A series of articles in The New York Times in February and March 2011 detailed how Pennsylvania water treatment plants were taking in drilling wastewater from the Marcellus Shale that they could not fully treat. NORMs were of special concern, as regulations in Pennsylvania allowed drinking water plant operators to test for NORM only once every 6 to 9 years. They
also found that some wastewater treatment plants located upstreamfrom drinking water plants were discharging water with levels of NORM and benzene much higher than the acceptable drinking water levels. After the news story came
out, The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asked drilling companies to (voluntarily) stop bringing wastewater to be treated at these plants. The DEP also released results of water testing for untreated water going into the
drinking water plants, which showed that levels of radium and radiation were at or below background levels and below EPA drinking water maximum allowable levels