornerstone Care in Smith Township.
A mysterious odor caused the closing of the clinic for several months. The DEP conducted tests on the air and issued a report but refused the Cecil lawmaker’s request to see the data on which that report was based.
We should all understand by now that despite a relatively new revision of the Sunshine Law, in Pennsylvania “open records” is somewhat of an oxymoron. State agencies like the DEP are not required by the law to open their records if they are related to an investigation. It’s funny how so many public records are deemed to be somehow related to investigations conducted by public servants who are so accustomed and comfortable working in secrecy.
It was just last Monday that this newspaper published an Associated Press article about how bad science was being used by critics of hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale, as well as by the proponents of that process of extracting natural gas.
“The debate is becoming very emotional, and basically, not using science,” on either side, said Avner Vengosh, a Duke University professor studying groundwater contamination. Vengosh said that facts and evidence concerning the process were being ignored.
In the case of Cornerstone Care, the facts and evidence are being withheld, so we have to wonder how people can be expected to reach sensible conclusions without them.
“The DEP just formally acknowledged they are protecting someone or something they deem more important than the health of Pennsylvanians by refusing to release the testing data,” White said.
Cornerstone Care has since moved back into its building, and the mysterious odor has apparently not returned. But the DEP is conducting other tests in Washington County, and we have to wonder if the data from those tests will be kept under wraps, as well.
The DEP announced that it was testing the air at facilities connected with drilling into the Marcellus Shale, including MarkWest Liberty Mainstream’s gas processing plant in Chartiers Township and that company’s Brigich and Stewart compressors. There have been charges not based on scientific testing that these facilities are the source of dangerous air pollution. If they are or if they are not can be proved by thorough air testing. Will the public get a look at this data?
If the DEP decides to withhold the testing results, we will all have good reason to be suspicious.
(c) Observer Publishing Co.
The Observer-Reporter
Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records has denied an appeal by state Rep. Jesse White for the raw data gathered when the state Department of Environmental Protection tested the outside air quality at Cornerstone Care in Smith Township.
A mysterious odor caused the closing of the clinic for several months. The DEP conducted tests on the air and issued a report but refused the Cecil lawmaker’s request to see the data on which that report was based.
We should all understand by now that despite a relatively new revision of the Sunshine Law, in Pennsylvania “open records” is somewhat of an oxymoron. State agencies like the DEP are not required by the law to open their records if they are related to an investigation. It’s funny how so many public records are deemed to be somehow related to investigations conducted by public servants who are so accustomed and comfortable working in secrecy.
It was just last Monday that this newspaper published an Associated Press article about how bad science was being used by critics of hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale, as well as by the proponents of that process of extracting natural gas.
“The debate is becoming very emotional, and basically, not using science,” on either side, said Avner Vengosh, a Duke University professor studying groundwater contamination. Vengosh said that facts and evidence concerning the process were being ignored.
In the case of Cornerstone Care, the facts and evidence are being withheld, so we have to wonder how people can be expected to reach sensible conclusions without them.
“The DEP just formally acknowledged they are protecting someone or something they deem more important than the health of Pennsylvanians by refusing to release the testing data,” White said.
Cornerstone Care has since moved back into its building, and the mysterious odor has apparently not returned. But the DEP is conducting other tests in Washington County, and we have to wonder if the data from those tests will be kept under wraps, as well.
The DEP announced that it was testing the air at facilities connected with drilling into the Marcellus Shale, including MarkWest Liberty Mainstream’s gas processing plant in Chartiers Township and that company’s Brigich and Stewart compressors. There have been charges not based on scientific testing that these facilities are the source of dangerous air pollution. If they are or if they are not can be proved by thorough air testing. Will the public get a look at this data?
If the DEP decides to withhold the testing results, we will all have good reason to be suspicious.
(c) Observer Publishing Co.
