Proposed Draft Regulations Addressing Hydraulic Fracturing and Additional Clarifying Amendments

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Comment From: Jasmine Jarrett

3/26/18 @ 5:43 AM

Hydraulic fracturing is heinous, and will destroy the Delaware River as we know it. Its use is only good for those who so happen to be greedy people, those that refuse to put their priorities in line, which would be to care about the Earth and Mother...↓

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Comment From: Lynn Baron

3/26/18 @ 5:29 AM

"Our examination...uncovered no evidence that fracking can be practiced in a manner that does not threaten human health," states a blistering 266-page report released today by Concerned Health Professionals of New York and the Nobel Peace Prize-winni...↓

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Comment From: barbara de vries

3/26/18 @ 5:04 AM

The Delaware River runs from New York State and Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware with a watershed basin of 14,119 square miles. This is the most densely populated area of the Northeast. The Catskill and Pocono Mountains border this a...↓

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Comment From: Catherine Kulpon

3/26/18 @ 4:54 AM

I support a full ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin. In addition I support a ban on releasing fracking wastewater into the Delaware as well as using water from the Delaware for fracking activities. It is essential to all citizens to keep the...↓

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Comment From: Greg Vitali

3/26/18 @ 4:53 AM

Greg Vitali State Representative, District 166 Pennsylvania House of Representatives 13 November, 2017 Dear Governor Wolf, Governor Cuomo, Governor Carney, Governor Christie, and members of the Army Corps of Engineers, I am writing to requ...↓est that the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) enact a complete and permanent ban on natural gas development and hydraulic fracturing and all related activities (including drilling, fracking, wastewater processing, and discharges from and water withdrawals for drilling and fracking operations) throughout the Basin. As the agency formed to manage the water resources of the Delaware River Watershed, the Commission members - the Governors of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware and the federal government - are responsible for the protection of shared waters that provide over 1.5 million people with drinking water, including Philadelphia and New York City. The DRBC is mandated to establish standards, plans, rules and regulations, and to control, prevent and abate pollution from activities that may have a substantial effect on the water resources of the Basin. Through these powers, the DRBC works to protect public health and preserve basin waters to meet "present and future needs." I applaud and support the DRBC's mission, which equally protects all states in the Delaware River watershed, as well as those who live, work and recreate here presently and in the future. There is significant evidence that natural gas development, and its related operations, has substantial adverse effects on public health, property interests, agriculture, and on our air, water, and land. The natural gas industry has received unprecedented exemptions from our nation's most important environmental and public health laws, including the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. There is further evidence that increased use of natural gas and the emission of both carbon dioxide and methane that results from natural gas development will contribute significantly to climate change and have irreversible effects on our planet's atmosphere. The DRBC currently prohibits permitting for natural gas extraction projects in the Delaware River Basin. The Commissioners enacted a drilling moratorium by Resolution in May 2010. In taking this action,DRBC Executive Director Carol Collier considered and determined that as a result of water withdrawals, wastewater disposal, and other activities, natural gas extraction projects in shale formations may individually or cumulatively affect the water quality of Special Protection Waters by altering their physical, biological, chemical, or hydrological characteristics. The current de facto moratorium on gas drilling, fracking, and associated activities includes wastewater discharges and water withdrawals. DRBC permits for wastewater discharges since 2010 have been conditioned on the prohibition of fracking wastewater to prevent degradation. I highly value and enjoy the Wild and Scenic Delaware River and its outstanding recreational resources. The entire drainage area that flows to the nontidal Delaware River is designated as Special Protection Waters and is the longest stretch of anti-degradation waters in the United States. This prized natural asset provides important economic benefit to all four states whose tributaries flow to the Delaware River. The New York Department of Health concluded that the overall weight of the evidence demonstrated the likelihood of the occurrence of adverse health outcomes and environmental impacts from fracking could not be prevented. After exhaustive study, the State of New York prohibited fracking, basing their conclusion on environmental and public health analyses. I believe the time has come to turn the DRBC's current de facto moratorium into a permanent ban on gas drilling and fracking and its related activities throughout the Delaware River Watershed. I oppose the storage, treatment, disposal and/or discharge of fracking wastewater within the Basin and the withdrawal of water from the Basin for fracking. I support a complete and permanent ban throughout the Basin and respectfully request that the Commissioners of the DRBC enact this ban now. Sincerely, Greg Vitali

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Comment From: Joe Guest

3/26/18 @ 4:39 AM

Please take action to permanently BAN fracking and ALL fracking infrastructure activities (pipelines, compressor stations etc) in the Delaware River Basin. My family and my community does not need or want natural gas. We certainly don't want to ris...↓k our health, nor do we want to risk polluting our water supply and causing any harm whatsoever to the wonderful natural resources and wildlife that live in the Delaware River Basin. Major states like New York have BANNED FRACKING ENTIRELY due to the extreme health risks and environmental hazards. It is shocking to me that entire states see that these activities are so dangerous that they must be banned, and yet here in PA we continue to compromise our citizens' health and the health of our environment just so corporations can make a profit exporting fuel. Recently a group of leading scientists and physicians released the Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking, 5th Edition documenting fracking's harm to public health. Their conclusion is that the only way to truly protect public health is to prohibit fracking and all its associated activities (waste hauling, treatment, disposal). I urge you to ban all of these activities in your final regulations. Enabling the shale gas industry by allowing it to take our water and dump its waste in the basin means that we can expect more industrialization in the basin. We will see more pipelines, power plants, and processing facilities. All of that shale gas infrastructure is designed to be around longer than we can afford to be using fossil fuels. If the Commissioners take into account the cumulative climate impacts of the regulations they are considering, they will see they have no choice but to ban all fracking-related activities in the basin. Climate changed. We see the evidence of it everywhere. The only hope we have now is to speed the transition to clean, renewable, sustainable energy. If we don't, the impacts will not be limited to our water resources, but will endanger every aspect of our lives and very our survival. The DRBC must not allow any practices that enable more fossil fuel extraction anywhere. Protecting the water resources of the basin with a full fracking ban protects much more. Again, please stand with the people of the Delaware River Basin and enact a full ban on all fracking activities. Thank you.

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Comment From: dagmar iris Holl

3/26/18 @ 4:13 AM

Fracking Land causes much harm to the Rivers and Land ! NOt enough safety "valves" and regulations have been put into place that will "insure" communities surrounding the areas of fracking that will prevent harmful off runs from the process from ge...↓

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Comment From: Susan Horty

3/26/18 @ 3:51 AM

Please issue a ban on fracking in the Delaware River and the entire Delaware River Basin Watershed. Approximately 17 million people get their drinking water from the Delaware River and therefore it should be safeguarded against any possible sourc...↓

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Comment From: leslie sauer

3/26/18 @ 3:40 AM

Commissioners, I am writing to support a ban on the use of water from the Delaware River Basin to support fracking in any way, We should not to allow the treatment and/or discharge of fracking waters into the surface waters or groundwaters of Delawa...↓

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Comment From: Rebecca Purcell

3/26/18 @ 3:03 AM

Fracking wastewater cannot be regulated in the watershed--it must be banned. I am deeply concerned about this issue and feel convinced that fracking wastewater is a very serious health risk and danger.

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Comment From: Richard Trask

3/26/18 @ 2:59 AM

I am very pleased that the DRBC will be doing the right thing and banning fracking in the Delaware River basin. The risks and harms from fracking are known, and would cause long-term health consequences for thousands of real people. Please, DRBC m...↓

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Comment From: John Armistead

3/26/18 @ 2:46 AM

I do not support allowing large volumes of fresh water to be removed from the basin for fracking purposes nor do i support permitting the natural gas industry from sending fracking wastewater into the basin for treatment. The upper Delaware is a wil...↓

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Comment From: Michael Wilk

3/26/18 @ 2:18 AM

As a kayaker and member of the National Canoe Safety Patrol on the Delaware River section from Callicoon to Port Jervis, I witness first hand the beauty, viability and economic development the river provides to the citizens of the US, Pennsylvania a...↓

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Comment From: Erika Goldman

3/26/18 @ 1:58 AM

The Delaware River was designated as a national Wild and Scenic River by Congress because of its outstanding features, irreplaceable resources, exceptional water quality and scenic and recreational value. These prized assets provide important economi...↓

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Comment From: Mary/David Lewin/Parrish

3/25/18 @ 7:03 PM

We support a COMPLETE FRACKING BAN AND STAND IN OPPOSITION TO THE DRAFT REGULATIONS THAT WOULD ALLOW TOXIC AND RADIOACTIVE WASTEWATER PRODUCED BY FRACKING TO BE STORED, PROCESSED AND DISCHARGED IN THE DELAWARE RIVER WATERSHED AND ALLOW WATER TO BE ...↓

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Comment From: James Loney

3/25/18 @ 5:00 PM

Having done a lot of research into the enormous scientifically-established dangers of shale natural gas extraction, I am categorically against any further fracking in either PA or NYS. Further, it is imperative that the infrastructure supporting ...↓

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Comment From: Rayzel Raphael

3/25/18 @ 4:37 PM

Please do everything everything you cans to keep our waters safe for us and future generations....

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Comment From: Kimberly Bouchard-Shapiro

3/25/18 @ 3:51 PM

56 Trout Lily Dr

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Comment From: Victoria Oltarsh

3/25/18 @ 1:18 PM

Fracking destroys the environment. At this time, doing this when we can witness climate change with the naked human eye is irrational and unintelligent to proceed. Fracking damages people's individual water sources, but even more important for the ...↓

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Comment From: Michael Andersen

3/25/18 @ 12:45 PM

Please do not reduce or destroy or natural resources.

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Comment From: Patrick Nagel

3/25/18 @ 11:21 AM

It's an absurd reality of modern day society, with the knowledge we have, and the damage we've done, that we are still here having to make and sign petitions to prevent more violent decimation of our only home because temporary profit outweighs long ...↓

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Comment From: Tom O'Keefe

3/25/18 @ 10:31 AM

Dear Members of the DRBC, This is my second set of comments; please take them as a reflection of how deeply I feel about this issue. The science is in on fracking, and the results are conclusive. You are no doubt aware of the recent study by Co...↓ncerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility that showed beyond any reasonable doubt that fracking (and its after effects) is responsible for cancer, lung disease, and birth defects, among many other health issues and is already endangering the healths of millions of Americans. One of the lead researchers referred to fracking "the worst thing I've ever seen." By now, we all know that the fracking industry – which has been touted by "defense" hawks as key to 21st century American "energy independence" – has little regard for the health of Americans, or for the truth. We all now know that fracked wastewater invariably leaks from the remarkable porous deep injection wells, and that the toxic substances that make up the proprietary (and so trade-secret) cocktail of chemicals that fracking companies have been using for years in their extraction processes have now contaminated farmland, aquifers, and waterways all over the United States. The damage is already remarkably profound – we need look no further than the devastated communities of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania to confirm that fact. We have decades (if not centuries) of remediation work ahead of us if we hope to regain some semblance of ecological integrity; however, our first task is to stop the bleeding, and you, as members of the DRBC have both a huge opportunity and an immense responsibility to the rest of us who call the Northeast home. Please, I urge you, on your own behalves, and on the behalves of all of us – in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and beyond – and of generations to come, ban fracking, fracked wastewater disposal, and all fracking-related activities – including the construction of these metastatizing fracked-gas infrastructure projects that threaten the health, environment, and economy of the entire region – in short, ban fracking and everything related to it in the Delaware River Basin so that we can commence with the healing and get on with building a just, ecologicalyl-sane, and renewable future. Thank you for your time. We are counting on you. With warmth and urgency, Tom O'Keefe

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Comment From: Donna Russell

3/25/18 @ 10:22 AM

ALL Fracking must be banned. Any pollution or destruction of any water source or aquifer poses a supreme danger to all life forms and should be a capital offense--because it is a type of murder--done knowingly and willfully. Sacrificing our water for...↓

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Comment From: Linda Brill

3/25/18 @ 10:13 AM

We strongly oppose hydraulic fracking and ask that you PLEASE consider the long term health of our citizens and prohibit fracking as well as all related water use in the Delaware River watershed. We have seen the disaster that fracking has created fo...↓

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Comment From: Susan Jaworski

3/25/18 @ 9:38 AM

I congratulate the Commission that the new regulations will ban fracking for fossil fuels in the Delaware River Basin (DRB). However, I am concerned that these new regulations are not complete and leave our clean water at risk. I ask that there is ...↓

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Comment From: Dein Shapiro

3/25/18 @ 3:09 AM

My name is Dr. Dein Shapiro. I am Board Certified in Family Practice and I am in my 39th year of medical practice serving the residents of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties in New Jersey. I am also the principle author of two resolutions passed by the ...↓Medical Society of New Jersey (MSNJ). The first recommends a ban on hydraulic fracturing in New Jersey and in the DRB based on the risks to the environment and the substantial risks to public health. The second resolution recommends that the PennEast pipeline not be built, also based on environmental and public health risks. I am speaking today as a concerned private citizen and not as spokesperson for the MSNJ. I am pleased that recent statements by DRBC seem to move away from fracking in the DRB, but I am still concerned that the oil and gas industry would like to divert Delaware River water for fracking operations, and treat or dispose of fracking wastewater within the river basin. I believe the wording of your proposed regulations leaves open the possibility that this could happen. Both of these could significantly impact the river, the quality of its water, and the public health. Therefore, I believe this would be very bad for the DRB and the citizens of the region. Furthermore, the fracking industry is a very powerful private interest group with significant political connections that is investing billions in this region. They will be very difficult to stop, impede, or discourage without very tight, no nonsense regulations that just simply say 'no.' 1. Water Removal: If you allow water to be removed from the DRB for fracking, you would be diverting a significant portion of a clean and renewable source of drinking water that serves 15-17 million people, and converting that water into a contaminated waste that would be extremely difficult to contain, decontaminate, or dispose of safely. Currently, according to your proposal (page 7), 90% of water used in the Basin is returned to the water cycle, but up to 90% of water removed for fracking operations would be permanently removed from the water cycle. Therefore, I would like to request that your proposed regulations should clearly state that no water can be removed from the DRB to support fracking operations and it should be the policy of DRBC not issue such permits under any circumstances. 2. Wastewater Treatment: Secondly, on page 8 of your proposed regulations you state that, according to the EPA, there are more than 1000 known chemicals (many with serious and well documented public health hazards) that are used in fracking, and it is well known many more are considered "proprietary" and therefore not disclosed. On page 19, you state that "...treatability studies will be required" to document that decontamination has been effective. But, how can you effectively and continuously test for 1000 known substances (let alone unknown ingredients allowed by the Halliburton Rule), the contents of which may vary from day today, from well to well, and batch to batch of wastewater. It is not possible. I believe there is no reasonable testing program that would assure the public health and safety of our citizens and therefore, the importation and attempted treatment of fracking wastewater of any type should not be permitted. This concern includes any form of Central Waste Treatment facility (as described on page 18 of your document) and especially if the discharge of that facility would enter the water of the DRB. As a New Jersey physician and public health advocate, I am urging you to adjust your regulations to state categorically that no fracking wastewater will be accepted within the DRB for treatment because the public health risks are unacceptable. This request includes the effluent from any CWT in current operation, planned or proposed. 3. Storage and Injection Wells: And lastly, I am concerned that I did not find any mention in your proposal regarding the use of injection wells for the storage of contaminated fracking waste. Injection wells are the most common method of wastewater disposal for the fracking industry. The use of injection wells for fracking wastewater disposal should not be permitted in the DRB because the risk of ground and surface water contamination are too high, and once that contamination has taken place, there is no real possibility of remediation. On pages 15-17 of the publication by the Physicians for Social Responsibility entitled "Too Dirty, Too Dangerous: Why health professionals reject natural gas" (http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/too-dirty-too-dangerous.pdf), in the section entitled "Fracking, Health and Water Contamination" you will find the following two statements: "The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found a lack of protection for drinking water sources from fracking injection wells... stating "both short-term and long-term monitoring were lax." "Waste water spills are a serious problem. The Associated Press (AP) analyzed data from leading oil- and gas-producing states and found that more than 180 million gallons of wastewater (was) spilled in 21,651 incidents over (just) five years (2009-2014)." Therefore, the storage of fracking wastewater including the use of injection wells for fracking wastewater disposal should not be permitted in the DRB because the risk of ground and surface water contamination is too high and the risk to public health is unacceptable. In summary, I believe the water of the DRB is a precious resource that fracking would turn into dangerous waste water which would then be difficult if not impossible to treat or dispose of safely. In addition, this contaminated water would be permanently removed from the water cycle. The water of DRB should not be diverted to facilitate fracking operations, and fracking wastewater should not be treated, stored, or allowed to pass through the DRB. To do so would risk severe and permanent contamination of our drinking water, endanger public health and, put the lives of our citizens at risk. While the Haliburton rule is in effect, a list of substances for treatability studies that the oil and gas industry admits are present, would not be sufficient to protect the public health. Thank you for your time and consideration of these remarks. Respectfully submitted, Dein Shapiro, MD March 25th, 2018 Stockton, New Jersey

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Comment From: kristine yeater

3/25/18 @ 2:42 AM

Ban all forms of fracking!

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Comment From: Daryl Kerrigan

3/25/18 @ 2:15 AM

There is significant evidence that natural gas development, and its related operations, which include all the phases of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") process, from the first stage of industrial land preparation; to the storage, handling,...↓

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Comment From: Donna Yavorsky

3/25/18 @ 1:30 AM

We want a full fracking ban. We do not want waste water from fracking operations elsewhere to get into our watershed. The Delaware is a source of drinking water for many, and needs to become even more clean. The Delaware is a source or very meanin...↓

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Comment From: Karen Till

3/24/18 @ 10:28 PM

It is important to ban fracking in the Delaware River Basin. However that basin is connected to other places and water systems affecting human and natural health elsewhere. If wastewater is imported into the DRBasin for treatment this defeats the pur...↓

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Comment From: DA Lean

3/24/18 @ 4:35 PM

Our water supply is precious and limited. We cannot allow our supply of water to be polluted by industry.

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Comment From: Joan L Farb

3/24/18 @ 3:50 PM

Please note that i upload a pdf copy of the comment so that the reference links can be assessed It is very urgent that the Delaware River Basin Commission ban fracking and its related activities such as withdrawal of water from the basin for fra...↓cking and drilling processes and discharge of fracking waste into the watershed. Why a ban? Fracking and its related activities exacerbate climate change and in turn detrimentally effect the Delaware River Watershed. Methane is a main component of natural gas and contributes 86 times more than co2 to atmospheric warming in a short period of time according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in the Scientific American on December 22, 2015. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-bad-of-a-greenhouse-gas-is-methane/ It escapes through wells, compressor stations and pipelines and its leaks have not been contained. For example, U,S. News disclosed on September 24, 2017, the Harmony Compressor Station in Susquehanna County leaked more than 200 hundred tons of methane in two hours on September 2, 2017. An average compressor spews out less than half that amount in a year. Even though, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has stated that drilling companies will use technology on new well sites to curb leakage in 2018 , the regulations for old sites have not been created because its deadline was missed and the Pa DEP has not issued a new date. Also, in the Harmony Compressor situation, the compressor operator did not notify the County Emergency Management Agency since it was considered "a small leak and there was no state investigation because a permit for compressor station does not cover methane emissions. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/pennsylvania/articles/2017-09-24/county-public-remained-in-dark-about-big-methane-leak Climate change will have serious adverse effects on the Delaware River Basin and DRBC website has a whole section devoted to it . http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/hydrological/climate/ From the web page "Local climate change impacts for the Delaware River Basin include increased temperature, changes in precipitation patterns, and sea level rise. DRBC's State of the Basin Report (2008) included a feature on climate change (in the hydrology section), which highlighted the need for more localized studies, mapping, monitoring, and modeling, as well as for planning initiatives that integrate the reality of a changing climate. Basin water resource managers must seriously look at how climate change will affect the watershed and how to best adapt." Please note that the above link for the report from this DRBC webpage does not work- however, from the DRBC Hydrologic Reports page- here's a link http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/library/documents/08hydro/report.pdf Also note that I could not access any of the charts linked in the report. In addition ,the City of Philadelphia has taken the initiative in the report, Growing Stronger: Toward a Climate- Ready Philadelphia 2015 by the Mayor's Office of Sustainability and ICF International p.9( https://beta.phila.gov/media/20160504162056/Growing-Stronger-Toward-a-Climate-Ready-Philadelphia.pdf ) : "Between the 2009 release of the Greenworks plan and the beginning of the City of Philadelphia's climate adaptation planning process in 2012, extreme weather events increasingly convinced cities that—as the entities responsible for emergency services, storm water management, and street plowing—municipal governments are the first responders to the results of climate change." One of the effects of climate change on the watershed is the Salt Line. As the atmospheric temperatures rise, the warming waters expand and the glaciers in melt into the Atlantic Ocean thus causing a sea level rise. Since the Atlantic Ocean flows into the Delaware Bay and hence the Delaware River , it will impact the salt line- where the Atlantic saltwater meets the fresh water in the Delaware River by pushing it north near water treatment plants. These facilities do not have the technology to remove salt. Thus, water from a reservoir has to be discharged to force the salt line back. "The further upstream the salt makes it, the more water has to be released to repel it, Amy Shallcross, manager of water resource operations for the Delaware River Basin Commission said in the 3/1/2018 article Cape Town Water Crisis Reminds Me How Philly Has Been Able to Avoid Its Own Drought Disaster http://www.phillyvoice.com/philadelphia-delaware-river-drought-drinking-water-salt-line-cape-town/ Warming waters also increase the growth of bacteria and thus killing aquatic life. For example, in 2015, "The water temperature at the Willamette Falls counting station hit 80 degrees Fahrenheit a week ago, July 3, and continues to hover around 81 degrees this week. As a result, hundreds of salmon and steelhead have succumbed to a bacteria exacerbated by warmer than normal water in the Willamette River, as well as in other Northwest rivers." (p.9) http://www.cbbulletin.com/434489.aspx Additional bacteria growth will cause water treatment plants to take additional measures to purify our drinking water as well. Also, the withdrawal of water from the basin for fracking and drilling processes and discharge of fracking waste into the watershed will place an extra burden on those facilities preparing for climate change. Fracking has used 5-10 million gallons of water per well and presently there is an increase trend to 10-20 million. Climate change also generates extreme weather such as intense storms and increased precipitation causing flooding and hurricane winds creating structural damage . For example, " Hurricane Sandy merged with two other weather systems into an unusual storm that devastated the New Jersey oceanfront coastline and caused catastrophic flooding in New York City and cities in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 2012." (500-year storm could recur soon, a study warns- Philadelphia Inquirer- October 24, 2017 By Frank Eltman ASSOCIATED PRESS) Philadelphia is also at risk even though it is ninety miles from Atlantic Ocean because of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers are tidal. It is predicted that sea level will rise two feet by 2050. Thus, like Hurricane Sandy's damage in NYC and the Jersey Coast, one such extreme storm and the sea level rise could cause over two billion dollars of destruction in the Philadelphia area. https://beta.phila.gov/media/20160504162056/Growing-Stronger-Toward-a-Climate-Ready-Philadelphia.pdf "Ultimately, a substantial reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions is necessary to slow and reverse the effects that climate change will have on streams and rivers" Rising and Stream Temperatures in the United States https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1890/090037 Banning fracking and its related activities will eliminate methane emissions from such processes. Thus the Delaware River Basin Commission will be helping to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change in the basin. As stated before, "Basin water resource managers must seriously look at how climate change will affect the watershed and how to best adapt." http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/hydrological/climate/ Just as Autumn Peltier, a 13-year-old Canadian of the Wikwemikom First Nation told the UN Council on Water Day, March 22, 2018, to "Warrior Up", " stop polluting the planet and give water the same rights and protections as human beings", http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/autumn-peltier-un-water-activist-united-nations-1.4584 I am asking the Delaware River Basin Commission to "Warrior Up" to ban fracking and its related activities such as withdrawal of water from the basin for fracking and drilling processes and discharge of fracking waste into the watershed. Basin water resource managers must seriously look at how climate change will affect the watershed and how to best adapt. It is very urgent that the Delaware River Basin Commission ban fracking and its related activities such as withdrawal of water from the basin for fracking and drilling processes and discharge of fracking waste into the watershed. Why a ban? Fracking and its related activities exacerbate climate change and in turn detrimentally effect the Delaware River Watershed. Methane is a main component of natural gas and contributes 86 times more than co2 to atmospheric warming in a short period of time according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in the Scientific American on December 22, 2015. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-bad-of-a-greenhouse-gas-is-methane/ It escapes through wells, compressor stations and pipelines and its leaks have not been contained. For example, U,S. News disclosed on September 24, 2017, the Harmony Compressor Station in Susquehanna County leaked more than 200 hundred tons of methane in two hours on September 2, 2017. An average compressor spews out less than half that amount in a year. Even though, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has stated that drilling companies will use technology on new well sites to curb leakage in 2018 , the regulations for old sites have not been created because its deadline was missed and the Pa DEP has not issued a new date. Also, in the Harmony Compressor situation, the compressor operator did not notify the County Emergency Management Agency since it was considered "a small leak and there was no state investigation because a permit for compressor station does not cover methane emissions. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/pennsylvania/articles/2017-09-24/county-public-remained-in-dark-about-big-methane-leak Climate change will have serious adverse effects on the Delaware River Basin and DRBC website has a whole section devoted to it . http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/hydrological/climate/ From the web page "Local climate change impacts for the Delaware River Basin include increased temperature, changes in precipitation patterns, and sea level rise. DRBC's State of the Basin Report (2008) included a feature on climate change (in the hydrology section), which highlighted the need for more localized studies, mapping, monitoring, and modeling, as well as for planning initiatives that integrate the reality of a changing climate. Basin water resource managers must seriously look at how climate change will affect the watershed and how to best adapt." Please note that the above link for the report from this DRBC webpage does not work- however, from the DRBC Hydrologic Reports page- here's a link http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/library/documents/08hydro/report.pdf Also note that I could not access any of the charts linked in the report. In addition ,the City of Philadelphia has taken the initiative in the report, Growing Stronger: Toward a Climate- Ready Philadelphia 2015 by the Mayor's Office of Sustainability and ICF International p.9( https://beta.phila.gov/media/20160504162056/Growing-Stronger-Toward-a-Climate-Ready-Philadelphia.pdf ) : "Between the 2009 release of the Greenworks plan and the beginning of the City of Philadelphia's climate adaptation planning process in 2012, extreme weather events increasingly convinced cities that—as the entities responsible for emergency services, storm water management, and street plowing—municipal governments are the first responders to the results of climate change." One of the effects of climate change on the watershed is the Salt Line. As the atmospheric temperatures rise, the warming waters expand and the glaciers in melt into the Atlantic Ocean thus causing a sea level rise. Since the Atlantic Ocean flows into the Delaware Bay and hence the Delaware River , it will impact the salt line- where the Atlantic saltwater meets the fresh water in the Delaware River by pushing it north near water treatment plants. These facilities do not have the technology to remove salt. Thus, water from a reservoir has to be discharged to force the salt line back. "The further upstream the salt makes it, the more water has to be released to repel it, Amy Shallcross, manager of water resource operations for the Delaware River Basin Commission said in the 3/1/2018 article Cape Town Water Crisis Reminds Me How Philly Has Been Able to Avoid Its Own Drought Disaster http://www.phillyvoice.com/philadelphia-delaware-river-drought-drinking-water-salt-line-cape-town/ Warming waters also increase the growth of bacteria and thus killing aquatic life. For example, in 2015, "The water temperature at the Willamette Falls counting station hit 80 degrees Fahrenheit a week ago, July 3, and continues to hover around 81 degrees this week. As a result, hundreds of salmon and steelhead have succumbed to a bacteria exacerbated by warmer than normal water in the Willamette River, as well as in other Northwest rivers." (p.9) http://www.cbbulletin.com/434489.aspx Additional bacteria growth will cause water treatment plants to take additional measures to purify our drinking water as well. Also, the withdrawal of water from the basin for fracking and drilling processes and discharge of fracking waste into the watershed will place an extra burden on those facilities preparing for climate change. Fracking has used 5-10 million gallons of water per well and presently there is an increase trend to 10-20 million. Climate change also generates extreme weather such as intense storms and increased precipitation causing flooding and hurricane winds creating structural damage . For example, " Hurricane Sandy merged with two other weather systems into an unusual storm that devastated the New Jersey oceanfront coastline and caused catastrophic flooding in New York City and cities in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 2012." (500-year storm could recur soon, a study warns- Philadelphia Inquirer- October 24, 2017 By Frank Eltman ASSOCIATED PRESS) Philadelphia is also at risk even though it is ninety miles from Atlantic Ocean because of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers are tidal. It is predicted that sea level will rise two feet by 2050. Thus, like Hurricane Sandy's damage in NYC and the Jersey Coast, one such extreme storm and the sea level rise could cause over two billion dollars of destruction in the Philadelphia area. https://beta.phila.gov/media/20160504162056/Growing-Stronger-Toward-a-Climate-Ready-Philadelphia.pdf "Ultimately, a substantial reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions is necessary to slow and reverse the effects that climate change will have on streams and rivers" Rising and Stream Temperatures in the United States https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1890/090037 Banning fracking and its related activities will eliminate methane emissions from such processes. Thus the Delaware River Basin Commission will be helping to mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change in the basin. As stated before, "Basin water resource managers must seriously look at how climate change will affect the watershed and how to best adapt." http://www.state.nj.us/drbc/hydrological/climate/ Just as Autumn Peltier, a 13-year-old Canadian of the Wikwemikom First Nation told the UN Council on Water Day, March 22, 2018, to "Warrior Up", " stop polluting the planet and give water the same rights and protections as human beings", http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/autumn-peltier-un-water-activist-united-nations-1.4584 I am asking the Delaware River Basin Commission to "Warrior Up" to ban fracking and its related activities such as withdrawal of water from the basin for fracking and drilling processes and discharge of fracking waste into the watershed.

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 3:03 PM

Though I have closely read the DRBC draft regulations, I have not found any clause that mentions who will pay for the regulators or the bonds that should be posted in case of a catastrophe, or to correct any potential damages. Will the companies tha...↓

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 2:44 PM

Because of the difficulties regulating any imported produced water, the DRBC must enact a complete ban of these toxic fluids. Regulations cost taxpayers money and a simple ban does not. Considering the diminished staff at the EPA and the cavalier at...↓titude of the current Federal administration toward environmental issues and safety, it is quite likely that there will be little or no funding to pay for adequate monitoring and enforcement of any produced frack wastewater brought into the Basin. Therefore, the DRBC must do what is both financially and environmentally prudent: Ban the importation of all frack-produced wastewater. Also, even treated produced wastewater retains the radioactivity, heavy metals and chemicals originally in it. Because it is impossible with current technology and funding for sewage treatment plants to truly purify wastewater produced by fracking operations, all such wastewater must be banned from the Basin. When New York State released its Environmental Impact Statement regarding the process of fracking 7 years ago, an important question was raised: How can treatment plants clean both sewage and frack fluids, since frack fluids contain biocides that will destroy the primary method of cleaning sewage? And then 9 years ago ProPublica published an article about the serious problems of using wastewater disposal option in treating produced frack fluid. http://www.propublica.org/article/drill-wastewater-disposal-options-in-ny-report-have-problems-1229 . Biology does not change in 7 - or 9 - years. Seven years ago NYS admitted that getting rid of the toxic produced fluids is an unsolvable problem. That the current DRBC proposed regulations would even consider permitting frack waste in the basin ignores biology, funding, and the processes of treating sewage and waste water. Complicated regulations are difficult to enforce and rarely 100% effective. It would be much simpler and wiser to simply ban the importation of frack wastewater into the DRB. A Treatment Plant Operator brought up two very salient points in his submitted NYS Environmental Impact Statement comment in November, 2011 regarding this issue of frack waste. How can a plant process produced fluids from fracking if the fluid contents are proprietary? "1. The fact that fracking fluids are allowed to remain proprietary when they are injected to a publicly owned space, the lithosphere/hydrosphere, equivalent to our atmosphere or oceans is patently absurd and we should refuse this enshrinement of private rights over public needs. Fracking fluid contents must be completely disclosed or the fracking must be forbidden. 2. A company should have a right to proprietary processes as long as these ARE NOT EXPECTED TO result in contamination or damage to public lands, waters, or goods in the normal course of events. The fact that this fluid will be discharged and is not possible to recover 100.00% assures discharge of potentially toxic or damaging materials. As some of the materials (e.g. chromium, phenols) can be hazardous in parts per million or billion even small percentage of expected failure to recover is cause for concern, needing definition of chemicals, analysis and definition of risk. As this is the case, the public interest in the mining process overrides the legitimate desire for industrial privacy and regulation should mandate full disclosure of materials and full testing and disclosure of wastes at the industry's expense. 3. Even if accidental and rare, if also known and expected, these exposures also argue for disclosure of fracking liquid and waste constituents in the spirit of Community Right to Know.. Moreover since these fluids have radioactivity, heavy metals, and unknown propriety ingredients, the question begs; will residents accept discharging of such "treated" fluids in the Delaware River Basin when those very residents depend on its water.

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 1:57 PM

Although produced frack water contains toxic chemicals, heavy metals, radioactive properties and other unknown properties, it amazingly is not classified as hazardous waste water. Instead, the toxic chemicals are proprietary information for the Explo...↓ration and Production companies. Therefore, permitting such waste in the Delaware River Basin, the Commission will not know what toxicity they are allowing into the basin itself, making it impossible for the DRBC to monitor and enforce regulations. Only a complete ban of all aspects of fracking can keep the millions of Americans that depend on the basin safe. The wastewater loophole in the current draft regulations appears to be written to accommodate the treatment facility proposed by Dupont in Deepwater, New Jersey. However, the mission of the DRBC is not to aid the fossil fuel industry, but rather to protect and sustain the high quality of the water within the entire basin. (Please see: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/02/27/dupont-spin-off-company-bypass-environmental-review/372586002/ To quote from the above article: "DuPont Spinoff Company Could Soon Process Toxic Water For Profit," Feb, 2018. North Jersey.com Scott Fallon, Staff Writer, @NewsFallon Published 6:20 a.m. ET Feb. 27, 2018: Environmentalists say Chemours would be allowed to take in wastewater from natural gas fracking operations in Pennsylvania. Fracked water can contain salts, heavy metals, radioactive material and hydrocarbons." According to the following quotes from the draft regulations, if New Jersey allows the Chemours plant, then neither the Basin Commission nor the public has any say about what is done in the DRB and Delaware Bay. From the Basin Commission's proposed regulations: "...or in accordance with a state permit issued pursuant to a duly adopted administrative agreement between the Commission and the host state." Also please see 440.5 of the draft regulations: "(a) Produced water Related Commission Policies. 2. (b) Approval required. Produced water and CWT wastewater as defined in this part may not be imported into the Basin except by a new or existing wastewater treatment facility located within the Basin, and may not be transferred to, treated by or discharged from or to a new or existing wastewater treatment facility located within the Basin, at any volume or rate, except in accordance with an approval in the form of a docket issued by the Commission to the owner or operator of the wastewater treatment facility pursuant to Section 3.8 of the Compact or in accordance with a state permit issued pursuant to a duly adopted administrative agreement between the Commission and the host state."

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Comment From: Donna Knipp

3/24/18 @ 1:33 PM

There should be a complete and permanent ban on natural gas drilling and fracking and all related activities (including wastewater processing and discharges from and water withdrawals for drilling and fracking operations)throughout the Delaware...↓ River Watershed. There is a moratorium on all gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing (fracking), water withdrawals for and wastewater treatment and discharges from fracking throughout the entire Delaware River Basin today, since 2010. The moratorium was put in place by the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), the federal-interstate agency that manages the water resources of the Delaware River Watershed. The DRBC members – the Governors of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, and the federal government – have the responsibility of protecting the shared waters that provide 15-17 million people in all four of the Watershed states with drinking water, including New York City and Philadelphia. The Delaware River was designated as a national Wild and Scenic River by Congress because of its outstanding features, irreplaceable resources, exceptional water quality and scenic and recreational value. These prized assets provide important economic benefit to all four states whose tributaries flow to the Delaware River. These values are gravely jeopardized by fracking and its polluting operations and must be protected for the public and future generations. The entire nontidal Delaware River is protected by DRBC's Special Protection Waters regulations that do not allow water quality to be diminished in any way. We are dependent on that protection to keep our water safe. After exhaustive study, the State of New York prohibited fracking based on environmental and public health analysis. The NY Department of Health concluded that the overall weight of the evidence demonstrated the likelihood that adverse health outcomes and environmental impacts from fracking could not be prevented, leading to the Governor's decision to ban high volume hydraulic fracturing in the state. The State of Maryland permanently banned fracking after 2 years of study, based on the potential for adverse public health and environmental impacts. http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/findingstatehvhf62015.pdf http://www.health.ny.gov/press/reports/docs/high_volume_hydraulic_fracturing.pdf http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/05/29/3664098/larry-hogan-maryland-fracking-ban/ The natural gas industry has received unprecedented exemptions from our nation's most important environmental and public health laws, including the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking)Harms There is significant evidence that natural gas development, and its related operations, which include all the phases of the hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") process, from the first stage of industrial land preparation; to the storage, handling, and use of chemicals and additives for extraction and stimulation; to drilling and fracking; to the withdrawal of and degradation of large volumes of water and its discharge and disposal as waste, has substantial adverse effects on public health, property interests, agriculture, and on our air, water, and land. The most recent statistical analysis of the body of scientific literature by the Concerned Health Professionals of New York and Physicians for Social Responsibility, 685 peer-reviewed papers examining gas drilling and/or hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") were reviewed and the overwhelming majority of studies found evidence of or potential adverse impacts on water, air, and human health. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) has determined that there are 301 cases of private water well contamination caused by oil and gas operations in the Commonwealth; over 4,400 water complaints related to oil and gas have been filed by the public with PADEP. Between 2004 and 11.2016, PADEP lists 9,443 public complaints about environmental problems in shale gas drilling areas. http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=narrowsubjpage&tab=subject3&id=hydrfrac&stab=01&ys=2017rs

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 1:21 PM

Allowing produced water from fracking operations into the Delaware River Basin is very short-sighted, and poses a threat not only to the citizens of New York City (where I live), but also to the budget for New York State. NYC has some of the best dri...↓

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 1:02 PM

It is absolutely irresponsible for the DRBC to allow any wastewater produced from fracking operations to enter the Delaware River Basin. Regulating with 100% insurance that no accident or illegal dumping will occur is virtually impossible. Just loo...↓

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Comment From: Jeff Smith

3/24/18 @ 11:40 AM

Question: Has independent unannounced testing of all chemicals being placed into and removed from the ground been published? Last I knew, the chemicals used were an "industry secret". How can these operations be allowed without knowing the impact/exp...↓

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 11:06 AM

That the proposed draft regulations potentially allow produced water from fracking operations to be treated within the Basin suggests the DRBC might allow the Dupont water treatement facilty, aka Chemours, to operate in Deepwater, New Jersey. Please...↓

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 10:30 AM

Part of the DRBC's proposed draft fracking regulations states the following regarding produced water: Related Commission Policies. 1. (1) It is the policy of the Commission to discourage the importation of wastewater into the basin (see Section...↓

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Comment From: Alice Zinnes

3/24/18 @ 10:08 AM

I thank the DRBC for banning fracking in the DRB. Peer-review studies after peer-review studies show that facking operations pollute the air, water and land with toxic chemicals, heavy metals and radioactive materials. It thus makes complete sense ...↓

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Comment From: Robert Kecskes

3/24/18 @ 9:39 AM

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Comment From: Matthias Hess

3/24/18 @ 9:10 AM

The Delaware river, one of the last pristine rivers on earth, provides 5% of America's drinking water. It is a priceless resource, and I oppose any hydrofracking activity in or near its watershed. While the proposed regulations are a promising start,...↓

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Comment From: JOHN MOTZ

3/24/18 @ 7:52 AM

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on these draft regulations related to gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The gas drilling industry has demonstrated their ability to pollute water and degrade streams in other parts of Pennsylvania. Monro...↓

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Comment From: Todd Waldron

3/24/18 @ 6:34 AM

I am writing regarding the Delaware River Basin Commission's ("DRBC" or "Commission") proposed regulations concerning natural gas development and hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin watershed (the "Basin"). I support the Commission's pr...↓oposal to exclude hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") from the Basin, however, I also express my concern for certain aspects of the DRBC's proposed regulations. Therefore, I request that the DRBC enact a complete and permanent prohibition on natural gas development and hydraulic fracturing and all related activities; including without limitation, drilling, fracking, wastewater processing and discharges from and water withdrawals for drilling and fracking operations) throughout the Basin. The DRBC's proposed policy to "discourage the importation of wastewater into the Basin" and the proposed regulations of section 440.5 will not provide effective protection for the Basin from the impacts of wastewater. In protecting a waterway that is of the high environmental quality of the Delaware River Basin, fracking wastewater presents a looming disaster. The numerous potential negative impacts from hydraulic fracturing wastewater outweigh the effort to regulate same. Among the various issues, I note that the categories of chemicals, and the type of facility (and permitting) required for effective treatment, present enormous hurdles for high quality cold water fisheries. Simply stated, treated wastewater poses a significant threat to the fishery. Whether treated inside the Basin watershed, or already treated and imported by private companies (which, could be just as, if not more dangerous due to potential poor quality control practices), wastewater treatment is an imperfect science and the degradation of watersheds due to allowance of wastewater management is not uncommon. It is clear that the proposed regulations in the current form do not fully protect the Delaware River Basin's watershed. The comments submitted by this letter identify substantive and significant issues relating to Sections 440.4 and 440.5 of the proposed regulations and generally, regarding any fracking related activities in the Basin. After exhaustive study, the State of New York prohibited fracking based on environmental and public health analysis. The NY Department of Health concluded that the overall weight of the evidence demonstrated the likelihood of the occurrence of adverse health outcomes and environmental impacts from fracking could not be prevented, leading to the Governor's decision to ban high volume hydraulic fracturing in the state. The potential negative impacts stemming from these activities would have long-term consequences for the Delaware River Basin. Therefore, I respectfully request that the DRBC strike Sections 440.4 and 440.5 from the proposed regulations and revise the proposed regulations to prohibit any activities related to natural gas development and hydraulic fracturing; including without limitation, the storage, treatment, disposal and/or discharge of fracking wastewater within the Basin and the withdrawal of water from the Basin for fracking. Additionally, I fully support the DRBC in upholding the proposed prohibition to hydraulic fracturing in the Basin. Thank you, Todd Waldron Chestertown NY

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Comment From: Michael Pechter

3/24/18 @ 4:45 AM

Hello, I want to suggest that the dumping of fracking waste into the Delaware River watershed be banned and that the removal of fresh water from the watershed for fracking operations elsewhere also be banned. The country faces an impending water c...↓

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Comment From: Jennifer Dix

3/24/18 @ 3:48 AM

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Comment From: Nanci' Di

3/24/18 @ 2:47 AM

Please end Hydraulic Chemical Fracturing. It ruins lands by infiltrating underneath ground water lines from unground tributaries. Chemical run-off pools are also detrimental to public well water, cattle,bees,crops,and poses health threats to huma...↓

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Comment From: Kathleen Domokos

3/23/18 @ 11:55 PM

Please be part of the solution, not the problem and ban fracking from the Delaware river basin. Thank you

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Comment From: Elizabeth Heath

3/23/18 @ 7:34 PM

Fracking has proved to be dangerous for water quality and in Oklahoma it is causing earthquakes!!! Please ban all fracking in your state. Consider the residents' needs over the desires of the fossil fuel industry. Thank you.

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Comment From: Phil Konigsberg

3/23/18 @ 6:40 PM

I was asked to comment on the Proposed Draft Regulations Addressing Hydraulic Fracturing and Additional Clarifying Amendments which I was surprised when I was requested to do so. I had the understanding that decisions were already made to secure that...↓

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Comment From: Jenny BORIS

3/23/18 @ 6:16 PM

I am deeply concerned about the draft regulations to allow fracking in the Delaware river basin. All this rush to extract, extract, extract leaving tailings and hazardous chemicals that pollute long after the oil is good and gone. I urge you to sto...↓

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Comment From: Corinne Mayland

3/23/18 @ 5:00 PM

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Comment From: Susan Steigerwalt

3/23/18 @ 1:39 PM

Critical to ban fricking. It's been associated with birth defects, premature births and cancer. Area relies on the watershed for water. If it's contaminated by fracking, We all lose!!

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Comment From: Leslie Burpo

3/23/18 @ 12:27 PM

Please ban ALL fracking from the Delaware River Basin.

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Comment From: John Martinez

3/23/18 @ 12:15 PM

Ban ALL fracking banned from the Basin ASAP.

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Comment From: talia lugacy

3/23/18 @ 11:49 AM

The Delaware River MUST be protected from shale fracking for natural gas - it is reckless for the DRBC to even consider shale fracking anywhere in the vicinity of the Basin. I have been attending DRBC meetings and hearings as far back as 2009, presen...↓

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Comment From: Mary Mathieux

3/23/18 @ 10:43 AM

Dear Commission, Please do not allow fracking anywhere along the Delaware Water Basin. Fracking has been proven to cause all kinds of problems for states that have allowed it. From poisoned drinking water supplies to widespread health problems for...↓

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Comment From: William Reitsma

3/23/18 @ 10:39 AM

Please ban all fracking and fracking related activity to the watershed within the DRBC purview. Fracking has long range implications for generations to come as clean water is quickly becoming a more valuable resource than oil or gas. While fracking...↓

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Comment From: Arlene Regan

3/23/18 @ 10:06 AM

DRBC: My family has owned a home in Damascus, PA since the 1950's. We enjoy the clean air and water;recreational activities; scenic mountains,valleys,lakes; and the Delaware River. The mountainous terrain contributes to varying weather conditions ...↓

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Comment From: Virginia Davis

3/23/18 @ 9:10 AM

The Proposed Draft Regulations Addressing Hydraulic Fracturing regulations don't protect ALL communities and need to be amended. As written, they continue to allow for the exportation of water from the Basin to fracking elsewhere and the importation...↓

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Comment From: Delaware Riverkeeper Netowrk Delaware Riverkeeper Netowrk

3/23/18 @ 9:01 AM

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Comment From: Peter Keitel

3/23/18 @ 8:39 AM

We need clean drinking water, not fracking. Fracking pollutes the water, destroys forests and the soil. We need renewable energy, not fracking for oil and gas.

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Comment From: mark brubaker

3/23/18 @ 7:40 AM

Protect the Delaware. We need to permanently ban ALL hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin area.

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Comment From: ELLEN WILSON

3/23/18 @ 7:10 AM

Fracking destroys the planet - and once that happens, there is no going back. Hydraulic fracturing should be outlawed and all efforts directed toward sustainable energy sources and NOT fossil fuel extraction.

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Comment From: Nicole Pearce

3/23/18 @ 6:51 AM

Hydraulic Fracking is terrible for our lives no matter which way you look at the options. Anything that contaminates fresh water needs to be banned and made illegal. Stop considering this an option and focus on solar energy!

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Comment From: Stephanie Kung

3/23/18 @ 6:19 AM

I AM AGAINST THE HYDRAULIC FRACKING PROPOSAL IN THE DELAWARE RIVER BASIN. WE HAVE SEEN COUNTLESS EXAMPLES OF FRACKING POLLUTING DRINKING WATER, CAUSING ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS (IE. EARTHQUAKES), AND DAMAGING COMMUNITIES.

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Comment From: Sean Sweeney

3/23/18 @ 6:04 AM

I personally believe that fracking should be put to a stop immediately in the Delaware River Basin. The Delaware River Basin is a major contributor to the water supply in Pennsylvania and the neighboring states. 5% of Americas drinking water comes fr...↓

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Comment From: Craig Ketelsen

3/23/18 @ 6:00 AM

Water is connected throughout the planet, and we cannot risk poisoning our population for the sake of fossil fuel.

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Comment From: Marian Shearer

3/23/18 @ 5:51 AM

Dear Delaware River Basin folks, please, give up on the notion of using water from the Delaware River to support hydrofracturing elsewhere, and dumping fracking's hazardous waste water back into the Delaware. What a poor idea! How can you agree to ...↓

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Comment From: Ronald Gambino

3/23/18 @ 5:42 AM

We must take heed before we continue to synthetically alter the balance of our natural environment any further. We must continue to seek alternative solutions if we are to provide a sustainable future.

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Comment From: Father Tom Johnson-Medland

3/23/18 @ 5:07 AM

We cannot allow the use of the Delaware Watershed and the Basin for any type of invasive activity. FRACKING is a huge nightmare, it is proven to be a contaminant and the evidence for failure of lines is too high. We could never recover the water wa...↓

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Comment From: Kimry Jelen

3/23/18 @ 4:56 AM

We want all fracking banned from the Delaware River Basin. In fact, anything that poisons our water sources shouldn't be allowed. How stupid can people be to allow water and air to be polluted, it travels around the planet and effects everyone, it's ...↓

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Comment From: Richard Robinson

3/23/18 @ 4:53 AM

Hydrolic Fracking is a terrible, destructive practice. The pollution and environmental damage it causes is not remotely worth it. I support stopping fracking everywhere.

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Comment From: Margaret Murray

3/23/18 @ 4:53 AM

I am a resident of California so you may think this is none of my business. But it is. Water is all of America's business. So is destroying our precious country for corporate profit, short-term only, since oil and gas is being replaced with wind, wat...↓

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Comment From: Andrew Lenton

3/23/18 @ 4:39 AM

i am writing to express my support for not only a complete ban on fracking in the Delaware River basin, and also a ban on treatment and disposal of fracking waste from outside the basin

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Comment From: Colin Kearns

3/23/18 @ 3:53 AM

Dear Commissioners: I am writing to support the DRBC's proposal to protect our natural resources by prohibiting hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin. I urge you, however, to strengthen regulations that would let drillers withdraw milli...↓

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Comment From: Maria Weick

3/23/18 @ 3:51 AM

No water should be withdrawn from the Delaware River that would be used in fracking processes for all the same reasons that a federal moratorium and state bans on fracking have been placed on the Delaware River Basin. Maria Weick

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Comment From: Dave Colavito

3/23/18 @ 3:49 AM

Commission, I appreciate very much your work on this. Regulations need to prohibit water withdrawal from the Basin for fracking and prohibit the processing of produced waters from fracked wells beyond the Basin. Our fisheries and other inv...↓

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Comment From: joseph Velopolcak

3/23/18 @ 3:27 AM

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Comment From: Nanci Sarcinello

3/23/18 @ 3:24 AM

I oppose any proposed rules that would allow fracking in the Delaware River Basin. Fracking will adversely impact water availability, economic development, the ability to control and abate water pollution, the ability to conserve and protect drinking...↓

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Comment From: Emma Fanning

3/23/18 @ 3:22 AM

I urge you to please support a complete and permanent ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin. This basin is the source of drinking water for 15-17 million residents, including the densely populated urban areas of New York City and Philadelphia. ...↓

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Comment From: obie hunt

3/23/18 @ 3:21 AM

We don't need fracking, which releases methane and pollutes streams. Renewal energy is more than capable for our energy needs. Ban fracking.

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Comment From: Jennifer Lyon

3/23/18 @ 3:19 AM

Please give the most weight to protecting human interests like preserving clean water over industrial, profit driven, interests like hydrollic fracturing. We can live without fracked gas, but we CANNOT live without clean water. Please live up to yo...↓

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Comment From: Francis Betro

3/23/18 @ 3:14 AM

I am writing to support the DRBC's proposal to protect our natural resources by prohibiting hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin. I urge you, however, to strengthen regulations that would let drillers withdraw millions of gallons from o...↓

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Comment From: Lost Causes LLC (Jack Kredell)

3/23/18 @ 3:12 AM

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Comment From: Lisa Levine

3/23/18 @ 3:11 AM

Many communities are struggling against pollution, fossil fuel extraction, and more threats to their water sources. Recently, the Delaware River Basin Commission proposed regulations banning fracking in the River Basin. Unfortunately, those regulatio...↓

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Comment From: Rolla Chng

3/23/18 @ 3:04 AM

Hydraulic Fracturing is not a viable alternative regarding safe impact on the environment. It is a risk that is not worth taking. We must find safe and renewable and sustainable alternatives for our energy needs.

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Comment From: Joshua Skibinski

3/23/18 @ 3:03 AM

On behalf of the undersigned representatives of the sportsmen's community, we are writing today in support of the Delaware River Basin Commission's proposed regulations regarding natural gas development in the watershed. We welcome these steps to pro...↓tect our natural resources from the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing in this critical Basin. At the same time, we are concerned about several aspects of the proposed rules, and urge the DRBC to strengthen the regulations to more fully protect our water resources. The undersigned organizations represent a cross-section of the more than 15 million anglers, hunters, and wildlife watchers who spend $12 billion a year in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. While we recognize the economic benefits of energy development, we have long been concerned about the effects hydraulic fracturing can have on our natural resources—the streams and forests where we hunt and fish. Many of us have spent years working with government agencies, conservation partners, and the industry to encourage policies and practices that avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to clean water and wildlife habitat from development across the Marcellus region. Installing oil and gas well pads, water impoundments, access roads, and new pipelines has the potential to damage fish and wildlife habitat if not properly managed. "Fracking" a well requires millions of gallons of water; if drillers source this water from local streams during spawning seasons or periods of low flow, they can do serious harm to aquatic species. Welive in constant concern about spills and leaks of fracking fluids, flowback, and produced water. Simply put, drilling thousands of wells would have a major impact on the watershed, from headwater tributaries to the main stem of the Delaware. A study by the nonprofit research organization CNA ("The Potential Environmental Impact from Fracking in the Delaware River Basin," August 2015) found that hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus shale in the watershed could require the construction of 1,000 pads, which would require clearing five to 10 percent of headwater forest areas and would increase erosion rates by up to 150 percent during the development phase. Discharge of fracking wastewater could raise instream levels of harmful chemicals if not properly treated. The report concluded that the "changes to land cover and associated impacts to area forests, hydrology, and water quality appear the most likely to occur and most difficult to mitigate completely." The DRBC's decision in 2010 to review natural gas projects in the watershed was in keeping with its mandate to protect water resources in a Basin that supplies drinking water to 15 million people. It also recognized the Delaware River's status as "Special Protection Waters" across its non-tidal reach. Since then, the Commission has studied "the evolving scientific literature on the impacts of natural gas development on water resources," and has concluded that hydraulic fracturing "presents risks, vulnerabilities and impacts to surface and ground water resources." Given this thorough review of the scientific literature, and in consideration of the Basin's historic, economic, and ecological significance, we believe the Commission's decision to prohibit fracking is justified. We are concerned, however, that the regulations would allow drillers to export great volumes of water for hydraulic fracturing elsewhere, and permit the industry to send fracking wastewater into the Basin for treatment. We urge the Commission to strengthen the draft regulations to address impacts from these activities. Among our concerns: • As drafted, the regulations do not set conditions for the withdrawal of water for fracking outside the Basin. They do not consider impacts to aquatic resources and other users; do not require pass-by monitoring to protect streams' ecological flow requirements; and do not address invasive species controls or impacts of erosion and sedimentation. • Appropriately, the draft regulations require that "pollutants of concern" in any effluent not exceed background concentrations. But this list of pollutants does not account for the more than 1,600 chemicals that the EPA has detected in fracking fluids and produced water. The Commission should establish a comprehensive set of water quality standards for all possible constituents in fracking wastewater. • The rules do not outline mechanisms for monitoring, inspections, and enforcement to ensure that the export of source water or import of wastewater does not degradewater quality in the Basin. This is essential if the Commission is to safeguard the watershed from potential impacts of this activity. The Basin is home to some of our region's best trout water. The Upper Delaware is a nationally designated Wild and Scenic River where anglers can find a wild brown and rainbow fishery not unlike great western rivers. Elsewhere in the Basin, we pursue stripers and shad and smallmouth. Our forests are home to bear, deer, pheasant and grouse—and a wealth of sportsmen's recreation. We appreciate that the DRBC is taking necessary steps to ensure that this river and this watershed continues to be a special place. Sincerely, Josh skibinski

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Comment From: Leonora Gerardi

3/23/18 @ 2:52 AM

I've seen hydraulic fracking first hand in Dimock PA in 2014, as I documented (available upon request) all the ill's of the landscape there, which was an awful awakening with methane bubbling creeks, and community water buffalos with farmed in water...↓

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Comment From: Sandra Smallwood Beltran

3/23/18 @ 2:24 AM

Ban all fracking in the Delaware River Basin. No to the importation of waste water.

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Comment From: Jason Cohon

3/23/18 @ 2:22 AM

8 years ago lived in a neighborhood where fracking and drilling were taking place only a few miles away. I remember the random earthquakes that shook our house when I was home taking care of my 2 year old daughter. While fracking may be considered ...↓

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Comment From: James Wallace

3/23/18 @ 2:16 AM

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Comment From: Bill Roberts

3/23/18 @ 2:13 AM

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Comment From: Victoria Oltarsh

3/23/18 @ 1:35 AM

Fracking destroys clean water systems and kills wildlife. This area of the United States is beautiful and scenic and used by many human beings and wildlife as the sanctuary do not Frak here or anywhere !

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Comment From: kathryn nocerino

3/23/18 @ 1:30 AM

Any resumption of fracking or fracking-related activities in and around the Delaware Watershed should be permanently banned. This watershed supplies the nation's largest metropolitan area, an area full of fighting-mad VOTERS. Maryland has already d...↓

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Comment From: Mary Schmidt

3/23/18 @ 1:27 AM

We must protect our fresh water. Please help us ban hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River Basin. Please do not permit fracking waste to be poured back into our waterways or even onto the ground, where it will eventually make its way back into th...↓

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Comment From: Sally Woods

3/23/18 @ 1:27 AM

If you love your children don't put poison in your children's water! You have heard that the health of our water and air are the health ourselves and our families. It has never been wise to drink from our own piss pots although that would probably ...↓

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Comment From: Eric Meyer

3/23/18 @ 12:59 AM

We've gone beyond your stinking petro chemicals. The stuff should be left in the ground. We need clean energy for all !!!

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