DEP blamed for delayed Marcellus Shale plant

SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) — A company that’s building a plant that would treat water from gas wells tapping the lucrative Marcellus Shale in western Pennsylvania is blaming state environmental officials for construction delays.

Somerset Regional Water Resources is two months behind schedule in construction of a $35 million water treatment plant in Somerset. The plant will treat the mixture of water and chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing technique used to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.

Chief Operating Officer Ken Burris says construction won’t begin until October. He says the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is understaffed and that’s a prime reason it’s behind schedule.

A DEP spokesman says a change in the project’s application is to blame for the delay.