Gubernatorial candidate blasts Pa. drilling probe
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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Gubernatorial candidate John Hanger says the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection botched an investigation into the contamination of residential water wells by allowing a gas driller to help with the probe.
Hanger served as DEP chief under former Gov. Ed Rendell. He appeared in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday to demand that DEP take a fresh look at the contamination of three homes in Franklin Forks, a village in Susquehanna County. The agency had previously concluded the residents’ fouled water had nothing to do with gas drilling.
Hanger is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, whose administration conducted the Franklin Forks investigation.
DEP spokesman Eric Shirk defends the agency’s 16-month probe as thorough and says it’s standard for a regulatory body to consider information from many sources during an investigation.