Fracking moratorium and ban provide powerful protections and benefits

Maya K. van Rossum
Posted 8/21/12

Thirty years ago, before I became the Delaware Riverkeeper, my mother bought 68 acres of beautiful forest in Columbia County, PA. For decades our family and friends enjoyed this haven of natural …

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Fracking moratorium and ban provide powerful protections and benefits

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Thirty years ago, before I became the Delaware Riverkeeper, my mother bought 68 acres of beautiful forest in Columbia County, PA. For decades our family and friends enjoyed this haven of natural beauty and peace. But over the past eight years, this beautiful land has been increasingly intruded upon by the growing truck traffic associated with shale gas extraction, drilling and fracking. In time, the intrusion, the pollution, the noise and the heavy presence of industry became too much, and so Mum’s forest was entrusted to its original owner to protect, and we began seeking a replacement. The New York portion of the Delaware River watershed, with its combination of a watershed moratorium on drilling and a New York state ban, offered an obvious appeal. We quickly found a special place in Sullivan County, NY which we have already come to love as home.

The wisdom of our decision to move to New York became instantly clear with the release of a new, independent report commissioned by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. CNA Analysis and Solutions, an independent group of scientists and researchers, took a highly scientific and technical look at what would happen if the moratorium against shale gas extraction, including drilling and fracking, in the Delaware River watershed, were lifted (bit.ly/DRN-CNA-GasDrillStudy). CNA’s research determined that the drilling of just 4,000 wells would bring major harms to the water, air, forests and health of Delaware River communities:

• Discharge of fracking waste could increase water pollution of dangerous strontium and barium by up to 500%, even if drilling was done in total compliance with state regulations.

• Water withdrawals for fracking could consume up to 70% of water in small streams in the Delaware River Basin, depleting crucial stream flows during times of low flow, a time when the critters and communities need those flows the most.

• Development and deforestation associated with shale gas extraction operations would increase damaging runoff and erosion—erosion could increase by up to 150% during construction with an increase of up to 15% during day-to-day drilling operation

• Drilling development would deplete the recharge of underground aquifers that feed both our streams and groundwater wells. One watershed analyzed by CNA would see runoff increased by 330 million gallons a year; that averages out to about 0.9 million gallons per day of increased runoff and lost recharge for the communities of that watershed.

• The addition of just 4,000 wells would add up to 5.8 billion cubic feet of methane to the atmosphere every year, and would as much as double the nitrogen oxide emissions near fracking sites. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and, measured over a 20 year period, it is 86 times more harmful than carbon dioxide as a cause of climate change.

• Forty-five thousand people could live within one mile of a well pad and be exposed to health risks.

The Delaware River’s contribution to our way of life is irreplaceable: drinking water, economic vitality, unparalleled recreation, clean air, beauty, art and more. It supplies drinking water to more than 17 million people (5% of the population of the U.S.) including major cities like New York and Philadelphia; and it provides $22 billion of economic benefits to our region every year. Protecting our watershed is an investment in excellence that, once lost, can never be restored.

We must do everything possible to maintain the Delaware River’s integrity for future generations. We must make the Delaware River Watershed moratorium on shale gas extraction a permanent ban.

[Maya K. van Rossum is the Delaware Riverkeeper, head of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, whose mission is to champion the rights of our communities to a Delaware River and tributary streams that are free-flowing, clean and healthy.]

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