Proposed pumping sites listed

Water withdrawals target Delaware and Lackawaxen

By SANDY LONG

NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA — The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has listed the locations of two water withdrawal projects related to natural gas drilling in the Upper Delaware River region.

The first project (Docket No. D-2008-34-1) was submitted by Chesapeake Appalachia, LLC for a surface water withdrawal of 29,999 million gallons/30 days from the East Branch of the Delaware River at the Andrews Forest Products, Inc. (formerly Mallery Lumber) property east of Point Mountain in the Town of Hancock, NY. The original application, submitted on October 22, 2008, proposed a water withdrawal location at Peas Eddy, NY, which was amended to substitute the new location approximately six miles downstream of Peas Eddy.

The second project (Docket No. D-2009-13-1) was submitted by Stone Energy Corporation for a surface water withdrawal of 21 million gallons/30 days from the West Branch of the Lackawaxen River in Mount Pleasant Township in Wayne County, PA. Coordinates of this proposed withdrawal site show it to be located in the vicinity of the Memorial Links Golf Course.

Both proposed withdrawal sites are located within drainage areas of the Upper Delaware designated as Special Protection Waters, a designation intended to protect existing high water quality ( see www.state.nj.us/drbc/dockets/status.htm ).

The projects are currently under review by DRBC staff in consultation with other public agencies.

Individuals or organizations having a special interest in the projects’ impacts on water and related land resources of the Delaware River Basin are invited to submit written comments to the commission’s executive director, Carol R. Collier, at 25 State Police Drive, P.O. Box 7360, West Trenton, NJ 08628-0360. Refer to the appropriate docket number on all correspondence.