The Delaware River Basin Commission has voted to prohibit wastewater from fracking operations from being deposited into the region’s waters or land.
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The commissioners voted 4-0, with the federal government abstaining. The commission is made up of representatives from Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the federal U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Delaware River Basin Commission Resolution No. 2022 – 04, which forbids the discharge of wastewater from high-volume hydraulic fracturing to land or water throughout the basin, reflects the action and aims to prevent further pollution, safeguard the public’s health, and preserve the region’s water resources along the Delaware River. Additionally, Resolution No. 2022 – 04 tightens and clarifies Delaware River Basin Commission policy relating to the entry and exit of water, including wastewater, from and into the basin, a statement from the commission said.
“The DRBC Commissioners have taken a bold step to protect our Basin’s exceptional water resources,” said Steve Tambini, the executive director of the Delaware River Basin Commission. “Adoption of these rules by the commission is a joint action of four states and the federal government, confirming the significant and vital role our shared water resources play in the lives of more than 13 million people.”
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Comments and petitions from a communities in the basin and beyond were submitted during the five public hearings the Delaware River Basin Commission held on the proposed rules. All comments, as well as supplementary scientific and technical studies and material, were reviewed and analyzed by the Delaware River Basin Commission personnel and commission members, according to the agency.
The Bristol Borough-based Delaware Riverkeeper Network raised concern over how far the rules go and claimed the commission “refused to provide an advance release of the proposed resolution that was amended and adopted during the meeting, thereby preventing meaningful substantive comment.”
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“The Delaware Riverkeeper Network recognizes that there have been important modifications to the wastewater and withdrawal regulations that were adopted today; and yet the Delaware River Basin Commission did leave in place significant loopholes that leave our watershed at risk from toxic frack wastewater that can be brought into our watershed for treatment, storage, disposal, use and/or reuse; and will continue to allow withdrawals of watershed water to support fracking elsewhere. The ramifications of these gaping loopholes leave our watershed in peril from serious and irreversible damage due to the fracking industry, and allow our watershed to be complicit in advancing fracking outside our watershed sacrificing communities, waterways, ecosystems and our climate to this devastating and unnecessary industry,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network reported they plan to further examine the rule.
The recent vote follows the 2021 Delaware River Basin Commission approval a final rule prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing.
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While fracking has become a popular way for companies to extract natural gas from the Earth, it produces a significant amount of waste, has been suspected of causing earthquakes, and can discharge toxins into waterways. There have been more than 12,000 fracking wells created in the Keystone State.
The fracking process involves drilling thousands of feet into the ground and violently forcing water with sand and chemicals into the shale to release trapped gases that are then captured.
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State oversight agencies and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office have found violations of law and filed charges against fracking companies that have violated laws.
More than 13 million people, including many residents of Bucks County, receive their fresh drinking water from the Delaware River basin. Upstate New York is where the Delaware River originates and it drains into Delaware Bay.
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