New PA Auditor General to Conduct Performance Audit of DEP
After taking his oath as the 51st Auditor General of Pennsylvania on January 15, 2013, Eugene DePasquale announced that one of his “first official duties as auditor general will be to initiate a performance audit of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to make sure our constitutional right to pure water is not being compromised by natural gas drilling.” The following day, Mr. DePasquale called and sent a letter to DEP Secretary Michael Krancer to inform him of the performance audit of the years 2009 through 2012 for the DEP’s water programs related to the “adequacy and effectiveness of DEP’s monitoring of water quality as potentially impacted by shale gas development activities, including but not limited to systems and procedures for testing, screening, reporting and response to adverse impact such as contamination.” Mr. DePasquale’s letter also indicated that the performance audit will review the “adequacy and effectiveness of DEP’s monitoring of the handling, treatment, and disposal of waste” from shale gas development activities. The Post-Gazette has more.