Contact:  Jeff Tittel, Director, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100

DRBC Bans Fracking While Dumping Frack Waste in the Delaware 

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has officially added a ban on fracking to their Wednesday, September 13^th meeting agenda. They will consider the resolution to address natural gas development activities within the Delaware River Basin and could even vote on it at the meeting. They can later begin the process of enacting a permanent ban to replace the seven-year moratorium currently in place. The ban would extend to Pike and Wayne Counties in Pennsylvania that are part of the Marcellus Shale region. The resolution also includes language to allow fracking waste in the region. The September 13 DRBC business meeting will be held at Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, in Newtown, Pa.

“The DRBC will discuss the possibility of a fracking ban. This resolution is one major step forward with a giant step backwards; it’s like a Trojan Horse. We strongly support the DRBC banning fracking in the entire Basin. However, this resolution includes language that allows for the treatment and dumping of fracking waste, as well as taking water from the Basin for the fracking process. The reason we want a fracking ban is to protect the waters from toxic chemicals from fracking. Banning fracking but then allowing the dumping of fracking waste undoes the whole purpose of the ban in the first place, which is to protect our water,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We are calling on the DRBC to get the fracking ban in the resolution and remove the other points that allow the dumping and treatment of fracking waste, or taking of water out of the Basin. We want the DRBC to protect the Basin by banning all dangerous fracking activities in the entire basin. We need them to stand up and protect the region and that’s why we’re telling the DRBC: ‘Ban fracking and don’t dump on the Delaware!’”

In 2010 the DRBC prohibited permitting for natural gas extraction projects in the Delaware River Basin while they study its potential impacts on water resources, a de-facto moratorium that does not allow permits to be issued until natural gas regulations are adopted. Since 2010, the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and on-the-ground experience where fracking has wreaked havoc prove that fracking simply isn’t safe.

“You do not protect the Basin from fracking by allowing the dumping of fracking waste. This is a dirty water deal hidden behind a fracking ban. We would be better off keeping the moratorium in place in the entire basin then having a partial ban that actually allows the dumping of fracking waste. Dumping fracking wastewater is dangerous because it contains over 600 different toxic chemicals, many of them carcinogenic. This could lead to pollution and contaminated drinking water. The DRBC needs to not only implement this ban but also be sure not to turn the Basin into a dumping ground for fracking waste water,” said Jeff Tittel. “We would oppose any deal to get a fracking ban that allows dumping fracking wastewater in the Basin. If this was a deal, it would be the worst deal since the Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees.”

Fracking involves injecting huge amounts of water and chemicals in rock formations that can pollute surrounding aquifers and waterways. This requires mixing millions of gallons of water with toxic chemicals including volatile organic chemicals like benzene, methyl benzene, formaldehyde, and others that are linked to cancer. The process also releases toxic chemicals like arsenic and mercury that are naturally trapped in the shale. The average well uses 2.5 to 4.5 million gallons of water for fracking, many wells are fracked two to three times. Drilling will also require trillions of gallons of water.

“We have fought for ten years to ban fracking and the dumping of frack waste in the Basin. We will continue that fight until it becomes a permanent ban. Passing a resolution to ban fracking that allows for the dumping of fracking waste is an oxymoron. The people of the Delaware River Valley want to be protected from all forms of fracking, including the contaminated waste that comes from it. Unless they remove these dangerous additions, we will oppose this resolution and instead fight for better protections from dangerous fracking! This resolution is like buying land for open space but turning it into toxic landfill,” Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We want to ban fracking in the Delaware and we do not want anyone to dump on the River either. We fought for ten years to ban fracking and will keep fighting to protect the Basin from fracking and fracking waste. Don’t Frack the Delaware, or Dump on it either!”

The DRBC release is below:

NEWS RELEASE

DELAWARE RIVER BASIN COMMISSION

P.O. Box 7360, 25 Cosey Road

West Trenton, NJ 08628

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Clarke Rupert, (609) 883-9500 x260

DRBC TO CONSIDER RESOLUTION TO PUBLISH REVISED DRAFT RULES ADDRESSING NATURAL GAS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN

WEST TRENTON, N.J. (Sept. 11) – The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) today announced its intention to consider a resolution at its next quarterly business meeting which would direct the executive director to prepare and publish for public comment by Nov. 30, 2017 a revised set of draft regulations to address natural gas development activities within the Delaware River Basin.

The Sept. 13 DRBC business meeting, open to the public, will begin at 10:30 a.m. and will be held at the Linksz Pavilion, Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, in Newtown, Pa.

The resolution to be considered by the commissioners is procedural and, if adopted, would initiate a new phase in the rulemaking process.  The commissioners will not be adopting any natural gas development draft regulations at the Sept. 13 meeting.

If the proposed resolution is approved by the commission on Sept. 13, the revised draft rules to be published on a later date would include prohibitions related to the production of natural gas utilizing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing within the Delaware River Basin.  The revised draft regulations would also include provisions for ensuring the safe and protective storage, treatment, disposal or discharge of hydraulic fracturing-related wastewater where permitted and provide for the regulation of inter-basin transfers of water and wastewater for purposes of natural gas development where permitted.  According to the proposed resolution, the commissioners are directing that the revised draft rules be issued for public comment no later than Nov. 30, 2017.

The public input process on the revised draft regulations will include one or more hearings and ample opportunity for written comments.  No action on the revised draft rules will be taken by the commission until the public comment process is completed.  The commissioners will consider changes to the revised draft regulations that may be appropriate based on the comments received.

Details about the public hearing(s) and instructions for submitting written comments will be included in the notice of proposed rulemaking.  Interested persons are invited to regularly check the commission’s web site at www.drbc.net for information as it becomes available.

There will be no opportunity for public comment prior to consideration of the procedural resolution at the Sept.13 business meeting.  After all scheduled business has been completed and as time allows, up to one hour of Open Public Comment may be provided at the discretion of the DRBC chair.  Additional information about the meeting, including the draft resolution and a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs), can be viewed at www.nj.gov/drbc/meetings/upcoming/index.html.

Written or oral comments received before the draft rules are published and the comment period officially opens will not be included in the rulemaking record.

Natural gas development background information can be found on the commission’s web site at  www.nj.gov/drbc/programs/natural/.

The DRBC is a federal/interstate government agency responsible for managing the water resources within the 13,539 square-mile Delaware River Basin without regard to political boundaries.  The five commission members are the governors of the basin states (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) and the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ North Atlantic Division, who represents the federal government.

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