Jan 30, 2011 By Amy Revak 7 min read

A scientist with experience working in the energy field said she resigned as chairwoman of Angela M. Zimmerlink’s Marcellus Shale Task Force because the Fayette County commissioner turned it into a political tool. Karen L. Jensen of Farmington, who holds a doctorate in physical chemistry, said she did not know Zimmerlink when she became involved in the task force and resigned because of Zimmerlink’s meddling.

“It didn’t turn out to be what I expected it to be,” Jensen said of the task force. “I was expecting it to be more professional. I was expecting a pretty serious effort because it is a pretty serious problem.”

“I don’t want to see the task force be a political tool that harms the Marcellus shale effort if it is going in a safe direction,” she added.

The Marcellus shale formation contains a large reserve of natural gas and underlies large portions of Pennsylvania. Its development has increased because improvements in natural gas extraction technology and higher energy prices now make recovering the gas more profitable, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Operators produce the gas through a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which requires drilling a well thousands of feet below the land’s surface and pumping down the well under pressure millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals to fracture the shale. The process allows the gas trapped in the formation to flow to the well bore.

Speaking to the Herald-Standard editorial board recently, Jensen outlined how she became involved in the task force and why she resigned.

Jensen said her involvement in the group began after her cousin heard a task force was being formed. Jensen said she also decided to join because her mother had signed a lease for a natural gas well and she wanted to learn more about the process. She said the decision to resign came after Zimmerlink chastised her for asking questions at a public forum and after Zimmerlink halted her efforts to interview speakers at a task force forum.

Jensen’s background includes working in the lignite (coal) fields of North Dakota and working for Lockheed Space Operations Co. in conjunction with NASA on numerous space shuttle flights.

After conveying her credentials, Jensen said she was selected as the chairwoman of the environmental committee of the task force at the organizational meeting on July 20.

According to a prior news report, Zimmerlink explained throughout that meeting that the mission of the task force was not to promote gas well drilling or to seek a moratorium on drilling, but instead to gather and evaluate information so that county residents and officials could make informed decisions regarding the natural gas well industry.

Jensen said she quickly learned from others who served on her committee that they were interested in having a moratorium placed on gas well drilling. She also said she was wary that anyone who wanted to serve on the task force, regardless of their professional credentials, was allowed to participate on any committee they chose.

Jensen said the majority of people who volunteered to serve on the environmental committee, of which she became chairwoman, were anti-drilling, including Veronica Coptis, who since succeeded Jensen as committee chairwoman. She said when Zimmerlink called for a meeting of each of the chairmen from the eight committees on Sept. 13 and only three showed up, she got the sense that Zimmerlink was manipulating the process.

Coptis is a community organizer of the Mountain Watershed Association.

“I thought it was dangerous to say it was open to everyone,” Jensen said. “My goal was to be neutral.”

Initially, Jensen said she planned to hold about two committee meetings a month, at which the committee could interview representatives of the industry. She expected to issue a final report in March or April. Eight committees were selected at the organizational meeting.

“I thought we had autonomy,” Jensen said.

However, she added that at one point Zimmerlink directed her to not contact anyone from the oil and gas industry.

“I started getting concerned about our access getting cut off,” Jensen said.

Specifically, Jensen said she wanted to set up interviews with the committee and Alan Eichler, an environmental program manager with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), for Sept. 2, and instead Zimmerlink set up a public forum for Sept. 1, featuring Eichler.

Jensen said the task force went from being for “everyone” to Zimmerlink’s alone.

“It was almost like she was saying to the Vinces (fellow county Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent A. Vicites) that, ‘I’ve got a task force and you don’t,'” Jensen said.

“That was a red flag. I wanted the truth but I felt it was becoming a political tool,” Jensen said.

Jensen said she then began preparing questions for the speaker for the next forum, Dr. Conrad Voltz of the Center for a Healthy Environment and Community at the University of Pittsburgh.

Jensen said that Zimmerlink wanted the questions sent to her two or three days before the forum that was scheduled for Sept. 29.

“She is censoring,” Jensen said.

Jensen said she sent three e-mails to Zimmerlink asking why the questions were being screened, and didn’t get a response.

“For that, I have zero respect,” Jensen said.

Jensen said after collecting all the questions for Voltz, Zimmerlink only asked a portion of them. Jensen said she and fellow environmental committee member Dr. John Bederka, an organic chemist, pharmacologist and toxicologist, asked follow-up questions to point out that Voltz was exaggerating the amount of contaminants in the Monongahela River at the forum.

“He was lying. He took data to the point that it was way out of context. He over exaggerating by two and a half times. This isn’t science, this is quackery,” Jensen said.

Jensen said research must be completed before ever reaching conclusions. She said that as a scientist she is always looking for proof. She said that proof never was provided in the instance of an area woman who claimed she was sickened by the results of Marcellus shale gas wells, despite being promised test results three times.

“There is no critical thinking anymore. I was hoping to reach a few of them with education but I’ve given up,” Jensen said. “A task force is a good idea but it can do more harm if it’s a farce.”

Jensen said it was censorship to have Zimmerlink screen the questions.

“I just want the answers. The damage to the purpose of the task force is extreme. I don’t see that they’ve done anything. Both public forums came prematurely. It’s a show,” she said. “The same questions are being asked and there are no answers.”

Jensen said she decided to walk away from serving on the committee and later decided to come forward with her concerns after hearing that Coptis was the chairman of the environmental committee and Jensen kept getting e-mails asking her to participate in Marcellus shale drilling protests. Jensen said she knew Coptis is in favor of a moratorium on Marcellus shale drilling.

“I don’t think that type of activism is appropriate for the leadership of a committee,” Jensen said.

Jensen said the number of committee meetings has dwindled since her departure.

After doing her own research on the topic, Jensen said she doesn’t have the same concerns about drilling that she did before joining the task force, adding that well drillers operating in Fayette County only had 20 violations in three years, and it seems that the DEP is taking steps to properly regulate the industry.

“I thought I could handle people on the committee, I didn’t think the opposition would come from Angela Zimmerlink,” Jensen said.