On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC), I write to you today to express our commitment to meet the call of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to halt the delivery of flowback and produced water from shale gas extraction to the facilities that currently accept it under special provisions of last year’s Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) regulations. Our members are carefully reviewing their operations and support achieving this milestone by May 19, 2011. The MSC shares the DEP’s dedication to the protection of public water supplies and is taking this action as a clear demonstration of that commitment. This decision is a further reflection of our Guiding Principles for responsible natural gas production – including our focus on state of the art environmental protections and increased transparency in our operations throughout the Commonwealth.

With this week’s oral testimony in Honesdale, PA; Liberty, NY; and Trenton, NJ now complete, we thank the Commission for the fair and open way it has managed the public comment period to date. This week’s public hearings afforded a firsthand, in-person opportunity for a variety of stakeholders to respond to the Commission’s proposed regulations.

Recently, a film called Gasland premiered on HBO. The film stated that the Ground Water Protection Council refused an interview with the filmmaker regarding the practice known as “hydraulic fracturing”. This statement by the filmmakers was inaccurate.

The undersigned organizations write to ask that you oppose any legislation to impose a statutory moratorium on gas drilling in New York. As the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation completes its review of the environmental impact statement governing natural gas exploration in New York, we believe that the way forward to the safe development of the Marcellus Shale is clear.

We understand that the City Council is considering a proposal seeking to greatly restrict, and potentially even ban, the responsible development of clean-burning natural gas resources anywhere within the more than 35,000 acres comprising the city of Pittsburgh.

As you and your colleagues get set to return to Harrisburg after the completion of your district work period, I have the privilege of writing today to update you on the progress that’s being made right now by the more than 80 member companies of the Marcellus Shale Coalition – efforts that, with your help, will continue to generate jobs, revenue and opportunity for residents of the Commonwealth.

Last month, you sent a detailed memorandum to members of the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment identifying several of your concerns related to hydraulic fracturing, an energy technology that has been in use for more than a half-century now, but one that has received additional attention as of late pursuant to its roll in unlocking enormous reserves of previously unreachable natural gas from American shale.