CRANBERRY TWP — Captains of industry and environmentalists from all over Western Pennsylvania shared their thoughts Monday night with the state Department of Environmental Protection's Environmental Quality Board regarding the natural gas available in the Marcellus Shale Formation.

The first of four public hearings to be held throughout the state resulted in a packed meeting room at the township municipal center. The hearings have been scheduled because of new, more stringent rules regarding the treatment of water used to break up the shale that holds the large vein of natural gas.

DEP is proposing the rules because of elevated levels of harmful chemicals found in the Monongahela River this summer. The detrimental substances found are the same as those discharged by gas wells along the Marcellus Shale Formation.

Officials from utility companies, groups promoting economic growth and mining companies argued the new rules would prove too costly, are based on insufficient analysis of the issue, and go against the advice of a DEP-formed subcommittee that recommended the rules not move forward.

They also said the Jan. 1, 2011, implementation date associated with the rules is unrealistic.

Larry Emerson, environmental manager at Pennsylvania Services in Waynesburg, Greene County, said scientists agree reverse osmosis would be the best way to treat the wastewater. He said the treatment cost would be prohibitively expensive at about $49,000 per gallon, per minute.

The gas extraction process requires millions of gallons of water.

Emerson also said large treatment facilities would require enormous amounts of electric to operate. He said public water and sewer plants owned by municipalities would be required to meet the new rules, which would affect taxpayers.

"The rule making is premature and is not based on sound scientific or economic realities," Emerson said.

But those concerned about the potential harm to Western Pennsylvania's drinking water supply applauded the new rules and recommended they be expanded.

Myron Arnowitt, state director of Clean Water Action, said DEP should add bromides, arsenic, benzene and radium to the list of elements to be regulated in accessing the Marcellus Shale Formation. Arnowitt said taxpayers are still paying for cleanup necessary after the rush to mine coal in Western Pennsylvania, and that scenario can be avoided in the Marcellus gas vein with proper regulations.

Environmentalists who testified said the companies generating the pollution should pay to mitigate it. They said alternatives to the most expensive water treatment options are available, and dilution in Western Pennsylvania waterways does not negate the problem as suggested by some.

Suzanne Braughton of Franklin Park, Allegheny County, said she understands cost concerns. But she said every instance of environmental regulations being imposed on industry in the last several decades has not stopped industry.

"These regulations are long overdue," Braughton said.

All comments made at the public hearing will be forwarded to DEP officials. Comments also may be mailed or e-mailed to the state Environmental Quality Board by Feb. 12.

The board's mailing address is P.O. Box 8477, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8477. The e-mail address is RegComments@dep.state.pa.us.