Fracking ban proposed for Delaware River basin

CLOSE

Delaware environmentalists speak out during a public hearing in Philadelphia on the Delaware River Basin Commission’s draft proposed regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing activities within the watershed. Maddy Lauria, The News Journal

The Delaware River Basin Commission is proposing a ban on fracking within the Delaware River watershed, but is also revising its rules regarding other related activities within the basin.

Environmentalists say the proposed ban is a victory, but they are heavily criticizing two other rules under review that allow fracking wastewater disposal within the basin as well as the export of water resources for fracking, or hydraulic fracturing – the process of using water, sand and chemicals to crack shale or rock formations to extract underground deposits of oil or gas.

“We’re calling on Gov. (John) Carney and the other governors for a full and comprehensive ban on all fracking-related activities,” said Stephanie Herron of Delaware Sierra Club. “Anything less is simply unacceptable and is putting us at an unnecessary risk.”

STORY: Carney proposes pay raises for state workers, no tax hikes

Many of the speakers at a public hearing in Philadelphia Thursday afternoon opposed allowing fracking wastewater disposal within the Delaware River basin states, citing a slew of scientific studies outlying concerns about carcinogens and detrimental health effects related to hundreds of chemicals found in the wastewater.

“In Delaware, more than 16,000 jobs bringing in $340 million annually are directly dependent on having a clean, healthy Delaware River,” said Coralie Pryde of the League of Women Voters of Delaware. “If the water is contaminated, the effects on Delaware’s economy and quality of our life will be devastating. Once it’s contaminated, it will not be clean again.”

Commission spokesman Clarke Rupert said the proposed regulatory changes make it more difficult for oil and gas companies to dispose of waste in the basin states or export water from those states for fracking activities.

“There’s considerable strengthening in these draft rules from what is in effect,” Rupert said.

For example, he said, if any company wants to export water out of the basin for any purpose, currently it is only reviewed by the commission if the export is greater than 100,000 gallons per day. The revised regulations would require a review for any amount of water exported for hydraulic fracturing activities.

The same goes for bringing wastewater into the basin for treatment and disposal, he said.

“So, if an entity wanted to import one gallon of hydraulic fracturing wastewater, it would be a reviewable project that would require commission approval,” he said. “There’s a host of other examples of additional protections that have been put in place.”

Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum said sucking water from the Delaware River basin to support fracking activities is “untenable and immoral” because other communities would suffer the damages of fracking activities supported by Delaware River water.

“More fracking anywhere means more toxic wastewater and freshwater needs, which means increased pressure on and use of our watershed to induce fracking that is devastating communities elsewhere,” she said in her public testimony.

The Delaware River Basin Commission, established in 1961, is a regional body comprised of representatives from the federal government and the four states within the Delaware River basin: Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Each of the five members – represented by a federal official and state governors or their appointees – has an equal vote on matters overseen by the commission, including regulatory oversight, water quality protection and watershed planning.

Rupert said a final vote on the rule changes, which were published in November, is not expected until the end of 2018 at the earliest.

STORY: Residents want more information on Mountaire’s plan to handle waste

In 2010, the commission instituted an unofficial moratorium on high volume hydraulic fracturing due to a lack of regulations to govern any applications.

By the end of 2010, the commission proposed a set of rules that would have allowed fracking in the watershed. Revisions were proposed in 2011, but no vote was taken and nothing new was proposed for public review until 2017, Rupert said.

Since then, dozens of scientific studies have looked at the environmental impact of fracking, including a study by New York state officials that supported a statewide ban on fracking activities.

Jonathan Lutz, associate director of the Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania, testified at the hearing that many of those studies, including a multi-year, multimillion dollar effort by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, found no direct correlation between fracking and water pollution.

“While opponents of energy production argue that well stimulation will pollute our resources, the science clearly indicates otherwise,” he said. “Studies by government agencies and academics also support the conclusion that hydraulic fracturing is not a threat to drinking water.”

Instead, Lutz said fracking activities in Pennsylvania alone have supported 320,000 direct and indirect jobs and $23 billion in wages. About 11,000 fracking wells have already been drilled outside the basin’s borders.

But opponents say the science against fracking is in fact settled, and are calling on the commission to enact a full ban on all fracking activities in the Delaware River basin.

“Fracking can and has contaminated air and drinking water, ruined landscapes, caused earthquakes, harmed human health and contributed to climate change,” said Kimberly Ong, a staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “While we strongly support a ban, the effectiveness of a ban is undermined if the wastewater, one of the most toxic effects of the fracking process, can still be transported, treated and disposed of within the river basin.”

Additional public hearings are scheduled for Feb. 22 in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, and a teleconference on March 6. Public comments will be accepted through 5 p.m. on March 30. For more information, go to www.drbc.net.

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608, mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.