LOCK HAVEN - Renovo Borough Council President Randy Bibey said this morning he had not heard of any definite plans for Anadarko seeking to drill wells in Renovo and Chapman Township.
But he said he is definitely concerned, especially because the borough also supplies water to Chapman Township.
"To me, there would be concerns, that's for sure," he said. "I want to keep an eye on that. Four million gallons daily... That's an awful lot."
Bibey said he would also have concerns over who would be responsible for cleaning the water once it's used.
"Who's responsibility is it to clean it up? It shouldn't be ours. I'd like to get ahold of DEP to see what's going on."
Meanwhile, Lock Haven City Manager Rich Marcinkevage said the application is now in the Susquehanna River Basin Commission's hands and the city is taking a "wait and see approach" at this time regarding how the displacement of water could affect the city's watershed.
"From our standpoint, we don't rely on river water. We rely on surface waters from the watershed in Wayne and Greene townships, so it probably won't affect us," he said. "For any long-term affect of taking the water out, at some point it will go back into the water cycle, either in the ground or being discharged after treatment.
"It's not like a bottled water operation where they are taking water away from the area and there is a net loss," Marcinkevage continued. "Some are looking at treating it and putting it back in as frac water, but they have not concluded anything yet."
He noted 4 million gallons "is a big number," but DEP at SRBC will look at what the impacts would be with all the with all the withdrawals.
"The SRBC has primacy on that," he said. "At this point for us it's just wait and see."
Marcinkevage noted the city has received preliminary inquiries from natural gas drillers on whether the city could either supply the water needed for the "fracing" of using water to break down the Marcellus shale, or could treat the water once used.
