For Immediate Release
February 25, 2021
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
DRBC Bans Fracking and Moves Towards a Full Ban
Today,
the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) voted to approve the Proposed
Amendments to the Administrative Manual and Special Regulations
Regarding Hydraulic Fracturing Activities. The proposed amendments
include the prohibition of high volume hydraulic fracturing in shale and
other rock formations, provisions related to water use for hydraulic
fracturing, and provisions related to the management of produced water
from hydraulic fracturing. The DRBC also adopted Resolution 2021-02 to
open up a comment period for a comprehensive ban that would include the
importation of fracking wastewater and the exportation of water for
fracking.
“This
is a big win today in the battle to ban fracking on the Delaware River.
This historic vote means that fracking can no longer take place in the
Basin. More importantly, the Commission is working towards a full ban
including the discharge of wastewater and taking of drinking water for
fracking. This ban is critical. It will help protect the drinking water
for 15 million people from water pollution. It also means that there
won’t be pipelines built to take that gas to the market, protecting even
more land and water. It is important that Governor Murphy and the other
Governors finally did this,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New
Jersey Sierra Club. “This is a first giant step toward getting a
full ban that will end up banning all fracking activities.”
According to the DRBC, they have “determined that high volume hydraulic
fracturing poses significant, immediate and long-term risks to the
development, conservation, utilization, management, and preservation of
the water resources of the Delaware River Basin and to Special
Protection Waters of the Basin, considered by the Commission to have
exceptionally high scenic, recreational, ecological, and/or water supply
values.”
“This
is a great day for the Delaware River. After fifteen years, we’ve
finally been able to ban fracking in the Basin. Even though we had this
victory today, we need to make sure that the ban is comprehensive and
includes fracking waste and water withdrawals for fracking. 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,” said Tittel.
“Looking at also banning dumping of waste and water withdrawals is
critical to stop fracking. By not allowing waste to come here, fracking
companies will have less places to take their waste so less fracking
will happen across the country.”
Banning fracking is important to protect public health and the
environment. 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.
“It is
critical that the DRBC is taking the next steps to get to a full ban and
really protect us. They removed language that allowed for the
importation of waste or exportation of water for fracking. They also
passed a resolution that will prohibit these activities in the future.
Governor Murphy came out for a full ban 4 years ago, and he signed a
letter with Governors Carney and Wolf in 2018 supporting a full ban. Now
they need to keep their word. Dumping fracking wastewater is dangerous
because it contains over 600 different toxic chemicals, many of them
carcinogenic. This could lead also to pollution and contaminated
drinking water,” said Tittel. “Without this ban, we could have
seen tens of thousands of wells in the Basin, hundreds of thousands of
acres destroyed, and billions of gallons of water would have been
polluted. We need to make sure that they move forward with a
comprehensive fracking ban to protect the Delaware River.”
The
Delaware River Basin covers 13,000 sq. miles of land in Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. By banning fracking, the DRBC is
helping to protect the public health and preserve the waters of the
Basin for uses in accordance with their Comprehensive Plan.
