DRBC decision gets mixed reviews

What about test wells?

By FRITZ MAYER

UPPER DELAWARE VALLEY — The portion of the Marcellus Shale that sits above the Upper Delaware Valley has one characteristic that other areas don’t: the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC).

The commission was established by Congress in 1961 and is comprised of representatives of four states, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware, as well as the federal government. DRBC programs include “water quality protection, water supply allocation, regulatory review (permitting), water conservation initiatives, watershed planning, drought management, flood loss reduction and recreation.”

With such a large range of responsibilities over a watershed that provides drinking water for about 17 million people, environmentalists have long been hoping that the DRBC would act to stop or slow the development of Marcellus Shale gas in the region.

Last week, the DRBC gave some environmentalist groups hope that the deluge of expected wells in the region will be delayed just a bit longer, when it announced on May 5 that staff has been directed to draft regulations for natural gas well pad projects in the shale formations in the river basin. This is a new development by the DRBC, and will involve voluminous public comment, which will require extensive review.

That means that gas producing wells in Wayne and Pike counties in Pennsylvania will likely be put on hold. Drilling in Sullivan and Delaware counties in New York might also be delayed, depending on when the Department of Environmental Conservation finishes formulating new rules.

A statement from the commission said, “The DRBC has already conducted a public hearing and received over 2,000 written comments regarding a proposal previously submitted by Stone Energy Corporation for the Matoushek number one well located in Clinton Township, Wayne County, PA. The commissioners’ decision to rule upon this and other pending and future specific natural gas well pad project applications after the new regulations are adopted is consistent with many of the public comments submitted.”

At the same time, however, some groups are frustrated with the DRBC because the commission is not including test wells in the permitting and review process, and with 14 test wells due to be constructed in Wayne County this summer, they want the DRBC to exercise oversight.

The group Damascus Citizens for Sustainability has been calling most loudly for this. In a letter dated May 6, Pat Carullo, one of the founders of the group, demanded that the DRBC review the test wells. And in a note attached to the letter, which was also sent to The River Reporter, Carullo wrote, “There is no such legal and/or regulatory distinction as a ‘test’ or ‘exploratory’ well in the state of Pennsylvania.”

The decision does not affect water withdrawal applications. A statement from Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, was mixed. It said, “We applaud the DRBC for taking this precautionary approach to gas drilling in the Delaware River Watershed.” She added, however, “The commission should next recognize that it must include all natural gas related projects in its rulemaking, including water withdrawals, and that this moratorium should stop all drilling, closing the current loophole that will allow ‘exploratory’ or ‘non-shale’ drilling to surge ahead of DRBC regulation.”

In another reaction to the DRBC announcement, the board of supervisors in Delaware County, NY, is demanding that Governor David Paterson step in and require the DRBC to move quickly. The supervisors noted that lands in the county within the New York City Watershed will have more stringent rules than lands in the rest of the state. The board passed a resolution that said we, “strongly recommend Governor Patterson, as a commissioner of the DRBC, intervene to demand the DRBC expedite the promulgation of regulations to ensure the DRBC regulations are completed as soon as possible so sponsors know what criteria is needed to receive a timely approval and to assure any DRBC regulations are consistent with those watersheds outside the New York City watershed and are not discriminatory toward those living in the Delaware River Basin below the New York City impoundments.”