Let’s cut through the hype of hydrofracking and natural gas drilling. News reports in the recent debate over natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania and New York emphasize the diametrically opposite points of view of prohibition of gas drilling vs drilling under very limited regulation. Even National Public Radio offers only those two points of view, quoting the Delaware Riverkeeper opposing drilling, and gas lease property owners supporting immediate approval to drill. The millions of people in New York City and Philadelphia who get their drinking water from the Delaware and its tributaries have been left out of the debate.
The genuine efforts to protect the public are being carried out in commission meetings, advisory panels and environmental impact workgroups attended by scientists and engineers in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Several years of work have gone into plans to allow drilling to proceed in a way that will protect New York City’s Delaware system, as well as Trenton’s intake and Philadelphia’s Baxter Water Treatment Plant on the Delaware River. The workgroups have studied the protection of stream habitats, minimization of deforestation, and protection of the quality of life of residents of the rural areas where gas drilling takes place. Efforts have been made to correct the deficiencies that resulted in the 2008 chloride spike in the Monongahela River, methane gas in domestic water wells in Dimock, Pennsylvania, and road and bridge damage in Westmoreland County, PA.
The recent public disagreement between Governor Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania and Governor Jack Markell of Delaware is a result of the very different conclusions reached by the commissions in the three states. Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission issued its final report in July of 2011 recommending only minor tightening of the minimal drilling and environmental protections of the Oil and Gas Act of the state. The three environmental groups represented on the Commission were easily outvoted by the seven oil and gas company representatives, two chambers of commerce and the Penn State geoscience professor whose research is funded by oil and gas companies. The Commission recommended an environmental cleanup fund in the thousands of dollars, rather than the millions requested by the other states. Governor Markell questioned the thoroughness of the science behind these recommendations, as compared to New York State’s multi-year effort at its Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement , which required more thorough drilling procedures, greater setbacks from waterways, millions of dollars in a cleanup fund that would allow rapid response to spills that threaten the water supplies. He also had legal concerns about the wisdom of proceeding with Delaware River Basin Commission regulations while the individual states were still formulating their regulations.
As a member of the Delaware River Basin Commission’s Decree Party Workgroup, I was allowed to review and comment on each successive version of their proposed gas drilling regulations. Governor Markell is not against drilling for natural gas, any more than Governor Corbett wants to remove all restrictions to drilling. There is a disagreement about the best way to go about it while protecting public health and the environment. Reporting about the issue has left people in the dark about the real issues that must be decided.