Washington—In a move long sought by environmental groups and fought by natural gas producers, the Delaware River Basin Commission on Feb. 25 voted to ban high-volume hydraulic fracturing within the basin's boundaries.
The action, which makes permanent a moratorium on fracking in place since 2010, is not expected to impact ongoing production in Pennsylvania, but could preclude development of certain areas in the eastern part of the state, such as Wayne and Pike counties, that fall within basin lines.The ban on high-volume fracking within DRBC boundaries prevailed with four governors on the commission, including Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, voting in favor, and the fifth, federal member, abstaining during a virtual commission meeting.
The federal commissioner, Brigadier General Thomas Tickner of the US Army Corps of Engineers, cited the lack of time to coordinate with the new presidential administration.
"We respect the outcome of this vote as determined by each respective state commissioner," he said during the meeting.
The drilling moratorium narrowly avoids currently productive counties in Northeast Pennsylvania, including Susquehanna and Bradford counties. Dry gas production in Northeast Pennsylvania accounts for roughly one-third of total production in the Appalachian region, with output averaging 11.3 Bcf/d in January, or 33% of the region's total 34.3 Bcf/d of production in January, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics.
Future vote on water shipmentsSeparately, the commission acted unanimously to consider later imposing limits on imports of wastewater and exports of basin waters; it approved a resolution that called on the executive director no later than Sept. 30 to formally develop and propose amendments.
The DRBC, which oversees management of the Delaware River system, is made up of governors of Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York as well as the division engineer of the North Atlantic division of the Army Corps.
It said it imposed the ban by adopting amendments to its comprehensive plan and water code in order to control future pollution, protect public health and preserve waters.
Delaware Governor John Carney said the action would "provide the fullest protection to the more than 13 million people who rely upon the Delaware River Basin's waters for their drinking water."
Wolf said the action followed careful analysis of unique geographic, geologic and hydrologic characteristics of the basin and came under authority to protect water resources for the basin.
The action has been strongly opposed by the Marcellus Shale Coalition.
"It may be a good day for those who seek higher energy prices for American consumers and a deeper dependence on foreign nations to fuel our economy, but this vote defies common sense, sound science, and is a grave blow to constitutionally protected private property rights," said MSC President David Callahan. He expressed disappointment with Wolf for aligning with "out-of-state interests," and also faulted President Joe Biden for failing to oppose the ban.
"The Biden administration's lack of action today, along with the president's economically devastating anti-energy executive orders–which have already put tens of thousands of skilled union laborers out of work–does absolutely nothing to help America," Callahan added.
Environmental groups, meanwhile, cheered the fracking ban as a long-sought victory.
"What this means is that there won't be any fracking in the watershed tomorrow or any time down the line," said Maya van Rossum of Delaware Riverkeeper Network. It is also a win, she said, because DRBC withdrew a plan to open the watershed to the importation of toxic frack wastewater for treatment storage and disposal and export of water. But more work will be needed in relation to the upcoming September decision on water imports and exports, she said.
